LG Spirit 4G (MetroPCS)

Most people look to MetroPCS for a good deal, and you're not going to find a better one than the $199 LG Spirit 4G. It's a fast, powerful phone, with a thin design and a killer price tag. It isn't quite as good as the Samsung Galaxy S III, but it also costs less than half the price. It's the best deal you can get on a MetroPCS LTE smartphone?right now.

Design, Network, and Call Quality
The Spirit 4G is thin and lightweight, though the all-plastic construction doesn't feel particularly premium. The back panel is made of textured gray plastic, with a silver ring around the display and textured panels on the top and bottom. There's a Power button on the right, a volume rocker on the left, and three capacitive touch buttons below the display. It measures 5.08 by 2.61 by 0.37 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.3 ounces, which keeps it looking trim and sleek.

The 4.5-inch 960-by-540-pixel TFT LCD is sharp and bright, and text and images look great. The resolution isn't as high as on the GSIII, but it also lacks the GSIII's PenTile pixel layout, which can cause images and text to look slightly fuzzy. Typing on the on-screen keyboard felt fine in my tests.

If you're worried about buying a MetroPCS phone because of T-Mobile's impending purchase?of the company, don't be. After the merger with T-Mobile, MetroPCS will shift its focus to GSM and LTE, that's true. But sources have told us that the new network will support VoLTE even after CDMA declines. That means VoLTE-capable phones, like the Spirit 4G, should work just fine.

What will happen to data plans remains to be seen, but right now, LTE service plans on MetroPCS are fantastic. You can get truly unlimited talk, text, and data for $60 per month. $50 per month gets you 2.5GB of LTE data, with throttled speeds after that, and $40 per month is good for 500GB of LTE data, with slower speeds once you've reached your cap.

Data speeds are excellent over LTE, though the Spirit only has average reception. Still, I saw speeds of around 6Mbps down and 4Mbps up, which is very fast. As we discovered in our Fastest Mobile Networks?survey, MetroPCS's LTE network can actually exceed 4G speeds on Verizon, though Verizon's network is more consistent and offers far more coverage. The Spirit also connects to 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz band.

Call quality is average. Voices can sound fuzzy, harsh, and somewhat robotic at top volume, but if you turn it down a little, these problems almost completely vanish. Calls made with the phone in my tests sounded clear and natural, though noise cancellation isn't very good. Calls sounded fine through a Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset and the stock Android voice dialer worked fine. The speakerphone sounded okay and is loud enough to hear outside. Battery life was solid at 10 hours and 47 minutes of talk time.

Processor, Android, and Apps
The Spirit 4G is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960L processor. It isn't quite as fast at the 1.5GHz chip in the Galaxy S III, but the Spirit's lower screen resolution meant it often turned in very similar benchmark scores. You'll be able to run any of the approximately 700,000 apps in the Google Play store smoothly.

The phone is running Android 4.0.4 "Ice Cream Sandwich," along with LG's Optimus UI overlay. It's a pretty light modification, but it makes the phone feel a little more accessible and user-friendly than stock Android. There's no word on an update to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean," though that's common among contract-free phones. Still, ICS is a vast improvement over Android 2.3 "Gingerbread," which even the LG Connect 4G?is still running.

You get five home screens to swipe between, and they come preloaded with some apps and widgets, and you can customize them however you see fit. There's a good amount of bloatware preinstalled, though most of it can be deleted. There's also the usual Android bells and whistles, including a fast Web browser, excellent email support, and voice-enabled, turn-by-turn GPS directions via Google Maps. You also get SmartShare, which allows you to share music, photos, and video on your HDTV or monitor via DLNA.

And as you can see from the hot pink text scrolled over the image of the phone at the top of this page, the Spirit supports QuickMemo. That's LG's system-wide note taking service which lets you annotate screenshots with handwritten notes and sketches, which you can then share.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions
You get 4.07GB of internal storage, along with an empty microSD card slot underneath the battery cover. I was able to use 32 and 64GB SanDisk cards without issue. The phone played AAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, and WMA music test files, but not FLAC. Music sounded great through?Altec Lansing Backbeat?Bluetooth headphones as well as a pair of wired earphones. For video, all of our test formats played back in resolutions up to 1080p.

The 5-megapixel camera is the only major disappointment here. Shutter speeds are virtually instantaneous, and you get LG's Cheese Shutter, which allows you to snap a photo by saying the word cheese (good for taking group shots with yourself in the photo). Unfortunately, the Spirit doesn't take very good photos. All of the images I captured suffered from underwhelming detail and poor color reproduction. They'll work in a pinch, but in general, they just look poor.

Videos are much better, as the camera records smooth, but somewhat grainy, 1080p video at 30 frames per second. There is also a perfectly adequate 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.

Camera aside, the LG Spirit 4G gets you a lot of smartphone for just $200. It still isn't as good as the Samsung Galaxy S III, which has a larger, sharper display, a faster processor, better call quality, and a much nicer camera. But the Galaxy S III costs $500, which makes it a dealbreaker for many buyers. In that case, the Spirit 4G is your next best option, by far.

The LG Connect 4G is older, but priced much higher than the Spirit, although it has a smaller display and is stuck on an old version of Android. The ZTE Avid?would be a pretty good deal, if only it didn't feature one of the worst phone displays we've ever seen. The LG Motion 4G is the cheapest way to get LTE on MetroPCS, though it has a tiny, low-res screen and lots of bugs. So anyway you cut it, the Spirit 4G is the best deal you can get on a capable LTE phone for MetroPCS right now.

More Cell Phone Reviews:
??? LG Spirit 4G (MetroPCS)
??? Motorola Electrify M (U.S. Cellular)
??? Sonim XP Strike (Sprint)
??? Samsung Ativ Odyssey
??? HTC One VX (AT&T)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Yj5GKJO26Gs/0,2817,2414954,00.asp

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Decking: Transforms Your Yard Into An Amazing Place

United Kingdom-January, 30, 2013: Perfectly built deck makes a garden look beautiful. It can act as a platform where people can enjoy outdoor space of their home with family. It is the best way where one can do get together in warmer days.

Not just this, a deck in the garden or home adds beauty of the garden or building. It increases the outlook and feel of a house. It gives a right place to enjoy your life. Today, a lot of service providers offer service of decking, landscape gardening, fencing etc. One can easily find a cheap decking Bolton service provider.

Pride Home Service providers is one of the leading that offer services like fencing or gates, paving, decking, turfing, and might be combination of all. They install a wide range of products. According to the Pride Home Service, ?we provide professional support for every phase of your project. We take care of everything, from providing advice at the outset to providing support after completion.?

Decking is one of the ways by which one can transform their garden into a fantastic place. Today, a lot of options are available for decking. With cheap decking Bolton people can now make their garden a comfortable place in few bucks.

Decking in home depends on the style of the home and the garden. One requires keeping their decking with the structural design of house and materials utilizes in the structure of the home. It is useful in avoiding clashes that detract the feel and the look of the house.

Before one go to add this feature in their home, they should always remember that decking is actually fix to the home in place of standing free. A deck covers the intermediate space in between the home and the yard.

It is also recommended to choose only superior quality material for the deck. So that it can last long. Nowadays, wooden decking is very much popular since it offers superb unusual effect. But is must be sealed properly. If, someone is using it frequently then it must be reseal in every year.

About Us

Pride Home Services is family run business. We are serving out client since eight years. We, offer services like landscape gardening, decking, fencing, turfing, gates, and many more. We are bound to deliver quality service to our clients. We work to our maximum standards. We utilize only superior quality material. We sourced these good quality materials from local suppliers and this keeps the cost down. For further information contact us on given details.

For more information please visit:- http://www.pridehomeservices.co.uk/

Pride Home Services

Address: 6 All Saints Place

Bury, Lancs, BL8 1ND

Landline: 0161 764 1450

Mob: 07884 184842

E-mail: pridehomeservices@yahoo.co.uk

Website: www.pridehomeservices.co.uk

Source: http://www.freeprnow.com/pr/decking-transforms-your-yard-into-an-amazing-place

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Benefits of Ezine Article Writing Service | Blog Fully

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Defense nominee Hagel plans to shed some holdings

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel has told Pentagon officials he plans to divest some of his financial holdings and resign from several corporate boards and public interest groups to avoid potential conflicts of interest if he wins Senate confirmation.

Hagel told Defense Department officials in a letter last week that he would resign his corporate board post at Chevron Corp. and shed investments in the energy firm, a major government contractor. He would also cut ties and investments with the McCarthy Group LLC, an Omaha-based private equity firm.

A new personal financial disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics lists Hagel's assets at between $2.8 million and $6 million, according to an Associated Press analysis. Hagel made earnings of more than $1 million last year, including director's fees at Deutsche Bank, Zurich Insurance Group and Corsair Capital. Hagel said he would also server ties to those firms.

Hagel's Pentagon nomination has run into heavy fire from conservatives and Republicans who question whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They also question his support for reductions in the nuclear arsenal. Some of his wide-ranging corporate and activist roles have also drawn criticism that his decision-making could be swayed by prior relationships. Hagel's letter to defense officials indicates he is willing to sell off possible conflict holdings and end his directorships to mute those concerns, but would still retain the ability to make his own investments.

In a letter sent last week to Robert Taylor, the Pentagon's acting general counsel, Hagel said that if he wins the defense post, he and his wife would not "invest in any company identified as a Department of Defense contractor or any other entity that would create a conflict of interest with my government duties." Hagel also pledged that if any firm that he has holdings in wins a defense contract, he would sell off those investments.

Some nominees for top government positions place their holdings in federally approved blind trusts so that they have no direct role in private investments during their tenure. There is no mention of the use of a blind trust in Hagel's letter.

Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of state, has holdings worth more than $184 million, and is also not using a blind trust. Most of Kerry's investments are made through family trusts, which limit his direct involvement but are not as segregated as blind trusts qualified by the Office of Government Ethics.

In his letter, Hagel said he would not participate in any decision that "has a direct and predictable effect on my financial interests" and would request a waiver from the ethics office if he planned any move that could affect him financially.

Hagel's decision to sever his dealings and investments with Chevron were clearly dictated by the firm's extensive dealings with the Pentagon. According to government figures, Chevron received more than $500 million in defense contracts in 2012, ranking 78th among the department's largest corporate beneficiaries.

Hagel joined Chevron's board of directors in 2010 and made $116,000 in fees in 2012. He also has Chevron common stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000 according to his disclosure.

Activists from both the left and right have questioned Chevron's recent involvement with repressive governments, including its plans to develop natural gas reserves in Turkmenistan and its pipeline work in Burma.

One conservative non-profit interest group, the American Future Fund, took aim at Hagel's relationship with Chevron, asking in an attack ad: "How can Chuck Hagel run the Pentagon with so many ethical questions about his own record?"

That broadside came before Hagel's letter outlining his divestment plans. The Senate Armed Services Committee also has some of the most stringent rules for nominees for senior civilian positions in the Defense Department. And Hagel's plans for divesting his holdings were also expected to undergo careful vetting by lawyers and ethics experts at the OGE, Defense and the White House.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defense-nominee-hagel-plans-shed-holdings-163951628--politics.html

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Mommy, hungry!: The Family Tree

Gommie has long been very interested in our family history, gathering family photos and bits of lore, though leaving much of the archival work of birth, death, and marriage dates to my Uncle T and others. ?Years ago, she gave me a binder full of her evidence as well as a chart of our family members. ?I studied it then, mainly intrigued by the Confederate ancestor who reportedly fired the first shots at the battle of Vicksburg (and his son who penned his own memoirs as The Littlest Rebel), the Texas blockade runner during the Civil War, and such. ?My Aunt Sis, on my dad's side, had always said we were Welsh and Scottish, but I only just found the proof in Gommie's notebook--but we're not Welsh (that it records), we're Irish! ?My paternal grandmother has an ancestor, Alexander Mebane, who lived in Ireland from 1716 to 1793; eventually my Irish ancestors made it to Tennessee and then Louisiana. ?I never knew we were a little bit Irish! ?Now I'm doubly excited about St. Patrick's Day and soda bread, colcannon, and the like. ?Turn on Riverdance!
My paternal grandfather's mother descended from Scottish stock, which I've known for a few years and we've celebrated at Scottish festivals and watching Brave. ?Her relative, John Hay, was in Scotland, but in 1644 traveled to Virginia. ?Family lore has long said we were related to a man executed for the murder of Mary, Queen of Scots's husband, Lord Darnley. ?Lo! and behold, a John Hay was tried and executed with others for the plot. ?A hundred or so years earlier than my ancestor traveled to the colonies. ?Is our John Hay a descendant of the executed man? ?I'm still looking into that as best I can. ?But until I prove otherwise, I'm going to say yes! ?I mean, who can pass up an ancestor who worked for Mary, Queen of Scots, and once was sent as an emissary to Queen Elizabeth I? ?Coincidentally (and if I understand this correctly), before he was executed, John Hay was commendator (lay abbot) of Balmerino, a Cistercian monastery--and his descendant, my aunt's cousin, is even now a Trappist monk in France!

One last story has also recently come to us. ?My maternal grandfather had a best friend with whom he fought side-by-side in WWII (through North Africa, up through Italy, and into Germany, I believe), Tom Brady, after whom my uncle was named. ?Apparently, Tom Brady's descendants recently told us that my grandfather's unit is the one that captured and briefly held young Nazi Joseph Ratzinger, who was later released on the understanding that he had been forced to join. ?Of course, that young man eventually became the current Pope Benedict XVI.

Two big mysteries remain: ?are we Welsh? ?and who are the ancestors of my paternal grandfather, about whose father (who abandoned his first wife and numerous kids to start a second family in the same town, leaving his never-divorced wife to start a boarding house in the early 20th century) we know absolutely nothing.

Thanks, Gommie, for keeping the family history!

Source: http://mommyhungry.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-family-tree.html

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Simple Ways to Organize Your Small Laundry Room

Entry #2052, January 28, 2012

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A nice working environment affects the efficiency of your work. It ignites your body to work on your tasks. This can be observed especially in doing your laundry. When your?laundry room is well-organized, you will definitely find it easier and more efficient working on your laundry.

Typically, the laundry room has a limited space. It is just enough for the washing equipment and other laundry essentials. But it doesn?t mean you cannot create a conducive environment in doing your laundry. The key to achieve a nice working area is proper organization.

Keep an organized laundry room this season

Image via: The Kitchen Source

If you want some effective ideas, here are simple ways to organize your laundry room:

Opt for open shelving

Open shelving in your laundry room gives you easy access to laundry items. This will make you finish your tasks faster and better results. With open shelving, it will be easier for you to clean up any mess. Besides, the majority of laundry essentials doesn?t need concealment. The open shelving is perfect for this condition.

Laundry racks can help organize

Laundry racks are very essential in organizing. It can help you handle your task from segregating your laundry clothes until you hang them for drying. Always prefer laundry racks that have wheels so it will be very convenient to move around. Also, consider the size of your laundry racks. Make sure that you can hide and fit them in a corner.

Laundry room cabinetry & open shelving ideas

Image via: Turan Designs

Group laundry items together

This is very important in organizing your laundry room. Make sure that laundry detergents, fabric conditioners, and other laundry solutions are grouped together in an area. You also have to place frequently used items within your reach for convenience.

These are just some of the simple yet effective ways to organize your laundry room. You will definitely have a great laundry experience when the room is well-organized.

For more laundry room ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Source: http://stagetecture.com/2013/01/simple-ways-to-organize-your-small-laundry-room/

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Taye Diggs tackles home intruder after SAGs

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Actor Taye Diggs arrives at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

By Annette Arreola and Jonathan Lloyd, NBCLosAngeles.com

Actor Taye Diggs chased down and detained an intruder after returning home from the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night in the Studio City section of Los Angeles.

The "Private Practice" star returned home at about 11 p.m. Sunday to find the man in his Oakdell Lane residence, Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed Monday morning. The subject ran, but Diggs chased the man and tackled him, detaining the intruder until police arrived, according to the LAPD.

It was not immediately clear how the man accessed Diggs' home or whether the actor was injured.

Diggs' encounter with a home invader comes about five months after rapper-actor LL Cool J confronted an intruder?in his Studio City home. The intruder, who was charged with first-degree burglary, was hospitalized with a broken nose, jaw and ribs after the encounter with the "NCIS: Los Angeles" actor.

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/01/28/16738496-taye-diggs-tackles-detains-intruder-after-returning-home-from-sags?lite

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Microbes Survive, and Maybe Thrive, High In the Atmosphere

There are actually several noteworthy bacterial species that live almost exclusively in the mid and upper atmospheres.

For instance, here is a story from 2008 about 'rain making' atmospheric microbes. [sciencedaily.com]

This announcement is neither new, nor unexpected, and the hype injected by the media about it serves only to convey how poorly educated certain segments of the population actually are.

Seriously, if there is even the slightest possibility that life could exist in any given environment on earth, there is a reasonable expectation that given a sufficient sampling of those environments, you will find thriving lifeforms that have adapted to that environment. Life is just that pernicious and invasive.

Something as profoundly in contact with huge numbers of open biomes, like the atmosphere, with direct mechanisms of mixing low and high atmosphere contents, it really isn't surprising that microbes have adapted to conditions in the upper atmosphere.

For goodness sake, we have novel species of microbe that have adapted to the extreme conditions of nasa JPL cleanrooms, including intense, sustained UV bombardment. JPL hasn't be around nearly as long as the stratosphere. This isn't hard.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/65U7kaneejk/story01.htm

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Seagate results beat estimates; sees lower 3rd-qtr revenue

(Reuters) - Seagate Technology Plc forecast third-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates, on muted demand for its hard disk drives as consumers pick smartphones and tablets over PCs, sending its shares down 4 percent after the bell.

Worldwide PC shipments declined to 90.3 million units in the last three months of 2012, research firm Gartner said earlier in January, indicating that the sector was suffering from a shift in consumer habits as much as a weak global economy.

Seagate, whose hard disk drives and solid state drives are used to store data inside computers, forecast third-quarter revenue of between $3.25 billion and $3.45 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $3.48 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Our business environment continues to be impacted by a wide range of macroeconomic, spending and demand challenges," Chief Executive Steve Luczo said on a conference call with analysts.

Net income fell to $492 million or $1.30 per share, in the second quarter, compared with $563 million, or $1.28 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.38 per share.

Revenue rose about 15 percent to $3.67 billion, beating analysts' estimates for the first time in two quarters. It shipped 58 million drives in the quarter.

Analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $1.33 per share, on revenue of $3.58 billion.

Rival Western Digital Corp last week reported second-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations on growth in its enterprise segment.

Seagate has recovered after its manufacturing facilities were hit by floods in 2011.

Thailand, which accounted for over half of the world's hard disk drive production, saw its worst flooding in decades in 2011 that threw industrial production off track as factories and estates remained inundated.

During the period, sales of hard drive makers were crimped, as production levels fell.

Seagate shares, which have gained about 32 percent in the last three months, were down about 3 percent at $35.73 after the bell. They closed at $37.41 on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Chandni Doulatramani in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seagates-quarterly-revenue-rises-211204148--finance.html

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Condo Rental Market Inventory and Prices

January 28th, 2013 Related Posts: Brickell, Real Estate News

Despite an 8% increase in median rental rates in Downtown Miami real estate, leasing transactions also increased by 5% in 2012, when sided against the previous year?s market statistics.

The real estate market in Brickell and Downtown Miami have experienced a steady uptick for the past three years, according to a Market Intelligence Report released by Condo Vultures. In 2012 for example, 5,300 residential units were rented, whereas in 2011, there were 200 less ? totaling 5,100. Two years ago, this ?number was just 4,750 for 2010 leases in Downtown Miami.

In dollars and cents, the numbers for 2012 translate to a median of $1.99 per SF, compared to $1.85/SF ?in 2011.? The report postulates that rentals have stemmed from popular MLS marketing services.

Currently, there are an estimated 950 residential units on the market for rent. They?re expected to be leased within the space of? two months, as monthly rental averages are around 450 ? based on records from 2012.

To summarize the current prices of this inventory, 10 residential units for lease in Downtown Miami? are four-bedrooms with a mean rate of $2.95/SF; 115 are three-bedrooms with a median rate of $2.45/SF;? 465 are two-bedrooms with an estimated asking price of $2.20/SF; 315 are one-bedroom residences going for an average? of $2.45/SF, and a total of 50 studios will be rented for around $2.95/SF each.

Downtown Miami real estate encompasses over 60 blocks of NEW MIAMI, a part of which is Brickell and Biscayne Bay. These areas are Sydney Server Real Estate?s niche markets.

The current inventory includes Sydney Server?s listing, a Luxury Downtown Condo FOR LEASE at the Marquis Residence. Details include: 1100 Biscyane Blvd, Condo #4302. MLS# A1727471. 2BR/2.5BA FOR LEASE Price: $5,250. Monthly.

Contact Miami Realtor Sydney Server for more information.

Sources: Condo Vultures

Photo Credit: Miami Downtown Life

Daneil Fletcher for SydneyServerRealEstate.com

Authored by Sydney Server | Print This Post | Please Leave A Comment ? ?

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2013 at 11:24 am and is filed under Brickell, Real Estate News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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Source: http://blog.ewm.com/2013/01/28/condo-rental-market-inventory-and-prices/

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Fragile economy, other global woes dominated Davos

Participants listen a panel session in the Congress Hall the last day of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

Participants listen a panel session in the Congress Hall the last day of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

An activist of the Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN stands on a fence during a protest at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Keystone/Jean-Christophe Bott)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? The fragile state of the world economy, coupled with the relentless turmoil in Syria and the rocky fallout from the Arab Spring, dominated discussions during this year's annual gathering of the global elite at Davos, leaving many participants uneasy about what lies ahead as they left for home Sunday.

Even broad agreement that there are some positive signs on the economic front, at least in emerging markets, was coupled with a warning from the head of the International Monetary Fund. "Do not relax," Christine Lagarde said. There's still a "risk of relapse."

More than 2,500 of the best and brightest in business, government, academia and civic life gathered for the five-day World Economic Forum at this Alpine resort. But much of the overt glitz and glamor that is a usual feature was toned down or absent this year, a decision founder Klaus Schwab said reflected the serious issues facing the world.

Political and economic issues vie for top billing each year at Davos, and this time, the economy had the edge, with a special focus on how to promote economic growth and jobs, especially for the youth among the world's 220 million jobless.

The IMF said that China, Africa, and other emerging markets could see significant growth, but Japan, eurozone nations and the U.S. are likely to struggle with negative to low growth. Ahead of the 43rd forum, the IMF downgraded its forecast for global economic growth this year by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.5 percent.

While the U.S. avoided the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and spending cuts, and fears have abated that the euro currency union will break up, there is growing concern that governments may ease up on measures to improve growth and reduce debt that the IMF and many other institutions are calling for.

IMF chief Lagarde said the "very fragile and timid recovery" depends on leaders in the 17-nation eurozone, the United States and Japan making "the right decisions." The eurozone in particular "is fragile because it is prone to political crisis" and slow decision-making, she said.

Davos participants' uneasiness about the world economy was matched by growing concern over the political turmoil in the Arab world, terrorism in North Africa, a spate of natural disasters that have highlighted the failure to tackle climate change, and the growing inequality between the world's "haves" and "have nots."

"Two years ago, gloom around the stalled economic recovery was leavened by euphoria at the outbreak of the Arab spring," Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press at Saturday night's low-key final reception. "This year, relief at the improved economic outlook is tempered by despair at the unimpeded slaughter in Syria, uncertainty about the outlook in Egypt, and frustration over the Arab monarchies' resistance to reform."

The Arab Spring uprisings have ousted dictators in Tunisia, Yemen, Libya and Egypt over the past two years. But now Islamists and liberals are wrangling over power, with Islamists mainly gaining the upper hand. Democracy is far from certain, and economic woes have left hundreds of thousands of young people jobless and frustrated that their "revolutions" haven't produced any dividends.

Former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, a losing candidate in Egypt's presidential election last year, said there have been achievements, but warned that democracy isn't only about casting a vote.

"It is the respect of human rights, for rights of women, separation of powers, independence of the judiciary. This meaning of democracy we have not yet achieved," Moussa said.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks remain stalled, Arab monarchs remain entrenched, and the death toll from the escalating civil war in Syria has topped 60,000 with no end in sight.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose country is hosting almost 300,000 Syrian refugees, predicted that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime will last at least another six months. He called for a transition plan involving all Syrians and the Syrian army.

He also urged stepped up international support to end the Syrian crisis, saying, "The weakest refugees are struggling now just to survive this year's harsh winter."

Abdullah told the forum that "unprecedented threats to regional and global stability and security" need international action now, not the "wait and see" response by some countries ? which he did not identify ? especially in helping governments emerge politically and financially from the Arab uprisings.

The king, considered one of the region's moderate leaders, also warned Israel to stop playing the "waiting game," and said President Barack Obama's second term offered the last opportunity to create two states ? Palestine and Israel ? that can live side-by-side in peace.

Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said the focus on resolving the world's economic crisis has distracted leaders from many other important issues, including education, the social consequences of unemployment and promoting ways to deal with climate change.

Nonetheless, Gurria said, the world should be "very worried" because there aren't many "tools" left to fix the economy if things get worse.

Trevor Manuel, South Africa's National Planning Commission minister, told AP that the key message from Davos for him was a positive one ? that "many of the decisions that have been taken bring us closer to where we need to be." He warned that "a sense of an all-pervasive gloom ... frequently becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-27-Davos%20Forum-Wrap-up/id-4da09d8fe92649d797d352d884c096e7

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Argentina, Iran to form "truth commission" for 1994 bombing

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina said on Sunday it had agreed with Iran to establish a "truth commission" in a bid to resolve the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that Argentine courts accuse the Iran of sponsoring.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez agreed to open talks with Tehran on the attack last year in a sharp change in diplomatic policy that irked Israel and drew criticism from Jewish leaders in Buenos Aires and the United States.

Fernandez said foreign ministers from Argentina and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding during a meeting in Ethiopia.

The accord establishes a truth commission made up of foreign legal experts "to analyze all the documentation presented to date by the judicial authorities of Argentina and Iran," Fernandez said in a series of Twitter messages.

Fernandez, who has close ties with other Latin American leaders who are on good terms with Tehran, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, hailed the agreement as historic.

The five commissioners will be jointly nominated and will not be residents of Argentina or Iran, according to a document posted on Fernandez's Facebook page.

After analyzing the evidence, "the commission will give its vision and issue a report with recommendations about how the case should proceed within the legal and regulatory framework of both parties," according to the agreement.

It also outlines plans for Argentine legal officials to meet in Tehran to question "those people for whom Interpol has issued a red notice."

"For the first time, it will be possible for suspects identified by Argentina's justice system to be questioned by the judge and prosecutor in the case," Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said in a statement.

In 2007, Argentine authorities secured Interpol arrest warrants for five Iranians and a Lebanese in the bombing of the center, which killed 85 people. Iran denies links to the attack.

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi is among the Iranian officials sought by Argentina, which is home to Latin America's largest Jewish community.

Western and Israeli sources have voiced concerns that Argentina may have lost its interest in pursuing investigations of the 1994 attack, as well as the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people two years earlier.

The Islamic Jihad Organization, believed to be linked to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the 1992 bombing.

Fernandez said the accord, which must be ratified by Congress, showed Argentina "would never let the tragedy (attack) become a chess piece in the game of wider geopolitical interests."

"Dialogue (is) the only way to resolve conflicts between countries, however severe they are," she said via Twitter.

(Reporting by Guido Nejamkis; Writing by Helen Popper; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/argentina-iran-form-truth-commission-1994-bombing-173244285.html

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Militant groups clash in Pakistan, 24 killed

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? 'Two Islamic militant groups clashed Saturday over control of a prized valley in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens more, officials said.

Arshad Khan of the Khyber tribal region said the fighting between the two Islamic militant groups began Friday in Tirah valley, near the Afghan border, when the militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, captured the base of another militant group, Ansarul Islam. Ansarul Islam tried to retake the base and fighting continued into Saturday.

The Pakistani military has been battling a stubborn insurgency in northwest Pakistan in rugged tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

The remote valley, tucked in mountainous terrain, is highly valued by militant groups as a base of operations. It's difficult for the Pakistani military to enter the area, which allows militants easy access to Afghanistan and other tribal areas of Pakistan.

Most of the dead were militants, but some local tribesmen also were killed, according to a Pakistani military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information to the media.

In Baluchistan province in the south, government troops have been waging a longtime struggle against Baloch nationalists, who demand a greater share of income generated from mineral and gas resources there.

On Saturday, a large group of armed men attacked a post manned by pro-government tribal militia members in a remote area in southwestern Baluchistan, killing two tribesmen and abducting seven more. The post is 300 miles (500 kilometers) northeast of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but Baluch nationalists often target government forces and their supporters.

Local administrator Noor Illahi Bugti said dozens of armed men attacked the post, shot and killed two of the tribesmen and then forced the others to surrender. He said seven of the militia volunteers were then taken away by the armed group.

Bugti said security forces rushed to the area and were searching for the militia volunteers.

___

Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/militant-groups-clash-pakistan-24-killed-145642636.html

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IRL: HTC 8X, Google Now and the iPod shuffle

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

We swear we didn't plan it this way, but it looks like we've got a little trifecta this week, with write-ups pertaining to Apple, Google and, last but not least, Microsoft. On the pessimistic end of the spectrum, Dana would rather have the third-generation iPod shuffle than the model she's using. Terrence is hooked on Google Now and Jon likes the HTC 8X -- just not as much as the Lumia 920.

HTC 8X

What's this? Another Windows Phone 8 test? Yes, while I was trying the Lumia 920 and before I reviewed the ATIV S, I felt it was only fair to give the third flagship of the platform, HTC's Windows Phone 8X, a proper shakedown. I spent a few weeks with one to gauge the differences and came back with the impression that HTC has a worthy flagship -- but not necessarily the one I'd choose for myself.

If you talk solely about ergonomics, the 8X is undoubtedly my first pick. It's much lighter and grippier than the Lumia 920, and the smaller screen makes it easier to reach every corner with one hand than the ATIV S. About the only reservations I have are that hard-to-press power button and the relatively sharp edges. The stand-out appearance can't help but sway me, too. If you get the phone in one of the bolder colors (read: not black), it's simply iconic. No one will mistake an 8X for another phone, while both the ATIV S and Lumia 920 have familiar-looking peers.

Yet there are a few ingredients missing that make it hard to call HTC's creation my perfect Windows Phone 8 device. Simply speaking, the camera just isn't as good as it needs to be in early 2013. While the 8X is sometimes a better pick for up-close photography than the Lumia 920, it falls apart in low-light situations where the Lumia is a champ. Apps matter, as well. Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps aren't vital, but I missed their navigation when I switched devices. And I'll have to admit that being Canadian skews my preferences towards the Nokia phone's glove-friendly screen: it's great to avoid the binary choice of making a phone call versus preserving my fingers. While I'd be inclined to choose the 8X over the ATIV S as long as storage wasn't a priority, I would still give Nokia the ultimate nod as the most relevant to real-world use.

-- Jon Fingas

Google Now

Pretty much from the moment I first launched Google Now it changed the way I interacted with my phone. I've used Siri and toyed with S Voice, but Now is the only virtual assistant that seems like more than an occasionally useful gimmick. Truth is, at this point I unlock directly into it almost as often as I go to the home screen. Sure, in the early days its functionality was fairly limited (and still is), but there was enough information presented by default to keep me coming back. When Gmail was added to its repository of information, the app became a true game-changer for me. While other "assistant" apps are little more than voice commands with personality, Now actually helps track information for you and presents it at valuable times. I don't have to ask what the weather is like or how long it'll take me to get to my next appointment -- it just tells me without prompting.

Of course, things aren't perfect. Now still has a lot of rough edges to work out. For one, the mobile boarding pass feature has yet to work as advertised for me, though, its flight tracking feature turns out to be quicker and more accurate than United's own app. It also stumbles a bit on tracking packages. I like that it recognizes tracking numbers and presents them to me with a quick link, but Now doesn't actually do any tracking itself. Instead it simply shows the card to you for a predetermined amount of time. That's fine if you're enjoying free two-day shipping thanks to Amazon Prime, but if your delivery takes more than a couple of days the card disappears before the box hits your doorstep. It also has an unfortunate habit of presenting me directions to a "new place" almost any time I perform a web search. Oh, and some higher-res icons for the sports score cards would be greatly appreciated.

None of that is enough to ruin the experience, however. If I need to know when my bus is coming, what the temperature is, if my flight is on time or even how many steps I took this month I simply swipe up on my Nexus lock screen and let Google do the work for me. What's more, things can only get better as the company improves its algorithms, opens up new sources of data and, hopefully, develops an API to let other apps tap into the power of Now.

-- Terrence O'Brien

iPod shuffle (fourth generation)

We runners are a superstitious bunch. In my training group, "Nothing new on race day" is our mantra, and it's one to which I've adhered earnestly. It goes without saying that new shoes, running shorts and Snozberry-flavored energy gels are out of the question, but I even get antsy about wearing my Spibelt around my waist instead of my hips. Yeah, I'm neurotic, but running 26.2 miles is scary, yo.

So I was none too pleased when I had a gadget emergency the week before the 2011 New York City Marathon. I'd been training with the Sansa Clip Zip for two months when it abruptly began having mood swings. It started repeating songs, even when I had set my library to shuffle. Sometimes, if it encountered a song it didn't like, it just froze. On a good day, I could side-step the issue by selecting a different artist or song. At its worst, the only way to revive it was to perform a hard reset.

Obviously, that wasn't going to cut it for my epic run, so I did what any desperate person would do: I went to Best Buy and spent $50 on an iPod shuffle. Truly, I would have preferred something like the nano, which would have let me choose specific songs, but I wasn't about to drop $149 on what was essentially an impulse buy. Fifty bucks was about as much as I was willing to spend without having had the opportunity to hem and haw over my purchase.

So I used it. And it was okay. The clip doesn't feel as strong as on the third-generation model. Also, it came with regular headphones (i.e., ones without inline controls), which meant I had to press the player on the device to pause the music and skip tracks. To this day, I find the keys a bit too small, and I often hit the wrong one, mistaking pause for fast-forward, etc. Fortunately, I've since subbed in a pair with an inline remote, which means I barely have to touch the device anymore (except, perhaps, to reposition it in a place where the clip will stay put). Battery life was initially awesome -- I got through that nearly six-hour marathon (oof) with plenty of juice to spare. It's since seen better days, though, to the point where I now have to recharge it several times a week. Faint praise, if ever you've heard it, but at least it doesn't force me to listen to the same Madonna song over and over. That would just be cruel.

-- Dana Wollman

Filed under: Misc, Apple, HTC, Google

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/27/irl-htc-8x-google-now-ipod-shuffle/

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Is Your Business Guilty of These 6 Blogging Mistakes?

Nellie Akalp is a passionate entrepreneur, small business advocate and mother of four. As CEO of CorpNet.com, a legal document filing service, Nellie helps entrepreneurs start a business, incorporate, form an LLC or set up sole proprietorships (DBAs) for a new or existing business.

These days it seems like every business ? from dentistry to software ? has a blog. However, just because everyone has a blog doesn?t mean everyone is doing it right. Whether you?re just launching a blog for your business, or you?ve been blogging for awhile, it?s easy to fall into some blogging bad habits.

As a small business owner, I try to truly embrace the unique opportunity that social media offers. I?ve been experimenting with our company blog for years; here are some lessons I've learned along the way, including the mistakes.

1. Mistaking your blog for a promotional platform.

Many small business owners rush to blogging, and to social media in general ? they see it as free advertising. However, when your blog posts focus too much on your company, products and services, your blog is no longer useful or credible. Few readers will return to read about why you?re so awesome week after week.

If the bulk of your posts are company or product-centric, you?ll need to change the way you think about your blog. Focus your content so it offers information that?s useful and relevant to whatever your particular community cares about. For example, my company helps small businesses incorporate, file for trademarks and launch their business from a legal perspective. Therefore, we try to cater our topics toward whatever would help small business owners run their companies, from leadership and employee management tips to small business marketing and taxes.

Some experts advise on keeping a 90:10 or 75:25 ratio when it comes to educational vs. promotional content. You don?t necessarily have to stick to some magic equation, as long as you keep your audience?s needs and interests at the forefront of your blog strategy.

2. Not posting consistently.

It?s easy to start a blog, but not so easy to keep it going. A small business blog usually fails due to lack of commitment or resources. A HubSpot report found that companies who blog frequently and consistently benefit the most from their blogging efforts.

Before launching your blog, determine the ideal posting frequency to keep your blog fresh, for example, once or twice per week. If you need to, scout out your competitor?s blogs to gauge the average number of posts per week. In an ideal world, you should create a quarterly editorial plan for your upcoming post topics. And during downtimes, create a handful of general (non time-sensitive) topics that can be fed into the blog whenever the schedule gets tight.

3. Not engaging with your readers.

A blog isn?t a press release or static web page where information simply flows from you to the reader. Social media uniquely provides a direct link to interact with your customers and community; it would be shame not to take advantage of the opportunity. If you?re fortunate enough to have engaged readers who comment on your blog posts, be sure to acknowledge them ? whether by thanking them for some kind words, answering a question, providing further details, or inserting yourself in a conversation.

While everyone will differ on the level of community moderation and control, the following is true: If you want to encourage engagement, you need to make it easy for your readers to leave comments. Log-in systems and captcha forms help limit spam or trolls, but they also make it difficult for the casual reader to leave a comment.

4. Being too SEO-focused.

Blogging can have an amazing impact on your keyword rankings and organic search traffic. I encourage businesses to develop an SEO strategy for their blogs. Identify the top keywords for your business and optimize your posts with those keywords. Tools like Scribe or Yoast can help you with search engine optimization.

However, the most successful business blogs write for humans, not machines. Don?t hire a poor quality SEO company that churns out posts filled with specific keywords and phrases, without even thinking whether the content is useful or easy to read. That strategy might drive visitors to your blog, but those visitors will never stay, read, engage with or share your content if it's poor. Keywords don?t create credibility. Write posts that are interesting, sprinkle in keywords now and then, and your efforts will be rewarded.

5. Not using images the right way.

While many new bloggers focus on the words, images are the best way to grab people?s attention quickly. In addition, breaking up longer posts with images that illustrate what you?re talking about will help keep readers interested and combat our limited attention spans.

For many small business blogs, the problem with images boils down to resource allocation. You may expect it to take you one hour to write a post, but only a few minutes to find an image. However, finding the right image is rarely that easy.

Before you begin searching, take a few minutes to think about the main concept, feeling or idea your post is trying to convey. You should always use images that are visually engaging, aesthetically pleasing and relevant to your post. Your image needs to express a concept and not just look like you picked the first stock image that came your way.

In addition, many small businesses run afoul of copyright law and fair use practices by thinking they have the right to use any photo found on the Internet. The best way to steer clear of trouble when selecting images for your blog is to use ones with Creative Commons licensing. You can search for Creative Commons-licensed images on Flickr, on the Creative Commons website or via CC search engines like Compfight or Photo Pin.

6. Not listening to your readers.

Not sure what kind of content appeals to your audience the most? It?s not a mystery: Your blog analytics can provide valuable insight into what types of posts are resonating with readers.

By failing to pay attention to analytics, you?re ignoring valuable information that can take your blog to the next level. Continually track the responses to each blog post. Tinker with different topics, titles and types of posts. Which posts generate the most activity (comments, shares, likes)? Increase the frequency of the most popular.

What are some of the top lessons you have learned with your business blog?

Photo via iStockphoto, Erikona

Source: http://mashable.com/2013/01/25/business-blog-mistakes/

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Violence returns to Tahrir as Egypt marks revolution

Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Tahrir Square to mark the 2011 uprising that led to Egypt's change in power. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.?

By Ahmed el-Shemi and Tom Perry, Reuters

Five people were shot dead in the Egyptian city of Suez during nationwide protests against President Mohamed Morsi on Friday, the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

One of the dead was a member of the security forces, medics said. Another 280 civilians and 55 security personnel were injured, officials said, in demonstrations fuelled by anger at the president and his Islamist allies in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thousands of opponents of Morsi massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the cradle of the revolt against Mubarak - to rekindle the demands of a revolution they say has been hijacked by Islamists who have betrayed its goals.

Street battles erupted in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said. Arsonists attacked at least two state-owned buildings as symbols of government were targeted. An office used by the Muslim Brotherhood's political party was also torched.

---

The Jan. 25 anniversary laid bare the divide between the Islamists and their secular rivals.

Ed Giles / Getty Images

An Egyptian protester runs with a live tear gas canister during clashes with riot police around Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday.

This schism is hindering the efforts of Morsi, elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a plunge in Egypt's currency by enticing back investors and tourists.

Inspired by the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt's revolution spurred further revolts across the Arab world. But the sense of common purpose that united Egyptians two years ago has given way to internal strife that had already triggered bloody street battles last month.

"Our revolution is continuing. We reject the domination of any party over this state. We say no to the Brotherhood state," Hamdeen Sabahy, a popular leftist leader, told Reuters.

PhotoBlog: Protesters fill Tahrir Square on anniversary of Egyptian revolution

The Brotherhood decided against mobilizing for the anniversary, wary of the scope for more conflict after December's violence, stoked by Morsi's decision to fast-track an Islamist-tinged constitution rejected by his opponents.

The Brotherhood denies accusations that it is seeking to dominate Egypt, labeling them a smear campaign by its rivals.

Death in Suez
There were conflicting accounts of the lethal shooting in Suez. Some witnesses said security forces had opened fire in response to gunfire from masked men.

News of the deaths capped a day of violence which started in the early hours. Before dawn in Cairo, police battled protesters who threw petrol bombs and firecrackers as they approached a wall blocking access to government buildings near Tahrir Square.

Clouds of tear gas filled the air. At one point, riot police used one of the incendiaries thrown at them to set ablaze at least two tents erected by youths, a Reuters witness said.

Yuka Tachibana / NBC News

A boy is draped in the Egyptian flag as protesters gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Friday. Despite clashes around the square, the atmosphere inside was festive at times.

Skirmishes between stone-throwing youths and the police continued in streets around the square into the day. Ambulances ferried away a steady stream of casualties.

Protesters echoed the chants of 2011's historic 18-day uprising. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted. "Leave! Leave! Leave!" chanted others as they marched towards the square.

"We are not here to celebrate but to force those in power to submit to the will of the people. Egypt now must never be like Egypt during Mubarak's rule," said Mohamed Fahmy, an activist.

There were similar scenes in Suez and Alexandria, where protesters and riot police clashed near local government offices. Black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by youths.

In Cairo, police fired tear gas to disperse a few dozen protesters trying to remove barbed-wire barriers protecting the presidential palace, witnesses said. A few masked men got as far as the gates before they were beaten back.

Tear gas was also fired at protesters who tried to remove metal barriers outside the state television building.

Outside Cairo, protesters broke into the offices of provincial governors in Ismailia and Kafr el-Sheikh in the Nile Delta. A local government building was torched in the Nile Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra.

Badie calls for 'serious competition'
With an eye on parliamentary elections likely to begin in April, the Brotherhood marked the anniversary with a charity drive across the nation. It plans to deliver medical aid to one million people and distribute affordable basic foodstuffs.

Writing in Al-Ahram, Egypt's flagship state-run daily, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie said the country was in need of "practical, serious competition" to reform the corrupt state left by the Mubarak era.

Asmaa Waguih / Reuters

On the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, hundreds of youths clash with police.

"The differences of opinion and vision that Egypt is passing through is a characteristic at the core of transitions from dictatorship to democracy, and clearly expresses the variety of Egyptian culture," he wrote.

Morsi's opponents say he and his group are seeking to dominate the post-Mubarak order. They accuse him of showing some of the autocratic impulses of the deposed leader by, for example, driving through the new constitution last month.

"I am taking part in today's marches to reject the warped constitution, the 'Brotherhoodisation' of the state, the attack on the rule of law, and the disregard of the president and his government for the demands for social justice," Amr Hamzawy, a prominent liberal politician, wrote on his Twitter feed.

The Brotherhood says its rivals are failing to respect the rules of the new democracy that put the Islamists in the driving seat via free elections.

Six months into office, Morsi is also being held responsible for an economic crisis caused by two years of turmoil. The Egyptian pound has sunk to record lows against the dollar.

The parties that called for Friday's protests list demands including a complete overhaul of the constitution.

Critics say the constitution, which was approved in a referendum, offers inadequate protection for human rights, grants the president too many privileges and fails to curb the power of a military establishment supreme in the Mubarak era.

Morsi's supporters say enacting the constitution quickly was crucial to restoring stability needed for economic recovery.?

Related:

PhotoBlog: Egypt riot police set fire to protest tents in Tahrir Square, witness says

Egyptians fear decades of Muslim Brotherhood rule, warn Morsi is no friend to US

'Egypt is free,' crowds cheer after Mubarak quits

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16692054-violence-protesters-return-to-tahrir-square-suez-as-egypt-marks-revolution?lite

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Philippine Congress okays bill on payments to human rights victims

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine Congress has approved a bill awarding compensation to thousands of victims of human rights abuses under late President Ferdinand Marcos's 20-year iron rule.

Under the final version of the bill approved by a bicameral committee late on Wednesday, payments amounting to more than 10 billion pesos ($246 million) to the victims will come from funds recovered by the government from Marcos's ill-gotten wealth.

The abuses occurred during the period of martial law from September 21, 1972 up to Marcos's downfall on February 25, 1986.

Victims who can claim compensation include about 10,000 people, subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and execution during the Marcos regime, and their relatives who filed and won a class-action suit against Marcos in 1995 in Hawaii.

Marcos, who was overthrown in a popular revolt in 1986, fled the country and died in exile in Hawaii.

The bill needs to be ratified by a plenary session of Congress on Monday before it is signed into law by President Benigno Aquino, whose late father, a former senator critical of Marcos, was assassinated in 1983 at a Manila tarmac upon his return from exile in the United States.

"We urge Congress to immediately ratify the compensation bill and for President Aquino to sign the bill into law so that the reparation process can start," Neri Colmenares, a party-list representative and one of the proponents of the bill, told reporters.

Marcos's family has since returned to the Philippines and retains power and influence in the country. His wife Imelda, infamous for her collection of jewelry and shoes, is currently a member of the lower chamber of Congress while his son is a senator.

In 1997, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court awarded over $600 million in funds, considered to be illegally acquired by Marcos, to the Philippine government.

The bill provides for the creation of an independent body that will evaluate and process payments to the victims, with compensation to be based on the gravity of abuse they endured.

($1 = 40.6300 Philippine pesos)

(Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/philippine-congress-okays-bill-payments-human-rights-victims-040750564.html

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Source: http://kaftan-lawn.blogspot.com/2013/01/office-ergonomics-learn-secrets-of-good.html

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Alternative Statutory Bases for Invalidating ?Gene Patents?

The Supreme Court recently granted a writ of certiorari in the highly controversial case Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad. In the coming months, the Court will determine whether the genetic material claimed by Myriad?s composition patents is patentable subject matter under Section 101 of the Patent Act. The high profile case has generated a widespread debate often framed as whether genes should be patentable. To the extent that the patentability of genetic material is not the specific question at issue in Myriad, such publicity may be misleading or overstate the impact of the Supreme Court?s decision. This post seeks to serve as a reminder that a holding in favor of Myriad would only establish that the claims at issue meet one of the many requirements of our patent system.

The nonobviousness and written description requirements set forth in sections 103 and 112 of the Patent Act provide additional and, some argue, more effective filters for claims directed towards genetic material. According to some academics, these requirements have been much further developed in the case law, are more finely tuned to address patents on genetic material, and provide more appropriate filters for separating truly inventive additions to human knowledge from unpatentable matter. Two landmark cases illustrate how these requirements have been used to invalidate claims directed towards genetic material.

First, the Federal Circuit invalidated patent claims for failing to meet the written description requirement in Regents of the University of California v. Eli Lilly & Co. The patent specification described cDNA encoding rat insulin, which the court held did not give the patentee a right to also claim the cDNA encoding human insulin. The court emphasized that even if the disclosure was sufficient to enable a person of skill in the art to make and use that cDNA, it still failed to meet the written description requirement. On the other hand, the court noted, a recitation of the actual nucleotide sequence would suffice. As some scholars argue, the requirement so applied compels applicants ?to spell out the exact sequence of all the DNA they hope to claim, rather than just the function of the genes.? Denise DeFranco argues that the primary goal of applying the requirement in this way to biotechnology patents ?is to limit inventors to their actual inventions.? Indeed, at the time the Plaintiffs in Eli Lilly applied for the patent claiming human insulin, they had only cloned the rat insulin gene, and did not clone the human insulin gene until two years later.

In another significant biotechnology case in 2009, In re Kubin, the Federal Circuit invalidated patent claims on obviousness grounds. The case involved a claim to the isolation and sequencing of a gene encoding a protein domain known as NAIL. In light of the prior art references, which taught a prophetic method for isolating the gene that codes for the NAIL protein as well as a probe specific to the protein, the court held that the claims were invalid. Prior to this holding, similar patents had been upheld even when the prior art included as much or more information as that considered in Kubin, such as the actual polypeptide sequence of the protein at issue and not just a probe for the protein. This decision has thus been characterized as ?a major change in the law that will lower the bar for finding biotechnology patents obvious.? Joanne Kwan postulates that following Kubin, biotech inventions such as claims to isolated genes that encode particular proteins may now be routinely invalidated as obvious under Section 103.

This post does not comment on the social desirability of allowing patents on genetic material, nor on the legal merits of the arguments in Myriad. Rather, it seeks to highlight that the question raised by the patentable subject matter challenge in Myriad is a narrow one, a ?coarse eligibility filter? in the words of the Federal Circuit. The Patent Act provides a number of other requirements to ensure that patents on genetic material aren?t improvidently granted when, for example, the inventors have not actually cloned the gene they are claiming, or when the protein of interest, a motivation to isolate the gene coding for that protein, and illustrative instructions for cloning the gene already exist in the prior art. Regardless of the precedent ultimately set by Myriad, these and other additional statutory requirements will continue to have a significant impact on the validity of patent claims directed to genetic material.

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Source: http://www.stlr.org/2013/01/alternative-statutory-bases-for-invalidating-%E2%80%9Cgene-patents%E2%80%9D/

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The Internet is Dead, or Something.

The Internet is dead.

OK, that?s clearlynot true, but we tend not to talk about it much anymore.

There was a time when you could spend an entire day on your computer without going online. I remember when we first got Internet, going online was a process. Going online was a task.?Because of the proximity of our computer to our phone line, if I wanted to go online, I had to stretch out a long piece of phone cable, plug it into the phone jack, and then go for the dial-up modem, listen to that wonderful dial up sound, and pray that it actually connected.

Oh, and we would announce that were going online. It was an activity. And it meant that forever how long we were online, no one could call us:

?I was calling you for hours but kept getting a busy signal. Were you online??

And we started with a few of the free services like Juno and Netzero (and perhaps a few others I can?t recall) and bumped around those until the free services were gone and signed up for the king of the moment: AOL. Remember them?

But now, we don?t even think about it. Rarely do we declare that we are ?going online.?

Why? Because we?re always online. I remember when I helped switch my parents over from dial-up to DSL I had a hard time explaining that theoretically they were ?always? online while at the same time helping them understand that just because they were always online, didn?t mean that the world was creeping back at them through their phone line, ready to steal whatever they had on the computer.

With the pervasiveness of broadband, wireless, and mobile technology, we are all ?always connected.? We don?t go to the Internet, the Internet comes to us. If you?re like me, you get push notifications anytime someone interacts with you on any number of platforms. Whether it?s an email, a blog comment, a tweet, something on Facebook or Instagram.

But we don?t talk about those things as much. They are just a part of our lives, seamlessly integrated into our daily activities and doings.

Back in the days of CB radios (the seventies) I would go on and talk with friends. And what did we talk about? CB Radios!

Same with the early adoption of cell phone usage. It was common to hear someone saying, ?Yeah! I?m on the train! And talking to you!?

Not anymore. The fact that we?re not longer really talking about the Internet, per se, doesn?t mean it?s passe or ?dead.? It just means that we don?t think about it anymore. In some ways I think that?s what happening with Facebook. Some say it?s on the way out because people don?t talk about it anymore. I don?t think that?s true; I think we don?t talk about it anymore because we use it regularly without even really thinking about it. And when I say ?we? I?m talking mostly about the general public, not those of us who work in this field and get paid to think and talk about it.

Those outside of the marketing and communications world don?t obsess over these things the way some of us do.

And that?s why you?ll read blog posts ad nauseum about email being dead, or blogging, or whichever platform or technology we?re talking about here.

But the fact that we?re all online all the time is a good thing, at least for businesses and marketers looking to connect with us. It gives more opportunities for businesses to become a part of the social graph of individual users, and on their terms. More opportunities for customer service and lifestyle oriented marketing.

You want something that?s dead? Let?s talk 8-tracks, or leisure suits, or MySpace?oh?wait?

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Tagged as: facebook, internet, Internet access

Source: http://inklingmedia.net/2013/01/24/the-internet-is-dead-or-something/

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