Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Disney Teaches Its Animatronics Not to Be Classless Brutes

In an effort to make how robots move and interact with humans feel less awkward and uncomfortable, Disney Research, working with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, are developing a more natural approach to the problem by thoroughly studying how humans interact.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/m-GV8Ppw-3k/disney-teaches-its-animatronics-not-to-be-classless-bru-509026790

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Is Your House Boring? Take to These Home Improvement Tips For ...

Whether you desire to put a deck to your dwelling or learn how to do that faux completing technique you saw on HGTV, this short article gives you tips and pointers on different things you can do in your home to produce it more personal and a home you can take delight in since you did it yourself.

Increase privacy while changing the appearance of a or window with inexpensive window movies. These films stick to provide and glass a frosted or elsewhere distinctive look, which prevents passersby from seeing in to your home. This solution is ideal for windows found in a very bathroom or for front doors.

Update your kitchen to improve home value quickly. Kitchen developments can be as simple as stimulating paint or wallpaper or as complicated as adding new cabinetry, appliances or flooring. You can certainly do most yourself to kitchen developments or contract with a specialist for harder items. Buying your kitchen makes your home more fulfilling for yourself and your family, and the home value is also increased by it should you ever decide to sell your house.

At the start of the entire year, assess your home and see what things you had want to improve or work with. Make a list of these things and prioritize them. Then, carefully work your way through the list until you have done everything on it. Then, start the procedure once more these year until you have your dream house.

When organizing home improvement projects, consider how long you plan on residing in your home. If you are thinking about trying to sell it soon, you are likely to want to go with items that are fast and improve the house?s market value. If you?re considering residing in it for a long time, you may do the improvements that you personally desire to make the house fit your dream.

If the outside of your home is not attractive to you, then odds are your neighbors feel the same manner. Look at your shades, and when they would use a fresh coat of paint or need straightening see. Make sure your garage isn?t in disrepair as this is exactly what welcomes people to your house. You would like it to be inviting.

Having extra bathrooms in your home is important to the homeowners, but it also escalates the value of one?s home. Then adding your bathroom will be a good long-term investment, If you have the means. You should be sure to stick to the concept that your home already has, and hold it in the same time period whilst the rest of your home.

As it appears your kitchen is the gathering place for family and friends, then this is the number one restoration most homeowners should think about first, and one that brings the most importance to your residence. Make sure to choose a lot of case and table space. Also, no matter the conclusion on your own appliances, just ensure they all coordinate together.

There are always a number of things you can do around your home, both inside and outside, that will set your own personal stamp onto it, as you can see. It does not have to be a major change, because even the tiniest things can make an impact if done correctly and logically.

Post contributed by find out what essential knives you should stock in your kitchen

Source: http://www.dppd2009.de/is-your-house-boring-take-to-these-home-improvement-tips-for-success/

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How To Overcome The Fear Of Public Speaking - Coaching And ...

Ashley Banjos Secret Street Crew 5 How To Overcome The Fear Of Public Speaking

Yesterday I got to watch Diversity leader Ashley Banjo?s Secret Street Crew program, where he teaches some of the most unlikely people to dance.

Dinner ladies, teachers, firemen, dart players? have got from practically zero dance skills to performing rather difficult routines in front of unexpectant big audiences.

With a bit of help from the expert, they get to learn 2 key elements ?great dancers display:

?

1. Technique

2. Performance

?

Interestingly, the same 2 elements I teach my clients when they come to me for help with public speaking fears.

It?s a common fear I?ve personally overcome.

A lot of people dread speaking in front of an audience. Some people are OK with a couple of people, but more than that and they freeze. Some have jobs that require giving presentations. Some even dread work meetings where the attention is on them. I?ve even worked with people who were lonely because they couldn?t bring themselves to meet new people.

This can be a very debilitating fear that can result in a range of symptoms, from sweaty hands, jelly legs, red hot faces, trembling hands, shortness of breath, and even going completely blank. If you?ve ever experienced any of these you know it?s not fun at all.

In the past I used to feel physically ill just thinking about having to speak in from of a bunch of people. It?s kind of funny because at age 17 I was the front singer in a rock band and seemed to have no problem singing and dancing like a lunatic at concerts!fear of public speaking and panic attacks 190x300 How To Overcome The Fear Of Public Speaking

My public speaking fears arose when I got a little older and started to second guess myself and focus on all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons.

Thankfully I realized this. I got help, and with time and practice I got to not only conquer my fears, but now I teach seminars and workshops all the time, and speak with the media no problem at all, in fact I really enjoy it!

I love helping people overcome their fear of public speaking. It?s one of my favorite things to do because results often happen very quickly, so it?s extremely rewarding for my clients, and for me too.

Whether you?ve trouble approaching people, speaking in groups, or giving presentations, here are 3 top tips to help you overcome your fears and become a more confident speaker:

1#? PIMP YOUR ATTITUDE

Remind yourself that public speaking is a skill you can learn and get better at, just like all the other skills you?ve mastered in your life: smiling, walking, reading, writing? what will help is when you consciously switch from focusing on the problem to focusing on the solution. Ask yourself: how can I solve this?

You can improve how you dress to feel more confident, you can improve your posture, the way you carry yourself, the way you walk and move? you can also change the way you speak to yourself and to others, you can learn to be more composed and impactful with your tone, pitch, pace and choice of language? all of this you can learn and get better at, as long as you begin to focus on the solution.

2# DON?T GO COMPARE

We can always learn by watching other accomplished speakers in action, but avoid comparing yourself to them. Comparisons often lead to disappointment and bad feelings. Great speakers compare themselves to themselves. Like I said before, public speaking is a skill you can and will get better at when you focus on what matters. The more you practice the better you?ll get, as long as you keep asking yourself: how much better am I getting?

3#? FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS

When you think about yourself speaking in public, change how you see yourself in your mind, so you see what you want to see, i.e. a composed, confident and commanding you. What would you look like if you were at your very best? Also, change how you talk to yourself inside your head so you get to feel better. If you want to feel confident and at ease, speak to yourself in a confident and calm tone. When you feel more at ease, now you can change your focus from your stomach to the people in front ofyou.

And remember that no matter who you?re talking to, or what you?re talking about, when you concentrate on making people feel good around you, straight away they get to like you more.

Want to conquer your fear of public speaking? Ask me about my ConfidenceSquared program at anna@delite.ie

Source: http://dublinnlplifecoach.com/4603/how-to-overcome-the-fear-of-public-speaking/

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

NASA Mars rover Curiosity drills second rock target

May 20, 2013 ? NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland."

Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars. The first was Curiosity's drilling at a target called "John Klein" three months ago. Cumberland resembles John Klein and lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) farther west. Both are within a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay."

The hole that Curiosity drilled into Cumberland on May 19 is about 0.6 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.6 centimeters) deep.

The science team expects to use analysis of material from Cumberland to check findings from John Klein. Preliminary findings from analysis of John Klein rock powder by Curiosity's onboard laboratory instruments indicate that the location long ago had environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. The favorable conditions included the key elemental ingredients for life, an energy gradient that could be exploited by microbes, and water that was not harshly acidic or briny.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess the history of habitable environmental conditions inside Gale Crater. After a few more high-priority observations by the rover within and near Yellowknife Bay, the rover team plans to start Curiosity on a months-long trek to the base of a layered mound, Mount Sharp, at the middle of the crater. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/B0Lxli31_qY/130520173205.htm

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Should we let wunderkinds drop out of high school?

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2012 file photo, Tumblr founder David Karp participates in the "Bloomberg Leadership Summit" seminar in New York. Karp, 26, who founded Tumblr, the online blogging forum, and sold it to Yahoo for $1.1 billion, doesn't even have a high school diploma. Karp's mother told the AP that she let him leave school because she realized "he needed the time in the day in order to create." (AP Photo/Charles Sykes/Invision for Advertising Week)

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2012 file photo, Tumblr founder David Karp participates in the "Bloomberg Leadership Summit" seminar in New York. Karp, 26, who founded Tumblr, the online blogging forum, and sold it to Yahoo for $1.1 billion, doesn't even have a high school diploma. Karp's mother told the AP that she let him leave school because she realized "he needed the time in the day in order to create." (AP Photo/Charles Sykes/Invision for Advertising Week)

FILE - In a Monday, May 20, 2013 file photo, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and Tumblr Chief Executive David Karp speak during a news conference, in New York. Karp, 26, who founded Tumblr, the online blogging forum, and sold it to Yahoo for $1.1 billion, doesn't even have a high school diploma. Karp's mother told the AP that she let him leave school because she realized "he needed the time in the day in order to create." (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

(AP) ? It's one thing to say tech geniuses don't need degrees. After all, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college.

But now we've got David Karp, who doesn't even have a high school diploma. Karp, 26, founded Tumblr, the online blogging forum, and sold it to Yahoo for $1.1 billion.

Which raises the question: When is it OK for a wunderkind to drop out of school?

Some folks in Silicon Valley and elsewhere say a conventional education can't possibly give kids with outsize talents what they need. Others, like Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Stanford Law School who teaches and advises startup companies, say dropping out to pursue a dream is like "buying a lottery ticket ? that's how good your odds are here. More likely than not, you will become unemployed. For every success, there are 100,000 failures."

But what about kids who are so good at computer programming that schools can't teach them what they need to know? "That's what internships are for; that's what extracurricular activities are for," says Wadhwa, who has founded two companies.

Karp, in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, said he hopes teenagers don't look at his success as an excuse for leaving school. "That is not a path that I would haphazardly recommend to kids out there," he said. "I was in a very unique position of knowing exactly what I wanted to do at a time when computer science education certainly wasn't that good in high school in New York City."

Karp's mother gave him the option of home-schooling when he was 14, after he completed his freshman year at the Bronx High School of Science, an elite New York City public school that only admits students who score well on a difficult entrance exam. Karp took Japanese classes and had a math tutor while continuing with an internship at an animation production company, but by age 16, he was working for a website and was on his way to become a tech entrepreneur. He never did get his diploma. Karp's mother told the AP that she let him leave school because she realized "he needed the time in the day in order to create."

That resonates with Penny Mills of Hudson, Mass., who let her son Thomas Sohmers, 17, drop out of 11th grade this year. "I could see how much of the work he was doing at school wasn't relevant to what he wanted to learn," she said. "He always wanted to learn more than what the schools wanted to teach him. At times it was very frustrating. I was fortunate to find people that were able to teach him more, but he has gone beyond what high school could ever give him."

Thomas has been working at a research lab at the esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Technology since he was 13, developing projects ranging from augmented reality eyewear to laser communications systems. He just won a Thiel Fellowship, which gives $100,000 to 20 people under the age of 20 each year so they can skip college to focus on research or a dream, whether it's a high-tech project, a business or a nonprofit. But his mom says she would have let him drop out even if he hadn't won the award.

"The part that really bothers me is that there are a lot of Thomases out there and their needs are not being met," said Mills.

Thomas says he's sad to be leaving his teenage friends behind, but he's excited about the future. And he has mixed feelings about his years in school. "I've had some amazing, great teachers that really have the passion to teach, but most of what is in school now is teaching to a test," he said. "It's really sad. You're not learning the skills for how to solve the problem ? you are just learning the answer to this question that is going to be on the test."

Susan Bartell, a psychologist based in Port Washington, New York who works with adolescents and their families, says she frequently encounters parents who are convinced that their kids are extraordinarily gifted. But she cautions that it's "the very rare exception when this decision (to drop out) makes sense." In the case of Karp, she said, "it worked out, but almost always it doesn't ? even if a kid is extremely gifted. School is about much more than just academics and in most cases, even the most gifted kids need the socializing."

And not all young moguls take Karp's route. Earlier this year, a 17-year-old from London, Nick D'Aloisio, sold an app he created to Yahoo for $30 million ? but he decided to stay in school.

On the other hand, there are examples of successful individuals in many fields who lack a high school diploma, from top performers such as Jay-Z to billionaire businessmen such as Richard Branson.

The tech community may be different from other industries. Degrees are not necessarily seen as a hallmark of achievement and programmers are judged on their ability to type lines of code. You are what you create.

What also sets the field apart is that computer programming is not taught at every high school, and even when it is, the most talented students often either "surpass the curriculum or feel it's not relevant to them," said Danielle Strachman, program director for the Thiel Fellowship. "They want to move at their own pace."

Strachman also emphasized that just because someone has left school, doesn't mean they've stopped learning. The Thiel program provides not just funding, but a community of peers and mentors to help recipients reach their goals. And they can always go back to pursue a degree when the fellowship is over.

It's a goal that even Karp has his eye on? despite his newfound wealth. "I hope I have an opportunity to go to school at some point," he said, "and study something completely different."

___

Associated Press writers Meghan Barr in New York and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this story.

___

Online:

Thiel Fellowship: http://www.thielfellowship.org/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-21-Wunderkind%20Dropouts/id-03eaad9f649849888352f829888e0afd

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Toyota class-action suit worth up to $1.6 billion on the way

Toyota had to recall millions of vehicles with breaking problems in 2010, and a class action lawsuit worth up to $1.6 billion will be decided next month.

By Richard Read,?Guest blogger / May 19, 2013

A Toyota Motor Corp.,'s model is on display at the automaker's Tokyo head office in Tokyo, Wednesday, May 8, 2013.The automaker is heading for a huge class-action lawsuit stemming from widespread breaking problems in 2010

Itsuo Inouye/AP/File

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In 2010, Toyota recalled millions of vehicles for "unintended acceleration" issues, which generated lots of negative press for the automaker and put the brakes on Toyota sales.

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High Gear Media?s flagship website offers news, reviews, and the latest shopping tools for the cars that matter to US consumers. For more expert insights from Car Connection editors and opinions from around the Web,?click here.

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Though the recall has fallen out of the headlines, it's still the subject of a huge class action lawsuit working its way through federal court. According to a report in Detroit News, that case could be settled within the next month, and up to $1.6 billion hangs in the balance.

A QUICK RECAP

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began receiving complaints about sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles as far back as 2002, but it took the 2009 deaths of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and three of his family members?to bring the issue to the public's attention.

Numerous investigations, accusations,?speculations, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories later, some conclusions were reached. In 2011, NHTSA revealed that it found no electronic flaws on Toyota vehicles that might've resulted in sudden acceleration. However, there were problems with the design of Toyota's accelerator pedals, which had caused them to become trapped beneath floormats in some cases.?

Toyota has been reluctant to accept blame in the matter and maintains that its electronics systems were never at fault. Earlier this year, however, the company?settled out of court on a wrongful death case related to sudden acceleration. And now, Toyota is hoping for a repeat performance in one of the largest class action lawsuits in automotive history.

THE LOOMING SETTLEMENT

One month from today,?U.S. District Judge James Selna will determine whether a $1.63 billion settlement in that class action case is fair to plaintiffs. If he rules in Toyota's favor, much of that cash will be distributed to current and previous Toyota, Lexus, and Scion owners, reimbursing them for the loss in resale value their vehicles suffered following the recall.?

Settlement funds will also be allocated to:

  • Legal fees accrued by Toyota owners ($200 million)
  • Research into active safety features ($15 million)
  • A media campaign aimed at driver education ($14.2 million)
  • A study of defensive driving and proper use of existing safety systems ($800,000)

If you've owned a Toyota, Lexus, or Scion vehicle, you could be one of 9,000,000 people entitled to cash payments ranging from $37.50 to $125. To learn more, visit ToyotaSettlement.com, or jump directly to the informative PDF.?

We'll keep you posted as the case progresses.

[h/t John Voelcker]

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best auto bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger,?click here.?To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link in the blog description box above.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/nXSljxmf4wI/Toyota-class-action-suit-worth-up-to-1.6-billion-on-the-way

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What Your Sunscreen Should?and Shouldn?t?Have

First and foremost, spring and summer mean sun. We all know we need some of it (sunshine enables our body to absorb vitamin D, which is essential for bone density and a strong immune system), but there?s also the sun?s not-so-healthy aspect: skin cancer. Since 1975, rates of melanoma?the deadliest kind of skin cancer?have tripled, reaching nearly one-quarter of the population, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Adolescents and young adults have been particularly hard hit, with the rate of the cancer among teens growing at a rate of two percent per year between 1973 and 2009, according to one 2013 study. Using a tanning bed and as little as one bad sunburn can dramatically increase your lifetime risk.

Fortunately, a good sunscreen can help. (The best defense against skin cancer, though, is still avoiding the sun, especially during the peak hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) But for the times you do need or want to be outside, how do you choose a good sunscreen? The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has made that task easier with its just-released EWG?s 2013 Guide to Sunscreens.?Unlike a lot of other ?best of? roundups, this list of top-rated sunscreens and related products?it includes moisturizers, lip balms, and makeup?not only features products that work to protect you against some damaging UV rays, but also the best of these products?the ones that have earned the EWG?s lowest ratings?that are also low in harmful chemicals.?

?

?

One of the lines featured in three out of four of the EWG?s categories is Ava Anderson NonToxic, a line of 122 personal care products and cosmetics developed by 19-year-old Ava Anderson. When she launched in 2009 with her mom, Kim, then-15-year-old Ava wanted to create skincare that really worked, but without toxic ingredients. Her inspiration? Mother and daughter had watched a news segment highlighting an EWG study of chemicals found in teenagers. ?Every teen tested positive for every ingredient,? says Ava. ?We were both shocked,? Kim remembers.

After seeing the news report, Ava went to a local drugstore and health food store figuring that, as she says, ?I could buy my way out of this. But then I started researching ingredients.? Her research went on for the better part of a year; when she was done, she told her parents, ?I?m not satisfied with what?s available. I want to start my own line of nontoxic products.?

Ava now hosts house parties sponsored by her brand to help people learn about toxins and to sample and buy healthy nontoxic products at reduced cost. Ava and Kim have also made numerous trips to Capitol Hill to educate legislators on the toxins in personal care products, which are neither regulated nor adequately tested for their health effects. ?Most people, even Congresspeople, have no idea of the chemicals we are exposed to and their risks to our health,? Kim says. If it?s passed, the Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 will introduce these protections for the first time.

If it's passed, the Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 would help make clear to consumers which harmful chemicals are in the products we use.

When it comes to choosing healthy sun-care products, it helps to have a bit of information about what?s in these products so you can purchase wisely. ?First, both traditional sunscreen and other products with SPF contain many of the same questionable chemicals found in other personal care and cosmetic products, such as parabens (which are carcinogenic) and retinyl palmitate (which actually increases sun sensitivity, yet is used in many products). The active ingredients in sunscreens are either minerals?principally titanium or zinc oxide?or chemicals like oxybenzone and oxtinoxate, which are endocrine (hormone) disruptors that ?are toxic to reproductive systems or interfere with normal development,? EWG researchers found. Choosing products with a score of two or less on the EWG?s Guide to Sunscreens will help you avoid them. The lower the number on the EWG?s list, the less toxic the product; all of Ava?s products are rated by EWG as a ?one,? for nontoxic, and are available on her website.

It?s important to understand, too, that many sunscreen products simply don?t do the job. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved a few of the many effective chemical ingredients that are available in sunscreens in other countries, and the formulations used in the U.S. don?t actually screen skin-damaging UVA rays. Nevertheless, the FDA allows product manufacturers to market their products with claims that they provide ?broad spectrum? coverage?even though they do not contain ingredients that screen UVA radiation effectively. Simply put, American sunscreens are weaker.

Yet instead of avoiding the sun, people use them believing they are protected. A high SPF number does not guarantee protection. In fact, Ava warns that, ?it may mislead you into baking longer believing you are safe, when you aren?t.? Also, higher numbers aren?t better: An SPF of 30 is as effective as a supposedly higher SPF if you reapply it as the label suggests.

And for true UVA protection, higher molecule-sized zinc oxide is the most effective sunscreen ingredient. Zinc oxide?s ghost-white appearance in sunscreen may make you look like a lifeguard, but most products are now formulated so that they?re a barrier to the sun without giving you that chalky look. Ava?s line, and some other on EWG?s new list, have it, while also omitting harmful ingredients that increase sun sensitivity. While none of the products will protect you if you bake in the sun during the hours of highest UV radiation, they will help to minimize exposure. Sun avoidance remains the best protection.

If you want to do more to ensure that cosmetic and beauty products are better studied, formulated, and regulated for safety, Ava and Kim suggest going to the Campaign for Safer Cosmetics, as well as the EWG?s site.

Here?s how to find the product you?re looking for on the EWG?s new list of top-rated sunscreens and sun-protection products:

Beach and Sport Sunscreens (184 products meet the EWG?s criteria)

Moisturizers with SPF (22 products meet the EWG?s criteria)

Lip Balms with SPF (18 products meet the EWG?s criteria)

Makeup with SPF (16 products meet the EWG?s criteria)

What?s your favorite sunscreen? What chemicals do you avoid in personal care and cosmetic products?

Related Stories on TakePart:

??Even a Deadly Skin Cancer Doesn?t Stop Some From Tanning

??Are Your ?Natural? Beauty Products Really Natural?

??More Coffee, Less Skin Cancer Risk

Alison Rose Levy has covered health, food, and the environment on Huffington Post, AlterNet, PsychologyToday, and Intent.com. The writer of two best-selling health books, Alison talks to health and eco leaders on her weekly radio program, Connect the Dots on the Progressive Radio Network.?@alisonroselevy | TakePart.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sunscreen-shouldnt-170930959.html

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With Algeria's president ill, country prepares for new era

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, believed to have suffered a stroke, has not made a public appearance in three weeks. The country must now prepare for their first leader from a generation too young to have fought for independence from France.

By Lamine Chikhi and Myra MacDonald,?Reuters / May 19, 2013

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika leaves a Parliamentary election voting booth in Algiers, in May 2012. Bouteflika, 76, is believed to have suffered a stroke, though his vital organs may have been affected. Algeria must prepare for a new leader from a new generation.

Sidali Djarboub/AP/File

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Three weeks after being rushed to hospital in?Paris, Algerian President?Abdelaziz Bouteflika?has disappeared from sight, leaving behind a country preparing for a successor who for the first time will come from a generation too young to have fought in?Algeria's war of independence against?France.

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In a country run with Soviet-style secrecy, nobody is sure how sick Bouteflika is. But despite an official bulletin last week saying he was recovering from a minor stroke, most believe the 76-year-old must be seriously ill to have disappeared from public view for so long.

France's?Le Point?magazine cited medical sources as saying some of his vital organs had been badly affected. Algerian newspaper editor?Hichem Aboud?said that, according to his sources, Bouteflika - who survived cancer in 2005 - was in a deep coma.

French and Algerian officials declined comment but local media have hinted that the country is preparing for a new era.

The loss of Bouteflika would deprive?Algeria?of the last of the old guard who steered the country from independence in 1962 through civil war against Islamist insurgents in the 1990s to a period of stability funded by vast oil and gas resources.

It would also lead to a bumpy transfer of power before presidential elections due in April 2014 at a time whenAlgeria's neighbours - among them?Mali,?Tunisia?and?Libya?- are facing a revival of Islamist militancy in the region.

Algeria?experienced that militancy in January when gunmen from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) attacked a gas plant in the south, killing 38 people, including foreign hostages.

But Bouteflika's passing would not plunge?Africa's largest country into crisis.

A paternalistic state apparatus which includes a secretive military-intelligence establishment is trusted to manage the transition by a population too scarred by the 1990s to risk a return to conflict.?Algeria?also has $200 billion in foreign exchange reserves to buy off protesters if needed.

"Algeria?is not based on individuals; it is based on institutions," said one Algerian security expert. "Algeria?will be stable, even with Bouteflika gone."

NO UNREST

In the capital Algiers, a?Mediterranean?city whose elegant French-style apartment blocks with their white paint and blue shutters appear frozen in time, there is little sign of unrest despite anxieties about the president.

Nobody is even sure where Bouteflika is; some say he is still in?France's Val-de-Grace military hospital; others that he has gone to?Switzerland. Aboud, the newspaper editor, said he had already been brought back to?Algeria.

"I don't think there will be instability. There are no actors who could lead such instability," he said. "And Algerians are also tired after 10 years of terrorism (in the 1990s).

Doctors and teachers have been striking to demand better pay and conditions in state health and education. Their demand, however, is not for an overthrow of the system, but for better management than that provided by the current gerontocracy.

And in?Algeria, security forces have learned the lessons from the "Arab spring" protests which swept away dictators in?Tunisia,?Egypt?and?Libya: never antagonise the people.

Typical of that attitude was their response at a doctors' demonstration last week after an over-enthusiastic policeman had clamped the wheels of some illegally parked protesters' cars.

As irate white-coated doctors moved out in to the road, locking traffic, the clamps were quietly removed, leaving the 100-or-so protesters facing nothing more irksome than the unseasonable rain.

The state, say analysts, has learned from its failure to enlist the support of the population when in 1992 it cancelled elections Islamists were poised to win, triggering the civil war in which 200,000 people died. "You have to win the confidence of the population," said?Anis Rahmani, owner of Ennahar television. "Everyone is scared of the people."

In towns in the vast desert south, the state has dealt with unemployment protests by hiring 6,000 policemen. That there is no need for so many was highlighted by a cartoon in the daily El Watan showing a gendarme on a traffic island signalling with his hands to an empty desert.

PREPARING THE GROUND

Algeria's ageing leaders have always conducted their affairs in secrecy, a legacy of their fear of betrayal during the 1954 to 1962 war of independence.

But in what appeared to be an effort to prepare the ground for a transfer of power, the Arabic-language?El Khabarran a front-page photo of Bouteflika on Saturday alongside a headline about the rarely mentioned Article 88 of the constitution under which the leader of the?Senate?would temporarily take over in the event of the death or incapacity of the president.

Others ran front-page photos of Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal - a 65-year-old tipped as a likely candidate in the presidential elections - promising economic development.

Born on March 2, 1937, Bouteflika was a protege of Houari Boumedienne, an icon of the independence war who would later become president. As foreign minister in the 1960s, Bouteflika championed the?Non-Aligned Movement, and welcomed among others Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara to?Algeria.

First elected president in 1999, Bouteflika ended the civil war, offering an amnesty to militants who laid down their arms. He won re-election in 2004 and 2009, wresting power from the military through a series of behind-the-scenes battles.

But over the past few years, his age and poor health caught up with him. In a speech in Setif,?eastern Algeria, in May 2012, a frail Bouteflika said it was time for his generation to hand over to new leaders. "For us, it's over," he said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/o9wpT12XWac/With-Algeria-s-president-ill-country-prepares-for-new-era

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Myanmar leader making landmark White House visit

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Former general Thein Sein on Monday becomes the first Myanmar president to be welcomed to the White House in almost 47 years, crowning a dramatic diplomatic rehabilitation for his nation after years of international isolation.

But activists are angry about President Barack Obama hosting Thein Sein, and lawmakers are wary. The Myanmar leader has led the shift from decades of direct military rule, but has stalled on some reform commitments and failed to stop bloody outbursts of ethnic violence.

Thein Sein previously served in a repressive junta, and his meetings at the White House and Congress would have been all-but-impossible before he took the helm of a nominally civilian government in 2011. His name was only deleted from a blacklist barring travel to the U.S. last September.

He arrived in Washington Saturday, six months after Obama made history with an unprecedented U.S. presidential visit to the country also known as Burma. The administration's outreach to Myanmar's generals has provided an important incentive for the military to loosen controls on citizens and reduce dependence on China.

Myanmar has been rewarded by relaxation of tough economic sanctions, and Thein Sein will be addressing U.S. businessmen keen to capitalize on the opening of one of Asia's few untapped markets.

"President Thein Sein's visit underscores President Obama's commitment to supporting and assisting those governments that make the important decision to embrace reform," the White House said in its announcement of Monday's visit.

It will be the first by a Myanmar leader since a September 1966 visit by Ne Win, an independence hero-turned dictator, who began the nation's descent from regional rice bowl to economic basket case. Thein Sein visited New York last September for the U.N. General Assembly but didn't come to Washington.

The U.S. last month announced it is considering duty-free access for Myanmar to U.S. markets, and there could be progress Monday toward a bilateral trade and investment framework agreement.

The most significant outcome of Thein Sein's trip could be a symbolic one. Obama is expected to use "Myanmar" ? the country name adopted by the junta in 1989 ? when he meets Thein Sein. However, the U.S. will keep using "Burma" in official documents.

Thein Sein will be accorded the protocol due to a foreign president, yet his Washington welcome will pale next to that granted last September to Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who met Obama and was presented by Congress with the highest civilian award it can bestow.

Human rights activists and Myanmar campaigners have sharply criticized the administration for inviting Thein Sein, arguing it sends the wrong message and wastes leverage to press for further democratic change. The administration says it is important to signal U.S. support for his reform agenda, likely still opposed by military hardliners.

Ahead of the trip, Myanmar released at least 19 political prisoners in what has become a pattern for amnesties that coincide with high-profile international meetings as a way of highlighting the government's benevolent policies. Right groups say at least 160 political detainees are still held.

The government has permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross access to its notorious prisons for the first time in seven years. But hasn't allowed adequate humanitarian access to conflict zones where tens of thousands have been displaced. Authorities have failed to stop, and may have abetted in some cases, an explosion in communal violence that has killed hundreds and led to segregation of Muslim communities.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma said Thein Sein's trip follows a troubling downward trend in Myanmar, and that "instead of honoring an abusive leader" the U.S. should tie its concessions to conditions.

____

Associated Press writer Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Myanmar, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-leader-making-landmark-white-house-visit-080232268.html

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Kotaku Here Is a Real PS4 Teaser Video | io9 How the Runaways Movie That Never Happened Helped to Fu

Kotaku Here Is a Real PS4 Teaser Video | io9 How the Runaways Movie That Never Happened Helped to Fuel Iron Man 3 | Gawker Taylor Swift's Award-Winning Reaction to Justin and Selena Kissing | Jalopnik The Ten Craziest Single Seat Road Cars

Source: http://lauren.kinja.com/kotaku-here-is-a-real-ps4-teaser-video-io9-how-the-ru-508872088

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?Hangover? Star Justin Bartha Engaged To Lia Smith (VIDEO)

“Hangover” Star Justin Bartha Engaged To Lia Smith (VIDEO)

Justin Bartha and Lia Smith pics“Hangover” star Justin Bartha is engaged to LA fitness instructor Lia Smith, after proposing earlier this month while on vacation in Big Sur, California. Bartha’s fiance is a total knockout and they met when he attended a Pilates class in Los Angeles that she was teaching. A source close to the actor said, “They’re the ...

“Hangover” Star Justin Bartha Engaged To Lia Smith (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/05/hangover-star-justin-bartha-engaged-to-lia-smith-video/

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Audit THIS! Tea Party groups to protest at IRS offices nationwide on Tuesday (Michellemalkin)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306878966?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Propel Your Business Into The Future With These Social Media ...

Propel Your Business Into The Future With These Social Media Marketing Tips

One of the most effective ways to market a business on the Internet is by utilizing social media marketing strategies. However, not everyone is confident in their ability to design an effective campaign; they require additional information on the target market or budgeting. Keep reading to develop better marketing skills.

Include YouTube in your arsenal of social media marketing tactics to attract a target audience. Using YouTube is great, because these viewers will already be aware of the types of things you are marketing as they have viewed your video on YouTube. The more visitors who come to your site with knowledge of your products will help increase sales.

TIP! Do not underestimate the power of conversation. Do not make the common mistake of neglecting to use customer feedback as a means of learning more about your target market.

Marketing Campaign

Have a plan of attack before tackling a marketing campaign involving social media. Consider page management, the layout of the page and the amount of time to be invested into it. As with any other type of marketing campaign, make sure you establish a set timeline for your goals. Try to stay with the plan you have come up with and you should be quite successful.

TIP! If you are using social media then you will want to market by inviting all the people you know to those pages. Even those who are not organically connected to your niche can be useful when it comes to spreading the word about your business.

It?s important that you respond to questions and comments promptly if you want to use social media marketing successfully. Make it a practice to look at commentary that is left on your site, and communicate with those who are communicating with you.

Facebook Store

TIP! If you join a social media site, tell your existing customers that you have done so. If they choose to join your page, many social networks can let your connections know that they?re following you.

Have your social media accounts double as secondary stores for your products. Building a Facebook store and making it accessible from your other sites, makes a great addition to your online presence. Facebook users like to check out everything related to your profile, so a Facebook store could become a revenue builder for you. This way, you do not actually have to draw them all the way to your site, away from Facebook, where they would likely rather stay.

You need to add links to all social media sites you have profiles on to every webpage, social media site, and email communication that you make. Add it to your comments signature. You may want to consider adding a link between profiles so as to get your audience to find you on your other sites.

TIP! Add a special box to your blog to give visitors access to the Facebook ?like? function. This makes it easy for people to like you on the social website.

Before starting a social media campaign, you should research a variety of different advertising available on various social media sites. Every social media site is different; by understanding the differences you can tailor your approach. You may find that one particular site is best for attracting the target audience that you are seeking.

Take advantage of a free account with Yahoo Answers to promote your product or services. This website lets users post questions and receive answers from others who may have the information they need. Search questions in your market niche and give answers that highlight your products or services. If you provide many answers that are helpful and well-written, you could easily become an expert in a specific category.

TIP! Be patient in forming your overall strategy. Save your money and time by choosing one solid social trend and committing to making it pay off.

If you are not able to understand and connect with your target audience, your social media networking efforts will be in vain. Research why some people use social networks and find out the types of content they want to see.

Social Media

TIP! Set up your site so customers can easily share material they find on there. Having a widget located in your site is a great way to help market your site.

When using social media, make sure you look at all of the content posted about your company. Social media is very viral, and a little mistake can spread quickly. This is not the attention you want from social marketing. Proofread your posts, and go over all other materials.

Try hosting question/answer sessions online to boost interest about your services and products via social media. This is also a prime opportunity to educate prospective clientele about what you have available. This is a great tool that allows you to make your business more personal.

TIP! Respond to people who reach out to you. It?s common to look over a question or comment, so keep an eye out for them.

One tactic you can use to improve your social media marketing campaign is to get some of your employees blogging on your company?s website. Customers enjoy these types of blogs because they provide insider information about how your company operates. Furthermore, reading these posts can give customers a good feel for the human aspect of your company. It also allows them to learn more about the overall attitudes and values that affect your product and service offerings. Giving customers this ?virtual tour? of your company helps them see that your business is trustworthy and ethical.

To keep your social media marketing efforts interesting and informative, create and post YouTube interviews with experts in your field. Not only is this going to be interesting to those on your site, but if you show that you have association with those that are respected in your field, you will grow in reputation by default. You will gain from the trust of them thinking this.

TIP! Responding to reviews and comments quickly and professionally must be part of your social media marketing strategy. Responding to feedback can create a resounding success if you do it, and an abject failure if you don?t, so it?s critical that you stay on top of this.

The article you have just read gave you some good media marketing advice which you can include in your own business marketing plan right away. Effective use of social media can make your business more visible online, expand your customer base, and lead to increased success.

Get your free website analysis (valued at $97) ? 1-888-513-5974 (tell us that you seen our ad on the website)

Source: http://4thgc.com/propel-your-business-into-the-future-with-these-social-media-marketing-tips/

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All-day kindergarten approved in education bill (Star Tribune)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306882111?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Obama exhorts good deeds by Morehouse graduates

ATLANTA (AP) ? President Barack Obama, in a soaring commencement address on work, sacrifice and opportunity, on Sunday told graduates of historically black Morehouse College to seize the power of their example as black men graduating from college and use it to improve people's lives.

The president said his success was due to "the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn't have the opportunities that I had ? because there but for the grace of God, go I. I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me."

Noting the Atlanta school's mission to cultivate, not just educate, good men, Obama said graduates should not be so eager to join the chase for wealth and material things, but instead should remember where they came from and not "take your degree and get a fancy job and nice house and nice car and never look back."

"So yes, go get that law degree. But if you do, ask yourself if the only option is to defend the rich and powerful, or if you can also find time to defend the powerless," Obama said. "Sure, go get your MBA, or start that business, we need black businesses out there. But ask yourself what broader purpose your business might serve, in putting people to work, or transforming a neighborhood."

"The most successful CEOs I know didn't start out intent on making money. Rather, they had a vision of how their product or service would change things, and the money followed," he said.

For those headed to medical school, Obama said, "Make sure you heal folks in underserved communities who really need it, too."

Before Obama arrived in Atlanta, thunderstorms drenched hundreds of people who gathered on the campus lawn for the outdoor ceremony, forcing many guests to wear clear plastic ponchos over what amounted to their Sunday-best clothes. Rain began falling again, accompanied by more thunder and lightning, minutes after Obama began to speak.

"I also have to say you all are going to get wet," he said. "I would be out there with you if I could. But Secret Service gets nervous, so I'm going to have to stay here, dry. But know that I'm with you in spirit."

Obama urged graduates to "inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves."

Obama used the speech to once again share his personal story of growing up without a father, confessing that along the way he made unspecified bad personal choices "like too many men in our community."

"Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down," he said. "I had a tendency to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is, there's no longer any room for excuses."

Speaking in personal terms as he often does when addressing predominantly black audiences, particularly of black males, the nation's first black president also spoke intimately of his desire to be a better father to daughters Malia and Sasha than his absent father was to him, and to be a better husband to his wife, Michelle.

He told the graduates to pay attention to their families, saying success in every other aspect of life means nothing without success at home.

"I was raised by a heroic single mother and wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here today who did the same thing for all of you," he said. "But I still wish I had a father who was not only present, but involved. And so my whole life, I've tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father wasn't for my mother and me. I've tried to be a better husband, a better father, and a better man.

"It's hard work that demands your constant attention, and frequent sacrifice. And Michelle will be the first to tell you that I'm not perfect," he continued. "Even now, I'm still learning how to be the best husband and father I can be. Because success in everything else is unfulfilling if we fail at family.

"I know that when I'm on my deathbed someday, I won't be thinking about any particular legislation I passed, or policy I promoted. I won't be thinking about the speech I gave, or the Nobel Prize I received," said Obama, 51. "I'll be thinking about a walk I took with my daughters, a lazy afternoon with my wife, whether I did right by all of them."

The speech was Obama's second commencement address of the season, following remarks last Sunday at Ohio State University in Columbus. His third and final graduation address will come Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

About 500 students received undergraduate degrees on Sunday and became "Morehouse Men."

After the speech, Obama joined about 100 people at a fundraiser at the office of the foundation of Arthur M. Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. It was the first of six money events that officials say he will headline for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is recruiting candidates and strategizing to keep control of the Senate in next year's midterm elections. Democrats will be defending more Senate seats than Republicans, including six held by long-serving Democratic senators who have decided not to seek re-election.

After briefly discussing the economy, early childhood education, energy independence, climate change and infrastructure, Obama said "the good news is we've got good, common-sense solutions that we can implement right now," on those issues. "The bad news is there's a shortage of common sense in Washington."

He told the donors, who paid anywhere from $10,000 per couple to $32,400 per couple to attend the fundraiser, that their support is important because it will help elect more non-ideological senators like Michael Bennet, D-Colo., "who don't come at this thinking there's just one way of doing things." Bennet chairs the campaign arm for Senate Democrats and introduced Obama at the event.

"That kind of approach, if we get a critical mass in the Senate, and we can potentially get a critical mass of folks like that in the House, means that the sky's the limit," Obama said. "Nothing can stop us."

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-exhorts-good-deeds-morehouse-graduates-160712553.html

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How Cheap Genetic Testing Complicates Cancer Screening For Us All

o-ANGELINA-JOLIE-570Sometimes, more medical information is a bad thing. The influential United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends against most women getting genetic screenings for their susceptibility to breast cancer. Why? Because the tests are imperfect: for every woman who gets tested for genes associated with onset breast cancer, even more will falsely test positive, leading spooked patients into needless surgery or psychological trauma. Super cheap genetic testing from enterprising health startups, such as 23andMe, have complicated cancer detection for us all by increasing the accessibility of imperfect medical information.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ArYS11YUO7o/

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Deadly tornadoes rip through Plains, Midwest

By Chris Francescani

(Reuters) - A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. News reports said at least one person had died.

By 9:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, more than two dozen tornadoes had been spotted in parts of Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and local news reports. Hail stones, some as large as baseballs, were reported from Georgia to Minnesota, the NOAA said.

Fox News reported that one person was killed in Shawnee, Oklahoma, east of Oklahoma City.

Police in Shawnee could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared 16 counties of the state disaster areas, according to Jerry Lojka, a spokesman for the state emergency management department.

By late Sunday, power outages were being reported in several Oklahoma counties, according to the Tulsa World newspaper.

Meteorologists had been warning for days that a powerful front was expected to blast through the region, spawning potentially destructive twisters. The extreme weather is expected to continue on Monday, National Weather Service advisories said.

National Weather Service offices across the region issued one urgent warning after another, throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

An extreme weather system stretching from north Texas to Minnesota had been building for hours on Sunday when the day's first tornado touched down near Wichita, Kansas at 3:45 pm Central Standard time, according to a weather service alert.

Just after 6 p.m., the Norman, Oklahoma office posted a Twitter alert on a tornado about to strike Pink, a town on the edge of Oklahoma City.

"Large tornado west of Pink!" the post read. "Take cover RIGHT NOW in Pink! DO NOT WAIT!"

The storm prompted an unusually blunt warning from the central region of the National Weather Service, which covers 14 states.

"You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter," it said. "Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals."

Pat Slattery, National Weather Service spokesman for the U.S. Central region, said the advisory was part of a new warning system being tested after a violent tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011, killing 158 people and injuring hundreds.

Slattery said the new advisory was reserved for severe tornadoes with the potential to form into "supercell" storms, which produce powerful winds and flash flooding. Supercells are considered to be the most dangerous of four categories of storms because of the extreme weather they generate.

A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assessment of the Joplin storm found that "when people heard the first tornado warning, they did not immediately seek shelter. They looked for a secondary source to confirm the tornado," Slattery said. "That got some people killed."

(Reporting by Chris Francescani and Ian Simpson; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio, Richard Chang and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/severe-kansas-tornado-prompts-stark-national-weather-warning-003115770.html

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FBI searches apartment in ricin letter case

(AP) ? Authorities in hazardous materials suits searched a downtown Spokane apartment Saturday, investigating the recent discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin.

Few details have been released in the case, and no arrests have been made. Federal investigators have been searching for the person who sent the letters, which were postmarked Tuesday in Spokane.

The letters were addressed to the downtown post office and the adjacent federal building, but authorities have not released a potential motive. They also have not said whether the letters targeted anyone in particular.

Ricin is a highly toxic substance made from castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms, the size of the head of a pin, can kill an adult if inhaled or ingested.

There have been no reports of illness connected to the letters.

FBI agents, Spokane police and U.S. Postal Service inspectors descended on the three-story apartment building Saturday morning and the investigation continued into the afternoon.

FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo Dietrich would not say whether agents were questioning anyone in connection with the case.

"We are not actively looking for a subject," Sandalo Dietrich said. "We are not asking the public's help in bringing someone in."

Despite the hazmat suits, officials said apartment residents were not at risk, and people were seen coming in and out of the brick building in the city's historic Browne's Addition neighborhood.

"There's no public risk," Sandalo Dietrich said.

Scott Ward has lived in the building for three years, and lives on the second floor near the apartment that was being searched. He said he does not know the neighbor who lives in that apartment.

"He's a guy with a big beard," Ward said. "He sticks to himself."

"He doesn't talk," said Ward, who added he was awakened about 7 a.m. by the sounds of "banging and what sounded like a big vacuum."

Building resident Jim Lehman said he was asleep when he was called by a friend. "He said, 'hey Jim, you're surrounded,'" Lehman said. Lehman said he saw workers in hazardous material suits working in a second floor apartment.

"It was all gas masks and the door was open and there were hoses in there," Lehman said.

Sandalo Dietrich would not say specifically why the FBI was searching the apartment.

"Information we developed led us to believe this was a productive spot to search," she said.

Two letters containing the substance were intercepted at the downtown Spokane post office Tuesday.

The Postal Service has received no other reports of similar letters, said Jeremy Leder of the Postal Inspection Service on Saturday.

In a statement following the discovery, the Postal Service said the "crude form of the ricin suggests that it does not present a health risk to U.S. Postal Service personnel or to others who may have come in contact with the letter."

The Spokane investigation comes a month after letters containing ricin were addressed to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. A Mississippi man has been arrested in that case.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-18-Ricin%20Letter-Spokane/id-3d830670be624a99b5d1b6f944b0cb4f

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Kanye West Projects "New Slaves" Music Video on Buildings Around the World

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/kanye-west-projects-new-slaves-music-video-on-buildings-around-t/

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Leaked Memo Shows Barnes & Noble Bringing Web Browser And Email To Simple Touch eReaders In June

kindle-updateAn upcoming update will bring a web browser, email and update store app to Barnes & Noble's super affordable Nook Simple Touch line of eReaders, which will begin rolling out June 1 according to a source close to the matter who wishes to remain anonymous. The 1.5.0 update was created in response to the positive critical and customer response to the recent Nook tablet update that brought Google Play to B&N's Android-powered devices.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NdLxmAB71e0/

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How to make money online ? The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely ...

May 18, 2013 by Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. (CFA) (ask@cfagbata.com @cfagbata) 1 Comment Chekwuemeka Fred-Agbata

With the growing popularity of the Internet, one question that has been central to most of the messages I have received via Short Message Service and emails is: How to make money online? Truth is, making money online has become a hot topic globally. In line with this trend, therefore, the Ministry of Communications Technology has recently inaugurated the Naijacloud project with the primary objective of creating awareness about online work opportunities and creating job opportunities for millions of unemployed Nigerian youths.

This has simply given credence to the fact that even the Nigerian Government is eager to provide online jobs for its citizens. My experience in making money online dates back to 2006, and since then, I have learnt a lot and have been involved in various kinds of online business ventures. I will mention a few of them to serve as a guide where relevant.

I am 100 per cent certain that you can make money online. In fact, the number of Nigerians making money online is on the increase. However, you must realise that making money online is as difficult as making money in the real world. Part of the challenges is that we turn to the Internet with a pre-conceived notion that we will make it big in no time. This is more like the ?yahoo- yahoo? mindset.

Here are some of the online money-making opportunities available to you:

? Take your business online

When people ask me about making money online, I simply ask them if they already had a business. If the answer is yes, I advise them to go online. This is one of the fastest ways to make money online. Taking your business online is nothing other than developing a simple website with e-Commerce capabilities such that a potential client can visit and place orders for your products or services.

? Sell a product or offer a service

This is closely related to the first point discussed above. You can never make money online if you do not have a product or service that someone, somewhere is willing to pay for. So, create a new product and take it online. How about your services? That too can be unbundled and offered cheaply online. For instance,? it may be wise as a legal practitioner to break down the services you offer and place on your? website so as to attract Small and Medium Enterprises that usually regard legal services as something only big businesses can afford. One of the key secrets with making money online is to do everything within your power to price your product as competitive as possible with the aim of making it affordable and accessible to a larger percentage of clients.

? Start a blog

One of the goals of the ICT Clinic page is to help you start and run a successful blog using one of the world?s most popular blogging software ? WordPress. For me, the decision to start a professional blog some four years ago has helped tremendously. Besides the little money I make from advertisements on my blog, there is also the opportunity to make money as an affiliate of other products or services.? Most importantly, owning a blog has helped me win big offline consulting gigs and speaking opportunities that I might ordinarily not have been properly positioned for.

? Online freelancing

An increasing number of Nigerians (I know a few) have jumped on the online freelancing bandwagon and they are truly making ends meet.

Online freelancing is huge at the moment and countries like India is a testimony to that fact. It is possible to make money online by providing services online. A number of service-based professionals will readily find someone online willing to pay for their services once they are convinced of the value.

? Forex trading

A number of people have got their fingers burnt in forex trading, including yours truly, but this is not to say that it does not work. I think what has happened to the majority of people who must have had some sort of negative experiences is the fact that we allowed greed to take control. I have a highly contended friend who still makes money from forex, but a number of forex gurus will consider him a ?mugu? if they hear he is satisfied with the little he makes.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way stating that any of these are sure-proof, but they might be worth looking into as a means of making profit from your Internet presence. The most important piece of advice is for you to get involved in something you love and have fun doing it.

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Source: http://www.punchng.com/business/ict-clinic/how-to-make-money-online/

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