annebowenxy: April 2013

Friday, 26 April 2013

In a first, YouTube to showcase a week of comedy

NEW YORK (AP) ? For a week in May, YouTube will turn into the biggest open mic on the planet.

On Thursday, the Google Inc.-owned site will announce the YouTube Comedy Week, a seven-day cyber extravaganza designed to showcase some of the best comedy across its expansive video platform. From May 19-25, YouTube will be overrun with punch lines, sketches, stand-up routines and ? hopefully ? a lot of laughs.

It's the largest-scale attempt yet by YouTube to program its billions of hours of video and lead viewers to its growing channels of original programming. The video site is planning more event weeks around various themes to be held later this year and beyond.

"This has never been done before on YouTube," Danielle Tiedt, YouTube's vice president of marketing, said in an interview Wednesday ahead of the announcement. "I'm sure we'll learn a lot."

Comedy Week will kick off with a global live stream from Los Angeles' Culver Studios. Throughout the week, new episodes will debut from some of YouTube's most popular channels, comedians will perform and comics will curate lists of their favorite videos.

Among those participating are Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Michael Cera, Vince Vaughn and Seth Rogen. There will be new videos from Andy Samberg's Lonely Island troupe. Popular comedy destinations with channels on YouTube like The Onion, Nerdist, College Humor and Funny or Die will join in. And YouTube hopes its less famous users will also get in on the act.

The event is just the start of a new approach by YouTube to congregate its disparate stars ? from Hollywood professionals to Internet upstarts ? and to present a unified viewing experience for users. YouTube hopes the theme weeks will spotlight the original programming the site has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in to grow its platform as a kind of next-generation TV.

"We're hoping to do this in a pretty regular rhythm," said Tiedt. "You'll see several of these coming from us, for sure, as we highlight really big areas that we think are amazing areas of strength for YouTube."

The undertaking is months in the works. To executive-produce the weeklong event, YouTube brought in former "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" producer Daniel Kellison, whose production company, HaChaCha, recently launched two comedy YouTube channels: Jash and the Video Podcast Network. The kickoff live stream will be directed and produced by Joel Gallen, a veteran of the MTV Movie Awards.

Kellison says a staff of 40 has been assembled to help in what he calls the "tremendously daunting" task of organizing a sizable portion of the sprawling YouTube realm.

"It's a massive undertaking," he says. "If you try to organize it all and figure it all out, you'll drown. It's not possible. We're just doing the best we can in trying to produce this."

A few missteps are inevitable, Kellison says. But the plan isn't to put on a slickly produced show, but something more lo-fi and relaxed.

"We've been able to go to all these comedians and say, 'Hey, we can do whatever we want and have fun doing it,'" says Kellison. "It's taken on this sort of comedy Woodstock type of vibe."

The duo of Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker, known as Tim & Eric, will be performing in the festivities. Wareheim, among the founders of Jash, believes Comedy Week will help raise the bar for comedy on YouTube.

"It's going to be higher production value, everyone taking it a little bit more serious rather than a throwaway Internet short ? make it a place where legitimate stuff can be and change the perception of what YouTube can be," Wareheim says. "Tim and I have been using YouTube for our TV shows, our movies ? for everything ? to kind of promote stuff. Now instead of just as a promotional tool, we're using it to really distribute content."

Getting even a segment of YouTube to synchronize would seem a tall order. But marshaling together Comedy Week reminds Kellison of the chaotic first night of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"We had Coldplay on the outdoor stage; Warren Sapp coming in after he won the Super Bowl on a helicopter; Jon Gruden canceling; the fire marshal trying to shut us down; Snoop Dogg with the death threats; and a buzzed George Clooney," he recalls. "I imagine this will be very similar."

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-youtube-showcase-week-comedy-120037906.html

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Stocks inch higher after jobless claims fall

Trader James Denaro, center, and Jonathan Corpina, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, April 24, 2013. World stocks were mostly higher Thursday April 25, 2013 as a slump in orders for U.S. durable goods and other data convinced investors that central banks would continue efforts to help the global economic recovery. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stocks edged higher Thursday morning as investors were encouraged by a decrease in the number of claims for unemployment benefits last week and several strong earnings from companies.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 16,000 to 339,000, the second-lowest level in more than five years, according to the Labor Department.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 59 points to 14,735 points after the first hour of trading, or 0.4 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up nine at 1,588, a gain of 0.6 percent.

The drop in jobless claims is especially welcome in a job market that has suffered some recent setbacks. In March, employers added only 88,000 jobs. That was a sharp drop from the previous four months, when hiring averaged 220,000 per month. The unemployment rate fell to 7.6 percent from 7.7 percent, but only because more people stopped looking for jobs.

Many companies have been reporting better first-quarter results, but not necessarily because of stronger economic conditions.

So far this season, 71 percent of S&P 500 companies have beat analysts' profit expectations, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet. But that has come more from cost-cutting than from business going gangbusters. Fifty-six percent of those companies have missed estimates for revenue.

The trend has a precedent: Last year, less than half of S&P 500 companies beat revenue estimates in the second and third quarters, according to Butters.

Dow Chemical, which reported results Thursday, fit both descriptions. The company managed to increase profits even as revenue slipped because it cut costs and paid down debt. The stock was up 4 percent at $33.59.

In a report to clients Thursday morning, ConvergEx Group analyst Nicholas Colas noted the higher earnings but said they don't match the "real feel" of an economy still crimped by "lackluster jobs growth, a flattening rate of improvement in the housing market, and incremental government austerity measures."

"If U.S. companies have proven anything in the last four years of subpar macroeconomic results," Colas wrote, "it is that they can make gallons of lemonade from just a few shriveled bits of citrus."

Profit and revenue jumped at the cruise line Royal Caribbean as more people booked vacations than a year ago, and the stock jumped 7 percent to $36.66. This year's comparisons, however, are a bit unusual: Last year's results were hurt because of the sinking of the Costa Concordia, owned by rival cruise line Carnival.

Profit and revenue also rose at 3M, maker of Scotch tape and construction equipment. But the stock was down 3 percent at $104.51. Investors were unnerved when the company cut its profit predictions for the year, citing a "low-growth economic environment."

Profit and revenue fell at Cliffs Natural Resources and Carbo Ceramics, but the stocks went in opposite directions. Cliffs, which sells iron ore, shot 15 percent higher to $21.05. Carbo, which provides services and parts for the petroleum industry, plunged 13 percent to $74.92.

At Cliffs, the lower profits were still better than analysts had expected. At Carbo, investors were worried because the company said Chinese ceramic imports were hurting its pricing, and because drilling companies were taking more rigs out of action.

The Nasdaq composite index was up 27 to 3,296, or 0.8 percent.

In other markets, gold futures rose 2 percent to $1,452 an ounce and the price of crude oil edged up 0.3 percent to $91.67 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note edged up to 1.72 percent from 1.71 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-25-US-Wall-Street/id-d5a53c2553db4ca6bbc515ebb706aa30

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Liverpool's Suarez gets 10-game ban for biting

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was handed a 10-match suspension by the Football Association (FA) on Wednesday following his bite on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic at the weekend.

Suarez accepted a charge of violent conduct after the incident in the 2-2 Premier League draw at Anfield on Sunday but disputed the FA view that it merited more than a three-game ban.

An Independent Regulatory Commission met in London on Wednesday to decide the Uruguayan international's fate and added seven games to the usual ban for violent conduct.

The suspension begins immediately, meaning Liverpool's leading scorer will miss his side's last four games of the season and the first six at the beginning of next term.

Liverpool, who expressed their shock at the Commission's decision, have until Friday (1100 GMT) to appeal.

"Both the club and player are shocked and disappointed at the severity of today's Independent Regulatory Commission decision," Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre said in a statement on the club's website (www.liverpoolfc.com).

"We await the written reasons tomorrow (Thursday) before making any further comment."

Suarez's bite on Ivanovic's arm at Anfield was missed by referee Kevin Friend but television replays showed him sinking his teeth into the Serbian.

WIDELY CONDEMNED

The 26-year-old Suarez, who was banned for biting an opponent while with Dutch club Ajax before joining Liverpool in 2011, apologized after the game and was fined a reported 200,000 pounds ($305,700) by the club.

However, he was widely condemned for his behavior with some reports suggesting he was in danger of being sacked by the club, although Liverpool said this week that they wanted the Uruguayan to see out his four-year contract.

The FA said a three-match ban was "clearly insufficient" for the serious nature of the offence.

There was widespread support for the length of the punishment imposed with former Liverpool player Graeme Souness telling Sky Sports News: "I think 10 games is about right.

"What he did on Sunday is something I've never seen in a game anywhere before."

Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp agreed.

"I think you have to accept that the crime that he committed probably warranted a 10-game ban," he said.

"It was an awful act of brutality really what he did and now he won't play for such a long time - it's is going to hit him where it hurts because he wants to play football."

Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor said the length of the sanction sent out a "strong message" but that it was important that the player received counseling to make sure it did not happen again.

Not everyone backed the FA's decision.

"Players who break peoples' legs, who do horrible tackles, get a three-game ban," former Liverpool striker John Aldridge told Sky Sports News.

"It's inconsistent. For me, it's not right, it's over the top."

Controversy has followed Suarez since he joined Liverpool, with his antics often overshadowing his impact on the pitch.

He served an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra last season and later angered United manager Alex Ferguson by failing to shake the French defender's hand before their league match in February last year.

He has also been regularly accused of diving to win penalties and free kicks, while in an FA Cup tie this season against minor league Mansfield Town he was again criticized for scoring a goal despite a blatant handball.

Until Manchester United forward Robin Van Persie's hat-trick against Aston Villa on Monday that secured the title, Suarez was leading scorer in the league with 23 goals and he is included on a six-player shortlist for PFA Player of the Year.

($1 = 0.6542 British pounds)

(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Sonia Oxley; Editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suarez-banned-10-games-biting-ivanovic-142650697--sow.html

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'Mad Men' creator Weiner answers season 6 critics

Jon Hamm from the cast of "Man Men" attends "Mad-ness Returns to the Paley Center" at The Paley Center for Media on Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

This April 23, 2013 photo released by Starpix shows Matthew Weiner, creator of the series "Mad Men," at a panel event at the Paley Media Center in New York. After waiting nearly a year for this month?s premiere some viewers have expressed disappointment with the new season that premiered April 7 because it?s revealed so little after such a long wait. Weiner noted people are still watching and advised fans to ?sit back and enjoy where we?re going.? (AP Photo/Starpix, Dave Allocca)

NEW YORK (AP) ? "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner has a message for critics of season six of the AMC hit: "Fans don't run the show."

After waiting nearly a year for this month's premiere some viewers have expressed disappointment with the new season. Speaking ahead of a "Mad Men" panel event at the Paley Media Center in Manhattan Tuesday night, Weiner likened fan reaction to the show to the arcade game Whac-A-Mole.

"There's not enough agency advertising. There's too much advertising," Weiner said of previous fan gripes. "There's not enough Betty. There's too much Betty. Who is Megan? Why isn't there more Megan?"

Weiner noted people are still watching and advised fans to "sit back and enjoy where we're going." He said he opened the season in 1968 because he believes it was one of the worst years in U.S. history, and while he remained tight-lipped about where the journey is headed he did promise it "might be a little salacious, but that's what the show is."

Viewers did learn that ad man Don Draper (Jon Hamm) remains tormented and brooding and is now cheating on his new wife Megan (Jessica Pare). Weiner says he believes his lead character remains redeemable despite his flaws.

"We'll have to see what the world hands him and if he's able to confront a problem that's following him around that might actually be him," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-24-TV-Mad%20Men/id-7fe598e12042440aa45edb6b140565a5

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38 die in mental hospital fire outside Moscow

In this image taken from Ministry for Emergency Situations, Moscow region branch website, a psychiatric hospital outside Moscow is on fire early Friday morning, April 26, 2013. At least 38 people died in the fire in the psychiatric hospital outside Moscow late Thursday night. Police said the fire, which broke out at about 2 a.m. local time (6 p.m. Eastern, 2200 GMT) in the one-story hospital in the Ramenskoye settlement, was caused by a short circuit. (AP Photo/Ministry for Emergency Situations, Moscow region branch website) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Ministry for Emergency Situations workers and fire fighters work at a site of a fire of a psychiatric hospital Friday morning, April 26, 2013. At least 38 people died in the fire in the psychiatric hospital outside Moscow late Thursday night. Police said the fire, which broke out at about 2 a.m. local time (6 p.m. Eastern, 2200 GMT) in the one-story hospital in the Ramenskoye settlement, was caused by a short circuit. (AP Photo/Pavel Sergeyev)

Map locates fire a psychiatric hospital outside of central Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) ? A fire swept quickly through a psychiatric hospital outside Moscow early Friday, killing 38 people, most of them in their beds, officials said.

Health Ministry officials said that the one-story hospital brick-and-wood building housed patients with severe mental disorders.

An emergency ministry official said the fire started in a wooden annex and then spread to the main brick building which had wooden beams.

The patients were under sedatives and most of them did not wake up, Yuri Deshevykh of the emergency situations ministry told RIA Novosti.

At least 29 people were burned alive, said Irina Gumennaya, a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee.

Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyev said some of the hospital windows were barred.

Officials from the Russian Investigative Committee said they are looking at poor fire regulations and short circuit as possible causes for the blaze that engulfed the hospital in the Ramenskiy settlement, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) north of Moscow.

Investigators listed 38 people ? 36 patients and two doctors ? as dead. Only one nurse and two patients managed to escape, according to the health ministry. The emergency services also posted a list of the patients indicating they ranged in age from 20 to 76.

A spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee told Russian news agencies that most of the people died in their beds.

Belovoshin of the emergency ministry said that it took fire fighters an hour to get to the hospital following an emergency call because a ferry across the canal was closed and the fire fighters had to make a detour.

Vorobyev told Russian state-television that the fire alarm seems to have worked but the fire spread too quickly.

Russia has a poor fire safety record, with about 12,000 deaths reported in 2012. In January, a fire in an underground parking lot killed 10 migrant workers from Tajikistan who were working and living there. In a similar incident in September, 14 Vietnamese workers were killed by fire at a clothing factory near Moscow.

In one of the most high-profile case of negligence, more than 150 people died in a night club in the city of Perm after a pyrotechnic show ignited a wooden ceiling.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-26-Russia-Fire/id-b7c5144da9414ee0920641f7a6f05df6

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Comet of the century? ISON has 'potential' to be visible all day.

As sun-grazing comet ISON approaches the sun, it's getting progressively brighter ? and might even flare into a dazzling object bright enough to be visible in broad daylight.

By Joe Rao / April 25, 2013

Comet ISON was photographed by the Hubble telescope on April 10, 2013 when the comet was 386 million miles from the Sun (slightly closer than Jupiter's orbit). Around the time the 'comet of the century' makes its closest approach to the Sun, on November 28, it may briefly become brighter than the full Moon, say NASA researchers.

NASA Hubble telescope / Courtesy of NASA / Reuters

Enlarge

An exceptional comet flying ever closer to the sun may offer an amazing naked eye sight to Earth dwellers this fall as it gradually brightens.

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As comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) continues to approach the sun, it is slowly responding to the increasing warmth of the sun and getting progressively brighter. The comet is getting considerable scrutiny from both amateur and professional scientists because it's a rare sungrazing comet, destined to approach to within 730,000 miles (1.17 million kilometers) of the surface of the sun on Nov. 28. Because of this extremely close approach, comet ISON holds the "potential" to flare into a dazzling object ? possibly becoming bright enough to be briefly glimpsed in broad daylight.?

Still, at this early stage in the comet's development, we can't be sure if this will actually happen.

A Swift look

Although still quite far from the sun and very faint, the comet has been imaged by two orbiting observatories. Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park and Lowell Observatory used NASA's Swift satellite to check out the comet during January and February. Using images acquired from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, the team was able to make initial estimates of the comet's water and dust production and then used these values to determine the size of ISON's icy nucleus.
?These observations revealed that each minute ISON was shedding about 56 tons (51,000 kg) of dust, or about two-thirds the mass of an unfueled space shuttle. Jets powered by sublimating ice also release dust, which reflects sunlight and brightens the comet.

By contrast, however, the comet was producing only about 130 pounds (60 kg) of water every minute, or about four times the amount flowing out of a residential sprinkler system. At the time, however, the comet was nearly half a billion miles from the sun. Typically, a comet's water content remains frozen until it comes within about three times Earth's distance to the sun ? about 280 million miles (450 million km) away. ISON won't be this close to the sun until early July at which time the water production rate should markedly increase.

The water and dust production rates from Swift were used to estimate the size of ISON's icy body. Comparing the amount of gas needed for a normal comet to blow off dust at the rate observed for ISON, the scientists estimate that the nucleus is roughly 3 miles (5 km) across, a typical size for a comet. This assumes that only the fraction of the surface most directly exposed to the sun, about 10 percent of the total, is actively producing jets.

Hubble's turn

More recently, Planetary Science Institute research scientist Jian-Yang Li led a team that imaged comet ISON with the Hubble Space Telescope on April 10 using the Wide Field Camera 3. At this point, the comet was slightly closer than Jupiter at 386 million miles (621 million kilometers) from the sun and 394 million miles (634 million kilometers) from Earth.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/PZCG5RmJADU/Comet-of-the-century-ISON-has-potential-to-be-visible-all-day

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Jupiter Ocean Front Condos And Short Term Rentals Now Availa

24 Apr, 2013

;

JUPITER, Fla., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ ? Seiss Real Estate Announces Jupiter Ocean Front Condos and Short-Term Rentals Now Available for Immediate Move In

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130424/CG01100)

A media representative for Seiss Real Estate today announced Jupiter ocean front condos and short-term rentals are now available for immediate move in. ; Home buyers are encouraged to visit the Seiss Real Estate Company?s website to view homes for rent and sale in the upscale Florida community.

Jupiter is located on the eastern shore of Florida. ; It is near Palm Beach Gardens and situated between the Jonathan Dickinson State Park and the John D. MacArthur Beach State Park. ; The community offers ocean front condos, waterfront homes for sale, Jupiter luxury real estate and new homes many of which are available for immediate move in. ;

?My agent Anton Seiss did a fantastic job in renting my home. ; Within 2 weeks it was rented. ; His marketing strategy really works. He has a very strong internet presence.? ? ; J. Regalado, Miami Beach

The Seiss Real Estate website provides home buyers with a number of free resources which include a mortgage calculator, a school finder, a home price index, a real estate glossary as well as extensive listings for single family homes and apartment condominiums. ; ;Mr. Seiss, the firm?s founder, is available for private consultations for both home buyers and sellers.

Research shows that now is a good time for homebuyers to purchase a home. ; According to Realtor.com, March 2013 data indicates that while the national housing inventory decreased 15% percent since last year, the number of listings increased 2.36% since February 2013. ;This month-over-month increase indicates a renewed willingness in sellers to put their homes on the market as list prices increased .05% both year-over-year and month-over-month to a national average list price of $190,000.

Home prices are expected to continue to rise as more and more families take advantage of low prices along with a renewed interest in the housing market by mortgage lenders throughout the United States. ; Mr. Seiss said, ?A home that?s being sold today for $190,000 could easily go up to more than $200,000 or higher as offers continue to pour in.?

About

Anton Seiss is a real estate agent who has extensive knowledge of the Jupiter area, the local housing market, ordinances and Palm Beach county schools. ;He?s very good at getting to the closing table fast. ;Mr. Seiss has many years of experience helping clients buy and sell homes in the Jupiter Palm Beach area in Florida.

Contact

Seiss Real Estate
198 Botanica Dr.
Jupiter, FL ; 33458-7120
Email: anton@antonseiss.com
Website: http://www.seissrealestate.com/

Jupiter homes for sale by Seiss Real Estate Jupiter Florida, Call 561-339-7003 now.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/9zb289CkzlY

Media Contact: Anton Seiss Seiss Real Estate, 561-339-7003, aseiss@bellsouth.net

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Seiss Real Estate

Source: http://latinbusinesstoday.com/2013/04/jupiter-ocean-front-condos-and-short-term-rentals-now-available-for-immediate-move-in/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jupiter-ocean-front-condos-and-short-term-rentals-now-available-for-immediate-move-in

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WHO: New flu passes more easily from bird to human

BEIJING (AP) ? A new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month is one of the "most lethal" flu viruses so far, worrying health officials because it can jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.

Scientists are watching the virus closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic but say there is little evidence so far that it can spread easily from human to human.

WHO's top influenza expert, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, told reporters at a briefing in Beijing that people seem to catch the H7N9 virus from birds more easily than the H5N1 strain that began ravaging poultry across Asia in 2003. The H5N1 strain has since killed 360 people worldwide, mostly after contact with infected fowl.

Health experts are concerned about H7N9's ability to jump to humans, and about the strain's capacity to infect birds without causing noticeable symptoms, which makes it difficult to monitor its spread.

"This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far," Fukuda said. But he added that experts are still trying to understand the virus, and that there might be a large number of mild infections that are going undetected.

The H7N9 bird flu virus has infected more than 100 people in China, seriously sickening most of them and killing more than 20, mostly near the eastern coast around Shanghai. Taiwan on Wednesday confirmed its first case, a 53-year-old man who became sick after returning from a visit to the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu.

In comparison, the earlier bird flu strain, H5N1, is known to kill up to 60 of every 100 people it infects.

Wednesday's briefing came at the end of a weeklong joint investigation by WHO and Chinese authorities in Beijing and Shanghai.

Experts said they still aren't sure how people are getting infected but said evidence points to infections at live poultry markets, particularly through ducks and chickens. They said it was encouraging that reported infections appeared to slow down after the closure of live poultry markets in affected areas.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flu-passes-more-easily-bird-human-073635353.html

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Thursday, 25 April 2013

Top Blogging Sites | Content for Reprint

Author: Martie McCabe | Total views: 117 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1031 Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 9:19 PM

At the present time, your online business needs a strong focus on Website marketing. Promoting yourself and your website online is vital to the success of your business. If you're not engaged in Online marketing already, now's the time to begin. Before you get started, make sure you check out these marketing tips to help you promote your web business.

Give something away to those visiting your website. One of the most popular giveaways used by online businesses is an interesting and relevant article. For example, if you are a general contractor, you might have a good article of home repair tips for your customers to download. This tells customers that you care about what is important to them.

Use persuasive words in your emails to customers, encouraging them to take a specific action. Actions you want customers to take can range from purchasing a product, visiting a page on your site or subscribing to your ezine. Since you can track these actions, you will be able to see how effective your marketing efforts are.

There is no exact formula to internet marking, rather it is half art and half science. You must research the online advertising methods that are effective within your industry and learn about newly designed techniques. This can sometimes be challenging.

Whatever claims you make in your website advertizing about top blogging sites, make sure you can back it up with facts. If people believe you are trying to sell them something, they are likely to be distrustful. Credibility is key; augment your sales pitch with support like references, customer testimonials and fact-based evidence. Unless you can substantiate your claims, you run the risk of appearing dishonest or lazy in the eyes of your prospective customers.

To advertise your product, you should create a sort of FAQ. For each issue or question, write a helpful answer, and be sure to mention your products as a solution. Write your questions with this in mind, giving yourself the subtle opportunity to promote your wares.

Affiliate marketing takes a lot of work and research. Choose a trusted mentor that you admire online. Many veteran internet marketers give out free advice, and some mentor newbies for a fee. Once you have chosen a technique you want to try, stick with it until it proves profitable or shows that you need to move on to a new technique. You may have a slow start, but in the end, it will be well worth the effort.

Customers should be able to provide a rating for products in your listing. Additionally, at your discretion, you can allow them to write a review of a product they have purchased. Not only can these reviews help you improve your products, but they allow potential customers to feel more confident in their purchasing decision.

Always avoid spam. Web crawlers, which quickly post hundreds or thousands of comments in a short amount of time, rarely produce the desired effect for your business. Instead, the lack of personalization when advertising could turn your customers off and cause them to become less interested.

Make sure the design of your website on blogging for dummies, makes your links highly visible. This will give the people interested in you, more ease when looking through your website. All of your information will not be hidden away in obscure links that no one can seem to find.

Always try to keep your content fresh and current on your website. If your site only contains dated information, potential customers may think the website is old or your company is closed. A website that is user-friendly and up-to-date is inviting for readers.

Tailor versions of your website to different audiences worldwide. Translate the content into multiple languages so that people all over the world can read your site. This is a potent approach to increase global sales. Customers who can read your website in their own language are more likely to make a purchase from the site.

Ask major companies to add your link to their site, this will make you more credible. Visitors will see these familiar and trusted names on your site and have a tendency toward association, giving you the benefit of the doubt as well as a favorable customer image. In the future, their larger customer base will think of you when they think of them.

Design your banners to be subtle and not annoying to visitors to your website. Do not let them know that it is really a link. Many people do not click banners, but they will not hesitate to click a link that will lead them to more info.

When marketing your business online, it's important that you make your customers feel as if they're in control. This might require you to set up your content in such a way that the customer actually dictates the flow. This is important today in a marketing world full of spam and unwanted opinions. Always have a link people can click on if they wish to discontinue emails from you.

Create a 500 error page that is user-friendly. This happens when your code does not work properly. A boring page that gives this message may annoy your potential customer. You can inform your customers that you know about the problem and are working on resolving it in by better methods than resorting to the generic error page.

Change around the links you use in your emails. Emails that are always the same are the ones that are most often ignored. Customers don't like seeing the same thing repeatedly, and it's important to offer variation to keep them engaged.

Most of the tactics you'll learn about are very easy to implement. You just need to make sure you implement them correctly. There are several approaches for this. So much information is at your disposal to begin to reap the rewards. By following these tips, you are well on your way to becoming a successful internet marketer.

Martie McCabe is an internet marketer.. My articles focuses on developing strategies and tips on blogging services. Learn more about promoting your blog and blog names. For more articles go to my blog at http://www.empowernetwork.com/10k/top-blogging-sites/

1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

3: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website

Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.

5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda

If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/top-blogging-sites.htm

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Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Frontier Communications Reaches An Inflection Point - Seeking Alpha

Frontier Communications Inc. (FTR) is now entering a critical phase of its operations. Its 2010 (announced in 2009, completed in 2010) acquisition of Verizon Communications (VZ) wireline assets was accompanied by bold proclamations that have largely gone unmet. Among the superlatives mentioned in the announcement release were 7 million access lines and $6.5 billion in revenue. The reality is much grimmer, analyst average revenue for 2013 is a paltry $4.8 billion, declining by 4% to $4.6 billion in 2014. Every quarter, since the acquisition was completed, has posted lower revenue and fewer access lines than the previous quarter. Those 7 million access lines are now fewer than 5 million.

For years, the dividend was a consistent $0.25 per quarter. Then it was cut to $0.1875 at transaction close to give a 9.9% yield, which at the time, still offered a very nice yield. The announcement described it as a "sustainable payout ratio" that would "allow the company to invest in the acquired markets, offer new products and services, and extend and increase broadband capability to those markets over the next few years" It was indeed a sustainable policy, at least for 18 months when they cut the dividend again to just $0.10 per quarter.

A comic might look at this and declare victory since these dividend cuts are only keeping pace with the stock price declines. Once again, with a $4.03 closing price and a $0.40 per year dividend, FTR provides investors with an attractive 10% dividend yield.

Increasing Broadband Penetration is Good Unless...

The core of FTR's business is wireline rural telecom service. FTR also offers high speed internet (HSI) and video services as well. The hope during the acquisition was to leverage the large base of customers to increase penetration of its broadband services.

We are confident that we can dramatically accelerate the penetration of broadband in these new markets during the first 18 months. We know that broadband is a catalyst for a healthy local economy and job growth. - Maggie Wildrotter CEO

And it is true that broadband penetration is increasing. In comparing HSI subscribers to total customers, the percentage rose from 48.1% at the end of Q2 2010 (the last quarter before combined results) to the most recent figure of 56.3%. The problem is the bulk of increasing penetration is being driven more by losing total customers than by adding new HSI subscribers.

End of Period Customer Metrics

Quarter	Year	Total Customers	HSI Subscribers	Penetration Rate
Q2	2010	1,345,127	647,487	48.1%
Q3	2010	3,892,328	1,692,858	43.5%
Q2	2012	3,275,354	1,781,295	54.4%
Q3	2012	3,223,557	1,782,278	55.3%
Q4	2012	3,173,200	1,787,561	56.3%

Source: FTR SEC Filings, Author calculations. Q2 2010 reflects legacy Frontier and Q3 2010 reflects the combined entity.

So yes, the penetration rate has climbed, but since the acquisition closed, FTR has added less than 100,000 new HSI subscribers. More worrisome, should be the addition of approximately 6,000 in the past 6 months. I would not consider this a dramatic acceleration.

Declining Value of an Access Line

I've tracked and followed this company for a while. The acquisition of the VZ assets effectively valued each access line at about $1,800 each. ($8.6 billion for 4.8 million access lines). Today this ratio for company is around $2,400 per access line.

(click to enlarge)

Source: FTR SEC Filings, Yahoo!Finance, Author calculations.

So, it appears reasonably good. Buy something at a lower price than the market will pay you for it. But there are two problems. First, that value is declining as shown in the above chart. The second is that one needs to adjust for the percent of access lines that are tied to higher value services like HSI. Initially almost half of legacy FTR customers had HSI. However, the VZ access line subscribers only had HSI at a rate around 40% and possibly even lower - perhaps 25%. Therefore these customers were less valuable. Furthermore, as noted earlier, the ability to sell them HSI appears to have been overstated.

Looking Forward Past This Inflection Point

While FTR's history should be disconcerting to investors, the reality is the stock price is driven by future events. In concept, FTR has now completed its integration efforts and is ready to realize cost savings to drive future profits and perhaps restore its dividend. The good news is that revenue per average customer is slowly creeping up, but not quite fast enough to offset customer losses. Average quarterly revenue per customer has risen from $354 in Q4 2010 to $385 in Q4 2012. Furthermore, operating margins have also increased, hitting a recent high of 22% in Q3 2012, before dipping back to 19.1% in Q4. However, I'm more concerned about the cost side of equation. Operating costs per average customer have also risen from $291 per quarter in Q4 2010 to $312 in Q4 2012. This means per customer quarterly operating income has grown from $63 to $73, a gain of just 16%. However, customer losses total 17%, completely wiping out the gains from efficiency. In essence, all the integration savings appear to have been to stay in place. Perhaps when the Q1 2013 results are released on May 6, 2013 after market close, we'll see evidence of more progress and perhaps a few HSI subscribers.

For an investor looking at FTR, I think you have to view it strictly as a harvest play which is contrary to, I think, the management's approach to the acquisition - a growth play. I don't see hoards of customers coming back to FTR, rather one has to bet that the cost savings occur at a pace fast enough to more than offset the customer losses. FTR management needs to deliver more savings and find greater efficiencies. Their success in ratcheting up broadband penetration so far has been disappointing, but perhaps there will be some good news in the coming announcement that will defy the recent trends.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Additional disclosure: Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and shall not be construed to constitute investment advice. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation or endorsement to buy or sell any security.

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1360651-frontier-communications-reaches-an-inflection-point

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We want your UFC 159 picks

After months and months of build-up, UFC 159 is (almost) here. The light heavyweight championship is on the line, along with other fights that have some animosity behind them. We want your picks, but we're doing things a little differently this time.

Go to Cagewriter's Facebook page and vote for who you think will win. Click on the fight for the poll that bout:

Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen
Alan Belcher vs. Michael Bisping
Cheick Kongo vs. Roy Nelson
Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Pat Healy vs. Jim Miller

If you want your picks to show up on Cagewriter next to picks from Kevin Iole and me, write in the comments why you think your choice will win. On Friday, we'll run picks and results of the poll.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/want-ufc-159-picks-164853317--mma.html

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Tumblr's Mobile App Finally Comes to Windows Phone

Despite Tumblr's massive popularity, it's been taking its sweet time rolling out its app to different platforms—the iPad version only just hit this past December. And now, at long last, Windows Phone users finally have a Tumblr app to call their very own. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/w-ihL10vU3g/tumblrs-mobile-app-finally-comes-to-windows-phone

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AP Source: Cavs, Mike Brown agree to deal

CLEVELAND (AP) ? Mike Brown and the Cavaliers are getting back together.

Brown, who led the Cavs to the playoffs in all five seasons he coached them from 2005-10, has agreed in principle to a contract to return as their coach for a second time, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Brown has not yet signed his new deal, but has agreed to take the job, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing. Brown's hiring could be announced as early as Wednesday.

The sides are working through the length of the deal and other matters, but Brown's back with the team he guided to its greatest successes.

Brown went 272-138 and went to the playoffs every season with the Cavs, teaming with LeBron James on a run to the NBA Finals in 2007. He was fired after the Cavs lost to Boston in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals, shortly before James decided he was leaving Cleveland as a free agent.

Brown spent one full season with the Lakers, but was fired by Los Angeles five games into this season.

The Cavs have been without a coach since firing Byron Scott last week following his third straight losing season.

One of the main factors in Brown's decision to come back to Cleveland was that he had already planned to move his family back to the area, long before Scott was fired. Brown is also close friends with Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant.

And now that Brown is back in Cleveland, it remains to be seen what impact that could have on James one day returning to the Cavs. He can opt out of his contract with Miami next summer, and there has long been speculation about him coming back home to Northeast Ohio.

The Cavs reached out to other high-profile coaches, including Phil Jackson. But Brown was the only one to interview, and with several other teams looking for coaches, the Cavs needed to act quickly before they were in competition for him.

Scott was fired last week after three seasons following a 24-win season and with one year left on his contract. Scott was strapped with a young, inexperienced squad but owner Dan Gilbert didn't think the Cavs made adequate progress ? especially on defense ? with him so he's handed his team back to the same coach he fired three years ago.

Brown's return to Cleveland isn't really all that surprising.

The Cavs wanted a successful, defensive-minded coach and they had their greatest success in five seasons under Brown, who was certainly helped by having James on his teams. But he has made the playoffs in all six seasons as an NBA head coach, and shown the ability to develop younger players during his first stint with Cleveland.

The Cavs won at least 45 games each season during Brown's tenure and went 66-16 in 2008-09 when he was named NBA Coach of the Year.

His teams in Cleveland always played solid defense, ranking among the top in most categories. James has credited Brown with making him a better defensive player and getting him to understand the importance of defending the basket. Brown, though, was criticized for a stagnant offense that too often relied simply on James' marvelous athletic skills, especially late in games.

Brown was fired by Gilbert after the Cavs were beaten in the 2010 playoffs by Boston. James was accused of quitting on the team during that series and there was tension in the final weeks between the league MVP and his coach.

But Brown's firing was more about Gilbert trying to make James happy and persuade him to re-sign, a strategy that ultimately didn't work when the superstar went to Miami.

Brown left Cleveland on good terms, which would take some of the awkwardness out of his return.

Even before Scott's firing, which seemed inevitable as the Cavs staggered to the end of the season by losing 16 of their last 18, Brown was looking for houses to return to Cleveland. He'll be closer to his oldest son, who will be a freshman basketball player at Butler next season and his younger son intends to finish high school with friends he made when his dad previously coached the Cavs.

Brown is inheriting a team with a bright future. As long as he can stay healthy, All-Star guard Kyrie Irving will only improve and in Anderson Varejao, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller, the Cavs have a solid nucleus.

Cleveland has two first-round picks in June's NBA draft, the team has plenty of salary-cap space and Grant said last week that he intends to be aggressive in free agency this summer.

___

AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report from Minneapolis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-cavs-mike-brown-agree-deal-202709647--spt.html

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FDL Movie Night: Unmade In China | Firedoglake

It?s so exciting when your film gets funded! But what if it?s being funded and made in a country where you don?t speak the language, in a country where bureaucracy and cultural identity create complex convolutions and roadblocks? That?s the story behind Unmade In China which follows the saga of director Gil Kofman. He finds himself in Xiamen, China trying to direct a thriller, originally written for the American market, now rewritten and? repurposed for China, with an entirely Chinese cast and a script that has gone through several Chinese revisions, including one that added in killing a dog, then feeding the pet to the heroine. Communist party officials toast Kofman, while his Chinese screenwriter dislikes

bourgeois Beverly Hills filmmakers

and distrusts vegetarians.

Kofman?s friend and fellow filmmaker Tanner King Barklow comes along for the ride, documenting the making of the thriller, now called Case Sensitive, and working as the assistant director. (Barklow co-produced two FDL Movie Night subjects, the Academy Award-nominated The Invisible War and the Emmy-nominated Outrage with Kofman?s wife). Together, Barklow and Kofman capture the absurdities and frustrations of filmmaking, the clash of cultures (both between Americans and Chinese, and among the Chinese themselves), seven-day work weeks, no per diems,? the continually shifting cast and crew, and the struggle between art and commerce.

In frustration over his script being hijacked, the lies he?s been told, and the delays in getting paid, Kofman briefly goes on strike. Then after several months in Xiamen, Kofman travels home for his daughter?s graduation, and realizes that shutting down the film would mean that 70 people would lose their jobs, and decides to make the best film he can, given the circumstances. He soldiers on, wraps the film, and turns in his cut, only to discover that the? producers have re-edited Case Sensitive in a way that he can only joke is

China is the world?s third-largest producer of films, behind the United States and India, and Chinese piracy of foreign films costs the industry over a billion dollars a year. (Kofman later circumvents Chinese film pirates and Case Sensitive?s Chinese producers in a very clever manner). Chinese money and distribution can make or break a film?Looper was rewritten to include Shanghai as a location to accommodate Chinese funding; and look at the last James Bond film! The LA Times reports:

A cautionary tale about the deals we make with ourselves and others to get our art made, and? a unique look at China?s? internal struggle between Communism and the new capitalism, Unmade In China is also a film about what steps artists will take to insure their vision is seen.

Curiously, despite its less than favorable look at how films are made in China, Unmade In China is presented with approval by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, People?s Republic of China.

Unmade In China, which won Best Documentary at the 2012 Sydney Underground Film Festival, the 2012 Edmonton International Film Festival, and the 2013 Bloody Hero International Film Festival. It is now playing in Los Angeles and Chicago, and opens May 3 in New York City.

Source: http://firedoglake.com/2013/04/22/fdl-movie-night-unmade-in-china/

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'After Earth' Film's Stars Will & Jaden Smith Imagine Our Planet's Future

In the upcoming science fiction film "After Earth", our home planet goes through some serious changes over the next 1,000 years. So it's fitting that the film's stars, ?actor Will Smith and his son Jaden, would take some time to envision what the future of Earth might entail.

In a Google+ Hangout today (April 23), the stars of "After Earth " joined SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, futurist Ray Kurzweil, Alexandra Cousteau and a group of students to discuss what the planet Earth might just look like in the next millennium. The event, sponsored by Columbia Pictures, was billed as "After Earth Day" and came one day after the annual day to celebrate the Earth.

"It looks like great entertainment, but it raises some profound issues [about the future of the planet]," said Kurzweil, the director of engineering for Google and moderator of the discussion said of the movie.?[See Photos of 'After Earth']

"After Earth" explores the relationship between a father and son ? played by Will and Jaden Smith ? after they crash-land on Earth 1,000 years into the future, after humans have deserted the planet to live in space. A "cataclysmic" event forced all humans to leave Earth, leaving the planet to be overrun by other, unfriendly species, according to a movie description released by Columbia Pictures. The film ? directed and co-written by M. Night Shyamalan ? launches into theaters in June.

"With this film it was such a perfect collision of art entertainment, education and a posing of fantastic questions," Will Smith said during hangout. "As an artist, this film does exactly what I always dreamed to be able to do with entertain and to also be able to pose interesting questions."

Smith went on to explain that shooting the movie helped him and his son start to understand how human activity influences the planet.

"I feel like I really saw some true beauty in the world after shooting in Costa Rica," said Jaden Smith. "After that experience, it really showed me how important it is to save the world."

Alexandra Cousteau, a filmmaker and granddaughter of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, also expressed her concern for the planet. She explained that the Earth today is in a vulnerable position, but by using technology and enthusiasm, a new generation can start to change the Earth for the better.

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of the private spaceflight company SpaceX and chief of the Tesla electric car company, ?said he thinks that these issues could be motivation for humanity to start moving away from Earth and into space.

"I think we want to be a space-faring civilization," Musk said during the event. "Either we're a space-faring civilization or we're going to be bound to the Earth until some kind of extinction event [occurs]."

To Musk, the idea that humanity can leave the Earth to create a new human life elsewhere in the universe is "inspiring" and "exciting."

Other panelists were more interested in finding new and different ways to help combat the effects of global climate change.

"I have faith in our generation," one of the eighth graders said. "I think that we can help this earth. I'm sure we can [find a way to] not waste this planet and go to a different planet. I'm optimistic that we can save this planet and do the right things."

"After Earth" is set for release nationwide on June 7.

Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter and Google+. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook?and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earth-films-stars-jaden-smith-imagine-planets-future-205444353.html

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Change diet, exercise habits at same time for best results

Monday, April 22, 2013

Most people know that the way to stay healthy is to exercise and eat right, but millions of Americans struggle to meet those goals, or even decide which to change first.

Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that focusing on changing exercise and diet at the same time gives a bigger boost than tackling them sequentially. They also found that focusing on changing diet first ? an approach that many weight-loss programs advocate ? may actually interfere with establishing a consistent exercise routine.

Their findings will published online in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine on April 21.

"It may be particularly useful to start both at the same time," said Abby King, PhD, lead author of the study and a professor of health research and policy and of medicine. "If you need to start with one, consider starting with physical activity first."

The few published studies on how to introduce more than one shift in healthy habits report conflicting findings ? and few have looked at exercise and dietary change together. In examining the issue, the researchers also wanted to study people who specifically complained that the demands of their schedules didn't give them enough time to make healthy dietary and exercise choices. The reasoning was that if successful programs could be developed for these time-strapped individuals, they would likely work for others, as well.

Researchers split 200 initially inactive participants, ages 45 and older and with suboptimal diets, into four different groups. Each group received a different kind of telephone coaching. The first group learned to make changes to diet and exercise at the same time. The second group learned to make dietary changes first and didn't try changing their exercise habits until a few months later. The third group reversed that order and learned to change exercise habits before adding healthy dietary advice. The fourth group, for comparison, did not make any dietary or exercise changes, but was taught stress-management techniques. Researchers tracked participants' progress in all four groups for a year.

Despite the challenge of making multiple changes to their already-busy routines at once, those who began changing diet and exercise habits at the same time were most likely to meet national guidelines for exercise ? 150 minutes per week ? and nutrition ? five to nine servings of fruit and vegetables daily, and keeping calories from saturated fats at 10 percent or less of their total intake.

Those who started with exercise first did a good job of meeting both the exercise and diet goals, though not quite as good as those who focused on diet and exercise simultaneously.

The participants who started with diet first did a good job meeting the dietary goals but didn't meet their exercise goals. King, who also is a senior researcher at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, speculates this is because changing diet and introducing exercise both have unique challenges. "With dietary habits, you have no choice; you have to eat," she said. "You don't have to find extra time to eat because it's already in your schedule. So the focus is more on substituting the right kinds of food to eat."

But, she said, finding time for exercise if you already have a busy schedule can be challenging. She pointed out that even the most successful group, those receiving the two behavioral health programs simultaneously, lagged behind in meeting the physical activity goal at first, though over the course of a year were eventually able to meet it.

King credits the way health educators explained the dietary and exercise advice to participants for their overall success and the study's high retention rate. They met with participants in person just once at the beginning of the one-year period. After that, they called once a month, spending as little as 10 to 15 minutes ? and no more than 40 minutes ? providing advice and support for diet and exercise.

For the participants, whose schedules and stressful lives had previously interfered with making healthy lifestyle choices, this approach worked, King said. She said that telephoning participants was a convenient and flexible way to provide personalized information. "These health behaviors aren't things that we change over a six-week period and then our job is done," she said. "They're things that people grapple with their whole lives, so to develop 'touches' of advice and support in a cost-efficient way is becoming more and more important."

Participants in this study were not actively trying to lose weight, just trying to develop healthy habits. King's next step is to test the same sequential-versus-simultaneous approaches among people who are trying to lose weight.

###

Stanford University Medical Center: http://med-www.stanford.edu/MedCenter/MedSchool

Thanks to Stanford University Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 67 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127841/Change_diet__exercise_habits_at_same_time_for_best_results

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Monday, 22 April 2013

Boston bombing suspect still hospitalized, guarded

BOSTON (AP) ? As the lone surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing lay hospitalized under heavy guard Saturday, the American Civil Liberties Union and a federal public defender raised concerns about investigators' plan to question Dzhokhar Tsarnaev without reading him his Miranda rights.

What Tsarnaev will say and when are unclear ? he remained in serious condition and apparently in no shape for interrogation after being pulled bloody and wounded from a tarp-covered boat in a Watertown backyard. The capture came at the end of a tense Friday day that began with his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, dying in a gunbattle with police.

U.S. officials said an elite interrogation team would question the Massachusetts college student without reading him his Miranda rights, something that is allowed on a limited basis when the public may be in immediate danger, such as instances in which bombs are planted and ready to go off.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said the legal exception applies only when there is a continued threat to public safety and is "not an open-ended exception" to the Miranda rule, which guarantees the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

The federal public defender's office in Massachusetts said it has agreed to represent Tsarnaev once he is charged. Miriam Conrad, public defender for Massachusetts, said he should have a lawyer appointed as soon as possible because there are "serious issues regarding possible interrogation."

There was no immediate word on when Tsarnaev might be charged and what those charges would be. The twin bombings killed three people and wounded more than 180.

The most serious charge available to federal prosecutors would be the use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, which carries a possible death sentence. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty.

President Barack Obama said there are many unanswered questions about the bombing, including whether the Tsarnaev brothers - ethnic Chechens from southern Russia who had been in the U.S. for about a decade and lived in the Boston area - had help from others. The president urged people not to rush judgment about their motivations.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Saturday afternoon that Tsarnaev was in serious but stable condition and was probably unable to communicate. Tsarnaev was at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where 11 victims of the bombing were still being treated.

"I, and I think all of the law enforcement officials, are hoping for a host of reasons the suspect survives," the governor said after a ceremony at Fenway Park to honor the victims and survivors of the attack. "We have a million questions, and those questions need to be answered."

The all-day manhunt Friday brought the Boston area to a near standstill and put people on edge across the metropolitan area.

The break came around nightfall when a homeowner in Watertown saw blood on his boat, pulled back the tarp and saw a bloody Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding inside, police said. After an exchange of gunfire, he was seized and taken away in an ambulance.

Raucous celebrations erupted in and around Boston, with chants of "USA! USA!" Residents flooded the streets in relief four days after the two pressure-cooker bombs packed with nails and other shrapnel went off.

Michael Spellman said he bought tickets to Saturday's Red Sox game at Fenway Park to help send a message to the bombers.

"They're not going to stop us from doing things we love to do," he said, sitting a few rows behind home plate. "We're not going to live in fear."

During the long night of violence leading up to the capture, the Tsarnaev brothers killed an MIT police officer, severely wounded another lawman and took part in a furious shootout and car chase in which they hurled explosives at police from a large homemade arsenal, authorities said.

"We're in a gunfight, a serious gunfight. Rounds are going and then all of the sudden they see something being thrown at them and there's a huge explosion," Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau said Saturday of the melee.

The chief said one of the explosives was the same type used during the Boston Marathon attack, and authorities later recovered a pressure cooker lid that had embedded in a car down the street. He said the suspects also tossed two grenades before Tamerlan ran out of ammunition and police tackled him.

But while handcuffing him, officers had to dive out of the way as Dzhokhar drove the carjacked Mercedes at them, Deveau said. The sport utility vehicle dragged Tamerlan's body down the block, he said. Police initially tracked the escaped suspect by a blood trail he left behind a house after abandoning the Mercedes, negotiating his surrender hours later after an area resident saw blood and found the suspect huddled in his boat.

Chechnya, where the Tsarnaev family has roots, has been the scene of two wars between Russian forces and separatists since 1994. That spawned an Islamic insurgency that has carried out deadly bombings in Russia and the region, although not in the West.

Investigators have not offered a motive for the Boston attack. But in interviews with officials and those who knew the Tsarnaevs, a picture has emerged of the older one as someone embittered toward the U.S., increasingly vehement in his Muslim faith and influential over his younger brother.

The Russian FSB intelligence service told the FBI in 2011 about information that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a follower of radical Islam, two law enforcement officials said Saturday.

According to an FBI news release, a foreign government said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev appeared to be strong believer and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the U.S. for travel to the Russian region to join unspecified underground groups.

The FBI did not name the foreign government, but the two officials said it was Russia. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly.

The FBI said that in response, it interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev and relatives, and did not find any domestic or foreign terrorism activity. The bureau said it looked into such things as his telephone and online activity, his travels and his associations with others.

An uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers said he had a falling-out with Tamerlan over the man's increased commitment to Islam.

Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., said Tamerlan told him in a 2009 phone conversation that he had chosen "God's business" over work or school. Tsarni said he then contacted a family friend who told him Tsarnaev had been influenced by a recent convert to Islam.

Tsarni said his relationship with his nephew basically ended after that call.

As for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, "he's been absolutely wasted by his older brother. I mean, he used him. He used him for whatever he's done," Tsarni said.

Albrecht Ammon, a downstairs-apartment neighbor of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Cambridge, said in an interview that the older brother had strong political views about the United States. Ammon quoted Tsarnaev as saying that the U.S. uses the Bible as "an excuse for invading other countries."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev studied accounting as a part-time student at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston for three semesters from 2006 to 2008, the school said. He was married with a young daughter. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

As of Saturday, more than 50 victims of the bombing remained hospitalized, three in critical condition.

___

Associated Press writers Denise Lavoie and Steve Peoples in Boston; Mike Hill in Watertown, Mass.; Colleen Long in New York; Pete Yost in Washington; Eric Tucker in Montgomery Village, Md.; and AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-bombing-suspect-still-hospitalized-guarded-072110364.html

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