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Sunday, November 4, 2012
College Basketball Preview - Big 12 Conference
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbooks) -
OUTLOOK: The Big 12 Conference has undergone a bit of a makeover since last season. Missouri and Texas A&M defected to the SEC, and in their place step West Virginia and TCU. While the new squads figure to take some time adapting to life in the Big 12, the top of the conference should look familiar. Kansas and Baylor both finished in the top-10 last season, and both are primed for more success in 2012-13. Of course, the conference loses a bit of luster with Missouri's departure, as the Tigers were one of three 30-win teams in the Big 12, the only conference to accomplish that feat last season.
Still, Kansas takes aim at an unprecedented ninth straight Big 12 title under Bill Self after finishing as the national runner-up. Baylor may have something to say about that with its locked and loaded backcourt. Texas is coming off a 20-win campaign, but went just 1-9 against ranked opponents.
Elsewhere, Frank Martin and his Death Stare are out at Kansas State, where former Illinois coach Bruce Weber takes over. Weber inherits a talented team, and one that has gone to the NCAA Tournament four times in the last five years. Oklahoma State is another squad with promise, but the team will rely on quite a few underclassmen.
Oklahoma has talent returning, while Iowa State has had quite a bit of turnover from last year's 23-win squad. TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech all welcome lots of new faces and figure to go through some growing pains.
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Kansas
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Kansas, 2. Baylor, 3. Texas, 4. Kansas State, 5. Oklahoma State, 6. Iowa State, 7. Oklahoma, 8. TCU, 9. West Virginia, 10. Texas Tech
TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:
KANSAS: Back from last season's Final Four squad are starters Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford and Jeff Withey. Johnson is the leading returning scorer after averaging 10.2 ppg, while Withey came up big in conference play, tallying 10.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per tilt and shooting 53.8 percent from the floor. Releford (8.5 ppg), a 6-6 senior swingman, has a chance to be more involved at the offensive end. The Jayhawks were among the top defensive squads in the nation last year, and that end of the court remains a strength. Ultimately, the key to another Big 12 crown for the Jayhawks is how quickly the newcomers get up to speed. Self has eight freshmen on the roster, and he is counting on contributions from several of those new faces. Perry Ellis, who stands at 6-8, was a top-25 recruit, while redshirts Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor have had some time to integrate and will log some minutes on the wing. Self has raved about McLemore's talent, while Ellis, a local product, has solid shooting and ball handling skills to complement his size.
BAYLOR: Despite losing three players to the NBA, Baylor will start the season ranked No. 18 and could move up if the guard play is as advertised. Senior point guard Pierre Jackson is among the best players in the nation at his position, and he returns after leading the Bears with 13.8 points and 5.9 assists per game. He'll team with sharpshooter Brady Heslip (10.2 ppg), who shot 46 percent from beyond the arc and 92 percent from the free-throw line a year ago. Cal transfer Gary Franklin, sophomore Deuce Bello, and freshman L.J. Rose round out the guard rotation. Down low, 7-1 top-rated freshman Isaiah Austin already has the attention of every NBA scout, while 6-9 junior Cory Jefferson is ready to step into a bigger role. Another freshman, Ricardo Gathers (6-7, 240), has the body type to bang around in the paint and the touch to hit the mid-range jumper. If the young forwards can adapt to the college game smoothly, the Bears are as dangerous a team as any in the conference, and perhaps the nation.
TEXAS: The Longhorns are eyeing up a 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, but the road got a bit tougher when leading scorer J'Covan Brown (20.1 ppg) decided to bolt for the NBA following his junior season. Still, there is plenty of talent in Austin. Starting point guard Myck Kabongo and wing Sheldon McClellan will be asked to pick up some of the scoring slack from Brown's departure. Kabongo (9.6 ppg, 5.2 apg) is a solid floor general, but he shot just 39 percent from the field and 68 percent from the free-throw line last year as a freshman. He also must improve upon his three turnovers per game. McClellan is the top returning scorer after averaging 11.3 ppg. Julien Lewis (7.8 ppg) is also poised to take a step forward in his sophomore season. But the player who has coach Rick Barnes most excited is 6-10 freshman center Cameron Ridley, who was one of the highest-rated players in the 2012 recruiting class. Ridley will be counted on to make an immediate impact and provide the low-post presence the Longhorns have been missing since LaMarcus Aldridge. If he can handle that type of pressure, UT is in good shape. Fellow highly-rated freshmen Prince Ibeh and Connor Lammert will also lend a hand in the paint.
KANSAS STATE: Bruce Weber is walking into a pretty favorable situation at Kansas State. The former Illinois coach, who was hired in March to replace Frank Martin, returns just about everyone from last season's 22-win team. What's more, Weber's in-your-face, man-to-man defense should translate well to an already tough defensive squad. But for the Wildcats to improve upon last year's win total, they'll need to step things up at the offensive end and limit turnovers. That starts with senior guard/forward Rodney McGruder, one of the premier players in the Big 12. McGruder averaged 15.8 ppg last season and he certainly has the ability to increase that number. Center Jordan Henriquez (7.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg) came on strong at the end of last season and will give the Wildcats a legitimate inside presence if he can pick up where he left off. Also back in the fold are guards Will Spradling (9.3 ppg) and Angel Rodriguez (8.3 ppg), as K-State returns four starters and 12 lettermen in all.
OKLAHOMA STATE: The Cowboys may have notched only 15 wins last season, but they were victorious in the recruiting ranks for a second straight year, and that young talent will eventually start paying dividends. Last year it was McDonald's All-American Le'Bryan Nash who came on board, and after a rocky start he finished second on the team in scoring with 13.3 ppg to go along with 5.0 rpg. This year, coach Travis Ford will turn to another McDonald's All- American in Marcus Smart, who was tabbed as the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Smart is a versatile backcourt player who excels at creating shots for himself. Also new to the fold is freshman guard Phil Forte, who played on the same 5-A Texas state championship team as Smart and was named MVP of the state tourney. Forte is known as a strong outside shooter, and his presence could certainly help a team that shot just 33 percent from the perimeter last season. For now, he may have to bide his time behind fellow guards Markel Brown (10.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Brian Williams (9.6 ppg), both of whom played well in their first extensive action a year ago.
IOWA STATE: The Cyclones won 23 games last season and went 12-6 in the conference, mostly on the backs of transfers. They also ended a seven-year NCAA Tournament drought. One of those transfers, Royce White, went in the first round of the NBA draft this spring, while two others are no longer around. Fortunately for coach Fred Hoiberg, he can turn to another transfer in dynamic point guard Korie Lucious (Michigan State), who immediately takes the reins of the offense. Hoiberg has also brought in swingman Will Clyburn from Utah. Perhaps the biggest question facing the Cyclones has to do with their size down low, or lack thereof. Melvin Ejim stands at 6-6 and will take on much of the grunt work in the paint. He averaged 10.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in conference play last season. Iowa State also welcomes prized freshman recruit Georges Niang, a 6-7 forward who will be thrust into action right away. Key returnees from last year's squad include Chris Babb (7.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Tyrus McGee (7.7 ppg, .394 3-pointers).
OKLAHOMA: Replacing ousted coach Jeff Capel amidst an NCAA investigation, Lon Kruger guided the Sooners to a 15-16 record in his debut season. With all five starters and most of the key members from that squad back for the 2012-13 campaign, OU is now looking to get over that .500 hump, and perhaps more. After all, Kruger has taken four different schools to the NCAA Tournament multiple times. He'll once again lean on sharpshooter Steven Pledger, who started 30 games a year ago and led the team with 16.2 ppg and 72 3-pointers (.416). Down low, Romero Osby (12.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Andrew Fitzgerald (12.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg) also return after starting all 31 games. A couple of newcomers also figure into the mix. Wyoming transfer Amath M'Baye will be a welcome addition to the front line. Two years ago as a sophomore in the Mountain West, he started all 31 games and averaged 12.0 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds. Freshman shooting guard Buddy Hield will also see the floor. Kruger is maybe a year or two away from really putting his stamp on the program with time to recruit, but OU certainly appears headed in the right direction and is capable of contending this season.
TCU: Coming off an 18-15 season, the Horned Frogs aren't ready to contend for a title in their new conference just yet, but they are building toward that goal. Trent Johnson, who takes over for Jim Christian as head coach, is the right man for the job. Johnson had success in previous stops at LSU (2008-12), Stanford (2004-08) and Nevada (1999-2004). However, the roster he inherits at TCU isn't exactly Tournament ready. Kyan Anderson averaged 8.3 ppg last year as a freshman on the strength of 36 percent shooting from beyond the arc, although he shot just 41 percent from the field. The Horned Frogs will need more from Anderson in his sophomore campaign. Senior Garlon Green, a 6-7 forward, is the top returning scorer (9.9 ppg) but has not proven capable of shouldering the offensive load. Amric Fields (9.6 ppg) earned MWC Sixth Man of the Year honors last year as a sophomore and will step into a more prominent role. Still, replacing top players J.R. Cadot and Hank Thorns will be a difficult task in the much tougher Big 12.
WEST VIRGINIA: Bob Huggins is back in the Big 12, albeit with one of the youngest teams in the nation. On the surface, the Mountaineers figure to struggle to replace All-Big East power forward Kevin Jones and second-leading scorer Truck Bryant. However, the arrival of La Salle transfer Aaric Murray should soften the blow. Murray, a talented 6-10 center, averaged 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks for the Explorers in 2010-11. Joining him down low is 6-11 senior Deniz Kilicli, the team's top returning scorer (10.7 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 rpg). Kilicli started 32 games last season and shot 50.4 percent from the floor. Sophomore point guard Jabarie Hinds (7.4 ppg) heads up the backcourt replacing Bryant, while Dayton transfer Juwan Staten adds some depth at guard. Gary Browne (6.5 ppg) also earned some valuable starting experience last season. Ultimately, the Mountaineers are feeling out not just a new conference, but also a new identity with the offense no longer filtering through Jones in the paint. A finish in the .500 neighborhood sounds like a reasonable expectation after last year's squad went 19-14.
TEXAS TECH: Citing health concerns, Billy Gillispie resigned as head coach in September, although there were also allegations of player mistreatment. Chris Walker, who served as associate head coach last season, takes over for Gillispie. However, turning around an 8-23 team on the fly is certainly no easy task, particularly when a half-dozen players have since left the program. In their place, the Red Raiders have a slew of new faces, including four junior college transfers. Sophomore forward Jordan Tolbert is something of an elder statesman after leading the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg) as a freshman. True freshman Josh Gray likely steps into a starting role at point guard. Fellow freshman Wannah Bail, Gillispie's prized recruit, left campus after one semester. Simply stated, the Red Raiders, who won just one conference game a year ago, will need a lot to break their way in order to stay out of the Big 12 cellar.
Source: http://www.sportsbooks.com/news/sports_betting/1040717.html
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Twitter Is Trying to Be Instagram By Adding Photo Filters By...
Twitter Is Trying to Be Instagram By Adding Photo Filters
By Casey Chan
Instagram created the photo sharing social network right under the feet of Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. Facebook decided to buy it and Twitter is now trying to replicate Instagram by adding photo filters of its own (Flickr is just? sad). The?NYT reports?that Twitter will ?introduce filters for photos that will allow people to share altered images on Twitter? so Twitter users don?t even have to go to Instagram for pictures.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Marble Polishing Parkland- Few Essential Tips To Consider!
Marble tiles look truly elegant and help to enrich the look and feel of your home or building. However, as the time passes by, the natural shine and beauty tend to disappear due to the damages, scratches and stains. If youre living in Parkland and are concerned about how to take back its beauty then marble polishing Parkland should be your choice.
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Out of reach today, minorities a key to GOP future
ATLANTA (AP) ? It's a fairly safe bet, based on polls and history, that non-Hispanic white voters will choose Republican Mitt Romney by a wide margin in Tuesday's presidential election. And that's a problem for the GOP.
Steep racial divisions this year that put overwhelming numbers of minority voters in President Barack Obama's camp mean the Republican Party must attract more nonwhite voters in coming years, or watch Democrats walk away with a sustained Electoral College majority. To understand the GOP quandary, consider the possibility of Texas and Florida ? nearly a quarter of all Electoral College votes between them ? becoming reliably Democratic.
Beyond the immediate question of whether Romney can mitigate this advantage for Obama in swing states is a larger one: What can Republicans do over time to build minority support? Can they successfully pull that off without sacrificing white votes?
The dilemma is not new, and GOP leaders are well aware of it.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham quipped this summer the GOP can't win with "angry white guys" alone, even if Romney manages to crack 60 percent among whites. According to the 2008 exit poll, white voters made up about 9 out of 10 voters for Republican John McCain. About 6 in 10 Obama supporters were white.
"The GOP cannot expect to win the presidency in the future by simply relying on running up big numbers with white voters," said Mark McKinnon, once a top George W. Bush campaign adviser.
Prominent minority Republicans say the conversation within their party must intensify and it must be personal.
Juan Hernandez, a Republican activist who recruits and raises money for GOP candidates in Texas, said that while Romney's primary rhetoric on immigration ? he has called for "self-deportation" ? is a liability, Obama's failure to push an overhaul of immigration law creates an opening for future Republican candidates.
"If another candidate comes along and truly opens his or her door to us, listens to us, fights for our family members who are undocumented, then we will embrace that person," Hernandez said.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and a rising GOP star, said his party must convince Hispanics that the Republican Party welcomes immigrants. He believes that "limited government and free enterprise" can be marketed to everyone. Both men, however, acknowledged near-visceral barriers.
"Immigration may not be the No. 1 issue in the Hispanic community, but it is a gateway issue," Rubio said. "The way you talk about it matters."
According to nationwide exit polls, Hispanics were 2 percent of the electorate in 1992 and 9 percent in 2008. They could top 10 percent of the electorate this year.
Former President George W. Bush, a Texan who worked to engage the Hispanic community, set the high mark for Republicans, winning 44 percent of Hispanics in 2004, according to the national exit poll. Independent polls suggest that Romney lags well behind that level of support.
Black voters typically cast about 10 percent of presidential ballots, according to exit polls, but inched up to 13 percent of voters in 2008 amid the largest presidential election turnout since the 1960s. Before Obama's appearance on the ballot in 2008, Republicans typically carried about 1 in 10 votes among African-Americans. Recent polling among blacks shows Romney's support in the low single digits as he opposes the nation's first black president.
Nationally, nonwhite minorities now compose the majority of all births. There are multiple states where non-Hispanic whites are only a plurality or bare majority of all residents under 18. In Texas, whites are now slightly less than a majority of the 18-and-over population and just a third of the under-18 population.
Beyond Texas, the Hispanic population boom in the West has made Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico more competitive, and migration and birth trends suggest Arizona will soon follow suit.
South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott, the first black Republican elected to Congress from the Deep South since Reconstruction, said his party must acknowledge the federal government's past role in the lives of minorities. Republican ideas on school choice and small business can appeal to black voters in economically depressed neighborhoods with struggling public schools, he said.
"Whether you were a Reconstruction Republican in 1870 or ending school segregation in 1954 as a Democrat, the community that is impacted most by those decisions finds itself enamored with a big centralized control that seems to set captives free," said Scott, who represents a majority white district and is a chairman of Romney's Black Leadership Council.
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society buttressed the notion of central government enabling advancement, Scott said, and "to be affectionate toward that system makes sense to me. But the argument moving forward is different."
Marcus Coleman, research fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, suggested that the GOP eye the potential of "reduced opportunity voters," mostly black men ages 35-44 in battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Florida. Political parties tend to overlook them, Coleman said, simply because they live more than five miles away from the nearest place to get a photo ID that is acceptable for voting and don't own cars.
Rubio and Scott also cited familiar Republican hopes that hot-button social issues will attract more minority voters. Hispanics are overwhelmingly Catholic, and black voters are more religious than the general population.
Overall, 25 percent of Democrats described themselves as conservative in an October Associated Press-GfK poll. Higher shares of black (37 percent) and Hispanic (38 percent) respondents said they considered themselves conservative, though just 4 percent of blacks and 15 percent of Hispanics called themselves Republican.
Most of the GOP presidential field backed stiff immigration laws like those passed in Arizona and Alabama. Several supported a physical fence along Mexico's border. Besides his "self-deportation" position, Romney opposes the Obama-backed DREAM Act that would create a citizenship path for residents who were brought to the country illegally as children.
"Look, to suggest that Hispanics are in favor of open borders is wrong," Rubio said. "The problem is, if you live in a Hispanic community, invariably you know someone who is undocumented. You know someone who came here who wants to give their family a better chance. For you it's not just a statistical, philosophical debate."
___
Associated Press Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
Red Cross Raises $11-Million in Sandy Relief Efforts - Prospecting ...
A Red Cross volunteer comforts the resident of a damaged house in Toms River, N.J. (Les Stone/American Red Cross)
The American Red Cross announced that it has received more than $11-million in donations for its efforts to help the millions of families displaced by Superstorm Sandy.
Among the gifts announced today by donors to the Red Cross National Disaster Fund:
? The New York Yankees have given $500,000 to the charity to support relief efforts in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
??Citi Foundation has given $100,000, on top of the $50,000 it gives annually to the disaster fund.
? CVS Caremark, the pharmacy chain, has given $50,000 in cash from its CVS Caremark Charitable Trust and another $50,000 in food and bottled water, which will be distributed to storm victims in New Jersey.
? United Airlines Foundation has announced it will provide up to $50,000 to match donations made to the Red Cross, Feeding America, or AmeriCares on the Crowdrise fundraising platform. It will also give members of its frequent-flier program bonus miles for contributing to those charities.
Emma Carew Grovum contributed to this report.
Send an e-mail to Raymund Flandez.
Source: http://philanthropy.com/blogs/prospecting/red-cross-raises-11-million-in-sandy-relief-efforts/36038
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Brad Armstrong passes away
All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.
Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/brad-armstrong-passes
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Ugandan Woman Brings Computing to the Rural Masses (Video ...
From the moment she got her first taste of computing, Uganda?s Asia Kamukama knew that she wanted more of her people to get their hands on this.
Fast-forward a few years, and she helps run Maendeleo Foundation, an organization that does just that ? bringing a solar-powered mobile computing lab to rural villages. The effort brings together about 15 Intel Classmate PCs, along with the solar panels needed to power the machines.
Now her project is also working to leave some of the computers behind in schools and libraries to give more permanent computing access to those she visits.
Kamukama has had to overcome some obstacles in her life.
She was one of few girls in her school, and didn?t really get to use a computer until she was 22 and nearly finished at university. But it wasn?t until she flew to New York this week that she had to deal with a hurricane.
But even after traveling more than 23 hours to D: Dive Into Mobile ? and seeing the event washed out ? Kamukama kept a smile on her face. After relocating to higher ground, she sat down with AllThingsD?s Ina Fried to tell the story she would have told onstage, as one of several participants in a conference segment called Global Voices.
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Elmo is a calming voice for kids after storm
Victoria Will / AP file
By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor
Superstorm Sandy made for a frightening time even for the bravest adults in the storm's path. So just imagine how scary the devastating storm was for children who lived through it first hand or even those who simply saw the images of destruction on their televisions. For kids, no amount of statistics or estimated recovery times really explain the weather event or provide comfort in its wake.
Parents have no doubt been working overtime to soothe their affected tykes, and now they have some help from a voice every child trusts.
On Tuesday morning, "Sesame Street's" Elmo visited Brian Lehrer's WNYC's radio show and spoke directly to his young audience. And as it turns out, the Muppet is a hurricane pro, having been through a scary storm on "Sesame Street" in the past.
"Well, the wind started blowing really bad, and we had to put tape on windows and stuff," he explained of the episode. He even had to help his pal Big Bird put his nest back together after the storm destroyed it.
Joining Elmo and host Lehrer was Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, the vice president of education and research for Sesame Workshop. She explained that the episode was created long before Sandy or even Hurricane Katrina. It was meant to help parents if their kids should ever face a similar storm.
"'Sesame Street' is based on a whole child curriculum, and so we focus not only on the cognitive skills, but social and emotional skills of children," Truglio said. "We wanted to have a community show like this where we could model for parents tips -- so that we could model how you prepare for a storm and how you get through the storm with activities ... and keeping your child calm and safe."
As for Elmo, he took a question from a fan who wanted to know if he was scared on Monday night, as Hurricane Sandy hit his hometown.
"Yeah, but Elmo was with his mommy and daddy, so Elmo asked a lot of questions and learned a lot about what was happening," he assured.
His main question of the night was, "Will the wind ever stop blowing?" And he shared the answer he got.
"The windows were moving and stuff and they said, 'Yes, everything would calm down and be OK."
And so it was for Elmo, and hopefully it was for all of his young fans, too.
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Flood insurance still relatively rare in Northeast - Seattle ...
From: The Seattle Times: Business & Technology - 2:08pm - October 30, 2012Many homeowners who suffered losses because of flooding from Hurricane Sandy are likely to find themselves out of luck. Standard homeowners policies don't cover flooding damage, and the vast majority of homeowners don't have flood insurance.
Continue reading this article ?
Source: http://ewallstreeter.com/flood-insurance-still-relatively-rare-in-northeast-5032/
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
EE launches Britain's first 4G services
LONDON (Reuters) - Mobile operator EE launched its 4G network in 11 cities on Tuesday, giving it a head start on disgruntled rivals to take British consumers into the superfast broadband era where they can watch video and quickly surf the Internet on the move.
The launch comes just weeks after the joint venture between France Telecom's Orange and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile businesses got the go-ahead to provide the new service while its rivals Vodafone, Telefonica's O2 and Hutchison's Three have to wait until next year.
"We're investing 1.5 billion pounds in our network to be the first company to offer mobile 4G in the UK, alongside the biggest 3G network," EE's chief executive Olaf Swantee said.
Regulator Ofcom has allowed EE to reuse its existing airwaves for 4G, which offers speeds five times faster than 3G. The other operators need to obtain new spectrum in an auction early next year, or in the case of Three, buy spectrum from EE.
The decision was a calculated move by Ofcom to kick-start 4G, and make the operators agree to a timetable for the spectrum auction and delivery of services after lengthy delays.
EE has priced 4G 10-20 percent higher than equivalent 3G tariffs, with an entry level of 36 pounds a month for 500MB of data, rising to 56 pounds for 8GB. All price plans unlimited calls and texts.
The tariffs faced some criticism on Twitter, with people saying that at superfast network speeds, the lowest monthly data allowance could be used up in a few minutes.
EE, however, said the levels had been set in line with typical demand, saying the average usage on a 36-pounds-a-month plan on its Orange 3G brand was just over 400MB.
"EE provides many more options for customers who have a heavier data requirement," a company spokeswoman said.
"Our top plan with an 8GB data limit provides customers with eight times more data than is used by an average unlimited user today."
EE is supporting the launch, in 11 cities including London, Birmingham and Manchester, with a multi-million pound ad campaign.
Its rivals, however, are fighting back by emphasising the quality of their existing networks and their own 3G plans.
Vodafone has been running ads across the press since Friday, highlighting the investment it is making ahead of launching its own services next year.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ee-launches-britains-first-4g-services-120740685--finance.html
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1 dead, captain missing after Sandy sinks ship
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) ? When the Bounty set sail last week, the captain running the ship made famous in Hollywood adventure films believed he could navigate around Hurricane Sandy and weather the storm. After two days in rough seas, he realized his journey would be far more difficult.
"I think we are going to be into this for several days," Robin Walbridge said in a message posted Sunday on the vessel's Facebook site, which reads like a ship's log of her activities. "We are just going to keep trying to go fast."
By Monday morning, the vessel had started taking on water, its engines failed and the crew of the stately craft had to abandon ship as it went down in the immense waves. One crew member died and Walbridge was still missing.
Most of the sailors were plucked from life rafts shortly after the ship went down, but Claudene Christian was found hours later, unresponsive and floating in the water. She was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said.
The rest of the crew was in good condition.
By the time the first rescue helicopter arrived, all that was visible of the replica 18th-century sailing vessel was a strobe light atop the mighty ship's submerged masts. The roiling Atlantic Ocean had claimed the rest.
The final hours of the HMS Bounty, as it was officially named, were as dramatic as the movies she starred in.
"When a crew decides it's safer in an inflatable than it is on deck, then you know she's in peril," said Bill Foster, mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., a frequent winter port for the ship and where it had been expected to arrive in November.
The ship was originally built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando, and it was featured in several other films over the years, including one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
Rochelle Smith, 44, met Christian this summer when they sailed the HMS Bounty in Nova Scotia.
"She loved the Bounty. She absolutely loved it. She was so happy to be on it and doing something that she found that she loved to do," said Smith, a medical transcriptionist who lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
The vessel left Connecticut on Thursday with a crew of 11 men and five women, ranging in age from 20 to 66. Everyone aboard knew the journey could be treacherous.
"This will be a tough voyage for Bounty," read a posting on the ship's Facebook page that showed a map of its coordinates and satellite images of the storm. Photos showed the majestic vessel plying deep blue waters and the crew working in the rigging or keeping watch on the wood-planked deck.
As Sandy's massive size became more apparent, a post on Saturday tried to soothe any worried supporters: "Rest assured that the Bounty is safe and in very capable hands. Bounty's current voyage is a calculated decision ... NOT AT ALL ... irresponsible or with a lack of foresight as some have suggested. The fact of the matter is ... A SHIP IS SAFER AT SEA THAN IN PORT!"
But as the storm gathered strength, the Facebook posts grew grimmer. By mid-morning Monday, the last update was short and ominous: "Please bear with us ... There are so many conflicting stories going on now. We are waiting for some confirmation."
Tracie Simonin, director of the HMS Bounty Organization, said the ship tried to stay clear of Sandy's power.
"It was something that we and the captain of the ship were aware of," Simonin said.
Coast Guard video of the rescue showed crew members being loaded one by one into a basket before the basket was hoisted into the helicopter.
When they returned to the mainland, some were wrapped in blankets, still wearing the blazing red survival suits they put on to stay warm in the chilly waters.
"It's one of the biggest seas I've ever been in. It was huge out there," said Coast Guard rescue swimmer Randy Haba, who helped pluck four crew members off one of the canopied life rafts and a fifth who was bobbing alone in the waves.
A helicopter pilot said the waves appeared to be 30 feet high during the rescue. The Coast Guard said in a news release that waves in many places topped out around 18 feet.
The survivors received medical attention and were to be interviewed for a Coast Guard investigation. The Coast Guard did not make them available to reporters.
Gary Farber was watching crewman Doug Faunt's house while his friend sailed. He hasn't heard from Faunt directly, but made sure he relayed Faunt's Facebook postings he made as the ship went down, including "The ship sank beneath us, but we swam free and mostly got into two rafts."
"Doug is a jack-of-all-trades, but I am surprised he was able to get his cellphone and send messages as the ship went down," Farber said by telephone of his friend.
The mother of another crew member, 20-year-old Anna Sprague, said her daughter had been aboard the Bounty since May.
Mary Ellen Sprague, of Savannah, Ga., said she had spoken with her daughter twice but didn't know many details because her daughter, normally talkative and outgoing, was being uncharacteristically quiet.
"She's very upset," Sprague said by telephone.
The crew was eager to return to St. Petersburg ? and to calmer waters.
"I know they were very much looking forward to being here," said Carol Everson, general manager of the pier where the vessel docks. "They were very excited about coming down."
The Bounty's captain was from St. Petersburg, she said.
Wallbridge learned to sail at age 10, according to his biography on the Bounty's website. Prior to the Bounty, he served as first mate on the H.M.S. Rose ? the Bounty's sister ship.
"The ship was almost like his home," said Smith, who met Walbridge in 2010 when she sailed the Bounty. "That's where he spent most of his time was aboard the ship. He was so full of history and so interesting to talk to. And he knew his sailing stuff."
A man who answered the door at a home listed as being owned by the captain and his wife said: "Not a good time," and closed the door.
___
Associated Press writers Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C.; Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark.; Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Greg Schreier in Atlanta, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-dead-captain-missing-sandy-claims-ship-064141085.html
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Nexus 10 and Nexus 4 pages show up in Google Play Store
Eager to get in on the newly-announced Google Nexus 10? How about the Google Nexus 4? You're in luck! Both the tablet and the phone just popped up in the Google Play store. All you can really do right now is drool at the pictures and specs, or sign up for e-mail updates, but hey, that should keep most of us busy for the rest of the afternoon.
Just in case you need a reminder, the Wi-Fi-only Nexus 10 is launching November 13 starting at $399 ($499 for the 32 GB version). The specs?
- 10-inch 2560 x 1600 display
- Dual-core A15 processor with 2 GB of RAM
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
- 9000 mAh battery
- 5 megapixel camera plus 1.9 megapixel camera on the front
As for the Nexus 4...
- 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display
- S4 Snapdragon processor
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
- 2100 mAh battery
- 8 megapixel camera with 1.3 megapixel camera on the front
They're both looking pretty sweet, eh? So, who's in? Is the price right?
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/41wg99Diwck/story01.htm
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Monday, October 29, 2012
AP PHOTOS: Images of the East Coast superstorm
AP PHOTOS: Images of the East Coast superstorm
By The Associated Press?
?By The Associated PressWaves crash over the bow of a tug boat as it passes near the Statue of Liberty in New York Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 as rough water as the result of Hurricane Sandy churned the waters of New York Harbor. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.? (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Waves crash over the bow of a tug boat as it passes near the Statue of Liberty in New York Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 as rough water as the result of Hurricane Sandy churned the waters of New York Harbor. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.? (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
People wade and paddle down a flooded street as Hurricane Sandy approaches, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Lindenhurst, N.Y. Gaining speed and power through the day, the storm knocked out electricity to more than 1 million people and figured to upend life for tens of millions more. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
The Hudson River swells and rises over the banks of the Hoboken, N.J. waterfront as Hurricane Sandy approaches on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.?(AP Photo/Charles Sykes)
Ocean waves kick up near homes along Peggoty Beach in Scituate, Mass. Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
People brave high winds and blowing sand as they watch the rising surf at Coney Island Beach in the Brooklyn borough of New York as Hurricane Sandy arrives, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Superstorm Sandy lashed the Eastern United States as it made landfall along the New Jersey coast Monday, packing torrential rains and wind gusts and knocking out electricity to more than 1.5 million people.
The initial impact was severe: making rivers out of coastal roads, forcing those who waited too long to be rescued by boats or fearfully ride out. The nation's major financial markets shut down, schools and public transportation closed and city streets were abandoned as the storm moved over a region of 50 million people.
Here's a look at AP photos of the storm so far:
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Free Dating Chat: Chat Clients Should Practice Safe Virtual Chat For ...
Virtual chat is important to many people because in the current world long distance relationships are inevitable. Global interactions are increasingly becoming popular. Chat clients regular visitors in a chat system. Being an idol chat in every chat room is the dream of many chat clients. It is important to avoid doing something for the sake of doing it. Many chat clients do it with the aim of having fun. When you flirt online you should be keen to acquire flirtation skills and therefore adept dating techniques. Once a good username logs on to a chat system the demand is so high that everybody wants to chat with them. The good thing is that many web sites offer the capability of opening numerous chat windows.
Modern chat rooms have many idol chats who are very good at multitasking and switching between three or even more chat mates. It a blessing to be the favorite among chat clients. The social skills become good and you will never fall short of ideas. You are lucky to gather information and ideas from various quotas. Experience is the way to any success in any field and that does not leave behind dating. Virtual chat helps to keep emotions in touch and in check too. Communication between chat clients kills the distance and in some cases also allow intimacy. We have heard of phone sex and cyber sex. They are greatly based on imagination or fantasy. The mind is the greatest sex organ and once it is stimulated all the other things are possible.
Virtual chat offers good practice to people who are hoping to change their behaviors towards the opposite sex. It reduces the distance and assumes the proximity which is needed to for people to get the right mannerisms. Chat clients are advised to be disciplined. If anybody misbehaves in a chat room they are blocked out of the room. There are specific sites for almost anything and everything. What many sites discourage most are adult content. I do not understand why for instance somebody in a chat room such as depression and effects it has in life should try naughty hits with a chat mate. Being an idol chat in the correct field is an important thing. Such a chat client shows lack of focus and direction.
Disciplined chat clients identify their requirement and browse to find the respective sites. There are so many dating sites which allow adult entertainment and they have chat rooms. They also have privatized chat systems therefore it offers a good atmosphere for virtual chat. Their are some chat clients who are masters in the art of flirting. Once an idol chat gets online, the number of personal instant messages will clearly indicate that they are charismatic chat clients who are popular with almost all the members of every chat room they join. Any chat should be oriented and purposed. Once you visit a site you should be wise enough to access the surroundings and decide what to talk about.
Source: http://freefoli.blogspot.com/2012/10/chat-clients-should-practice-safe.html
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2012 Bajaj Discover 125ST vs Hero Ignitor vs Honda CBF Stunner ...
The three bikes in the test started, obviously, with the Bajaj Discover 125ST, it is all-new and OVERDRIVE?s quest to keep the crown in each automotive segment current is well established. So the comparo was on. We also needed to get a sense of Hero?s new 125, the Ignitor. Initially I wanted to compare these to the Honda Shine since the customers who vote with their money buy more of that Honda than any other 125cc motorcycle in the market. But we scrapped the Shine for a Stunner so you could see yourself what Hero has managed to do, or not managed to achieve, with their Ignitor which is, under its new skin, identical to Honda?s more expensive 125cc motorcycle.
So we ended up with essentially the three motorcycles that are either the 125cc champion at this time, or want to be. Let?s get on with the test.
Design, build and finish
It?s obvious at the first glance that the Discover is quite a piece of work. It?s radically different from its predecessor. It?s a large, rounded motorcycle where the previous generation was skinny to the point of making Kate Moss look like she had love handles. This one is more fleshed out and I do like that. This also happens to solve my personal biggest ergonomics issue with the Discover - the tank used to be so ridiculously narrow that I couldn?t grasp it with my knees.
It also appears significantly larger than either of the other two motorcycles here, though the actual difference in length and wheelbase isn?t actually that much. I believe this impression of size will be valuable in the showroom. That said, I cannot say this is a wonderful looking motorcycle. Distinctive in the segment, yes, but pretty? The lines themselves are actually quite nice but it?s the heavy handed use of black plastics at the rear that ruin any impression of a lithe motorcycle for me. The hugger is impossibly large and an inch and a half later begins a fairly large splatter guard and then there is a substantial number plate hanger as well. So comprehensive is this coverage that you almost will not notice the rear monoshock and I think that is a miss.
Between the other two, it?s a close call. The Ignitor is based on the Stunner?s lines but when you see them together you note a clear emphasis on a less sporty, more practical appearance. The screen is integrated into the fairing, for example, and the chain is housed in a full cover on the Hero. In my eyes it makes the Ignitor more true visually to its role as a commuter. But if I were a young colt out for his first or second motorcycle, I?d still pick the Stunner as the looker in the segment. But leave the looks alone and look closer. All three are extremely well-built and as we have come to expect, finish levels are very, very good on all three.
Engines, performance and economy
I believe that in the commuter segment, the 125 is a good place to be in displacement terms for riders. They have as much as 30-40 per cent more power but retain nearly the same economy as the 100cc motorcycles. But Bajaj once again breaks the mould with the Discover, giving it 13PS, which used to be the peak power that the Pulsar 150 used to claim just a few years ago. With the other two bikes making 11.2PS and weighing a good 4kg more than the Discover, the performance end should tip in the favour of the Bajaj.
But before we go into that, we have to pause to take note of the engines themselves. The Honda engine that is in the Stunner and the Ignitor is a well-known unit. It works reliably, offers great economy, is refined and quite enjoyable to punt about town. It is also old-school. Like most other motorcycles in the segment, it is a basic two-valve SOHC single cylinder engine that breathes through a carburettor (the Stunner FI gets fuel injection but is expensive). It?s facetious to say a four-valve head in today?s day and age is a revolution but Bajaj have, at least, moved on from the two-valve head with? this Discover. The rest of the engine, two spark plugs aside, is similar to the Honda in essential configuration. But the better breathing afforded by the four valves allows the Bajaj more than just bigger power figures while matching peak torque levels of the Honda engine.
As we saw in the Pulsar 200NS, the Discover engine also gains a level of refinement we have not seen on Bajaj?s bikes before. It isn?t necessarily a quiet engine but vibration is tightly controlled and of the three bikes here, long, high speed highway runs produced the least buzzing and the consequent numb hands. The Hondas do seem to accelerate a bit quicker at lower revs than the Discover but the Bajaj escapes their attentions very quickly indeed.
In fact, the impression of acceleration is just that because the Bajaj is in complete control on the performance front. The Honda and the Hero can almost match the Discover?s top speed (between 101 and 103kmph for all three), but that is the only parity on the performance front. The Discover crosses the 60kmph in 5.71 seconds, which is half a second quicker than the Stunner which proves to be the second quickest - the Ignitor is 0.3 behind the Honda. The Stunner manages to hold on to this gap through the quarter mile as well, but the Ignitor falls behind a bit more. On the brakes, all three are nearly even, though the Ignitor takes a marginally smaller distance to produce a full on emergency stop from 60kmph,
Where the Hero and the Honda trump the Discover is the fuel economy. The Discover produces eminently acceptable numbers. City mileage was 57.2kmpl while highway runs produce 67kmpl - that is 59.65kmpl overall. The Stunner, on the other hand, manages 63.9kmpl in the city but roughly the same economy on the highway, for a 64.7kmpl overall figure. We were expecting the Ignitor to produce nearly identical figures and it does, more or less. 64.8kmpl in the city and 68.9kmpl on the highway. The latter boosts its overall figure to 68.9kmpl, making it the most fuel efficient motorcycle in this test, if only by a hair.
Ride, handling and braking
It sounds stupid but the first time I rode the Discover I couldn?t figure out whether it had extremely good drum brakes up front or a disc brake. Even a glance at the master cylinder didn?t register, honest. What I realized after I looked at the bike properly, performance tested it and all was that the Discover doesn?t lack braking power but it appears that the bite from the disc has been tuned back to offer a more friendly feel. There is more travel in the brake lever and brake force arrives as you squeeze it harder and harder but the feel is excellent for inexperienced hands - many of which are often scared of discs because they can be grabby and sharp. The Hero and the Honda are similar in brake feel to each other, and to the Discover, but with more bite and a tighter feel at the lever.
Ride quality is important in this segment. Make a motorcycle that is sporty but too stiff and you will have upset customers on your hands. All three here, I?m happy to say, achieve good ride qualities. But Bajaj seem to be able to extract a level of suppleness from their suspensions that Honda isn?t willing to yet. The Discover, with its telescopic forks up front and gas-charged monoshock at the rear absorbs fairly large holes in the road very smoothly.
In comparison, the Ignitor and the Stunner feel stiffer, though the difference isn?t that great. They are both extremely good in terms of having to live with over monsoon-broken roads but there is a softness to the Discover that takes the sting out of bad roads.
That said, the Bajaj isn?t wallowy in the corners either. In fact, it has a lower, wider handlebar which makes it more responsive in the corners. In comparison, the Ignitor felt a little bit taller and more accurate than the Bajaj but the Stunner feels much taller than both. This doesn?t actually affect cornering ability, but makes the front wheel feel farther away which takes time to get used to.
But what makes the Bajaj harder to corner are its tyres. The Stunner and the Ignitor both get very good rubber and it shows. Cornering in dicey, slippery conditions on an off-camber road - that?s the true situation in the pictures on these pages - was confidently handled by both the Hero and the Honda. But there comes a point on the Disco when you simply cannot push any further. The reason is the rear tyre. It has a distinctly square profile where the front (and both the other bikes) have more rounded profiles. What that does it make edge grip meagre and when you get off you have to look close to see that what looks like a fat chicken strip is actually tread carrying on to a nearly vertical surface that blends into the sidewall. Like we said of the P200NS, but to a much larger extent, better tyres will make the Discover a much happier motorcycle to punt about.
Yes, I know these aren?t expected to be cornering demons in the first place but hey, if this is your first or second motorcycle, would you not corner till you finally get a bigger, more sporty motorcycle?
To rank them, overall I?d say Discover and Ignitor draw, with Stunner a hair behind - Discover ride advantage matches Ignitor?s handling advantage. Stunner is a little harder to get used to the feel of thanks to its taller handlebar, so third.
Verdict
So which is the best motorcycle here? The Stunner is the oldest motorcycle here in design terms but also the sportiest to look at and if that floats your boat, it should be the one you spend on. But the Ignitor, which is identical under the skin to the Honda is actually slightly better in our opinion by a tiny fraction. Its lower handlebar - one of the only differences between the two styling aside - does it a small favour by making the feedback from the front seem more immediate and allows you a bit more confidence in it. It happens to be roughly a thousand bucks more expensive than the Stunner though if you?re really stretching your budget, the Honda saves you a small, but possibly vital, bit of your cash outlay.
The Bajaj Discover has more power, better performance, slightly better engine refinement, a supple ride quality and a Rs 6,000-odd price advantage on its side. Ultimately, that is enough to overcome its poorer OEM tyres, the sporty styling made fuddy-duddy by the black plastic bits and its weird name. Sport Tourer? A 125? I?d have called it the NC125 instead. Nice Commuter.
Source: http://overdrive.in/details/2291/2012-Bajaj-Discover-125ST-vs-Hero-Ignitor-vs-Honda-CBF-Stunner
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Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sandy downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandy-downgraded-hurricane-tropical-storm-091948349.html
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Weekly Lingerie Sales: 10/27/12
You are here: Home / featured / Weekly Lingerie Sales: 10/27/12
October 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
October 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dotty Balcony Bra at Fleur of England
- 15% Off Claudette?s New Leopard Print Bra at Butterfly Collection
- 20% off Simone Perele at HerRoom (regular priced items only)
- 25% off sleepwear for women and men at Bare Necessities
- 30% off treats at Fleur of England. See link for details on how to receive discount (Ends 11/1/12)
- 50% off entire purchase (excluding Fall 2012 items) at?Lola Haze?w/ the code?LolaSpookySexy50?(ends 10/30/12)
- Up to 75% off new sale additions at MyTights (while supplies last)
- Free shipping all weekend at PEEK Brooklyn w/ code TrickTreat
- New ?Buy One, Get One? offers at Dollhouse Bettie (while supplies last)
- New sale lingerie additions at Nordstrom
- New sale lingerie additions at The Outnet
Source: http://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2012/10/weekly-lingerie-sales-102712.html
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This Week's Top Downloads
MoviePass Lets You See Unlimited Movies in the Theater for One Monthly Fee (and We've Got Invites)
MoviePass brings the convenience of Netflix to your local movie theaters: After paying a monthly fee, you can see as many movies in the theater as you want. More ?
Keymonk is a Super Fast and Accurate Android Keyboard, Is Like Swype with Two Fingers
Android: Keymonk is a new Android keyboard replacement that takes the idea of swiping your fingers across letters to input text up a notch. Turn your phone sideways and use both thumbs to input text, or put it in portrait mode and use one-either way it's fast, accurate, and best of all, free. More ?
Unpolitic.me Replaces Political Facebook Posts with Links to Cat Pictures
Chrome: The election is only two weeks away, which means the political arguments are getting pretty heated-particularly on Facebook, where intelligent discussion is something one can only dream of. More ?
Facebook Nanny Blocks You From Visiting Facebook Unless You Have Notifications
Chrome: The web is full of distractions, but none are more distracting than Facebook. If you find yourself particularly drawn to wasting time on Facebook, this Chrome extension will block access unless you have notifications. More ?
SafeGmail Is a Simple Way to Encrypt Messages in Gmail
Chrome: When you need to send a private email to someone, you don't want it to sit around and be easily readable by anyone. SafeGmail is a Chrome extension that adds PGP-like encryption to you emails, and requires a simple answer to a question to unlock. More ?
WiFi Camera Takes Photos On Your iPhone Through Someone Else's Camera
iOS: WiFi Camera lets you take pictures on one iPhone using another iPhone's camera-perfect for using one phone as a remote shutter for group pictures. More ?
Skitch, Our Favorite Screenshot and Annotation Tool, Comes to Windows
Windows: Skitch is a simple screenshot tool that makes it easy to edit, annotate, share photos instantly. It's our favorite screenshot tool for the Mac, and now it's finally available on Windows. More ?
Camera ZOOM FX Adds New Camera Controls, Filters, and More, Is Still the Best Camera App for Android
Android: Camera ZOOM FX is our favorite camera app for Android, and this week's major update only adds to the features that make it such a great tool. More ?
Dragon Mobile Assistant Manages Your Calendar, Sends Texts, Makes Calls, and More, All With Your Voice
Android (4.0+): There's definitely no shortage of Android personal assistants, but finding the perfect one has always been a challenge. Nuance's new Dragon Mobile Assistant is one of the closest we've seen in a while, and does everything from get the weather to send SMS messages and place phone... More ?
Swype Beta Adds Cross-Device Dictionary Sync, Hotwords, and Swype for Tablets
Android: Swype, one of your favorite Android keyboards (and one of ours too), just rolled out an update for beta users packed with useful features, like the ability to sync your dictionary across Android devices, tablet-friendly layouts, and more. More ?
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/wHOP8ris3pk/this-weeks-top-downloads
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Saturday, October 27, 2012
Rhode Island's Gambling Addiction: Vote ?NO? on Questions 1 and 2
Every couple of years someone in RI has the same brainstorm: ?Let?s balance the budget by increasing state gambling revenue!? There is often some time-critical imperative requiring that we do it immediately if not sooner. This election cycle it?s the threat/certainty of gambling casinos going up across the border in Massachusetts: our addicted gamblers will be drawn away from RI?s gambling dens to wager away their family?s resources, thereby causing RI state to lose revenue. RI?s solution, being voted on in ballot referenda 1 and 2, is to add table games to both Newport Grand and Twin River.
Rhode Island?s greater and greater dependence on gambling income has arisen because of the myth that gambling has no victims, because supposedly increasing revenue via gambling will not raise taxes, and because raising taxes in the open is anathema to the General Assembly. And forget about lowering spending. Supporting gambling seems the easy way out of the annual budget-setting crisis, but it is not only immoral (it amounts to a regressive tax on the poor, uneducated and minorities), it?s also really dumb.
In-depth studies have estimated that the economic costs of gambling exceed the benefits by three-to-one; also see: Gambling Economics: Summary Facts. That is, for every new dollar of revenue three new dollars of costs arise. This does not include the immeasurable emotional tragedies of broken families, bankruptcy, suicide, etc. that can result from problem or pathological gambling.
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Proponents point out that gambling is the third largest source of income to the state, so we can?t possibly get rid of it or have it threatened by competition from Massachusetts. However, it (so far) ?only? composes 10% of state revenue.
There has been the implication that the new RI gambling facilities will make up for a possible loss in business due to the new MA casinos. In order to examine this, the state arranged for a gambling impact study (January, 2012) of the forthcoming presence of gambling facilities in Massachusetts on gambling revenue to RI. However, the report shows that adding table games in RI will NOT make up completely for the lost revenue, in fact far from it. WITHOUT table games (the current situation) Gross Gambling Revenue to the state will decrease by $75M after the new Massachusetts casinos are established. WITH table games (if the referenda pass) the GGR will STILL decrease and by about the same amount: $59M. That is, adding table games will likely only save the state $16M annually on a roughly $8B budget (0.2%). Is this really worth the costs? NO.
The gambling income to the state discussed in the gambling impact study consists of only the raw revenue increase to the state, that is, there are only economic positives.? It makes NO mention of either economic or moral negatives, let alone does it try to measure them.? Of course, the human costs are incalculable.
However, a whopping percentage (perhaps 300%, as noted above) of any state?s revenue from gambling goes right out the door again in the economic costs of crime, broken marriages, abused children, etc. Thus the supposed increased revenue from gambling is just fool?s gold. In fact, what we should really do is eliminate all gambling in the state. We would save a bundle.
By supporting gambling and using it as a major source of revenue the state effectively imposes a (another) regressive tax on poor and lower-income residents. These people are the ones most likely to gamble and least able to afford it. They provide the supposed extra state revenue needed to balance the budget every year, not the well-off. Therefore the better-off residents are not paying their fair share of state taxes.
Let?s take a look at another supposed benefit of the added table games, in particular focusing on Twin River. The claim is that the expansion adds many jobs. This is a mirage. The new casino income arises both from the ?entertainment? of gambling and from increased patronage of on-premises restaurants and other onsite businesses. But all of this decreases the business to existing restaurants, theaters, and other independent businesses outside of the casino, and possibly far from it, which eliminates existing jobs. (Example:? In Atlantic City in 1978, just before casinos opened, there were 311 local taverns and restaurants.? 19 years later there were 66.) Further, the casino jobs are low-quality, truly dead-end and low-status. Do parents brag about ?our son, the croupier??
On the Addicted Gambler
Gambling addiction is real. Problem gamblers make up about 0.5-2% of the population, nationally. (RI?s figures are similar to those of the whole country.) The percentage increases substantially the closer a gambler lives to a casino, particularly within 50 miles of a casino. This is the entire state of Rhode Island!
Like other forms of addiction, gambling addiction affects more people than just the gambler. It is estimated that typically 5-10 other people around him/her are also negatively affected. Therefore roughly 2.5-20% of the population is adversely affected by gambling (this does not even include the increased proportion arising from the closeness of the casinos). In RI that works out to be 25,000 to 200,000 people, perhaps a fifth of the state at the high end.
An addicted gambler is often 10?s of thousands of dollars in debt; he and his family are often financially ruined. Counseling is available to treat gambling addiction, and may be partially state-supported again in the future via the referenda. But providing counseling is like a drunk driver offering an accident victim with paralysis a wheelchair to make it right; it just doesn?t, the damage has been done, and there?s no way to reverse it.
Counseling doesn?t help everyone, and not necessarily permanently, as is the case with treatment of other addictions. In a study done right here in RI Dr. Robert Breen of Rhode Island Hospital found that eight weeks after intensive treatment, while many subjects had been helped, 28% of them had returned to gambling. That?s only eight weeks! Longer-term recidivism rates are unclear, but presumably are worse. So for many gamblers and their families, again, there is no going back. Further, the counseling and other social services for affected families can be a substantial monetary cost to the state.
Summing It Up
The humanitarian cost in shattered lives and families from gambling addiction is unacceptable. The economic impact is negative. There is no gain anywhere, only loss. Only one course of action is justifiable: VOTE ?NO? on Referenda Questions 1 and 2.
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These are my personal opinions. I have no affiliation with pro- or anti-gambling organizations and have no financial interest in Amazon.com.
Many thanks to Laurette for one heck of a lot of help with this!
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RI?s Gambling Addiction: Vote No on Questions 1, 2,- Cutting low income dental care costs as much as it saves
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Source: http://www.rifuture.org/rhode-islands-gambling-addiction-vote-no-on-questions-1-and-2.html
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