David Haye believes Vitali's era is over ? Boxing News | bettor.com

David Haye believes Vitali?s era is over ? Boxing News

British heavyweight boxer David Haye believes WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko no longer is the best in the division. Haye, who has been campaigning to fight against Vitali Klitschko since his knockout victory over Dereck Chisora earlier this year, believes it is time for him to grab the title from Vitali.

?I always assumed he was quite a proud man and wanted to leave some sort of legacy behind, which he won?t do at the moment, because, can you think of any big fighters Vitali has fought?? said Haye in his recent interview.

?He?s had 50 fights against nobodies. The only fight of his that people remember is the one against Lennox Lewis ? which he lost,? he added.

?He needs a fight people will actually remember ? and the only recognised heavyweight out there is myself,? he added.

For now, Haye believes it is his time to get a shot at Vitali, to finally get a shot at the title. Haye has been campaigning to fight Vitali Klitschko forever now. He has already faced Vitali?s younger brother Wladimir Klitschko previously and has lost.

Now, Haye believes it is time for him to fight against Vitali to finally grab a title and cement his legacy in the division.

?David Haye, David Price and Tyson Fury are three big men with big digs and big question marks remaining over their durability. Add Dereck Chisora, rumoured to be re-applying for his British license, then pair any two in semi-finals with the victors to meet and determine the 'Don'. All would fill football stadiums,? said Haye?s promoter Frank Promoter in his column this week.

In other words, Haye is near to a title shot, only if he can prove himself. While Haye believes there is nothing left for him to prove in the division, Frank Warren believes he needs to defeat other contenders in order to get the top.

For now, Haye is all ready to get a match against Vitali, believing the Ukrainian fighter stands for nothing. For Haye, Vitali has always fought against inferior opponents which is not an achievement for a titan like him.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/David-Haye-believes-Vitalis-era-is-over-Boxing-News-a212185

the grey review demi moore 911 call ipo jim rome ufc on fox 2 weigh ins convulsions john tyler

Proper Ways To Use Mouthpiece for Snoring | Health and Fitness

By Shawn E. Kavanagh

Loud night breathing is really a frequent scenario inside the household, specifically in the bed room. Regardless of how fatigued you may be or how much you would like to snuggle up with your significant other, you just cannot drop asleep thanks to loud snoring. Despite the fact that loud night breathing isn't going to necessarily mean an individual suffers from the a lot more severe health challenge, it deprives you from sleep. Total recovery from loud night breathing will not be nonetheless fully understood but gadgets to aid lessen the sound generated are created. Among the hottest and the very least highly-priced therapies is really a mouthpiece for loud night breathing. In the event you rest and also your throat is blocked by a piece of tissue, you deliver a vibrating audio as air enters your respiratory tract.

Learn More About [How Can i Stop Snoring]

This sound can be loud and disturbing and most people assume that lying on your side will keep you from snoring; but this is not yet proven and some experts say this may actually worsen the situation. Why suffer from uncomfortable sleeping positions when you can have a silent, snore-free night with oral appliance therapy using a very good snoring appliance. This therapy usually requires the use of a plastic (usually elastic polymers) molded into a form similar to a mouthpiece or mouth guard, placed in the mouth much like dentures. The appliance holds the lower jaw forward, providing a better airway, and ultimately, ease of breathing.

Oral Appliance Therapy is common because it is cheap but experts report that its efficiency for mild to moderate cases of sleep apnea (a sleeping disorder that may also lead to snoring) is lower compared to a more complex unit called the CPAP. Nevertheless, mouth guard treatments are popular because they are easy to purchase, cheap and easy to use. If you search the Internet for snoring treatment, you might come up with such products. Consult with your doctor first and see if you do not have sleep apnea. If all you have is snoring, mouthpieces are practical solutions.

A mouth guard for snoring is made with safe materials, and approved and cleared by FDA; this ensures that you will be using non-toxic products and will not leach out harmful substances. Testimonials from happy users (as well as the relieved family members) say that such products can be immediately used, no need to set up. Because the material is elastic, it can be molded according to the pattern of your teeth and jaw so your mouth moves naturally, even during sleep. However, you can't use them if you have dentures or sensitive teeth. You will also feel a bit uncomfortable during the first times of use but you will get accustomed to it afterwards.

When snoring isn't going to impose serious well being issues, it gets to be a disturbing and uncomfortable predicament. Also, the imagined of your respective loved one particular possessing trouble respiratory is simply not wonderful information. Numerous loud night breathing options can be obtained but utilizing mouthpieces together with other oral appliances is considered the most realistic and cheapest remedy it is possible to come across. Most suppliers also provide a trial interval in which you can practical experience their merchandise for 30 days and when you will be not happy with the consequence, you can basically ship them back again. Much more has become wriiten about zquiet

Source: http://healthandfitnessabdussalamblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/proper-ways-to-use-mouthpiece-for.html

amar e stoudemire m.i.a. adrianne curry hoekstra best superbowl commercials 2012 best super bowl ads chrysler super bowl commercial

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department has issued a revised Haiti travel adviso...

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

Source: http://www.facebook.com/haitinews/posts/531031413583507

B H c mitt romney mark zuckerberg mark zuckerberg maurice jones drew

Low profile Lindsay jets into London

30/12/2012 - 12:09:20
Lindsay Lohan has jetted to London for a low key New Year's Eve.

The 'Liz & Dick' star - who is set to appear in court on January 15, 2013 after her probation was revoked earlier this month because she allegedly lied to police about being behind the wheel of a car crash in June - was spotted checking into the plush hotel The Dorchester in an expensive fur coat earlier on Saturday.

According to gossip website TMZ.com, the 26-year-old actress wants to start next year off on a better note by avoiding the party scene in favour of a more low key celebration with close friends.

The troubled starlet - who has previously enjoyed New Year's Eve celebrations in Italy and St. Barts - has reportedly told friends she wants to stay home and plans to completely abstain from alcohol.

She is instead planning a small, quiet dinner and wants to be tucked up in bed well before midnight.

Her latest love interest British singer Max George from The Wanted is due to spend New Year's Eve in New York where his band are performing.

Lindsay allegedly isn't concerned about her looming court hearing next month because she believes she hasn't done anything wrong.

A source previously said: "We are not sure if Lindsay knows how serious this is. She has been in front of judges so many times at this point that she's not particularly worried. Lindsay has total faith in her lawyer and the criminal justice system. As far as she's concerned she did nothing wrong."

Lindsay was previously said to have recently agreed she had hit rock bottom and needed professional help but claimed she doesn't have the money to hire a psychiatrist as she is currently in debt.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bntopstories/~3/xtUOJOI_iO4/low-profile-lindsay-jets-into-london-579428.html

stephen colbert south carolina seal seal and heidi klum drew peterson untouchable herman cain south carolina palmetto rob lowe

Gulf firms rework mobility strategies ? 70% of businesses feel global ...

KUWAIT: In a globally connected world, companies both in the Middle East and across the globe, are readdressing their mobility strategies; many surveyed organizations plan to review their global mobility strategies in 2013, says Maya Rafii Zaatari, director, Human Resources, Deloitte Middle East.

Organizations are aware of both the requirements and the current limitations of their global mobility programs; however they are not translating that awareness into improvement and change, according to a new report by Deloitte. This is based on the latest annual survey of almost 200 HR, talent and global mobility professionals from companies around the world, entitled Strategic Moves. Findings in this study are particularly relevant to Middle East companies moving into regionalization structures, and international markets to compete effectively in these new markets and succeed in attracting and deploying employees and leaders to meet their business objectives. ?As more and more companies expand their operations globally, and many companies based in the Middle East begin to operate across the region, the challenge to source the right talent and meet client needs is evidently growing. Many regional firms are seeking candidates with international experience to assume leadership posts in different industries,? said Zaatari. In many Middle Eastern countries, particularly in the GCC, it is integral that strategies to improve global mobility are put into place, to ensure the right expertise is being offered to clients when needed,? she added. Brett Walsh, Global Human Capital leader, DTTL, says: ?The survey results show that organizations recognize the need for a global, mobile workforce to support their business strategies.

However, despite a keen awareness of worldwide mobility issues, there is slow progress to make the relevant improvements. Where organizations are taking steps, they appear to be aligning their international mobility strategies with functional needs, rather than also focusing on developing the next generation of global leaders with international experience required to run the global organizations of the future.? According to the report, a mere 2% of organizations see their global mobility functions as world class, and only 12% perform assessments of their mobility practices and make clear links back to improvement efforts they need to make. The Deloitte survey also highlights that 70% of business and HR stakeholders believe that global mobility in their organizations is underperforming and needs improvement.

Different requirements of global mobility Organizations recognize global mobility as an important tool to support the top strategic business issues and support the business in addressing the top three strategy issues: emerging geographical markets, such as the Middle East (100%), increasing globalization (99%), and increasing competition (98%). However, on average, less than 30% are using mobility to completely address those issues. ?In a globally connected world, companies both in the Middle East and across the globe, are readdressing their mobility strategies. In fact, one third of the organizations surveyed say they are planning on reviewing their global mobility strategies in the next 12 months, including reviewing the alignment with business issues and goals,? said Zaatari. Perception of the global mobility function Survey respondents were asked whether they felt global mobility was a purely administrative function, a strategic value-add, or both. Those in business HR roles were most likely to see it as strategic (42%). However, in stark contrast, those tasked with high-level talent and reward responsibilities and the ability to elevate global mobility to the realm of strategy ? were most likely to see it as just administrative (42%).

Assessment There is a widespread recognition of the need to improve the services that mobility teams provide; however the vast majority of organizations surveyed (88%) are undertaking only a limited assessment of the services that are currently being offered.

The way forward In order to align global mobility strategies with business? issues and goals in the longer term, global mobility will need to support business more effectively by providing global workforce management, where they manage an organization?s global supply and demand of skills and talent. This will require the mobility function to acquire new skills and capabilities. Brett Walsh concludes: ?If positioned appropriately, by adding global workforce management capabilities to its suite of services, global mobility can be the key player in solving an organization?s long-term skill supply-anddemand talent gaps. This will require a departure from the current model and a strong vision of the future. ?Organizations need to make two types of investments in order to achieve this. Firstly, they need to invest in their wider functional HR capabilities such as integrated HR, talent and global mobility technologies to facilitate global standard reporting across various employee metrics. Secondly, this initial investment will then allow them to invest ahead of the talent demand curve to create the required supply of talent to meet their future organization growth aspirations.??Agencies

Read by 830

?

Source: http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/12/29/gulf-firms-rework-mobility-strategies-70-of-businesses-feel-global-mobility-inadequate-report/

Home Run Derby 2012 San Diego fireworks steve nash july 4th higgs boson Malware Monday First Row Sports

Texas Vs. Oregon State Preview, Where To Watch Live Online, Betting Odds, Prediction For The Valero Alamo Bowl

The Texas Longhorns will enter Saturday?s Alamo Bowl without their starting quarterback against the No. 15 Oregon State Beavers in San Antonio.

Texas head coach Mack Brown sent reserve quarterback Case McCoy and linebacker Jordan Hicks back home for violating team rules, breaking their curfew, according to the AP.

Other reports suggest the players may have been involved in an alleged sexual assault that took place in the San Antonio area early Friday morning. However those reports have not been completely confirmed.

The 8-4 Longhorns enter Saturday?s? matchup after two straight losses to end their regular season. On Dec. 1, Texas fell to Big-12 champion Kansas State 42-24, with McCoy tossing two touchdowns along with two picks.

Texas held a 10-7 halftime lead after McCoy hit receiver Jaxon Shipley for a 14-yard score midway through the second quarter, but Kansas State responded with a blistering 35 points in the second half and the victory.

Like many teams that faced the Wildcats, the Longhorns couldn?t contain Heisman second-runner up Collin Klein, who rushed for a game-high 103 yards and two touchdowns.

The 9-3 Beavers had a far different regular season finale, annihilating Nicholls State 77-3 with 683 total offensive yards. It was a school-record in points scored in a single game, with quarterbacks Sean Mannion and Cody Vaz combining for five touchdowns and 421 yards.

Vaz entered the game after the Beavers were up 35-0, and is scheduled to start against the Longhorns.

Receiver Markus Wheaton had 12 catches for 123 yards and a score, and added a 10-yard rushing score, and Oregon State completed a six-game improvement from last season?s dismal 3-9 mark.

All that offense is complemented by a defense that lets up just under 20 points per game, ranked No. 22 in the country.

Texas will hand the ball back to sophomore quarterback David Ash, who started every game this season until McCoy took over in the second half against TCU on Nov. 22. Ash has totaled 2,458 passing yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions, completing 67.7 percent of his passes.?

Coverage for the game will start at 6:45 p.m. EDT on ESPN, or you can watch their line online stream at Watch ESPN here.

Betting Odds:? Oregon State is favored by 4 points.

Over/Under: 58 points

Prediction:?Texas may struggle to keep the off-the-field distractions out of the game, even if they aren't very far from home. The Beavers are much improved, but still want to prove their season isnt' a fluke by beating one of college football's most storied programs. Look for Oregon State's Vaz and Wheaton to put up more big numbers in a rout.

Predicted Score: Oregon State 35 , Texas 17

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/texas-vs-oregon-state-preview-where-watch-live-online-betting-odds-prediction-valero-alamo-bowl

ufc145 chimpanzee chimpanzee the lucky one pittsburgh pirates mariners mets

MSF warns Kenya not to send more refugees to stricken camp

LONDON (Reuters) - Conditions in a camp for Somali refugees in Kenya are deplorable and a government plan to send in thousands more would pose a major risk to health, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday.

Kenya has more than half a million refugees from Somalia, which has lacked an effective central government since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.

A series of bombings, shootings and hand-grenade attacks blamed on Somali militants prompted the government on December 18 to stop registering asylum seekers and refugees in urban areas.

A Kenyan official said more than 100,000 refugees must now head to the remote Dadaab camp in the country's remote north. Amnesty International said the order breached international law.

Dadaab camp was set up 20 years ago and already houses four times the population it was built for. Hunger and disease outbreaks are common.

MSF says its inhabitants suffer from overcrowding and poor sanitation that recent floods had worsened.

"The assistance provided here in Dadaab is already completely overstretched and is not meeting the current needs," said Elena Velilla, MSF's head of mission in Kenya.

In the last month, the number of children admitted to Dadaab's hospital for severe acute malnutrition has doubled to around 300, MSF said. Sixty-three of those were taken to intensive care this week after developing serious complications.

Most of the sick are also suffering from acute watery diarrhea or severe respiratory tract infections, MSF said.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/msf-warns-kenya-not-send-more-refugees-stricken-142842813.html

lakers trade ann arbor news ides of march elizabeth smart nick young south dakota state long beach state

Facebook Fake Likes And Accounts - Business Insider

Michael Seto / BI

Facebook's Everson

?

Earlier this year, in its Q2 2012 earnings report, Facebook disclosed that 4.8 percent of its accounts were either "duplicate" accounts (meaning that one person was operating more than one profile) or being used for nefarious purposes that violate Facebook's rules.

In Q3, however, Facebook didn't give an update on its efforts to drive down the rate of fake accounts ? and the fake "Likes" that they seem to generate.

Facebook's war against fakes is a work in progress, it seems. The company is due to report new numbers after Dec. 31.

The fake like/fake account issue has been a years long headache at Facebook. Even though the actual rate of questionable activity on Facebook is a small percentage of its entire traffic, it harms the social network's reputation.

Facebook has been sued over invalid clicks in the past. There are persistent reports of fake likes coming from the accounts of deceased friends. The system has had flaws in it in the past that have inflated the number of likes on a page. And in October, Facebook began a purge of fake accounts and the likes they generated.

So we asked Facebook's vp/global marketing solutions Carolyn Everson what Facebook is doing to kill fake accounts. It turns out that Facebook is hunting down accounts and users on an individual basis, rather than en masse via some sort of algorithm. And they're targeting the obvious villains first.

Here's what she told us.

BI: What is the situation with the fake users and duplicate accounts rate? I know you were working on that certainly in the first part of the year, but you didn't update it in Q3. Is that under control now?

CE: It is very much under control now. It's something we monitor vigilantly. We have user operations teams based in India, in Dublin, in California and Austin that are constantly monitoring. We want to ensure that one of the core tenets of Facebook is that you have your unique identity on Facebook.

BI: Where are these people coming from? I don't understand what the point of it is.

CE: There were certain pockets of the world where this was more prevalent in some of the emerging markets, which by the way, is not dissimilar to what happened with search when search first launched. There were a lot of fake clicks happening. It is something the industry at large deals with. This isn't a FB-specific issue. If anything, we have an advantage because we are a true identity platform so we can quickly figure out if anyone is their true self on Facebook.

BI: Does that mean, though, that you will be deleting, for instance, the Facebook page that might apparently be run by my dog?

CE: We have not specifically gone to target people that have started pages for their dogs. What we are looking for is people who have widespread fake user ID accounts to make sure we take them out of the system. We call them bad actors and that's how we identify them.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-fake-likes-and-accounts-2012-12

is snooki pregnant snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr jack white kowloon walled city ronda rousey vs miesha tate

Kickstart Your Family Tree: Putting It Together | Historic Indianapolis ...

So far we?ve dug through census records, searched cemeteries, and combed through military records. You?ve found your great-aunt Martha?s birth record and your dear uncle Edgar?s obituary. But what do you do with all the notes, copies, printouts, and source citations? Without some way of organizing your research you will quickly become buried in a mountain of paper. Today we?re going to discuss a few methods for controlling the chaos and making the most of your time and effort.

Organizing Your Information

To continue your research the first thing you need to do is organize the information you already have. Perhaps you?ve been doing this all along, and if so kudos to you. But if you don?t already have a system in place, then it?s time to create one.

When choosing an organizational method, the most important criteria is that it works for you. It should allow you to quickly access your information and documents with minimal effort. Everyone?s method may be slightly different, but they will likely be composed of two components: digital storage and physical storage.

Software Options

Most genealogists today, whether beginners or experts, use some kind of? family tree software. Software makes it easy to attach source information, find family connections, and discover potential errors. There are plenty of options available, a google search will yield hundreds of results, but most people stick with one of the following widely known and trusted companies, listed here in no particular order.

Ancestry.com offers a free family tree building service. You simply sign up for an account and begin typing in your family?s information. Their system is fairly easy to use, and it makes sharing your research quite easy. However, there are features that are not available to non-paying customers, such as being able to automatically attach documents from their databases to members of your tree. And while it allows you to include source information, their system certainly doesn?t encourage it. Therefore many Ancestry.com member trees are entirely without source citations.

In conjunction with this service Ancestry also offers a software product called Family Tree Maker. It is designed to be a companion service to their web-based products. It is rich with features, very user-friendly, reasonably priced between $40 and $80 (depending on the package you choose), and available for both PC and Mac. However, it is geared mostly towards users of Ancestry.com, and to take full advantage of the features offered it would be necessary to maintain a paid subscription to their site.

FamilySearch.org offers a free, downloadable, Windows-based software called Personal Ancestral File . It?s easy to use and while it?s lacking some of the bells and whistles of other software options, it has all the necessary features to record, cite, and share your research.

RootsMagic?is a windows-based software that comes highly-recommended. At only $30, it?s one of the more affordable options as well. There is also a free version available for download.

Legacy Family Tree?also offers both a free and a paid version of their windows-based software. One of the best features of this software option is the customer support available for users.

Reunion?is a Mac-based software that has companion apps available for iPad and iPhone that allow you to sync your information across devices. It is also well-known for having the ability to easily publish your research to a personal website. It is easy to use and full of features, however, at $99 it is one of the more expensive options.

This is a screenshot of Reunion 10, the software I use to organize my genealogy research.

Non-digital Organization

Even if you choose to keep track of your tree digitally, you?re bound to have paper to deal with. Many people choose to use binders to organize these documents, with dividers for each surname. Others prefer to file everything in folders. Whichever system you choose, make sure you?re consistent. Pick a method and stick with it. In other words don?t file some women under their maiden names and others with their husband?s family, or keep some birth records in a single file while others are filed with the relevant person in your tree. Inconsistencies like these make it difficult to retrieve information when you need it.

Moving Forward

Once you?ve organized what you have it?s time to think about your future research. After you have much of the basic information about your family, it becomes increasingly important that you focus your research efforts. Rather than searching through databases haphazardly hoping to stumble across something relevant, you should create a plan and attempt to answer specific questions you have about your family?s history.

Research plans are an excellent way to accomplish this. To create a research plan you simply find a question about your family that has yet to be answered, then create a list of possible places to search for the answer. As you do your research, you make note of the sources you?ve consulted and what the results of your searches were. By keeping track of all the places you?ve looked, even the ones that didn?t contain any relevant information, you can avoid conducting the same search again in the future. You can create specific research plans for an individual, a surname, or a family group. Either way, it?s bound to help you accomplish your goals.

Take time now to organize your data and create a method for staying organized as you continue your research. Once you have a system that works for you, you?ll be ready to move forward and continue building your family tree.

?

Source: http://historicindianapolis.com/kickstart-your-family-tree-putting-it-together/

hugo nfl combine 84th annual academy awards beginners 2012 oscars the shore meryl streep oscar wins

Shock, heartbreak for U.S. families adopting Russian children

(Reuters) - For months, life for Ann and Kurt Suhs has been a whirlwind of assembling documents, getting fingerprinted and scheduling evaluations of their Atlanta-area home in preparation for welcoming a Russian child into their family for a second time.

Now, the couple - who adopted their son Ben, now 7, from Russia at age 13 months - say they were blindsided by news that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday banning Americans from adopting Russian children effective next Tuesday.

"It's hard to think that it would all stop, that it would all just come to such a screeching halt," Ann Suhs said. "We haven't talked about a Plan B. We hope and we pray."

She and her husband are among some 1,500 U.S. families who are in the process of adopting a child from Russia, according to an estimate from the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Council For Adoption. Some of those families had just started paperwork, while others had already been matched with a child and, in some cases, had the chance to meet the boy or girl.

The Russian measure was passed in retaliation for a U.S. human rights law - approved this month as part of a trade bill and signed by President Barack Obama - that bars entry to Russians accused of involvement in the death in custody of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and other alleged rights abuses.

Putin has defended the Russian law by saying his country should care for its own children. But critics including child rights advocates say it is an unfair move that uses orphans as pawns in an unrelated dispute.

Ann and Kurt Suhs, who were waiting to be matched with a child, had been frantically checking every morning for news about the Russian proposal moving through the legislative process. They had chosen Russia in part because Kurt Suhs' grandmother grew up there.

On a recent day, "I looked at Kurt and said, 'Do we know what we're going to do if this goes through?'" Ann Suhs said. "We can't put our heads around it to say, 'OK, we give up on this dream.'"

A November agreement between Russia and the United States calls for a one-year transition period in the case of either country banning adoptions, said Lauren Koch, a spokeswoman for the National Council For Adoption.

"All we can hope for now is that President Putin will honor the terms of that agreement and at least, at a very minimum, allow those families who have been matched with a child to bring him/her home," Koch said in an email.

'ONCE YOU'VE MET THAT CHILD'

Americans have adopted more than 45,000 Russian children since 1999, including 962 last year.

More than 650,000 children are considered orphans in Russia - though some were rejected by their parents or taken from dysfunctional homes. Of those, 110,000 lived in state institutions in 2011, according to government figures.

Many American families are now in limbo.

"Once you've met that child, that's your child, and that child is in your mind, he or she is in your heart, there are pictures on your refrigerator," said Frank Garrott, president of Gladney Center for Adoption, a Fort Worth, Texas-based adoption agency working with about 25 families now in the process of adopting a child from Russia.

In Oakland, California, the news from Russia has Lease Wong holding her little girl especially tightly. She and her husband, Marty, arrived home from Russia about a month ago with their newly adopted daughter, Brianna, who is now 23 months old.

"I think she knows she has a family," said Lease Wong, who owns a toy store. "I have to think of all those other children. They're losing their opportunity for a family."

As Wong spoke, the girl chattered away in the background.

Those are sounds that Kim and Robert Summers are desperate to hear. They traveled to Russia in August to meet the boy who they call Preston - he's known as Stanislav in Russia - then returned to Russia earlier this month to continue the adoption process. They had expected to go back to Russia in January to bring the boy home to New Jersey.

At their home in New Jersey, a stroller for the red-headed 21-month-old sits in the dining room and his crib is already partially assembled.

The Summers' two-year adoption journey followed eight years of infertility struggles, three miscarriages and four unsuccessful attempts at in vitro fertilization. After soul-searching and prayers, they turned to international adoption, and the match with the boy was approved at a December court hearing, they said.

Kim Summers, a chef who has no other children, said she quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother to Preston.

When they left Russia in December, they were so sure they would be back the next month that they left their diaper bag with a family there.

On Friday, Kim Summers expressed shock, outrage and a determination to bring her son home in January as planned.

"I promised this baby I was going to be his mommy," she said. "I'm a mommy on a mission."

(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shock-heartbreak-u-families-adopting-russian-children-233343540.html

how i met your mother PNC Bank Jordan Pruitt real housewives of new jersey Kanye West sex tape emmys emmys

AVADirect X79 Gaming PC

The AVADirect X79 Gaming PC ($4,800 direct, as tested) continues the proud, high-end gaming desktop tradition of going completely over the top in every possible regard. Of course, when you enter into rarefied elite territory where five grand systems are the norm, a certain degree of flashiness is to be expected, and in this regard AVADirect have certainly hits the mark. Everything inside and outside of the X79 gives the appearance of raw power, from its sleek, refined Silverstone chassis to the top-of-the-line components humming away beneath the surface. The X79's performance in our benchmarks tests confirmed its brute strength, though it still fell short of its competitors in some areas. Gamers shelling out so much cash don't expect a good system, they expect the best system. With these heightened expectations in mind, then, the X79 faces stiff competition in its price point.

Design and Features
The X79's chassis measures 19.6 by 8.3 by 24.2 inches (HWD). Its huge dimensions is meant to accommodate a massive amount of components, but finding a place for the gaming rig will be a challenge for gamers living in tight quarters.

With the SilverStone chassis, AVADirect delivers an elegantly refined gaming desktop. Instead of the flashing LED lights and garish grilles typically seen in this category, the X79 comes in a subdued metallic silver chassis. Moreover, the SilverStone chassis has the motherboard vertically mounted, allowing the heat generated by the X79 to dissipate upwards.

The top of the X79 chassis has a removable perforated grill,that must be pulled off for gamers to access the majority of its ports and, moreover, to unscrew either one of the side panels and pop open the chassis. All the removable grill allows users to hide all of their cables, this can become cumbersome after a while since the top needs to be removed each time you want to access the ports beneath.

The X79 features an abundance of ports. The top of the chassis has four USB 3.0 ports, seven USB 2.0 ports, two eSATA ports, a Bluetooth module, a PS/2 input, audio inputs, and an S/PDIF digital audio output. The top also has some hardcore gamer-friendly elements. There's a Clear CMOS switch (for letting gamers replace the motherboard's jumper cap in the event that an overclock fails) and an ROG connect switch, and corresponding ROG input (which allows you monitor the system's processing speed in real-time through a laptop). There's also an integrated OC Key dongle, which can be plugged into the DVI port of any graphics card to give gamers on-screen performance information and overclocking options without having to boot the OS. The top also houses three fan control switches that allow users to toggle between high- and low-speed for each of the X79's three cooling fans. During testing, I didn't notice a difference in noise levels between the settings.

Toward the front of the system, the top of the chassis sports a power button, reset button, and activity LEDs. A sliding door to the side of these elements opens to reveal headphone and mic inputs, as well as a pair of USB 3.0 ports.

The front panel of the X79 features a total of five bays. The top bay houses a Blu-ray reader that also reads and burns DVDs and CDs. The second bay beneath it has a 65-in-1 card reader and a USB 2.0 port. Further down still, there are three empty 5.25-inch drive bays. The X79's rear is a more low-key affair that has a removable plastic grille that allows users to easily clean a dust filter that captures all the debris kicked up in the maelstrom of the system's cooling fans.

Popping open either of the chassis side panels reveals an impressive array of hardware as well as padding on the inside of each panel, ostensibly for muffling any sound. The sound, of course, stems from the X79's three fans at the bottom of the system. In addition to integrated Bluetooth, the X79's motherboard also sports a total of eight DIMM sockets that can accommodate a maximum of 64GB of RAM; our test unit had two occupied by 8GB modules, leaving six available, though two of these are slightly difficult to access because the X79's massive six-core 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-3960X processor sits directly in the middle of the modules.

A good portion of the X79's interior real estate is also occupied by its trio of EVGA 2GB GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards in a three-way SLI configuration. Each graphics card features one HDMI port, two DVI ports, and one DisplayPort input, making it possible to use multiple displays at once. Additional expansion cards would be difficult to accommodate since the graphics cards block access to the motherboard's remaining PCIe x8 slot.

Although the X79 is already brimming with components, its 1,000-watt power supply (PSU) means that it can easily accommodate even more upgrades. Of course, most users don't shell out nearly five grand on a system with the expectation of having to upgrade it in the foreseeable future, but the possibility is still there.

The X79 packs two solid-state-drives (SSDs) and two hard disk drives (HDDs); the two 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs are for the operating system and are in RAID 0 array in order to provide a quick platform for running your OS and programs. The two 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200rpm HDDs are in RAID 1 (mirror) array, leaving you with plenty of storage space.

Like most custom-built gaming rigs, pre-installed software is kept to a minimum, and, includes stuff worth keeping, like full versions of Assassin's Creed and Deus Ex Human Revolution ? The Missing Link. Like the V3 Gaming PC Avenger, the X79 is covered by a three-year limited parts and labor warranty and free life-time tech support.

Performance
With a six-core 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-3960X CPU overclocked to 4.5GHz and 16GB of DDR3 RAM, the X79 tore through our benchmark tests. Still, the X79 belongs to a class of gaming desktops where ripping through benchmark tests is the norm. Thus, while the actual difference between the systems in terms of performance is nearly impossible to perceive, a nearly $5,000 price tag means that you'd want to buy the best of the best?not merely "one of the best."

With these elevated expectations in mind, it was disappointing that the X79 failed to top the charts in our tests against other similarly-priced gaming desktops. Its PCMark 7 score of 6,197 came within striking distance of the Falcon Northwest Mach IV Icon2 (6,245 points) as well as the V3 Gaming PC Avenger (6,348 points) but lagged behind the class-leading Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K) (6,501 points).

The same goes for the X79's multimedia performance. It completed our Handbrake video-encoding test in 54 seconds, putting it on equal footing with the Maingear Shift Super Stock (54 seconds) and the V3 Gaming PC Avenger (54 seconds) and a few seconds behind both the Northwest Icon2 (53 seconds) and the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (51 seconds). Meanwhile, the X79's Cinebench R11.5 score (13.15) handily surpassed the Falcon Icon2 (9.66) but lagged slightly behind the Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K) (13.98 points) and, to a greater extent, the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (14.23 points).

The X79 finished our Photoshop CS5 test in 2 minutes 22 seconds, which was several seconds longer than both the V3 Gaming Avenger (2:17) and Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K) (2:15) while finishing ten seconds behind the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (2:12).

Although the X79s' trio of Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 GPUs easily delivered insane frame rates in even the most demanding settings of our gaming benchmark tests, it ultimately couldn't keep pace with its peers. In our Crysis benchmark test, the X79 dished out strong frame rates (120fps in medium quality at 1,280-by-720 resolution; 77fps in very high quality at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution) but couldn't keep pace with either the Northwest Icon2 or the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K).

The X79 fared better in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark test, managing to outmuscle the V3 Gaming PC Avenger, but once again failing to pump out frame rates with as much dexterity as the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) or the Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7-3930K). That said, the X79's frame rates are impressive in their own right, and it's worth repeating that it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between these systems since they all effortlessly deliver silky smooth graphics.

As far as 3D rendering is concerned, the X79's performance in our 3DMark 11 benchmark tests (23,397 points in Entry-level mode, 8,916 points in Extreme-level mode) were objectively impressive but nonetheless not as high as the Falcon Northwest Icon2 (23,627 points and 10,523 points, respectively) or the Origin Genesis (i7-3930K) (24,330 points and 9,710 points, respectively). While these are certainly smoothly playable scores, they still fall short of the competition, all of which fall in the same price range, save for the more expensive Origin Genesis (i7-3930K).

All said, the AVADirect X79 Gaming PC is undoubtedly an attractive system with the capability to handle enormously complex visual tasks as well as unfettered multimedia creation and consumption. However, high-end gaming enthusiasts who can afford to drop nearly five grand on a gaming rig would be better off spending the few hundred dollars extra for our current Editors' Choice, the Maingear Shift Super Stock (Core i7 3930K), which outscores the X79 across the board (though it should be said that the scores were very close).

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the AVADirect X79 Gaming PC with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? AVADirect X79 Gaming PC
??? Acer Aspire AME600-UR378
??? HP Spectre One 23-e010se
??? HP Envy 23-d060qd TouchSmart
??? Apple iMac 21.5-Inch (Late 2012)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ZKIrdPEjvio/0,2817,2413611,00.asp

Cnn Electoral Map roseanne barr guy fawkes gary johnson gary johnson walking dead where do i vote

Man gets DUI after driving on AA co-founder's lawn

DORSET, Vt. (AP) ? Vermont State Police say a man faces a drunken driving charge after driving onto the lawn of a historic home once owned by the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Police say 55-year-old Donald Blood III of Marlborough, Mass., was ordered to appear in court in Bennington on Jan. 14.

Police say Blood thought he was driving into a parking lot, but actually it was the lawn of the Wilson House, built in 1852 in Dorset, the birthplace of AA co-founder Bill Wilson.

The Wilson House's website describes it as a "place of sanctuary where people can come to give thanks to God for their new lives."

It still hosts several AA meetings each week.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-12-27-DUI-AA%20Birthplace/id-c0d535ae5ac14709a6c8777be3fd9ca0

may day stoudemire jordan hill tony nominations dark knight trailer delmon young dallas mavericks

Sacks of potatoes stand in for humans in Boeing's in-air Wi-Fi tests

1 hr.

Jason Keyser , Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) -?If the wireless Internet connection during your holiday flight seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato to thank.?

While major airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi on many flights, the signal strength can be spotty. Airlines and aircraft makers have been striving to improve this with the growing use of wireless devices and the number of people who don't want to be disconnected, even 35,000 feet up.?

"That's where potatoes come into the picture," Boeing spokesman Adam Tischler said.?Engineers at Chicago-based Boeing Co. used sacks of potatoes as stand-ins for passengers as they worked to eliminate weak spots in in-flight wireless signals. They needed full planes to get accurate results during signal testing, but they couldn't ask people to sit motionless for days while data was gathered.?

It turns out that potatoes ? because of their water content and chemistry ? absorb and reflect radio wave signals much the same way as the human body does, making them suitable substitutes for airline passengers.?

"It's a testament to the ingenuity of these engineers. They didn't go in with potatoes as the plan," Tischler said.?

Recapping the serendipitous path that led to better onboard wireless, Tischler said a member of the research team stumbled across an article in the Journal of Food Science describing research in which 15 vegetables and fruits were evaluated for their dielectric properties, or the way they transmit electric force without conduction.?

Its conclusions led the Boeing researchers to wonder if potatoes might serve just as well as humans during their own signal testing. Despite some skepticism, they ended up buying 20,000 pounds of them.?

Video and photos of the work, which started in 2006, show a decommissioned airplane loaded with row upon row of potato sacks that look like large, lumpy passengers. The sacks sit eerily still in the seats as the engineers collect data on the strength of wireless signals in various spots.?

The Boeing engineers added some complicated statistical analysis and the result was a proprietary system for fine tuning Internet signals so they would be strong and reliable wherever a laptop was used on a plane.?

Boeing says the system also ensures Wi-Fi signals won't interfere with the plane's sensitive navigation and communications equipment.?

"From a safety standpoint, you want to know what the peak signals are, what's the strongest signal one of our communications and navigation systems might see from a laptop or 150 laptops or 350 laptops," Boeing engineer Dennis Lewis explains in a video.?

In a nod to the humor in using a tuber to solve a high-tech problem, researchers dubbed the project Synthetic Personnel Using Dialectic Substitution, or SPUDS.?

The company says better Wi-Fi signals can be found already on three Boeing aircraft models flown by major airlines: 777, 747-8 and the 787 Dreamliner.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/sacks-potatoes-stand-humans-boeings-air-wi-fi-tests-1C7657751

red dawn sweet potato pie sweet potato pie green bean casserole recipe Kmart Black Friday PlanetSide 2 Alexis DeJoria

'One Christmas at a Time' is holiday music for gamers and geeks

13 hrs.

Winda Benedetti , NBC News

When was the last time you took a sleigh ride to grandma's house? And have you ever actually?roasted chestnuts?on an open fire? Have you? Really?

We love our traditional holiday songs this time of year, but after a while?one can't help but long for?a little Christmas music that's more ... relevant to the times.

That's where the new album from geek and gamer cult fave?Jonathan Coulton and his?collaborator John Roderick of the The?Long Winters rides to the rescue (in a rocket-powered?sleigh pulled by robots, that is).?

"One Christmas at a Time" ? which you can download for $10?here, here and here ? is chock full of quirky, funny and even heartwarming songs for the kind of modern?holidays we all know, love and sometimes loathe.

After all, who hasn't?watched that annoying/drunk relative?ruin the Christmas dinner?(or at least make everyone really uncomfortable)? And who hasn't longed for that gift that they might not get?

In "One Christmas at a Time," Coulton and Roderick?sing?songs?about awkward holiday celebrations, failed shopping efforts?and?that strange?week between Christmas and New Year's Day, offering up some tech-themed tunes along the way. For example, in?"Wikipedia Chanukah" Coulton and Roderick?take us on a tour of the online encyclopedia's explanation of the Jewish holiday (perhaps the closest you'll hear these two come to performing dubstep) And "2600" is a zippy?ode to Coulton and Roderick's childhood longing to find an?Atari 2600 game machine under the tree. (Coulton was fortunate enough to get one but Roderick, alas, was given an Intellivison instead).?

Coulton, a former computer programmer, has earned a dedicated?following among gamers,?geeks and nerds of all stripes?thanks to his intelligent?song-writing infused with a sense of humor. ?His song?"Code Monkey" ? a jaunty, simian ode?to programmers everywhere ? became a hit among the tech crowd. And his song "I'm Your Moon"?about Pluto's demotion from planet status and its unusual dance with the moon Charon is a stargazer favorite.

Meanwhile,?Coulton has written a couple of gaming world's most famous and?most covered songs. That is, he wrote?"Still Alive"?the song sung by the malevolent artificial intelligence GLaDOS at the end of "Portal." The brain-consumingly?catchy?tune?has been covered by?furries,?a?children's choir?and even?some?computers.?And Coulton?followed that hit up?with the song?"Want You Gone" for "Portal 2" (check out the excellent?fan-made video?here.)?

Of course, the question is,?why a Christmas album?

"It?s one of those things that,?when you are a musician and you?re working on stuff, putting albums out, it?s this thing that?s always on your radar as a thing you?re eventually going to do before you die," he told NBC News in a recent interview. "You?ve already done the first album, then you?ve done the difficult second album. Then there?s a bunch of other?albums in the middle. Somewhere near the end, you do the duets album ??right before you die probably. But before that, you do a Christmas record and?you do maybe a kid?s record."

Oh and he adds, "You?ve got to do an electronica album in there somewhere. That?s in my future I think."

Certainly Coulton doesn't shy away from doing the unexpected. The singer/songwriter has carved out?his own niche?(and inspired?a passionate following online and off) ever since giving up his career as a programmer.

"You spend nine years at the same company working on the same software package and you start to wonder what else is out there," he said. What was out there for Coulton was music ? and a unique project that still inspires him to this day.

"When I started doing music full time, the first thing I did was this Thing a Week Project, which was a year of releasing a new song every Friday whether I wanted to or not," he said. "And the thing that I learned from that is that I really blossom creatively when I?m challenged and afraid."

Coulton said he uses that lesson as a compass when deciding what to do next.

"If?somebody?says, 'Hey do you want to do this thing?' and it makes me a little frightened,?then while my lizard brain says, 'No no no you shouldn?t do that!' my higher brains says, 'You should think about doing that because that might be really?interesting.'"

And Coulton has no shortage of interesting projects in the works. In addition to the Christmas album and a recent tour, he is the co-host for the NPR puzzle and?word games show "Ask Me Another,"?season 2 of which begins in January.??(If you'd like to attend one of the upcoming live tapings, check out this link.)

Coulton is also gearing up for the third annual?Jo Co Cruise Crazy?event???a weeklong?Eastern Caribbean cruise in which fans are invited to sail the high seas aboard a Royal Caribbean ship while the singer?and an amazing array of artists and entertainers perform for and amuse?them. Among the confirmed stars who will be onboard this geek-filled ship starting Februrary 10 ? John Hodgman and Wil Wheaton as well as Coulton's "One Christmas at a Time" collaborator John Roderick.

"It's a ton of fun," he says of this unique seafaring adventure (which you can still sign up for). "It's about the cruise, but it's also about this community of people who are fans of things that are awesome who all get together in this one space. And the bonus is, that space is this cruise ship in the Caribbean!"

If you can't afford to join?Coulton on the high seas, you can still get your dose of his brand of music and humor by downloading?"One Christmas at a Time."?And this time of year it's also worth downloading an earlier Coulton science-fiction-themed holiday?favorite???"Chiron Beta Prime."

It's a little ditty?about a family celebrating the?holidays?from an?asteroid ruled by?robot overlords ? with nary a roasting chestnut in sight. Go on, sing along ...

This year has been a little crazy for the Andersons.

You may recall we had some trouble last year.

The robot council had us banished to an asteroid.

That hasn't undermined our holiday cheer.

And we know it's almost Christmas by the marks we make on the wall.

That's our favorite time of year.

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime,

Where we're working in a mine for our robot overlords.

Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime.

Winda Benedetti?writes about video?games for NBC?News. You can follow her tweets about games and other things?on Twitter?here?@WindaBenedetti?and you can?follow her?on?Google+.?Meanwhile, be sure to check?out the?IN-GAME?FACEBOOK PAGE?to discuss the day's?gaming news and reviews.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/gamers-geeks-one-christmas-time-holiday-music-you-1C7660217

mike jones just friends chronicle george lopez bedtime stories micron susan g komen

Shopping And Product Reviews: Toys Article Category by ElleEatist

[unable to retrieve full-text content]These toys can soar as high as 100 feet above the ground. The motor type of this model is N30 and it is available in white color only. Gifting toys is one the most common instances with any one but even there you puzzle with ...

Source: http://www.elleeatist.com/2012/12/22/shopping-and-product-reviews-toys-article-category/

dont trust the b in apartment 23 johnny damon kirk cameron news 10 hillary rosen j.k. rowling j.k. rowling

3-Step Parenting: Holiday Cheer / Last Minute Gifts - bdpykeok's ...

It's a wet nasty day here in the Hudson Valley, but that's not going to bring me down.? After a quick run in the rain, I'm ready to deliver for you.? Now that the?holidays are here we often get busier than ever.? Running from school event to school event, The infamous work party to friends parties, to shopping and getting our nails, hair done to look?our best for?those we love.?(ok, not me)??With?all this madness,?don't let the holidays pass you by without remembering the reason you decided to start a family.??Allow yourself to go back to the roots of your relationship.? Spending time with loved ones,?visiting family and friends that you have not seen in awhile,?partaking in special fun activities with your children to?carrying on traditions or starting new ones. Whatever your cup of cheer is just do it with your family.??

As my oldest is now 11 it really hits home to how fast the years are flying by.? I have loved them all and hope you do as well.
Happy Holidays
Todd

PS:? Looking for that last minute gift to give to a loved one.? If so then don't miss out on giving the gift that will give back day after day.? And to think it will cost you less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks.? SO STOP READING and click below for your copy of Three Step Parenting. located on the right hand side of the page.? Only $2.99 during the time of giving.

http://threestepparenting.blogspot.com/

Are you still reading, go now and enjoy your holidays that much more.

http://threestepparenting.blogspot.com/

Source: http://threestepparenting.blogspot.com/2012/12/holiday-cheer-last-minute-gifts.html

cynthia nixon cspan state of the union drinking game

Source: http://bdpykeok.posterous.com/3-step-parenting-holiday-cheer-last-minute-gi

ny lottery Ohio Lottery Colorado Lottery Pa Lottery finish line ups Ebates

Calif. woman charged in millionaire murder

By Lisa Fernandez, NBC Bay Area

A 22-year-old woman has been charged in connection with the high profile death of a 66-year-old millionaire who was tied up and then killed at his sprawling villa in Monte Sereno, Calif. last month.

The woman, Ravel Chanel Dixon, was arrested Tuesday for a separate crime ? offering sex, drugs or money to an undercover cop. On Friday, Dixon, of Alameda County, Calif., was charged with ?accessory after the fact? in the Nov. 30 killings of Raveesh Kumra, an investor who owned Western Cellular Management. Kumra is best known for owning Mountain Winery in the 1990s. ?

Police released a statement Friday saying they do not believe the homicide was a random act of violence.

Read the original report at NBC Bay Area

Dixon?s charges carry a gang-enhancement, although prosecutors did not elaborate on what that meant. Her bail was set at $1 million at Friday?s court hearing.

---

Her mother, Sandra Mitchell, said outside court that her daughter, a single parent and college student, is scared. Mitchell called the charges "very troublesome."

John Ambrosio, Dixon's attorney, added:?"We don't know how they came up with these serious charges. It's an out-of-the-blue charge. They just want someone to charge that homicide to."

Dixon did not enter a plea and was told to return to court on Jan. 14.

Kumra's ex-wife, Harinder "Rani" Kumra, was also home and tied up during the attack. She has declined interview requests. The couple had divorced but remained cordial, according to a previous family statement.

Rani Kumra told police she believed perhaps three or four people had entered her family's massive home on Withey Road. She said she and her husband were bound at about 1:30 a.m.

Police have not explained how her husband was killed. Kumra was Mountain View?s first homicide victim in 40 years.

Also unclear is who killed Kumra. Dixon is not being charged with murdering him, and a sketch of a possible suspect in the case was released by Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police shortly after the homicide.

The sketch shows a skinny Latino or white man in his early 20s who stands about six feet and who has black hair.

The release added that department is "aware of the concern and anxiety this crime has caused the community and wishes to provide a limited update of the case."

Kumra's family issued previous statement through email, in which his brother, Bharat Kumra, described his brother as a man who "worked very hard and invested successfully over the years." He stated that his brother's wealth has been "overstated and inaccurate." Kumra had once owned the Mountain Winery in the 1990s and had invested in Tesla Capital.

"While he experienced success during his life, at the time of Ravi's passing he was weathering financial hardship," Bharat Kumra wrote. "He was a generous man and went out of his way to help anyone he met, even when he had little."
?
Kumra had a minor criminal past in Santa Clara County - he was charged with several misdemeanors and one felony in the 1990s, court records indicate. He was arrested in connection with a felony drunk-driving incident in 1995. In 1998, he was charged with assaulting a security guard at the Mountain Winery and making a threatening phone call to the then-executive director of the Villa Montalvo, an arts foundation.

Kumra was born in Kartharpur, India and immigrated to the U.S. in 1970 after earning a degree in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, according to his obituary. He eventually settled in the Bay Area. His family said he was one of the first Indian-born entrepreneurs in the wireless industry.

NBC Bay Area's Damian Trujillo contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/22/16093325-california-woman-charged-in-connection-with-murder-of-millionaire?lite

tim howard west virginia rob roy gaslight justin timberlake michael dyer bachmann

Hurting Spaniards celebrate Christmas lottery wins

MADRID (AP) ? Winners of Spain's cherished Christmas lottery ? the world's richest ? celebrated Saturday in more than a dozen locations where the top lucky tickets were sold, a moment of uplift for a country enduring another brutal year of economic hardship.

The lottery sprinkled a treasure chest of ?2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in prize money around the country. Champagne corks popped and festive cheer broke out in 15 towns or cities where tickets yielding the maximum prize of ?400,000 ($530,000), known as "El Gordo" ("The Fat One,)" had been bought.

A total of ?520 million ($687 million) was won in the eastern Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares alone. Among the top-prize winners were 50 former workers at metal parts factory Cametal who had formed a pool to buy tickets. Their company had filed for bankruptcy and ceased paying wages five months ago.

"I'm bursting with joy, I haven't fully taken it in yet," said local resident Josefina Ortega. "When others win you think to yourself it'll never happen to you, but it has."

Unlike lotteries that generate a few big winners, Spain's version ? now celebrating its 200th anniversary ? has always shared the wealth more evenly instead of concentrating on vast jackpots, so thousands of tickets yield some kind of return.

Almost all of Spain's 46 million inhabitants traditionally watch at least some part of the live TV coverage showing school children singing out winning numbers for the lottery

It is so popular that frequently three ?20 ($26) tickets are sold for every Spaniard and many consider lottery day as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday season.

Before Spain's property-led economic boom collapsed in 2008 ticket buyers often yearned to win so they could buy a small apartment by the beach or a new car. Now people said they needed money just to get by, or to avoid being evicted from their homes.

Though ticket sales were down 8.3 percent on last year, according to the National Lottery, in the days preceding the draw hundreds of people lined up to buy tickets outside outlets that have sold winning tickets before.

Dolores Perez and Teresa Palacio, two lottery outlet workers in north Madrid who sold a top-prize ticket celebrated with sparkling wine as curious neighbors gathered. The fortunate winner had yet to make an appearance.

"I had never sold a Christmas 'Gordo' before; I almost thought it didn't exist," said Perez, smiling broadly. "I'm so happy, I've worked here for 30 years and never before sold a 'Gordo,' until now."

Since so many people chip in to buy tickets in groups, top prizes frequently end up being handed out in the same small town or in one city neighborhood.

Last year's top winning number hit for 1,800 tickets in the northern town of Granen, population 2,000. Townspeople shared about ?700 million ($925 million), and the rest of the ?1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) was doled out in smaller prizes around Spain.

Spain holds another big lottery Jan. 6 to mark the Feast of the Epiphany. It is known as "El Nino" (The Child), in reference to the baby Jesus.

But the crisis will hit El Nino and all lotteries going forward. Until now, lottery winnings have been free from taxation, but now prizes above ?2,000 ($2,640) will be liable to a 20 percent tax in 2013.

The government has imposed stinging austerity measures this year in a bid to prevent Spain from asking for a full-blown bailout like those granted to Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus. Spain's unemployment stands at 25 percent and its economy is sinking into a double-dip recession.

___

Associated Press correspondent Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hurting-spaniards-celebrate-christmas-lottery-wins-101432622--finance.html

sports illustrated westminster dog show 2012 words with friends words with friends phlebotomy dog show best in show

Learn How To Repair Your Credit With These Tips - Options Finance

A bad credit score can have many negative effects on your life, such as not being able to take out a loan, lease a car or get a new credit card. Credit scores can drop due to neglecting bills or paying fees too late. Improving your credit score can start right here, by reading the tips found in the following article.

One of the most nerve-racking aspects of being in debt, and having bad credit, is dealing with collection agencies. Cease and desist correspondences can be legally used by a consumer to put off collection agencies; however they only help stop the harassing phone calls. They can prevent collectors from continuing to call a debtor, but they do not excuse the debtor from his or her outstanding financial obligations.

Opening additional lines of credit will negatively affect your credit score. As tempting as it can be, do not a new credit card. Opening a new line credit line can immediately decrease your credit score.

Installment Account

Try opening an installment account. An installment account requires that you make a minimum payment each month. It is imperative that you only take an installment account that is affordable. If you use these accounts, your score will go up rapidly.

Make sure to have as low as possible of a credit line available to you. Not only can this tactic prevent you from getting yourself in over your head with debt, but it can also imply that you are responsible to those companies and to any future companies.

Think about talking to your bank so you can have your limit reduced. If you do this, make sure you keep a low balance. Maxing out your cards does you no good.

It is easy to get a mortgage for a house if your credit score is good. Paying mortgage notes on time will keep your credit scores high. When you own your own home it shows that you have assets and financial stability. That way, you will be in a better position to secure loans in the future.

Any of your credit cards with balances that are above 50% of your overall limit need to be paid off as soon as possible, until the balance is less than 50%. If any of your balances climb past half of your available credit limit, pay them down or spread the debt around other accounts, otherwise, your credit rating gets tarnished.

Credit Counseling

Find a reputable, no-cost credit counseling agency to help you if you find budgeting and paying debts off to be hard or confusing for you. Often times, these companies will work with the creditors to get negotiate a lower interest rate and an affordable payment plan that will help get your finances back on track. Good credit counseling can help you understand the best, easiest ways to oversee your finances and pay your financial obligations.

Look at your credit report and see if there are any missed payments or outstanding debts recorded. Ensure that all information is accurate, then begin to address discrepancies and problematic accounts. Debt with high interest needs to be paid off first while paying the minimum for all of the other accounts.

If a company promises that they can remove all negative marks from a credit report, they are lying. Unfortunately, negative marks will stay on your record for seven years. It is possible, however, to remove errant information.

Managing various forms of credit properly will help improve your overall credit. Your credit score takes into account all types of credit that you have. You can improve a credit score by managing several credit cards, loans or mortgages at the same time.

Having a good credit score is important to most people due to the fact that their credit scores are taken into account when obtaining all types of loans, including personal, business and student loans. These tips can help you to rebuild your credit.

If you are trying to find out about something, it?s crucial you get the best education possible. Since you now have a good amount of knowledge about stock picks in your brain, you are ready to start acting on that information. You will do very well if you use the information that was outlined here.

Source: http://www.optionstradinganalysis.com/2012/12/21/learn-how-to-repair-your-credit-with-these-tips/

mel gibson splunk dark shadows iau msft etan patz obama dog

Kanye West, J. Cole 'Blown Away' By Big Sean's Hall of Fame

'It's obviously the best work I've done and I'm excited about it,' boasts Sean to MTV News about his upcoming album.
By Rob Markman

Big Sean
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699255/big-sean-kanye-west-j-cole-hall-of-fame-reviews.jhtml

toys r us toys r us kohls target target walmart nfl

Thirty-three new trapdoor spider species discovered in the American southwest

Dec. 20, 2012 ? A researcher at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History and Department of Biological Sciences has reported the discovery 33 new trapdoor spider species from the American Southwest. These newly described species all belong to the genus Aptostichus that now contains 40 species, two of which are already famous -- Aptostichus stephencolberti and Aptostichus angelinajolieae.

The genus now includes other such notable species as Aptostichus barackobamai, named for Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, and reputed fan of Spiderman comics; Aptostichus edwardabbeyi, named for environmentalist and author Edward Abbey (1927-1989); Aptostichus bonoi from Joshua Tree National Park, named for the lead singer of the Irish rock band U2; Aptostichus pennjillettei named for illusionist and intellectual Penn Jillette; Aptostichus chavezi, named for Mexican American and civil rights and labor activist C?sar Ch?vez (1927-1993).

Other notable new species names include Aptostichus anzaborrego, known only from the Anza Borrego Desert State Park in southern California; and Aptostichus sarlacc from the Mojave Desert, named for George Lucas' Star Wars creature, the Sarlacc from the fictional desert planet Tatooine.

The researcher, Prof. Jason Bond, who is a trapdoor spider expert and the director of the Auburn University Museum of Natural History was excited at the prospect of such a remarkable and large find of new species here in the United States and particularly California.

"California is known as what is characterized as a biodiversity hotspot. Although this designation is primarily based on plant diversity, the region is clearly very rich in its animal diversity as well. While it is absolutely remarkable that a large number of species from such a heavily populated area have gone unnoticed, it clearly speaks volumes to how little we know of the biodiversity around us and that many more species on the planet await discovery " Bond said.

Like other trapdoor spider species, individuals are rarely seen because they live their lives in below-ground burrows that are covered by trapdoors, made by the spider using mixtures of soil, sand, and/or plant material, and silk. The trapdoor serves to hide the spider when it forages for meals at the burrow entrance, usually at night.

Aptostichus species are found in an amazing number of Californian habitats to include coastal sand dunes, chaparral, desert, oak woodland forests, and at high altitudes in the alpine habitats of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Bond said, "this particular group of trapdoor spiders are among some of the most beautiful with which I have worked; species often have gorgeous tiger-striping on their abdomens. Aptostichus to my mind represents a true adaptive radiation -- a classical situation in evolutionary biology where diversification, or speciation, has occurred such that a large number of species occupy a wide range of different habitats."

Bond also noted that while a number of the species have rather fanciful names, his favorite is the one named for his daughter Elisabeth. "Elisabeth's spider is from an incredibly extreme desert environment out near Barstow, California that is the site of a relatively young volcanic cinder cone. The spiders make their burrows among the lava tubes that extend out from the cone -- it is a spectacular place to visit but the species is very difficult to collect because the spiders build rather deep burrow among the rocks."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Jason Bond, Amy Stockman. An Integrative Method for Delimiting Cohesion Species: Finding the Population-Species Interface in a Group of Californian Trapdoor Spiders with Extreme Genetic Divergence and Geographic Structuring. Systematic Biology, 2008; 57 (4): 628 DOI: 10.1080/10635150802302443

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/Qa9DeWOI_A4/121220154633.htm

glen campbell jerusalem artichoke bud shootout aretha franklin stevie wonder new orleans weather new orleans weather

Google sells Motorola TV set-top business for $2.35 billion

The section of the website you are trying to access has been merged under IBTimes.com.

Please proceed to IBTimes.com to access your daily dose of digital business news.

We greatly appreciate your support.

Best regards,
The IBTimes Team

This page will be redirected to IBTimes.com home page in 10 seconds.

Source: http://hk.ibtimes.com/articles/20121220/google-sells-motorola-tv-set-top-business-for35-billion.htm

freddie mercury Horshack Beady Eye david bowie Eric Idle rory mcilroy Fatboy Slim

Matthew David Hopkins: How to Have the Wedding of Your Dreams

In nearly 20 years as an event planner, I've put together countless weddings -- big, small, and everything in-between -- in town and country and exotic destinations, with budgets that ranged from extravagant to relatively modest. For all their differences, though, all these celebrations started from the same point: the desire to make the wedding a true reflection of the couple's personality.

To do that, I get to know each couple and, often, help them get to know themselves better. Whether you're planning your own wedding or enlisting the services of a wedding planner, a few simple steps can help you clarify a vision that's in line with your own unique personality, and make it a reality.

Find What You Love

Who are you, really? What message about yourself do you want your guests to take away from your special day? Maybe you've dreamed about walking down the aisle in a princess dress since you were a little girl -- but does that really reflect who you are today? If you have well-defined style and taste, that's great -- you should absolutely carry that over into your wedding.

But if you need some help putting your finger on your distinct style, start by looking in the mirror and around your home. What common themes do you see? A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime fantasy event, so don't be afraid to reach for more idealized representations of your tastes. I like to ask couples if they have a favorite hotel, or place to travel -- ask yourself these questions to tease out the looks and experiences you really love and that really speak to who you are.

Collect images that appeal to you like these gorgeous flowers

Create A Style Book

Still looking for inspiration? A picture is worth a thousand words! Take a cue from professional designers and create a style book: collect images that appeal to you, either in a scrapbook, in a folder on your computer desktop, or on Pinterest.

Wedding magazines and web sites are a great place to start, but don't stop there, and don't limit yourself to only pictures of weddings. You're not necessarily looking for exactly the wedding dress, table treatment, or floral arrangements that best express your personality, just elements you respond to -- a particular kind of lace trim, a shade of pink, the texture of a tablecloth. These are the things that will help you define your personal style, and help you communicate it to a wedding planner or the vendors you're working with, from florists to caterers.

Make The Elements Work For You

Once you've put together your style book, go through it and ask yourself what it is you like about the images you've collected. How can you use the various elements you've assembled to put a personal stamp on your wedding? And will they work for you? Maybe you have a picture of a wedding gown that you love, but it's not right for your body type -- is there some part of it you can incorporate into a dress that's perfect for you? Or maybe you've clipped a photo of an extravagant place setting that you know is beyond your means -- is there a single piece of what you see that you can incorporate in your plan?

There are very few rules when it comes to wedding planning, but one that I urge couples to stick to is this: if you don't have the budget to do something right, then find another way to do it. Luckily, with creativity, there's almost always another way -- especially if you have a firm grasp on the personal style you're trying to project.

When it comes to wedding style, be yourself!

Complement, Contrast, Edit.

Now that you know the look and feel that you're going for -- classic, rustic, modern, opulent, for example -- it's time to think like an artist. An artist knows how to make a subject pop. You can achieve this with the elements you want to feature at your wedding by complementing and contrasting them with the right design touches.

Say you've found the perfect, picturesque barn for a country wedding; that doesn't mean you need to serve barbecue for the wedding supper -- think of how much more interesting it would be to serve a formal dinner in such a setting.

Or perhaps you and your mate have decided to pay tribute to your shared love of simple pleasures by offering Twinkies and Ring Dings for dessert. Very cool idea -- and even cooler if you serve them on fine china from an elegantly appointed dessert station. These are the kinds of touches that let guests know they're sharing in a special moment.

This kind of complementary, contrasting approach is essential to good design, as is editing and balance -- too many individual elements and too much contrast runs the risk of seeming busy and cluttered. Find a few things that say "you" and frame them with a suitable context that ties them together.

Have Your (Wedding) Cake And Eat It Too.

Weddings are events steeped in tradition, but remember that tradition only provides you with an outline -- one that you should feel free to fill in with elements that are meaningful to you. What's more, the many discrete parts of a wedding -- ceremony, cocktails, supper, after-party -- leave plenty of room for both tradition and personality. Having a traditional wedding and having a wedding that could only be yours are not mutually exclusive -- so let your imagination run wild.

Make your table setting unique and personal

Front page photo by Flickr user Ariff Tajuddin.

?

Follow Matthew David Hopkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/360DesignEvents

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-david-hopkins/how-to-have-the-wedding-o_b_2132103.html

brian dunn vin scully petrino fired george zimmerman charged big sean sherri shepherd sherri shepherd