Friday, October 26, 2012

25 arrested in 5 states in NY Web gambling probe | wishtv.com

NEW YORK (AP) ? Three owners of an Internet gambling website that boasts of having customers in 100 countries have been indicted, along with 22 other people, on charges that they were part of a betting ring took tens of millions of dollars from people in the United States, prosecutors said Thursday.

People were arrested in five states Wednesday as part of a sweeping investigation aimed at bookmakers and money couriers connected to Internet and phone gambling, including men who prosecutors identified as owners of the online gambling site Pinnacle Sports.

The three, Brandt England, of Las Vegas, George Molsbarger, of Santa Monica, Calif., and Stanley Tomchin, of Montecito, Calif., were charged with enterprise corruption, money laundering and conspiracy. England faced an additional charge of promoting gambling.

England's lawyer in Las Vegas, David Chesnoff, said, "We certainly intend to defend this matter vigorously in court." He declined to address the specifics of the allegations, saying he was new to the case.

The probe was led by investigators from the New York Police Department, but multiple state, municipal and federal law enforcement agencies were involved, and arrests took place in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada and California.

The Queens district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case, said that in one 18-month period the gambling operation took in $50 million in profit while using computer servers in gambling friendly countries to try to hide dealings with bettors in the U.S.

Gamblers placed bets over the phone and at least four websites, while the ring used dummy accounts to hide the flow of money and couriers to transport cash profits to and from Panama and Costa Rica, authorities said.

Pinnacle Sports sidestepped the issues of whether it was involved in illegal gambling in the U.S. and whether England, Molsbarger and Tomchin were owners of the site.

"Regarding the recent allegations surrounding the individuals allegedly affiliated with Pinnacle Sports, please be reassured that no Pinnacle Sports employees have been arrested or charged, and Pinnacle Sports itself was not charged in the indictment," it said in an emailed statement. "We expect no interruptions to our day to day business activities at this time."

No one returned a phone message left at a number listed in Tomchin's name Thursday. Molsbarger's phone number isn't publicly listed.

Other people indicted in the case include a manager of the legal sports betting operation at the M Resort Spa Casino in Nevada and men in several states who prosecutors said had worked as bookmakers or money handlers.

Source: http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/entertainment/consumer_tech/25-arrested-in-5-states-in-NY-Web-gambling-probe_02336099

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Buddha statue: Possibly fake, still from space

Researchers who reported that a potentially ancient Buddha statue is carved from a meteorite said they are not surprised that an expert in Buddhist history believes the statue to be a fake.

"Honestly, that is what we expected," said Elmar Buchner, who along with his colleague reported on the statue in September in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science. "We heard so many opinions from so many experts in art history and experts for Buddhism on the origins and the age of the statue prior to and after the publication."

The most public of these consultations is a new report from Achim Bayer, a Buddhism expert at Dongguk University in South Korea. In a report released online, Bayer writes that the features of the statue are "pseudo-Tibetan" and are more likely to be a European reproduction dating from 1910 to 1970 than a true ancient carving dating back 1,000 years, as Buchner and his colleagues had estimated.

  1. Science news from NBCNews.com

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Bayer did not contest that the statue is a made of meteorite.

"The non-Asian features of the 'lama wearing trousers' should be immediately obvious to any scholar in the field," Bayer wrote, referring to the statue as a "lama" or guru. The shoes, pants and sleeves of the man's garments are all wrong for ancient Tibet, he wrote. The statue's hands, eyes and ears are also shaped unusually for Tibetan art, he said.

The statue was said to have come to Germany in the possession of a pre-World War II scientific expedition commissioned by the Nazi party. Bayer called that into question, too, saying there is no documentation of the statue's transfer and arguing that it is more likely a fake created in the 20th century for the antique or Nazi-memorabilia market.

"For us, Bayer's hypothesis is just one opinion," Buchner wrote in an email to LiveScience. "However, we cannot decide whether this hypothesis is valid or not because we are not the experts in art history, and we told the press that our assumptions are speculative, accordingly," wrote Buchner, who is a geologist.

The geochemical analysis of the meteorite is still sound, Buchner said. The team found that the material used to make the statue is a rare type of iron- and nickel-rich meteorite from a meteorite fall along the Siberian-Tibetan border. [ Top 5 Weirdest Meteorites ]

That cosmic origin brings up one more mystery in the tale of the controversial space Buddha.

"I think it is not convincing that anybody took a very precious meteorite to produce a reproduction for the local antique market!?" Buchner wrote.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience@livescience. We're also on Facebook &Google+.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49556803/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/blog-post/iphone-5-or-galaxy-s3

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=412212978833477&id=166408236787727

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Oma & Bella' Film Shows Food As Therapy For Holocaust Survivors


By Barbara Goldberg
NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - For anyone who craves one more hug from a grandma long gone, one more of her chocolate turtle cookies or another whiff of her apple strudel baking in the oven, there is "Oma & Bella".
Scenes from the new documentary about two octogenarian friends living together in Berlin are warm, but the hunger to learn more about their past as Holocaust survivors creates a suspenseful undercurrent throughout the film, which is being released on iTunes and Amazon in the United States on Tuesday.
The sometimes jarring shifts from cozy kitchen scenes of chopping and sauteing to starkly lit interviews in which they reluctantly reveal some of the horrors they survived as Jewish girls in World War Two are purposeful, filmmaker Alexa Karolinski said.
"In the beginning, they basically said, 'You can do whatever you want as long as you don't ask us about then,'" Karolinski said of the agreement with her grandmother - or Oma - Regina Karolinski, and her friend Bella Katz, who moved in to help with Oma's recovery from a hip operation in 2007 and never left.
"I wanted to make a film that was as fragmented as the reality of not talking about the Holocaust," Karolinski said.
"Even if they say they don't want to talk about it, they do. In the weirdest moments. If you go through something so traumatizing, it informs everything you do in your life."
The 75-minute film, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, grew out of Karolinski's effort to create a cookbook of Oma and Bella's delicious Eastern European Jewish meals.
The cookbook, available on the film's website, omabella.com, took longer to put together than the film itself since "handfuls" had to be translated into measurable cups and "as long as it needs" into a finite cooking time.
The women stick with recipes from their childhood, from the days before Oma, at age 14, was sent from her home in Poland to a Nazi work camp and Bella fled the liquidation of her Lithuanian ghetto home to join the Jewish resistance.
At the end of the war that annihilated their families, they arrived separately in Berlin, where they met. They were displaced persons without so much as a photograph of their parents.
"For Oma and Bella, cooking has become their therapy," said the 28-year-old German-Canadian filmmaker, explaining food keeps their family history alive.
"Food is the only materialistic thing they have from their lives before the war; they don't even have a photograph. They say their chicken soup tastes exactly like their mothers' chicken soup. It helps them remember their homes because they were orphaned by the war."

HOLOCAUST RECOLLECTIONS
The Registry of Holocaust Survivors lists 195,000 survivors and family members from 59 countries, although each year an increasing number of them are deceased, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website.
Oma & Bella, in German with subtitles, is Karolinski's first feature film. It started as her thesis project at the School of Visual Arts in New York and gained momentum with $44,000 in financing from Kickstarter.com.
Slathered with Oma and Bella's zest for life, the film offers an uplifting and intimate glimpse into the lives of these two feisty and lovable friends and reveals the joy that can be found in a leafy cabbage or a perfectly rolled cheese blintz.
"Have you ever seen anything this beautiful?" asks Bella, opening the oven like a treasure chest to reveal glistening vegetables in a pot.
As rich and satisfying as their lust for life is, it is the sinewy thread of the past that keeps the film taut and constantly plumbing the depths of their past.
After Bella reveals in a choked voice the nightmarish recollection of her father's suicide when Nazi soldiers stormed their house to seize him, Oma offers soothing words about his bravery in taking his life before the soldiers could.
"These things you don't want to admit are true. It hurts," Oma tells the camera held by her granddaughter. "Now you see, Alexa, why we don't like to talk about it." (Editing by Christine Kearney and Dale Hudson)

Rachel Tepper, wants your feedback, tips, and thoughts about this story, or any others: rachel.tepper@huffingtonpost.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/oma-and-bella_n_2005853.html

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Nokia seeks $972 million from bonds to help drive fightback

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Mobile phone maker Nokia plans to raise 750 million euros ($972 million) from bonds convertible into shares, seeking a cheap way to help finance its fight to claw back market share lost to Apple and Samsung.

Once the world's biggest mobile phone maker, the Finnish firm has fallen far behind Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy phones in the lucrative smartphone market, and is pinning its hopes for recovery on new models that go on sale next month.

With its cash reserves falling and its credit ratings cut to junk over the past year, analysts have said Nokia needs to show a turnaround in the next several months if it is to survive.

Its shares fell 5.09 percent to 2.05 euros on Tuesday as investors worried the eventual conversion of the bonds into stocks would reduce earnings per share. The bonds may be converted into a maximum 287.2 million shares, or 7.74 percent of current shares.

But analysts said the choice of convertible bonds - which normally pay lower interest rates than ordinary bonds while offering investors the chance to profit when they are converted into shares - was a smart one.

"It is a rather cheap way to get extra financing," said Evli analyst Mikko Ervasti. "They need buffers (and) their 2014 bond also requires financing."

Nokia's net cash fell to 3.6 billion euros in September from 4.2 billion in June. It also finished the third quarter with 3.8 billion euros in interest-bearing liabilities, with 1.75 billion in bonds and loans maturing in 2014.

Additionally, the company owns half of network equipment venture Nokia Siemens Networks, which finished the quarter with 1.4 billion euros in liabilities.

The convertible bonds will be due in 2017 and pay a coupon of 5.00 percent. The initial price for conversion into ordinary shares was set at 2.6116 euros, 28 percent above the average price of Nokia shares between the launch and pricing.

PINNING HOPES ON LUMIA

Nokia's fortunes hinge on its top-of-the-range Lumia 820 and 920 models, which run on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 software. The phones, which come in vivid colours and have high-resolution cameras, will hit the stores in November.

On Tuesday, the group unveiled the lower price Lumia 510, which is an update of the Lumia 610 but does not use the newest version of Windows software. The 510 has a larger screen and will be sold for around $199, excluding taxes and subsidies.

ING analysts welcomed the convertible bonds plan as reducing uncertainty around Nokia's short-term debt maturities and bolstering its capital.

"It also shows that the company is taking the question marks around its credit quality seriously and is willing to take the steps necessary to improve this," they said in a research note.

Trading in the bonds are due to start around October 26.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi and Deutsche are the joint bookrunners.

($1 = 0.7714 euros)

(Additional reporting by Jussi Rosendahl and Tarmo Virki in Helsinki, and Josie Cox in London; Editing by Mark Potter and Hans-Juergen Peters)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nokia-seeks-1-billion-bonds-help-power-fightback-093924937--finance.html

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Case Study On Pay Per Click Management - Work On the Internet

Miscellaneous Written by Anonymous ??Wednesday, 24 October 2012 00:20 Pay per Click management yields 30% increase in sales in 4 weeks

The Client
Located in Los Angeles, CA, Flower Girl Dress For Less is a full service online flower girl dress retailer with over 20 years of experience. They provide a large selection of high quality, discounted resses and accessories for special events such as weddings, first holy communions and christenings. They carry a full range of infant dresses, holiday dresses, Christmas dresses, party dresses and accessories at bargain prices.

The Challenge
Flower Girl Dress For Less has been a long time client of Zero 360 Marketing and they have held search engine ranking on all search engines for many years. The challenge was that their Pay Per Click campaigns on Google and Bing that were previously generating good results where no longer working. They were spending several thousand dollars a week on advertising but sales were flat.
The Solution
Flower Girl Dress For Less management was initially concerned about the time it would take to get a new campaign going would further impact their business. The Zero 360 Marketing's PPC team went right to work starting with:
??? Reviewing existing PPC campaigns and segmenting their ads and keywords that were working.
??? Searching out keywords and search terms that were not converting or were irrelevant and creating a comprehensive list of negative keywords.
??? Created multiple new PPC campaigns based according to best practices and proprietary methods.
??? Changing bidding methods from broad match which allows Google & Bing to decide when to show and charge for the ads, to phrase and exact match allowing us to determine when to show the ads and when not to.
??? Created a large number of new ads related to each search term. Ads are based on Flower Girl Dresses unique selling propositions, highlighting their benefits.
??? Landing pages were optimized for better conversion and sales.
Their old PPC campaign was paused and the new PPC campaign was launched on a Friday. The daily ad budget was increased by 10% to allow testing of some new international markets. By Monday Flower Girl Dress For Less received close to 30% more orders than normal. The numbers were astounding. They were rushing to process orders and ship within the promised time frame. They continued to break sales records on Tuesday, Wednesday and onto the following week.
The Results
The changes to PPC ads resulted in a 30% increase in sales over a 4 week period which has necessitated the hiring of more employees to handle the new business. Our PPC team continues to monitor and adjust the new campaigns. Some of the new international markets were adjusted to remove the under-performing keywords and ads, focusing the budget on high-yield keywords.

Article Tags :

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 October 2012 00:20

Source: http://www.workoninternet.com/business/reviews/miscellaneous/219477-article.html

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The Final Presidential Debate: Four Punches that Knocked Out Mitt Romney (Rolling Stone)

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What was your initial capital when you started your online store?


Hi fastlaners !

I'm very curious on what was your initial startup capital when you started your business. I am struggling with this, I really don't know how much money I need to start my ecommerce biz. Maybe you can give some insights so newbies can have an idea of the amount of money needed to start an online store. I will probably sell video games to start but I have no idea on how many games should I order from the suppliers. Anyway what was your initial investment?

Source: http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/internet-mobile-apps-software/43266-what-your-initial-capital-when-you-started-your-online-store.html

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Guitar Lessons college student discount

Hello there!

I am currently seeking guitar students in the North Portland and St. Johns area. Here is info about me and what I can offer you:

My Credentials:
I have degrees in Music Education (K-12) and Music Performance (Guitar).
I taught three years of elementary music and two and a half years of high school guitar in the Oregon public school system.
I teach guitar classes with the Art Conspiracy, a two week summer arts program in rural Yamhill County (Oregon).
I have had students of all ages (children to adults) and experience levels (absolute beginner to advanced).
Awarded Outstanding Jazz Soloist at the 2006 Elmhurst Jazz Festival in Illinois.
Performed with Lenny Pickett, Tom "Bones" Malone, Kalani, Jim Mair, Lisa Henry, and others while a student at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND.
I have been playing guitar for 15 years and teaching for 9 years.
Other than teaching, I am a full time musician and perform regularly thr

Source: http://portland.daype.com/services/lesson-and-tutoring/Guitar-Lessons-college-student-discount-Ad-27981806.html

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Monday, October 22, 2012

88% Of Teens? Sexual Pics Reposted By ?Parasite Websites?

Naughty-things-that-people-do-with-their-phones-that-can-get-them-into-a-lot-of-troubleIt's no secret that the sexually explicit photos teens (stupidly) post online could be stolen, but a new study sheds light on how frequently such images are reposted. The Internet Watch Foundation found that 88% of teens' videos and photos are stolen, sometimes by a cottage industry of 'parasite websites' that exist for the sole purpose of harvesting candid teenage photos.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Du7tSTDS-D8/

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Mass shooting in Wisconsin, suspect at large, police say

A tactical unit responds to the shooting in Brookfield, Wis. (AP)

A shooting at a spa near a Brookfield, Wis., mall on Sunday left three dead and four others wounded, police said, and authorities are searching for the suspected gunman.

Police identified the suspected shooter as 45-year-old Radcliffe Haughton, of Brown Deer, Wis. Haughton is 6-foot-2-inches tall, weighs approximately 210 pounds and was last seen wearing a camouflage jacket, grey sweater, blue jeans and carrying a white and black backpack, police said. He was reportedly driving a black 2003 Mazda Prot?g? with license plate no. 171-KZD, though according to witnesses he may have fled on foot.

The shooting occurred at the Azana Salon & Spa across the street from the Brookfield Square Mall at approximately 11:15 a.m. local time, police said.

"Our entire operation is focused on locating the suspect," Brookfield Police Chief Daniel Tushaus said at a press conference on Sunday.

Authorities have not released a motive. But according to WISN-TV, Haughton is the estranged husband of one of the spa workers.

Haughton (Waukesha County Sheriff's Dept.)

A spokeswoman for Froedtert Memorial Hospital told the Associated Press that said four shooting victims were being treated for non-life threatening injuries at the hospital.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the mall has been placed on lockdown, as has a nearby country club.

SWAT, fire and rescue officials responded to the scene, and a Flight for Life helicopter landed in the mall's parking lot. Police and tactical units were conducting a sweep of surrounding buildings, and a bomb squad was also called in.

In August, Wade Michael Page, an Army veteran with white supremacist ties, opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., killing six and injuring three others before shooting himself.

And Sunday's shooting took place less than a mile from a hotel where a gunman opened fire during a Living Church of God service in 2005. Seven people were killed and four wounded in that shooting.

[Refresh this page for updates to this story.]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mall-shooting-wisconsin-brookfield-180854621.html

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Met Office predicts snow for parts of the UK next week. | Car ...

With the Met Office announcing that the UK will experience low temperatures towards the end of this week, we can expect that this will bring frost and ice to our roads.

The organisation said it is still too early to assess the snow risk, but confirmed a cold snap is on the way.

It comes after risk meteorologist Jim Dale from British Weather Services told the Huffington Post last week that he thinks Britain is in for more ?impressively cold temperatures? this winter, a forecast that was echoed by Weatherweb.net.

How many of you are prepared for the cold months and dangerous weather? Follow these tips to make sure you are ready for winter.

Tyres: Ensure your tyres are inflated correctly and that you have a minimum of 3mm of tread on your tyres to cope with wet and slippery conditions.

Battery: In winter, the battery will run down quicker than in warmer weather. Make sure you do a regular long journey to top it up or trickle-charge the battery.

Engine: Modern engines are more robust than older ones. All the same, depress the clutch when starting as this will reduce drag on the engine when starting, and preserve the battery.

Screenwash: Keep this topped up and use a proper additive at the right concentration to prevent it freezing.

Fuel: Keep your tank topped up ? that way if you are caught out, you?ll have enough fuel to make it home or run the engine to keep warm. However, it?s essential to keep snow from blocking the exhaust as noxious fumes can leak into the vehicle.

Windows: Clear all snow and ice from the windscreen before driving. Do not use water to de-ice windscreens. Hot water can crack the glass, and the water will only freeze again on the screen or on the ground where you are standing.

Locks: A squirt of WD-40 will prevent your door locks freezing up.

Warm clothing: Your car may be as warm as toast on the inside but if you have to step outside, you could be in trouble if you have not got any warm clothing with you.

It is perhaps too early to expect the snow of 2010, but when it comes to cars and bad weather conditions it is much better to be safe than sorry.

Source: http://www.osv.ltd.uk/latestnews/motoring-news/22oct/

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CEA officially brands 4K as Ultra HD, gets ready for a flood of new displays at CES

Now that HDTV is "the new normal" according to Nielsen (its most recent stats say more than 75 percent of US households have one) then naturally, it's time to upgrade to 4K. This week the Consumer Electronics Association officially dubbed such screens -- with characteristics including at least eight million active pixels, and 3,840 x 2,160 resolution, among other things -- Ultra High-Definition, or Ultra HD in order to help educate consumers about the new tech. The ITU already laid down its spec recommendations for Ultra High Definition TV so the industry should be able to move forward in unison pushing super high-res displays across the land. Of course we did say "should," and Sony is already informing media outlets that it plans to market its 4K products as "4K UHD." Whatever it's called, we saw 84-inch screens from multiple manufacturers announced recently, and with the CEA's announcement we're penciling in a few more pixel-dense models for the big Las Vegas show in January.

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CEA officially brands 4K as Ultra HD, gets ready for a flood of new displays at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lawyers, CEOs helped Obama win Sept. money battle (The Arizona Republic)

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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Softbank in talks to invest in Sprint

(AP) ? Japanese cellphone company Softbank Corp. was in talks Thursday about taking a substantial ownership stake in struggling U.S. carrier Sprint Nextel Corp.

Sprint, the third-largest cellphone company in the U.S., said the deal could be big enough to involve a "change of control" of the company. It didn't provide any other details.

The news sent Sprint shares as high as $6.04, the highest level since 2008. In afternoon trading, the shares were up 70 cents, or 14 percent, at $5.74.

The Wall Street Journal, citing an unidentified person with knowledge of the talks, had reported earlier that the potential deal would help Softbank expand outside of Japan. It put the value of the transaction at more than $12.8 billion.

Sprint, which is based in Overland Park, Kan., is in a difficult competitive position. It has 56 million wireless subscribers, making it about half the size of market leader Verizon Wireless, and it keeps losing high-paying subscribers to Verizon and AT&T, the industry's No. 2 player.

Sprint has $21 billion in long-term debt, and has embarked on a costly network restructuring and signed a long-term contract to buy $15.5 billion worth of iPhones from Apple over four years. Investor concerns over Sprint's financial health have eased this year, however, and the stock has more than doubled since January.

The company had a market capitalization of $15 billion at Wednesday's close, implying that Softbank's reported $12.8 billion bid won't be enough to buy the entire company.

Analysts expressed surprise at news of the talks. The U.S. wireless industry is rife with speculation about mergers, as smaller players find themselves struggling to compete, but the injection of a possible foreign investor clouds the picture. Sprint has been in talks to buy various smaller rivals, but an acquisition or major investment by a Japanese company wouldn't do much to help its competitive position in the U.S.

"We would expect to see very little synergies created with such a transaction," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King.

A takeover by Softbank would reward Sprint's shareholders and shore up its financials, however.

Last week, media reports said Sprint's board was considering a bid for MetroPCS Communications Inc., the fifth-largest cellphone company in the U.S., to counter an offer by T-Mobile USA, which ranks as No. 4. The T-Mobile-MetroPCS deal could make the competitive situation even more difficult for Sprint.

Shares of MetroPCS, based in Richardson, Texas, dropped 39 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $11.65, as investors speculated that Softbank's interest means there's less of a chance for a counterbid from Sprint.

Tokyo-based Softbank, once the underdog in Japan's telecom industry, has seen its fortunes improve ever since it started selling the iPhone in 2008. It was initially the only Japanese phone company to offer the iPhone. Rival KDDI Corp. started selling the iPhone late last year.

The U.S. wireless industry is no stranger to foreign investment, but the results have been mixed. T-Mobile is owned by German phone company Deutsche Telekom. With T-Mobile treading water, DT has tried to exit its investment by selling the subsidiary to AT&T. That deal was scuttled by U.S. regulators.

Vodafone Group PLC, a British cellphone company, owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless. That's been a successful investment, but New York-based phone company Verizon Communications Inc., which owns the rest, has complete control over the joint venture and is seen as having twisted Vodafone's arm in an attempt to get it to let Verizon take complete ownership.

Shares of Clearwire Corp. jumped 73 cents, or 56 percent, to $2.03 on news of the Softbank talks. Sprint owns half of the company, and investors were betting that a deal with Softbank would include a buyout of Clearwire. The company operates a wireless broadband network that Sprint resells as "Sprint 4G." Clearwire has struggled to become a viable standalone company, and it needs additional funding to upgrade its network.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Chapman and Barbara Ortutay contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-11-Sprint-Softbank/id-10461ec79a964d899109bcb373cbebe7

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Maternal depression, antidepressants alter baby language ...

Written by Loren Grush

The first few months of a newborn?s life are critical in terms of language acquisition and cognitive development. However, this time period is very sensitive and complex, and various environmental factors can have an impact on a child?s early development.

Now, a new study has revealed that both maternal depression and a common kind of antidepressant are two big environmental issues, which can alter when this learning phase begins in children ? ultimately affecting their ability to learn how to speak.

Researcher from the University of British Columbia, Harvard University and the Child & Family Research Institute have revealed that treating maternal depression with a class of antidepressants called serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) help to speed up the newborn?s ability to grasp and understand the sights and sounds of their native language. Conversely, untreated maternal depression ultimately delayed this period of language acquisition.

According to the scientists, this phase of cognitive development begins before a baby is even born ? meaning their prenatal environment is extremely important.

?My work and the work of a lot of other people have shown that we develop in the womb ready to learn any of the world?s languages,? Janet Werker, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of British Columbia and the study?s lead author, told FoxNews.com. ?We start out universal listeners, ready to learn what languages we hear and see.?

Werker explained that during this language learning period, newborns are able to differentiate between the characteristics of their native language and the characteristics of languages of foreign speakers. This window of learning eventually closes though, typically around 8 months after birth.

Once the window closes, babies stop paying attention to sounds they do not need and lose the ability to discern between verbal cues that are not utilized in their native language.

?For example, when it comes to the difference between [the words] ?raw? and ?law,? you as an English speaker can hear that distinction,? Werker said, ?but a Japanese adult cannot.

We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.

Source: http://www.empowher.com/mental-health/content/maternal-depression-antidepressants-alter-baby-language-development

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Zuma under fire for costly upgrade of his home

(AP) ? New security fences. A medical clinic. Fire-fighting services added for a helipad. That and other upgrades, all for South African President Jacob Zuma's home to the tune of more than $23 million in taxpayer money. And all for his rural private residence.

Zuma is embroiled in a controversy over the costly additions to his private home in a country where millions still lack decent homes, running water, electrical power and adequate access to health and education services.

The revelations of the renovation of Zuma's rural compound, dubbed "Zumaville" in the local press, in KwaZulu-Natal come before the ruling African National Congress' December conference where Zuma seeks to be reappointed as the party's leader, and therefore its candidate for president in the 2014 national election.

Zuma's standing has already been shaken by the recent police killings of 34 striking platinum miners in the continuing wave of ongoing wildcat strikes. He is widely seen by striking miners as aloof to their concerns that they're not paid enough for the difficult and dangerous work they perform. Firebrand politician Julius Malema, ousted this year as ANC Youth League leader, says Zuma should not be allowed another term in office.

The government has refused to disclose the precise cost of the work on Zuma's countryside home. Local reports say the upgrades cost about 200 million rand ($23 million).

Zuma said at a breakfast meeting Thursday that he does not know how much the work will cost, that it was authorized by the Ministry of Works and was motivated by security concerns. Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi said last week that work on Zuma's residence was similar to that done on those of other South African presidents.

High security fences have been erected, roads upgraded, a medical clinic added and fire-fighting services developed for the helipad at the compound, according to the South African Press Association. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Deputy Public Works Minister Jeremy Cronin also could not confirm the cost but said the matter would be investigated for any "inexplicable overruns on costs," according to SAPA.

Some critics say the ANC party that was once led by anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is overly focused on political power with too little attention being accorded to the country's black poor.

Zuma's presidency has been "marked by political problems, most notably a radical decline in the ANC's credibility. Zuma's own actions have also stripped the office he holds of dignity," wrote Pallo Jordan, a former minister of arts and culture, in an article published in BusinessDay newspaper. "Whoever the ANC membership elects in December will have to grasp the nettle of restoring the ANC's dented credibility and dignity to the office of the president."

Shadrack Gutto, a professor of African studies at the University of South Africa, said ordinary South Africans have come to expect little good from the ANC, whose top bosses have become fabulously wealthy even as millions of South Africans are mired in poverty. As some South African miners were striking for better pay, businessman Cyril Ramaphosa, an influential member of the ANC who had once been a touted as a future leader, was bidding millions of dollars for a prize buffalo.

"Every day there is a scandal here, a scandal there," Gutto said, adding that a time will come when the party will be thrown into "the dustbin of history."

Of the costly renovations to Zuma's private residence Gutto said: "It has to be investigated. It will be a scandal when the truth comes out."

Zuma, 70, remains popular in his Zulu homeland and many say he will win another term as ANC chief. He may be challenged by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. The speculation has been fueled by the release this week of an authorized Motlanthe biography, as well as a decision by ANC officials in Gauteng province, where both Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria are located, to back Motlanthe.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-11-AF-South-Africa-Zuma-Home-Scandal/id-87fd5e070db74b299ef860fae34054b0

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On Speaking to Myself Revisited | into the quiet

October 10, 2012 ? 3:25 am

So last night I was searching for something I?d written a long time ago and thought I?d check and see if it ever ended up on my blog. What ensued was several hours of reminiscing? plus one late dinner. Oops. I started this blog five and a half years ago and a lot has happened and much has been written in that time that I?d completely forgotten about. So I?m going to re-post a few old favourites. The following was written in June 2008.

On Speaking to Myself

It?s quarter to eleven, you should get up now.
God. Really? Quarter to eleven? It doesn?t feel like it. That?s terrible, I?ll get up now.
I roll onto my side and discover how comfortable it really is on my left side. I wish I?d been lying on my left side for the last half hour. I pause, on my left side, just for a minute.
Well?
Yeah, yeah, I?m getting there, hang on.
What would your brother-in-law say right now? You still being in bed at quarter to eleven?
Me thinking about my brother-in-law while I?m naked in bed disturbs me and I pull the covers up to my nose. My bloodshot eyes are like two red beacons, willing my husband to bring me coffee.
He would say ? You can?t do THIS when you have children you know, you can?t sleep-IN on a Sunday morning. And he would roll his chirpy blue eyes to the chirpy blue sky and lift all four chirpy children with one perfectly muscled arm as they chirpily squealed for chirpy joy. Where the hell is my husband? He never brings me coffee in bed so why the hell can?t he work out that THIS is the morning I need one?
Couples with children shouldn?t be allowed to talk to couples without children. It should be a law. My brother-in-law probably really thinks that I have no idea about not having another sleep-in for the next 20 years. All the more reason to stay here just a little bit longer.
Are you getting up now?
Am I the only part of our consciousness that?s capable of eliciting movement? You get up.
We won?t be able to do this when we have kids you know.
I roll my bloodshot eyes around and around my head until I feel dizzy.
I can?t get up, I?m dizzy.
We need to get the washing on while the sun?s still warm.
That?s the most imbecilic thing you?ve ever said, you?re clearly sleep-deprived, now go back to sleep.
The bathroom needs cleaning.
I?m right there, it really does. I can hear its tortured screams from beyond the wall next to me. I pull the covers up over my ears.
Pfft, I pfft. But I?ve run out of excuses. The bathroom is wailing in staphylococcus studded screams, the washing is mounting a mutiny on the laundry floor, the kitchen sink is a cacophony of caterwauling, and I need to pee.
?How would you like an amazing energy drink that is guaranteed to taste good and get you out of bed?? My husband looms over me and smiles at my red eyeballs poking above the top of the sheet. A broad hand clamped around a hot coffee comes into view.
I look at him. My gratitude swamps the bed like a menopausal hot flush.
Let?s not have kids, what?d?ya reckon honey?
Did I say that out loud?

Source: http://simonnemichelle.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/on-speaking-to-myself-revisited/

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Find a sport you enjoy instead of just working out. [Discussions Of The Day]

Find a sport you enjoy instead of just working out.Great discussions are nothing new here on Lifehacker. Each day, we highlight a discussion that is particularly helpful or insightful, along with other great discussions and reader questions you may have missed. Check out these discussions and add your own thoughts to make them even more wonderful!

Discussion of the Day

Other Great Discussions

Good Question

Great Discussions Any Time

To join or start great discussions on any topic, be sure to visit the Openthread forum. Today, one reader is asking for advice about iPhones on T-Mobile. Jump in and help out!

If you've got a cool project, inspiration, or just something fun to share, be sure to let us know in our Tips forum.

Happy Lifehacking, everybody!

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/GgvN9jBv_0M/find-a-sport-you-enjoy-instead-of-just-working-out

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News round-up, week ending 5th October | Disability Horizons

John Pring who runs the Disability News Service publishes his weekly news round-up of the happenings in the disability world the past week.

  • The government?s choice to be the new chair of the equality watchdog faces a tough task to repair an organisation that is damaged almost beyond repair, according to the former chair of the Disability Rights Commission.
  • Motability has been accused of treating disabled people like criminals, after it began fixing tracking devices to their cars.
  • The Labour leader has again used his main conference speech ? for the second year running ? to suggest that many disabled benefits claimants were choosing a life on welfare rather than finding jobs.
  • Labour?s shadow minister for disabled people has attacked the government?s ?reprehensible? failure to carry out an assessment of the overall impact of its cuts and reforms on disabled people.
  • A Labour government would move to ?integrate? social care with the NHS, the shadow health secretary has told the party?s annual conference.
  • A leading disabled activist has called on the Labour leadership to move away from its ?toxic? position on the ?fitness for work? test and instead develop policies that support sick and disabled people into work.
  • A Labour government would aim to move ? in the long term ? towards an education system that is ?fully inclusive? of disabled children, according to the MP who has led its review into special educational needs.

For links to the full stories, please visit Disability News Service

Disability News Service (DNS) is run by John Pring, an experienced journalist who has been reporting on disability issues for more than 15 years.

Tags: Disability, Disability Horizons, Disability News Service, John Pring, Martyn Sibley, Srin Madipalli, Weekly news round-up

Source: http://disabilityhorizons.com/news-round-up-week-ending-5th-october

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