'Jackass' star calls his new truTV show 'an exercise in people leaving their dignity and well-being at the door.'
By Cory Midgarden
Steve-O
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698135/steve-o-killer-karaoke.jhtml
Associated Press Sports
updated 9:21 a.m. ET Nov. 29, 2012
ZURICH (AP) -Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic head the list of candidates for selection as forwards in a FIFPro World XI.
Neymar and Uruguay teammates Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are also among 15 nominees for three places in the world lineup.
Contenders from South America include Radamel Falcao and Sergio Aguero.
Manchester United teammates Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, and Aguero's Manchester City colleague Mario Balotelli represent the Premier League.
Africa has Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o in contention. France's Karim Benzema and Mario Gomez of Germany complete the list.
Candidates for other positions were previously announced.
The FIFPro World XI, chosen by 50,000 members of the global players' union, will be announced on Jan. 7 at the FIFA Ballon D'Or gala in Zurich.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsAFP - Getty ImagesSource: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50008698/ns/sports-soccer/
So you know the people who dashed your hopes of winning that stupidly large Powerball jackpot, instantly crushing your dreams of living like a king and dipping your butt in gold? Everyone who knows them says the first winners are pretty awesome people, and we now know that least one of their mothers is almost absurdly adorable. Granted, we'd be saying pretty glowing stuff, too, if we were neighbors of Cindy and Mark Hill ??who possess one of the two winning $558 million Powerball tickets?? because, hey, it doesn't hurt to be nice to multimillionaires. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-disturbed-sentencing-blind-chinese-dissidents-nephew-192145964.html
My father is married, and his wife has vocalized her disdain with his choice to leave the company to me and believes that the company should be liquidated upon his death with her as the sole beneficiary of the proceeds after any creditors are paid (presently, our only debt is a few vehicle loans). The company has recently modified insurance policies since he is now the sole owner. The policy modifications included adding me to a policy (along with his wife) so that I am not disadvantaged to maintain operations and the addition of a new policy where his wife is the sole beneficiary. Her share of the first policy and the total of the new policy are equivalent to what she might receive in the event of a sale based on the company's value today. Alas, she is still not satisfied.
My questions are as follows:
I am completely dismayed by the comments from this normally kind and giving woman. My dedication to the 45 people we employ, to the customers who count on our unmatched services and to my own family, who have sacrificed so much in terms of finances and time together to make the company a success, are my driving factors to set up the proper paperwork. If something were to happen to my father and the proper paperwork is not executed, she would shut the doors the same day despite the life it has afforded her. Thank you so much for any guidance you can offer.
Additional facts:
Black Friday demonstrates how Amazon is better than big-box retailers like Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images.
Last Friday morning, I woke up with a single abiding need: I had to have a new Xbox 360. My old one died a few weeks ago?well out of warranty, it came down with the dreaded ?Red Ring of Death? technical failure. This wasn?t a big deal, because I never have time to play games, but this weekend my parents were in town and were happy to take care of my pesky toddler. I had a free day. And for me, on a day off, there?s nothing more relaxing than a few hours with the new Call of Duty. So, you see, I was desperate.
Not long ago, I would have ordered my console?and every other big-ticket item?from Amazon to avoid paying sales tax. (Yes, I know about use taxes.) But in September Amazon began collecting sales tax in my home state of California, so now it doesn?t cost me any more to buy from local stores. Fortunately, I?m surrounded by big boxes that supposedly carry the Xbox 360: Within a five-minute drive from my house, there?s a Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, GameStop, and Fry?s (a California-based electronics chain). Yes, it was Black Friday, so I knew the stores would be a little nuts. But I wasn?t planning to go shopping right when the doors opened, and I wasn?t looking for a heavily discounted item. I just wanted a plain-Jane, full-priced model of a console that first went on sale in 2005. How hard could that be?
Very, very hard, it turned out. My terrible experience on Black Friday confirmed what I?ve long suspected about brick-and-mortar stores: They?re inherently, perhaps unfixably less consumer-friendly than online retailers. It also called into question the grand plans that Wal-Mart and its big-box cohort have for fighting Amazon.
I?m very familiar with those plans. Over the past few months, I?ve spent many hours interviewing executives at Wal-Mart?including Mike Duke, the company?s CEO?about how the firm aims to rehabilitate its digital operations. In my article published in the new issue of Fast Company, I argue that the world?s biggest retailer has several potential advantages over Amazon. In particular, Wal-Mart has stores. By making its 4,000 physical locations more friendly to smartphones and more plugged-in to the Web, Wal-Mart is planning to do amazing things, including letting you order something and get it delivered that same day from your local store; pick up your online order in a store on the day you order it (a feature that?s already available); and pay for your in-store purchases on your smartphone, skipping the checkout lines entirely. "We are uniquely positioned to give customers anytime, anywhere access to Wal-Mart by combining the smartphone, online, and the physical stores," Duke told me. "Ultimately, that will give us an edge over any competitor."
That, anyway, is the dream, and I still believe Wal-Mart can achieve it someday. But in trying to buy one measly Xbox, I came face to face with two daunting problems for the big-box stores that want to take on Amazon. The first is logistics. The second is people.
So here?s what happened. I began my search at about 11 a.m. at Target, which I?d guessed wouldn?t be as crowded as Wal-Mart. Target?s website has a feature that lets you track inventory at your local store, but when I tried to look up whether my store had any consoles left, the system didn?t work. So I walked into the store to look for myself?and, in the electronics department, I found a disaster zone. There were shoppers and carts and merchandise everywhere, and the only two staffers in the area were trying to keep up with the lengthy checkout line. I couldn?t find any Xboxes on the shelves; eventually I located a cabinet with a locked glass door that looked like it had once contained game consoles, but it was empty. I faced a similar situation at GameStop?too many customers, too few employees, and (as I learned from one harried, seemingly 15-year-old staffer) no more Xboxes.
My Wal-Mart experience began more promisingly. Checking Walmart.com on my phone, I discovered that my local store did have Xboxes in stock. Like Target, the store was pretty messy, but I did find one blue-vested worker in the video game section. It began to look like I was home free?I would just ask him where the Xboxes were and be on my way.
But when I told him what I was looking for, he eyed me suspiciously. ?Are you sure you checked this store??
?Really? You typed in this zip code??
?Yes. Let me show you right here.? I began to pull out my phone, but he would have none of it.
?You know, I wouldn?t drive all the way over just because of something I saw online,? he advised.
?So you don?t have any left?? I asked, crestfallen.
?It?s better to call and ask if we have something.?
?OK?so the Xboxes are sold out?? I pleaded.
?Like, for months, the website said that we had the Nexus 7. People would always come over and ask for it. But we didn?t have any.? He paused for a beat before letting me in on a grand truth about the universe: ?Sometimes the Web is wrong.?
?OK, but are you really sure the Xbox is gone??
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=1865ac52280a24dee98743a9ed3d7c7b
ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? A photograph taken by Wildlife Conservation Society scientists of a little known Bolivian cat species called an oncilla has won a BBC Wildlife camera-trap photo competition.
The photo, which won the New Discoveries category, documents the first-known occurrence of this extremely rare spotted cat in Madidi National Park.
The Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) occurs across the Amazon and along the tropical Andes. About the size of a house cat, they are the smallest cat species of South America's lowlands. Very little is known about their life history.
WCS researchers Guido Ayala, Maria Viscarra, and Robert Wallace submitted the photo taken last July during camera trap surveys of jaguars and other wildlife living in Madidi -- considered to be among the most biodiverse protected areas on the planet.
More than 1,300 entries were submitted from around the world. The winning entry received ?1,000 (approximately $1,500), courtesy of Paramo Directional Clothing Systems and the World Land Trust.
The new record for oncilla in Madidi pushes the number of confirmed cat species in the park to six with at least two more waiting to be confirmed. Madidi National Park contains 11 percent of the world's birds, more than 200 species of mammals, almost 300 types of fish, and 12,000 plant varieties. The 19,000 square-kilometer (7,335 square mile) park is known for its array of altitudinal gradients and habitats from lowland tropical forests of the Amazon to snow-capped peaks of the High Andes.
The Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Program aims to develop local capacity to conserve the landscape and mitigate a variety of threats, including road construction, logging, and agricultural expansion.
WCS's work in the Madidi-Tambopata Landscape has been made possible by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the blue moon fund, the Beneficia Foundation, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and other generous supporters.
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, established in 2000, seeks to advance environmental conservation, patient care and scientific research. The goal of the Foundation's Andes-Amazon Initiative is to maintain the climatic function and biodiversity of the Amazon Basin by promoting forest conservation and addressing the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/93-7ZZw6dX8/121129111746.htm
Toshiba isn't the most vocal of mobile camera designers; it's often shouted out by the likes of OmniVision and Sony. It has reason to crow now that it's near launching a next-generation imager of its own. The 13-megapixel, CMOS-based TK437 sensor carries the backside illumination we already know and love for its low-light performance as well as color noise reduction that should fight the side-effects of such a dense, sensitive design. If we take Toshiba at its word, the visual quality of the sensor's 1.12-micron pixels is equal to that of much larger, less noise-prone 1.4-micron examples -- important when stuffing the sensor into 0.33 square inches. Photos will prove whether the achievement is more than just talk, although we'll have some time to wait when test samples will only reach companies in December. It's months beyond that before there's a production phone or tablet with a TK437 lurking inside.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Tablets
Source: Toshiba
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A new study published in 'Science' found the ice in Greenland is melting five times faster than in the early 90s, part of what accounts for a 20 percent rise in sea level over the past two decades. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
By Miguel Llanos, NBC News
What had been a blurry picture about polar ice ? especially how it impacts sea levels???just got a whole lot clearer as experts on Thursday published a peer-reviewed study they say puts to rest the debate over whether the poles added to, or subtracted from, sea level rise over the last two decades.
"This improved certainty allows us to stay definitively that both Antarctica and Greenland have been losing ice," lead author Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds in Britain, told reporters. Not only that, but the pace has tripled from the 1990s, the data indicate.
Combining satellite data from dozens of earlier studies, the study "shows that the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have contributed just over 11 millimeters (0.4 inches) to global sea levels since 1992," he added. Two-thirds was from Greenland, a third from Antarctica.
NASA Earth Observatory
This 20-mile-long rift on Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier, seen from a satellite on Oct. 26, will eventually calve off, possibly in the next few months, creating an iceberg the size of New York City. While that won't raise sea levels since the glacial tongue sits on water, the loss could speed up the flow of ice from Antarctica's mainland into the sea.
That's 20 percent of all sea level rise over the last two decades, with the rest mostly from thermal expansion of waters due to warming sea temperatures, the authors noted. In recent years, however, the percentage "has gone up significantly" to nearly 40 percent, added co-author Michiel van den Broeke from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Published in the journal Science, the study was based on input from 47 experts at the 26 institutes that produced earlier studies with wild variations. Some estimated melt was raising sea levels by up to 2 millimeters a year, Shepherd noted, while a few said that overall polar ice was growing, and thus countering sea level rise.
Much of the discrepancy was due to data showing that Antarctica's vast eastern ice sheet was adding, not losing ice.
Eastern Antarctica has indeed added ice, but continent-wide the last decade shows a "50 percent increase in ice loss rate," said study?co-author Erik Ivins, a satellite data expert with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.?
Most of that loss is in western Antarctica ? at places like Pine Island Glacier, where an iceberg the size of New York City is set to calve off. The iceberg itself won't raise sea levels since that ice is already atop water, but thinning glaciers mean that ice on the mainland can make its way downhill to the sea faster.
ESA/NASA/Planetary Visions
Based on the new study in Science, this chart shows changes in global sea level due to ice sheet melting since 1992. The background image shows thickening (blue) and thinning (red) of Antarctica's ice sheets over the same period.
Even more dramatic, Ivins said, is that Greenland?"is losing mass at about five times the rate today as it was in the early 1990s."
Greenland's melt rate has gone from 55 billion tons a year in the 1990s to nearly ?290 billion tons a year recently, according to the study.?
A top ice expert who was not a study co-author told NBC News that the new data mark "an important step forward" in better estimating future sea level rise.
"While we had a basic picture of what was going on, it was an incomplete and blurry one," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder. "We needed to?step back and take a fresh look, making the best use of all of the different data sources?that we have.
"With this study," he added, "we now have a lot confidence in how the ice sheets are behaving."
The findings come as nations negotiate in Qatar over a new climate treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases tied to a warming Earth.?
And while a half-inch rise in sea levels over 20 years doesn't sound like much, many experts fear further warming will accelerate the polar melt. The ice sheets would raise sea levels by more than 200 feet if they completely melted over centuries ? not likely, but even a tenth of that would have catastrophic impacts on coastal areas.
The authors warned that while the new data should become the benchmark for future forecasts, any new studies could be compromised if aging satellites are not replaced. In the U.S., the Obama administration is overhauling its satellite program after an outside review team found it "dysfunctional."
Related: Sea levels rose 60 percent faster than forecast, study finds
"It?s really critical that these measurements are sustained and several satellites are beginning to fail," noted?Ian Joughin, a University of Washington researcher.
"If we really want to have meaningful information that you know planners can use to build seawalls," he added, "there?s going to have to be a big push to improve our projections of sea level rise using models."
More world stories from NBC News:
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LONDON (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in London's Ecuadorian embassy for nearly six months, played down concerns about his health on Thursday, saying he enjoyed being at the centre of the legal and diplomatic storm.
Assange, 41, whose website angered the United States by releasing thousands of secret diplomatic cables, took sanctuary in Ecuador's embassy in June, jumping bail after exhausting appeals in British courts against extradition to Sweden for sexual assault allegations.
Ecuadorian officials have said the former computer hacker is suffering from a chronic lung ailment as a result of his long stay in the embassy.
Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt fastened with silver-coloured cufflinks in the shape of a 'W' and an 'L', Assange showed no outward sign of health problems.
"The confinement, the circumstances are obviously difficult," was all Assange would say when questioned about his health by Reuters.
"I rather enjoy being swept away in the storm of it all. You only live once so it's important that we do something that is meaningful with our time," he said.
He is said to be living a cramped life inside the modest diplomatic mission. He eats mostly take-out food and uses a treadmill to burn off energy and a vitamin D lamp to make up for the lack of sunlight.
The whistleblower said he has used his time at the embassy to focus on his work, including a book "Cypherpunks" in which he warns that the growing amount of personal data we store online could render society a "slave to the internet".
Speaking in a gilt-corniced conference room, accessed via an entrance hall decorated with a beaming portrait of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Assange spoke vehemently about the dangers of cyber-surveillance by governments and private companies.
(Reporting By Alessandra Prentice)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wikileaks-assange-downplays-health-concerns-184050662.html
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Amazon.com Founder and CEO said in a fireside chat at AWS re:Invent with CTO Werner Vogels that he was surprised by the success of Amazon Web Services.?Bezos said they were optimistic that AWS would do well, but they did not anticipate such huge growth.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HR7vsyDr_lo/
By C. Molly Smith ? Daily Trojan
At the beginning of the semester I wrote about auteurship, arguing that filmmakers need to strike a balance between mindless entertainment and films that are intentionally artistic.
Diverse directing ? Ang Lee directs a scene for Life of Pi. His credits also include Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. ? | Photo by Jake Netter, courtesy of 20th Century Fox
I argued that filmmakers need to find their identity ? one that is recognizable as that of their own ? so their work is distinct.
Ang Lee?s career, as a whole, has encouraged me to revise the way I understand auteurship, and what it means for filmmakers to have their own specific identity as artists.
Lee does not perpetuate one particular style. Instead, he stands as a testament for what filmmaking should be ? versatile.
Lee doesn?t represent any one thing, but that?s exactly what defines him. And if auteurship is about creating your own specific identity, then Lee?s identity is versatility.
Just look at some of his most famous films.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a beautiful presentation of martial arts set in lush, stunning Asian backdrops. Hulk served as Lee?s chance to explore the action-adventure flick. Brokeback Mountain was a quiet drama in which Lee pushed narrative boundaries with a romance between two gay cowboys and was full of beautiful cinematography. Now, with this year?s Life of Pi, Lee has pushed himself with technology, using 3-D to add depth and dimension to his gorgeous work.
Though each film has its own individual flair, be it through its narrative or innovative use of technology, they are all stunningly beautiful. And though they are all well shot, each of Lee?s films are vastly different from each other, showing his ability to push himself out of his comfort zone.
Lee?s drive to innovate is exactly what Hollywood needs in filmmaking today.
This isn?t to say artists shouldn?t carry a personal style. Having a recognizable style of your own is great, of course, and it gives filmmakers a voice to call their own.
It?s safe to say that most filmgoers could smell a Quentin Tarantino or Joe Wright film from a mile away, simply because their works are that identifiable.
Tarantino engages with vastly different subjects ? Nazis (and Nazi killers), slaves and assassins, to name a few ? but he has made a name for himself with his quick wit and mash-up technique that compiles a series of styles into a single film. Wright, on the other hand, has made a career out of lavish, dramatic period pieces ? cue Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and now Anna Karenina.
But creativity really flourishes when creative boundaries are pushed and a new set of eyes are applied to a genre or style.
Martin Scorsese, for instance, received rave reviews from critics and Oscar attention when he branched out of his crime-drama norm and experimented with a quirky children?s film, Hugo.
And now we have Ben Affleck. The triple-threat talent directed two Boston-based films, Gone Baby Gone and The Town. For Affleck, a Boston native, these films spoke to his experiences. Then, this year?s Argo came out, a film about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis ? quite a long way from Boston ? and his popularity soared. Affleck, as actor, producer and director, went out of his comfort zone. The result: His period drama has been popularly and critically received as a refreshing and exciting political thriller that was well-acted and well-directed.
With certain filmmakers, you know what you?re going to get. And while that might be comforting because you?re more likely to enjoy a film, most people probably won?t want to see a re-creation ? a near exact replica ? of what has already been done before.
With awards season on the horizon, the film landscape seems to be flourishing: Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Hitchcock, Lincoln, Argo and so on.
Looking beyond the fall and winter wealth spring of great films, however, filmmaking could afford to be more dynamic. Yes, we had Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild premiering in the pre-Oscar season, but we also had Wrath of the Titans and (please, no more Katherine Heigl) One for the Money.
It takes an ambitious, driven and creative director to churn out dynamic films. But capable filmmakers need to push themselves to be more versatile so that their work becomes more creative as a result. Versatility should be the standard and not the exception to the norm; innovation is what we should seek. That being the case, filmmakers follow Lee?s example.
?
C. Molly Smith is a junior majoring in communication. Her column ?Keepin? it Reel? runs Wednesdays.
Source: http://dailytrojan.com/2012/11/27/directors-should-learn-from-lee/
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Source: http://diversityischaos.blogspot.com/2012/11/extramarital-mating-is-common-in-some.html
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Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
Share ] Contact: Andrea Gibson
gibsona@ohio.edu
740-597-2166
Ohio University
ATHENS, Ohio (Nov. 29, 2012)Astronomers were puzzled earlier this year when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope spotted an overabundance of dark matter in the heart of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520. This observation was surprising because dark matter and galaxies should be anchored together, even during a collision between galaxy clusters.
Astronomers have abundant evidence that an as-yet-unidentified form of matter is responsible for 90 percent of the gravity within galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Because it is detected via its gravity and not its light, they call it "dark matter."
Now, a new observation of Abell 520 from another team of astronomers using a different Hubble camera finds that the core does not appear to be over-dense in dark matter after all. The study findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
"The earlier result presented a mystery. In our observations we didn't see anything surprising in the core," said study leader Douglas Clowe, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio University. "Our measurements are in complete agreement with how we would expect dark matter to behave."
Hubble observations announced earlier this year by astronomers using Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 suggested that a clump of dark matter was left behind during a clash between massive galaxies clusters in Abell 520, located 2.4 billion light-years away. The dark matter collected into a "dark core" that contained far fewer galaxies than would be expected if the dark and luminous matter were closely connected, which is generally found to be the case.
Because dark matter is not visible, its presence and distribution is found indirectly through its gravitational effects. The gravity from both dark and luminous matter warps space, bending and distorting light from galaxies and clusters behind it like a giant magnifying glass. Astronomers can use this effect, called gravitational lensing, to infer the presence of dark matter in massive galaxy clusters. Both teams used this technique to map the dark matter in the merging cluster.
Clowe's team used Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to measure the amount of dark matter in the cluster. ACS observed the cluster in three colors, allowing the astronomers to distinguish foreground and background galaxies from the galaxies in the cluster. From this observation, the team made an extremely accurate map of the cluster's dark matter. "With the colors we got a more precise selection of galaxies," Clowe said.
The astronomers estimated the amount of dark matter in the cluster by measuring the amount of gravitational "shear" in the Hubble images. Shear is the warping and stretching of galaxies by the gravity of dark matter. More warping indicates the presence of more gravity than is inferred from the presence of luminous matter, therefore requiring the presence of dark matter to explain the observation. "The WFPC2 observation could have introduced anomalous shear and not a measure of the dark matter distribution," Clowe explained.
Using the new camera, Clowe's team measured less shear in the cluster's core than was previously found. In the study the ratio of dark matter to normal matter, in the form of stars and gas, is 2.5 to 1, which is what astronomers expected. The earlier WFPC2 observation, however, showed a 6-to-1 ratio of dark matter to normal matter, which challenged theories of how dark matter behaves.
"This result also shows that as you improve Hubble's capabilities with newer cameras, you can take a second look at an object," Clowe said.
His team is encouraging other scientists to study its data and conduct their own analysis on the cluster.
###
Clowe's co-authors on the paper are Maxim Markevitch of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Marusa Bradac of the University of California, Davis; Anthony H. Gonzalez and Sun Mi Chung of the University of Florida, Gainesville; Richard Massey of Durham University, Durham, England; and Dennis Zaritsky of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, Tucson, Ariz.
Contacts: Douglas Clowe, (740) 593-0063, clowe@ohio.edu; Director of Research Communications Andrea Gibson, (740) 597-2166, gibsona@ohio.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 29-Nov-2012 Share ] Contact: Andrea Gibson
gibsona@ohio.edu
740-597-2166
Ohio University
ATHENS, Ohio (Nov. 29, 2012)Astronomers were puzzled earlier this year when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope spotted an overabundance of dark matter in the heart of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520. This observation was surprising because dark matter and galaxies should be anchored together, even during a collision between galaxy clusters.
Astronomers have abundant evidence that an as-yet-unidentified form of matter is responsible for 90 percent of the gravity within galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Because it is detected via its gravity and not its light, they call it "dark matter."
Now, a new observation of Abell 520 from another team of astronomers using a different Hubble camera finds that the core does not appear to be over-dense in dark matter after all. The study findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
"The earlier result presented a mystery. In our observations we didn't see anything surprising in the core," said study leader Douglas Clowe, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio University. "Our measurements are in complete agreement with how we would expect dark matter to behave."
Hubble observations announced earlier this year by astronomers using Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 suggested that a clump of dark matter was left behind during a clash between massive galaxies clusters in Abell 520, located 2.4 billion light-years away. The dark matter collected into a "dark core" that contained far fewer galaxies than would be expected if the dark and luminous matter were closely connected, which is generally found to be the case.
Because dark matter is not visible, its presence and distribution is found indirectly through its gravitational effects. The gravity from both dark and luminous matter warps space, bending and distorting light from galaxies and clusters behind it like a giant magnifying glass. Astronomers can use this effect, called gravitational lensing, to infer the presence of dark matter in massive galaxy clusters. Both teams used this technique to map the dark matter in the merging cluster.
Clowe's team used Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to measure the amount of dark matter in the cluster. ACS observed the cluster in three colors, allowing the astronomers to distinguish foreground and background galaxies from the galaxies in the cluster. From this observation, the team made an extremely accurate map of the cluster's dark matter. "With the colors we got a more precise selection of galaxies," Clowe said.
The astronomers estimated the amount of dark matter in the cluster by measuring the amount of gravitational "shear" in the Hubble images. Shear is the warping and stretching of galaxies by the gravity of dark matter. More warping indicates the presence of more gravity than is inferred from the presence of luminous matter, therefore requiring the presence of dark matter to explain the observation. "The WFPC2 observation could have introduced anomalous shear and not a measure of the dark matter distribution," Clowe explained.
Using the new camera, Clowe's team measured less shear in the cluster's core than was previously found. In the study the ratio of dark matter to normal matter, in the form of stars and gas, is 2.5 to 1, which is what astronomers expected. The earlier WFPC2 observation, however, showed a 6-to-1 ratio of dark matter to normal matter, which challenged theories of how dark matter behaves.
"This result also shows that as you improve Hubble's capabilities with newer cameras, you can take a second look at an object," Clowe said.
His team is encouraging other scientists to study its data and conduct their own analysis on the cluster.
###
Clowe's co-authors on the paper are Maxim Markevitch of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Marusa Bradac of the University of California, Davis; Anthony H. Gonzalez and Sun Mi Chung of the University of Florida, Gainesville; Richard Massey of Durham University, Durham, England; and Dennis Zaritsky of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, Tucson, Ariz.
Contacts: Douglas Clowe, (740) 593-0063, clowe@ohio.edu; Director of Research Communications Andrea Gibson, (740) 597-2166, gibsona@ohio.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/ou-cm112912.php
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- The United States should focus increasingly on courting Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey, four ?global swing states? critical to the preservation of the Western-dominated international order, according to a new report released here Tuesday by two major U.S. think tanks.
With the post-World War II global order facing challenges such as the rise of China, the fiscal difficulties of Western governments, and unresolved crises over North Korea?s and Iran?s nuclear programmes, these four nations, if given incentives, can play a crucial role maintaining and renewing the strength of existing international institutions, it says.
?The United should ?seize the opportunity to enlarge the international order?s base of supporters to include Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Turkey,? according to the two main authors, Daniel Kliman of the German Marshall Fund (GMF) and Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a think tank that has enjoyed significant influence with the administration of President Barack Obama.
?These four nations each possess a large and growing economy, a strategic location in their region and a commitment to democratic institutions. And critically, each nation?s precise international role is now in flux,? they noted.
As with ?swing states? in the U.S. electoral system, focusing on the four countries ?can deliver a geopolitical payoff, because their approach to the international order is more fluid and open than those of China or Russia,? according to the report.
?In addition, the choices that (they) make ? about whether to take on new global responsibilities, free ride on the efforts of established powers or complicate the solving of key challenges ? may, together, decisively influence the trajectory of the current international order.?
The new report comes amidst a lengthy debate sparked in major part by the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent Euro crisis and the widespread perception ? or reality ? that the West, including the U.S., is in decline relative to ?the Rest?, notably China and other emerging powers.
How Washington should react to this perception or reality ? particularly with respect to preserving an international structure of institutions that have served the West well ? has been the subject of a flood of books and reports, not to mention an endless number of think tank discussions.
Some, like neo-conservative thinker Robert Kagan, argue that Washington and its Western allies can and must maintain their dominance to maintain world order.
Others, such as realist Charles Kupchan at Georgetown University, have argued that such a quest will actually hasten the West?s decline and that Washington must accommodate itself to the rise of new powers that won?t necessarily share or acquiesce in the West?s liberal values or the global institutions that supposedly embody them.
Kupchan, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, praised the report as a ?useful contribution to the growing debate about how the United States should prepare for global change?, particularly its recognition that ?emerging states have distinct interests and objectives, and we need to engage them on their own terms.?
Another helpful aspect, he told IPS, was addressing not only the importance of giving them more representation in international institutions, but also how ?they can share more global responsibility, whether it?s peacekeeping or contributing to global public goods.?
At the same time, he said, the ?implicit assumption in the report that, because they have democratic institutions, they will line up behind us as a matter of course, is questionable. ?I think emerging powers ? democratic and non-democratic alike ? will seek to change the system in ways that advantage their particular interest,? according to Kupchan.
Yet another liberal internationalist school led by John Ikenberry has contended that the Western-created global order, as represented by the U.N. Security Council, the Bretton Woods institutions, and various military alliances, has proved sufficiently resilient and beneficial that rising powers will not be tempted to either reject it or create new or parallel institutions.
The new report, ?Global Swing States: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and the Future of International Order?, appears to fall into the last camp and calls for very specific measures to be taken with each country ? from seeking bilateral free-trade agreements to increasing military training assistance ? to coax them toward enhancing their stake and participation in the existing order.
?The rise of four powerful democracies ? Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey ? could bolster today?s international order,? according to the report, which notes that each of them for its own reasons remains sceptical of various elements of that order.
?America?s engagement with these four countries is critical and can influence their choices and enlarge their capacity to take on new responsibilities ? but it remains a work in progress.?
The report divides the current order into five components ? trade, finance, maritime, non-proliferation, and human rights ? and notes each country?s record ? and areas of agreement and disagreement with the U.S. ? with regard to each component.
It notes, for example, that Brazil has reluctantly accepted most of the international non-proliferation regime but has opposed new measures on the grounds of preserving sovereignty and also tried (with Turkey) to broker a nuclear deal with Iran.
With respect to the financial order, it notes that Indonesia has both supported the International Monetary Fund and also facilitated the emergence of an Asian alternative, the Chiang Mai Initiative.
Among many other complaints, the report also noted Brazil?s and India?s balking at global trade liberalisation, Turkey?s ?outsized (maritime) claims in the eastern Mediterranean?, and Brazil?s ?red line? against the use of military force to halt human rights atrocities.
Nonetheless, the four countries can be considered ?promising partners?, it says.
?Although they desire changes to the international order, they do not seek to scrap it,? according to the report, which notes that, in many cases, they hold interests in common with the U.S.
The report?s authors depict China ? as well as the financial difficulties of the West itself ? as the major challenge to the existing system, citing, among others, Beijing?s trade practices (particularly those of its state-owned enterprises), its bypassing of the World Bank in its bilateral aid programme; its efforts to shift the international monetary system away from the U.S. dollar, and its alleged challenges too freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Thus, among its recommendations, the report suggests that Washington could work with all four swing states to address unfair commercial practices by state-owned enterprises, and calls for upgrading naval and maritime ties with both India and Indonesia, as well as with Brazil.
It also urges Washington to ?partner with India, Brazil and Turkey to establish a model for development in Africa? as a potential ?robust alternative to China?s bilateral lending?.
In addition to more extensive bilateral engagement and encouraging the swing states to increase their own global engagement, the report urges Washington to ?at last partially address the desire of those nations for greater recognition in key international institutions? and strengthen ?their domestic capacity to more actively support the international order?.
*Jim Lobe?s blog on U.S. foreign policy can be read at http://www.lobelog.com.
Source: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/11/brazil-turkey-india-indonesia-key-to-u-s-backed-global-order/
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The one-minute Internet video, entitled "defend your net", shows consumers using the search engine to find what they want on the web.
"For more than 10 years, you have been able to find the things that move you. A planned law will now change that," the firm says in the video.
"Do you want that to happen? Get involved," ends the message, offering users the possibility to sign an online petition against the law, due to be debated in the Bundestag lower house of parliament on Thursday.
The draft law dubbed the "Lex Google" as the giant US search engine is seen as the main target would force search engines to pay a fee to publishers when Internet users click through to their content.
Demanded for many years by powerful media groups such as Axel Springer and Bertelsmann, which want to retain the copyright over their content, the draft legislation is backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.
The media groups also argue that a user of "Google News" can simply read the short summaries offered on the front page to get his or her fix of the daily news, rather than clicking through to the paper concerned.
But the head of Google Germany, Stefan Tweraser, hit back, saying: "The majority of citizens have never heard of this draft law even though it could affect all Internet users in Germany."
Tweraser said the law would restrict the content citizens could access on the web and result in higher costs for companies.
However, Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger noted that consumers did have a choice.
"There are other search engines than Google," she told business daily Handelsblatt in its Wednesday edition.
France is also pushing Google to compensate media websites.
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Washington, D.C.--(ENEWSPF)--November 7, 2012. In the aftermath of the devastating and tragic superstorm Hurricane Sandy, the Center for American Progress today released ?Heavy Weather: How Climate Destruction Harms Middle and Lower Income Americans.? This report analyzes the impact of the 21 extreme weather events in 2011 through 2012 so far that have caused $1 billion or more each in damages. These floods, droughts, heat waves, storms, and wild fires took at least 1,021 lives and caused $126 billion in damages overall. The report is the first to determine that these devastating weather events typically harmed households with income at or below the national median household income. These middle- and lower-income Americans bore the burden of these devastating events.
?The recent storms, floods, drought, and wild fires are like biblical plagues raining down on middle- and lower-income Americans. These people often lack the resources to quickly recover from these devastating extreme weather events,? noted Daniel J. Weiss, co-author of the report and Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress. ?Scientists warn that climate change will exacerbate the severity and/or frequency of these extreme weather episodes. Unless we reduce the carbon pollution responsible for climate change, the damage from these events will continue to harm middle- and lower-income Americans.?
Many of the most economically destructive 2011 and 2012 extreme weather events harmed people with average household incomes below the U.S. median annual household income of $51,914:
Tropical storms and hurricanes were the only highly destructive extreme weather events that affected better-off areas on average since January 2011.
The ?Heavy Weather? report includes numerous examples of the cruel phenomenon sometimes called ?the climate gap??when climate change has a disproportionate impact on society?s less fortunate citizens.
Texas has suffered from 10 extreme weather events with $1 billion or more in damages in the past two years. Fifteen other states also had at least five such costly natural disasters. The ?Heavy Weather? report includes income data for the areas declared a disaster due to these events in these states.
?The first Obama administration adopted significant carbon pollution reductions from motor vehicles. It must now establish pollution standards for existing power plants and other industrial sources to slow climate change and the outbursts of extreme weather,? added Weiss. ?We must also help communities become more resilient to extreme weather. Finally, the most vulnerable people deserve assistance to help them cope with future devastating storms, floods, heat waves, and other natural disasters.?
Source: americanprogress.org
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Four female service members filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat, hoping the move will add pressure to drop the policy just as officials are gauging the effect that lifting the prohibition will have on morale.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, is the second one this year over the 1994 rule that bars women from being assigned to ground combat units, which are smaller and considered more dangerous since they are often in battle for longer periods.
The legal effort comes less than a year after the ban on gays serving openly was lifted and as officials are surveying Marines about whether women would be a distraction in ground combat units.
"I'm trying to get rid of the ban with a sharp poke," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jennifer Hunt, who was among the plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit and was injured in 2007 when her Humvee ran over an improvised explosive device in Iraq.
Hunt and the other three women said the policy unfairly blocks them from promotions and other advancements open to men in combat. Three of the women are in the reserves. A fourth, Marine Corp Lt. Colleen Farrell, leaves active duty this week.
Women comprise 14 percent of the 1.4 million active military personnel. The lawsuit alleges that women are barred from 238,000 positions across the Armed Forces.
At a Washington, D.C., news conference, Pentagon press secretary George Little said the Defense Department was making strides in allowing more women into combat. He said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has opened about 14,500 combat positions to women.
"And he has directed the services to explore the possibility of opening additional roles for women in the military," Little said. "His record is very strong on this issue."
American Civil Liberties Union Ariela Migdal, who represents the four women, said Panetta's actions weren't enough. She called for an end to the combat ban. "These tweaks and minor changes on the margins do a disservice to all the women who serve," she said.
"It falls short," she said. "It is not enough."
Marine Corps Capt. Zoe Bedell said she left active duty, in large part, because of the combat exclusion policy. Bedell said she was frustrated that her advancement in the Marines was blocked by her inability to serve directly in combat units.
"The military is the last place where you are allowed to be discriminated against because of you gender," she said.
Bedell said the blurred front lines of modern warfare, with suicide bombs and sniper attacks, have put more and more women in combat situations.
More than 144 female troops have been killed and more than 860 have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began, according to Pentagon statistics.
Military leaders say they want to make sure lifting gender-based barriers would not disrupt the cohesion of the smaller combat ground units and military operations.
The Marine Corps' top leader, Gen. James Amos, ordered a survey of 53,000 troops to get their views, including whether they believe women in those units would distract male Marines from doing their jobs. The results have not been released yet.
The lawsuit alleges the ban violates constitutional female service members' equal rights. "As a direct result of this policy," the lawsuit states, "women ? as a class and solely because of their gender ? are barred from entire career fields.
The lawsuit also alleges that women are already serving unofficially in combat units.
Air National Guard Major Mary Jennings Hegar sustained shrapnel wounds in 2009 when she exchanged fire on the ground in Afghanistan after her Medevac helicopter was shot down. Both she and Hunt received Purple Heart medals for their injuries.
The lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, an appointee of President Barack Obama.
___
Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/female-military-members-sue-serve-combat-192246975.html
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There have been numerous reports about the shortcomings of Obamacare which its boosters have either ignored or shouted down. And troublingly, the attitude is often ?I got mine? as in ?My kids are now covered under my policy? without questioning what the narrow and broader issues are.
Well, I?ll tell you I got mine too. My current policy, which on paper is actually quite good, has a lifetime cap. Under the ACA, it is grandfathered and the cap is removed. And I?m still here to tell you that the future sucks. This deal enriches Big Pharma and the health insurers at the expense of the public at large. And the result of that will be a worsening of the already lousy health care system in the US. And I can give you a feel for what your future is likely to look like. It?s not pretty.
Let?s start with some of the inaccurate praise heaped on the ACA:
It covers the uninsured. No, it only cover some of the uninsured. The CBO scored the ACA as leaving 30 million still uninsured as of 2022.
It will cover people with preexisting conditions. Um, maybe, until you need costly care. The ACA preserved a loophole you can drive a truck through: But the bill has a giant loophole: insurers can continue to cancel policies in the case of ?fraud or intentional misrepresentation? as they do now. And the bar for fraud, per established case law, is remarkably low. Forgetting to tell your insurer about a past ailment, no matter how minor, qualifies. Say you forget to tell your new insurer that you had acne or a concussion in your teen years. That will more than do.
Insurers NOW frequently go over the records of people who have costly conditions or major surgeries with a fine toothed comb looking for ways to rescind policies. For instance, in 2010, Reuters reported:
WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators.
WellPoint appears to have overstepped by using pretty much any weak excuse to rescind policies. But the low standards of the fraud out mean that there?s still plenty of room to drop coverage, particularly for patients over, say, 35, who have enough of a medical history that they can easily forget a minor ailment that their insurer finds and uses to ditch them. Remember, most people who undergo a medical bankruptcy had insurance.
Your health care will be (mainly) covered. Hahaha. I know high functioning people (as in couples where both spouses had advanced degrees, and one was on the board of a major medical devices company) who?ve been stuck with huge hospital bills. They?d thought everything was covered, and somehow items that were in the tens of thousands (in one case, totaling $75,000) wasn?t. And then there?s the ?out of network? problem, highlighted this weekend by a New York Times story of parents who had a baby that had trouble sleeping and the pediatricians they saw were at a loss. The doctor who specialized in that sort of problem didn?t accept insurance. While he was able to help the baby, the parents had to foot all of the $650 bill.
Health insurer profit margins are capped. That is technically accurate but substantively misleading. The health insurer have been engaged in price gouging over the last two decades. Health insurers as of the early 1990s spent 95% of health care premiums on medical expenditures. They now spend less than 85%. The ACA requires them to spend 80% on health care costs. So the bill institutionalizes an egregiously fat profit margin.
Now if that doesn?t sober you up, consider a few more factoids: the ACA does indeed extend insurance to a large pool of formerly uninsured, and subsidizes insurance to lower income individuals. This should increase demand for health care services. At the same time, more and more doctors are opting out of taking insured patients, largely because they can?t stand the cost and hassle of fighting insurers to get paid. For instance, dermatologists want to do Botox and dermapeels, not acne. Endocrinologists are converting their practices to anti-aging. In New York City, it used to be not too difficult to find a pretty good primary physician. That is no longer true. When my old MD quit practicing (while I was overseas), the insane array of referrals I got for his replacement would make for a Woody Allen movie.
Now forgive the following discussion of my experience, but it actually sheds some light on what is likely to be in store for a lot of people.
I have what is on paper a terrific policy. My insurer is Cigna, and it?s an indemnity plan, which means no network (only 2% of the plans in the US are indemnity plans). I can see anyone I want to, including overseas, including specialists without a primary physician referral. If the doctor I see is in a Cigna network, I get the network price, otherwise, the price is the rack rate. I have a $500 annual deductible and a 20% co pay on everything up to $5000 a year, and over that level is considered ?major medical? so no co-pay.
Now what is wrong with this picture? Cigna used to pay like clockwork. Over the years, they have been engaging in new and creative forms of denying coverage. And I don?t mean the usual nickel and diming of saying that the doctor?s charge is above ?necessary and customary? and dumping more of the doctor cost on me. I?ve gotten pretty good at fighting those over the years, but truth be told, they don?t seem to think they make enough on me that way (and I?m healthy enough that with the pretty low premiums I pay, they?d still pay out less than 80% of my premiums if they just acted like grown ups and processed my claims).
So their new tricks are:
? Throwing out claims. This started about 3 years ago. I cannot think of a single piece of business mail I have sent in the past 10 years that hasn?t gotten to its recipient. But Cigna now manages not to receive 25% to 30% of the claims I send them. I now record everything I send, date send and what?s in the envelope, and have to call Cigna to follow up to see if they got it (yes, I could send it registered mail, but that?s a half hour tax on my time every time and I don?t have it to give).
? Claiming provider information is missing, such as their ID number or name. This is nearly always impossible given that the doctors either print out receipts with all that info on it or have pre-printed forms their staff fills in by hand. But they assert they don?t see it on the scanned forms, so they are either misrepresenting or have a remarkably high level of scanning errors
? Claiming my policy doesn?t cover stuff that it does. Because I have a New York state regulated conversion plan, they can?t change the terms without notifying the state first (to obtain approval, but it?s pretty much always given) and then me, in writing. They?ve never done that (except for occasional rate increases or various mandated by law disclosures). But they?ve tried denying services that are required to be covered by New York plans by law or ones that they?ve paid for for over 15 years (and therefore it?s clearly a policy item). And their staff now can only look see in the database for the last two years (a recent ?improvement?), so the customer service reps (who are actually pretty diligent) can?t find past claims in the database to substantiate my position; I have to dig through my records and send in copies.
? Saying they previously paid out on a claim when they didn?t. That one is really cute. Again required having kept track.
? Saying a claim has been submitted too late. This is also cute in light of the ruses above (as in the last batch was ?too late? because they?d said provider info was missing), and is a new strategy. Clearly not permitted, since they would have had to notify me in writing and failed to.
Now because I am a customer from hell and know where the New York health insurance conversion plan people are, I periodically have to write them to lower the boom on Cigna. This is super annoying and I avoid doing it till really necessary but works every time. And the New York health insurance bureau disproves all the demonization of government employees. They are smart and on the ball. The first time I contacted them about my Cigna run around, a staffer there called me back 3 times in 24 hours with questions and follow up and got after Cigna two days after that. I hardly ever get that level of service from professionals like accountants and lawyers.
This microcosm should give you some insight into the macro. I?ve been on my own in a ?groupish? plan, which is the position many of the newly insureds will be in. You can expect insurance that is costly but doesn?t cover much. The wrinkle on my policy is it is nominally cheap and in theory covers a lot but in practice I pay a lot extra by virtue of all the time I spend fighting with Cigna. The only reason I prevail is I also happen to be in a state where I both have decent legal protection and a good state office to run interference if needed. That isn?t the case in a lot of states. Caveat emptor in our brave new world of health insurance exchanges.
Source: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/11/i-have-seen-the-future-of-your-health-insurance-it-sucks.html
As a video conferencing solution, Biscotti's TV phone scores high marks for form, function and charm. But apart from the cutesy name and appealing build, it's more or less a $199 one trick pony -- or it was, anyway. Which is why the company's now tethering the peripheral to the internet-at-large and bolstering its functionality with the newly announced MyBiscotti Cloud Services. The version 2.0 software (available via an OTA update) pushes beyond simple two-way TV video chat with the addition of home monitoring features like the self-explanatory Time Lapse mode, as well as Live Image viewing, which culls streams from all networked Biscotti cams. Further, users that find themselves away from the roost will also be able to swap out settings on the fly simply by visiting the outfit's dedicated site. As of now, there's no extra cost for the expanded suite of services, but you will have to plunk down for the coffee biscuit-shaped peripheral. Official PR after the break.
Continue reading Biscotti TV phone connects to the cloud, adds home security functionality
Filed under: Peripherals, HD
Source: Biscotti
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/28/biscotti-tv-phone-connects-to-the-cloud-adds-home-security-func/
A few weeks back, domain name registrar and web host provider Go Daddy held a ?write-a-thon? with the intention of stuffing the company blog with articles written by various experts in the field. Among the writers were CTO Wayne Thayer, security chief Scott Gerlach, and VP of Product Development Rich Merdinger.
Blogger Elliot Silver wrote about the write-a-thon in a November 17, 2012 piece in which he praised Go Daddy for their blogging efforts. Much of what Mr. Silver wrote I can agree with, but one of his last comments was just downright silly.
First, let?s talk about the points of agreement. Silver wrote:
Holding a Write-a-thon like this is a great way for the company to expand its search footprint with expert articles. The company seems to be taking advantage of Google?s authorship program (via Google Plus), giving the search results an even larger presence with author photographs right in the results.
It?s true that such a large collection of expert articles all published simultaneously is great for search engine results. It?s also good for optics inasmuch as it makes Go Daddy appear as though their blogging engine is working overtime. The company should realize a slight bump in search engine effectiveness every time they do something of this nature.
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| For all your writing needs, contact us right now by clicking here or, alternatively, phoning on 0753 880 8349 or Skype anthony.cocp. Whether you need a quote or an answer to a query, we are here to help! |
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It?s also true that technical articles written by the experts themselves provide a lot more useful information than most outsourced content provides. When it comes to raw information, personal expertise far outweighs impersonal research.? By that measure the articles written by the Go Daddy staffers qualify as top-notch content.
As for the silly portion of Silver?s writing, he finishes his blog by stating:
Many companies and website owners outsource their content to writing services and ghostwriters, but it looks like Go Daddy is doing things the right way. They are having their own experts provide the content.
As a content writer I would fundamentally disagree with Silver?s assertion that Go Daddy is ?doing things the right way.? I, and my fellow content writers at Carman Online Content Publishing, make a living doing what we do because we are very good at it. In terms of the technical aspects of writing we are the experts. But just like my research into domain name registration by no means makes me an expert in that area, the fact that a Go Daddy staffer can use a word processor doesn?t make him an expert writer.
Unfortunately, technical experts by and large make terrible writers. They tend to pride themselves in using vocabulary the reader will not understand, they form sentences consisting entirely of corporate clich?s, and their grammar is often times questionable. This is not the stuff of good content writing.
It?s true that the business of content writing requires extensive research on topics writers are not familiar with. But it?s impossible for website owners to expect content writers to be experts in everything.
In a perfect world website owners would provide writers with the necessary research so they can craft the best articles possible. Since it?s not a perfect world, I?d rather depend on a professional content writer to provide the best content he can, rather than a technical expert who produces lousy writing.
By the way, I mean no disrespect to Go Daddy or Mr. Silver. This is just my opinion.
By: Matt Gerwitz
Source: http://cocp.co.uk/go-daddy-now-in-content-writing-business/
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This is a do it yourself tip! Improve your decor and cut costs simultaneously by altering your draperies to energy-efficient types. Thermal drapes are manufactured from heavy materials that behave as insulation to reduce drafts, and blackout curtains block sunlight, keeping the home cooler within the summer time several weeks. Many draperies perform double-duty, mixing blackout effects with thermal materials.
Include a garden. It?s really a lavish outdoors nursery, or perhaps a simple box window in the kitchen area to develop your herbal treatments. Adding live plants and also the appeal they convey to your house is unmatched. Without having a eco-friendly thumb, plant strong plants that require little attention, and give a timed drip or watering for simple watering.
If you?re searching for exterior draperies which will provide efficiency and privacy, bamboo is a great choice. Using bamboo draperies for that outer decor of the house not just provides shade for natural cooling, but additionally resists the sun?s rays and hot temps. Simultaneously, you will notice that they provide excellent privacy inside the home.
When you?re searching to exchange or install draperies in your house, consider options that tint the home windows to lessen the sun?s rays glare which comes through throughout your day in addition to shades that may keep the home insulated. Which means that the warmth is going to be stored in throughout the wintertime and also the awesome in throughout the summer season.
Adhesive window films are among the least expensive and simple-to-install do it yourself projects. These films can be found in distinctive stained-glass designs, frosted designs, and other textured designs. Many window adhesive kits include all of the tools needed to do the job and price under 20 dollars per window.
For those who have a damaged glass window, you can test this temporary means to fix prevent bugs from entering. Use a little of plastic cling wrap within the damaged area to shut the outlet. Secure it with a little of tape to create a better seal. This is actually a brief solution and cannot be utilized long-term.
Creating a free-standing bird feeder is a straightforward home improvement project. Select a window having a look at an area that is comfortable out of your perspective along with the vibrantly colored wild birds in your town. It?s easy to be entertained while supplying a secure haven for the wild buddies.
By setting up crown molding, you?ll be upgrading your house having a crisp and fresh look that?s remarkably high-impact. Just on the dollar per sq . ft ., you are able to splurge on molding that enhances of the question trim, flooring and base board. This look is timeless and simply adds value to your house, even after a period.
A terrific way to lower your possibility of mold development in all your family members is as simple as ensuring your bathrooms is well ventilated. Lavatories that do not have a window or some kind of vent usually get steamy, but they are not able to get rid of humidity. Eventually this humidity adds to extensive mold growth.
Building or purchasing a window box for home windows right in front of your property is an extremely efficient way to include color and visual interest to some drab exterior. A filled planter can be quite heavy, so make certain that you employ cleats to secure this area towards the house. You are able to update the appearance by planting periodic herbal treatments, flowers, or grasses.
As you can tell, do it yourself can really be very satisfying. Finding out how to do small jobs in your home fosters your feeling of independence and boosts your confidence like a house owner. The do-it-yourself movement is completely in your achieve after careful research, and reading through this information is an excellent initial step.
Nichole Hoban
