Monday, April 29, 2013

Dickey: No terror tips should go unchecked



new today, they're focusing on the role their mother played. michael mccall today gave the strongest warn about her yet.

>> i think she played a very strong role in the radicalization process. i believe she is a person of interest, if not a subject. i do believe she comes into the united states that she will be detained for questioning. so i think there is a connection there.

>> joining mess is christopher dickey , the paris bureau chief and editor for theo -- i love this argue in which you describe the three key factors that lead to the development of -- the t.n.t. explain testosterone.

>> you know, most of the people who carry out terrorist acts are young men, who have lot a juice, a lot of testosterone, they are ambitious, anxious, they are full of all those characteristics that we associate maybe with a cliched sort of way, not necessarily biologically, but with the presence of a lot of tess toes torino. so we're usually talking about young men. it is second factor, you nay narrative.

>> i think narrative is the most important, rather than ideology or religion, because that demystifies it. what happens is they young men see themselves identifying with some greater cause, usually the cause of some oppressed people . it could be the catholics in northern ireland , it could be the tamals in sri lanka . in this case, they probably saw themselves identifying with the oppressed chechen people , the opressed iraqi people , the oppressed afghan people , even though they -- they see themselves almost like in knights in white armor . the key work of the ideology of al qaeda is a book called" knights under the prophet's banner" which is the whole idea of terrorism as chivalry. i think that's what you'll see almost universally with these guys.

>> what about the third factor? theater.

>> this is something that's always been a characteristic of terrorists, whether anarchists or islamists. it's become a huge problem in the last 30 years, when terrorists have seen they can carry out actions that will literally resonate around the world. they can do something obviously like 9/11, but even something like the boston marathon bombings, where three people are killed and scores injured, but it's not a huge disaster, yet it has resonance in every corner of the globe. that's the kind of theater they want. in fact, if you look at the history of al qaeda , you'll see that the leaders used to watch disaster movies all the time, because they loved that spectacle. in some ways 9/11 was an effort to replicate the hollywood's spectacle of destruction that they had seen in hollywood movies.

>>> there's a lot of talk, christopher, about boston being an intelligence failure . law enforcement was tipped off. but can anything really be stopped to stop all terrorist attacks , or is it just a matter of reduction?

>> well, it is a matter of reduction. i mean, you can keep pushing and keep pushing, you can use intelligence, which really is the most important thing and you have to be careful how to use it. you don't want to be too invasive, but you can't let a tip just sort of drift by the wayside and say these guys are not a priority. but the most important thing is resilience, is building up the nation's ability to weather the kind of storm we saw in boston . i think boston itself is a great example, the way people have come back quickly from that tragedy, and i think the way the american people have come back from the boston tragedy. that's where i defeat the terrorists. if you look at britain during the height of the i.r.a. bombing campaign, horrible things would happen in the center of london, and the british would just carry on. i think ultimately that's the way you defeat the terrorists, because they don't get the resonance that they want from the actions that they carry out.

>> christopher dickey , thank you

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b463564/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C51694163/story01.htm

winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks mega millions results susan powell lotto numbers megamillions winners

Monster hurricane watch at Saturn's North Pole

In an undated in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA/JPL shows stunning views of a monster hurricane at Saturn's North Pole. The eye of the cyclone is an enormous 1,250 miles across. That's 20 times larger than the typical eye of a hurricane here on Earth. The hurricane is believed to have been there for years.This image is among the first sunlit views of Saturn's north pole captured by Cassini's imaging cameras. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)

In an undated in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA/JPL shows stunning views of a monster hurricane at Saturn's North Pole. The eye of the cyclone is an enormous 1,250 miles across. That's 20 times larger than the typical eye of a hurricane here on Earth. The hurricane is believed to have been there for years.This image is among the first sunlit views of Saturn's north pole captured by Cassini's imaging cameras. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)

(AP) ? NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured stunning views of a monster hurricane at Saturn's North Pole.

The eye of the cyclone is an enormous 1,250 miles across. That's 20 times larger than the typical eye of a hurricane here on Earth. And it's spinning super-fast. Clouds at the outer edge of the storm are whipping around at 330 mph.

The hurricane is parked at Saturn's North Pole and relies on water vapor to keep it churning. It's believed to have been there for years. Cassini only recently had a chance to observe the vortex in visible light.

Scientists hope to learn more about Earth's hurricanes by studying this whopper at Saturn.

Cassini was launched from Cape Canaveral in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004.

___

Online:

NASA: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-04-29-Saturn%20Hurricane/id-8d5178dd6d1e423a9429de0653f83d92

ncaa football CES russell wilson Pokemon nhl jillian michaels Freddy E

Plants moderate climate warming

Plants moderate climate warming [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Katherine Leitzell
leitzell@iiasa.ac.at
43-223-680-7316
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form clouds and cool the atmosphere, according to research from IIASA and the University of Helsinki.

The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a negative feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to an increase in concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.

"Plants, by reacting to changes in temperature, also moderate these changes," says IIASA and University of Helsinki researcher Pauli Paasonen, who led the study.

Scientists had known that some aerosols particles that float in the atmosphere cool the climate as they reflect sunlight and form cloud droplets, which reflect sunlight efficiently. Aerosol particles come from many sources, including human emissions. But the effect of so-called biogenic aerosol particulate matter that originates from plants had been less well understood. Plants release gases that, after atmospheric oxidation, tend to stick to aerosol particles, growing them into the larger-sized particles that reflect sunlight and also serve as the basis for cloud droplets. The new study showed that as temperatures warm and plants consequently release more of these gases, the concentrations of particles active in cloud formation increase.

"Everyone knows the scent of the forest," says Ari Asmi, University of Helsinki researcher who also worked on the study. "That scent is made up of these gases." While previous research had predicted the feedback effect, until now nobody had been able to prove its existence except for case studies limited to single sites and short time periods. The new study showed that the effect occurs over the long-term in continental size scales.

The effect of enhanced plant gas emissions on climate is small on a global scale only countering approximately 1 percent of climate warming, the study suggested. "This does not save us from climate warming," says Paasonen. However, he says, "Aerosol effects on climate are one of the main uncertainties in climate models. Understanding this mechanism could help us reduce those uncertainties and make the models better."

The study also showed that the effect was much larger on a regional scale, counteracting possibly up to 30% of warming in more rural, forested areas where anthropogenic emissions of aerosols were much lower in comparison to the natural aerosols. That means that especially in places like Finland, Siberia, and Canada this feedback loop may reduce warming substantially.

The researchers collected data at 11 different sites around the world, measuring the concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, along with the concentrations of plant gases, the temperature, and reanalysis estimates for the height of the boundary layer, which turned out to be a key variable. The boundary layer refers to the layer of air closest to the Earth, in which gases and particles mix effectively. The height of that layer changes with weather. Paasonen says, "One of the reasons that this phenomenon was not discovered earlier was because these estimates for boundary layer height are very difficult to do. Only recently have the reanalysis estimates been improved to where they can be taken as representative of reality."

###

Reference

Paasonen, P., et. al. 2013. Evidence for negative climate feedback: warming increases aerosol number concentrations. Nature Geoscience doi: 10.1038/NGEO1800

For more information please contact:

Pauli Paasonen
IIASA Guest Research Scholar
Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases
Tel: +43 2236 807 498
Mob: +43 699 17 253 365
paasonen@iiasa.ac.at

Ari Asmi
Research Coordinator
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Tel: +358 9 191 50181
Mob: +358 40 770 9729
ari.asmi@helsinki.fi

Markku Kulmala
Academy professor
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Tel: + 358 9 191 50756
Mob: +358 40 596 2311
markku.kulmala@helsinki.fi

Katherine Leitzell
IIASA Press Office
Tel: +43 2236 807 316
Mob: +43 676 83 807 316
leitzell@iiasa.ac.at

About IIASA:

IIASA is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policy makers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by scientific institutions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Europe. http://www.iiasa.ac.at


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


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.


Plants moderate climate warming [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Katherine Leitzell
leitzell@iiasa.ac.at
43-223-680-7316
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form clouds and cool the atmosphere, according to research from IIASA and the University of Helsinki.

The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a negative feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to an increase in concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.

"Plants, by reacting to changes in temperature, also moderate these changes," says IIASA and University of Helsinki researcher Pauli Paasonen, who led the study.

Scientists had known that some aerosols particles that float in the atmosphere cool the climate as they reflect sunlight and form cloud droplets, which reflect sunlight efficiently. Aerosol particles come from many sources, including human emissions. But the effect of so-called biogenic aerosol particulate matter that originates from plants had been less well understood. Plants release gases that, after atmospheric oxidation, tend to stick to aerosol particles, growing them into the larger-sized particles that reflect sunlight and also serve as the basis for cloud droplets. The new study showed that as temperatures warm and plants consequently release more of these gases, the concentrations of particles active in cloud formation increase.

"Everyone knows the scent of the forest," says Ari Asmi, University of Helsinki researcher who also worked on the study. "That scent is made up of these gases." While previous research had predicted the feedback effect, until now nobody had been able to prove its existence except for case studies limited to single sites and short time periods. The new study showed that the effect occurs over the long-term in continental size scales.

The effect of enhanced plant gas emissions on climate is small on a global scale only countering approximately 1 percent of climate warming, the study suggested. "This does not save us from climate warming," says Paasonen. However, he says, "Aerosol effects on climate are one of the main uncertainties in climate models. Understanding this mechanism could help us reduce those uncertainties and make the models better."

The study also showed that the effect was much larger on a regional scale, counteracting possibly up to 30% of warming in more rural, forested areas where anthropogenic emissions of aerosols were much lower in comparison to the natural aerosols. That means that especially in places like Finland, Siberia, and Canada this feedback loop may reduce warming substantially.

The researchers collected data at 11 different sites around the world, measuring the concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, along with the concentrations of plant gases, the temperature, and reanalysis estimates for the height of the boundary layer, which turned out to be a key variable. The boundary layer refers to the layer of air closest to the Earth, in which gases and particles mix effectively. The height of that layer changes with weather. Paasonen says, "One of the reasons that this phenomenon was not discovered earlier was because these estimates for boundary layer height are very difficult to do. Only recently have the reanalysis estimates been improved to where they can be taken as representative of reality."

###

Reference

Paasonen, P., et. al. 2013. Evidence for negative climate feedback: warming increases aerosol number concentrations. Nature Geoscience doi: 10.1038/NGEO1800

For more information please contact:

Pauli Paasonen
IIASA Guest Research Scholar
Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases
Tel: +43 2236 807 498
Mob: +43 699 17 253 365
paasonen@iiasa.ac.at

Ari Asmi
Research Coordinator
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Tel: +358 9 191 50181
Mob: +358 40 770 9729
ari.asmi@helsinki.fi

Markku Kulmala
Academy professor
University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Tel: + 358 9 191 50756
Mob: +358 40 596 2311
markku.kulmala@helsinki.fi

Katherine Leitzell
IIASA Press Office
Tel: +43 2236 807 316
Mob: +43 676 83 807 316
leitzell@iiasa.ac.at

About IIASA:

IIASA is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policy makers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by scientific institutions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Europe. http://www.iiasa.ac.at


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


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/2013-04/iifa-pmc042413.php

ufc 143 fight card my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle spinal stenosis the forgotten man mike jones

'Iron Man 3' rules world, 'Pain & Gain' takes US

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Iron Man 3" is the heavy-lifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadows a sleepy pre-summer weekend at the domestic box office.

The superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head-start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets.

Sunday studio estimates show director Michael Bay's true-crime tale "Pain & Gain" muscled into first-place domestically with a $20 million debut.

The movie starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise's sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" after a week in the No. 1 spot. "Oblivion" slipped to second-place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iron-man-3-rules-world-pain-gain-takes-155428061.html

trayvon martin case affordable care act the line us soccer bobby brown arrested the happening black panthers

Friday, April 26, 2013

93% The Sapphires

All Critics (120) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (112) | Rotten (8)

The harmonies they strike in this reality-inspired charmer are sweetly sublime.

You could drive an Abrams tank through the film's plot holes, but you'll likely be too busy enjoying yourself to bother.

"The Sapphires" feels like a movie you've already seen, but it's nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable, like a pop song that's no less infectious when you know every word.

"The Sapphires" sparkles with sass and Motown soul.

Sapphires is hardly a cinematic diamond mine. But this Commitments-style mashup of music and melodrama manages to entertain without demanding too much of its audience.

A surefire crowdpleaser with all the ingredients for the type of little-movie-that-could sleeper success that Harvey Weinstein has nurtured in years and award seasons past.

You've seen this story before, but never pulled off with so much joie de vivre.

They can put a song across just like the Dreamgirls. What's not to like?

Exuberant but fairly formulaic.

Doesn't always mix its anti-prejudice message and its feel-good nostalgia with complete smoothness. But despite some ragged edges it provides a reasonably good time.

Director Wayne Blair -- another veteran of the stage show -- finds his footing during the film's many musical numbers.

Despite the prosaic plot and reserved approach taken by Blair, Briggs, and Thompson, it's tough to get cynical about such a warmhearted picture that strives to tell so uplifting a story.

A movie with enough melody and camaraderie to cover up its lack of originality.

Draining most of the blood, sweat and tears from a true story, this music-minded movie capably covers a song we've heard a hundred times before.

"Sapphires," which was inspired by a true story, is propelled by a strong sense of music's power to connect people and change lives.

Fires on all cylinders when it drops all pretense and allows its talented cast to simply belt out a series of pure, unfiltered slices of ear candy.

A rousing soundtrack helps to compensate for some of the historical embellishments in this Australian crowd-pleaser.

No quotes approved yet for The Sapphires. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sapphires_2012/

elvis presley Pretty Little Liars Rob Parker Comcast Pokemon X and Y Rob Ryan bethenny frankel

Glenn Beck's Boston conspiracy: Does any of it add up?

Glenn Beck has spent lots of time in recent days alleging that the Boston Marathon bombing was carried out by a conspiracy that revolved around a shadowy Saudi national questioned by police in a Boston hospital in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.

OK, is he just winging it here, or does the ex-Fox, now-independent radio and Internet video host have any real evidence for this charge?

He says he does, unsurprisingly. On his show Wednesday morning Mr. Beck produced a document that he claimed is an official US ?event report? showing that the Saudi in question is a bad, bad man who was on a no-fly list and already subject to visa revocation.

RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

What he didn?t mention is that Fox News reporter Bret Baier has already looked into this whole alleged Saudi conspiracy, including the document Beck deemed so revealing, and concluded that there was no there there, to paraphrase writer Gertrude Stein?s jibe about Oakland.

It?s ?false and misleading? to use the internal document on the Saudi?s immigration status as evidence of the man?s involvement in the bombings, according to US officials quoted by Mr. Baier in a Fox video blog on April 23.

?The FBI says the Saudi [in question] was just a victim of the terrorist attack,? said Baier.

Want your top political issues explained? Get customized DC Decoder updates.

OK, let?s rewind a bit to clarify this, shall we?

In the immediate aftermath of the Boston tragedy, many media outlets reported that law enforcement officials were interrogating an injured Saudi man who had been seen running from the site of the bombs. Authorities that evening searched his residence in suburban Revere.

Officials later reported that this Saudi was a student and an innocent spectator who had been injured by the blasts and was trying to escape along with many other people on the Marathon route.

Although the man?s name has been reported by some media outlets, Decoder won?t be using it, so as to not further publicize the identity of someone police say did nothing wrong.

Since then Glenn Beck has continued to link the Saudi to the bombing and to terrorism in general. He has charged that the man was in the US on a student visa that had expired and that he will be deported by US immigration for security reasons. He has gone so far as to speculate that a Saudi national may have been an Al Qaeda control agent who recruited the Tsarnaev brothers to carry out the Boston attacks.

Then on Wednesday Beck dropped his other shoe, revealing what he said was important new evidence in the case.

Beck said he had received a document he called a 212 3(B) report, named after its reference in the Patriot Act. The document said that a Saudi national with the same name as the person questioned in the hours after the bombing is an ?exact match? to someone on a no-fly list and that derogatory information on him is ?sufficient to request visa revocation.?

A copy of the alleged document posted online by Beck?s web site The Blaze also noted that the person in question ?has One (1) prior event,? though there was no indication what, or how serious, that event was.

Wow, I mean, this does not look good, does it? Twitter has exploded with comments about how important this is, and how it presages the exposure of the conspiracy, which probably involves everyone up to the level of the Oval Office, and perhaps beyond.

But Bret Baier had this piece of paper already. On Tuesday, he talked with US officials about it, and got a different story.

First off, Baier said the wording of the paper was indeed somewhat dire.

?Anyone looking at this would say this is a bad guy, this means they had a lot of stuff on this guy,? he said.

But officials told him it was simply an automatic piece of customs paperwork triggered when police went to question the Saudi in the hours after the bombing.

To make sure he did not somehow get on an airplane before they could talk to him, they put him on a no-fly list. That automatically meant he was subject to visa revocation. The other language, including the reference to an ?event,? followed from that.

?Also keep in mind, it?s just ? a customs and border control document?. It?s not indicative of any investigative information,? said Baier.

After the FBI determined the man had no connection to the Boston crime, it took several days for the bureaucracy to scrub him out of its system. That is why the document existed for a short period of time, and why it shows evidence of officials trying to change it. But anyone searching the system for his name on the Sunday prior to the bombing would have found nothing, reported Baier, because no US government agency was looking for him.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano referred to all this obliquely in a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa asked her, ?With regard to the Saudi student, was he on a watch list??

The Homeland Security Secretary replied that the Saudi in question had not been on a watch list prior to the bombings and was never really a person of interest in the case.

?Because he was being interviewed, he was at that point put on a watch list,? Napolitano added. ?And then when it was quickly determined he had nothing to do with the bombing, the watch listing status was removed.?

As if all this weren?t complicated enough, a number of news outlets have reported that there is a second Saudi man in Boston, unrelated to the student, who was taken into custody when he showed up at a port to retrieve a package, and a routine check showed he had overstayed his visa.

That?s the Saudi who is subject to deportation. The student who was caught in the bomb blast is not.

Of course, it?s easy to point out that all this is based on the word of US officials, and that they?re eager to cover up the conspiracy, since it makes them look bad, or they are part of it, or something like that.

But that?s why conspiracy theories persist: it?s easy to dream them up, and hard to disprove them, especially to believers.

RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

Related stories

Read this story at csmonitor.com

Become a part of the Monitor community

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glenn-beck-conspiracy-theory-whats-evidence-202312996.html

usa today yahoo news regions Google News Pray For Boston Anne Frank What Happened In Boston

Top Blogging Sites | Content for Reprint

Author: Martie McCabe | Total views: 75 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1031 Date:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AddThis Social Bookmark Button -- HTML code --

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

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

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

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

3: Understanding Online Business Success

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

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

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

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

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

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

danica patrick Michelle Laxalt Alabama Shakes PlayStation 4 michael jordan Safe Haven Robbie Rogers

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Newfound hormone holds hope for diabetes treatment

In this April 5, 2013 photo provided by Harvard University, Harvard Stem Cell Institute Co-Director Doug Melton, right, and Peng Yi, a post doctoral fellow in his lab, review data from recent experiments in Melton's lab in Cambridge, Mass. Melton and Yi have identified a hormone that can sharply boost a mouse's supply of cells that make insulin, a discovery that may someday provide a diabetes treatment. People make the hormone naturally, and the new work suggests that giving them more might one day let patients avoid insulin shots. (AP Photo/Harvard University)

In this April 5, 2013 photo provided by Harvard University, Harvard Stem Cell Institute Co-Director Doug Melton, right, and Peng Yi, a post doctoral fellow in his lab, review data from recent experiments in Melton's lab in Cambridge, Mass. Melton and Yi have identified a hormone that can sharply boost a mouse's supply of cells that make insulin, a discovery that may someday provide a diabetes treatment. People make the hormone naturally, and the new work suggests that giving them more might one day let patients avoid insulin shots. (AP Photo/Harvard University)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Scientists have identified a hormone that can sharply boost the number of cells that make insulin in mice, a discovery that may someday lead to a treatment for the most common type of diabetes.

People have their own version of this hormone, and the new work suggests that giving diabetics more might one day help them avoid insulin shots.

That would give them better control of their blood sugar levels, said Harvard University researcher Douglas Melton, senior author of a report published Thursday by the journal Cell.

Experts unconnected with the work cautioned that other substances have shown similar effects on mouse cells but failed to work on human ones. Melton said this hormone stands out because its effect is unusually potent and confined to just the cells that make insulin.

An estimated 371 million people worldwide have diabetes, in which insulin fails to control blood sugar levels. High blood sugar can lead to heart disease, stroke and damage to kidneys, eyes and the nervous system. At least 90 percent of diabetes is "Type 2," and some of those patients have to inject insulin. Melton said the newly identified hormone might someday enable them to stop insulin injections and help other diabetic patients avoid them.

As for its possible use to treat Type 1 diabetes, Melton called that a "long shot" because of differences in the biology of that disease.

Insulin is produced by beta cells in the pancreas.

Melton and co-authors identified a hormone they dubbed betatrophin (BAY-tuh-TROH-fin) in mice. When they made the liver in mice secrete more of it by inserting extra copies of the gene, the size of the beta cell population tripled in comparison to untreated mice. Tests indicated the new cells worked normally.

Melton said it's not known how the hormone works. Now the researchers want to create an injectable form that they can test on diabetic mice, he said. If all goes well, tests in people could follow fairly quickly.

Dr. Peter Butler, a diabetes researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who had no role in the new work, cautioned in an email that no evidence has been presented yet to show that the hormone will make human beta cells proliferate.

But Philip diIorio, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, said he found the work to be "quite promising" because it offers new leads for research, and that it might someday help in building supplies of human beta cells in a lab for transplant into patients.

___

Online:

Cell: http://www.cell.com/

International Diabetes Federation: http://www.idf.org

___

Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/malcolmritter

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-04-25-US-SCI-Diabetes-Hormone/id-8cc4bb37a54a456fa267cc5365bde449

gloria steinem war of the worlds rock and roll hall of fame severe weather wichita brian wilson storm chasers

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Reminder: Webby Awards voting ends tomorrow, help the Engadget Show out

Reminder: Webby Awards voting ends tomorrow, help the Engadget Show out

That's right, we're in the home stretch, and we can still use a little bit of love. As we subtly hinted previously, The Engadget Show is a nominated for a Webby, and we need your help to win! Remember all the fun we had last year with Douglas Rushkoff, DJ Spooky, Ben Heck, Wayne Coyne, LeVar Burton, Chris Anderson and John Hodgman? Or how about those hacked Boston bikes, sweet pinball machines, the creepy robotic head, spooky ghost hunting trip and a couple of classic cartoons? We're really proud of what we've been able to bring you and hope you've enjoyed it half as much as we have. Sure, we don't need an award to keep bringing you the Engadget Show each month, but hey, it certainly wouldn't hurt. So please click on through and give us a vote, won't you?

Comments

Source: Webby Awards

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/webby-voting/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

Boston Marathon bombing irs new york times Friends Reunion Elena Delle Donne usa today yahoo news

Mother of Accused Bombers Faces Her Own Legal Woes

The mother of accused Boston Marathon bombers has continued to defend her two sons from her home in Dagestan, Russia, but if she attempts to return to the United States to bury her older son, or care for the boy that remains hospitalized, she could face arrest on an outstanding warrant for shoplifting.

The clerk of the Natick District Court confirmed to ABC News that Zubeidat Tsarnaev, failed to appear at a court hearing on October 25, 2012 to resolve charges that she stole $1,600 worth of garments from a nearby Lord & Taylor department store.

The family saga for the Tsarnaevs began when the two brothers, Tamerlan, 26, and Dzhokhar, 19, allegedly strolled through the crowd watching the finish of the Boston Marathon last week, dropped backpacks packed with explosives and used their cell phones to detonate the bombs, killing three and injuring more than 250. On Tuesday, the drama played out on opposite sides of the globe.

In Russia, the boys' mother professed their innocence, saying "What happened is a terrible thing. But I know that my kids have nothing to do with this. I know it. I am mother. You know, I know my kids. I know my kids. Really my kids would never get involved into anything like that." In phone conversations with ABC News, the mother has expressed her desire to travel to the United States. While she has left open that possibility, she has recently suggested only her husband might go.

In New Jersey, a lawyer for the two Tsarnaev sisters released a statement from the two women, saying, "we are absolutely devastated by the sense of loss and sorrow this has caused. We don't have any answers but we look forward to a thorough investigation and hope to learn more."

Meanwhile in Boston, the medical examiner reported that Tamerlan ? who died in a shootout with police ? had his autopsy completed, but no one had come to claim the body. Tamerlan's wife, Katherine Russell, released a statement through an attorney, saying "the reports of involvement by her husband and brother-in-law came as a n absolute shock."

Tamerlan's younger brother, who arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with wounds in his head, neck, legs and a hand, had his condition upgraded to "fair," the hospital said Tuesday ? a sign he is headed for a recovery.

Some of Dzhokhar's friends sought to upgrade his image, posting an undated video on You Tube showing the accused bomber doing the robot dance with buddies on the wrestling team. They said his carefree attitude had convinced them the bombing plot was the brainchild of his older brother, whom he followed in lock step on the day of the marathon.

Boston Police Superintendent William Evans offered a more detailed picture of the manhunt for the bombing suspects, saying the hunt for the accused Marathon bombers was "personal."

"We never, never let up our desire to catch who was responsible," Evans said.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said over the weekend that authorities "hope he survives, because we have a million questions." Authorities told ABC News the University of Massachusetts college student has begun to answer some of those questions. He is reportedly telling investigators that the plot was, as some are suggesting, his brother's idea.

"The older brother appeared to be the more radicalized of the two and was the one that drove the need to conduct the attack," said Seth Jones, a counter-terrorism expert at the Rand Corporation. Authorities said the younger brother told the FBI that he and his brother were inspired by the anti-US internet preaching of the radical cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki.

*Even though the American-born al Qaeda figure was killed in a US drone strike more than a year and a half ago, his words apparently still have great power, condemning the US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the brother said became their motive," Jones said.

Tamerlan posted a video on his own YouTube channel, of a Chechen rebel leader threatening death to anyone who helps the infidels. That leader was killed by the Russians last year.

And it was on the Internet, Dzhokhar told FBI agents, that they learned how to make a bomb with a pressure cooker--all found in an Al Qaeda online magazine called Inspire. He told the FBI they never even tested the bombs before detonating them last week.

" What's disturbing about that is people are getting smarter about building easily manufactured bombs and then targeting sights in the US," Jones said.

Federal agents continue to search the Boston area for more bombs, but none has been found so far. One question that remains unanswered: What were the brothers planning to do next?

The man whose SUV was stolen by the two brothers as they allegedly fled the fatal shooting of an MIT police officer told authorities that he may have heard one of the suspects say "Manhattan" as they spoke in a foreign language.

The comment prompted a string of searches the next day, taking investigators to Connecticut as they looked for a Honda and searched trains. However, the search came up empty and it is not even clear the word was spoken by the suspects.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the victim "heard them speaking in a foreign language and may have picked up the word Manhattan, but that is not at all clear at this time."

Today, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said "No evidence they were headed our way. These stories were conflated with bits of information badly misinterpreted."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mother-accused-bombers-faces-her-015923054.html

Daniel Inouye steelers scarlett johansson tim tebow survivor snl peter frampton

Humongous Chicago sinkhole swallows three cars, injures one driver

Following a severe rainstorm, a sinkhole opened up in Chicago's South Side, devouring three cars and sending one driver to the hospital. ?

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / April 18, 2013

Officials survey a gaping sinkhole that opened up a residential street on Chicago's South Side after a cast iron water main dating back to 1915 broke during a massive rainstorm, Thursday in Chicago.

M. Spencer Green/AP

Enlarge

A sinkhole opened up on a residential street on Chicago's South Side on Thursday morning, swallowing three cars and sending one person to the hospital.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

According to the Chicago Tribune, the sinkhole opened up at about 5 a.m. on Houston St. in?Chicago's South Deering neighborhood, where it quickly expanded from about 20 feet in diameter to about 40 feet. Two parked cars initially fell into the hole, and a third fell in as its driver was attempting to navigate around the hole and the ground below gave way. He?was taken to?Northwestern Memorial Hospital and is in "serious-to-critical" condition

According to the Associated Press, the sinkhole was preceded by a severe rainstorm that ruptured a water main in the neighborhood.?The AP quotes a spokesman from the city's water department, who speculated that the weight of the rain-soaked ground could have cracked the cast-iron pipe, which was laid in 1915. Water from the pipe would have then quickly eroded the soluble rock.

"The water will come out any way it can," the spokesman told the AP.?

Sinkholes are often caused by the underground erosion of salt beds or soluble sedimentary rocks, such as limestone or dolomite. Groundwater flows through these rocks, creating subterranean caverns that can suddenly collapse.

In recent years, sinkholes have appeared in Florida; California; Illinois; Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania; Guangzhou, China;?Guatemala City;?Quebec;?Milwaukee; and Germany.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/GuhKW1GXdP8/Humongous-Chicago-sinkhole-swallows-three-cars-injures-one-driver

Boston Bomber cnn news foxnews fox news boston globe Cnn.com Chechen

Bluebonnet Season in Texas Brings Out the Crowds

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The state flower?s brief blooming period is also trespassing season, as crowds tramp through privately owned farms and ranches for the perfect photo.
    

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/bluebonnet-season-in-texas-brings-out-the-crowds.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

lotto Illinois Lottery texas lottery Dell Levis Fireman Ed Allegiant Air

Tourism NZ and STA Travel team up | Stuff.co.nz

Young, longer-staying visitors will be targeted to visit New Zealand under a joint $2.4 million marketing programme between Tourism New Zealand and the London-based STA Travel Group.

Tourism NZ and STA, the world's largest youth travel operator, today announced a one-year memorandum of understanding at the Trenz 2013 tourism conference in Auckland.

Both sides will contribute $1.2m each and plan to continue the marketing venture, but have yet to agree to any future marketing budget.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler and STA chief executive John Constable, said the memorandum formalised an existing, long-standing relationship between the two organisations.

"As the world's largest youth travel organisation offering student and youth exclusive discount pricing, STA is already a key partner in our work to target youth travellers in our key long-haul western markets," Bowler said.

"When combined, these markets contribute over a third of total youth arrivals each year."

Under the memorandum, the organisations will collaborate to promote youth tourism to New Zealand across marketing, online and trade activity.

Tourism NZ general manager long-haul markets Gregg Anderson said the memorandum would form the basis for a multi-year collaborative partnership with STA.

"Under the agreement we will jointly target the influential long-haul youth sector from the UK, Europe and America," Anderson said.

"This group accounts for about a quarter of our annual arrivals, and the western long-haul markets account for about a third of that total."

He said STA would help get extra visitors into New Zealand.

STA Travel Group market development consultant Emma Hudson said the youth market travellers tended to stay about three times as long as older travellers.

"From an economic point of view for an input for the New Zealand economy it represents a very important market," she said.

"(STA) has seen some great results. We're looking at up to 15 per cent growth (year on year) since the beginning of this year in all our key markets.

"Our demand online has been up about 200 per cent."

STA would also look to bring more travellers from the Australian and Asian markets, as well as travellers from the United Kingdom and Europe who had already travelled to eastern Australia.

"We're seeing the Australian opportunities, converting them once they've travelled to Australia to get them across the pond over to New Zealand." she said.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8586572/Tourism-NZ-and-STA-Travel-team-up

top chef texas great pacific garbage patch ben affleck and jennifer garner google privacy changes windows 8 preview leap year moratorium

U.N. failure boosts Western Sahara conflict risk: Polisario

By John Irish

PARIS (Reuters) - Failure by the United Nations to let peacekeepers monitor human rights in the disputed Western Sahara risks pushing the region toward armed conflict, a senior official from the Polisario Front independence movement said on Monday.

The dispute over Western Sahara dates back to 1975 and pits Morocco, which claims the region is part of its territory, against the Algeria-backed Polisario.

The United Nations brokered a ceasefire settlement in 1991 with the understanding that a referendum would be held on the region's fate. But the referendum never took place and attempts to reach a lasting deal have foundered.

Now, a group of countries including the United States, France, Spain, Britain and Russia is reviewing a U.S. draft resolution that would extend the mandate of U.N. peacekeepers on the ground by a year, with a human rights monitoring mission.

Polisario accuses Morocco of routine human rights violations in Western Sahara and has called for the MINURSO peacekeepers to have the authority to conduct human rights monitoring.

While allegations of abuse have lessened since a 1975-1991 war, rights groups like Amnesty International accuse Morocco of continuing to use excessive force against demonstrators and activists and repressing political freedom, among other abuses.

"If the U.N. does not take this seriously to ensure self-determination and that human rights are respected, then we are heading towards a war with regional implications," Omar Mansour, a member of the Polisario's National Secretariat decision-making body told Reuters.

A vote on the resolution is due by the end of April.

A Britain-sized tract of desert that has lucrative phosphate reserves and potentially offshore oil, Western Sahara is the scene of Africa's longest-running territorial dispute.

Europe and the United States say their worry is that the conflict is souring relations between Morocco and Algeria and preventing them from working together against Islamist violence.

Rights groups have long pushed for adding human-rights monitoring to the tasks of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, but Morocco is opposed.

Morocco and France, its former colonial ruler, have resisted the idea of peacekeepers reporting on rights abuses in Western Sahara, with Paris a longtime supporter of Rabat due to historical ties and business relations.

However, diplomats have said that France is unlikely to use its veto power to block the U.S. draft resolution.

Instead, talks are under way to modify the proposal after Morocco - a temporary Security Council member - reacted angrily to the text, dispatching diplomats to all countries involved in an effort to soften or derail it.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the conflict in Mali, where France deployed troops and air power to oust Islamist rebels, threatens to spill into Western Sahara.

Such fears may be tempering French support of Morocco.

President Francois Hollande, whose Socialist Party has closer ties to the Polisario than the previous government, said in Morocco this month that the situation in the Sahel meant there was "greater urgency" to solving the Western Sahara problem.

Mansour said he doubted Islamist militants would infiltrate Western Sahara, but there was a risk of young Western Saharans taking up arms to fight against Morocco.

(Reporting By John Irish; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-failure-boosts-western-sahara-conflict-risk-193619254--business.html

lindsey vonn nit first day of spring Club Penguin Espn Bracket First Day Of Spring 2013 Suki Waterhouse

Monday, April 22, 2013

Daily Rituals

Coffee has such a beneficial effect on creative activity that it should be no surprise that many artists have turned to stronger stimulants in search of bigger and more prolonged boosts. Indeed, amphetamines have their own semidistinguished artistic heritage, particularly among a swath of 20th-century writers.

The poet W.H. Auden is probably the most famous example. He took a dose of Benzedrine (a brand name of amphetamine introduced in the United States in 1933) each morning the way many people take a daily multivitamin. At night, he used Seconal or another sedative to get to sleep. He continued this routine??the chemical life,? he called it?for 20 years, until the efficacy of the pills finally wore off. Auden regarded amphetamines as one of the ?labor-saving devices? in the ?mental kitchen,? alongside alcohol, coffee, and tobacco?although he was well aware that ?these mechanisms are very crude, liable to injure the cook, and constantly breaking down.?

Graham Greene had a similarly pragmatic approach to amphetamines. In 1939, while laboring on what he was certain would be his greatest novel, The Power and the Glory, Greene decided to also write one of his ?entertainments??melodramatic thrillers that lacked artistry but that he knew would make money. He worked on both books simultaneously, devoting his mornings to the thriller The Confidential Agent and his afternoons to The Power and the Glory. To keep it up, he took Benzedrine tablets twice daily, one upon waking and the other at midday. As a result he was able to write 2,000 words in the mornings alone, as opposed to his usual 500. After only six weeks, The Confidential Agent was completed and on its way to being published. (The Power and the Glory took four more months.)

Greene soon stopped taking the drug; not all writers had such self-control. In 1942 Ayn Rand took up Benzedrine to help her finish her debut novel, The Fountainhead. She had spent years planning and composing the first third of the novel; over the next 12 months, thanks to the new pills, she averaged a chapter a week. But the drug quickly became a crutch. Rand would continue to use amphetamines for the next three decades, even as her overuse led to mood swings, irritability, emotional outbursts, and paranoia?traits Rand was susceptible to even without drugs.

Jean-Paul Sartre was similarly dependent. In the 1950s, already exhausted from too much work on too little sleep?plus too much wine and cigarettes?the philosopher turned to Corydrane, a mix of amphetamine and aspirin then fashionable among Parisian students, intellectuals, and artists. The prescribed dose was one or two tablets in the morning and at noon. Sartre took 20 a day, beginning with his morning coffee, and slowly chewed one pill after another as he worked. For each tablet, he could produce a page or two of his second major philosophical work, The Critique of Dialectical Reason.

But perhaps the most notable case of amphetamine-fueled intellectual activity is Paul Erd?s, one of the most brilliant and prolific mathematicians of the 20th century. As Paul Hoffman documents in The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, Erd?s was a fanatic workaholic who routinely put in 19-hour days, sleeping only a few hours a night. He owed his phenomenal stamina to espresso shots, caffeine tablets, and amphetamines?he took 10 to 20 milligrams of Benzedrine or Ritalin daily. Worried about his drug use, a friend once bet Erd?s that he wouldn?t be able to give up amphetamines for a month. Erd?s took the bet, and succeeded in going cold turkey for 30 days. When he came to collect his money, he told his friend, ?You?ve showed me I?m not an addict. But I didn?t get any work done. I?d get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I?d have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You?ve set mathematics back a month.? After the bet, Erd?s promptly resumed his amphetamine habit.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=544e3852c4528792a04dfd3a708054c7

1800 Flowers walking dead The Pope bruno mars the Grammys 2013 State of the Union 2013 katy perry

Keanu Reeves' 'Man Of Tai Chi' Trailer Comes Loaded With Action

When Keanu Reeves directs a movie called "Man of Tai Chi," you better believe it's going to come loaded with tai chi. Reeves debuted the first trailer for his directorial debut at the Beijing International Film Festival, and the teaser for his martial arts epic comes heavy on the awesome action sequences and light on [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/04/22/keanu-reeves-man-of-tai-chi-trailer/

corned beef and cabbage diners drive ins and dives jeff who lives at home 49ers news saint louis university night at the museum pope shenouda

First Look At iMFL, Joe Montana's Social Fantasy Football App [TCTV]

Screenshot_4_22_13_9_55_AMFootball is a sport that brings everyone together, even if you’re not a diehard fan or have never played the game yourself. The rush of energy that comes with rooting for your favorite team and arm-chair-quarterbacking an entire game is something people around the world do every Sunday. For those who need to live, eat and breathe football throughout the week, fantasy football is an essential part of the pageantry leading up to every week’s packed NFL schedule. It’s a packed space, with Yahoo!, ESPN and the NFL itself having online leagues you can join with your friends and strangers. The model hasn’t changed though, with the premise being selecting the players that you think will perform the best throughout the season, collecting points as they play games week after week. A familiar name and face, four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, Joe Montana, has his own spin on fantasy football, and will be releasing an app called iMFL prior to the start of this year’s NFL season. The app is part fantasy football, part predictive social “game,” with the ability to place bets with friends as games play out in real-time. For example, you could guess that the next play will be an interception. If you’re right, the points are yours. The hope is that you’ll be playing around with iMFL on your iPhone or iPad while you watch the game with friends, no matter where they are. Montana and his co-founder Damon Grow, CEO of Crowdmob, came into the office to give us an exclusive preview: The app isn’t available yet, but it will be out on Apple’s App Store, so get ready. It’s a crowded space, but I think with the in-app purchases and constant real-time engagement, iMFL could do well. This isn’t a one-time thing for Montana, as he tells me that there are a few other projects that he’s working on which he’ll share with us soon. Bonus: This isn’t Montana’s first “game,” as fans will remember Joe Montana’s Sports Talk Football for Sega Genesis. It was impressive back in 1991, but the Madden series won out and become a blockbuster success:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/amKtevQO8Ms/

Jerry Nelson Foo Canoodle Isaac path Tropical Storm Isaac path Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Isaac Path

First 2000-year-long temperature reconstructions for individual continents

Apr. 19, 2013 ? Past climate change varied remarkably between regions. This is demonstrated in a new study coordinated by the international Past Global Changes (PAGES) project, which reconstructed temperature over the past 1000 to 2000 years.

It is the first comprehensive temperature reconstruction on a continental scale. One of its main findings is that a general cooling trend, caused by different factors (e.g. orbital-driven insolation and changes in solar and volcanic activity), was ubiquitous across all continental-scale regions and was reversed by a distinct warm trend beginning at the end of the 19th century.

The scale of this project is impressive. Some 80 researchers from all over the world collaborated on the study, which has just been published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience. In one of the widest-ranging efforts yet undertaken to reconstruct climate across the globe, the international author team evaluated data from all continents to track the evolution of temperatures over the past one to two millennia.

This major project was initiated and coordinated by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) organization. PAGES was established in 1991 to facilitate international research into understanding climatic and environmental dynamics by studying the past. The program receives funding mainly from the Swiss and US national science foundations. In 2006, ambitious scientists in the PAGES network decided to organize an initiative to reconstruct the climate of the last 2000 years in unprecedented quality.

The first results of the collective effort have now been published. "A key aspect of the consortium effort was to engage regional experts who are intimately familiar with the evidence for past climate changes within their regions," says Heinz Wanner, emeritus professor at the University of Bern and one of the original architects of the PAGES 2k Network.

"Several mathematical procedures were applied to reconstruct the continental temperature time series and they were compared to assess the extent to which the main conclusions of the study stood up to the different analytical approaches." Previous attempts to reconstruct temperature changes focused on hemispheric or global-scale averages, which are important, but overlook the pronounced regional-scale differences that occur along with global changes, he points out.

Natural climate archives and documentary sources

For the present study, "Continental-scale temperature variability during the last two millennia," the researchers drew up temperature curves for large regions at seven continents, using 511 local temperature records. These were based on the analysis of tree rings, pollen, corals, lake and marine sediments, ice cores and stalagmites as well as historical documents.

In most cases the data used were highly resolved, attesting to short-term variations over decades or less, rather than smoothing over centuries. In Africa, there were too few records to accurately determine long-term temperature changes for that continent. Nevertheless, the expansive new dataset will undoubtedly be used in future studies, including for comparisons with the output of climate models used to help project future climate change.

The evolution of temperature across all the continents was noticeably more similar within the hemispheres than between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. "Distinctive periods, such as the Medieval Warm Period or the Little Ice Age stand out, but do not show a globally uniform pattern," says professor Heinz Wanner.

By around 1500 AD temperatures did indeed fall below the long-term mean everywhere. However, in the Arctic, Europe and Asia this temperature drop occurred several decades earlier than in North America and the Southern Hemisphere. These new findings will certainly stimulate vibrant discussions within the research community, Wanner believes.

Long-term cooling trend reversed

The most consistent feature across the regions over the last 2000 years was a long-term cooling trend, which was likely caused by a combination of factors such as an overall increase in volcanic activity, a decrease in solar irradiance, changes in land cover, and slow changes in earth's orbit. This cooling only came to an end toward the end of the 19th century.

The warming during the last century has reversed this long-term cooling, the study found. It remained cold only in Antarctica. An analysis of the average temperatures over 30-year periods indicates that interval from 1971-2000 was probably warmer than any other 30-year period in the last 1400 years.

Cooler 30-year periods between the years 830 and 1910 AD were particularly pronounced during weak solar activity and strong tropical volcanic eruptions. Both phenomena often occurred simultaneously and led to a drop in the average temperature during five distinct 30- to 90-year intervals between 1251 and 1820.

Warming in the 20th century was on average twice as large in the northern continents as it was in the Southern Hemisphere. During the past 2000 years, some regions experienced warmer 30-year intervals than during the late 20th century. For example, in Europe the years between 21 and 80 AD were possibly warmer than the period 1971-2000.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Bern.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Moinuddin Ahmed, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Asfawossen Asrat, Hemant P. Borgaonkar, Martina Braida, Brendan M. Buckley, Ulf B?ntgen, Brian M. Chase, Duncan A. Christie, Edward R. Cook, Mark A. J. Curran, Henry F. Diaz, Jan Esper, Ze-Xin Fan, Narayan P. Gaire, Quansheng Ge, Jo?lle Gergis, J Fidel Gonz?lez-Rouco, Hugues Goosse, Stefan W. Grab, Nicholas Graham, Rochelle Graham, Martin Grosjean, Sami T. Hanhij?rvi, Darrell S. Kaufman, Thorsten Kiefer, Katsuhiko Kimura, Atte A. Korhola, Paul J. Krusic, Antonio Lara, Anne-Marie L?zine, Fredrik C. Ljungqvist, Andrew M. Lorrey, J?rg Luterbacher, Val?rie Masson-Delmotte, Danny McCarroll, Joseph R. McConnell, Nicholas P. McKay, Mariano S. Morales, Andrew D. Moy, Robert Mulvaney, Ignacio A. Mundo, Takeshi Nakatsuka, David J. Nash, Raphael Neukom, Sharon E. Nicholson, Hans Oerter, Jonathan G. Palmer, Steven J. Phipps, Maria R. Prieto, Andres Rivera, Masaki Sano, Mirko Severi, Timothy M. Shanahan, Xuemei Shao, Feng Shi, Michael Sigl, Jason E. Smerdon, Olga N. Solomina, Eric J. Steig, Barbara Stenni, Meloth Thamban, Valerie Trouet, Chris S.M. Turney, Mohammed Umer, Tas van Ommen, Dirk Verschuren, Andre E. Viau, Ricardo Villalba, Bo M. Vinther, Lucien von Gunten, Sebastian Wagner, Eugene R. Wahl, Heinz Wanner, Johannes P. Werner, James W.C. White, Koh Yasue, Eduardo Zorita. Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1797

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/fzlybpPOjQw/130421152401.htm

lsu football Jessie Andrews bloomberg bloomberg Daily Caller Staten Island Trick or Treat