Dell Inspiron One 23

The Dell Inspiron One 23 is an adequate all-in-one desktop PC; what sets it apart is an extraordinary set of input ports. If you have a need for composite AV in and VGA in on a touch screen all-in-one desktop, the Inspiron One 23 should be on the top of the list. If you don't need this admittedly specialized set of inputs, then there are other more attractive AIO PC choices out there for the same amount of money.

Design and Features
Every so often we get a system that seems specialized to cater to people still using older technologies, and this time around it's the Inspiron One 23. At first glance, though, the Inspiron One 23 looks like a modern Windows 8 all-in-one desktop PC with a 23-inch 1080p touch screen. Dig a little deeper, and you'll see a lot of old-school inputs that will allow you to connect older tech to this 2012-2013 model. The back panel houses composite AV input for video and audio, a S/PDIF connector for digital audio out, both VGA in and VGA out, and in a concession to modern times, a HDMI-in port. Using the various inputs you can connect older PCs, VCRs, sound bar speaker systems, along with vintage and modern game consoles. The presence of all these ports can help people holding on to these older technologies accept the new while still supporting legacy devices. It also gives the space-constrained tech fan a screen that can display older video formats while standing firmly in the modern era.

Speaking of older tech, the system comes with a DVD burner, but no Blu-ray. The latter would make more sense on a 1080p screen like the one on the Inspiron One 23. If you have a Playstation 3, however, that would cover Blu-ray when connected to the HDMI-in port. A row of buttons on the right side of the system lets you control which input is active. VGA-out is a nice touch, but this would only work for multi-monitor use if you have an older VGA monitor lying around. Some newer monitors only come with DisplayPort, HDMI, or DVI.

The system's 1080p (1,920 by 1,080) resolution 23-inch panel has 10-finger capacitive touch input, so you can use both hands or share the screen with someone sitting next to you. The single-hinge-and-arm design of the system lets you tilt the screen a bit, but the arm lacks a height adjustment that would give you the most flexibility for standing or reclining users. All in all the screen works fine for part time touch use. The screen itself is a little darker and duller than others we've seen in this price range, including the Editors' Choice Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Late 2012) ($1,199) and the Sony VAIO Tap 20 ($999.99). While the differences are mainly visible in a side-by-side comparison, colors on the Start screen's live tiles don't seem to "pop" like they do on systems like the Vizio 24-Inch All-in-One (CA24T-A4) ($1,299).

In addition to all the video-oriented ports, the Inspiron One 23 comes with four USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports. The USB 2.0 ports work best for peripherals like printers, keyboards, and mice. You'll have to be a bit vigilant, however, as Dell doesn't provide a way to visually distinguish between the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. The USB 3.0 ports are the same color as the USB 2.0 ports, so you'll have to use your keen eyesight to find the ones marked with the USB SS logo for USB 3.0 speeds. Not a huge deal, but you may inadvertently plug a USB 3.0 device into the slower USB 2.0 port. Systems like the Vizio CA24T-A4 solely use USB 3.0 ports, so there's no confusion.

The Inspiron One 23 comes with a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 1TB hard drive. The amount of memory will help for multitasking to your heart's content, not worrying if you have 50 opened tabs in your browser. Likewise, the Core i5 processor helps with multitasking and taking care of multimedia tasks (see performance below).

The 1TB is a decent amount of drive space for a student or family, and you can add external storage with the system's speedy USB 3.0 ports. The two ports on the left side of the system are more convenient to get to than the ones in the back. There were a few added tiles on the Inspiron One 23's Start screen, including Amazon, Kindle, Skype, Dell Shop, eBay, and Movie Maker. The actual desktop mode was pretty free of third-party programs, except for a shortcut to Amazon in the task bar. The desktop comes with a 15-month subscription to McAfee Security Center, a plus. It comes with a standard one-year warranty including in home service.

Performance
The combination of the Intel Core i5-3330S processor with Intel integrated graphics and 8GB of memory helped the Inspiron One 23 perform day-to-day tasks about as fast as systems with Core i7 processors like the Toshiba LX835-D3380 ($1,399) and the pricier HP Spectre One 23-e010se ($1,610), as shown by their similar PCMark7 results. The Toshiba LX835 and HP One 23 both outperform the Inspiron One 23 on the multimedia tests (Handbrake and Photoshop CS6), but it's not a rout, as the Dell remains competitive there. The Inspiron One 23 stumbled in 3D performance tests. Its low 3DMark 11 and gaming test numbers show that you'd get a better gaming experience by hooking up a console to the HDMI-in port. Basically, if you're not going planning to compete on the PC game grid, the Inspiron One 23 is fine on all other fronts.

The Dell Inspiron One 23 performs adequately, but has a very good set of ports for connectivity to a plethora of devices. Aside from that niche market, however, other competitors in the cutthroat mainstream all-in-one field overshadow the Inspiron One 23. Both the Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Late 2012) (our Editors' Choice for mainstream all-in-one PCs) and Vizio A24T-A4 have better, brighter screens than the Inspiron One 23. The Toshiba LX835-D3380 and iMac are better overall performers on the multimedia and 3D fronts. If you don't need VGA and AV in, there are other mainstream all-in-ones that should be on the top of your buying list.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Inspiron One 23 with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? Dell Inspiron One 23
??? Acer Veriton VZ2650G-UG645X
??? Lenovo ThinkStation D30
??? Lenovo ThinkStation C30
??? Lenovo IdeaCentre B540
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/8uJcsEeV7Hc/0,2817,2414927,00.asp

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Dell founder may control PC maker after buyout-Bloomberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc's founder and chief executive may pay as much as $1 billion out of his personal fortune to assume control of the world's No. 3 PC maker in a leveraged buyout, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.

Michael Dell may contribute equity financing of $500 million to $1 billion in addition to his approximately 16 percent stake in Dell, worth about $3.6 billion, to push his ownership above 50 percent and have majority control, Bloomberg said.

Michael Dell's partners - private equity firm Silver Lake and giant software company Microsoft Corp - would contribute $1 billion to $2 billion each toward an equity check of $8 billion to $9 billion, Bloomberg said.

Details of the equity financing were still being finalized while making sure Dell has explored all possible alternative options, including a sale to other buyers, Bloomberg said.

Representatives of Dell, Silver Lake and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.

Dell has formed a special committee of its independent directors and has hired Evercore Partners Inc to assess whether the company is getting the best deal for shareholders and not one that is just in the best interest of Michael Dell, people familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dell-founder-may-control-pc-maker-buyout-bloomberg-141932029--sector.html

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Coming up: U.S. Q4 GDP, ADP January jobs

WASHINGON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. likely grew about 1% in the final three months of 2012 and the ADP January employment report is forecast to show a 173,000 increase in jobs, according to economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The ADP report comes out at 8:15 a.m. and GDP at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The projected decline in GDP would mark a sharp drop from the 3.1% pace in the third quarter, but investors should look beyond the headline number. The fourth-quarter report could be stronger in some aspects, such as consumer spending and business investment. Meanwhile, payroll processor ADP is likely to show that private-sector hiring in the U.S. slowed from an initially reported 215,000 pace in December.

Source: http://feeds.marketwatch.com/~r/marketwatch/marketpulse/~3/_pqSSPZTsK8/story.aspx

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Would You Believe This Common Household Pet Is the Cold ...

Owners of domesticated cats might have received a dead bird offering (or two) at their doorstep as a ?gift.? But would you believe the seemingly cuddly felines are actually contributing to the death of billions (yes, billions) of birds and mammals each year.

Turns out pet cats are cold blooded killers. A study published in the journal ?Nature Communications? found ?free-ranging? domesticated cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion small mammals each year.

(Image: Shutterstock.com)

Live Science reported this to be 15 percent of the total bird population?in the United States, according to?Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ecologist and study co-author?Pete Marra.

Here?s more from Live Science on the study:

For this broader analysis, the team first looked at all prior studies on bird deaths and estimated that around 84 million owned-cats live in the country, many of which are allowed outdoors.

?A lot of these cats may go outside and go to 10 different houses, but they go back to their house and cuddle up on Mr. Smith?s lap at night,? Marra said.

Based on an analysis of past studies, the researchers estimated that each of those felines killed between four and 18 birds a year, and between eight and 21 small mammals per year.

Granted, its the ownerless, feral cats that cause the most bloodshed, according to the study.

And if you brought a cat into your home to keep mice at bay, the study also found the felines seem to prefer native species like voles and chipmunks, Live Science reported.

Given the effect of cats on native wildlife, one man in New Zealand has recently been advocating a complete cat ban. Mashable reported last week about businessman and philanthropist Gareth Morgan?s?#catstogo?campaign on Twitter.

Here?s an infographic from Morgan?s campaign:

The Smithsonian researchers suggest, first and foremost, keeping domesticated cats inside to help curb the killings. But, as Live Science pointed out, the larger issue are roaming kitties with no owner.

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/30/would-you-believe-this-common-household-pet-is-the-cold-blooded-killer-of-15-of-the-bird-population/

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Apple iPhone 5 Car Charger

Apple iPhone 5 Car Charger

?

Product Features & ETS Advantages

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Product Features:

1. The Car Charger is a must have on the go for iPhone 5 owners, which is convenient for you to charge your phone at any time in your vehicle when you are driving.

2. This iPhone 5 car charger is designed with easy plug-and-play installation, which is also portable. It also includes the 8-pin lightning charging cable, which is compatible with Apple's new products in 2012, such as iPad mini, iPad 4.

3. Please do not hesitate and upgrade your in-car integration accessories. Wholesale will be greatly welcome and appreciated.

ETS Advantages:

1. ETrade Supply provides iPhone 5 Car Charger with high quality, reasonable price and the fastest shipment.

2. As the first enterprise of the electronics parts service industry to get the ISO9001 certificated QC of quality system, ETrade Supply conducts strict visual inspection and functionality test for each iPhone 5 Car Charger before package and transportation. Besides, we also invent our own super-protective packaging method to give the maximum protection to the iPhone 5 Car Charger.

3. Therefore, please rest assured that our product quality is guaranteed. Besides, ETrade Supply also supplies other related accessories and replacement parts, such as iPhone 5 Charging Dock.

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iPhone 5 Car Charger 8-pin lightning connector

iPhone 5 Car Charger USB cable charging port

Source: http://www.etradesupply.com/apple-iphone-5-car-charger.html

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Twitter's Vine features porn video as 'Editor's Pick' thanks to 'human error'

17 hrs.

Rosa Golijan , NBC News

Since Vine, Twitter's video-sharing service, launched on Thursday, it's been plagued by all sorts of woes. We noticed that it lacks privacy settings and?abuse prevention measures, Facebook prevented it from finding any friends through the social network, and now ... well, now pornographic?content has slipped?into Vine's?"Editor's Picks" section.

Vine's a rather neat service, in theory. If you've got an iOS device, you can create and share Vine videos. All you have to do is point your iPhone (or iPod Touch) at something and press your finger to the screen to record a clip up to six seconds in length (both sound and motion are captured, of course). Once done, you can share it to Vine, Twitter and Facebook. You can also use the app to browse through popular videos and those featured as "Editor's Picks."

And that's where Vine's latest troubles appear. On Monday morning, a video shared by "nsfwvine" ??an account created for the sole purpose of posting pornographic videos to Vine (hence the "Not Safe For Work" part of the name)???received the service's "Editor's Pick" badge of honor.

While the video did lose the "Editor's Pick" badge later in the morning, it was not removed from the service. Instead, it now carries a warning message declaring that the video?"may contain sensitive content" and requires a tap to be viewed. (From what we can tell, this warning message is automatically added to videos which are reported as inappropriate by Vine users.)

We have reached out to Twitter for more information regarding how the video in question?? which shows a young woman and a?sex toy?? was chosen as an "Editor's Pick." We wondered if some sort of automated process may be involved in the selection. A Twitter spokesperson explained that an actual person was actually to blame. "A human error resulted in a video with adult content becoming one of the videos in Editor's Picks," she wrote in an email to NBC News. "[U]pon realizing this mistake we removed the video immediately. We apologize to our users for the error."

We have also contacted Apple, as we suspect the Cupertino-based company is probably not all too happy about pornographic content being?prominently?featured in an iOS app. (It has banned apps for far less racy issues in the past.)

In the meantime, obscene material continues to flood into Vine. Several accounts ? including "nsfwvine" ? have been posting pornographic clips since Vine launched last week. Not all of porn clips?carry the "sensitive content" warning yet and it's not clear if any have been removed so far.

"Wow. How did this happen, Vine?" a user asked?on one of the videos, while another wondered "[c]an I flag this as inappropriate more than once?"

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/twitters-vine-features-porn-video-editors-pick-1C8137828

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Oil steady near $96 a barrel ahead of US data

The price of oil was steady near $96 a barrel on Monday as investors awaited the release this week of key U.S. economic indicators, including on jobs, home sales and GDP.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for March delivery was down 4 cents to $95.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 cents to close at $95.88 on the Nymex on Friday after a report showed a cooling off in new U.S. home sales.

Analysts said there was scope for price gains if the data confirm a steady recovery in the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

"Economic optimism and a general brightening of sentiment suggest that the upswing we saw last week will continue," said a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt, noting that speculative positions betting that the Nymex contract would continue to rise were at a 10-month high.

The U.S. government will release monthly durable goods figures later Monday, and the National Association of Realtors will report on pending home sales for December. Later in the week, reports on weekly jobless claims, employment data and fourth quarter growth are due.

"If Q4 growth comes in at the 1.5 percent we expect, it will have averaged 2 percent over the past four quarters ... Slow and steady is the name of the game," analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said in a market commentary.

Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, was down 31 cents to $112.97 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

? Wholesale gasoline retreated 1.47 cents to $2.8751 per gallon.

? Natural gas fell 8.5 cents to $3.359 per 1,000 cubic feet.

? Heating oil declined 0.15 cent to $3.0474 a gallon.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-steady-near-96-barrel-ahead-us-data-124232015--finance.html

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THE UFT'S MISSED OPPORTUNITY | Assailed Teacher

One of my favorite historical figures of all time, the great French diplomat Talleyrand. Talleyrand may have been a snake but he had the good sense to know when to do nothing.

New York City is the largest school system in the nation. For the past few weeks the eyes of the education world have been focused on whether or not the city and the union can agree to a new evaluation deal. If they are able to do so, it will be touted as a great ?achievement? for public schools and serve as a model for other school districts around the country.

Contrary to what many of us expected, the round-the-clock negotiations between the city and union two weeks ago was not the endgame. New York State Education Commissioner John King has set a new deadline of February 14 so the city can ?submit?a plan that shows it is prepared to implement large portions of an evaluation system.?

This does not mean the same thing as setting a deadline for the city and union to agree on a plan. King is clearly giving the city a few weeks to turn in a blueprint on what a plan would look like.

It gets confusing right about here:

If the city fails to submit a plan by Feb. 14?that shows it is prepared to implement an evaluation by March 1, King said he has the authority to take over more than $800 million in federal Title I and II funding and withhold more than $300 million in Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants. King said the Title I and II money would still be spent in New York City classrooms, but that he would have control over how it is spent.

Say what? So the blueprint the city must submit by February 14 must show ?it is prepared to implement an evaluation by March 1.? Again, this does not seem to mean the same as having an evaluation in place by March 1, only that the city must show it is ?prepared? to do so.

If not, King says he has the power to take over 800 million dollars of Title I funding for schools and he can outright withhold 300 million dollars. What King intends to do with the 800 million is not clear, although he says it will ?still be spent in New York City classrooms.?

I think they call this ?bluster?. In reality, both February 14 and March 1 can come and go without much happening. The amount of money King can actually withhold (which seems to be around $345 million altogether), is not going to kill us. The 800 million in Title I funding does not seem to be very malleable in King?s hands, despite his threats to ?take control? of it. What can King actually do if the March 1 deadline is not reached? Not a whole lot it seems, at least not now.

Meanwhile, the union wants an evaluation plan to have a sunset of 2 years and Bloomberg wants a plan that will go on indefinitely.?How do the two sides compromise on this?

Bloomberg, never the greatest politician, painted himself into a corner by stating publicly he wanted an indefinite evaluation deal. He cannot now compromise on this because he will look incredibly weak and foolish. That is to say, he cannot compromise on this until the public forgets about it, which would certainly be longer than the March 1 deadline. However, Bloomberg is obsessed with his ?legacy? and what better permanent legacy than a putative evaluation system that finally holds these lazy teachers accountable? Bloomberg will not moderate his stance on this anytime soon.

The union?s president, Michael Mulgrew, holds all the cards here. His agreement to a two-year evaluation deal, which would have been the longest-running in the state, makes him look like a conciliator. The interminable school bus strike?and Bloomberg?s failed negotiations with the CSA?hums in the background as a reminder of Bloomberg?s intractable stance during negotiations in general. King?s comments generally have given Mulgrew cover and corroborated his version of why the negotiations were torpedoed. The mayoral campaign will keep people like Christine Quinn?off of his back for the foreseeable future, lest she wants to lose the ever-important UFT endorsement.

Mulgrew holds all of the cards. He holds all of the cards in the largest school district in the nation. If he had any morals, any conscience, if he cared about the teaching profession at all or cared about the type of precedent any type of evaluation deal would set around the country he would do one thing and one thing only: nothing.

Sure, he might ?talk? here and there with the district about an evaluation but he would have no intention of agreeing to one. Outside of any nominal negotiations, Mulgrew would do absolutely, positively nothing.

February 14 will come and go. March 1 will come and go. June will come and go. The start of the next school year will come and go. King will continue to threaten, to wave his arms, to talk about ?taking control? of funds and he will use every threat in the book to get Mulgrew and Bloomberg to play ball.

And all Mulgrew has to do is nothing.

Bloomberg will not pull back from his demand for a perpetual evaluation regime. He is a lame-duck, a billionaire, a media mogul and he cares not what he does or how he is perceived over the next year. Mulgrew can do nothing with the peace of mind that comes with knowing that Bloomberg will never pull back from the precipice.

So why would Michael Mulgrew, president of the largest teachers? union in the country, do anything?

Perhaps over the summer, after everyone has forgotten about the failed negotiations of a few weeks ago, Bloomberg might moderate his stance on not having any type of sunset clause. He might moderate about some other things as well. He might be so overly obsessed with his ?legacy? that he feels some sort of deal is better than no deal at all. At that point, Mulgrew would be well-served to head back to the negotiating table again with the intention of not coming to an agreement.

After all, how much will Bloomberg moderate his stance? He definitely will want an evaluation system more extreme than anything else in New York State. When negotiations fail, Mulgrew can say again that Bloomberg is being unreasonable by calling for unprecedented and unreasonable reforms. Who is going to call him out? The mayoral candidates? Not likely. King? What can he do? Cuomo? Is Cuomo going to take the side of an increasingly unpopular mayor when he has one eye on the White House?

Mulgrew holds all of the cards and he needs to do nothing. He needs to do nothing to set the first positive precedent to come out of New York City in decades. He needs to do nothing because the backlash to education reform is afoot all across the country, as the Movement of Rank and File Educators has illustrated. He needs to do nothing because it is the right and righteous thing to do. Doing nothing will ensure that the schools of NYC will not become testing factories and the teachers in NYC will not be subject to endless harassment thanks to ?value added? and ?Danielson?. On a nationwide scale, the failure of Race to the Top here in the country?s largest school district would be a black eye on Arne Duncan and his entire effort to ?reform? education.

Unfortunately, teachers here in New York City know that he will eventually do something. He has done something at every stage of this process so far. He was willing to consent to an evaluation framework that made tests the vital part of a teacher?s yearly evaluation. He was willing to agree to an evaluation framework that would see thousands of teachers hauled into 3020a hearings to prove that they are not incompetent. He was willing to accept an evaluation that went on for two years, which is about twice as long as most other school districts in NY State have. He was willing to do these things despite the fact that his teachers? union has no contract. He was willing to do these things despite the fact that what he agreed to was essentially an end-run around tenure rules that his very same union had won for us many moons ago.

In short, us teachers in NYC are too jaded to believe that Mulgrew will not end up caving to the dictates of education deform. This has been his and the rest of UFT leadership?s ?strategy? for many years. There is no sense in believing that anything will change now.

Despite the fact that Mulgrew holds the cards. This despite the fact that he has a long track record to prove that he is not some intractable union hack out to protect ?incompetent? teachers. Despite the fact that doing nothing is the right thing to do in this case, he will end up doing something?and something means disaster.

If the House of Mulgrew does not eventually fall, then the rest of us surely will.

Assail your friends via social media:

Source: http://theassailedteacher.com/2013/01/28/the-ufts-missed-opportunity/

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Why social media is good for medicine and why pharmaceutical ...

There?s nothing more important than our health, but should we trust the Internet when we seek information on medicines? In advance of a free public Polis seminar on social media and?pharmaceuticals?this Thursday Katherine Relle describes her new research looking at what we can learn from what people say about medicines in online forums.

Social media forums for healthcare contribute to the public knowledge base and offer practical value.

When pharmaceutical companies engage in social media forums to debate health issues, they must balance direct advertising messages toward patients with their unique social responsibilities for advancing medicine and public health.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledge that these tensions exist for the pharmaceutical industry. In December 2011, the FDA published long-awaited draft guidelines for a social media policy aimed at upholding a necessary degree of risk communication for online advertising by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.[1]

Social Media Policy

However, the FDA has been slow to issue formal regulations to provide an official social media policy, and a wooly relationship exists between leading pharmaceutical players and the market capture of social media.[2] Benefits of engaging in social media include enhancing reputation, customer service, and sales. Challenges include individual or corporate lawsuits, cyber-security regulations, and, most extremely, public health crises. Therefore, a balance must be struck for the pharmaceutical industry to appropriately harness online information. This is no easy task.

Original Research

My original research on Internet healthcare forums concludes that social media forums are more than mere talking shops. They provide a valuable point of reference for both patient-consumers and companies engaging in social media listening.

A ten-variable content analysis which looked at a total of 600 posts across three randomly selected online health-related forums, at 200 posts per forum, makes it apparent that, with more industry involvement in social media, the negative aspects of risk communication can be mitigated. The positive aspects of personal profiling, education, and sentiment can be strengthened.

The following is a summary of data-related evidence from my research, which allows me to make such conclusions:

First, nearly half (47 percent) of the online posts that were analysed involved risk messages. Online risk messaging threatens company branding because informal social media messages may be inaccurate when not vetted by industry experts. Big pharma needs to engage with social media to protect company brands.

Second, even though patient-consumers were reluctant to provide much personal information (i.e., gender or age), the information that was provided often elicited decipherable traits due to the nature of the posts. Personal information in these posts provided interesting characteristics based on legitimate profiling assumptions, which could help inform relevant marketing practices concerning which issues to convey and what tones to use in product advertising.

Third, a quarter of the analysed posts explicitly sought information, and a majority of the posts engaged in an informative dialogue about oral contraceptives. The educational nature of social media is apparent for the benefit of product development.

Fourth, positive and negative sentiment about a wide range of oral contraceptive brands was varied. Increased engagement in social media listening would allow companies to learn from these praises and dismissals, associating brand names with sentiment analyses to examine best practices within the industry.

Finally, the current lack of regulatory guidance tilts the public sphere toward the consumer, but consumer sovereignty is not necessarily the ideal.[3] When consumers fail to understand the complexity of science behind the development of drugs, the industry?s advertising motives, or the politics involved with industry funding, dangerous assumptions can be made. This negatively affects pharma and creates issues for public health.

Benefits of Engaging?

Big pharma should enter into the public sphere for the benefit of the industry and patient-consumers alike. The benefits of engaging in the online public sphere seem to outweigh the risks, and suggestions for doing so are vast.

For example, if pharmaceutical companies wish to engage with social media, stakeholders could create their own customized policies in a system of self-governance in lieu of widespread FDA regulations, so that individual companies may advance within the industry. In doing so, a pharmaceutical social media ombudsman role might be created in which registered physicians work impartially as appointed officers to police the communication between pharma and the online public sphere of patient-consumers. This would require that impartial and trained physicians be appointed to work within the industry as social media managers who proactively seek to rectify false information about prescription drugs.

Innovation of this sort is crucial if more pharma companies choose to engage with social media forums. Such a system of governance could also establish precedents for co-regulatory practices with the FDA. These steps will define the future of the pharmaceutical industry. Further research conducted via interviews and focus groups will contribute to the conclusions made in this research. For now, we can settle on the idea that the introduction of social media into the corporate world is changing industry governance in unique ways and on a grand scale.

For more:

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/2012/12/20/marketing-medicine-online-social-media-and-pharma/

?Marketing Medicine Online: Social Media and Pharma ? new event Thursday ?Jan 31st?

Thursday 31 January 2013, 6.30-8pm, Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building at Lincoln?s Inn Fields, LSE

Speakers include Katherine Relle, LSE alum and winner of the Human Digital Prize, Christian Gladwell? from Human Digital, Jamie Bartlett from Demos, and John Gerow from Astra Zeneca.

This event is free and open to all but?please RSVP?to?polis@lse.ac.uk?if you?d like to attend.

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[1] Ringler, Jennifer. ?FDA Social Media Guidelines: Irresponsible???PharmExec.?n.p., 1 February 2012. Web. 26 February 2012. <http://www.pharmexec.com/pharmexec/Back+Page/FDA-Social-Media-Guidelines-Irresponsible/

ArticleStandard/Article/detail/757971>

[3] Sunstein, Cass. ?Television and the Public Interest.?California Law Review?88.2 (2000): 499. Print.

Source: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/2013/01/28/why-social-media-is-good-for-medicine-an-why-pharmaceutical-companies-should-engage-online-new-research-event-thursday/

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Roadside bomb kills 10 in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ? A police truck packed with officers and detainees struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan's largest city, killing 10 of those aboard, officials said Sunday.

It was one of four blasts Saturday that left at least 24 people dead across the country. Attacks by insurgents are a daily occurrence around Afghanistan and the Afghan police with their unarmored pickup trucks and remote checkpoints are a common target.

In the Kandahar city blast, police had driven to a residential neighborhood of the city at night to inspect a bomb that had been found there, said Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the provincial government. They detained three suspects and were driving back with them in a police pickup truck when the vehicle struck another explosive buried in the road. Eight police officers and two detainees were killed in the blast.

Meanwhile, Afghan authorities accused NATO of killing three civilian men in a nighttime ambush in the eastern Logar province. The coalition disputed the account, saying it had no operations in Logar's Baraki Barak district Saturday night. NATO said there were three dead, but they were insurgents killed by Afghan forces.

Deputy provincial police chief Rais Khan Abdul Rahimzai said all three of the added were civilians. "They were brothers. They had dinner at one of their brother's houses in another part of the district and it was when they were driving back that they were ambushed by the foreign soldiers," Rahimzai said. "It was a misunderstanding in which foreign forces shot and killed three people."

A spokesman for the international force disputed the Afghan version of the incident. "This was the ANSF," said Maj. Martyn Crighton, referring to the Afghan National Security Forces. He said they went after three men who had been seen burying a bomb in the ground and "got engaged in a firefight with these guys."

It was not possible to reconcile the conflicting accounts.

Earlier Saturday, 10 policemen were killed when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in Kunduz province in the north. Elsewhere, a remote-controlled bomb planted on a bicycle exploded in the eastern city of Ghazni, killing one police officer and a civilian. And in the west, officials in Farah province said Sunday that two police officers were killed there Saturday evening when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

On Sunday in the south, a roadside bomb in the town of Marjah killed another three police officers, said Ahmad Zarak, a spokesman for the Helmand provincial government.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roadside-bomb-kills-10-afghanistan-052641057.html

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Dell Precision M4700

If you feel the need for speed, expandability, and reliability, the Dell Precision M4700 mobile workstation is the system you want to bring out to the working world. It's a lot easier to tote than a tower workstation, but it has many of the features that you'd want in a desktop. With a third-generation Core i7 processor, Nvidia Quadro mobile graphics, multi-drive setup, and multi-monitor capabilities, the M4700 is our new Editors' Choice for mobile workstations.

Design and Features
The M4700 is a large laptop. It measures about 1.5 by 15 by 10 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.02 pounds (without AC adapter). It sports a 15.6-inch screen. Its dimensions, styling, and weight harken back to laptops of old?or at least laptops of 4 to 6 years ago. In many ways this isn't a bad thing, as a mobile workstation isn't meant to be the svelte corridor cruiser that an ultrabook like the HP Elitebook Folio 9470m or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is designed to be. The M4700 is made to be a power system, making sure that an engineer can do his work away from his office, whether that's in a boardroom in Des Moines, or on the hood of a Land Rover in the Kalahari.

The M4700 can be configured with a plethora of options, depending on the tasks needed. Our review unit came with a high-end Intel Core i7-3820QM processor, 16GB of DDR3 memory, 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) as the C: drive, 750GB data hard drive, DVD burner, and a 97 Whr removable battery. The system is IT serviceable, so you can get into the chassis to swap out parts that need replacement or upgrading. Though not set up that way on our system, multiple drives can be configured in a RAID array for speed, data integrity, or a combo of both (RAID 0,1,5). For RAID 5, you may need to pop a drive into an optional removable optical bay adapter and install an SSD in the free Mini-card slot inside.

The M4700 features a tool free pop-out drive bay, so you can keep your data safe. The whole bottom panel comes off after the user removes two screws, facilitating upgrades and installs. The bottom of the unit has a docking port for Dell's line of E-Family docks, including docks that allow for up to four monitors, or another docking slice that lets you connect legacy peripherals like Parallel ports and PS/2 peripherals.

The system has plenty of modern connectors as well, including two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports (unfortunately not colored blue to differentiate from USB 2.0), an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, serial port, VGA, Ethernet, 4-pin FireWire 400 port, HDMI-out, DisplayPort, smart card reader, SD-based card reader, and an ExpressCard slot. Between the included ports and what you can get with the legacy dock, you'd find it hard to come up with any peripheral you couldn't connect, save possibly Thunderbolt and Fibre channel. Fibre channel is really a server/switch connector, so its absence is no problem. Thunderbolt is still finding its footing in the Windows world, but it is ubiquitous on high-end Mac laptops like the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display.

The M4700's UltraSharp FHD display was bright and very clear. Text and minute detail were sharp and easy on the eyes, thanks to an anti-glare coating. You should be able to stare at this display for hours on end, as would be the case when you're working on an intricate project. The 1,920 by 1,080 resolution screen means that you can launch multiple windows side by side without having to worry about too much data being lost to toolbar space. It's certainly a lot more screen real estate than other systems you'd entertain bringing into the field like the rugged Editors' Choice Dell Latitude E6430 ATG, which only has a 1,366 by 768 resolution screen.

The M4700's speakers were loud enough for a good-sized conference room, but otherwise utilitarian. While the M4700 isn't overtly ruggedized like the Latitude E6430ATG, the M4700 is hardened to MIL-STD-810G standards fro humidity, temperature, vibration, dust, altitude, and shock.

The system comes with both a pointing stick and multitouch trackpad. The pointing stick works as you'd expect, with a row of mouse buttons under the space bar. The trackpad can be setup to use two finger controls, but it can also be used with its own gestures to control functions like scrolling with one finger. In this, the system is setup to handle both new users and users that are "used to doing things a certain way." The backlit keyboard has four brightness settings, and is comfortable to use, with traditional style concave keys. The system is wireless, with 802.11 a/b/g/n dual band Wi-Fi for the most flexibility in connecting to guest networks. The system can be equipped with an optional WWAN 3G cellular modem.

Our review unit came with Windows 7 Professional, though you can opt for Windows 8 Pro. We'd recommend Windows 7 for the time being, as it may be a while before your company rolls out a Windows 8-compliant version of the apps you need to use. This isn't a system for simply using Word and Excel, it's a system capable of running ISV certified apps like PRO/Engineer and CAD programs.

Performance
The system's performance and reliability are the reasons you buy a workstation. The system is solidly built, so it shouldn't have any problems serving your users over the course of a few years. The performance of the system is very good to exemplary, with good scores at our multimedia tests like Photoshop CS6 and Handbrake (video encoding). Handbrake took an extremely short 46 seconds to complete, far quicker than other performance-oriented Core i7-powered laptops like the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display) (1:13) and the Acer Aspire S7-391-9886 (1:17). All three of these laptops use SSD or flash memory-based drives, so the Precision M4700 wins with its speedier Core i7 processor and Nvidia Quadro graphics.

The Precision M4700 also wins on the CineBench R11.5 test, which measures how fast a system can render a 3D image in software. The Dell's score of 6.92 points is one of the highest we've seen for a laptop, and is higher than most desktops as well. Day-to-day performance was decent, and the system certainly did well at our 3D tests, which are admittedly consumer-based. Perhaps the most notable indicator is that the system lasted a very good 6 hours 28 minutes on our battery rundown test. This means that this system will last for much of a workday. The M4700 has a very good mix of power and battery life. The system can be fitted with an optional 97Whr battery slice for additional power.

The problem with comparing the Dell Precision M4700 to previous units is that there are far fewer mobile workstation laptops than consumer or business laptops out there. Our last true mobile workstation Editors' Choice was the HP Elitebook 8560w, and while it also has ISV certifications and also has a 15.6-inch full HD screen, the HP 8560w used an older Core i7 processor and AMD FirePro graphics. Granted, the 8650w also came in at under $1,600. The Dell Precision M4700 is a higher-level workstation, with many more options, expandability, higher end drive systems, higher end graphics options, and is generally more capable. If you have a need for ISV certified apps, or highest end reliability and performance, then the Dell Precision M4700 is the mobile workstation for you, and as such, earns our nod for Editors' Choice for mobile workstations.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS: Check out the test scores for the

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/r60s2ooqQk8/0,2817,2414694,00.asp

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AP Interview: CERN chief firmer on 'God particle'

Director General of CERN, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Director General of CERN, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Director General of CERN, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Participants leave the Congress Center the last day of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? The world should know with certainty by the middle of this year whether a subatomic particle discovered by scientists is a long-sought Higgs boson, the head of the world's largest atom smasher said Saturday.

Rolf Heuer, director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, said he is confident that "towards the middle of the year, we will be there." By then, he said reams of data from the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss-French border near Geneva should have been assessed.

The timing could also help Scottish physicist Peter Higgs win a Noble Prize, Heuer said in an interview with The Associated Press in the Swiss resort of Davos.

CERN's atom smasher helped scientists declare in July their discovery of a new subatomic particle that Heuer calls "very, very like" a Higgs boson, that promises a new realm of understanding the universe.

The machine, which has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to investigate dark matter, antimatter and the creation of the universe, is being put to rest early this year. The data from it, however, takes longer to analyze.

"Suppose the Higgs boson is a special snowflake. So you have to identify the snowflake, in a big snowstorm, in front of a background of snowfields," Heuer said by way of analogy. "That is very difficult. You need a tremendous amount of snowfall in order to identify the snowflakes and this is why it takes time."

He said the standard model of particle physics describes only 5 percent of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang.

To explain how subatomic particles, such as electrons, protons and neutrons, were themselves formed, Higgs and others in the 1960s envisioned an energy field where particles interact with a key particle, the Higgs boson.

The idea was that other particles attract Higgs bosons and the more they attract, the bigger their mass will be. But a big question remains: Is this new particle a variation of the Higgs boson, or the same as the Higgs boson that was predicted?

The phrase "God particle," coined by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman, is used by laymen, not physicists, more as an explanation for how the subatomic universe works than how it all started.

"Now, if there is a deviation in one of the properties of this Higgs boson, that means we open a new window, for example, hopefully into the part of the dark universe, the 95 percent of the unknown universe," said Heuer.

"If you find the deviation," he added, "that means if it is not the ? but a ? Higgs boson, then we might find a fantastic window into the dark universe so we would make another giant leap from the visible to the dark."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-26-EU-Davos-Forum-God-Particle/id-0b997fa7e2724b42814b1d85bbf3b2ff

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The Insider&#39;s Guide to Social Media Consulting Success | Business ...

When I have been asked for a proposal to create a social media marketing strategy for a company, I have won the business 95 percent of the time. That may seem remarkable but I?ve found there is one simple secret to connecting with companies at this early stage of engagement.

Competing agencies typically try to impress by piecing together glossy, elaborate plans spanning from Facebook promotions to blasting out a Pinterest campaign.

I do no such thing. In fact, I put together no plan at all. I simply, and truthfully, tell the client that I don?t know what they need. And neither do they. We need to start with a foundational strategy (not an action plan) that is aligned with the company?s goals, and even more important, aligned with the company?s CULTURE.

This is the difference between creating a glimmering strategy that crashes and burns on take-off, and a realistic strategy that can actually be accomplished and change the company.

In every organization there are five common hurdles to social media success. A critical step in the strategy development process is to provide a painfully honest assessment of these factors and the company?s ability to execute and sustain a social media marketing initiative. That is where the consulting process should begin ? not picking out the colors for the Facebook page!

Assessing the social media ?engine?

Here are the five critical components I assess before even thinking about creating a social media plan:

Budget and resources ? Is the company willing to commit the proper financial and human resources to execute the right way, or are they just checking a box to create an image? Do they seem committed to adopting ?digital? as a business philosophy? How will they make this transformation?

Technology ? I look at this very broadly. Is this a tech-savvy company eager to embrace new platforms or are they stuck in the 1990s? Are they fast and flexible, or ponderous in their approach to development? Have they erected security firewalls that will jeopardize success? Is the IT department a fortress resisting change or an agent propelling progress?

ROI and measurement ? Does the company have a realistic view of the social media opportunity, or are they looking for immediate gratification? Are they willing to consider qualitative, as well as quantitative, measures of success? Do they even have measurement processes in place that we can build upon? Are they looking at this as a band-aid or a long-term strategy?

Legal ? Can the Legal Department adjust to the new demands of the social web? Are they willing to push accountability down through the organization or will they have to approve every tweet? Are they also willing to make the cultural adjustment necessary or will they ?review? an initiative into oblivion?

Corporate culture/leadership ? I mention this last, but it is not the least. In fact, it is most important of all. A corporate culture is very complex but is largely determined by the leadership of the organization. If the leadership does not understand, embrace, and become actively involved in the change, a social media initiative will never move past checking a box. There is no such thing as a grassroots cultural change in a company> The leader has to be actively on board. Is the company culture customer-centric? Conservative? Slow to change? Nimble?

Now what?

Once you do this analysis, what do you do with it?

Creating an actionable and sustainable social media initiative requires all five of these building blocks to be in place. Think of these elements as integral parts of an engine. If even one part is not working, the car may start quickly, limp along for awhile, but ultimately sputter and stop.

So the strategy must be created in the context of the political reality of the company. Perhaps the first step toward social media success is not starting a blog or Facebook page, but hosting a series of social media workshops to get everybody on the same page. Or maybe it?s one-on-one counseling with a leader, or creating an internal social media council.

Strategy doesn?t start with a Facebook page, it begins (and perhaps ends) with corporate culture. Agree? Do you see these landmines and opportunities at your companies too?

Mark Schaefer is a educator and marketing consultant specializing in social media workshops. He blogs at {grow} and is the author of several best-selling markting books including Return On Influence.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/the-insiders-guide-to-social-media-consulting-success-0382539

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FTM2012 Synchronization Frequently Take in Excess of Two Hours

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Source: http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/topics.software.famtreemaker/9408.1.1/mb.ashx

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News in Brief: Drug restores lost hearing

Loud noises can damage sensitive inner ear cells

By Laura Sanders

Web edition: January 25, 2013
Print edition: February 9, 2013; Vol.183 #3 (p. 8)

Enlarge

Credit: K. Mizutari et al/Neuron 2013

A new drug may be able to combat noise-induced hearing loss. Loud noises can damage sensitive inner ear cells called hair cells (mouse hair cells shown), which in mammals don?t grow back. That?s why rock musicians, factory workers, carpenters and other people who are surrounded by loud sounds often suffer hearing loss. A study in mice may point out a way to reverse the effects of this acoustical trauma. The compound LY411575, a type of molecule called a gamma-secretase inhibitor, got these hair cells growing again. After receiving an injection of the drug in the ear, mice with cochleas damaged by loud white noise sprouted new hair cells. What?s more, these newborn cells partially restored the animals? hearing, researchers led by Albert Edge of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston report in the Jan. 9 Neuron. A similar drug may one day reverse hearing loss in people.?

---

Citations

K. Mizutari et al. Notch inhibition induces cochlear hair cell regeneration and recovery of hearing after acoustic trauma. Neuron. Vol. 77, January 9, 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.10.032. Available online: [Go to]

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/347807/title/News_in_Brief_Drug_restores_lost_hearing

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Obama supports French military operation in Mali : Voice of Russia

Obama had a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Francois Hollande to discuss the setting-up of a military mission in Mali, as well as drawing up a ?road map? that should result in elections and the restoration of democratic rule in the African country, according to a statement by the White House.

Malian troops advance eastwards

The Malian army backed up by the French troops on Friday moved into the town of Hombori, advancing east towards the Islamist stronghold of Gao.

At night the troops patrolled the area to check it for possible Islamist attacks, as earlier Islamist fighters blew up a bridge near the border with Niger.

French and Mali troops on patrol together

On the night of Friday, January 25th, French and Malian servicemen conducted their first patrol of the territory south of the town of Gao in the north-east of the country.

Earlier French military aircraft delivered high-precision strikes on the positions of the militant radical groups, including the region not far from Mali?s border with Niger.

According to information available, preparations are underway for an attack on Gao together with servicemen from Chad and Niger based on in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the member-states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are planning to hold an emergency session of the joint chiefs of staff on the situation in Mali in Abidjan on Saturday, January 26.

The deployment of African forces in Mali will be the subject.

Voice of Russia, TASS, Interfax

Source: http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_01_26/Obama-supports-French-military-operation-in-Mali/

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10 finalists named for international Booker prize

The Dalai Lama, left, listens to one of his biographers, Pico Iyer at one of the sessions on the opening day of India's Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur, India, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. This year's festival will also feature author Zoe Heller and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)

The Dalai Lama, left, listens to one of his biographers, Pico Iyer at one of the sessions on the opening day of India's Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur, India, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. This year's festival will also feature author Zoe Heller and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)

Indian writer Mahasweta Devi delivers the keynote address during the opening of India's Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur, India, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. This year's festival will also feature author Zoe Heller and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)

The Dalai Lama speaks on the opening day of India's Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur, India, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. This year's festival will also feature author Zoe Heller and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)

People listen to the Dalai Lama, on the opening day of India's Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur, India, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. This year's festival will also feature author Zoe Heller and Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)

JAIPUR, India (AP) ? American author Marilynne Robinson, Israel's Aharon Appelfeld and China's Yan Lianke are among 10 finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.

The award, an offshoot of Britain's better-known Man Booker novel-of-the-year prize, is awarded for a lifetime's work. It is open to authors of all nationalities whose work is available in English.

Prize organizers said both China's Yan and Russian finalist Vladimir Sorokin have had books banned in their homelands.

Yan fell foul of the authorities with "Dream of Ding Village," about the AIDS crisis caused by HIV-contaminated blood, and "To Serve the People," which features a character who can be aroused only when his lover smashes images of Chairman Mao.

Sorokin, best known for "The Ice Trilogy," had his early books banned in Soviet times.

Other finalists announced Thursday at the Jaipur Literary Festival in India include Lydia Davis of the United States, Pakistan's Intizar Husain, France's Marie NDiaye and Indian writer U.R. Ananthamurthy.

Josip Novakovich ? a Croatia-born Canadian writer ? and Switzerland's Peter Stamm round out the list.

Academic Christopher Ricks, who chairs the judging panel, said the 10 were "astonishingly different" writers who range in age from their 40s to their 80s.

Previous winners of the 60,000-pound ($95,000) award include Canada's Alice Munro, Nigeria's Chinua Achebe and Philip Roth of the United States.

The prize, awarded every two years, causes fierce debate and occasional controversy. In 2011, British spy writer John le Carre asked for his name to be removed from the shortlist ? he said he eschewed awards ? and one of the jurors resigned at the choice of Roth as winner.

This year's winner will be announced in London on May 22.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-24-India-Booker%20Prize/id-012f8f00b9904e3cbc179e87c295c8a6

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It&#39;s a dog&#39;s life when man&#39;s best friend becomes his fattest (Science ...

There seems to be a link between our diet and that of our dogs. Researchers found that people with excess weight are more likely to own or care for an overweight pet.

Image: cmannphoto?/iStockphoto

A study published in Nature offers further insight into how dogs became domesticated. The comparative analysis of human, canine and wolf genomes suggests that humans and dogs have evolved in parallel as a response to the increasingly starchy diets on offer after the agricultural revolution. Such a wholesale change in diet has not necessarily been benign for either species.

As our waistlines have expanded, so have those of our pet animals. In fact, the rising incidence of obesity in humans and dogs seems to be linked; people at high risk of obesity are more likely to own and care for an overweight canine companion.

Problems and solutions
The problem of excess weight in dogs isn't just a matter of aesthetics. As with humans, obesity in dogs is linked to conditions such as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. This makes excessive weight gain in pet dogs both a veterinary medical and animal welfare issue.

In biological terms, obesity in pet animals occurs for the same reasons it does in people. Affected individuals eat more than they need, and might also have a genetic susceptibility to putting on weight.

Current approaches to addressing canine obesity involve restricting the number of calories owners give their animals. This typically involves a proprietary "diet" food and owner education.

A weight-loss industry for pets has emerged in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Canine boot camps and dieting clubs have sprung up to help owners achieve their dog's weight-loss goals.

At the same time, "fat dog" stories have become a news staple. Indeed, overweight pets have become collateral casualties in the ongoing war against human obesity.

Interestingly, the emphasis in this coverage revolves around one or more of three basic causal stories about people who own overweight animals: they buy and feed their dogs the wrong types of foods, they overfeed their animals to compensate for their inability to look after them properly, or they're morally culpable and are partaking in a form of abuse.

Despite a concerted campaign by animal health professionals, the incidence of canine obesity remains much the same. And efforts to make people "own the problem", including prosecution, have done little to curb canine excess.

While the application of surgical solutions to human obesity is rising rapidly, so far the consensus is that weight-loss surgery for dogs is unethical and that drugs are a shortcut for lazy owners.

A bigger issue?
The emergence of a canine health problem that reflects cultural and socioeconomic patterns is significant. As well as sharing our capacity for weight gain, pet dogs share our homes and built environment, our leisure activities and lifestyles.

We know socioeconomic status maps onto differences in health across human populations. The increasing rates of obesity in people is now recognised to involve a complex mixture of biology, individual choices, socioeconomic drivers of food consumption and declining levels of physical activity.

Studies in Britain and the Netherlands suggest these same factors are at play in the growing proportion of pet dogs that are overweight. And because people at higher risk of obesity are more likely to own an overweight animal, links between canine disease and the environment provided by the owner raises an ethical dilemma for companion animal veterinarians.

Recent controversies in the livestock and horse racing industries signal a major societal shift in attitudes towards animal welfare. If the way people live puts their pets at increased risk of debilitating disease, are we going to start regulating companion animal ownership on the grounds of future animal welfare? We might also wonder if it's fair to deny some people the benefits that come from sharing life with a pet animal.

These questions point to a number of unresolved tensions in our relationship with companion animals and the role vets play as protectors of animal welfare.

Treating disease in animals in our care is clearly the right thing to do. And since prevention is better than a cure, more attention needs to be given to the drivers of weight-related health problems in pets.

Experience with human populations indicates that teaching people how much to feed their animal may only be part of the solution. If vets are serious about reducing the burden of obesity-related disease in pet dogs, then the profession needs to take a larger role in public health.

Vets need to engage with community-based approaches to human and animal welfare. These could conceivably involve a role in urban planning, the framing of animal by-laws, and even directly promoting beneficial human health behaviours to encourage health and well-being across species boundaries.

Source: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20132401-23994.html

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ER Visits Linked to ADHD Meds Up Sharply - Health News and ...

FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) ? U.S. emergency department visits involving attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs more than doubled from 2005 to 2010, with the largest hike occurring among adults, says a new government report.

In that period, such ER visits rose from about 13,400 to 31,200, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

?ADHD medications, when properly prescribed and used, can be of enormous benefit to those suffering from ADHD, but like any other medication they can pose serious risks ? particularly when they are misused,? SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde said in an agency news release.

In adults, cases rose from about 2,100 to 8,100 among those aged 18 to 25, from about 1,750 to 6,100 among those aged 26 to 34 and from roughly 2,500 to nearly 8,000 among those over 35, during the time period.

Rates among children and teens remained largely unchanged from 2005 to 2010, according to the findings published Jan. 24 in SAMHSA?s DAWN Report.

The investigators also found that the number of ER visits involving the nonmedical use of ADHD medications nearly tripled during this time, from about 5,200 to nearly 15,600. In 2010, nonmedical use of ADHD drugs made up half of all ER visits involving ADHD medications.

The gap between males and females in the number of ER visits related to nonmedical use of the drugs narrowed during the study period. In 2005, the numbers were about 3,800 for males and about 1,400 for females. In 2011, numbers reached 8,650 for males and about 6,900 for females.

According to Hyde, ?this study indicates that a better job has to be done alerting all segments of society ? not just the young ? that misuse of these medications is extremely dangerous.?

There were 2.3 million U.S. emergency department visits related to the misuse of all drugs in 2010, according to background information in the news release.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Source: http://news.health.com/2013/01/25/er-visits-linked-to-adhd-meds-up-sharply/

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News - Dubai City Guide

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business hub connecting the Middle East, Africa and South Asia?s markets with the developed markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, provides the market with an update on its solid performance during 2012.

The number of active registered companies operating within DIFC rose during the year to reach 912 companies at the end of December 2012, a 7 per cent year-on-year increase.

Notable growth in active regulated and non-regulated companies registered with DIFC, standing at 345 and 450 respectively at the end of 2012.

Greater diversification of retail portfolio within DIFC, with 22 new outlets offering a range of services registered within the last year, taking the total to 117.

Dubai ranked as the top financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, and is placed among the top five global players, alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Shanghai, where international firms want to open their offices.

Combined workforce of DIFC-registered companies currently over 14,000, a 16 per cent growth rate in comparison to the previous year.

Jeffrey Singer, CEO of DIFC Authority remarked: "Dubai?s unique proposition and geographical positioning provide unrivalled opportunities in terms of connectivity and accessibility to the thriving Middle East, Asian and African markets. The growth we have witnessed within DIFC reflects the ongoing demand among international businesses for a presence in the region.

In spite of global economic challenges, DIFC has delivered a robust performance across all areas of the business. Our strategy remains the same and by capitalising on our world-class infrastructure and internationally recognised legislative and regulatory framework, we are creating a platform for global and regional companies to build fruitful and sustainable business relationships within a comprehensive financial environment." Despite the economic uncertainty resulting from the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone and political volatility around the Middle East in 2012, Dubai has continued to build its reputation as an international financial hub for the region.

The number of active registered companies within DIFC increased to 912 during the last year, with the addition of 38 regulated firms, including Bank of China Middle East (Dubai) Limited, Guy Carpenter (Middle East) Limited, Royal ?&? Sun Alliance Insurance PLC, Abu Dhabi Capital Management Limited, Neuberger Berman Europe Limited, Standard Life International Limited and Dechert LLP; 111 non-regulated firms and 22 retail outlets to the Centre?s client portfolio. The combined workforce of companies registered with DIFC currently stands at approximately 14,000, a 16% growth rate in comparison to the previous year, representing over 120 nationalities.

DIFC?s increasingly diverse geographical mix of clients is reinforcing its growing reputation as the gateway between East and West, with the Centre currently facilitating regulated firms from across the globe, including 37 per cent from Europe, 26 per cent from the Middle East, 18 per cent from North America, 11 per cent from Asia, and 8 per cent from the rest of the world.

There was a marked rise in the number of authorised firms within various license categories, in addition to a number of existing DIFC clients, such as Bank Sarasin-Alpen (Middle East) Limited, UBS AG and VTB Capital PLC, who have chosen to upgrade their licenses to a higher category in 2012. These numbers have indicated a significant increase in business activity and transactions from within the Centre.

Furthermore, many of DIFC?s current clients opted to grow their physical presence within the Centre by expanding their current office space by up to 10,000 square feet, a trend that was most apparent during the second half of the year.

DIFC has also progressed in its strategy to create an environment that supports business growth, and is now the location of choice for 19 of the world?s top 25 banks, 11 of the world?s top 20 money managers, 8 of the top 10 insurance companies, and 6 of the top 10 legal firms, solidifying its reputation as a prestigious and highly sought after business community.

Reinforcing the Centre?s reputation as an international financial hub for the region, Dubai is now ranked as the top financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, and is placed as one of the top five global centres where international firms want to open offices, alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Shanghai, as reported in the 12th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index in September 2012.

Companies based in DIFC continue to benefit from the Centre?s internationally recognised regulatory and legal framework, which effectively facilitates the growth of financial services and commercial activities.

Source: http://www.dubaicityguide.com/site/news/news-details.asp?newsid=41874

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Refinance without an attorney - Zillow Mortgage Advice

Hi Experts,
I'm doing a no-cash out jumbo refinance on my primary as rates are 1.5% lower. 70% LTV, 800 FICA and no issues with income. Qualified without issue directly with a bank (3.55% for those that are interested).
I'll do a cema which saves 6K after fees over paying the NY 1% tax. Title company say they will do a reduced rate as the original loan is only 2 years old.
My existing lender said they will do cema to new lender and their attorney says 10-15 days for that.
With all that said do I need my own attorney? I get theres a bunch of admin to do and someone has to organize title, recording. closing etc but can I just get the banks attorney to do that?
Thanks.
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Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Refinance-without-an-attorney/475114/

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