Kyocera DuraPro keeps the rugged flip phone alive on US Cellular for $100

The rumors of the basic cellphone's death have been greatly exaggerated -- it's just finding niches to hide in while smartphones take over the mainstream. Witness today's launch of the Kyocera DuraPro on US Cellular. Although it's just a flip phone, it meets the US military's 810G specs for dust, shock, temperature and water resistance, all of which help it survive a rough workplace or an accidental splash at the beach. That and a loud speakerphone are the real highlights, although you will get microSD support and a 3.2-megapixel camera for your trouble. Do the math before you pick up a DuraPro in-store on February 28th, though. At $100 on contract after a $50 rebate, it's carrying smartphone-level pricing that could steer some buyers away from its retro rugged chic.

Filed under: Mobile

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Source: US Cellular

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/H0w7NvmMLzI/

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Samsung announces SAFE with Knox, details plans to secure the enterprise Galaxy (hands-on)

BlackBerry has Balance, and no more than a month after the company once known as Research in Motion debuted its first BB 10 handset, Samsung has a dual-workspace solution of its own: SAFE with Knox. Unlike SAFE, which stands for Samsung for Enterprise, Knox, which was named for the Army outpost where America stores much of its gold, was not crafted into an acronym (though we imagine marketers dedicated at least one meeting to the cause). It's appropriately named, given the company's plans to dominate the enterprise industry with what's soon to be "the most comprehensive mobile security solution."

So what will you find within the Fort Knox of the smartphone world? It's an IT manager's pipe dream, of sorts. A comprehensive collection of features that include Security Enhanced (SE) Android, secure boot, TrustZone-based Integrity Monitoring (TIMA) for protecting the kernel, Single Sign On (SSO) and that application container concept made famous by BlackBerry, just to name a few. Best of all, Knox will ship preinstalled on select devices, all sold as one SKU -- in other words, consumers and enterprise customers alike will be taking home identical handsets, simplifying the process significantly for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) businesses. We'll explain in a bit more detail in our hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Samsung SAFE with Knox hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/samsung-safe-with-knox/

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Duracell Powermat adding mesh network, scaleable power to its wireless charging plates

Duracell Powermat is announcing a pair of new features to encourage sales of its wireless charging gear. The first is "Mesh Network," a set of controls that let multiple hotspots be centrally monitored -- so if you're stealing all the juice in the Wall St. Starbucks, central office can cut you off. On the upside, those same network features will enable you to find another charging hotspot on your smartphone, including Madison Square Garden and Jay-Z's 40/40 club. The second feature is that the latest mats will be able to vary the power on offer between 5 and 50 watts, making them capable of recharging smartphones, tablets and (potentially) Ultrabooks. Now all we have to do is work out how to power all of our electronics without arousing the suspicions of Jay-Z -- we'd hate to add a 100th problem to his worry list.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/duracell-powermat-mwc-features/

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By Ken Levine: Writing the Academy Awards

I?ve never written for the Oscars. I would very much like to, just for the experience. But from what I understand it?s a horrible thankless job.

I did have the chance once, but had to turn it down. My partner and I were showrunning ALMOST PERFECT in 1996. We got a call from Quincy Jones (who was producing the show that year). He had first asked Larry Gelbart who passed. Quincy asked if he could recommend someone else and bless him, Larry mentioned us. I can?t tell you how many writing offers we received thanks to Larry Gelbart. He got us way more work than our agent. But we had to turn it down because we were already working 90 hour weeks.

All of the following information is second and third hand, but from what writers of award shows have told me, this is pretty much the assignment.? You might find it somewhat less than idyllic. ?

The hosts generally have their own people. But they may want you to assist. And of course, the host?s people are in charge. Depending on who that is, you may serve at the pleasure of some asshole you wouldn?t hire to write a laundry list.?? Or someone you've fired.?

You write the banter between presenters. Then it has to be approved by each presenter, their manager, agent, publicist, dog walker, and psychic. Also the producers, network, and standards-and-practices. When revisions come back you don?t know if they?re from the star himself and must be followed or his pool man in which case they?re just suggestions. And more often than not these revisions are way worse than what you wrote.

Still, when they bomb you?ll be blamed for it.

There?s also the issue of writing for some actors who couldn?t be funny if it meant world peace. They will take your genuinely funny lines and trample them into the ground.

You?ll be blamed.

Or worse, they will ad lib. We?ve all seen excruciating examples of that.

It?ll be your fault.

Sometimes presenters come in with their own schtick. So when Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller do a bit that bombs you?re the one who takes the heat.

From what I hear the weekend of the show (i.e. now) the rehearsals are insane. Presenters jockey for position, things get changed, stars are in, stars are out, your lines get cut, you?re scrambling to write new ones then don?t know who to give them to for approval.

The night of the show you?re on call to feed ad libs to the host so that he looks good. And if he doesn?t pull them off you-know-who is held responsible.

Meanwhile, some presenters can?t read off the teleprompter so they inadvertently kill a few of your jokes that have worked every rehearsal. Pin those on you, too.

Still, it?s gotta be a trip to at least experience this once. Even if Dustin Hoffman muffs your joke, hey, you can say you wrote for Dustin Hoffman. For two days you rub elbows with Hollywood royalty. Perhaps Penelope Cruz or George Clooney will say hello.? I don?t know if you?re invited to any post-Oscars parties. Or whether you get any swag. I doubt it but maybe you do.? Like I said, it would sure be worth doing once.?

Of course if I wrote the show I couldn?t review it. Hmmm. That?s probably reason alone to hire me.

But since they didn?t this year I will be reviewing tonight?s Academy Awards. My bitchy recap will appear in this space early Monday morning.? And if you don't like it, blame the Oscar writers.?

Source: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2013/02/writing-academy-awards.html

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Facebook Bugs Have Been Messing With Your Page Reach

In yet another Bad News Friday post, Facebook has informed us that it hasn't exactly been counting the audience for our posts quite?correctly. In fact, the social network has been significantly understating the "reach" of Facebook posts ? especially paid posts ? for at least the past several months.

In a blog post yesterday on Facebook Studio, the social network's marketing hub, the company admitted that coding errors have been misrepresented the audience reached by Facebook posts?since sometime last year (though it hasn't yet been much more specific than that). Facebook stresses that these bugs have only impacted reporting and not delivery, meaning fans were still receiving the posts, even if Facebook wasn't counting them properly. The company said the stats should update once Facebook cleans up its code.?

This admission could be a big deal for Facebook, which has taken some serious heat from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and other big brands for allegedly throttling their access to their Facebook fans. Last November, Cuban complained, both on Twitter and in heated articles on sites like The Huffington Post,?that Facebook was restricting brands' ability to engage their fans in order to juice sales of paid "promoted posts."

Less Bang For The Buck

The bugs Facebook is describing, however, could also conceivably have led brand and business?owners?like Cuban to believe they were getting less bang for their Facebook marketing buck. In its post yesterday,?Facebook claimed that the bugs held down the reported audience for paid newsfeed posts, meaning that such promotional posts actually reached a larger number of users than the social network's statistics previously suggested.

"As soon as we found the bugs our engineering team began work to resolve them as quickly as possible. We're rolling out fixes beginning this morning and over the weekend," Facebook's post states. That's certainly reassuring for anyone who relies on Facebook for social marketing, but the underreporting to date is still a pretty big deal. It's an even bigger deal where paid reach is concerned, since that involves placing ads placed in users' news feeds???ads that then reported back inaccurate numbers.?

Here's what will change as a result of the ongoing bug fixes, according to Facebook:

• Total reach to stay the same or increase for most Pages
• An increase in paid reach if you ran News Feed ads
• An increase or decrease in organic reach, depending on many factors such as the composition of your fan base, when and how often you post and your spending patterns
• A change in metrics computed from reach and impressions, such as engagement rate and virality
• We know that accurate data is fundamental to building and improving your Facebook presence. We are taking this very seriously. ?We have already put a number of additional quality and verification measures in place to prevent future bugs and resolve them quickly if they arise

Where It All Began

Facebook says the problems originated during an update to its iOS and Android apps, TechCrunch reported. While trying to speed up mobile performance of its site, Facebook ended up stripping away a little too much of the data reported back to its servers. This resulted in a couple of bugs that failed to count page posts as users upgraded to new versions of the apps, and then a lesser bug that counted the viewing of a desktop news feed ad twice, as both an organic and then a paid impression.

It wasn't until a number of complaints from clients that Facebook decided to perform an internal audit, which uncovered the bugs and forced the company to begin an intense three-week fix.?

While you can certainly argue that the bugs didn't cause that much damage???after all, many pages will soon show improved reach as a result of the fixes ??the problem certainly does some damage to Facebook's reputation as a secure and accurate social hub for business.?

But if you're a brand manager who's been feeling a little down in the dumps over your failure to engage readers with paid posts, you can take heart in?Facebook's two-minute video reiterating its solutions. With alarmingly low depth-of-field, a woman with a very calming voice explains everything you need to know about this not-a-real-problem to soothing?piano music. Surely your average social media manager shouldn't require much more than that to fend off frustration.?

Source: http://readwrite.com/2013/02/23/facebook-bug-page-reach

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xbox pro repairs - xbox repair - xbox modding - london (London, by adam_prior15)

Review of xbox pro repairs - xbox repair - xbox modding - london from 23 February 2013

My Xbox had 3 red lights so I called these guys and had the Xbox repaired while I waited, seemed very knowledgable and professional will definitely be recommending them to others

Source: http://www.qype.co.uk/review/3614356

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Liz Carmouche?s submission attempt on Ronda Rousey leaves an impression ? literally

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Early in the main event at UFC 157, Liz Carmouche mounted Ronda Rousey's back. With Rousey standing, Carmouche clamped on and cranked Rousey's neck. She squeezed until Rousey finally shook Carmouche off, then finished the fight with an armbar in the final seconds of round one.

It wasn't until after the fight that we found out how tight the neck crank was. When Carmouche had her arm across Rousey's face, it pushed Rousey's mouth guard out of the way. In trying to push Carmouche off, Rousey's teeth pushed into Carmouche's arm, leaving this impression.

It wasn't an illegal move because Rousey wasn't intentionally biting down. Still, Rousey did apologize to Carmouche for leaving the mark on her arm during the postfight press conference.

When stuck in Carmouche's submission attempt, Rousey was doing more than just leaving a mark on her opponent's arm. She was being tested more than she had in any other fight. Though it still ended in the first round, at 4:49 it was the longest fight of Rousey's professional career.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/liz-carmouche-submission-attempt-ronda-rousey-leaves-impression-081442027--mma.html

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?Top GOP Voter ID Crusader Loses Virginia Election Panel Post?

Big Money Lost, But Don't Be Relieved, CNN Opinion, Nov. 9, 2012

A Better Way to Vote: Nationalize Oversight and Control, NY Times, "Room for Debate" blog, Nov. 9, 2012

Election Day Dispatches Entry 5: Black Panthers, Navy Seals, and Mysterious Voting Machines, Slate, Nov. 6, 2012

Behind the Voting Wars, A Clash of Philosophies, Sacramento Bee, Nov. 4, 2012

How Many More Near-Election Disasters Before Congress Wakes Up?, The Daily Beast, Oct. 30, 2012

Will Bush v. Gore Save Barack Obama? If Obama Narrowly Wins Ohio, He Can Thank Scalia and the Court's Conservatives, Slate, Oct. 26, 2012

Will Voter Suppression and Dirty Tricks Swing the Election?, Salon, Oct. 22, 2012

Is the Supreme Court About to Swing Another Presidential Election? If the Court Cuts Early Voting in Ohio, It Could Be a Difference Maker in the Buckeye State, Slate, Oct. 15, 2012

Election Truthers: Will Republicans Accept an Obama Election Victory?, Slate, Oct. 9, 2012

Wrong Number: The Crucial Ohio Voting Battle You Haven't Heard About, Slate, Oct. 1, 2012

Litigating the Vote, National Law Journal, Aug. 27, 2012

Military Voters as Political Pawns, San Diego Union-Tribune, August 19, 2012

Tweeting the Next Election Meltdown: If the Next Presidential Election Goes into Overtime, Heaven Help Us. It?s Gonna Get Ugly, Slate, Aug. 14, 2012

A Detente Before the Election, New York Times, August 5, 2012

Worse Than Watergate: The New Campaign Finance Order Puts the Corruption of the 1970s to Shame, Slate, July 19, 2012

Has SCOTUS OK'd Campaign Dirty Tricks?, Politico, July 10, 2012

End the Voting Wars: Take our elections out of the hands of the partisan and the incompetent, Slate, June 13, 2012

Citizens: Speech, No Consequences, Politico, May 31, 2012

Is Campaign Disclosure Heading Back to the Supreme Court? Don?t expect to see Karl Rove?s Rolodex just yet, Slate, May 16, 2012

Unleash the Hounds Why Justice Souter should publish his secret dissent in Citizens United, Slate, May 16, 2012

Why Washington Can?t Be Fixed; And is about to get a lot worse, Slate, May 9, 2012

Let John Edwards Go! Edwards may be a liar and a philanderer, but his conviction will do more harm than good, Slate, April 23, 2012

The Real Loser of the Scott Walker Recall? The State of Wisconsin, The New Republic, April 13, 2012

A Court of Radicals: If the justices strike down Obamacare, it may have grave political implications for the court itself, Slate, March 30, 2012

Of Super PACs and Corruption, Politico, March 22, 2012

Texas Voter ID Law May Be Headed to the Supreme Court, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mar. 13, 2012

?The Numbers Don?t Lie: If you aren?t sure Citizens United gave rise to the Super PACs, just follow the money, Slate, Mar. 9, 2012

Stephen Colbert: Presidential Kingmaker?, Politico, Mar. 5 2012

Occupy the Super PACs; Justice Ginsburg knows the Citizens United decision was a mistake. Now she appears to be ready to speak truth to power, Slate, Feb. 20, 2012

Kill the Caucuses! Maine, Nevada, and Iowa were embarrassing. It?s time to make primaries the rule, Slate, Feb. 15, 2012

The Biggest Danger of Super PACs, CNN Politics, Jan. 9, 2012

This Case is a Trojan Horse, New York Times "Room for Debate" blog, Jan. 6, 2012 (forum on Bluman v. FEC)

Holder's Voting Rights Gamble: The Supreme Court's Voter ID Showdown, Slate, Dec. 30, 2011

Will Foreigners Decide the 2012 Election? The Extreme Unintended Consequences of Citizens United, The New Republic (online), Dec. 6, 2011

Disenfranchise No More, New York Times, Nov. 17, 2011

A Democracy Deficit at Americans Elect?, Politico, Nov. 9, 2011

Super-Soft Money: How Justice Kennedy paved the way for ?SuperPACS? and the return of soft money, Slate, Oct. 25, 2012

The Arizona Campaign Finance Law: The Surprisingly Good News in the Supreme Court?s New Decision, The New Republic (online), June 27, 2011

New York City as a Model?, New York Times Room for Debate, June 27, 2011

A Cover-Up, Not a Crime. Why the Case Against John Edwards May Be Hard to Prove, Slate, Jun. 3, 2011

Wisconsin Court Election Courts Disaster, Politico, Apr. 11, 2011

Rich Candidate Expected to Win Again, Slate, Mar. 25, 2011

Health Care and the Voting Rights Act, Politico, Feb. 4, 2011

The FEC is as Good as Dead, Slate, Jan. 25, 2011

Let Rahm Run!, Slate, Jan. 24, 2011

Lobbypalooza,The American Interest, Jan-Feb. 2011(with Ellen P. Aprill)

Election Hangover: The Real Legacy of Bush v. Gore, Slate, Dec. 3, 2010

Alaska's Big Spelling Test: How strong is Joe Miller's argument against the Leeza Markovsky vote?, Slate, Nov. 11, 2010

Kirk Offers Hope vs. Secret Donors, Politico, November 5, 2010

Evil Men in Black Robes: Slate's Judicial Election Campaign Ad Spooktackular!, Slate, October 26, 2010 (with Dahlia Lithwick)

Show Me the Donors: What's the point of disclosing campaign donations? Let's review, Slate, October 14, 2010

Un-American Influence: Could Foreign Spending on Elections Really Be Legal?, Slate, October 11, 2010

Toppled Castle: The real loser in the Tea Party wins is election reform, Slate, Sept. 16, 2010

Citizens United: What the Court Did--and Why, American Interest, July/August 2010

The Big Ban Theory: Does Elena Kagan Want to Ban Books? No, and She Might Even Be a Free Speech Zealot", Slate, May 24, 2010

Crush Democracy But Save the Kittens: Justice Alito's Double Standard for the First Amendment, Slate, Apr. 30, 2010

Some Skepticism About the "Separable Preferences" Approach to the Single Subject Rule: A Comment on Cooter & Gilbert, Columbia Law Review Sidebar, Apr. 19, 2010

Scalia's Retirement Party: Looking ahead to a conservative vacancy can help the Democrats at the polls, Slate, Apr. 12, 2010

Hushed Money: Could Karl Rove's New 527 Avoid Campaign-Finance Disclosure Requirements?, Slate, Apr. 6, 2010

Money Grubbers: The Supreme Court Kills Campaign Finance Reform, Slate, Jan. 21, 2010

Bad News for Judicial Elections, N.Y. Times "Room for Debate" Blog, Jan., 21, 2010

Read more opeds from 2006-2009

Source: http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47627

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Vibrant mix of marine life found at extreme ocean depths

Feb. 21, 2013 ? The first scientific examinations of data recorded during a record-setting expedition have yielded new insights about the diversity of creatures that live and thrive in the cold, dark, and highly pressurized habitats of the world's deepest points and their vastly unexplored ecosystems.

Natalya Gallo of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego will present preliminary findings from the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition, a project led by James Cameron in collaboration with Scripps, and supported by National Geographic and Rolex, on Feb. 22 (GS09: Community Ecology Session, 8:45 a.m. PST) at the 2013 Aquatic Sciences Meeting of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography in New Orleans.

Gallo, a graduate student with biological oceanographer Lisa Levin's group, analyzed 25 hours of video captured during Cameron's historic March 26, 2012, solo dive 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) below the ocean surface to the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, as well as separate dives (also during the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition) to the New Britain Trench and Ulithi, also in the Pacific Ocean. The footage was taken from five cameras equipped on the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible that Cameron piloted to the Challenger Deep. Additional footage came from specialized "lander" deep ocean vehicles developed in collaboration with Scripps engineer Kevin Hardy that captured samples at various depths.

Early results of Gallo's analysis reveal a vibrant mix of organisms, different in each trench site. The Challenger Deep featured fields of giant single-cell amoebas called "xenophyophores," sea cucumbers, and enormous shrimp-like crustaceans called amphipods. The New Britain Trench featured hundreds of stunning stalked anemones growing on pillow lavas at the bottom of the trench, as well as a shallower seafloor community dominated by spoon worms, burrowing animals that create a rosette around them by licking organic matter off the surrounding sediment with a tongue-like proboscis. In contrast, Ulithi's seafloor ecosystem in the Pacific atolls featured high sponge and coral biodiversity.

As the submersible and landers pushed into deeper waters, the variety of species declined, with each depth dominated by a handful of key organisms. At shallow depths in the New Britain Trench, Gallo observed strange rotund but graceful animals called sea cucumbers swimming in the water column. Different species of sea cucumbers were present even in the great depths of the Challenger Deep but appear to have adapted to these depths by decreasing in size, not swimming, and feeding by orienting themselves with the currents. The sea cucumbers seen in the Challenger Deep at approximately 11 kilometers (approximately 36,000 feet) likely represent a new species and are the first recorded abundant population of the animals found in the deepest part of the ocean.

Proximity to land also played a role in the makeup of the deep-sea environment. Deep in the New Britain Trench, located near Papua New Guinea, Gallo identified palm fronds, leaves, sticks, and coconuts-terrestrial materials known to influence seafloor ecosystems. The Challenger Deep and Ulithi, both more removed from terrestrial influence, were absent of such evidence. Gallo also spotted a dive weight in the Challenger Deep footage, likely used as ballast on another deep-submergence vehicle.

"These data add valued information to our limited understanding of deep-sea and trench biology," said Gallo. "Only a small fraction of the deep seafloor has been fully explored, so this expedition allows us to better understand these unique deep-sea ecosystems."

Gallo and Ralph Pace, a master's student in the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps, are compiling an image reference collection of all organisms identified during these dives to help expand the scientific impact of the expedition.

"New knowledge about life in the deep sea becomes increasingly important as humans ramp up their exploitation of the fish, energy, mineral, and genetic resources of the deep sea," said Levin. "Natalya's observation of a dive weight from a past expedition in the Challenger Deep reminds us that our presence in the ocean is pervasive."

Gallo noted that her findings were largely consistent with discoveries made in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, the first "golden age" of deep-sea exploration. New high-definition video capabilities used during Deepsea Challenge expand exploration potential by allowing scientists to view organisms in their natural habitat and observe how these unique biological communities function, she said.

"The DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition made possible the discovery of the deepest examples of gigantism known thus far," said Doug Bartlett, a Scripps marine microbiologist and chief scientist of the expedition. "Among the many values of collecting deep-sea samples is the possible isolation of microbes adapted to the extreme conditions of life in the trenches. These microbes inform us of the evolution, diversity, and adaptations of life and perhaps even life's origins and its possible presence elsewhere in the solar system."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/LQ4b4eauh-I/130222103006.htm

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Bloomberg: Let Obama Golf in Peace

(Photo: Getty)

In a chapel on Rikers Island today, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the press shouldn?t be irked about being barred from photographing a round of golf between President Barack Obama and Tiger Woods.

?I don?t know why the president has to have people watch what he does,? said Mr. Bloomberg, responding to a question from CBS?s Rich Lamb during a press conference introducing an anti-recidivism program. ?He has a right to a vacation. You take a vacation occasionally, you don?t work 24/7. He does. He works very hard and he certainly has a right to his private life.?

Mr. Obama and Mr. Woods golfed last weekend and some media outlets were frustrated that they were not granted a glimpse of the two together. Indeed,?Fox News? Ed Henry, president of the White House Correspondents Association said they were just asking for ?a brief exception, quick access, a quick photo-op on the 18th green.? He added, ?It?s not about golf?it?s about transparency and access in a broader sense.?

But even though Mr. Bloomberg is an avid proponent of being open to the press?he held two question-and-answer sessions today alone?the mayor said Mr. Obama should be allowed a little down time once in a while.

?I don?t know why you, the press, have a God-given right to follow him every minute,? Mr. Bloomberg said as the reporters in attendance burst into laughter. ?You know you?re gonna run the picture of when he misses the ball and slices it into the woods. It?s hard to argue you?d be fair that way. It doesn?t sell any newspapers or minutes. Come on, the guy deserves a chance to have a life and have a vacation. He was away for three days, if I remember, and you know the number of people that travel with the president, it?s hard to argue he ever is really away. He does not have a vacation in the same sense that you do where you just forget about it. He?s gotta be there all the time and and there?s no reason he can?t play some golf at the same time.?

Follow Ross Barkan on Twitter or via RSS. rbarkan@observer.com

Source: http://patriotpost.us/headlines/17786

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NBA trade deadline: Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard on Eric Maynor (video)

The Portland Trail Blazers reportedly acquired backup point guard Eric Maynor from the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday, prior to the NBA trade deadline.

Maynor is 6-foot-3, 170 pounds and in his fourth NBA season. He is earning $2.3 million this season, and is set to become a restricted free agent.

While the deal is yet to be processed by the league offices, Blazers rookie point guard Damian Lillard spoke about the addition of Maynor following practice Thursday.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2013/02/trail_blazers_damian_lillard_on_eric_maynor_video.html

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Methods to Continue being Protected Even when Backpacking ...

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Source: http://yahoodiary.com/blog/47888/methods-to-continue-being-protected-even-when-backpacking/

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City controller putting mayor on clock for debit card receipts

The U.S. military on Friday grounded the F-35 fighter jet due to a crack in an engine component that was discovered during a routine inspection in California.

The Pentagon said in a statement that it was too early to assess the impact on the fleet of ...

Read More ?

Source: http://www.wtae.com/news/local/allegheny/City-controller-putting-mayor-on-clock-for-debit-card-receipts/-/10927008/19047338/-/11ohx1e/-/index.html?absolute=true

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GOP opens 2013 with money advantage over Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Republican National Committee is starting 2013 with a financial advantage over its Democratic rivals.

The RNC raised $6.9 million in January and ended the month with $7.1 million in cash ? along with no debt.

The Democratic National Committee brought in $4.3 million in January and ended the month with $4.7 million in cash.

But the DNC is carrying a large debt of $20.7 million, down slightly from the end of the year. Democrats racked up the debt while helping President Barack Obama hold onto the White House.

Party committees filed monthly financial reports Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-20-US-Political-Fundraising/id-59f72cf676d2432a9457f12260009900

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University of Wisconsin Badger Band to perform at Greendale H.S.

GREENDALE (WITI) -- The University of Wisconsin Badger Band will perform at Greendale High School Saturday, February 23rd.

The performance will feature Camp Randall favorites and halftime selections from the 2012-2013 Rose Bowl season.

The show will take place inside the Greendale High School gym at 7 p.m.

Doors for the event open at 6 p.m.

For ticket information, click here.

Source: http://southwest.fox6now.com/news/events/170688-university-wisconsin-badger-band-perform-greendale-hs

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PS4 Is Sony?s Last Stand, And It?s Wasting It On A Tired Strategy That Ignores How The Gamer Is Changing

Sony's PlayStation 4 made its grand debut today in a presentation with all the theatrical flair to be expected from an electronics company that's also a media company that's also a producer and publisher of blockbuster video games. But the pomp hides a hurting heart, and it didn't show off anything that resembles medecine for the company's ailments at today's show.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6-BWJUrYOvQ/

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Orleans Parish School Board president fails to win support for controversial moves

In the first full Orleans Parish School Board meeting of 2013, new President Ira Thomas tried to exercise his power on several fronts. In the end, though, all of his controversial moves were blocked.

Thomas filed an agenda item to nullify and renegotiate interim Superintendent Stan Smith's contract; instead, board members voted to review and then probably ratify that contract. Second, his attempt to void the contract of Deputy Superintendent for Charter Schools Kathleen Padian died when no other board member would support it. Finally, even though Thomas blocked a key tax-credit item from being added to the agenda, three board members went through the necessary procedure to get a special meeting called to address that issue Thursday.

Cynthia Cade, who was Thomas' closest ally on the school board in recent years, was out of town and unable to come to his aid.

Thomas joined the board in 2009 and won re-election in November. He represents eastern New Orleans and works as the police chief for Southern University at New Orleans. In January, the board elected him president unanimously in spite of several members' disagreement behind the scenes.?

Before Hurricane Katrina, Thomas was the head of security for the school board. He lost that job and sued the board for wrongful termination. Board attorney Ed Morris filed to get the suit dismissed last year after three years passed with no action on it.

Although Thomas objected to Padian's and Smith's appointments in May 2012 and has berated them at meetings, his proposals to nullify their contracts came as a surprise, added to the agenda at the last minute Monday evening.

Morris said he thought both contracts were invalid. In Padian's case, he said, the agenda item promoting her to deputy superintendent last year did not explicitly direct the board's staff to draw up a contract for her. Therefore, Morris said, the full board had never approved the contract the board's president at the time signed, rendering it invalid.

The issue with Smith's contract is that the board didn't OK all of its terms and conditions. The board set Smith's salary as interim superintendent but did not specify that when a permanent superintendent was hired Smith would return to his former position as chief financial officer, with a higher salary but no official car. Those financial terms should have gone back to the full board for approval, Morris said.

Board member Seth Bloom, a lawyer and one of those critical of Morris' arguments, asked why the attorney had not raised an objection at the time. "How did it get through (you) if it wasn't legal?" he asked.

Bloom questioned why the board couldn't simply fix any problems, and he filed a substitute motion to have the board look at Smith's contract, amend it if needed and then ratify it at a future meeting. That won the day over Thomas' more extreme measure to nullify and renegotiate the contract. Board Vice President Leslie Ellison and members Woody Koppel, Nolan Marshall Jr. and Sarah Newell Usdin voted in favor of Bloom's motion. Thomas abstained and Cade was absent.

On Padian's contract, Marshall attempted a compromise motion that would have voided her contract but then required Thomas, Ellison and Morris to negotiate a new one. That failed for lack of a majority, with Bloom, Koppel and Usdin voting against it. Then no one offered a motion to vote on Thomas' original item, rendering it dead. Thomas fumed at that, saying the board was sanctioning an illegal contract.

Former School Board President Thomas Robichaux, also a lawyer, said earlier Tuesday that the contract negotiations and signings for Padian and Smith had followed standard board procedure.

Padian's contract was discussed in a lengthy executive session -- a move that Caroline Roemer Shirley, head of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, said was illegal. The board did not let her speak further because she had submitted her "public comment" card too late.

Under the law, boards may discuss a matter behind closed doors if it's a personnel issue or if the board has received a "formal written demand" that threatens a lawsuit or implies a threat to sue, Louisiana Department of Education lawyer Joan Hunt said Tuesday. Padian told reporters she had not said or written anything indicating she might sue the board.

For personnel issues, Shirley said in an interview, the board is required to give the person to be discussed 24 hours' written notice and the option to have the matter discussed in open session instead.

Thomas also stood alone on the question of whether the board should approve about $2 million in tax credits for the new Wheatley School in Treme. The deal is set to close in the next 14 to 21 days -- if the OPSB signs the last papers this week. The major issue it needs to take care of is reauthorizing a corporation to receive the tax credits. The previous board created that corporation in the fall, but the decision has to be redone with the new board membership.

Usdin, Recovery School District Superintendent Patrick Dobard and representatives of several business and school reform groups argued that failing to check the final box on the project would not only take money away from kids but also embarrass the city.

"It will send an unfortunate message to investors nationwide" to stay away from New Orleans schools "because we cannot work together, OPSB and RSD," Dobard said.

Adding an item to the agenda at the meeting must be done by unanimous vote. Thomas cast the sole vote against adding the tax-credit item. He said he didn't understand why the board was being asked to allocate $22 million in order to get $2 million in credits. Usdin said that could be discussed if the item went on the agenda.

Despite Thomas' objections, the matter will be discussed Thursday instead. Usdin, Koppel and Bloom submitted a request for a special meeting; by board policy, if three members request a special meeting, it must be held.

The board approved new committee assignments with relatively little dissension. Usdin will chair the accountability committee, Ellison budget/finance, Bloom legal/legislative, Cade policy and Marshall property. Marshall will also chair the school building master plan oversight committee, which is a joint endeavor of the RSD and OPSB.

Source: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/02/orleans_parish_school_board_pr_2.html

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Oil and Gas Executive Sentenced to 2 Years Over Tax Fraud

Oil and Gas Executive Sentenced to 2 Years Over Tax Fraud
Novi Setuningsih | February 18, 2013

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The president director of local oil and gas services company Mutiara Virgo, Johnny Basuki, was sentenced to two years in jail on Monday over a fraudulent tax deduction that robbed state coffers of Rp 125.7 billion ($13 million).

Johnny was also ordered to pay Rp 100 million in fines, or serve an extra three months in jail. The sentence is less than the three years in prison and Rp 250 million in fines sought by prosecutors.

Johnny was found guilty of giving Rp 6.63 billion in bribes to then tax officer Herly Isdiharsono in order to reduce the company?s 2003 and 2004 tax obligations from a total of Rp 128.7 billion to a mere Rp 1.6 billion in 2003 and Rp 1.4 billion in 2004.

?[We] declare that defendant Johnny Basuki is proven validly and convincingly guilty of a corruption crime,? chief judge Sudjatmiko read out the verdict at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court.

?The defendant made other people, in this case Herly, rich. This was to make Herly do or not do something in his capacity as a tax officer,? judge Sofialdi added.

Prosecutors are seeking eight years in prison for Herly, a former officer with a Jakarta tax office who is standing trial separately over the same case.

Suara Pembaruan, JG

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/oil-and-gas-executive-sentenced-to-2-years-over-tax-fraud/572427

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The Women?s Fund of Southwest Florida expands leadership

Amanda Cross and G. Helen Athan have joined the Board of Directors of The Women?s Fund of Southwest Florida. Both new directors bring extensive experience to the board and a passion for supporting women?s issues.

G. Helen Athan is a shareholder of Grant Fridkin Pearson, P.A. in Naples, Fla. and has practiced law in Southwest Florida since 1989. She has an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Best Lawyers in America. She has extensive experience in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate law, including acquisition, development, financing, title and leasing, and business organizations and transactions. Community involvement includes:

?

• Education Foundation of Collier County, Inc., former Member of the Board of Directors and Conversation Leader for Connect NOW Initiative
• Substance Abuse Coalition of Collier County, Member of ?Board of Directors
• Ave Maria Law School, Adjunct Professor in Commercial Systems, Spring 2012
• Leadership Collier, Class of 2004
• St. Katherine?s Greek Orthodox Church, Scholarship Committee
• Collier County Bar Association, Real Estate Section, past Chair
• Hospice of Naples, Inc., former Director

Amanda Cross? professional career began in the computer industry as co-founder of CWC Software. In 1990, Amanda moved to Sanibel with husband, W J Torpey, a saltwater fly-fishing guide and their young daughter, Lindsay. A few years later Lindsay developed a life threatening electrical problem in her heart, which was diagnosed at Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. After a friend's infant son was diagnosed with cancer, Amanda co-founded Sanibel-Captiva Cares (SCC) to raise money and awareness for Golisano Children?s Hospital of Southwest Florida. To date, more than $4 million has been donated to the hospital by SCC. She is now involved in the capital campaign to build a freestanding facility for? Golisano Children?s Hospital of Southwest Florida on the Health Park Campus. Other notable services, achievements and recognitions include:

• Gulfshore Life 2006 Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser
• Canterbury School (Fort Myers) trustee for 15 years
• Currently serves on the boards of these organizations:
  • Lee Memorial Health System Foundation
  • Harvard Club of Lee County
  • Democratic Club of the Islands
  • Women's issues:
    • Member, League of Women Voters of Sanibel
    • Supporter, EMILY's List and Ruth's List to elect women to state and national political offices
    • Trustee, recently endowed family foundation whose mission will focus primarily on women

The mission of The Women?s Fund of Southwest Florida is to raise money?through federal and state grants, and relationships with individual and corporate donors, and employ a strategic grant-making model to fund programs and organizations that address the special,?critical needs of women and girls in Southwest Florida.

For more information about The Women?s Fund of Southwest Florida visit http://www.womensfundflorida.org? or email contact@womensfundflorida.org. Also, follow The Women?s Fund on facebook.com/floridawomen and on twitter.com/twfofswfl.

Source: http://pitchengine.com/prioritymarketingswfl/thewomensfundofsouthwestfloridaexpandsleadership

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A Night of Intrigue with Electa Rome Parks - Feb 19,2013

On his show, Comedian Rodney Perry covers arts and entertainment, everything from comedy and politics to music and acting, with his signature comedic slant.

MashUp Radio is a 30-minute podcast that discusses the fusion of technology, life, culture and science. Host Peter Biddle, engineer and executive for Intel?s Atom Software, dishes up a thought-provoking discussion.

Joy Keys provides her listeners with insight to improve their lives mentally, physically, monetarily and emotionally. Past guests on the show have included Meshell Nedegeocello, Blair Underwood, in addition to an impressive list of CEOs, humanitarians and authors.

Host Barry Moltz gets small businesses unstuck. He has founded and run small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years. This is a business radio show where he shares all the craziness of small business. It?s that craziness that actually makes it exciting, interesting and totally unpredictable.

The Bottom Line Sports Show is hosted by former NBA stars Penny Hardaway, Charles Oakley, Mateen Cleaves. Tune in to get the inside scoop on what's happening in sports today.

Deepak Chopra Radio provides an online forum for compelling and thought provoking conversations on success, love, sexuality and relationships, well-being and spirituality.

Hits Radio covers basketball, sports culture and entertainment with past guests including Jason Kidd, Robin Lundberg and Chris Herren.

Listeners get an earful on The Halli Casser-Jayne Show, Talk Radio for Fine Minds. Whether it?s the current political cocktail or the latest must-read award-winning book, Halli tackles all topics and likes to stir ? and sometimes shakes ? things up.

Official Internet radio show of forthcoming epic paranormal investigation book by Eric Olsen and "Haunted Housewife" Theresa Argie.

Award-winning World Footprints is a leading voice in socially responsible travel and lifestyle. Hosts Ian & Tonya celebrate culture and heritage and bring a unique voice to the world of travel.

Football Reporters Online is a group of veteran football experts in the fields of coaching, scouting, talent evaluation, and writing/broadcasting/media placement. Combined, the group brings well over 100 years of expertise in sports.

Host John Martin interviews the nation's leading entrepreneurs and small biz experts to educate small business owners on how to be successful. Past guests have included Emeril Lagasse and Guy Kawasaki.

The Movie Geeks share their passion for the art through interviews with the stars of and creative minds behind your favorite flicks and pay tribute to big-screen legends. From James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola to Ellen Burstyn and Robert Duvall, The Geeks have got'em all.

Sylvia Global presents global conversations pertaining to women, wealth, business, faith and philanthropy. Sylvia has interviewed an eclectic mix from CEOs and musicians to fashion designers and philanthropists including Randolph Duke and Ne-Yo.

Mr. Media host Bob Andelman goes one-on-one with the hottest, most influential minds from the worlds of film, TV, music, comedy, journalism and literature. That means A-listers like Kirk Douglas, Christian Slater, Kathy Ireland, Rick Fox, Chris Hansen and Jackie Collins.

Paula Begoun, best-selling author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, separates fact from fiction on achieving a radiant, youthful complexion at any age. She?s regularly joined by health and beauty experts who offer the latest on keeping your skin in tip-top shape.

Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/readyoulater/2013/02/19/a-night-of-intrigue-with-electa-rome-parks

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Bathroom remodel: walls and floor prep - DIY Home Improvement ...

Hello eveyone,

I plan to remodel my bathroom in a 30 year old house. I moved to the States couple years ago and amazed how far you can go on your own whe repairing your house! So I decided to give it a try, and while researching found this fantastic forum.

I have a bathroom with painted sheetrock walls and vinyl floor. I want to tile walls top to bottom, to tile floor and to replace a tub. Optionally, I was thinking of installing heated floor as
well. Tub replacement I plan to leave to professionals, the rest I want to tackle myself. Also, I want to replace the door. I have a pretty good idea on how to lay tile (did it before), but the walls and floor preparation is new to me.

The course of action:
1. Remove all fixtures, vanity, toilet, door and door trim (pretty straightforward)

2. Cut the sheetrock with circuliar saw (1/4 in?) as close as possible to the ceiling. I don't want to do anything with the ceiling, and not sure how to remove the rest of sheetrock. Would that
work? Also, this will mean that topmos tile will partially be adhered to sheetrock. Is it reasonable to do?

3. Remove vinyl and see the condition of underlayment. When I look in the register opening I see there is a vinyl, some thin layer under it, then two layers of plywood (underlaynet and subfloor).
From crawl space I see that there are patches under the bathroom, so I suspect that subfloor may need a repair. How do I repair the subfloor? My thinking is to use a circuliar saw to cut out the
piece of damaged subfloor up to nearest joists, and replace it with the neew piece of plywood. In this case, do I need to leave 1/8 in between old and new pieces of subfloor? Do I need to seal this seam? What if I don't
have an accessible joist? Do I make it up from the crawl space by using a 2x4?

4. Important: now my vinyl is flush with carpet in the hallway, if I remove vinyl,install backerboard on top of underlayment and put tile, bathroom floor will be considerably higher. How can I avoid
that? Can I remove plywood underlayment and place a backerboard instead? Or I have to keep the underlayment intact? If underlayment can be removed, I may consider adding heated floors, otherwise it is goingto be too high.

5. Install the new bath (wouldn't do it myself)

6. (Optional) Install and hook up heated floors (hook up done by electrician).

7. Install vapor barrier (polyethilene). Tuck the top part under sheetrock. Should it go under the tub lip?

8. Install floor backerboard. Spread adhesive thinly on subfloor/underlayment and put backerboards.Leave 1/4 in on perimeter, 1/8 in between the lists. Screw backerboards to the subfloor after
placing all sheets. Do I need to screw to joists, or just screwing to subfloor is good enough? If I need to screw to joists, I need to make sure that seams are on the joists then. Last step is to seal the seams.Also, is it easy to do holes in backerboard (e.g. for toilet pipe?)

9. Install wall backerboard (screw to the studs). On the walls, top is tight with sheetrock (see point 2), not sure about the bottom. Should it be 1/4 inch from subfloor (so that it is level with floor backerboard?) Wall backerboard should be 1/4in from the tub lip.

10. Install new door casing and trim. (Which is a task by itself, but not a subject of this post)

Phew, thanks for reading that far. It seems at this point I will be ready to start putting tile. Does the sequence of steps above makes sense and do I miss any steps? Any feedback is highly appreciated!

Source: http://www.houserepairtalk.com/f45/bathroom-remodel-walls-floor-prep-15571/

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Egypt president's son drops government job after furore

CAIRO (Reuters) - One of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's sons withdrew from taking up a job with a firm affiliated to the civil aviation ministry on Sunday amid media accusations of nepotism.

The decision by Omar Mursi to forgo a human resources post at the Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation showed the role of independent media in holding leaders to account in the new Egypt, following the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Mubarak was widely believed to have been grooming his own son, Gamal, a businessman, to succeed him. Gamal and his brother Alaa are in jail awaiting trial on charges of corruption and illegal land dealings.

Sources at the ministry said the monthly salary for Omar Mursi's position would not have exceeded 900 Egyptian pounds ($130) but activists said it was unfair for the president's son, who graduated last year, to be given a government post when millions of citizens have been jobless for years.

Activists threatened on Sunday to protest outside the civil aviation ministry if the president's son took up his post.

On his Facebook page, Omar Mursi wrote: "I took a test for the position knowing I would be attacked and rumours and lies would be spread about me ... Yet I chose not to complete the paperwork to take up this position.

"The question remains 'How can I find a job in my dear country Egypt?' he said. ($1 = 6.7303 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Shaimaa Fayed; Editing by Jason Webb)

Copyright ? 2013 Reuters

Source: http://thestar.com.my.feedsportal.com/c/33048/f/534559/s/28a8ce59/l/0Lthestar0N0Bmy0Cnews0Cstory0Basp0Dfile0F0C20A130C20C180Cworldupdates0Cegypt0Epresidents0Eson0Edrops0Egovernment0Ejob0Eafter0Efurore0Gsec0FWorldupdates/story01.htm

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Nashville&#39;s music industry picks up lucrative &#39;sync&#39; deals from TV ...

Demand exploded for The Lumineers' song ?Ho Hey? after it appeared in an episode of CW?s ?Hart of Dixie? last year. (photo: Shelley Mays / File / The Tennessean)

The opening chords begin playing just as Barney gets down on one knee to ask for Robin?s hand in marriage. By the time she says, ?Yes? and they embrace for a kiss, the first verse of ?Let Your Heart Hold Fast? is under way.

For fans of CBS? ?How I Met Your Mother,? the engagement of two of the show?s lead characters was a momentous occasion. It was just as important to Fort Atlantic, the band whose star rose after its song was used in the scene.

?We had almost 400,000 views and 15,000 downloads of the track in the week following,? said Paul Roper, president of the band?s Nashville-based label, Dualtone Records. ?We didn?t have a ton going on before that placement. Now we have a story we?re going to take and tell to the rest of the industry, especially radio.?

This strategy of placing musical works on television shows and in motion pictures, commercials and video games is becoming an ever more important tool for record labels, artists, songwriters and music publishers grappling with how to make money on a product that customers have become less willing to buy.

?It?s a great revenue driver and that?s one of the reasons it?s become so popular for publishers and labels and artists,? Roper said. ?It can really shine a light on a developing artist and on a key song.?

Commercials for cars, big-budget love stories and television shows like ABC?s ?Nashville? provide opportunities for Nashville artists, songwriters, labels and publishers to squeeze new dollars from the sluggish market for music by selling what are known as ?synchronization rights,? sometimes for hundreds of thousands of dollars per use.

Nashville and Buddy Miller picked up synchronization rights from the ABC show ?Nashville.? (photo: Samuel M. Simpkins / File / The Tennessean)

?It is the one area that is growing and you actually have a little bit of control over your destiny,? said Kent Earls, executive vice president and general manager of Universal Music Publishing Group. ?The decline of CD sales ? I can?t do anything about that. But actively pitching our music for synchronization use, we make it a priority here. It?s a big priority for us.?

Total sales rise

Overall music sales, which include albums and singles in digital and physical formats, climbed 3.1 percent to 1.66 billion units in 2012 from 1.61 billion in 2011. The growth was buoyed by sales of digital singles, according to the Nielsen Co. & Billboard?s 2012 Music Industry Report. Meanwhile, fewer people bought albums, the more expensive product. Those sales fell 4.4 percent.

That dynamic sets the stage for investment in synchronization. It is difficult to track the rise or fall in sync licensing, because unlike mechanical and performance rights, there are no pre-established rates for synchronization rights. They are, instead, negotiated on an individual basis between the music publisher and the visual production company, in most cases.

Synchronization is not a new area for the music industry. But it has expanded in the past decade as the once hard line between musicians, writers and composers who work exclusively for television and those who don?t has rapidly eroded.

?We?ve gradually started to move towards music directors really looking out for outside songs and songs from other categories,? Braun said. ?Now, the music directors for these shows are priding themselves on going out and finding interesting and independent music to sync with these shows to really give the shows their own identity and uniqueness.?

There is dual benefit in selling synchronization rights for recording artists, record labels and music creators and publishers. First, the one-time payment for use provides an easy revenue source. But connecting a song with a visual product also has the potential to drive interest to both known and unknown artists and increase sales of their music.

Grammy-nominated band The Lumineers didn?t have any music for sale when its song ?Ho Hey? appeared in an episode of CW?s ?Hart of Dixie? last year. That didn?t stop fans from trying to buy the song.

?It really created this frenzy of activity online as people were clamoring for a place they could find the song,? Roper said. ?The only thing available was a live performance of the band performing a house show. The social media views shot up to a couple hundred thousand. That was a great indicator for us that we had something special here.?

?What we saw was that people were almost rabid about trying to find this song,? Roper said. ?It was a great building block for us to use as a catalyst.?

New revenue source

Even old songs are finding a place in the synched world. Publishers are particularly opening their song catalogs to advertisers. A Volkswagen commercial featuring Johnny Cash?s ?Dirty Old Egg Suckin? Dog? was a ?really big earner? for Universal, Earls said.

?Big-budget movies is what you shoot for,? said Earls, whose company recently has placed a Keith Urban song in a major motion picture. ?TV shows pay pretty good, but not nearly as much as a big budget movie and advertising.?

Such familiar songs can command six-figure payments in major advertising campaigns, Braun said.

With so much cash on the line, artists are vigilant about protecting their music from misuse. Nashville rock band The Black Keys, for instance, has sued The Home Depot, Pizza Hut and Pinnacle Entertainment for using its songs in advertisements for their products.

Nashville artists in particular have recently found success selling their rights for commercial, television and film use, Braun said. Historically country music hadn?t been considered sync-friendly, Earls said.

?This used to be a Los Angeles phenomenon. The sync world was pretty much concentrated in L.A.,? Braun said. ?But so many writers are coming to Nashville from L.A. now, that the word has gotten out and it has become a Nashville thing.?

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Source: http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2013/02/16/nashvilles-music-industry-picks-up-lucrative-sync-deals-from-tv-movies/

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CFR's Oscar Party at Cobb Energy Centre

From a press release:

Oscar Sunday is almost here and The Center for Family Resources (CFR) is hosting the only officially sanctioned Oscar party in the state of Georgia at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.?

Sunday, February 24, 2013, John Bachmann, ABC news anchor will emcee the evening as city officials, fortune 500 companies, celebrities and community members celebrate The 85^th Annual Oscar awards.?

The CFR, a non-profit organization based in Marietta, is in its 13^th year of hosting the event where a live auction featuring high end trips to foreign locations, dinner with University of Georgia athletes will be up for bidding.?

This black tie affair brings community members together to support a non-profit that helps homeless families become self-sufficient and work toward making them contributing members of society. In past years, more than $300,000 was raised for the CFR.?

Sponsors include Signature Host, WellStar Health System, celebrated Icon?s, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Genuine Parts Company, Georgia Power, Liberty Furniture and Moore Colson.?

Oscar Experience, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? grassroots program that enables local charities to host glamorous Oscar? viewing parties and raise money for their organizations, kicks off its 20th year in 2012.? Since its inception in 1994, the program has generated more than $30 million in funding for a wide spectrum of charitable organizations ? every cent staying within the community where it was raised.?

Since 1960, CFR has helped thousands of low-income families with temporary financial and food assistance, employment, education, and housing services.? Guided by organizational values of Family, Integrity, Results, Service and Teamwork, the staff at CFR is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty by helping families acquire the resources they need to become independent and self-sufficient.?

For more information about the evening, please call Arielle Haynes at 813.966.2444 or via email at ArielleHaynes@thecfr.org.

Source: http://eastcobb.patch.com/articles/cfr-s-oscar-party-at-cobb-energy-centre

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Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test: source

Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test: source US-KOREA-NORTH-NUCLEAR:Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test: source

By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks with Pyongyang, said a source with direct knowledge of the message.

Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source who has direct access to the top levels of government in both Beijing and Pyongyang.

The isolated regime conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, drawing global condemnation and a stern warning from the United States that it was a threat and a provocation.

"It's all ready. A fourth and fifth nuclear test and a rocket launch could be conducted soon, possibly this year," the source said, adding that the fourth nuclear test would be much larger than the third at an equivalent of 10 kilotons of TNT.

The tests will be undertaken, the source said, unless Washington holds talks with North Korea and abandons its policy of what Pyongyang sees as attempts at regime change.

North Korea also reiterated its long-standing desire for the United States to sign a final peace agreement with it and establish diplomatic relations, he said. The North remains technically at war with both the United States and South Korea after the Korean war ended in 1953 with a truce.

Initial estimates of this week's test from South Korea's military put its yield at the equivalent of 6-7 kilotons, although a final assessment of yield and what material was used in the explosion may be weeks away.

North Korea's latest test, its third since 2006, prompted warnings from Washington and others that more sanctions would be imposed on the isolated state. The U.N. Security Council has only just tightened sanctions on Pyongyang after it launched a long-range rocket in December.

The North is banned under U.N. sanctions from developing missile or nuclear technology after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

North Korea worked to ready its nuclear test site, about 100 km (60 miles) from its border with China, throughout last year, according to commercially available satellite imagery. The images show that it may have already prepared for at least one more test, beyond Tuesday's subterranean explosion.

"Based on satellite imagery that showed there were the same activities in two tunnels, they have one tunnel left after the latest test," said Kune Y. Suh, a nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Analysis of satellite imagery released on Friday by specialist North Korea website 38North showed activity at a rocket site that appeared to indicate it was being prepared for an upcoming launch (http://38north.org/2013/02/tonghae021413/).

NORTH 'NOT AFRAID' OF SANCTIONS

President Barack Obama pledged after this week's nuclear test "to lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats" and diplomats at the U.N. Security Council have already started discussing potential new sanctions.

The North has said the test this week was a reaction to what it said was "U.S. hostility" following its December rocket launch. Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at developing technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"(North) Korea is not afraid of (further) sanctions," the source said. "It is confident agricultural and economic reforms will boost grain harvests this year, reducing its food reliance on China."

North Korea's isolated and small economy has few links with the outside world apart from China, its major trading partner and sole influential diplomatic ally.

China signed up for sanctions after the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests and for a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in January to condemn the latest rocket launch. However, Beijing has stopped short of abandoning all support for Pyongyang.

Sanctions have so far not discouraged North Korea from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, analysts said.

"It is like watching the same movie over and over again," said Lee Woo-young, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

"The idea that stronger sanctions make North Korea stop developing nuclear programs isn't effective in my view."

The source with ties to Beijing and Pyongyang said China would again support U.N. sanctions. He declined to comment on what level of sanctions Beijing would be willing to endorse.

"When China supported U.N. sanctions ... (North) Korea angrily called China a puppet of the United States," he said. "There will be new sanctions which will be harsh. China is likely to agree to it," he said, without elaborating.

He said however that Beijing would not cut food and fuel supplies to North Korea, a measure that it reportedly took after a previous nuclear test.

He said North Korea's actions were a distraction for China's leadership, which was concerned the escalations could inflame public opinion in China and hasten military build-ups in the region.

The source said that he saw little room for compromise under North Korea's youthful new leader, Kim Jong-un. The third Kim to rule North Korea is just 30 years old and took over from his father in December 2011.

He appears to have followed his father, Kim Jong-il, in the "military first" strategy that has pushed North Korea ever closer to a workable nuclear missile at the expense of economic development.

"He is much tougher than his father," the source said.

(Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Bendeich)

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