Friday, October 26, 2012

Presidential election to pass $2B fundraising mark

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures as he speaks at a campaign rally at Worthington Steel, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, in Worthington, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures as he speaks at a campaign rally at Worthington Steel, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, in Worthington, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

President Barack Obama playfully jokes around with the way election official Marie Holmes, left, looked over his drivers license during early voting, in the 2012 election at the Martin Luther King Community Center, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(AP) ? The 2012 presidential campaign was expected Thursday to pass the $2 billion mark in fundraising, according to accounting statements submitted to the government, thanks to an outpouring of cash from both ordinary citizens and the wealthiest Americans hoping to influence the selection of the country's next leader.

The eye-popping figure puts this election on track to be the costliest in history, fueled by a campaign finance system vastly altered by the proliferation of "super" political committees that are bankrolling a barrage of TV ads in battleground states.

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney had brought in more than $1.5 billion through the end of September, according to previous fundraising reports submitted before the final pre-election accounting statements were due Thursday night. Obama hadn't yet disclosed his fundraising for early October, but Romney's campaign said it raised $111.8 million in the first two weeks. Added to that: more than $230 million in donations involving super PACs since 2011.

The largest of those were two pro-Romney groups. American Crossroads, a Republican-leaning super PAC with ties to former President George W. Bush's longtime political counselor Karl Rove, reported raising at least $68 million through September. Restore Our Future, founded by former Romney aides, reported raising $110 million so far. Priorities USA, a pro-Obama group founded by two former aides to the president, reported raising $50 million through last month.

The $2 billion fundraising figure doesn't include nearly $130 million spent on political ads by non-profit groups that aren't required to file campaign finance reports or disclose their donors. Such so-called social welfare organizations are governed by tax laws, not election laws, although they are often affiliated with established super PACs.

Presidential candidates in 2008 raised more than $1.8 billion in inflation-adjusted figures. This time, new factors have contributed to the sharp escalation in the campaign money chase.

This year marked the first time that both major party candidates opted out from the public financing system established to set limits on how much a presidential candidate can raise and spend. Both Obama and Romney would have been eligible for about $100 million in taxpayer money to support their campaigns through the general election, but both gambled ? correctly ? that they could raise and spend far more.

In 2008, Obama became the first presidential contender to refuse all public financing while his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, accepted the government funds. The lopsided result ? Obama outspent McCain by more than 2-to-1 in the general election ? effectively ended public funding as an option for serious candidates.

With the 2012 election so tight, both Obama and Romney have spent considerable time at high-dollar fundraising events courting wealthy donors. Romney last month lamented the time spent fundraising rather than speaking to larger groups of voters, saying "fundraising is a part of politics when your opponent decides not to live by the federal spending limits."

Both Obama and Romney have raised considerable cash from small donors, too, especially the president. His campaign reported that more than 2 million donors have contributed at least $427 million to his campaign.

Federal election regulators have raised the limit on individual contributions to candidates, which means campaigns can solicit more money from donors than they have in the past. Individual donors can now give a total of $5,000 in the primary and general elections to a candidate, compared to just $2,000 in 2000.

Michael Toner, a Republican campaign finance lawyer and former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said the close race between Obama and Romney and the sharply polarized electorate have also played a role in accelerating the dash for dollars.

"I don't know any campaign manager who thinks they have too much money. In this political 50-50 environment you can't ever have enough," Toner said. "Every last million could make the difference in who is elected."

But the emergence of super PACs and other outside groups, unleashed partly by the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court in 2010, has done more than anything else to reshape the contours of presidential campaign fundraising. A handful of federal court cases have broadly eased campaign finance regulations, allowing corporations and wealthy individuals to spend unlimited sums. Most of the money has been funneled to super PACs, which can raise and spend money on behalf of candidates as long as they don't coordinate expenditures or strategy with the campaign.

"The distinctive factor in this election is the outside money being spent and the corrupting money financing it," said Fred Wertheimer, a longtime campaign finance reform advocate. "It's a symbol of the disastrous campaign finance system we have and the undue influence relatively few well-financed individuals and interest groups now have over government decisions.

Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is the top super PAC donor this year. Adelson, a billionaire, has contributed more than $40 million to Republican super PACs, including those backing Romney.

___

Fouhy reported from New York.

Follow Gillum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jackgillum and Fouhy at http://twitter.com/bfouhy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-25-Campaign%20Money/id-1d7a8b8120e24490831c9336a2198941

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

'Evil Dead' Trailer: Five Callbacks To The Original

First red-band and NSFW trailer for the horror remake piles on the gore.
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with additional reporting by Josh Wigler


Jessica Lucas in "Evil Dead"
Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696180/evil-dead-trailer.jhtml

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Heaven Is Real, and I Saw It, Scientist Says

It's dinnertime at the Alexander home, in Lynchburg, Va.

Holley Alexander is serving chicken curry, 14-year-old Bond is hungry after soccer and the dad, Dr. Eben Alexander, leads the family in prayer.

In this home, saying grace is different these days. This family has been touched by a medical miracle -- and maybe more.

"It was impossible after impossible after impossible that all these things happened," Alexander said in an interview with "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET

Alexander, a Harvard neurosurgeon, nearly died four years ago when a ferocious E. coli meningitis infection attacked his brain and plunged him deep into a week-long coma. Brain scans showed his entire cortex -- the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, memory and understanding -- was not functioning. Doctors gave him little chance to live and told his family that if he did survive he'd probably be brain-damaged for the rest of his life.

"Nurses would come in, and they would pull his eyelids back, shine in the flashlight, and his eyes were just off and cocked," Holley Andersen said. "It's just like no one was there."

Against all odds, Alexander woke up a week after being stricken. But he believes Holley was right: He wasn't there.

Near-Death Survivors Explain 'Life on Other Side' Watch Video

Deep in coma, his brain infected so badly only the most primitive parts were working, Alexander claimed he experienced something extraordinary: a journey to Heaven.

"In every sense, of the word that's what my experience showed me," Alexander said.

"My first memories from when I was deep inside: I had no language, all my earthly memories were gone," he said. "I had no body awareness at all. I was just a speck of awareness in kind of a dark, murky environment, in roots or vessels or something. And I seemed to be there for a very long time -- I would say years.

"I was rescued by this beautiful, spinning, white light that had a melody, an incredibly beautiful melody with it that opened up into a bright valley," he added, "an extremely verdant valley with blossoming flowers and a just incredible, rich, ultra-real world of indescribable complexity."

Alexander said there was a young woman who soared across time and space with him on a butterfly wing and gave him a message to take back from Heaven.

"She looked at me, and this was with no words, but the concepts came straight into mind: You are love; you are cherished; there's nothing you have to fear; there's nothing you can do wrong," he said.

God was there as a vast presence of love, Alexander said, and Alexander understood God through an orb of brilliant light.

"It was all of eternity and all of conscious existence," he said. "But it was this brilliant orb of light that was almost as necessary as a translator to bring in that message from the divine and the incredible."

After he recovered, Alexander, who was adopted, was shown a picture by his biological family of a sister he had never met or seen before. He recognized the sister as the young woman from Heaven.

"I looked up at that picture on my dresser that I had just got and I knew who my guardian angel was on the butterfly wing," he said. "It is the most profound experience I've ever had in this life."

Of course, many would call Alexander's experience a hallucination -- but not him.

"I know this is not a hallucination, not a dream, not what we call a confabulation," Alexander said. "I know that it really occurred, and it occurred outside of my brain."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/neuroscientist-sees-proof-heaven-week-long-coma/story?id=17555207

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A Brief History of Inventing Innovation - Rita McGrath - Harvard ...

With today's breathless enthusiasm for innovation, it's hard to remember when, as far as the management literature was concerned, innovation was something that guys in white coats who worked for companies like DuPont did in the R&D lab. Expanding an existing business into new corporate territory, or corporate venturing, was called "diversification," not innovation. It is also hard to remember that before the 1980s, very little in the way of empirical evidence existed as to what companies should expect when they ventured into new territory. We had little theory and even less evidence to guide us. Most decisions executives made were based on their own experience or intuition (to be charitable) or on the basis of their pet projects and personal biases (to be a little less charitable).

E. Ralph Biggadike's breakthrough research on the realities of corporate venturing, reported in his 1979 HBR article, "The Risky Business of Diversification," therefore broke new ground by collecting actual data about what companies could expect as they explored new markets or extended their reach to new product categories. It was in the mold of many classic HBR pieces of the day ? using rigorous academic research to inform an interesting managerial question. Ralph used the then-new Profit Impact of Market Strategies (or PIMS) database and his own original research to create a sample of 68 ventures launched by 35 companies, mostly in industrial goods businesses. He examined the fates of these ventures (which had all survived for some time) to try to determine how long a company could expect to wait for them to be profitable, and how well they would ultimately do financially. One of his most significant conclusions was that "new ventures need, on the average, eight years before they reach profitability." Further, that it took another two to four years before the return on investment of the new businesses equated to returns from the existing businesses. At the time, interestingly, as now, executives often gave a fledgling business three years or so to prove themselves, after which they lost interest. It didn't make sense then, and makes even less sense now.

I first read Ralph's article about ten years after it was first published. I had gone back to school after eight years in management to begin my own Ph.D. program at the Wharton School. I was fascinated by what I'd seen of just how hard it is to get large-scale organizations to adapt. This was an era in which the leaders of American businesses were first being confronted with forces which would cause barriers to entry to erode, technologies to move faster, and competitors to come from unexpected places. Japanese companies were only the first of many that had expanded into U.S. markets with devastating impacts on American industries as varied as automobiles, steel, textiles, and heavy manufacturing. Innovation, or venturing, was slowly working its way onto the leadership agenda. Ralph's article set me on a path of trying to understand the quirky, often completely irrational, and of course uncertain, process of corporate venturing. It was one of the foundational pieces for my own longitudinal dissertation work on how companies build new capabilities.

A lot has changed since that article was published, and I had to smile upon re-reading it to revisit ideas that have evolved since then in their original, fresh, new-to-the-world form. One is the primacy of market share. For instance, Ralph was critical of what he called "timid" target-setting by venture leaders which caused them to target relatively modest market shares in their launch plans. He argued that his data suggested that aggressive entry would lead to more rapid profitability, as long as growth in revenue exceeded growth in expenses. Today, we might be more forgiving of an experimental approach to new markets, often under the rubric of a learning or options view. Our vocabulary has also changed. Today, we talk about venturing, new business development, and innovation and we don't limit ourselves to industrial firms extending their reach into new product categories, but to all kinds of companies exploring new business models. Today, the creation of entirely new categories is taking place at a clip that was unthinkable then.

Years after I first encountered his work, I encountered the man. After a successful career as an academic, and then a senior executive at Becton Dickinson, Ralph decided to explore rejoining academia and teaching at Columbia Business School for his next act. I was thrilled to be one of the faculty members selected to speak with him to see if there could be a good fit. Our conversation took place in 1994, the year after I myself joined the Columbia faculty. I recall his enthusiasm for the recently published book Built to Last; he described how energizing it had been for his company's senior executive team to think about the vision for the company in a decades-long timeframe and in terms of core purpose. Ralph did join Columbia and became one of the most beloved teachers in our MBA program and a highly popular faculty leader of our executive programs. He was a mentor to more junior people and a constant advocate for the importance of the job of the general manager to the future of their organizations. I was deeply saddened to learn last month that Ralph had passed away. The impact of his ideas, however, endures.
_____________________

HBR's 90th Anniversary: Why Management Matters

More >>

Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/10/a_brief_history_of_inventing_innovation.html

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Lockheed Martin raises forecast, earnings beat view again

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp , the largest U.S. weapons maker, on Wednesday posted an 11 percent increase in third-quarter earnings, beating expectations by a wide margin, and raised its full-year forecast.

Lockheed warned that revenues would ease slightly in 2013, pulled lower by a mid-single-digit decline in sales at its information systems and global solutions business.

It raised its 2012 earnings forecast to a range of $8.20 to $8.40 from a range of $7.90 to $8.10.

It said business segment operating profit would remain above 11 percent next year.

Lockheed, which receives more than 80 percent of its revenue from the U.S. government, said its preliminary 2013 forecast assumed that Congress and the White House would avert additional defense cuts that are due to take effect next year.

If the cuts go into effect, the company said they would have a material effect on its results.

Net earnings per share rose 11 percent to $2.21 in the third quarter, from $1.99 in the year-earlier period, but they fell from $2.38 in the second quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S expected third-quarter earnings per share of $1.85 on revenues of $11.17 billion.

Lockheed, which builds F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, Aegis missiles and new coastal or littoral warships, said revenues dropped 2 percent to $11.87 billion in the third quarter ended September 30, from $12.1 billion in the third quarter of 2011.

Chief Executive Bob Stevens, who retires at the end of the year, said the company's surprisingly good third-quarter operating results reflected a "relentless focus on affordability and program execution."

Lockheed said cash from operations during the quarter reached $1.6 billion, compared with $551 million after pension contributions of $960 million during the third quarter of 2011.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-martin-raises-forecast-earnings-beat-view-again-113303640--finance.html

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Italian earthquake case is no anti-science witch-hunt

Manslaughter verdicts for six seismologists highlight the need for scientists to speak for themselves

It is easy to feel outrage at the jail terms handed down to six Italian seismologists and a civil servant this week. How could anyone hope to have predicted the earthquake that devastated L'Aquila in 2009?

That is the rallying cry, but failure to predict the quake is not, in fact, what the seven men have been convicted of. The prosecution made it crystal clear all along that their case was about poor risk communication; it was built on an accusation of giving out "inexact, incomplete and contradictory information".

On this charge, there was clearly a case to answer. Employed by Italy's Major Hazards Committee to assess earthquake risks and communicate them to the government and the public, the seismologists got the science right, but left the job of public communication to a civil protection official with no specialist knowledge of seismology. His statement to the press was, to put it mildly, a grossly inaccurate reflection of the situation: "The scientific community tells us there is no danger, because there is an ongoing discharge of energy. The situation looks favourable." At this point, the seismologists should have stepped in. But they did not, and the message stuck.

Of course, it is debatable whether this neglect merits a manslaughter conviction and six-year jail term. That is a matter for the Italian justice system. The appeals have already started.

But there are broader issues to consider. Many commentators argue that the L'Aquila verdict will have a chilling effect on the provision of scientific advice in Italy and beyond. That is clearly a concern worth taking seriously.

However, it should also encourage scientists who take on those roles to think long and hard about the responsibilities that come with them. It is tempting for scientists to defer communication with the public to others who are supposedly "experts" in doing so. But this approach often leads to confusion, as evidenced by a litany of failures in the past: BSE, vaccines, genetically modified crops and many more.

This cannot continue. Scientists valued for their expertise should speak for themselves rather than letting others speak for them. Lives are at stake.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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The IPKat: Journeys in Legal Spacetime: Duration of a postmortem ...

Earlier this year the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was granted permission by a Californian court to proceed to trial in an action against multinational car manufacturers General Motors (GM) for using Albert Einstein's image in an advert, on the grounds that the University may have inherited the physicist's [and patent examiner, let's not forget] postmortem publicity rights. Last week the court ruled on the issue in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem v General Motors LLC. Einstein, 'the symbol and embodiment of genius', had a close relationship with the University, established in 1925, and sat on its first Board of Governors along with Sigmund Freud and many other impressive notables (Merpel wasn't alive yet). In 1982, the Estate of Albert Einstein transferred all literary rights and property to the institution as required by Einstein's will, although no right of publicity was expressly mentioned nor had he claimed any monetary compensation for the use of his persona in his lifetime. Jump to November 2009, when General Motors used an image of Einstein in an advertisement for a Terrain vehicle in People magazine. The advert depicted his face digitally pasted onto a 'muscled physique' tattooed with the famous mass-energy equivalence equation and the written message "Ideas are sexy too". In 2010, the University brought suit in California against GM for this unauthorised use of Einstein's image. However, before the University could seek to prove Einstein's intent to transfer a right of publicity at trial, it was first necessary for the court to determine a narrow point of law - what is the duration of a postmortem right of publicity recognised in the common law of New Jersey?

The issue arose due to the operation of the general choice of law principle that a property right is governed by the law of the property owner's domicile. As the right of publicity is a property right and Einstein was domiciled in New Jersey at the date of his death in 1955, the law of New Jersey governed the dispute. However, the question of duration had not been addressed by the courts or legislature of New Jersey, and so the California federal court was asked to rule on what New Jersey's highest court would likely determine to be the postmortem duration of that state's common law right of publicity.?

The court held that the New Jersey Supreme Court would likely find that the postmortem right endures for no more than 50 years after death. The determination was fatal to the claim. Einstein died in 1955, meaning that 2005 was the last year during which the University as rights holder could sue to enforce any right of publicity that it might have inherited.

Why, I hear the IPKat readers ask, did the court decide that the duration was 50 years in New Jersey, when the Californian Civil Code imposes a statutory 70 year limit (Cal. Civ. Code, s. 3344.1)? Well, notwithstanding the choice of law rules, the court sought to avoid an arbitrary ruling and so conducted a balancing exercise of all of the interests at stake, with particular emphasis being placed on the personal interest inherent in the commercial property right of publicity and the need to protect the public's freedom of expression;

  • The right of publicity broadly protects the commercial value of a person's identity to exploit, as well as preventing others from appropriating, their name, picture or likeness. As such, it is akin to intellectual property such as trade marks and copyright as being a legally enforceable commercial intangible property right. However, there remains an inherent personal interest in the right, which has its origins in the personal right of privacy: the protection of an individual's interest in personal dignity and autonomy. The personal interests at stake are therefore weakened after the death of the personality;
  • Despite copyright and the right of publicity being similar in requiring an act of creation, the distinguishing factors pointed away from a mechanical application of the current 70 year postmortem term for copyright protection. First, the right of publicity protects against personal and dignitary harms, whereas copyright protects against the reproduction, performance and display of recorded creative expressions; Secondly, the interest sought to be protected by the right of publicity is usually the byproduct of a different and earlier endeavour, whereas the protection of copyright is designed to encourage the future creation of works of art; Thirdly, the reasons for the 1998 extension of the federal Copyright Act to protect works for life plus 70 years (increased from 50 years) were specific to copyright protection and distinct from underlying policies common to copyright and a right of publicity: to harmonise the US and EU approaches to copyright protection and to promote the interests of the American entertainment industry;
  • The slight majority of states with statutory rights of publicity (courts in states that recognise a common law right have yet to rule on the issue) limit the duration to 50 years or less: 'Although this does not provide overwhelming support for such a length of time, it does tip the balance slightly in that direction'. [Tennessee unusually allows the right of publicity indefinitely, as long as the persona has commercial value, luckily for Mr Jack Daniels].
The court found that the overarching public policy concerns in enforcing IP rights (to balance an individual's right to benefit from their creative endeavours and the public's freedom of expression) extended to the right of publicity, and that it was likely that the New Jersey Supreme Court would balance these interests when determining the duration of the right. Relevant freedom of expression considerations included the 'potential pitfalls' that a postmortem duration longer than 50 years would potentially create such as an infinite curb on expression, and a decrease in the value of copyrighted works, such as photographs, by pitting one form of protected property against another.

The court concluded that Einstein's 'persona has become thoroughly ingrained in our cultural heritage. Now, nearly 60 years after his death, that persona should be freely available to those who seek to appropriate it is part of their own expression, even in tasteless ads'.

Of particular interest was the discussion of the impact of the 'dizzying explosion in the tools of communication' on the protection of rights such the right of privacy, the right of expression and the right of publicity:

'In the 57 years since Albert Einstein died, the means of communication have increased and so has the proclivity of people to use them frequently...New devices and platforms have been developed, including smart phones, personal computers, social networks, email, Twitter, blogs, etc. These technologies have caused a swift and dramatic, but still developing, impact on ordinary life. It has become a truism that their speed, their accessibility, and their popularity appear to have changed social norms regarding privacy and public expression. But it is not yet clear what this should mean for the protection of such rights as the right of privacy, the right of expression and the right of publicity. For example, on balance should the law increasingly protect people?s right of expression, now that we enjoy so many fora in which to broadcast our views? Similarly, should the law value the right of privacy less than before, given that many social media devotees, especially young people, are said to have little compunction about revealing intimate information about themselves? Conversely, should the law afford celebrities greater rights in controlling publicity about themselves, to protect against what appears to be a growing tendency of people to not just exalt but even to exploit the fame and celebrity of others? The Court does not profess to have answers to these questions, but what is clear is that since the full impact of these rapid changes remains uncertain, it would be imprudent to issue any ruling that strengthens (or at least lengthens) one right - that of the right of publicity - to the potentially significant detriment of these other rights'.?
What, then, does the future hold for the right of publicity? And has the development of communications technology really impacted the scope of the right so materially? Seeing as this is the second post over the past week or so where this Kat has had the pleasure of dipping her whiskers into the US legal principles relating to publicity rights (see here), she suspects that a jurisprudential wormhole has sprouted up that results in contemporaneous cases raising issues as to the impact of technology on intellectual property and associated rights existing in copyright's penumbra. Perhaps the answers are on the other side...all she needs to do is find the entrance.

Source: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2012/10/journeys-in-legal-spacetime-duration-of.html

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Drumming is the Latest Workout Fad | Hautemd.com

In the never ending quest to make exercise more fun and less work, new fitness fads periodically spring up around the nation. Recently Barre workouts and Zumba have brought dance into the fitness scene, and now Pound brings the closely linked musical skill to the gymnasium. The new workout, created by Kirsten Potenza and Cristina Peerenboom, combines cardio intervals, conditioning movement, and playing music?more specifically, drumming. According to Reuters, the two Californians came up with the classes to distract exercisers from the difficulty of the Pilates inspired moves with the fun of drumming on the floors, ceilings, and exercise balls. Pound workouts are featured on Potenza and Peerenboom?s website, and feature a well-rounded workout around 45 minutes in length split between warm-up, 40% standing, 40% seated, 10% laying workouts incorporating cardio and abdominal exercises. The duo hopes to release a Pound DVD next year.

Also coming onto the drums-as-fitness radar is Drums Alive, founded by dancer and aerobics instructor Carrie Ekins, a workout that marries aerobic dance and drumming. This workout sprung out of Ekin?s own rehabilitation program after a hip injury, and can by modified for people who can?t train while standing, have an injury, or for audiences as old as senior citizens and as young as kindergarteners. Tweaks in music, and cardio level can customize the class to people of all age groups and all fitness levels with the unifying thread of fun pounding the drumsticks. Reuters reported that workouts combining cardio movements (intervals or dance) with drumming are estimated to burn around 400 calories in a session, and physiologists agree that drumming as physical exercise may just be a (drum) stroke of genius for the musically inclined.

?

Source courtesy Reuters.

Source: http://www.hautemd.com/drumming-is-the-new-running/

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UK blue chips higher as ARM gains after strong earnings

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Source: http://www.adjingo.com/atv/free-ads-124008.html

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Average U.S. retail gas prices drop 8 cents in two weeks: survey

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Gunplay Under House Arrest After Paying $150,000 Bond

Rick Ross protégé faces armed robbery and assault charges.
By Rob Markman


Gunplay arrives at the Miami police department Thursday
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1695995/gunplay-house-arrest.jhtml

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Try This "Recipe" to Increase Productivity Over the Next Week

Try This "Recipe" to Increase Productivity Over the Next WeekIt's Monday morning. Is looking at your to-do list for the week overwhelming? Human Business Works CEO Chris Brogan presents this "recipe" to help you get more done over the next seven days and beyond (no cooking required).

Books like Getting Things Done are tireless bestsellers because we are buckling under the strain of our lives and our work load. We feel that we have more to deal with than ever before. But while that's true, it's also true that we act as our own worst enemy.

You Don't Realize You're Thwarting Your Own Chances

Let's look at what it takes to have optimum brain functionality:

  • Adequate rest. (How many hours did you sleep last night?)
  • A clear head. (How fast did you reach for your phone to check email, texts, social networks?)
  • A decent breakfast. (The number of people who don't eat within the first hour of waking up is staggering.)
  • A clear set of operating instructions. (Do you have any kind of template for how you'll arrange your months, weeks, days?)

Shortly after you wake up from a few hours of sleep (because you were catching up on blog reading and social networks and didn't realize the time), you grab your phone and read an email from an angry boss/customer/loved one. You have to rush to get dressed and out the door (we'll presume you showered), so you grab coffee and a croissant at the drive-through (if you work from home, who knows what you get). When you finally get to that "go" position at work, you flip open email and start there.

Does that describe you more often than not? Somewhat? Can you squint and see you?

You deserve so much better. And you can give it to yourself. And it doesn't take a whole lot of hard work. It does, however, take discipline and the willingness to set yourself up to succeed.

How to Get More Done: A Recipe

For the next 7 days, I want you to try this ritual as close to the details below as you can. Shoot for all seven days consistently, as it doesn't help if you start-and-stop. Ready?

Ingredients

  • No screens or radio after 9pm.
  • No phone first thing in the AM.
  • No news or radio first thing, either.
  • Right before bed, a notepad to jot nagging thoughts.
  • The willingness to try this for 7 days in a row.

Preparation

  1. At 9pm, have a glass of milk or almond milk or water, and a very small snack (preferably a small handful of nuts).
  2. Go to bed no later than 10 PM.
  3. Set your alarm for 6 AM(no snooze).
  4. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR PHONE OR LAPTOP OR TABLET OR TV OR RADIO.
  5. Upon waking, take the first 5 to 10 minutes and just breathe deeply (it's totally reasonable to do just five minutes?it took me weeks to get up to 10 minutes). If your family makes this hard, hide in the bathroom or a closet (not really joking).
  6. Get a light breakfast within the first 30 minutes of waking.
  7. If you have the time, get in a 15-20 minute brisk walk or work out. Whatever your morning will allow. If you've got to get kids ready for school, that's practically a workout.
  8. Write down (or note in whatever way you want) the most important 3 tasks you want to accomplish today, or at least the name of the projects you need to tackle. Not every task. Not your huge to-do list. Just 3 that you need to deal with in some way.
  9. You have 3 minutes (total!) to look for "fires" in your inbox. That's all.
  10. Commute or get to work, whatever. The rest of the day is yours to execute on.

Serving Suggestions

You're telling your mind and spirit a handful of instructions in this challenge:

  • Rest will give me competitive power and extra willpower.
  • Giving myself time for my own clarity will improve my processing power.
  • Shutting out the craziness of other people's lives for a while will empower my own choices.
  • Knowing what matters to me and my day and also to those who I serve is a great first set of instructions to consider.
  • Breathing (maybe meditating) and moving my body are necessary (vital!) to juicing my systems.
  • And then, with all that on board, you can tackle your day in a FAR more powerful way. Will you get more done? Follow this recipe and I have zero doubt.

    How to Get More Done?The Works | Chris Brogan


    Chris Brogan is CEO & President of Human Business Works, a business design company using publishing and media to provide tools and smarts to help professionals work better, do the work they want, and to be brave. He is the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Impact Equation, and a sought-after professional keynote speaker. He also plays in the band, D3one3, with Jacqueline Carly.

    Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/dsC-RWD96fk/try-this-recipe-to-increase-productivity-over-the-next-week

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Playable Races!

Dungeons and Dragons: The Champions of Bane

Since the Time of Troubles The dark church of Bane's power has waned, but The High Priest of Darkness, Lord Balthazar, has devised a sinister plot to secure power and converts for the his dark master.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.



I don't steal good ideas; I replicate them.

User avatar
Plagiarism
Member for 0 years


I'll have a posting order made before we get things rolling, we may not get up to 11 or more though so no real reason to worry about that yet.

As for balance, this game will be strictly RP, and doesn't have to adhere to the rules quite as much as if we brought out the books and dice. If I find a character that I believe is OP or broken in any way I'll whip out the nerf-stick and beat it until everyone's happy.

The classes, every base class is up for grabs IF you can make it believable. Minotaur psions and pixie samurai will need an excellent backstory before I say yes. As for prestige, and multiclassing, as we progress through the storyline PM me about it and I'll try to squeeze in some NPC trainers... I'm pretty much open to everything at this point, there's a lot more freedom to be had since it's going to be strictly roleplay.

All that I ask is that the characters be believable.

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Gunz4Legz
Member for 1 years



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Deal of the Day ? Logitech Tablet Keyboard for Android and Windows 8

Sunday’s LogicBUY Deal is the?Logitech Tablet Keyboard for Android & Windows 8 for only?$59.49. ?Features: Bluetooth ?Windows 8-specific keys: ?Start key, app switching key, search key Carrying case $69.99 – $10.50 coupon code = $59.49 with free shipping. This deal expires October 24, 2012 or sooner. Check the above link for more details on this [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/10/21/deal-of-the-day-logitech-tablet-keyboard-for-android-and-windows-8/

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Real Estate Roundup: Highest Selling Homes - Bethwood, CT Patch

http://bethwood.patch.com/articles/real-estate-roundup-highest-selling-homes/media_attachments/edit?upload_started=1350770856

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Source: http://bethwood.patch.com/articles/real-estate-roundup-highest-selling-homes

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Video: Kids find role models in ?foster grandparents?

20,000 vets, military spouses attend Hiring our Heroes events

The numbers are in: Hiring our Heroes has helped thousands of veterans in their search for employment. And this is just the start: There will be more than 400 other job fairs for veterans and military spouses throughout the next year.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40153870/vp/49483652#49483652

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Book Review: On Writing Well | the Ink Slinger

I?ve read a number of writing books over the past several years, and the two which have taught me the most are Douglas Wilson?s?Wordsmithy?and Stephen King?s A Memoir. If you take the whole writing business seriously, I can?t recommend those books highly enough. But there?s another book you should have on your shelf, too ? On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I only just discovered it myself, but it already holds a place among my favorites.

This self-proclaimed ?informal guide to writing non-fiction? is exactly that ? informal. It?s not a textbook, and it doesn?t want to be, which is one the many reasons I enjoyed it so much. Zinsser?s style is warm and honest, his passion for words contagious. Sure, he gets a little cranky now and then (at one point, he calls Ben-Hur ?junk?), but it?s clear that he loves writing ? and that he wants us to love it, too.

But don?t get the wrong idea: this isn?t a book for ?softies?. Mincing words is not Zinsser?s?forte, and?when he takes a swing at something he considers silly, he usually hits hard (and with stinging accuracy). According to his way of thinking, it?s not enough for you want to write ? you must also want to write well.

This book can help you do just that.

Instead of throwing myself into a detailed explanation of how it will help you ? and why you should let it ? I think I?ll just step aside and let the author speak for himself. If that doesn?t convince you of the book?s worth, I don?t know what will.

From chapter two, Simplicity:

Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon??Our national tendency is to inflate and thereby sound important. The airline pilot who announces that he is presently anticipating considerable precipitation wouldn?t dream of saying that it may rain. The sentence is too simple ? there must be something wrong with it. (p. 7)

Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this as a consolation in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it?s because it is hard. It?s one of the hardest things people do. (p. 13)

From chapter five, The Audience:

In terms of craft, there?s no excuse for losing the reader through sloppy workmanship. If he drowses off in the middle of your article because you have been careless about a technical detail, the fault is yours. But on the larger issue of whether the reader likes you, or likes what you are saying or how you are saying it, or agrees with it, or feels an affinity for your sense of humor or your vision of life, don?t give him a moment?s worry. You are who you are, he is who he is, and either you will get along or you won?t. (p. 28)

From chapter six, Words:

Also bear in mind, when you are choosing words and stringing them together, how they sound. This may seem absurd: readers read with their eyes. But actually they hear what they are reading ? in their inner ear ? far more than you realize. Therefore such matters as rhythm and alliteration are vital to every sentence. (p. 38)

From chapter eleven, The Ending:

The perfect ending should take your readers slightly by surprise and yet seem exactly right. They didn?t expect the article to end so soon, or so abruptly, or to say what it said. But they know it when they see it. Like a good lead, it works. It?s like the curtain line in a theatrical comedy. We are in the middle of a scene (we think) when suddenly one of the actors says something funny, or outrageous, and the lights go out. We are momentarily startled to find the scene over, and then delighted by the aptness of how it ended. What delights us, subconsciously, is the playwright?s perfect control. (p. 76-77)

From chapter thirteen, Writing About a Place:

The other big trap [in travel writing] is style. Nowhere else in nonfiction do writers use such syrupy words and groaning platitudes. Adjectives that you would squirm to use in conversation ? ?roseate,? ?wondrous,? ?fabled,? ?scudding,? ? are common currency. Half the sights seen in a day?s sightseeing are ?quaint,? especially windmills and covered bridges. They are certified for quaintness. (p. 95)

From chapter fourteen, Bits & Pieces:

Again and again in careless writing, strong verbs are weakened by redundant adverbs. So are countless adjectives and other parts of speech: ?effortlessly easy,? ?slightly spartan,? ?totally flabbergasted.? The beauty of ?flabbergasted? is that it implies an astonishment that is total; I can?t picture someone being partly flabbergasted. If an action is so easy as to be effortless, use ?effortless.? And what is ?slightly spartan?? Perhaps a monk?s cell with wall-to-wall carpeting. Don?t use adverbs unless they do necessary work. Spare us the news that the losing athlete moped dejectedly and the winner grinned widely. (p. 109-110)

Among good writers it is the short sentence that predominates, and don?t tell me about Norman Mailer ? he?s a genius. If you want to write long sentences, be a genius. Or at least make sure that the sentence is under control from beginning to end, in syntax and punctuation, so that the reader knows where he is at every step if the winding trail. (p. 112)

Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with ?but.? If that?s what you learned, unlearn it ? there?s no stronger word at the start. It announces total contrast with what has gone before, and the reader is primed for the change. If you need relief from too many sentences beginning with ?but,? switch to ?however.? It is, however, a weaker word and therefore needs careful placement. Don?t start a sentence with ?however? ? it hangs there like a wet dishrag. And don?t end with ?however? ? by that time it has lost its howeverness. Put it as early as you reasonably can ? as I did three sentences ago. It?s abruptness then becomes a virtue. (p. 114)

From chapter eighteen, Criticism:

Every writer wants at some time to be a critic. Small-town reporters dream of the moment when their editor will summon them to cover the Russian ballet troupe, the concert pianist, the touring repertory company that has been booked into the local auditorium. Then they will trot out the hard-won awards of their college education ? ?intuit? and ?sensibility? and ?Kafkaesque? ? and show the whole country that they know a glissando from an entrechat. They will discern more symbolism in Ibsen than Ibsen ever thought of. (p. 172)

From chapter twenty three, Write As Well As You Can:

My favorite definition of a careful writer comes from Joe DiMaggio, though he didn?t know that?s what he was defining. DiMaggio was the greatest player I ever saw, and nobody looked more relaxed. He covered vast distances in the outfield, moving in graceful strides, always arriving ahead of the ball, making the hardest catch look routine, and even when he was at the bat, hitting the ball with tremendous power, he didn?t appear to be exerting himself. I marveled at how effortless he looked because what he did could only be achieved by great daily effort. A reporter once asked him how he managed to play so well so consistently, and he said: ?I always thought that there was at least one person in the stands who had never seen me play, and I didn?t want to let him down.? (p. 273)

I am first and foremost a sinner saved by grace alone, and my chief aim in all of life is to bring honor and glory to my God, working to extend His Kingdom here on earth with every fiber of my being. I?m seventeen, and a lover of books, movies, music, logic, Reformed theology, history, guns, and the great outdoors. And Italian food.

Source: http://inkslingerblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/book-review-on-writing-well/

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Friday, October 19, 2012

The Real Housewives of Miami: Sexting Candles

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Bomb attack kills Bahraini policeman: interior ministry

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