intermezzi coventry: May 2013

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Ousted 'Voice' singer to Levine: 'Don't feel bad'

Brittany Frederick TODAY contributor

8 hours ago

Not so long ago, Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons were both strong candidates to win season four of ?The Voice.? On Tuesday night, both were axed from the hit singing competition.

Their reactions were vastly different.

?I was a little shocked,? admitted Judith after the show, ?but I think it was also a good, good lesson.?

Her blind audition was so strong that "The Voice" used it to promote the season premiere back in March. Yet she acknowledged that her version of the will.i.am and Justin Bieber song ?#thatPower? failed to connect with the voting public, even as she defended her decision to take the track in a funk direction.

?I don't think anything went wrong musically. I think that it was really one of my more exciting performances,? she said. ?I think that if a song is a lot more familiar, has a lot more pop sensibilities, I think that America tends to draw more to that than something they're not used to.?

So what lesson did Judith learn from her ?Voice? elimination? ?I think that I've learned more about America,? she explained. ?I've learned more about just how they receive music, and how to really make sure everything is something they can relate to.?

Teammate Sarah was much less surprised when her name was called. ?I just felt surrendered,? she told TODAY.com. ?You can't complain at all with this. I have no negative thing to say about it. It was an adrenaline rush and it was a taste of my dream.?

In fact, Sarah found herself calming down their coach, Adam Levine.

?He was really upset,? she explained. ?He wanted to talk to us outside (after the show).?

That discussion revolved around selecting Gotye?s ?Somebody That I Used To Know? for what became Sarah?s final performance on the ?Voice? stage. ?For the live rounds, I've basically chosen all of my songs (in) collaboration with (Adam), but for this one, he chose it for me,? she continued. ?I know he was feeling really bad that I was going home.

?I told him 'Please don't feel bad, because I've never worked so hard in my life on a freaking song.' I told him it challenged me and it stretched me.?

She left the show with high praise for her Grammy-winning coach. ?He?s amazing,? she enthused. ?I know he wants to stay in contact, which is awesome. He's a really good person. I'm really grateful to know him.?

Even ?Voice? host Carson Daly admitted to being stunned by the exits of Judith and Sarah, but he also suggested there was something to be gleaned from the development. ?I was surprised. I was surprised at Judith probably more than Sarah, because she's been just such a frontrunner from our eyes,? he admitted.

?But once we go live and we turn the power of the show over to America, there's something liberating about that. If you?re shocked about (Tuesday night's) results, then maybe there's something about America and the way they think and feel that you don't know about.?

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/ousted-voice-singer-coach-adam-levine-please-dont-feel-bad-6C10109736

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Incoming Rutgers AD has no plans to resign

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) ? Julie Hermann is not resigning as Rutgers' incoming athletic director following a report that 16 years ago she humiliated and emotionally abused players while coaching the women's volleyball team at Tennessee. And the university is standing behind her.

"I never considered withdrawing because I feel very qualified to lead Rutgers into the future and into the transition into the Big Ten," Hermann said Monday during a conference call in response to a report in the Star-Ledger of Newark. "And I do feel the support of the Rutgers community."

Embattled Rutgers President Robert Barchi said in a statement the university looks forward to her running the athletic department. He added that she was the best of the 63 candidates interviewed for the job of succeeding Tim Pernetti.

"Rutgers was deliberative at every stage of this process," Barchi said. "Over the course of the search, Julie's record established her as a proven leader in athletics administration with a strong commitment to academic success as well as athletic excellence, and a strong commitment to the well-being of student athletes.

Despite the Star-Ledger report, Barchi said Hermann's entire career is stellar and "We remain confident that we have selected an individual who will work in the best interests of all of our student athletes, our athletics teams, and the university."

Speaking to four reporters on a conference call in which each participant was allowed two questions, Hermann denied having knowledge of a letter written by the 15 players on Tennessee's volleyball team. She said her former boss never heard of it and she never heard her former players make the allegation.

Rutgers officials have talked to her about it in recent days, she said.

Hermann acknowledged she was an intense coach and may have made a few mistakes handling her team. The 49-year-old administrator said she has matured and believes she is qualified to lead the scandal-marred Rutgers program. Her first day on the job is June 17.

It was Hermann's first comments since the Star-Ledger's story Sunday revealed that the Tennessee volleyball team in 1996 sent a letter to the school in which the players said Hermann called them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."

Hermann left the following year to work with the United States national volleyball team.

"As I recall, Julie Hermann did not continue as our head coach only due to a lack of significant improvement in her final season overall record with the Lady Vol volleyball program," former Tennessee athletic administrator Debby Jennings wrote in a message to the AP.

Jennings filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Tennessee last September alleging age and sex discrimination led to her forced retirement at the age of 57 in May 2012.

In the past two days, state lawmakers have criticized Hermann's hire and Gov. Chris Christie has said he will speak with school officials about the report. Barring a resignation, only the university's board of governors can withdraw Hermann's appointment.

The governor appoints six of the board's 11 voting members and can wield pressure through a variety of ways, perhaps by threatening to cut school funding or refusing to renominate a board member who doesn't support his view.

With President Barack Obama scheduled to tour the New Jersey shore Tuesday to see the rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, it is unlikely that Christie will turn his attention to Rutgers until Wednesday.

Former New Jersey Gov. and current State Sen. Dick Codey was furious with the latest controversy at Rutgers, saying officials made Pernetti the scapegoat after video of men's basketball coach Mike Rice physically and verbally abusing his players during his three-year tenure came to light in early April.

Rice, who initially had been suspended, fined and ordered to undergo anger management counseling, was fired by Barchi the day after the video was broadcast. Pernetti was forced to resign two days later.

"His successor is someone who is an obvious liar, a flat-out liar," Codey said in a telephone interview with the AP on Monday evening. "She shouldn't be the AD anywhere, whether it's Rutgers or anywhere else. She should stay in Louisville and not come back to the state, and Barchi should go to Louisville himself because he is not a leader. It's dumb and dumber."

Hermann believes she can be an effective leader at Rutgers, which also had several other key officials resign. And after hiring former Scarlet Knights star Eddie Jordan to become the men's basketball coach, the university mistakenly called him a graduate when he had never finished his degree.

"All of my life has prepared me to lead this organization," said Hermann, who would be the first woman to serve as Rutgers' athletic director and only the third female AD at the 124 schools playing at college football's top tier.

"Whatever mistakes you make as a young person, you've got to learn from them and go and grow," she added. "It is my intent to go to Rutgers with this vast experience of super highs and super lows and lead what I hope is an outstanding team into the Big Ten."

On other comments from the 10-minute call included:

?Hermann said the company that vetted her for Rutgers did ask about a lawsuit filed by one of her assistant coaches over a job termination.

?Hermann believes she can raise funds despite what has happened.

?Hermann denied the name calling, specifically when asked about calling the players "whores."

"That's not part of my vocabulary. ... Here's what I would say. Am I an intense coach? Absolutely an intense coach as many coaches are," she said. "But there is a big canyon between being super intense and abuse, and this was not an abusive environment for these women. Was it challenging? It was incredibly challenging. Was I aware that there were players that were unhappy? I was aware of that at the end of the season and I was unhappy."

___

AP Sports Writer Teresa Walker in Memphis, Tenn., and AP newsman Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/incoming-rutgers-ad-no-plans-resign-232535998.html

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EU duties on Chinese solar panels losing member-state support

By Robin Emmott and Ethan Bilby

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A majority of EU governments oppose a plan to impose hefty duties on solar panel imports from China, a survey of member states showed on Monday, undermining efforts by Brussels to pressure Beijing over its trade practices.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, accuses Chinese firms of selling solar panels at below cost in Europe - a practice known as "dumping" - and plans to impose duties, making it far harder for China to gain market share.

The duties, averaging 47 percent, will come into force from June 6 for a trial period and could be withdrawn if both sides reach a negotiated settlement.

It is the largest trade case the Commission has undertaken, with about 21 billion euros of China-made solar panels sold in the EU.

The duties are being proposed by the EU's trade commissioner, Belgian lawyer Karel De Gucht, who met with Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan for an informal meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The Chinese side described the meetings as "constructive" and said the pair discussed solar duties as well as an EU threat to open an investigation into mobile telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE.

But Zhong said that either EU move would lead to a definitive Chinese response.

"Such practices of trade protectionism are not acceptable to China," a spokeswoman for the Chinese mission to the European Union said in a statement, and would "seriously sour the climate on bilateral trade and economic engagement."

"The Chinese government would not sit on the sidelines, but would rather take necessary steps to defend its national interest," if the EU went ahead, the statement said.

The fear of Chinese reprisal and potential loss of business has led Germany, Britain and the Netherlands to be among at least 14 member states to oppose the sanctions, diplomats told Reuters.

The Commission said China was pressuring some EU countries to oppose the duties.

"Commissioner De Gucht ... made it very clear to the Vice-Minister that he was aware of the pressure being exerted by China on a number of EU member states, which explains why they are positioning themselves as they are in their advisory positions towards the European Commission," the Commission said in a statement.

The EU's 27 countries had until last Friday to submit a formal, written response to De Gucht's plans. While the trade commissioner would still have the right to impose the duties, doing so in the face of member states' opposition would be hard.

The Commission statement said De Gucht told China's vice-minister he wanted "to examine the possibility of a negotiated settlement in partnership with the United States should this become necessary."

Provisional duties will more than likely still go ahead on June 6, once they are published in the European Union's official journal, officials say, but the pressure to roll them back before they become permanent in December will be intense.

The split underlines the depth of division in the EU over how to deal with China, a critical market for many EU exporters and the region's second biggest trading partner over all.

Reuters spoke to 21 of the EU's 27 countries and confirmed that 15 opposed the duties, while six supported them. The other six either declined to say or were unreachable.

France and Italy are leading a group of countries that say De Gucht is right to go ahead with sanctions, arguing that China's rapid rise in solar panel output to more than the world's entire demand could not have happened without illegal state support.

Chinese companies have captured more than 80 percent of the European market from almost zero a few years ago.

De Gucht met China's deputy commerce minister for informal talks in Brussels on Monday, a day after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting in Berlin, called for an end to the dispute, as well as another conflict over Chinese telecoms companies accused of dumping in Europe.

Germany initially supported De Gucht's plans for duties, and it was a German company, Solar World, that first raised the complaint against the Chinese.

But rather than punitive measures, Merkel now appears to favor a negotiated solution, wary of the potential impact on German exporters if China were to take retaliatory steps.

"There is no need for more sanction measures," German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler told a news conference on Monday after talks with Li.

TRADE CHIEF'S STRATEGY

Although De Gucht says he had no intention of damaging European business interests in China, he wants to show Beijing that the Commission is serious about preventing dumping and that China must play by international trade rules.

France shares that view.

"We want to see a balanced relationship between China and the European Union," said French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg. "Countries that use protectionism, and China is one of them, should accept reciprocal rules," he told reporters.

EU officials told Reuters earlier this year they were frustrated with the Chinese leadership's lack of engagement.

By levying provisional duties, the Commission feels it has leverage, because under EU law the sanctions could be cemented for up to five years from December if no solution is found.

According to a copy of the Commission's solar investigation obtained by Reuters, the Commission found clear evidence of dumping by Chinese producers.

"The Commission was presented with prima facie evidence that dumping occurred. They can't just ignore that," said Stuart Newman, a legal adviser to the Foreign Trade Association, a lobby group based in Brussels.

(Reporting by Luke Baker, Ethan Bilby, Robin Emmott, Francesco Guarascio and Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels, Yann Le Guernigou in Paris and Andreas Rinke in Berlin; Editing by Mike Collett-White, Will Waterman and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-duties-chinese-solar-panels-losing-member-state-063816867.html

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

ECE Service Provider Enrolment Agreements Need More ... - Attn!

New Zealand?s leading provider of home-based childcare PORSE, is calling on all early childhood education services to provide more transparency in enrolment agreements with families receiving 20 Hours ECE.

PORSE founding director Jenny Yule said it was time to raise the bar on greater transparency for families across all ECE services.? It was important to clarify, that 20 Hours ECE is not ?free? for everyone ? but it can reduce every family?s childcare bill.

?Every family receiving the 20 Hours ECE subsidy has a right to know exactly what it covers and what, if any, other charges or donations they are paying for Early Childhood Education and Care.?

Ms Yule said the Ministry of Education has ignored calls from The Home Early Learning Organisation, HELO, to review its 20 Hours ECE policy, which would help eliminate confusion for families and service providers.

?Given the lack of action, PORSE decided to be the industry?s leading example initiating our own review,? said Ms Yule.

?Having reviewed how we implement 20 Hours ECE, I am very concerned that parents with children in both centre and home-based childcare may not be getting all the facts.?

There are strict rules governing 20 Hours ECE and the way information is presented.

Last year the Government made it harder to charge extra within the hours claimed as 20 Hours ECE, particularly for families who employ a nanny in their own home.

Obviously where families are paying the minimum wage or above, the subsidy will only cover a portion of this, but to get the full benefit of the subsidy 20 Hours ECE hours must now be seen at ?no cost?,? says Ms Yule.

PORSE has now changed its processes and enrolment agreements to ensure 20 Hours ECE remains accessible to all families and that it meets Ministry of Education requirements.

?We have made improvements to ensure families continue to access this higher rate of funding from the Government and we have provided more transparency to parents by introducing our new enrolment agreements. We encourage the rest of the ECE sector to do the same.

?PORSE?s enrolment agreements are now a leading example, for both home and even centre based services, and we expect all other ECE service providers to follow us by being clear to families that 20 Hours ECE should show at no cost which is a key requirement of the Ministry of Education.?

Ms Yule said a lot of the changes were structural to ensure information was presented in a way that is acceptable to the Ministry.

?We also saw this an opportunity to explain to families how we implement 20 Hours ECE given the confusion that exists.?

PORSE is now working with its staff and educators to help families understand the changes.

?Every family is different, our objective is to ensure families are able to maximise the full subsidy benefits and that childcare costs are affordable.?

Source: http://www.attn.co.nz/2013/05/28/ece-service-provider-enrolment-agreements-need-more-transparency/

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Monday, May 27, 2013

2 rockets hit Lebanese Hezbollah stronghold

BEIRUT (AP) ? Rockets slammed Sunday into two southern Beirut neighborhoods that are strongholds of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, wounding four people and raising fears that Syria's civil war is increasingly moving to Lebanon.

Lebanon's sectarian divide mirrors that of Syria, and Lebanese armed factions have taken sides in their neighbor's civil war. One leader of Syria's overwhelmingly Sunni rebels had threatened to strike Hezbollah strongholds to retaliate against the Iranian-backed Shiite group for sending fighters to assist Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Street fighting between rival Lebanese groups has been relatively common since the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war, but rocket or artillery attacks on Beirut neighborhoods are rare.

The rockets were launched hours after the militant group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, vowed to help propel Assad to victory in Syria's civil war and warned that his overthrow would give rise to extremists.

One rocket fired Sunday landed in the Mar Mikhael district on the southern edge of the capital, striking a car exhibit near a church on the street and causing all four casualties, a Lebanese army statement said. Another struck the second floor of an apartment in a building in Chiyah district south of Beirut, about two kilometers (one mile) away from Mar Mikhael. The apartment's balcony appeared peppered with shrapnel, but no one was wounded.

The state-run National News Agency said among the wounded in the Mar Mikhael blast were three Syrians.

A security official said rocket launchers were found in woods in a predominantly Christian and Druse area in suburbs southeast of Beirut. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

An ongoing battle in the Syrian town of Qusair on the Lebanese border, which government troops backed by Hezbollah pounded with artillery on Saturday, has laid bare the Shiite group's growing role in the Syrian conflict. Hezbollah initially tried to play down its involvement, but could no longer do so after dozens of its fighters were killed in the town and buried in large funerals in Lebanon.

Col. Abdul-Jabbar al-Aqidi, commander of the Syrian rebels' Military Council in Aleppo, appeared in a video this week while apparently en route to Qusair, in which he threatened to strike in Beirut's southern suburbs in retaliation for Hezbollah's involvement in Syria.

"We used to say before, 'We are coming Bashar.' Now we say, 'We are coming Bashar and we are coming Hassan Nasrallah,'" he said, in reference to Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

"We will strike at your strongholds in Dahiyeh, God willing," he said, using the Lebanese name for Hezbollah's power center in southern Beirut. The video was still online on Youtube on Sunday.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar said the incident targeted coexistence between the Lebanese and said the U.S. and Israel want to return Lebanon to the years of civil war. "They want to throw Lebanon backwards into the traps of civil wars that we left behind," he told reporters. "We will not go backwards."

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel blamed "saboteurs" and said: "We hope what is happening in Syria does not move to Lebanon."

Nasrallah's Saturday speech offered the clearest public confirmation yet that the Iranian-backed group is directly involved in Syria's war. They also were Nasrallah's first remarks since Hezbollah fighters have pushed to the front lines of the battle for Qusair.

In his televised address, he said Hezbollah members are fighting in Syria against Islamic radicals who pose a danger to Lebanon, and pledged that his group will not allow Syrian militants to control areas along the Lebanese border. He pledged that Hezbollah will turn the tide of the conflict in Assad's favor, and stay as long as necessary to do so.

"We will continue this road until the end, we will take the responsibility and we will make all the sacrifices," he said. "We will be victorious."

Lebanese Sunnis sympathetic to the Syrian opposition have also been fighting in Syria alongside the rebels. Nasrallah urged both sides to fight for their side in Syria "and leave Lebanon out of it."

The fighting next door has nonetheless repeatedly spilled over the border. For the past week, Assad's opponents and supporters have been clashing in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, using mortars, grenades and machine guns to attack densely populated areas.

Syria's main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, slammed Nasrallah's speech as an "an attempt to pit the Lebanese people against their Syrian brothers and sisters who have revolted against the brutal dictator." In a statement issued Sunday, it said his speech "has the potential for serious ramifications in the region."

"It explicitly declares Iranian interests as superior to the basic, inherent rights of people across the region," the statement said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-rockets-hit-lebanese-hezbollah-stronghold-051511235.html

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Apps of the Week: Tetris Blitz, Impossible Road, Limelight, and more

Every week, the editors and writers at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps. This week's selections include a few games, an awesome read-later app, an app for keeping track of movies, a guitar tuner, an app dedicated to a famous classic band, and app that that is sure to increase your typing speed on the iPhone.

Pocket - Ally Kazmucha

I've tried many read it later services and up until last year, I had always used Instapaper. Then when RIL (Read It Later) transformed into Pocket and got a major overhaul, I couldn't stop myself from trying it. And I haven't looked back sense.

Pocket is absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, it's super fast and supports almost any browser and platform you could think of. Not only is there a native iPhone and iPad app, but a Mac one too. And for those who like to save things directly from their browsers, yep, there's support for those too. Even reading on the Pocket website is enjoyable.

The way content is laid out is unique and one of the best I've found so far. If you haven't tried it out yet, it's free so you've got nothing to lose.

Free - Download Now

Limelight - Joseph Keller

Limelight is an iPhone app that helps you keep track of movies, not just those in your collection, but also those that you may have just seen in theaters, as well as those you want to see. Create an account and begin searching for movies and mark whether or not you?ve seen them. Movies will then either be added to your Watched or To Watch lists, which can be shared with other Limelight users as well as your friends, through Twitter, Facebook, iMessage, and email. You can also follow the libraries that other users publish, finding new movies that you want to see by doing so. If you see or own a lot of movies, Limelight is a great way to keep track of and share them all. Check it out on the App Store for $1.99.

$1.99 - Download Now

Impossible Road - Simon Sage

If Super Hexagon has taught me anything, it's that I'm a sucker for punishment. Enter the brutally difficult Impossible Road. There are no power-ups, no in-app purchases, and barely any colors or shapes. All you have to do is keep a ball on a downward-spiraling track for as long as possible using left and right tap controls. If you fall off, you've got a moment to land on the track further down, but if you free-fall for too long, you've got to start all over. Players are scored based on how many checkpoints they pass through or skip by falling off the edge and recovering. The high contrast art style and minimalist music keep tension high for the fleeting seconds you manage to stay on the track. If you have any unresolved childhood issues with Rainbow Road from Mario Kart, or have an innate fear of heights to ~~get over~~ revel in, Impossible Road is a good place to start.

$1.99 - Download Now

GuitarTuna - Chris Parsons

After being away for a couple of months, I came home and decided I wanted to play a little guitar. I quickly realized that before I could do that, it would certainly need some tuning. For the life of me I couldn't find my tuner so figured it would be a perfect time to try out some of the tuner apps available on iOS. I downloaded 3-4 and began testing them out, and in the end I went with a free (ad-supported) app called GuitarTuna and, well, I'm never paying for a tuner app again. GuitarTuna is awesome, idiot proof and free. Can't really beat it. If you're looking for a basic and easy to use guitar tuning app, look no further.

Free - Download Now

The Doors - Richard Devine

Sadly this week saw the passing of The Doors' keyboard player, Ray Manzarek. So, what better way to commemorate than by kicking back listening to their 'Best of' album and checking out the official The Doors app on the iPad.

Pictures, music, videos, lyrics, all here and only the beginning. The Doors app for iPad is filled with content about the band, how they created their sound, and even an exclusive comic that chronicles Jim Morrison's 'Incident' in Miami. A must have for all The Doors fans out there.

$4.99 - Download Now

TextExpander Touch - Rene Ritchie

Just over a month ago, Text Expander Touch was my pick of the week. Why am I picking it again so soon? Because Smile Software just released Text Expander Touch 2.0.

The basic overall functionality hasn't changed, and everything I used before is still what I use now -- I type in shots bits of text and TE spits out long strings of code or copy. Here's the example I used last time, typing this:

ssocial

Automagically gets me this:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/imore Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/imorecom Google+: http://www.gplus.to/imore YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/imorevideo

But for the higher level nerds among us, here's what's new:

Fill-in snippets, formatted snippets (including copy and send email actions), "Insert?" menu item for macros, %\ selection range macros, and more.

In other words, the power user just got handed a bunch more power.

$4.99 - Download now

Tetris Blitz - Leanna Lofte

I've always been a big Tetris fan, and Tetris Blitz is a new twist to the class game. You have two minutes to clear as many lines as possible, but instead of the traditional gameplay of rotating and dropping each piece, Tetris Blitz gives you options for placement of the pieces. You simply tap the spot you want the piece to go, or cycle through more choices. There are also power-up in Tetris Blitz that help you rack up the points. Tetris Blitz is not traditional Tetris, but I'm enjoying this new, high-paced version.

Free - Download now

Your choice?

Now that we've chosen our favorites for the week, we want to hear yours! Did you pick up a killer app, accessory, or game this week? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/KAHESBjSRcA/story01.htm

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Biophysicists measure mechanism that determines fate of living cells

May 23, 2013 ? A new tension gauge tether (TGT) laboratory method developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has broad applications for research into stem cells, cancer, infectious disease, and immunology.

Cells in the human body do not function in isolation. Living cells rely on communication with their environment -- neighboring cells and the surrounding matrix -- to activate a wide range of cellular functions, including reproduction of new cells, differentiation of stem cells into distinct cell types, cell adhesion, and migration of white blood cells to fight bodily infections. This cellular communication occurs on the molecular level and it is reciprocal: a cell receives cues from and also transmits function-activating cues to its neighbors.

The mechanics of this type of cellular interaction have been studied extensively: receptors extending through the cell membrane are activated when they form a bond to specific molecules. Now for the first time, University of Illinois biophysicists at the Center for the Physics of Living Cells and the Institute for Genomic Biology have measured the molecular force required to mechanically transmit function-regulating signals within a cell.

The new laboratory method, named the tension gauge tether (TGT) approach, developed by Taekjip Ha with postdoctoral researcher Xuefeng Wang, and reported in the May 24, 2013, issue of the journal Science, has made it possible to detect and measure the mechanics of the single-molecule interaction by which human cell receptors are activated. The researchers used integrin, a cell membrane receptor protein that is activated when it bonds to a ligand molecule.

In the TGT approach, Ha and Wang repurposed DNA strands, using them as tethers for ligand molecules, to test the tension required to activate cell adhesion through integrin. The integrin bonds to the tethered ligand, and adhesion is activated only if the DNA tether does not rupture.

Taking advantage of the geometric characteristics of DNA's double helix form, the researchers were able to tune the strands to rupture at discrete tension levels: by varying the attachment points along the DNA strands, the force required for rupture was either low (unzipping the helix), high (shearing the strands), or intermediary (combination of unzipping and shearing).

"If you went fishing and a fish broke your 30-lb fishing line but not the 40-lb one, you would know that its strength was in the range of 30?-40 pounds," explained Wang. "Here we applied the same strategy to measure the molecular tension applied by cells (the fish). Mammalian cells apply a force to activate cell membrane proteins called integrins which mediate cell adhesion. We immobilized ligand molecules (the bait) on a surface through molecular tethers (the fishing line) with defined tension tolerances, tunable from 10 pico Newton (pN) to 60 pN). After integrin-ligand binding, cells apply a force on the bonds, and we compare this force to the molecular tether strength by observing cell adhesion status."

Since single-molecule interactions are difficult to monitor, the researchers observed the receptor-regulated cellular function, to gauge whether the integrin was activated. Ha and Wang discovered that integrin experiences a well-defined "quantum of force," about 40 pico-Newton (pN), to activate cell's adhesion to a surface.

"We observed that mammalian cells adhere on the culture surface with 43 pN tension tolerance of ligands, but not on 33 pN surface. Therefore we deduced that single molecular tension is around 40 pN on integrin cell-membrane receptors during cell adhesion," Wang added.

"This is a very exciting result," commented Ha, an Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor at Illinois. "With the ability to define the single molecular forces required to make living cells behave as desired, we may be one step closer to a remedy for certain hard-to-cure diseases. We know that the behavior of cancer cells and stem cells can be controlled by how stiff or soft their environments are. Understanding and manipulating molecular conversation through defined forces has huge implications for the development of future medical interventions. We expect the TGT approach will have broad applications in laboratory studies of cell differentiation, cancer metastasis, as well as immunology and infectious disease."

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through the Physics Frontiers Center Program (0822613). In addition to his appointment at the University of Illinois, Taekjip Ha is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/23f8HDeLow4/130523143735.htm

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Mr. China Goes To San Francisco

A block from the Mariposa on-ramp and in the eye-line of 90,000 cars whizzing by on 280 sits an old warehouse that was home to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, a local alt weekly, and Digg. Most of the building is gutted and inside they are working on the "greatest enabler of hardware on the planet," according PCH International head Liam Casey. It will be the new home of Lime Labs, a hush-hush design consultancy that Casey bought in 2012 for an undisclosed amount and, most important, the U.S. gateway to Asian PCH's manufacturing might that allows hardware startups to access stem-to-stern services in design, coding, manufacturing, packaging and shipping.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yXkViK6HEtY/

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

'Lone Ranger' Rides Through A Train In New Trailer

The new trailer for Disney's "The Lone Ranger" packs in even more CGI action than the previous previews. How is everyone feeling about this one? Is it a new "Pirates" or are we looking at "John Carter 2"? Also, can you find the hidden Tobias Funke in today's Dailies?! » Can you find Tobias in [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/05/21/lone-ranger-trailer-3/

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Nigeria says switching to foreign debt to lower costs

By Chijioke Ohuocha

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria will increase the amount it borrows overseas to around 40 percent of all debt over the next three to five years, from 12 percent currently, to lower its cost of funds, the head of the debt office said on Monday.

DMO Director General, Abraham Nwankwo, said he expected Nigeria's debt to GDP ratio to fall to 17 percent over the same period from 21 percent, as Africa's second-biggest economy switches into cheaper foreign debt.

Nigeria is one of several African countries seeking to ride the wave of cheap money generated by ultra-loose monetary policy in the West and Japan.

"Nigeria has developed a medium-term debt strategy ... which will improve the portfolio mix and reduce our average cost of funds," Nwankwo told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Nwankwo said foreign debt was currently 800 basis points cheaper than domestic debt, noting that a proposed $1 billion Eurobond issue was part of the strategy to move towards cheaper foreign loans.

Total domestic debt stood at 6.49 trillion naira at end-March, 2013 while foreign debt was $6 billion. "We have to look at the optimal portfolio mix, cost structure, market development and source of funding," Nwankwo said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-says-switching-foreign-debt-lower-costs-115443070.html

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Electric and magnetic characteristics of a material which could be used in spintronics: Promising doped zirconia

May 17, 2013 ? Materials belonging to the family of dilute magnetic oxides (DMOs) -- an oxide-based variant of the dilute magnetic semiconductors -- are good candidates for spintronics applications. This is the object of study for Davide Sangalli of the Microelectronics and Microsystems Institute (IMM) at the National Research Council (CNR), in Agrate Brianza, Italy, and colleagues.

They recently explored the effect of iron (Fe) doping on thin films of a material called zirconia (ZrO₂ oxide). For the first time, the authors bridged the gap between the theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements of this material, in a paper about to be published in The European Physical Journal B.

Spintronics exploit an intrinsic property of the electrons found in semi-conductors called spin, akin to the electrons' degree of freedom. This determines the magnetic characteristics, known as magnetic moment, of the material under study. The challenge is to create such material with the highest possible temperature, as this will ensure that its magnetic properties can be used in room-temperature applications.

To study iron-doped zirconia, they examined its magnetic properties and its electronic structure from both a theoretical and experimental perspective. They then compared theory and experiments to find the most stable configuration of the material. Theoretical work included first-principles simulations. In parallel, their experimental work relied on many different well-established analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and alternating gradient force magnetometer measurements.

Sangalli and colleagues therefore gained a better understanding of doped zirconia, which features oxygen vacancies, playing a crucial role in providing its unique electronic and magnetic characteristics. They have also predicted theoretically how the deviation from the standard structure influences this material's properties. They are currently investigating, experimentally, how the magnetism evolves with changing concentrations of iron and oxygen vacancies to confirm theoretical predictions.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer Science+Business Media.

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

Journal Reference:

Davide Sangalli, Elena Cianci, Alessio Lamperti, Roberta Ciprian, Franca Albertini, Francesca Casoli, Pierpaolo Lupo, Lucia Nasi, Marco Campanini, Alberto Debernardi. Exploiting magnetic properties of Fe doping in zirconia. The European Physical Journal B, 2013; 86 (5) DOI: 10.1140/epjb/e2013-30669-3

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/GcElie8Nbh8/130517094600.htm

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Nvidia's portable gaming console Shield will hit retail in June for ...

Video games

Yannick LeJacq NBC News contributor

23 hours ago

Nvidia

Nvidia's new mobile gaming console, "Shield," will hit the shelves next month with a hefty starting price tag of $349.

The portable gaming console formerly known as "Project Shield" will arrive at select online and brick-and-mortar retailers next month, developer Nvidia announced Tuesday.

Nvidia first unveiled its mobile gaming device in a surprise move at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) under the comic book-like moniker "Project Shield." Now known simply as "Shield," the new Android-powered mobile gaming device and the first to be produced by a company best known for its line of graphics processing units (GPUs) and mobile processors will debut for $349 ? a high price point for a fading part of the market for gaming hardware.

Units will begin shipping to select stores including GameStop, Newegg, Micro Center, and Canada Computers in June, Nvidia said in blog post Prospective fans can begin pre-ordering the device on May 20, though anyone who previously signed up for the device's newsletter through Nvidia's website can begin pre-ordering the device immediately.

A major challenge that any mobile console developer faces is in securing enough quality software to make the device worth it. Seeing as Shield will enter the market at more than twice the price of the current market leader, Nintendo's 3DS, and without the proprietary Mario and Donkey Kong games that make its competitor such a unique product, this is a particularly pressing dilemma for Nvidia to resolve.

Given the relative openness of Google's Play store, the company may have found its savior in the Android operating system ? though, like PowerA's Moga controller or PlayJam's GameStick, the Shield console would still need to optimize Android games to the new hardware to make spending the extra cash actually worth it for customers.

Nvidia said that in addition to an unspecified number of Google Play store games and apps that will be compatible with the device, the Shield will come with two games, "Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2," an "Expendable: Rearmed." The company also said that it has entered into partnerships for five additional games ? "Costume Quest" and "Broken Age" from Kickstarter wunderkind Double Fine, "Flyhunter: Origins" from Steel Wool Games, "Skiing Fred" from Dedalord Games and "Chuck's Challenge" from Niffler.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at ylejacq@gmail.com.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/nvidias-portable-gaming-console-shield-will-hit-retail-june-349-1C9921539

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Vermont Aid-In-Dying Bill Passes House, Moves To Governor

MONTPELIER, Vt. ? The Vermont House approved a measure Monday night that would allow doctors to provide lethal medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their own lives.

If Gov. Peter Shumlin ? a strong supporter of the bill ? signs on, Vermont will join Oregon, Washington and Montana as states allowing physicians to provide deadly doses of medication to dying patients who seek it.

The vote was a reversal of the defeat of similar legislation in the House in 2007 and marked the first time any legislature in the country had seen such a measure all the way to passage.

By a 75-65 roll call vote, the House approved a bill largely copies a law passed by Oregon voters in 1997 for three years and then shifts to a system with less government monitoring.

For the first three years, Vermont's law would closely follow the Oregon model, which allows for several safeguards, including requirements that patients state three times ? once in writing ? that they wish to die. Others include a concurring opinion from a second doctor that a patient has less than six months to live and a finding that the patient is of sound mind.

"It's an important step for terminally ill Vermont patients," Dick Walters, president of Patient Choices-Vermont, said after the vote. "It's a big step forward for the region and for the country as a whole."

The bill's passage likely will be seen as the most historic event of the 2013 legislation session, which is expected to wrap up Tuesday.

Vermont would be the first state east of the Mississippi to allow doctors to help patients die by writing a prescription for a lethal dose of medication. Oregon passed the first-in-the-nation law by referendum in 1997; Washington state followed suit in 2006 and a court order in Montana made it legal in that state.

Debate included two packed Statehouse hearings in which supporters and opponents took turns voicing their views on the legislation, sometimes dubbed "death with dignity" by backers and "physician-assisted suicide" by opponents.

Critics continued to voice their concerns during House debate on Monday, while supporters, who knew they had the votes to pass the bill, were more muted.

"There is potential here for abuse of the disabled," said Rep. Carolyn Branagan, R-Georgia, "especially disabled elders," she said. "This is not medical care. It is the opposite."

Sen. Richard McCormack, D-Windsor, watched the debate from the House gallery. "This bill makes no judgment about the value of anybody's life," he said after the vote. "It makes a very positive judgment about the value of personal freedom and the right to make one's own choices."

After July 1, 2016, Vermont would move to a model pushed by some senators who complained of too much government intervention in the Oregon system. Those changes would require less monitoring and reporting by physicians. However, there's widespread expectation that lawmakers may push to eliminate the changes set to take effect in 2016, leaving an Oregon-style law in place.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/vermont-aid-in-dying-bill_n_3269508.html

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Twitter buys Lucky Sort startup to help visualize your tweets

Twitter just acquired Lucky Sort, a Portland, Oregon-based startup that built TopicWatch, a visualization and navigation engine known for presenting large amounts of data in an easy-to-digest format. With more than 200 million users in more than 160 countries, Twitter certainly has more than enough data to warrant the acquisition, which means hashtag infographics like the one above could be available for Twitter users in the near future. Fans of Lucky Sort's TopicWatch product, on the other hand, will have to find some other venue for their data fix, for the service is set to shutter in the months ahead. Shocking, we know.

Filed under: Internet

Comments

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Lucky Sort

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/13/twitter-buys-lucky-sort/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Watch NASA's Emergency ISS Spacewalk Live Right Now (Updating)

Two days ago, astronauts on the ISS discovered some little white flakes suspiciously floating away from the station. And now, they're already floating outside in zero gravity to fix it. From planning to go-time, this has been the most impromptu spacewalk in NASA history, and you can tune in below.

Free live streaming by Ustream

The goal of the jaunt is to fix the liquid ammonia cooling system needed to power one of the station's solar arrays. It's not a life or death situation fortunately, but it's a big enough deal to get to astronauts out to fix it, pronto.

So far, mission control has been painstakingly walking astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn through the process step by step by step by step, since there was no time to really brief them on the walk beforehand. This is one of the types of emergencies astronauts prepare for, so this should go off without a hitch, but there's about 6.5 hours of work to be done. When all is said and done, there's going to be some well-deserved sleeping going on in orbit. [NASA]

Update: Just 2.5 hours in and the busted pump has been successfully replaced.

~2.5 hrs into #ISS #Exp35 #spacewalk @astromarshburn & Chris Cassidy have remove & replaced pump. Watch live: nasa.gov/ntv
? NASA (@NASA) May 11, 2013

Update 2: The pump is up and running, and now pumping ammonia. So far, everything's going fine, but we won't know if everything is definitely fixed for sure until its had a chance to work for a while.

Update 3: The astronauts are undergoing a "bake-out" and letting the sun get any excess ammonia off them before they head back inside.

Update 4: They're headed back towards the airlock now.

Update 5: Looks like mission accomplished; everyone is back inside.

#ISS #Exp35 #spacewalk done at 2:14p ET. All required tasks complete. @astromarshburn & Chris Cassidy are back in #ISS after 6.5 hrs outside
? NASA (@NASA) May 11, 2013

Source: http://gizmodo.com/watch-nasas-emergency-iss-spacewalk-live-right-now-501627379

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Friday, May 10, 2013

China Slams Japan's Protest over US Military Island Okinawa in Sovereignty Row

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Source: www.ibtimes.com --- Friday, May 10, 2013
Ryukyu Islands belong to Beijing, according to China?s Communist party mouthpiece People?s Daily. ...

Source: http://www.ibtimes.comhttp:0//www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/466675/20130510/china-japan-okinawa-row-ryukyu.htm

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Bangladesh fire kills 8 as collapse toll hits 912

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? A fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh killed eight people, including a top official in the country's powerful clothing manufacturers' trade group, as the death toll from the collapse of another garment building passed 900 on Thursday.

The fire Wednesday night raced through the lower floors of the 11-story building housing the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. Factory ? which had closed for the day ? as well as apartments, fire official Nazrul Islam said. Fire officials said the cause of the blaze was not yet known.

The fire burned parts of the first and second floors, which housed the factory, and parts of the third, which housed apartments.

By early Thursday, firefighters had confirmed the deaths of eight people, Islam said. All the dead had been found in a stairwell, apparently trying to flee the building.

The dead included the factory's managing director, Mahbubur Rahman, who was also a top official with the powerful Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. A police official was also among the dead, according to fire officials.

It took more than three hours for firefighters to get control of the blaze, which began soon after the factory's roughly 300 workers had gone home for the day, officials said.

The country's powerful garment industry has been plagued by a series of disasters in recent months, including a November fire at the Tazreen factory that killed 112.

However, last month's collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza building, which housed five garment factories, stands out as the worst tragedy in the history of the global garment manufacturing industry.

More than two weeks after the collapse, workers with cranes and other heavy equipment were still pulling apart the rubble and finding more bodies. On Thursday, authorities said the death toll had risen to 912 and it was unclear how many more people remained missing. More than 2,500 people were rescued alive after the April 24 accident.

Maj. Ohiduzzaman, an army official who uses only one name, said 100 decomposing bodies have been kept at a makeshift morgue at a local school ground and were to be sent to hospitals in Dhaka for DNA testing to identify them.

A total of 648 bodies have so far been handed over to the families, he said. Some of those who authorities have been unable to identify have been buried by the government.

The European Union's delegation to Bangladesh urged the government Wednesday to "act immediately" to improve working conditions in the country's $20 billion garment industry.

Abdul Latif Siddiqui, head of special Cabinet committee to inspect garment factories that was formed days after the Rana Plaza collapse, said the government has closed 18 garment factories in recent days for failing to meet work and safety standards. He did not say whether the closures were temporary or permanent.

Authorities also began disbursing salaries and other benefits to workers from the Rana Plaza factories, after they protested demanding compensation.

About 2,000 people gathered at a military athletic field in the Dhaka suburb of Savar on Wednesday to receive their salaries, but the process was slow because many had no identity cards, said Faruk Hossain, an inspector for the Industrial Police.

He said factory supervisors were helping identify workers who did not have ID cards or other proof that they were employed by the five factories.

Rafiqul Islam, an official with the garment manufacturers' association, said the disbursement would continue in phases.

The workers, many of whom made little more than the national minimum wage of about $38 per month, are demanding at least four months' salary.

Local government administrator Yousuf Harun has said no salary remained unpaid except for the month of April and there was an agreement for the workers to receive an additional three months of pay.

Officials say the owner of Rana Plaza illegally added three floors and allowed the garment factories to install heavy machines and generators, even though the structure was not designed to support such equipment.

The owner and eight other people including the owners of the garment factories have been detained.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-fire-kills-8-collapse-toll-hits-912-055455194.html

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Jonathan Mayer And Cookies In Firefox - Business Insider

Jonathan Mayer is the man who turned off third-party cookies in upcoming versions of Firefox. (Cookies are the little bits of code that web sites drop onto your browser as you surf so that advertisers can target you with ads.)

He just told AdExchanger that he no longer cares what advertisers think about privacy and cookies, because they've lost that debate.

His Twitter account has been a brutal stream of sarcasm about advertisers who want a solution that leaves cookies in place.

Mayer's move has angered advertisers, who were in the midst of negotiations for an industry-wide standard on tracking cookies when it happened. Advertisers want the cookies left on by default, with an option for users to turn them off if they want more privacy. The Firefox move keeps them off by default, and users must choose to turn them on.

Safari and Microsoft have similar no-cookies policies. Without Firefox, virtually all the major browsers would come in default anti-tracking positions ? and that's a huge threat to advertisers whose ads pay for much of the web we see every day.

Mayer told AdExchanger he doesn't care. He says advertisers have lost the negotiations already:

The leverage used to be on the advertising industry?s side, but it has become clear by virtue of the technologies at the browsers? disposal that the leverage is now on the consumer?s side.

The advertising side would be expected to reevaluate their hardline ?We?re not going to negotiate? stance and rethink their strategy. Unfortunately, that hasn?t happened. So I?m not too optimistic on negotiated terms for Do Not Track, but I?m increasingly optimistic that by virtue of the browsers? efforts, consumers will get the choices they want.

His Twitter has been equally dismissive:

Jonathan Mayer / Twitter

And again:

Jonathan Mayer / Twitter

The DAA is the Digital Advertising Alliance, which wants cookies on by default:

Jonathan Mayer / Twitter

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/jonathan-mayer-and-cookies-in-firefox-2013-5

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Tips For Successfully Managing Your Credit Card Debt | Apply for ...

Bank cards help individuals all around the globe enjoy a nicer lifestyle. Having a credit card provides increased financial freedom and extended opportunities.With that said, it is crucial to select a card that is right for you and to use it responsibly. The information to help consumers achieve that goal.

A way to make sure you are not paying too much for certain types of cards, be sure that they do not come with high annual fees. Some cards can have fees that go as high as $1000 annually! If you don?t care about exclusivity, these cards aren?t for you.

Always read the fine print to see if there?s an annual fee before accepting an exclusive credit card that offers rewards or perks. Annual fees for high end cards can be very high depending on the card?s exclusivity. If you don?t really need an exclusive card, find a card with no annual fee and don?t waste your money on the premium card?s steep annual fees.

Always know what rate you are paying for interest. It is extremely important before you sign on to getting that credit card that you must know the interest rate. Without a clear understanding of the interest charges, your bills could rise unexpectedly. If your interest rate is high, there is a good possibility that you won?t have enough money to pay your debt at the end of the month.

Set a budget that you can stick with. You should not think of your credit card just because you can spend. Be aware of how much you can pay monthly so you can do that consistently and avoid those interest charges.

It is in your best interest to pay off your credit card in full every month. The best use of credit cards is for convenience to be fully paid within the same billing cycle. Making use of the available credit helps to build your credit score, but you will avoid finance charges by paying the balance off every month.

Always make timely credit card payments on time. You will also be taking the chance that your creditors will raise your rate of interest, which reduces your overall buying power.

Consider getting a co-signer if you haven?t yet established credit. A co-signer might be a friend, parent or sibling who has credit already. They need to be willing to pay for your balance if you cannot pay for it. That can be a terrific method of acquiring a first card for credit building purposes.

Make sure to completely understand your credit card before you sign up with one. Read every word of the fine print to be sure that you understand the card policy completely.

Plan a spending budget that you will be able to stick to. Remember, your credit card?s credit limit is not a target to aim for. Know your monthly income, and only spend what you can pay off in full each month. This will help you to avoid owing interest payments.

Many retailers will always verify a customer?s signature matches the one on the back of their credit card can be safe.

Do not use credit cards to make purchases that are not affordable. Even though you really want that new flat-screen television, credit cards are not necessarily the smartest way to purchase it. Paying huge amounts of money on interest is not smart and should be avoided. Leave the store, think over it for a day or so, and then make your decision. If you are still set on buying it, you are probably eligible for the store?s financing program that will save you money in interest over the credit card company.

Creditors use your credit score to decide what sort of card to offer a potential customer. The very best cards are offered to people with great scores.

Don?t use a public computer when you?re buying something online with credit cards. Your credit card number could be stored in the auto-fill programs on these computers and other users could then steal your credit card number. Inputting your credit card information on these computers is asking for trouble. Only make purchases from your own computer.

Avoid the temptation to lend a bank cards to anyone. Even if a close friend needs to use one, it is never a good decision to lend it to anyone. It may lead to large fees if your friend spends more on the card than you had authorized them to.

Before making an online purchase with your credit card, you need to make sure that you are dealing with a legitimate seller. Try calling the listed phone numbers to ensure the company is in business and always avoid purchases from companies that do not have a physical address listed.

Credit cards can be a great convenience and tool for building a financial history. If used properly, they are great to have. On the other hand, when used without care, a consumer could end up with bad credit problems. The tips in this article provided credit card advice that will help any consumer in making wise decisions.

If you are trying to rebuild damaged credit, using secured credit cards is a good idea. These are cards that require a balance as collateral. In other words, you will be borrowing money that is yours while paying interest for this privilege. This is not a perfect situation, but it can help rebuild damaged credit. Just make sure you are working with a reputable company. They might eventually offer you a card that is unsecured which is even better.

Source: http://v51051.com/tips-for-successfully-managing-your-credit-card-debt-2/

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Monday, May 6, 2013

North Korea says no plan to use American as bargaining chip

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Sunday it had no intention of using an American it sentenced to hard labor for 15 years as a bargaining chip in talks with the United States.

North Korea sentenced Kenneth Bae, a Korean American who traveled to visit North Korea last November, on Thursday for what is said were crimes against the state.

North Korea has in the past used detained American as bargaining counters in dealings with the United States. But the North's state news agency dismissed speculation it might do so again.

"Some media of the U.S. said that the DPRK tried to use Bae's case as a political bargaining chip. This is ridiculous and wrong guess," the KCNA news agency reported, citing a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

Bae, 44, was born in South Korea but is a naturalized U.S. citizen. His sentencing comes after two months of saber-rattling that saw North Korea threaten the United States and South Korea with nuclear war.

Human rights activists in South Korea say Bae may have been arrested for taking pictures of starving children.

A U.S. official said last week Washington was not looking for an envoy to try to secure Bae's release.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States had sought in recent years to break out of a pattern of having to resolve repeated crises with North Korea through deals.

The U.S. State Department urged North Korea to grant Bae amnesty and immediate release.

The North's ministry spokesman said the Bae case showed the United States had not changed its "hostile" policy.

"As long as the U.S. hostile policy goes on, Americans' illegal acts should be countered with strict legal sanctions. This is a conclusion drawn by the DPRK," the KCNA news agency reported.

In the past, prominent Americans including former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have traveled to North Korea to try to free detained Americans.

(Reporting By Jane Chung; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-says-no-plan-american-bargaining-chip-081502670.html

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'Downton' vs. 'Thrones': Who's queen of mean?

Drusilla Moorhouse TODAY contributor

2 hours ago

Long before Dame Diana Rigg brought Olenna Redwyne to life this season on HBO's "Game of Thrones," fans of George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series compared her acerbic character to "Downton Abbey's" Violet Crawley, played with delicious relish by Dame Maggie Smith.

The distinguished actresses have more than their characters' signature wit in common: among other awards, both Brits have received the female equivalent of a knighthood. Smith has picked up two Best Supporting Actress Emmys for the Edwardian period drama, and will likely go head-to-head with Rigg in the category this year.

Image: Lady Olenna Tyrell and Dowager Countess

HBO / Masterpiece Classic

Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell on "Game of Thrones," left, and Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess on "Downton Abbey."

But if the fictional ladyships could meet, who would win the battle of the wits? Let's break this down, period-drama/fantasy style:

Woman of the House: Both elderly matriarchs wield considerable influence behind the scenes in their respective houses (Tyrell and Downton). From the beginning, Violet promoted the match between Mary and Matthew, and despite some (OK, many) hiccups, her wish was eventually granted. Olenna encountered similar roadblocks in her matchmaking efforts (poor Sansa), but she married her granddaughter off to kings. (And probably helped to unmarry her when it counted.) POINT: Olenna

Flower Power: Olenna's nickname is partly derived from House Tyrell's sigil, and she quipped that "when a Tyrell farts it smells like a rose." But Lady Violet is the perennial winner of the Best Bloom in the Village Award (not counting her forfeit to Bill Molesley for his Comtesse Cabarrus rose). What are embroidered pillows compared to the Grantham Cup? POINT: Violet

You've Been Served: Attending to these fussy femmes is a frightening prospect for the hired help. Violet cloaks her complaints in sarcasm ("He looks like a footman in a musical revue!") and gripes ("I was right about my maid. She's leaving -- to get married! How could she be so selfish?"), but the Queen of Thorns is cutting: "Gods, boy, that's enough, we're not in a tavern," she complains to Podrick Payne, before silencing him. "No need to speak!" And don't dare delay her dairy: "The cheese will be served when I want it served, and I want it served now." POINT: Olenna

The Fairer Sex: While men brandish the most power in all eras, these materfamilias happily undermine their authority. "Loras is young and very good at knocking men off horses with a stick," Olenna notes about her grandson. "That does not make him wise." She's even more scathing about his father: "My son's a hunter. It helps him forget he's never been within a mile of a real battle." Violet is more subtle, telling her daughter-in-law that a woman is entitled to her opinions only when "she is married -- and then her husband will tell her what her opinions are." Still, like Olenna, she insists, "I'm a woman?I can be as contrary as I choose." But where Violet is contrary, Olenna is downright cunning, forming powerful alliances (Varys, Tyrion and probably Littlefinger) and a hairnet (?!) to take down her enemies. POINT:Olenna

Trading Barbs: This isn't a fair fight, since Smith has had three seasons to zap zingers compared to Rigg's few episodes. But can Olenna's bawdy barbs ("Once the cow's been milked there's no squirting the cream back up her udder") ever triumph over Violet's high-society zingers? ("Of course it would happen to a foreigner -- no Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house"; "It always happens when you give these little people power, it goes to their heads like strong drink"; "Don't be defeatist, dear, it's very middle class"). POINT: Violet

The battle may not be as decisive as a joust or cricket match, but in this contest, the Queen of Thorns must be declared the winner. (Your fig and cheese platter is on its way, Lady Olenna!)

Do you agree? Vote in our poll andsound off on our Facebook page!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/downton-vs-thrones-which-show-has-queen-mean-6C9749154

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