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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/32jHFNUwxX8/story01.htm
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Case-Mate POP! Case with Stand for iPad 2 review [Giveaway]
The Case-Mate Pop! Case with Stand for the iPad 2 brings the same blend of protection and kickstand-enabled performance to the iPad 2 as it?s younger, smaller sibling does for the iPhone 4S. And like with the iPhone version, that?s a very good thing.
Iran upbeat on nuclear visit, delays EU oil ban
TEHRAN?? Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions on Sunday, vowing to stop oil exports soon to "some" countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to such sales to the European Union.
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The Islamic Republic declared itself optimistic about a visit by U.N. nuclear experts that began on Sunday but also warned the inspectors to be "professional" or see Tehran reducing cooperation with the world body on atomic matters.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection delegation will seek to advance efforts to resolve a row about nuclear work which Iran says is for making electricity but the West suspects is aimed at seeking a nuclear weapon.
Tensions with the West rose this month when Washington and the European Union (EU) imposed the toughest sanctions yet in a drive to force Tehran to provide more information on its nuclear program. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC's second biggest oil exporter to sell its crude.
In a remark suggesting Iran would fight sanctions with sanctions, Iran's oil minister said the Islamic state would soon stop exporting crude to "some" countries.
Rostam Qasemi did not identify the countries but was speaking less than a week after the EU's 27 member states agreed to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1.
"Soon we will cut exporting oil to some countries," the state news agency IRNA quoted Qasemi as saying.
Iranian lawmakers had been due to debate a bill on Sunday that could have cut off oil supplies to the EU in days, in a move calculated to hit ailing European economies before the EU-wide ban on took effect.
But Iranian MPs postponed discussing the measure.
"No such draft bill has yet been drawn up and nothing has been submitted to the parliament. What exists is a notion by the deputies which is being seriously pursued to bring it to a conclusive end," Emad Hosseini, spokesman for parliament's Energy Committee, told Mehr.
Iranian officials say sanctions have had no impact on the country.
"Iranian oil has its own market, even if we cut our exports to Europe," oil minister Qasemi said.
Another lawmaker, Mohammad Karim Abedi, said the bill would oblige the government to cut Iran's oil supplies to the European Union for five to 15 years, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
By turning the sanctions back on the EU, lawmakers hope to deny the bloc a six-month window it had planned to give those of its members most dependent on Iranian oil - including some of the most economically fragile in southern Europe - to adapt.
The Mehr news agency quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying during a trip to Ethiopia: "We are very optimistic about the outcome of the IAEA delegation's visit to Iran ... Their questions will be answered during this visit."
"We have nothing to hide and Iran has no clandestine (nuclear) activities."
Striking a sterner tone, Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, warned the IAEA team to carry out a "logical, professional and technical" job or suffer the consequences.
"This visit is a test for the IAEA. The route for further cooperation will be open if the team carries out its duties professionally," said Larijani, state media reported.
"Otherwise, if the IAEA turns into a tool (for major powers to pressure Iran), then Iran will have no choice but to consider a new framework in its ties with the agency."
Iran's parliament in the past has approved bills to oblige the government to review its level of cooperation with the IAEA. However, Iran's top officials have always underlined the importance of preserving ties with the watchdog body.
Before departing from Vienna, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said he hoped the Islamic state would tackle the watchdog's concerns "regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program."
The head of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said late on Saturday that the export embargo would hit European refiners, such as Italy's Eni, that are owed oil from Iran as part of long-standing buy-back contracts under which they take payment for past oilfield projects in crude.
"The European companies will have to abide by the provisions of the buyback contracts," Ahmad Qalebani told the ISNA news agency. "If they act otherwise, they will be the parties to incur the relevant losses and will subject the repatriation of their capital to problems."
Italy's Eni is owed $1.4-1.5 billion in oil for contracts it executed in Iran in 2000 and 2001 and has been assured by EU policymakers its buyback contracts will not be part of the European embargo, but the prospect of Iran acting first may put that into doubt.
Eni declined to comment on Sunday.
The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. However, analysts say the global oil market will not be overly disrupted if parliament votes for the bill that would turn off the oil tap for Europe.
Potentially more disruptive to the world oil market and global security is the risk of Iran's standoff with the West escalating into military conflict.
Iran has repeatedly said it could close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane if sanctions succeed in preventing it from exporting crude, a move Washington said it would not tolerate.
The IAEA's visit may be an opportunity to defuse some of the tension. Director General Yukiya Amano has called on Iran to show a "constructive spirit" and Tehran has said it is willing to discuss "any issues" of interest to the U.N. agency, including the military-linked concerns.
But Western diplomats, who have often accused Iran of using such offers of dialogue as a stalling tactic while it presses ahead with its nuclear program, say they doubt Tehran will show the kind of concrete cooperation the IAEA wants.
They say Iran may offer limited concessions and transparency to try to ease intensifying international pressure, but that this is unlikely to amount to the full cooperation required.
The outcome could determine whether Iran will face further isolation or whether there are prospects for resuming wider talks between Tehran and the major powers on the nuclear row.
Salehi said Iran "soon" would write a letter to the E.U.'s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to discuss "a date and venue" for fresh nuclear talks.
"Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in this letter, which may be sent in the coming days, also may mention other issues as well," Salehi said, without elaborating.
The last round of talks in January 2011 between Jalili and Ashton, who represents major powers, failed over Iran's refusal to halt its sensitive nuclear work.
"The talks will be successful as the other party seems interested in finding a way out of this deadlock," Salehi said.
Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46180904/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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Monday, January 30, 2012
TurboCollage Android app delivers the big picture (Appolicious)
Turns out you don?t have to be a scrapbook expert to create a cool photo collage. All you need is an Android phone or tablet and this useful app. I never made a collage before, but it only took a few minutes using TurboCollage to produce two nice photo art pieces using pictures of my family.
The app?s interface feels straightforward and easy to use. For your collage, the app lets you pull photos live from your device?s camera or from the photo gallery. My only complaint about the user experience is that you can?t choose multiple photos from the gallery at one time, but must instead go back and forth picking one at a time.
Once you have the photos collected, you simply drag them around the workspace. To grow or shrink the size of any individual photo, just select it and touch the plus sign next to the photo and drag up (to blow up) or down (to shrink). You can also quickly rotate photos by dragging your finger in a circle. The whole point of a photo collage is to overlap pictures so the app provides arrows that let you bring a photo in front of or behind others. When you?ve finished your masterpiece, just press the ?share? button to upload the collage to Facebook, send it in an email, or save it to the device gallery.
TurboCollage is free, and definitely worth a look.
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Egyptians move to reclaim streets through graffiti (AP)
CAIRO ? The conflict between Egypt's ruling military and pro-democracy protesters isn't just on the streets of Cairo, it's on the walls as well, as graffiti artists from each side duel it out with spray paint and stencils.
Earlier this month, two young supporters of the ruling generals wearing Guy Fawkes masks ? the grinning face made famous by the movie "V for Vendetta" ? painted over part of the largest and most famous anti-military graffiti pieces in the capital.
The two made a 15-minute video of themselves stenciling slogans declaring, "The police, military and people are one hand," and, "The military is a red line." They posted the video online, calling themselves the "Badr Battalion" and describing themselves as "distinguished Egyptian youth who are against the spies and traitors that burn Egypt."
It was an ironic turnabout, with backers of the authorities picking up the renegade street art medium of revolutionary youth ? and even adopting masks that have become an international symbol of rebellion against authority.
During the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt had almost no graffiti on the walls of its cities. But when the uprising against Mubarak's rule erupted a year ago, there was an explosion of the art.
Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew the country's authoritarian leader. The battle continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power.
Since Mubarak's fall on Feb. 11, graffiti is everywhere in Cairo and other cities, proclaiming the goals of the revolution and mocking the regime. Graffiti artists have continued to work, using walls, buildings, bridges and sidewalks as a canvas to denounce the generals who took power after Mubarak as new dictators and to press the revolution's demands.
Usually anti-military graffiti has a short lifetime before it is quickly painted over or defaced with black spray paint. And just as quickly the artists put up more.
The graffito that the "Badr Battalion" painted over had survived remarkably long. Mohamed Fahmy, known by his pseudonym Ganzeer, put it up in May under a bridge. It depicts a military tank with its turret aimed at a boy on his bike who balances on his head one of the wooden racks that are traditionally used to deliver bread ? though instead of bread, he's carrying a city. It was a symbolic reference to revolutionary youth who care for the nation, heading into a collision with the generals.
Quickly after it was partially stenciled over, a new graffiti was up, depicting the country's military leader as a large snake with a bloody corpse coming out of his mouth.
Graffiti has turned into perhaps the most fertile artistic expression of Egypt's uprising, shifting rapidly to keep up with events. Faces of protesters killed or arrested in crackdowns are common subjects ? and as soon as a new one falls, his face is ubiquitous nearly the next day.
The face of Khaled Said, a young man whose beating death at the hands of police officers in 2010 helped fuel the anti-Mubarak uprising, even appeared briefly on the walls of the Interior Ministry, the daunting security headquarters that few would dare even approach in the past.
Other pieces mock members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the council of generals that is now in power, or figures from Mubarak's regime.
When a police officer was captured on an Internet video shooting at the eyes of protesters during clashes, his image immediately dotted walls, urging people to find the "Eye-Sniper."
State television is another frequent target because it has become the mouthpiece for the military's proclamations that protesters are vandals, thugs and part of a plot to throw Egypt into chaos. One graffito shows the word "Occupy" written in the shape of the State TV building. Stickers plastered on walls show the words "Go down to the street" emerging from a television set, a message to the so-called "Couch Party," people who sit and watch the protests on TV.
"It's about a message in the street. It reaches the poor, the rich, the trash collector, the taxi driver," graffiti artist Karim Gouda said. "Most of these people are away from the Internet and the social networking world so it's a way to reach them."
Not everyone is receptive. Gouda said he was accosted by residents as he put up posters depicting a rotting face with the words "open your eyes before it's too late" in the impoverished Cairo district of Sayeda Zeinab. They accused him of trying to create civil strife and of trying to encourage Egypt's Christian minority to take over from the Muslim majority. Such accusations about activists were rife at the time after an October protest by Christians in Cairo, which was crushed by soldiers, killing more than 20.
The residents tore down Gouda's posters and chased him out of the neighborhood.
Under Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule, political expression on the streets was repressed by his powerful police forces. Once every five years, parliamentary elections would see the country littered with posters for elections that always favored the ruling party. Billboards advertising a lifestyle that only a privileged few could afford for companies whose owners were often closely affiliated with the regime towered over the sprawling slums of Cairo, a bustling city of some 18 million people.
"It's liberating to see," blogger Soraya Morayef said of the proliferation of street art.
Morayef, who has dedicated her blog Suzeeinthecity to documenting graffiti artists' work, said the street art reflects what happened in the whole country.
"The fear barrier was broken," she said.
___
Soraya Morayef's blog on graffiti: http://suzeeinthecity.wordpress.com/
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Rep. Barney Frank mourns ex-Boston Mayor White (AP)
BOSTON ? Retiring Rep. Barney Frank says former Mayor Kevin White was a political pioneer who opened up the Boston political system to African-Americans, women and gays, and pushed Frank to abandon plans to pursue an academic career and get into politics.
White died Friday at his Boston home. He was 82.
Frank, a liberal Democrat who worked for White in the City Hall for three years, describes him as Boston's "first modern mayor" who refused to let Interstate 95 run through the city because he wanted to protect low-income homes.
White led the city for 16 years, including during racially turbulent times in the 1970s.
His family announced that a public viewing is set for Tuesday and public funeral Mass is set for Wednesday.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Clarknt67: Newark Mayor @CoryBooker delivers a heroic, spontaneous case for #MarriageEquality in #NJ. Well done, sir. #LGBT http://t.co/c1l4QTVE
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Newark Mayor @CoryBooker delivers a heroic, spontaneous case for #MarriageEquality in #NJ. Well done, sir. #LGBT dailykos.com/story/2012/01/? 
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President Shannon Stowell Speaks as Entrepreneur-in-Residence to Montana State University Business Students
ATTA President Shannon Stowell presented to the College of Business at Montana State University (MSU) as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, being involved in multiple aspects of the program for several days. Stowell?s November 30th presentation to the students focused on an introduction of global adventure travel and its pivotal role in international economies and how it can be developed in a manner critical to the protection of local environments, wildlife and culture. Stowell spoke about the transformative possibilities of adventure tourism for individuals as well as organizations and communities ? a personal tenet that led him to leave Altrec.com, a successful outdoor retail start-up he co-founded in 1998, to restructure and rebuild the ATTA in 2004.
What prompted you to participate in the Entrepreneurial program of the MSU Business Program? ?
I was invited by Dr. Scott Bryant, the director of the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship Program at MSU to come and spend some time with business students to share my experiences and stories. ?Having been a driver in both a startup (Altrec.com) and a turnaround (ATTA), in addition to early involvement in another startup as an employee gives me a solid history of 21 years now of early and mid stage businesses.
What was the response of the students? What key takeaways did they seem to respond to the most?
They really had positive things to say afterwards. ?I?ll be honest- it was a little hard to tell what most were thinking while i was up there speaking, but afterwards the feedback was really positive. ?I think they appreciated the real-world aspect that an outsider brings to help bring examples to the classes they are taking. ?It?s really great- mixing the theory and ideas with practice. ?I was also able to meet with numerous groups of students who were writing business plans and help them think through the pieces more critically. ?Some were merely for assignment, but some were also building actual plans they intended to pursue- that was really exciting to be a part of.
What early influences were pivotal to you in your path as an entrepreneur? ?
A lot of my lineage includes this blessing/curse of needing to be an entrepreneur. ?I say that somewhat joking, but the freedom of running your own show actually means that show always runs you. I tried to share that with students too- not to scare anyone too much, but just to help them see the reality of how difficult it is to build from scratch.
Your talk focused on transformative experiences ? as key to both your development and success as an entrepreneur as well as key for the same in adventure travel businesses. Can you discuss why this is important? Do you think there can be success in either arena without it?
Well, I think there are plenty of examples of businesses with managers and owners who appear to be only money focused, so I don?t know that it is absolutely critical, but I think for those of us selling adventure travel, it?s a must. ?It is not merely a financial transaction when someone takes an adventure trip. ?They are often going to come away a different person. ?And literally every person I?ve met in the adventure business and asked about this- they all have some experiential story that changed them. ?A Grand Canyon raft trip, an Outward Bound trip in Colorado, a semester in Europe, a trek in Asia- whatever it might be.
If you could give advice to someone looking to build a new business in the adventure tourism space, what would it be? ?
In regards to tour operators, I?d say- go be a guide for someone first. ?Like any industry, a lot of the best people start at the ground level learning the operations and basics.
If you could go back and do anything differently, what would it be? ?
I would have taken more time off. ?I also would worry less about competition and be assured that if we do the right thing and believe fully in our plan and goals, that it will pay off- it almost always does.
Is there any part of being an entrepreneur in this field that is different from any others?
I can?t speak from first hand experience but what does seem different about this field is that people are incredibly passionate about what they do and are very mission and business driven at the same time. ?I?ve never come across a group that is so focused on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit in such a balanced way. ?I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of it all.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Unemployment claims increase this week
Seasonally adjusted ?initial? unemployment increased 21,000 to 377,000 claims from last week, while seasonally adjusted ?continued? claims increased by 88,000.
Today?s jobless claims report showed notable increases to both initial and continued unemployment claims as seasonally adjusted remained below the closely watched 400K level.
Skip to next paragraph SoldAtTheTop'SoldAtTheTop' is not a pessimist by nature but a true skeptic and realist who prefers solid and sustained evidence of fundamental economic recovery to 'Goldilocks,' 'Green Shoots,' 'Mustard Seeds,' and wholesale speculation.
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Seasonally adjusted ?initial? unemployment increased 21,000 to 377,000 claims from last week?s revised 356,000 claims while seasonally adjusted ?continued? claims increased by 88,000 resulting in an ?insured? unemployment rate of 2.8 percent.
Since the middle of 2008 though, two federal government sponsored ?extended? unemployment benefit programs (the ?extended benefits? and ?EUC 2008? from recent legislation) have been picking up claimants that have fallen off of the traditional unemployment benefits rolls.
Currently there are some 3.41 million people receiving federal ?extended? unemployment benefits.
Taken together with the latest 4.11 million people that are currently counted as receiving traditional continued unemployment benefits, there are 7.53 million people on state and federal unemployment rolls.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/2CNq1PjUGUM/Unemployment-claims-increase-this-week
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Mayor will try to get a Wellington traffic signal
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Source: www.sunad.com --- Thursday, January 26, 2012
It was a pitch that Ben Blackburn was ready to knock out of the park. It was a question from a scout from Troop 280, who had come to witness the workings of local government at the Wellington City Council meeting. When ... ...
Source: http://www.sunad.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=24048
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Sales contracts for homes dip from 19-month high
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes fell in December after hitting the highest level in a year and a half a month earlier.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its index of sales agreements fell 3.5 percent last month to a reading of 96.6. That's down from November's reading of 100.1.
But the reading is still the second highest since April 2010, the last month that buyers could qualify for a federal home-buying tax credit. After big gains in October and November, a modest correction "was always in the cards for December," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
A reading of 100 is considered healthy.
Contract signings typically indicate where the housing market is headed. There's a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed deal. But in recent months, a growing number of buyers have cancelled contracts at the last minute.
But a sale isn't final until a mortgage is closed and many are falling apart before that happens. One third of Realtors say they've had at least one contract scuttled in December, November and October, according to the Realtors' group. That's up from 18 percent of Realtors in September.
Still, the increase in contract signings is another indication that the troubled housing market improved at the end of last year going into 2012.
Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc., said the recent trend was "heartening." But he added that further gains would be needed to reduce the millions of unsold foreclosed homes sitting idle on the market.
Homes are the most affordable they've been in decades. Long-term mortgage rates are at historic lows and prices in most metro areas have tumbled since late 2006.
Yet 2011 totals set to be released Thursday will almost certainly show that it was the worst year for new-home sales in history. Sales of previously occupied homes finished just barely ahead of 2008's dismal figures ? the worst yearly showing since 1997.
Americans are holding off buying a home for a number of reasons. High unemployment and weak job growth have deterred many potential buyers. Loans are harder to come by. Lenders are requiring bigger down payments and strong credit scores to qualify.
Even those with good credit and stable finances are hesitant to buy out of concern home prices will keep falling.
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Attack or retreat? Circuit links hunger and pursuit in sea slug brain
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? If you were a blind, cannibalistic sea slug, living among others just like you, nearly every encounter with another creature would require a simple cost/benefit calculation: Should I eat that, do nothing or flee?
In a new study, researchers report that these responses are linked to a simple circuit in the brain of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea. A heightened state of excitation in the neurons that control the animal's attack and feeding behavior means it is hungry and will go for nearly anything that smells like food, the researchers found. Lower activity in the same neurons means the animal is satiated and will do nothing, or will turn away from the smell of other creatures, most likely to avoid becoming food.
"The question was, how does this animal, a predatory forager, make a decision?" said Rhanor Gillette, a University of Illinois molecular and integrative physiology professor who conducted the study with graduate student Keiko Hirayama. "And after some work it became clear that they do it pretty much like you and I. They make decisions not so much on the basis of information, per se, but on the basis of how information makes them feel."
Like most animals, sea slugs must integrate their internal state -- how hungry they are -- with information from their senses (Does this thing smell good? Is it bigger than me?) and memory (What happened last time I encountered something like this?), Gillette said.
Sea slugs have a very primitive nervous system, but they quickly figure out what not to eat, he said. For evidence of this, he has a video of an encounter between an inexperienced Pleurobranchaea and another sea slug species, Flabellina iodinea, which produces a noxious chemical in its tissues to ward off predators. Thirty minutes after this encounter, the researchers put the two together again and Pleurobranchaea steered clear of F. iodinea.
"This is an example of one-trial learning," Gillette said. "This is the one trick it's really good at: learning what to eat or not. Pleurobranchaea is evaluating the odor and estimating risk."
Only "an insanely hungry" animal will attack an unpleasant or painful stimulus, such as an electric shock or the learned, unpleasant taste of F. iodinea, Gillette said.
The researchers focused on the sea slug's approach/avoidance behavior when it catches a whiff of another sea creature (in the lab, the researchers use the amino acids glycine and trimethylglycine, "the essence of seafood," Gillette said). A hungry animal turns toward the stimulus; a satiated animal turns away or does nothing. By turning away, it avoids possible attack by another predator, Gillette said. No response "means that the estimated value of the stimulus is not worth the effort of an attack," he said.
Hirayama found that the sea slug's central nervous system (CNS), even when removed from the animal and placed in a dish, responds to a sensory stimulus as it had in the intact animal. If the brain of a hungry animal detects the odor of food, the neurons that control movement will fire as if turning the animal towards the stimulus. The CNS of a satiated animal will "turn away" from the side of the stimulated nerve.
"Then Hirayama found that nervous systems from very hungry animals had higher levels of spontaneous activity than those that were not hungry," Gillette said. The neurons involved in biting or extending the proboscis -- the sea slug's feeding apparatus -- appeared to be ready for action. And if the researcher artificially enhanced activity in the neural circuit that controls feeding, "she could change an avoidance turn to an orienting turn," Gillette said.
Hirayama and Gillette think that they have identified a very simple and general type of circuit for cost/benefit decisions, one that is at the core of the more complicated valuations and decisions that are made by the social, higher vertebrates like ourselves. More research into this circuitry could lead to the development of better digital personal assistants and Internet avatars, Gillette said. These findings also may help those studying various kinds of addictions or other extreme, reward-seeking behaviors.
"What we're talking about is a fundamental economic decision of resource acquisition or avoidance," he said. "This basic type of decision is subverted in substance abuse, in illogical gambling and in badly managed shopping, for example. This is why I think that studying the basis of this type of decision in a very simple animal, where we can work it out, is important."
The National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health supported this research. The study appears in the journal Current Biology.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The original article was written by Diana Yates.
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Journal Reference:
- Keiko Hirayama, Rhanor Gillette. A Neuronal Network Switch for Approach/Avoidance Toggled by Appetitive State. Current Biology, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.10.055
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9dpGshNVMu8/120125132810.htm
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Russia says liberal leader can't seek presidency (AP)
MOSCOW ? Russia's elections commission said Tuesday a prominent opposition leader will be disqualified from running for president in March, a move that would prevent his party from fielding observers.
Russian news agencies quoted elections commission secretary Nikolai Konkin as saying Tuesday that the body would formally block Grigory Yavlinsky from the ballot later this week, after finding that hundreds of thousands of the signatures submitted on his nominating petition were invalid.
Yavlinsky is leader of the liberal Yabloko party and a critic of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is seeking a return to the presidency in the March 4 election.
The election commission already has registered Putin and three other contenders: Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov, ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and socialist Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov. Since their parties are represented in the parliament, their registration is easier than for other potential candidates.
The rejection of Yavlinsky's candidacy, however, is likely to sharpen political tensions that have been strong since last month's unprecedented massive protests sparked by alleged fraud in parliamentary elections.
Although Yavlinsky has not been a key figure of those protests, his party fielded thousands of election observers in the December election who documented evidence of fraud in favor of Putin's United Russia party.
On Monday, Yavlinsky said authorities wanted to prevent him from running in order to block genuine competition. He says other candidates are only nominal rivals and are following Kremlin guidance.
Yabloko has not had any seats in the parliament since 2007. Politicians who want to run for president but whose parties are not in parliament must submit 2 million signatures in support of their candidacy.
Konkin said that examinations of about 600,000 of the signatures submitted to support Yavlinsky's nomination found some 25 percent of them to be invalid, largely because the signatures were photocopied. That is higher than the 5-percent rejection level allowed by law.
"At the end of the week, the Central Elections Commission will hold a session, at which the registration of Yavlinsky will be officially refused," he said, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti.
By excluding him from the presidential race, the commission would prevent Yabloko from sending observers for the presidential election. Observers at the polls can only be named by participants in the race.
Excluding Yavlinsky would be "a blow to the legitimacy of the election for president of the Russian Federation," the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted candidate Mikhail Prokhorov as saying Monday. Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, also had to submit millions of signatures and election officials said they fell within the validity criteria.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Katherine ?Evidence Tampering? Wessling and Legal Advocates for ...
January 22, 2012 | Filed Under Computers, Feminism, Government, Corruption, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, Society/Culture, The Law | No Comments
-By Paleo-Skeptic
Note: I am not an attorney. I just offer this exposition as the product of my personal research.
Today, I would like to talk a little bit about wire fraud and identity theft, and how they relate to the Federal statutes. In my own particular circumstance, I was a victim of witness intimidation (Title 18 ? 1512, U.S.C.), being a party (a creditor) to a bankruptcy, where there were numerous efforts to impede any manner of lawful investigation of assets. This manner of fraudulent enterprise culminated in an abusive order of protection filing, which itself invoked Federal jurisdiction with the words, ?Is a creditor in my bankruptcy,? contained in the original petition.
Why it is that the Family Law Courts would openly embrace and assist in the commission of Federal crimes is beyond me. I have no reasonable explanation for it.
So, let?s take a look at this, shall we?
Identity Theft was first criminalized at the Federal level as a part of the False Identification Crime Control Act of 1982. This was amended by the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act in 1998. This Act established Section 1028 (a) (7) of Chapter 47 of Title 18 as the Federal identity theft statute. It states:
(a) Whoever, in a circumstance described in subsection (c) of this section?
(7) knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, or in connection with, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law;
First, the statute requires a ?circumstance,? or predicate act, so that identity fraud will always consist of two actions taken together. Now, the first two paragraphs of subsection (c) deal with defrauding the Federal government (such as claiming you want some money to help battered women, then getting involved in a bankruptcy and actively assisting in witness intimidation, or using that money to go to court to prevent a song from being published), which is a big no-no. But paragraph 3 of subsection (c) invokes the powers reserved to Congress; the Commerce clause and the Postal clause:
(c) The circumstance referred to in subsection (a) of this section is that? (3) either?
(A) the production, transfer, possession, or use prohibited by this section is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce, including the transfer of a document by electronic means; or
(B) the means of identification, identification document, false identification document, or document-making implement is transported in the mail in the course of the production, transfer, possession, or use prohibited by this section.
Wire fraud, being under the Commerce clause, requires that the communication must cross state lines in order to fall into Federal jurisdiction; the Postal clause, having reserved all matters in regulating the mail, does not. In either case, each subsequent incident constitutes a separate indictable offense.
The Federal Courts have held that ?[t]here are two elements in mail fraud: (1) having devised or intending to devise a scheme to defraud (or to perform specified fraudulent acts), and (2) use of the mail for the purpose of executing, or attempting to execute, the scheme.? (Schmuck v. United States) Elsewhere, the Courts have determined that ?wire fraud is identical to mail fraud statute except that it speaks of communications transmitted by wire.? (United States v. Frey) Further, ?The fraud statutes speak alternatively of devising or intending to devise a scheme to defraud and do not require that the deception bear fruit for the wrongdoer or cause injury to the intended victim as a prerequisite to successful prosecution. [S]uccess of the scheme and loss by a defrauded person are not essential elements of the crime under 18 U.S.C. ?? 1341, 1343 . . . .? (United States v. Pollack)
Maybe this screenshot would make more sense to you if you knew this person?s name wasn?t really ?George.?
? 1028A of Title 18, U.S.C., became law in 2004. This statute established aggravated identity theft as a federal crime, prohibiting the use of identifying information belonging to another in certain federal offenses and in relation to terrorism offenses.
The general provisions in subsection (a) state that:
Whoever, during and in relation to any felony violation enumerated in subsection (c), knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person?
There are five chapters of the United States Code specified in subsection (c). These are: Chapter 47 (fraud and false statements), Chapter 63 (mail, bank, and wire fraud), Chapter 69 (nationality and citizenship), Chapter 75 (passports and visas), and Chapter 8 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Any violation in any of these chapters would serve as a predicate act. There are also several sections of various chapters specified in this subsection.
Which is to say, that the use of a false identity by wire communication which travels over state lines falls into federal jurisdiction.
It looks like that to target a creditor in a pending bankruptcy proceeding in such a manner would certainly qualify as:
(c) Whoever corruptly?
(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so
One interesting thing to note is that these three? wire fraud (? 1343), identity theft (? 1028A), and witness intimidation (? 1512)? are all listed as predicate acts under Chapter 96 of Title 18, known as the RICO statute.
It looks more and more like that would be the standard for Ms. Katherine ?Evidence Tampering? Wessling and her scurvy crew of crooked cronies.
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Croatia votes to join EU in 2013, despite crisis (Reuters)
ZAGREB (Reuters) ? Croatia voted on Sunday to join the European Union next year, shrugging off concerns over the economic turmoil in the bloc and fears that membership will compromise its hard-won sovereignty.
Provided all 27 member states ratify its accession, the Adriatic state will enter the EU on July 1, 2013, more than two decades after breaking away from socialist Yugoslavia and fighting a 1991-95 war to secure independence.
It will become the second former Yugoslav republic to join the EU, following Slovenia in 2004.
Sixty-six percent ticked "Yes" in the referendum, the state electoral commission said with almost all votes counted.
"This is a historic moment, and could be a turning point in our history," Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told reporters.
Turnout, however, was low, at 44 percent of eligible voters, well below the resounding votes of many former communist countries that joined in 2004 and 2007.
That figure appeared to reflect widespread uncertainty among Croats over what membership will really mean.
But the result suggested the EU had not completely lost its appeal in the struggling western Balkans despite the debt crisis that is threatening the single currency.
Many Croats hope accession will mark a clear break with the region's recent past of war and nationalism, and help its weak economy through EU funds and full access to the bloc's common market.
The slow pace of reform in the rest of the western Balkans, and waning enthusiasm within the EU for further enlargement, mean other countries in Croatia's neighborhood - such as Serbia, Bosnia and Albania - will wait years before they too can join. Tiny Montenegro on the Adriatic coast is next in line.
"GREAT RELIEF"
"I feel great relief, for me, for my children," said bank worker Jasna Maric, 43. "Only fifteen years ago, we were still killing each other here, so this was a strategic decision."
Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, though visibly delighted, sounded a note of caution:
"With this, we leave behind political instability, but the rest will depend on our ability and creativity," Pusic said. "Our chances will be better, but no one will do the job for us."
Croatia saw strong growth in the past decade on the back of foreign lending and waves of tourists to its Adriatic coast, but its economy has been hit hard by the global economic crisis.
It will have to work hard to make its public finances sustainable before it is allowed to join the euro zone, which analysts say is unlikely in the next five years.
Its gross domestic product per capita is 61 percent of the EU average.
Analysts and government officials had warned that rejection of EU accession on Sunday would have hit the country's credit rating, deterred investors and further dampened any prospect of a quick economic recovery.
The "No" camp expressed bitter disappointment, and argued the referendum did not truly reflect the will of the people because of the low turnout.
"This result is against the interests of the Croatian people," said Zeljko Sacic, a war veteran and leading Euro-skeptic.
"This is the end of Croatia's freedom. The EU is falling apart and the Croatian man will be worse off than today."
(Reporting by Zoran Radosavljevic and Igor Ilic; Editing by Matt Robinson)
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Exclusive peek: B.H. 'Housewives' wedding finale
Bravo
By Anna Chan
A fairy tale scene in the backyard of a mansion. Smoking drinks. Fancy food. Giant invites featuring white flowers and a price tag of $15,000. Fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" have seen all this and more as star Lisa Vanderpump planned daughter Pandora's lavish wedding this season.
Did we say "lavish"? We really meant "simple," as Lisa has insisted during multiple meetings with fab wedding planner Kevin Lee. ("It's Beverly Hills, dahling! It has to be over the top!" he often reminded her.)
Now, viewers will finally see just how "simple" Pandy's August nuptials to long-time love, Jason,?were. The happy celebration is set to cap off the second season of Bravo's hit reality show Monday, which has been filled with allegations of domestic violence and possible drug abuse.
And though Lisa may have insisted on not going over the top, fellow co-star Camille Grammer reveals in an exclusive clip of the finale? provided to us by Bravo that "it definitely looked like a million-dollar wedding." Check it out:
According to our pals at Us Weekly, two of the "Housewives" weren't in attendance. One was Taylor Armstrong, whose husband, Russell, committed suicide just weeks before, and the other was Kim Richards. Seeing as how Kim has created quite a bit of drama this season with her regular tardiness and loopy behavior, we doubt the bride missed her presence.
While planning her wedding, Pandy admitted to mom Lisa that she wasn't sure the "Housewives" would behave on her big day. "Every single time your friends get together, it's a battle," she pointed out in an earlier episode.
In addition to what could be a drama-free wedding for the bride and groom, the ceremony might also bring the gift of?a second straight week of?good news for the show. Last Monday's episode, which featured the opening of Lisa's SUR lounge, was the highest-rated episode in the series' history.
"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" finale airs at 9 p.m. on Bravo Monday.
Think the "Housewives" will keep the drama to the minimum without Kim and Taylor there? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!
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With Nasdaq soaring, is 2012 tech's breakout year?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The stock market has had an impressive January. The staid companies that make up the Dow Jones industrial average have gained 4 percent in three weeks, and the broader market has done even better.
But the Nasdaq composite ? a collection of technology stocks whose dot-com heyday was more than a decade ago ? has left them both in the dust.
That's no surprise when you consider tech stocks took a licking last year. Tech companies tend to carry more risk ? a problem for the Nasdaq during last year's market gyrations. As investors regain confidence in the economy, riskier plays are doing well.
But experts say the Nasdaq's gains reflect long-term currents that could lift tech stocks through 2012 and beyond. Many companies put off replacing worn-out technology during the recession. To compete and survive, they need to invest in tech.
There's also a growing global market for technology as more nations try to reduce labor costs by automating everything from factories to cash registers.
And the biggest tech companies face less competition these days when they try to acquire smaller companies. Many of their mid-sized rivals for those deals were weeded out after the dot-com bust and the financial crisis.
In the market for mergers and acquisitions, established players like IBM and Oracle can be picky about buying only those companies that will increase their earnings ? and probably their stock prices.
In other words, it's not all about Microsoft-style titans and trendy social media companies like LinkedIn and Zynga. The Nasdaq contains more than 3,000 companies, many of them relative startups compared with the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
For the year ? just 13 trading days old ? the Nasdaq composite is up 7 percent, compared with 4.6 percent for the S&P 500 and 4.1 percent for the Dow.
"It looks like it's going to be their year, or at least their month," says Michael Vogelzang, chief investment officer at Boston Advisors LLC.
The Nasdaq sank 1.8 percent last year, while the Dow rose 5.5 percent and the S&P was flat. That left tech stocks relatively cheap, giving them more space to rise as the broader market rallied. Oracle is up 11.9 percent this year, Microsoft 14.5 percent.
Vogelzang and others say the tech rally has further to go.
"If you want to make your company more productive, you have to turn to the world of technology for that," says Kim Caughey Forrest, senior analyst with Fort Pitt Capital Group.
She expects the S&P 500's tech sector to outperform the broader market because of strong demand from U.S. companies, developing nations such as China and even cash-strapped European governments. As China's banking system exploded to serve a growing middle class, banks there spent big on IBM technology, she noted.
"Nobody questions whether they need the latest and greatest technology anymore. They know they need to keep up their technology spending," says Eric Gebaide, managing director of Innovation Advisors, a tech-focused investment bank and strategic advisory firm.
Gebaide and others mentioned many companies' efforts to move their computing and data storage off-site ? trends known as "cloud computing" and "virtualization." Long-distance computing is cheaper, but it requires technology.
But why are tech stocks rallying now? The cloud computing transition has been under way for years, and spending by companies has driven much of the U.S. recovery since the economy emerged from recession in June 2009.
It's all about the investment cycle, says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer with Harris Private Bank. He says investors are finally willing to "flex their speculative muscles in a market that isn't falling apart in the way they feared last year."
Last year, some of the best-performing stocks were consumer staples and utilities ? lower-risk industries where demand is consistent even the economy is slow. This year, utilities in the S&P are down 3.7 percent, while tech companies are up 6 percent.
The move out of so-called defensive stocks, the ones you want to own in a slow economy, is a sign that investors are willing to embrace risk again.
"You're getting this big market rotation," Vogelzang says. "People made money last year in the boring, stable industries, and they're saying, 'Hey, I better get on this economy train while I can.'"
Tech companies learned hard lessons from the dot-com bust of the early 2000s and the 2008 financial crisis, says Gebaide of Innovation Advisors. They hold more cash than most types of companies and carry less debt. That leaves them less vulnerable to bankruptcy or a loss of investor confidence.
Given its twice-stung discipline, tech is positioned to drive the economy ? "perhaps the best it has been as a sector in the past 20 years," Gebaide says.
The biggest threat to the industry, Gebaide says, is a slowdown in the early investment that helps startups grow into viable companies. Those early dollars used to offer massive returns to savvy investors when a good pick went public.
Today, the upside for venture capitalists is limited because far fewer companies are going public in big stock offerings. The bar is much higher after dot-com era debacles like Pets.com. Before underwriting a deal or buying chunks of stock, banks and investors want to see millions in annual revenue and established customer bases. It's tough for younger tech companies to meet those standards.
Peter Falvey, managing director of Morgan Keegan Technology Group, says there's plenty of capital, entrepreneurship and good ideas to keep companies' bottom lines ? and stock prices ? rising.
Falvey's group specializes in tech mergers and acquisitions ? the kinds of deals that allow IBM or Oracle to bring a small competitor's product to a wider audience and add to their own earnings. Last year was the best for M&A in his group's 11-year history, and this year's deal pipeline already is stronger than last year's was at this time, he says.
A company like IBM "has huge amounts of capital and a global customer base, plus complete hardware-software services," Falvey says. "Once you put a small company into that machine, IBM can do really well with it."
The industry's earlier downturns also helped big companies by weeding out smaller players. The number of publicly traded tech companies has decreased by a third since 2000, Gebaide says. Now the big dogs can pick and choose more carefully, acquiring only businesses that are almost certain to increase their profits.
To be sure, high-tech companies are higher-risk investments, and they could lose value quickly if the market tanks because of a debt catastrophe in Europe or something unforeseen.
"People love tech until we get an economic shock, or negative economic statistics start to come out," Vogelzang says. "Then all of a sudden, people will say, 'Whoa, I need to go buy some utilities again."
But investors should take tech's success at this stage as a promising sign, says Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist with Schaeffer's Investment Research. He says higher-risk bets like tech stocks tend to rise as the market enters a phase of long-term growth.
Housing, tech and small-company stocks all have risen faster than broad indexes since October, Detrick says. Those sectors are sensitive to improving economic data, he says.
"When you start to see tech taking charge, that's definitely a potential step in the right direction for future gains, potentially for the whole year," Detrick says. "Those are the sectors you want to see lead a bull market."
___
Follow Daniel Wagner at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports .
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Mexico police: robber rode skateboard to banks
MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexico City police say they have arrested a would-be bandit who rode his skateboard to bank robbery attempts.
Police say Sergio Ledesma and his skateboard have been turned over to prosecutors after he allegedly attempted to rob two banks by whispering threats to tellers.
Police say the teller at the first bank simply acted as if he hadn't heard Ledesma, who then skated off to a second bank.
The second teller told police Ledesma appeared to whisper a threat. So the teller set off a silent alarm, and counted out the money while the would-be robber waited patiently.
Police said Friday Ledesma was still waiting when they arrived and arrested him.
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Dempsey to Israel as allies seek unity on Iran (Reuters)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? The United States' top military officer arrives in Israel on Thursday as the allies coordinate efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program - and play down suggestions they are at odds on strategy.
The United States, which is leading Western pressure on Tehran to curb controversial uranium enrichment, has voiced concern that the Israelis could attack their foe preemptively and deepen instability in an already volatile region.
This week's postponement of joint military maneuvers - and sharp remarks in Washington disowning the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist which many suspect was the work of Israeli agents - have fueled speculation that General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, may be flying in from Europe to lay down the law and rein in his close ally.
Officials on both sides rejected that idea: "Chiefs of staff deal with preparing their militaries for various options," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday.
"They don't deal in passing diplomatic messages."
Barak also said that any decision about an Israeli attack on Iran was "very far off." Like the United States, Israel does not believe Iranian assurances that its nuclear research has no military purpose. It says it would use force to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring atomic weapons that Israel believes would threaten the survival of the Jewish state.
Along with an unusually dovish comment last week from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S.-led economic sanctions against Iran appeared to be having an effect, Barak's remarks appeared designed to counter suggestions that Israel was losing patience with U.S. President Barack Obama's diplomatic approach.
Both sides also insisted that they postponed a joint air defense exercise, planned for May, for operational reasons that were entirely unrelated to the situation with Iran.
FRICTION
A record of barely concealed friction between Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and the Democrat in the White House has added to speculation about differences over Iran - differences which are now particularly sensitive as Obama campaigns for re-election in November and faces criticism from some U.S. voters for lacking vigor in his support for Israel.
Barak further played down the importance of Dempsey's first visit to Israel in his current capacity by noting that, as Israeli defense minister, he was in regular direct contact with his U.S. counterpart, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
"The dialogue between us is conducted on the basis of mutual respect," Barak said. "This administration gives unprecedented support to Israel's defense establishment."
A U.S. official said that Dempsey, who was to arrive on Thursday evening for a stopover after a European trip, was "meeting with counterparts and important close allies, regardless of any current political situations." He will leave again on Friday as Israel shuts down for the Jewish sabbath.
Iran denies seeking the bomb, but its secretive nuclear projects and advances in ballistic missile development have drawn international censure and sanctions. The U.S. navy has also maneuvered in the Gulf in the face of an Iranian threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil-export channel.
Israel, which is presumed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, has urged Washington to stiffen penalties on Iran's energy sector and central bank, and hinted it could resort to unilateral attacks if it deems diplomacy a dead end.
Such differences between the allies have been seized upon by Obama's Republican rivals ahead of this year's presidential election. The incumbent says he is determined to rein in Iran and has sought to burnish his pro-Israel credentials.
A senior Israeli official played down the unilateral Israeli "military option" on Thursday and appealed to U.S. interests in a Middle East where the popular Arab uprisings have shaken U.S.-aligned leaders, some of whom, like those in the Gulf, share Israeli and Western views of Iran as a threat.
"America is, to my regret, perceived in the Arab world as a country that has become weak and may be unable to provide them with the protection they desire in the face of Iran," Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told Army Radio.
Should the Obama administration succeed in rolling back such perceptions among its Arab allies, Meridor said, it "would shore up their status, which is so important -- important for them and, by the way, for us -- in the Arab world."
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
'Extinct' monkey rediscovered in Borneo by new expedition
Friday, January 20, 2012
An international team of scientists has found one of the rarest and least known primates in Borneo, Miller's Grizzled Langur, a species which was believed to be extinct or on the verge of extinction. The team's findings, published in the American Journal of Primatology, confirms the continued existence of this endangered monkey and reveals that it lives in an area where it was previously not known to exist.
Miller's Grizzled Langur (Presbytis hosei canicrus) is part of the small primate genus Presbytis, found across Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Thai-Malay Peninsula. In Borneo, P.h. canicrus is only found in a small corner of the county's north east and its habitat has suffered from fires, human encroachment and conversion of land for agriculture and mining.
The team's expedition took to them to Wehea Forest in East Kalimantan, Borneo, a large 38,000 ha area of mostly undisturbed rainforest. Wehea contains at least nine known species of non-human primate, including the Bornean orangutan and gibbon.
"Discovery of P.h canicrus was a surprise since Wehea Forest lies outside of this monkey's known range. Future research will focus on estimating the population density for P.h. canicrus in Wehea and the surrounding forest," said Brent Loken, from Simon Fraser University Canada. "Concern that the species may have gone extinct was first raised in 2004, and a search for the monkey during another expedition in 2008 supported the assertion that the situation was dire."
By conducting observations at mineral licks where animals congregate and setting up camera traps in several locations, the expedition confirmed that P. h canicrus continues to survive in areas west of its previously recorded geographic range. The resulting photos provide the first solid evidence demonstrating that its geographic range extends further than previously thought.
"It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study," said Loken. "The only description of Miller's Grizzled Langur came from museum specimens. Our photographs from Wehea are some of the only pictures that we have of this monkey."
"East Kalimantan can be a challenging place to conduct research, given the remoteness of many remaining forested areas, so it isn't surprising that so little is known about this primate," said Dr. Stephanie Spehar, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. "We are very grateful to our local partners. This discovery represents the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of Western and Indonesian scientists, students, NGOs, as well as local communities and government."
"While our finding confirms the monkey still exists in East Kalimantan, there is a good chance that it remains one of the world's most endangered primates," concluded Loken. "I believe it is a race against time to protect many species in Borneo. It is difficult to adopt conservation strategies to protect species when we don't even know the extent of where they live. We need more scientists in the field working on understudied species such as Miller's Grizzled Langur, clouded leopards and sun bears."
###
Wiley-Blackwell: http://www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell
Thanks to Wiley-Blackwell for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116909/_Extinct__monkey_rediscovered_in_Borneo_by_new_expedition
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Streaming music app Raditaz hopes to beat Pandora at its own game (Appolicious)
Ever since the take-off in popularity of streaming music service Pandora, it seems like the field for services that bring music over the Internet has exploded, with all kinds of offerings. Some take different approaches to streaming music ? Spotify and Rdio, for example, are more on-demand ? while Pandora is more akin to listening to the radio. A new entrant into the race, Raditaz, takes the same approach as Pandora, with the aim to do it better.
The new service just launched an app for Android today, as well as on Apple?s iOS platform. Like Pandora, Raditaz offers music in a sort of randomized, radio-like presentation. You choose a song, artist or album you like, and Raditaz brings more songs similar to what you picked in order to create a ?station,? curating the list on the fly.
But Raditaz?s model seems to largely look at the things that are limiting or slightly irritating about Pandora and fix them on its own service. For example, the free version of Pandora that?s available to all users is ad-supported, which means every few tracks, users have to sit through a quick ad. As of right now, Raditaz is also free. It also boasts 15 million songs in its databases, compared to Pandora?s 900,000.
As for ad support, Raditaz uses advertising to pay for its service just as Pandora does, but it takes a different approach, focusing on ?geographically relevant? advertising based on where listeners are located as they use their mobile devices to access the service. In fact, geography seems to be Raditaz?s defining feature: the service pays attention to where and when you?re listening, gathering the information to make the service better. It also allows you to see what music is trending in the physical area around you, tying you into your location in new and different ways not approached by other services.
Raditaz seems to bring some cool ideas to the streaming music scene, but it?s likely to find it a tough one into which to break. At the moment, streaming, cloud-based music services are everywhere: Spotify, Pandora and Rdio lead the list of services, while Google Music, Amazon Cloud and iTunes Match make up the three big cloud-based storage services for users? music libraries. There have never been so many options for accessing and listening to music on the Internet before, and as Raditaz joins the race, it?ll likely find it crowded.
But there?s definitely a lot of value in tying social aspects into music services ? Spotify is seeing some real successes there with its Facebook integration ? and Raditaz has new things to offer in that department. It also doesn?t have to beat everyone if it can beat just one competitor: Pandora.
The audience Pandora serves is necessarily different than that served by Google, Amazon, Apple and Spotify: these are users who want to discover new music they might like and enjoy not know what they?ll hear next. Raditaz is approaching the radio model of music streaming, and if it can establish its foothold there, it has the potential to catch on the way Pandora has.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Wisconsin city's mayor survives first round of recall
SHEBOYGAN, Wis |
SHEBOYGAN, Wis (Reuters) - The first-term mayor of a Wisconsin town, a self-described alcoholic who has come under pressure to step down, survived the first round of a recall election on Tuesday by getting more votes than any other candidate.
Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan, 48, took about 33 percent of the vote in the eight-way contest, the city's first mayoral recall election, and former state representative Terry Van Akkeren finished second with 26 percent, the city clerk's office said.
"I feel great. We took first place," Ryan said in an interview from his post-election party.
The Sheboygan election came on the same day as opponents of another Wisconsin politician -- Republican Governor Scott Walker -- filed petitions containing more than a million signatures to try to force the governor into a special election only a year after he took office.
Since no candidate received a majority of the votes cast in the Sheboygan election, where the contenders also included a high school student, the top two vote-getters move on to a run-off on February 21.
That vote will be essentially a rematch of the last election, in which Ryan defeated Van Akkeren to win the office in 2009.
More than 4,000 Sheboygan voters had signed petitions to force the recall after Ryan was caught on tape making sordid jokes about a sister-in-law and was photographed passed out in a tavern during a drinking binge last summer.
Ryan, a married father of three, admits he was a binge drinker and considers himself an alcoholic but said he has not had a drink for months.
"But I know the only way to put the character issue to rest is over time. I hope that by the election it will be behind me."
LOOKING FORWARD TO REMATCH
Ryan said he was looking forward to the rematch with Van Akkeren and hoped the result of Tuesday's vote would let the campaign focus on issues such as drawing business to Sheboygan, which rests on the western shore of Lake Michigan about midway between Milwaukee and Green Bay.
He said in a pre-election interview that the scandal had forced him to come to grips with his drinking. "Everyone knew me as a fun guy. But lately it had changed. I was not a happy drunk. I became cynical."
Interest in the election was so strong that the Sheboygan city clerk's computer servers were overwhelmed. More than 9,800 votes were cast for a turnout of about 34.5 percent.
Ryan was a city councilman before winning election to his first term as mayor in 2009. He defeated Wisconsin's first Latino mayor, Juan Perez, in a primary, and Van Akkeren in the general election.
Van Akkeren, 57, who served as a Sheboygan alderman from 1986 to 2003 and as a state representative from 2003 to 2010, saw the results differently.
"The mayor got 33 percent of the vote," Van Akkeren said in a telephone interview. "That means 67 percent of the people aren't happy with him."
As for the high school student? Asher Heimermann, 18, a senior at South High School, finished last with a handful of votes, but ahead of write-ins.
The recall election was a first for Sheboygan, but not the first time residents have attempted to recall a city leader. Opponents tried to recall Perez six years ago, but failed to gather enough support among voters to force an election.
(Reporting By Geoff Davidian; Editing by David Bailey, Paul Thomasch and Cynthia Johnston)
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