essmot88: 2013

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Food stamp use declines in February

Food stamp use was down in February, according to the latest food stamps data released by the Department of Agriculture.?A notable 213,962 individual recipients were removed from the food stamps program.

By SoldAtTheTop,?Guest blogger / May 13, 2013

A notable 213,962 individual recipients were removed from the food stamps program in February, with the current total still increasing 2.66 percent on a year-over-year basis.

SoldAtTheTop

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As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn, participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to rise.

Skip to next paragraph SoldAtTheTop

Writer, The PaperEconomy Blog

'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.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Coachella 2013: Skrillex, Blur, Stone Roses Bring The Noise

Dog Blood and a reunited Jurassic 5 steal the festival's first night.
By Mary J. DiMeglio

Skrillex and Boys Noize at Coachella on Friday
Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/ WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705585/coachella-skrillex-blur-stone-roses.jhtml

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Obama budget: Is it 'austere'?

President Barack Obama's 2014 budget includes increases in spending for setting up health exchanges, increasing scrutiny for food safety, and gun violence and Alzheimer's disease research. It includes cuts to Medicare, such as reducing subsidies for wealthier people and diminishing the pay rate for physicians.

By Toni Clarke,?Reuters / April 11, 2013

President Barack Obama, accompanied by acting Budget Director Jeffrey Zients, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Wednesday April 10, 2013, to discuss his proposes fiscal 2014 federal budget.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

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President?Barack Obama's proposed 2014 budget includes an increase of $3.9 billion to the health department as it prepares to implement the administration's healthcare overhaul, setting money aside for mental health, but cutting medicare.

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The budget asks for $1.5 billion in increased funding to help set up healthcare exchanges and educate consumers on the enrollment process, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 1. The exchanges are to begin providing coverage on Jan. 1.

The increase would contribute to a budget of $80.1 billion for the?Department of Health and Human Services, up nearly $4 billion over 2012. The 2013 budget is still being finalized.

"Even as it invests in areas that we know are critical for our future prosperity, the budget also contributes to the president's goal of cutting the deficit in a balanced way," health secretary?Kathleen Sebelius?said at a news briefing in Washington on Wednesday.

"That means safeguarding every dollar, cutting waste and duplication, seeking out savings wherever we can and making some very difficult choices we wouldn't have made at other times."

The budget calls for cuts to Medicare?as part of a broad plan to reduce the program's costs by roughly $400 billion over the next decade. At the same time, it proposes $130 million in funding for mental health services and additional funding for research into gun violence following the Newtown,?Connecticut, school shooting in December.

"While we know the vast number of Americans who struggle with mental illness are not violent, recent tragedies have reminded us of the staggering toll that untreated mental illness takes on our society," Sebelius said.

The?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?will receive more than $30 million to support a nationwide violent death surveillance system and conduct research on the causes and prevention of gun violence.

The budget increases funding for the Food and Drug Administration by $821 million and provides $31 billion to the National Institutes of Health to, among other things, fulfill the government's commitment to enhance research into Alzheimer's disease.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/naCgdVJxr1Q/Obama-budget-Is-it-austere

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Deal of the Day: 46% off Marware FlipVue for iPhone 5

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Unlike most leather flip cases, the FlipVue opens downward for added convenience when talking on your iPhone 5. The interior front lid features a slot for storing business cards or credit cards. The soft, scratch-resistant microfiber interior protects the screen of your iPhone 5 from scratches and scuffs while inside.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/XVWX0FeyDms/story01.htm

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Friday, April 12, 2013

How We Find Meaning in Our Work (and How That Keeps Us Motivated)

How We Find Meaning in Our Work (and How That Keeps Us Motivated) Staying motivated at work can be a rough challenge. We've talked about ways to keep it up, but author Dan Ariely says one of the biggest motivators is feeling like your work has meaning. Here's why.

In the TED talk above, Ariely discusses a few experiments that show much we actually value meaning in our work?even if it's just building LEGO models or doing a tedious word search, getting positive feedback keeps us going, and he explains a number of ways that can affect our real life work. If you sometimes find it hard to keep going, his suggestions can be pretty helpful. Check out the full talk in the video.

Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work? | TED

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/-wkXrsD6L8M/how-we-find-meaning-in-our-work-and-how-that-keeps-us-motivated

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Tiny DARPA chip has six-axis inertial guidance for military GPS backup

Before satellites, getting from A to B without radio signals involved cumbersome inertial systems found only on advanced civilian and military aircraft. Those are still the best backup for GPS, and working with the University of Michigan, DARPA has found a way to reduce the once fridge-sized units to half the width of your fingernail. The chips contain everything needed for precise navigation including an accurate master clock, a three-axis gyroscope and three accelerometers, all contained in three hair-width layers. If it gets out of the lab, it would give soldiers another option in the event of an enemy GPS attack or when they're in a tunnel, and might even guide you to that Macy's restroom if it ever hits civilian form.

Filed under: GPS, Science

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Via: Gizmag

Source: DARPA

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/kyuXRnl60TA/

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Manila charges Chinese on reef crash

11 April 2013 Last updated at 00:22 ET

The Philippines has charged 12 Chinese fishermen with poaching after their boat ran aground a protected coral reef, reports say.

The men face up to 12 years in jail and $300,000 (?195,784) in fines, said an official from the Tubbataha reef park, a Unesco World Heritage site.

They may also be charged with bribery after they allegedly tried to pay off Philippine park rangers.

The US also faces a fine after its ship crashed in the same reef in January.

The Chinese fishing vessel ran aground the reef in the Sulu Sea on Monday.

The fishermen said they reached the reef by accident from Malaysia, Philippine officials were quoted as saying.

Chinese officials have visited the fishermen, who are detained in Palawan province, local reports say.

The boat is the seventh Chinese fishing vessel caught in the area since 2002, according to a statement from the Tubbataha reef park.

The USS Guardian struck the reef south-east of Palawan island on 17 January. The ship was dismantled to minimise damage to the reef and the US has apologised for the accident.

Four navy officers on the minesweeper were relieved of their duties.

According to Unesco, the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park is "home to a great diversity of marine life. Whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and Napoleon wrasse are amongst the key species found [there]".

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22103895#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Plosser pitches his plan for a post-crisis Fed

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official on Thursday took an early stab at how the central bank should reduce its swelled balance sheet to a more normal size in the years ahead, arguing the current plan may need some adjusting.

In a detailed speech to a Hong Kong audience, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser urged a return to pre-crisis monetary policy as soon as possible and warned of a possibly quicker-than-previously-envisioned selloff of assets.

The Fed's unprecedented bond-buying stimulus has boosted its balance sheet to some $3.2 trillion in longer-term securities, raising concerns over how it will return to a more normal level of about $1 trillion without disrupting markets or racking up losses later this decade.

Plosser, an outspoken policy hawk and longtime critic of the bond-buying, said the Fed would be wise to begin swapping maturing longer-term assets with shorter-term ones, aiming to hold only Treasury bonds and not the mortgage bonds it is now buying.

The ultimate goal, he said, should be to reduce the balance sheet so that the key "federal funds" interest rate again becomes the central bank's main policy instrument. The federal funds rate has been near zero since late 2008 to help drag the U.S. economy out of recession.

"The complexity of shrinking the balance sheet is nuanced," Plosser, who is often in the minority of Fed opinion and does not have a vote this year on monetary policy, told the Market News International Seminar.

"We are in uncharted territory in this regard and should be appropriately cautious in specifying too detailed a path that we may not be able to follow," he said, according to prepared remarks.

The Fed published its so-called "exit strategy" from the extraordinary policies back in mid-2011; Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke recently said it needs a rethink.

The balance sheet could rise to $4 trillion by year end if the Fed continues buying $85 billion in monthly Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. While the central bank is transferring large profits to the U.S. Treasury now, it may run into the red if it sells these assets when longer-term rates eventually rise.

At its March policy meeting, Fed policymakers began discussing whether it would be best not to sell the assets and simply let them mature, a decision that could stabilize markets and curb any politically-sensitive losses.

Shedding further light on where this debate may head, Plosser warned that excess bank reserves now total $1.8 trillion and could grow to $2.25 trillion if the ultra easy policies continue apace.

"That may require the Fed to sell assets at a somewhat faster pace than contemplated in the principles adopted in 2011," he said.

"This action would heighten the risk that the Fed would be selling longer-term assets at a loss, which would affect the Fed's remittances to the Treasury," he added. "There might even be negative remittances (losses)."

Getting down into the weeds of monetary policy, Plosser said he didn't want the outsized balance sheet to dissuade the Fed from its traditional "corridor" system in which the federal funds rate floats between a lower rate paid on the bank reserves, and a higher discount rate at which banks can get emergency funds.

He also urged the Fed to increase the discount rate from the current 0.75 percent to "more normal, or non-crisis, levels."

(Reporting by Clement Tan in Hong Kong; Writing by Jonathan Spicer in New York; Editing by Diane Craft)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/plosser-pitches-plan-post-crisis-fed-100309268--business.html

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Eye Candy

Overachievers take heed: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man may be king but the two-eyed corneal thief is a victim of his own success. This cautionary tale from We Think Things illustrates the dangers of society turning a blind eye to crime. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/61BN0r4gKn4/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-tonight-eye-candy

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PBS 'Masterpiece' producer has book deal

NEW YORK (AP) ? A longtime producer at PBS is ready to pull back the curtains on "Downton Abbey" and other "Masterpiece" favorites.

Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of the "Masterpiece" series for more than a quarter century, has a deal with Viking for "Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes of Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery!"

The publisher announced Wednesday that the book will come out Oct. 29. Patricia Mulcahy will co-write "Making Masterpiece."

According to Viking, Eaton will share stories about Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith and other performers and will write about such popular programs as "Downton Abbey" and "Prime Suspect." Productions from "Masterpiece" have won numerous Emmy, Peabody and Golden Globe awards.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pbs-masterpiece-producer-book-deal-172634563.html

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Apple reaches smartphone patent licensing deal, agrees to pay Japanese company $10 million for rights

You can't normally read about IP and the mobile industry without coming across two endlessly warring tech companies -- especially when Apple is involved. But today marks a different sort of patent exchange for Cupertino: a cooperative one. Japan-based Access Corporation, a mobile software provider, has agreed to license its patent portfolio -- acquired from its purchase of PalmSource (yes, that's the company behind Palm OS) -- to Apple, in a deal valued at about 1 billion Yen (roughly $10 million USD). It's not the first deal of this kind for Access' smartphone IP. Back in 2010, Microsoft entered into a similar arrangement that gave it the rights to the same portfolio. The lesson here, kids? Money, it solves everything.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple

Comments

Via: Apple Insider

Source: Macotakara (Translated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/10/apple-reaches-smartphone-patent-licensing-deal/

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FuzeBox Adds 50K New Enterprise Subscribers In Q1 2013, Debuts Improved iPad Client

San Francisco-based virtual meeting player FuzeBox has had some impressive success to kick-off 2013, posting a 200 percent rise in demand for its product in the initial quarter of the year, with 50,000 new subscribers added in just a few short months. The company also now counts 30 percent of the Fortune 500 among its clients, and is debuting new features for its iPad client to help continue its adoption as more meeting attendees shift to mobile.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/sAhI61aRjeQ/

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Rapid climate change and the role of the Southern Ocean

Apr. 8, 2013 ? Scientists from Cardiff University and the University of Barcelona have discovered new clues about past rapid climate change.

The research, published this month in the journal Nature Geoscience, concludes that oceanographic reorganisations and biological processes are linked to the supply of airborne dust in the Southern Ocean and this connection played a key role in past rapid fluctuations of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, an important component in the climate system.

The scientists studied a marine sediment core from the Southern Ocean and reconstructed chemical signatures at different water depths using stable isotope ratios in the shells of foraminifera, single-celled marine organisms. They found that the chemical difference between intermediate level and deep waters over the last 300,000 years closely resembled the changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and the input of windblown dust.

Dr Martin Ziegler, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, explained: "The deep ocean is by far the largest pool of available carbon on short timescales. In the Southern Ocean, water from the deep rises to the sea surface and comes in contact with the atmosphere. These waters will release their carbon to the atmosphere unless marine phytoplankton captures this carbon through photosynthesis and transports it back into the deep when it dies and sinks. The efficiency of this biological activity in the Southern Ocean is thought to depend on the input of nutrients, namely iron, contained in wind blown dust. It is also this efficiency that determines the strength of chemical stratification in the Southern Ocean."

Professor Ian Hall, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, added: "Our study finds large changes in chemical stratification of the Southern Ocean not only across the shifts from ice ages to warm interglacial conditions, but also on more rapid, millennial timescales. However, changes in dust flux on these short timescales are much smaller. This could suggest that the biological response to a change in dust input is much more sensitive when the dust flux is relatively low such as it is today. This iron fertilization process might be therefore more important than previously thought."

These findings provide an important benchmark for climate modeling studies and more research will be needed to determine the significance and impact of future changes in dust input into the Southern Ocean.

The research was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and is part of the international Gateways training network, funded by the 7^th Framework Programme of the European Union.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cardiff University.

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

Journal Reference:

Martin Ziegler, Paula Diz, Ian R. Hall, Rainer Zahn. Millennial-scale changes in atmospheric CO2 levels linked to the Southern Ocean carbon isotope gradient and dust flux. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1782

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/ce-5IZpPaJA/130408133752.htm

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In China, You Can Pay Women To Play Video Games With You

In many parts of Asia, there is a job called "beer companion". It's exactly as its name implies. Young women working for a bar or a beer company dress in relatively skimpy outfits to drink with and to entertain bar guests. It's already hit the West, but this seems this type of service is now moving towards the video game world in China.

According to People's Daily, this gaming companion service is a recent thing in China. The service comes in two different types. The first type is a promotion and the other you for pay. In the promotion category, a game company offers a promotion where players can play games with pretty ladies. For pay service, gamers can pay for companions to play online games with them.

What this comes down to is that Chinese players are paying to play with companions online...and paying to play with companions in person.

This service seems to be geared towards male gamers. A quick search online for the phrase gaming companion (MM??) brings up girls looking cute to solicit gamer clients. It should be noted that MM in China refers to "younger sister" (mei mei??), which is also a term often associated with sex workers.

According to the People's Daily, this concept first came about when news broke out about a high-end World of Warcraft club that offered online companion services 24/7. Basically, a member of the WoW club would log on, request a companion and then have someone to play with until they log off.

After the revelation of the WoW club, enterprising "gamers" started advertising similar services of companion play. Some of them offered to in person gaming at a local Internet cafe, others were just online play. The prices vary greatly. It appears playing with a "ranked" gamer will cost about 8 dollars an hour whereas an "amateur" will go for about 3 dollars an hour.

One shop on Chinese e-commerce supersite Taobao.com that Kotaku questioned about services said that pretty much most of the services are "agencies". The shop that we contacted offered the services of a "Dear Sue". The person running the shop chatted with us online through the QQ account of a woman, but we have no way verify her gender. "She" was offering services in games such as Defense of the Ancients, League of Legends, and Counter Strike.

"We have lots of different girls of different skills that can play with you," said 'Sue', despite the fact that her site only advertised her services. "We offer online play only, 1 vs. 1."

This agent also said that "she" couldn't guarantee that we would win our match. On top of that "she" also said that they used the YY TeamChat program to converse.

While there is nothing too sinister about the concept of companion play, searches into the subject leads to some pretty sketchy stuff. Halfway through a search on Taobao.com, the results return with some pretty pornographic material. It's unclear what this entails about the whole situation.

So far, we haven't been able to contact a shop offering in person companion play.

[???????????DotA??20?] [People's Daily]

[Taobao search for MM??] [Taobao.com]

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

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Source: http://kotaku.com/in-china-people-are-paying-women-to-play-video-games-w-471161999

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Monday, April 8, 2013

Google Play redesign confirmed in leaked image

With all this talk about the cord-cutting masses no longer wanting to subsidize TV channels they don't watch, it's a little surprising that one of the oldest, most widely available forms of TV is waning: over-the-air broadcast TV. Despite its attractive price of $0 per month and billions of advertising revenue, nobody ? including the broadcast networks, the tech companies that are out to disrupt them, and the cord-cutters and cord-nevers who hate cable ? is very enthusiastic about antennas. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-play-redesign-confirmed-leaked-image-211758103.html

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IRL: Moshi's Digits gloves and the Nokia Lumia 620 on Telus

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

Spring may have sprung two weeks ago, but believe us, it's still winter somewhere. (Ed note: I'm typing this from underneath an NVIDIA snuggie -- Dana.) In fact, Darren's had a reason to test out some touchscreen-friendly gloves, even in his southerly state of North Carolina. Up north, our own Jon Fingas has been playing with the Lumia 620 on Canada's Telus networks. No complaints from him about the 40-degree temps, though.

Filed under: Misc, Nokia

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0meJy1seSOM/

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Barbie Without Makeup: Revealed!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/barbie-without-makeup-revealed/

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

90% Caesar Must Die

All Critics (42) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (4)

There's barely a wasted moment in the film, which runs a brisk 76 minutes and contains no female roles.

There's an intensity and emotional accuracy to the performances that's just stunning, particularly Striano's Brutus, as he longs for death and release.

It's an arresting, playful and moving film ...

Prison theatricals are nothing new in the movies, but Caesar Must Die, a quasi-documentary featuring hardened convicts acting out Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, is in a class by itself.

Ranks among the most involving adaptations of Shakespeare ever put on screen ...

What works best is what's readily accessible, the startling power of performers who understand the drama all too well.

Destined to lose to years in prison, the actors seem to take pride in their association with something as seemingly immortal as Shakespeare's words.

As they find issues and themes they can relate to, the action is never remotely static despite the frequent nature of the close-ups and the plastic sword.

The problem with the film, which somewhat inexplicably won the Golden Bear at Berlin last year, is that it scarcely transcends the basic novelty of its premise.

The juxtaposition of Shakespearean text and prison cell life is a particularly poignant one.

It is difficult to understand exactly where documentary ends and fiction begins, but the finale, again in colour, of the triumphant first night of the production can't fail to move.

It's never anything less than interesting, though I felt it didn't quite fulfil its potential, and the repetition of material at the beginning and end is disconcerting.

It is uncanny how Italy's film-makers keep failing to nail, or effectively to satirise, their country's strident political shortcomings.

Deeply felt melancholy lingers long after the credits roll.

Delivers a compelling and considered take on immemorial themes.

[It] has plenty of wit and punch, although compared to the best of the medium - Man On Wire, for instance - it sometimes comes off as guileless and clunky.

[An] inventive, urgent and humane prison drama, in which real-life Mafia and Camorra prisoners act in a version of Julius Caesar.

If you're looking for an adventurous thought-provoking film, "Caesar Must Die" more than fits the bill.

In just 76 minutes, the Taviani brothers treat us to a deeply affecting adaptation of this ancient play, embedded with even deeper meaning on account of its unconventional stars.

No quotes approved yet for Caesar Must Die. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/caesar_must_die_2012/

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Polk Audio UltraFit 1000

Polk's UltraFit line of earphones and headphones is, as the name suggests, designed with exercise enthusiasts in mind. The UltraFit 1000, at $69.95 (list), represents the mid-level option in this affordable range that tops out around $100. Joggers will like the 1000's secure-fitting design, which allows outside sounds in for increased situational awareness. However, gym-goers looking to drown out the blaring music from the adjacent spin class may have trouble doing so with the UltraFit 1000, not only because it doesn't create a seal at the ear canal, but also because it distorts at top volumes. Thus, despite its extremely secure fit, this is not an option for everyone.

Design
The in-ear UltraFit 1000 has an undeniably sporty look, available in black with red highlights, white with gray highlights, or gray with neon yellow-green highlights. Its cable loops up over the ear, and where the cables from the left and right ears meet, there's a connection point?here you can connect the cable extension that has an inline microphone and remote for mobile devices, or the cable extension that has none (and is significantly shorter?ideal for use with armband phone cases).

These are earbud-style earphones. That means they don't enter and seal off the ear canal, though the removable silicon eartips have a narrowed tip that extends them a bit into the canal opening without completely sealing it off like a typical in-canal earphone pair would.

The UltraFit 1000 is designed to stay in place securely during intense workouts. Since the earpieces don't quite seal off the ear canal, most of the secure fit comes from the over-the-ear, flexible-but-rigid rubberized cable housing. It allows for an almost customized feel, and once you've molded it over your ear, the UltraFit 1000 really won't move around.

The eartips, however, are not for everyone. They're designed with awareness of your surroundings in mind?this means they let outside noise in, which makes them ideal for joggers or people exercising in the great outdoors. If you're exercising at a gym that typically blasts loud music, however, you're going to need to blast your own music to overcome the sounds of your surroundings?there's no passive noise reduction here as there would be with a pair that seals off the ear canal completely.

The UltraFit 100 ships with the aforementioned cables, a shirt-clip, three pairs of silicon eartips (S, M, L), and a zip-up, cushioned carrying pouch.

Call clarity is fine through the UltraFit 1000; you can make and receive calls without a problem. It should be noted that Polk Audio also sells the UltraFit 1000a?priced the same as this model, the 1000a is outfitted with an inline microphone and remote intended specifically for Android devices.

Performance
On tracks with seriously deep bass, the UltraFit 1000 distorts at top volumes. This comes as no surprise?flat, earbud-style earphones that do not protrude into the canal typically have drivers of lesser quality than their in-canal counterparts. At moderate volumes, the UltraFit 1000 doesn't distort, but it has trouble reproducing the sub-bass frequencies that exist in songs like The Knife's "Silent Shout." It never sounds tinny or weak, but the tremendous sub-bass of that song is more implied than delivered.

For a pair of earbuds, the UltraFit 1000 produces a respectable amount of bass, but this is not a pair for bass-lovers. Earphones that don't seal off the ear canal will almost always have less powerful bass response. This has less to do with the drivers and more to do with the actual sealing off of the canal. (You can hear this effect in action by humming a low note, then plugging up your ear canals with your fingers?your sealed off ears will naturally increase the bass response of your humming.)

On Bill Callahan's "Drover," the UltraFit 1000 doesn't deliver his vocals with the treble edge that helps them cut through the mix. However, while they could sound more crisp, the vocals still beat out the drums for the spotlight, mainly because the UltraFit lacks the deep bass response that can sometimes boost the bass too much on this track's thunderous drumming. With the lack of crisp high-mids and highs, and a less intense bass response, the focus on this track shifts to the low-mids, and occasionally things can sound a bit muddy.

Adjusting the earpieces a bit can make things a little less muddy, however, and that is probably my primary issue with the UltraFit 1000: It can be securely in your ear and yet still angled in a variety of ways that change the sound signature from ear-to-ear. Simply put, this is a pair for exercise-lovers who want something that won't fall out of the ear, and not so much for music lovers.

Classical tracks, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," have a crisper sound than most pop or rock tracks have through the UltraFit 1000. This is because they are recorded in a natural, ideally transparent manner?there won't be much, if any, boosted bass response in a classical recording. Thus, the UltraFit 1000 can sound a bit light on the low-end when it comes to the lower register strings and percussion, but the natural high-mid and high frequency presence of the higher register strings, brass, and percussion shines through here. Things don't sound tinny?there's still a hint of low-end?and they never sound muddy like they can on different types of recordings.

If sound is your main priority, we like the Sony XBA-S65, which offers a secure fit and a bit more low-end presence. If really big bass is what you seek, the pricey Monster iSport Immersion In-Ear Headphones brings it, along with a secure-fitting frame, while the Beats by Dr. Dre Powerbeats also bring serious low-end in a secure-fitting, expensive package.

At $70 (and far cheaper at most major online retailers), the Polk Audio UltraFit 1000 is an affordable option for those who want to hear their tunes?and the outside world?as well as take calls while never having to worry about the earphones falling out. But if it's big sound you're looking for, this isn't the pair. For the same price, the on-ear headphone counterpart to the 1000, the Polk Audio UltraFit 2000, delivers significantly better audio performance with no distortion.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/kwHQFZyf2GM/0,2817,2417208,00.asp

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FBI visits Petraeus' home, sources tell NBC News

Getty Images file

Meet the people who have been pulled into the scandal that caused Gen. David Petraeus to resign.

By Pete Williams and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

FBI agents visited the home of former CIA director David Petraeus on Friday, two sources with knowledge of their visit told NBC News.

USA Today reported Friday that the agents went there to "interview" Petraeus, but it's unclear whether he was at his home in suburban Washington. Officials said the visit didn't indicate any new development in the FBI's months-long investigation into allegations that writer Paula Broadwell improperly received or stored classified documents while she was working on Petraeus' biography.

Petraeus, who was commander of U.S. and U.N. forces in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, resigned as head of the CIA in November after it was revealed that he had an affair with Broadwell. Petraeus apologized for the affair in a rare public appearance last month.

Officials said one reason the investigation has dragged on for so long is that each document at issue must be thoroughly checked to determine whether it was properly classified and, if so, whether it was still classified at the time it was allegedly in Broadwell's possession.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a645423/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C0A50C176223820Efbi0Evisits0Epetraeus0Ehome0Esources0Etell0Enbc0Enews0Dlite/story01.htm

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Fisker announces steep layoffs, cuts company down to 25 percent of its workforce

Fisker Automotive has been seeing its troubles go from bad to worse, and its now announced its most drastic steps yet to keep the company afloat. In a statement released this afternoon, the company confirmed that it is making a "significant reduction" in its workforce, which it says will ultimately leave it with approximately 25 percent of its employees -- Bloomberg pegs the number of layoffs at about 160 based on its sources, down from the 200 it employed as of last week. Fisker's statement also notes that the company is continuing its efforts to secure a strategic alliance or partnership, but says it had reached the point where layoffs became unavoidable. As Bloomberg mentions in its report, Fisker has to date only sold 2,500 of its electric vehicles, which have been beset by delays and recalls in recent years.

Filed under: Transportation

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Source: Bloomberg, Autoblog

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/-vZxJ4Z4Ljk/

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Reuters: Media exec Peter Chernin bid $500 million for Hulu

Since the sun came up today it must mean that Hulu is up for sale, again. The latest extension to the sale rumors for the video streaming site is one from Reuters citing anonymous sources that indicates Peter Chernin, a former News Corp exec and Hulu board member has submitted a $500 million bid. There's no word on how big a stake he'd be interested in taking, but that's significantly lower than the reported $1.9 - $4 billion bids received from Dish and Google when the site was up for sale back in 2011. Of cours,e any sale price may vary on whether or not the acquisition come content included, but either way, we'd expect a few more possibilites to pop up before something (or nothing, like last time) happens. Of course, Peter Chernin was one of the folks pushing for a shorter theater to home release window and more TV on the Xbox, both of which have come to fruition in one form or another -- maybe he can make a deal happen.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Comments

Source: Reuters

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/05/reuters-media-exec-peter-chernin-bid-500-million-for-hulu/

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Debug 12: iCloud and Core Data sync

Debug 11: Don Melton and Safari

Daniel Pasco of Black Pixel, Brent Simmons of Ranchero Software, and Justin Williams of Second Gear talk to Guy and Rene about iCloud Core Data sync, why everyone seems to be in a bad mood about it, and how, if at all, Apple can fix it.

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Guy English of Kicking Bear
Rene Ritchie of iMore.com

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Yell at us via the Twitter accounts above (or the same names on ADN). Loudly.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/KQ1oAXHdUqs/story01.htm

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