Wednesday, January 30, 2013
KVM: Linux Virtualization That's Halfway There
Are you looking for a reliable virtualization package to run multiple virtual machines that handle unmodified Linux or Windows images? Then look no further than your existing Linux configuration. It already has the underpinnings to support Kernel-based Virtual Machine. You need look no further than your distro's package repository to install KVM.
Whether a debt consolidation loan is necessary when you think ...
January 28th, 2013
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Mounting bills and payments make many of the consumers harassed in many situations. Sometimes, the problem becomes so much difficult that it becomes impossible for the borrowers to handle the debts. Financial advisors will advise you to go through debt management plans in such cases. If the loans are in small amounts, then the loans can be handled by maintaining tight budgets for the next few months. You will need to control your expenditures to save enough money for paying the debts. Debt consolidation loans are also helpful for managing debt. It will not be wise to apply for debt consolidation loans without considering the circumstances. The debts should be analyzed properly.
In the debt consolidation loans, all of your existing bills and monthly payments will be consolidated in a single loan. You will pay to a single lender. This new lender will pay your creditors. The main benefit of this consolidation process is that the borrower will get an affordable monthly payment system to repay the debts. However, the term will be longer. In such loans, the borrower will need to bear the interest rate of the previous loans and the interest rate of the new loan. In some cases, if the borrower does not get enough time to maintain the debts; then he/she can go through debt management plans where a person or a company will handle all his debts on behalf of the borrower.
If the loans are small in amount and want to repay them. It is better to repay the loans by saving enough money each month. A borrower can do this by avoiding unnecessary expenditures. If the loan amounts are big in amounts, the borrower should contact an advisor to get necessary suggestions and instructions to get rid of the debts. Rainbow group has expert professionals to provide you necessary assistance to solve the debt problems. Before contacting an advisor determine why you need the help. Then ask the financial company or the advisor for a free quote if possible. Try to solve the problem according to the quote and suggestions. If it is not possible then think about debt consolidation loans. Here you should remember that the new lender may ask you for collateral and additional fees. It cannot be possible to show collateral against the loan and even the additional fees for some borrowers. Certainly, they should think about some other alternative ways.
All the above steps should be considered before making any application for debt consolidation loans. Another thing should be considered, there are many fake lenders and companies that want to take the advantage of such weak points of the borrowers. The lender must be a genuine one. Be sure about the lender at the beginning of the process. Rainbow group provides free quotes and applications for the convenience of their customers. You need not to pay anything for the free quotes and suggestions. Their debt management professionals will guide you to a perfect solution.
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article copyrighted to Rainbowgrp.co.uk
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Video: Book a cruise now to enjoy warm weather for less
>>> kate, welcome back. good to see you.
>> good to see you.
>> 21 million people wun went on cruises last year and more expected this year.
>> yes. your include, bempverages sometimes and you get to see multiple destinations in one vacation.
>> you want us to book even though it's snowing outside or maybe because it's snowing.
>> you don't have to travel during wave season, but you should, because cruises offer the best deals.
>> buyer beware . what do you need to know before you book?
>> shop around. just as flights and hotel prices tend to fluctuate, cruise prices do, too. they can be cheaper one day than the next. do your research.
>> and do some homework about the ship that you might be spending a week on?
>> older ships perhaps coming up for renovations, cruise lines offer good deals on those and brand new ships, inaugural voyages. april for the caribbean, april, may, september for europe, cheaper prices.
>> let's talk about specifics. royal caribbean , majesty of the seas . what do i need to know ?
>> it was renovated about five years ago, a climbing wall , spa, loads of restaurants. they have a really good, fantastic value cruise to the bahamas. $209 per person. that includes a $50 on-board credit. it goes to their keys, a private keys.
>> $209 per person? that's very cheap.
>> exactly.
>> disney dream, this is like going to disneyland but you're on the open seas?
>> exactly. it starts at $399 for adults and $141 for children. and that, you'll see all your favorite disney characters there. there's a mickey pool, nemo pool, musicals, screenings and parties. disneyland at sea.
>> i've got three little kids. i understand it's all about the kids. as an adult, am i going to go slightly batty on this cruise?
>> you're a huge mickey fan, aren't you?
>> are there things for adults to do?
>> lots of things. lounges and bars. plus it's second to none. if you don't want to see your children all weekend --
>> take them on a disney cruise . you never have to see them.
>> exactly.
>> this one is called the breakaway.
>> brand new cruise going from england to new york at the end of april. it costs from $999 per person.
>> priceyer.
>> but that includes your flight to london. i looked at flights this morning and couldn't find one for that much money. brand spanking new ship. it holds 4,000 people. it's like a five- star hotel at sea. incredible restaurants, spas, fantastic bars.
>> at the end of april you won't get super warm weather but at least it will be nice out on the open seas?
>> exactly.
>> kate maxwell, appreciate it.
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50614306/
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Super Bowl ad brawl has already begun for automakers
13 hrs.
The hype has begun. Super Bowl XLVII is less than a week away, but the mega-million-buck auto ad brawl is already underway as three of the eight deep-pocket car?advertisers pre-launch their new commercials to NFL fans. The reason? Economics. And a numbers game.
At between $2.4 million?and $4 million per 30-second commercial, ?this amounts to a huge?expenditure for just one airing. But there?s an even bigger number, with more than 115 million Americans predicted to watch?the game Feb. 3.
Until recently, Super Bowl advertising?has been nothing more than putting up the game-day spot and hoping, maybe, that it will trigger some Monday-morning quarterbacking around the water cooler ? with polls and research adding some arguable, additional value. That was then.?
What?s become apparent is that a fairly large percentage of viewers are more interested in the commercials than the game itself. So, how to take advantage of that and extend the payback beyond just a game-day airing that is over in 30 seconds, whether a viewer was sitting in front of the TV or off grabbing something from the refrigerator?
Now, with the various social media,?like Facebook and Twitter as well as YouTube, along with special contests, promotions and PR hype, the shelf life for a good commercial can be dramatically extended to weeks, even months, resulting in additional views extending well into the millions ? even among consumers who ? gasp ? might not have tuned in on Super Bowl Sunday.
Result? The return on investment is as measurable as any ad investment might be. ?And, of course, makers get to battle it out all over for bragging rights as to who was number one.
?(An) early release extends the life of the commercial, builds consumer interest, and most importantly brings early customers into our dealers," said?Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing at Hyundai Motor America.
The?latter reason, arguably, is the most important for buying the commercial in the first place. With that in mind, here are the early commercial entries into this year?s auto ad brawl:?
Mercedes-Benz
During the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Bernie Glaser, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz, said the company has an enviable role in XLVII.?The game will be played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The ad plan was to pre-release a teaser, but in fact two advance spots were released earlier this week. One sexy little tease spotlighted actress Kate Upton and has already received over 3.4 million hits on YouTube ? but also generated a fury of??negative comments from critics for being overly sexy.?The other is a cinematic mystery tease of what is coming Feb. 3, shot in the Big Easy with some great music.
Hyundai
Like every NFL game, it all begins with the coin toss, and in Super?Bowl?XLVII, Hyundai has the primo commercial position ? a 60-second spot for the new seven-passenger?Santa Fe prior to the heads-or-tails call. Check out the not-so-sneak preview.
There are two in game spots, including another for Santa Fe and one for the turbo Sonata. Hyundai also has bought a couple pre-game ads ? featuring the Genesis R-Spec and Santa Fe. Obviously, the new family-size SUV?is getting the most play. The six commercials pre-game and during the game makes Hyundai the biggest car-vertiser in the big show.?
Audi
More than a tease, the rising luxury car marquee is asking consumers to vote for the favorite end of their sixth Super Bowl commercial. Viewers of the commercial on YouTube were?given?24?hours?to?pick their favorite from three possibilities. The most popular will be added in post-production and will air in advance of the game --?and?in?the enviable commercial position of the first break after kick-off.?
Lincoln Motor Company?and Chevrolet
The newest entry in the auto ad brawl in Super Bowl XLVII is the reborn, revitalized, redesigned, re-engineered Lincoln brand from the renamed Lincoln Motor Company. All previous car companies except Chevrolet have re-upped. Chevy is instead?involved in?the half-time show with Beyonce. As TheDetroitBureau.com previously reported, the pop phenom is expected to receive a new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, a special version of the C7 built just for her.?
Copyright 2013 The Detroit Bureau
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/automakers-super-bowl-ad-brawl-has-already-begun-1C8120706
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Monday, January 28, 2013
'Tough but fair' immigration reform plan
Diana Saravia, 10, participates in a rally for immigration reform. (Mark Wilson/Getty??A new immigration reform proposal crafted by a bipartisan group of senators will allow for a gradual path to legalization for most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the country. The senators will announce more details of the plan?which they describe as "tough but fair"?on Monday afternoon in a press conference. (You can watch a livestream of the press conference here at 2:30 p.m. ET.)
The senators' path to citizenship for illegal immigrants is less direct and could take longer than the one proposed by President Barack Obama in his immigration reform blueprint. The president will announce his push for immigration reform in more detail Tuesday in Las Vegas.
The senators' plan puts forward several hurdles before undocumented immigrants can obtain permanent residence visas, called green cards, which is the first step towards citizenship. First, immigrants would apply for temporary legal status by registering with the government, completing a background check, and paying a fine. Before any immigrant can obtain a green card, "a commission comprised of governors, attorneys general, and community leaders living along the Southwest border" must declare that the government has taken enough steps to beef up border security and has also implemented a system that tracks when temporary visitors have left the country. It's unclear how long that would take, especially since border state governors are divided on how secure the border is now and ideally should be in the future.
The plan also says that no undocumented immigrant will receive a green card until every legal immigrant who is currently waiting for a green card has already received it. Wait times for green cards can be as long as 20 years in extreme cases, depending on whether the applicant is being sponsored by an employer or a family member. Family-based immigration, especially when a U.S. citizen is attempting to sponsor his or her sibling, can have especially long wait times.
The blueprint says the senators want to eliminate these wait times and drastically increase legal, high-skilled immigration, so it's possible that the bill could expedite the process. If not, illegal immigrants seeking a green card could be waiting for years.
The plan also excludes the children of illegal immigrants, commonly referred to as "Dreamers," as well as agricultural workers from the long wait for a green card.
Obama's blueprint asks for a wait time of eight years before illegal immigrants can get green cards, during which time they can live and work legally in the country. After five years with a green card, immigrants can apply to become citizens.
Immigration advocates, who generally favor a fast path to citizenship for the country's illegal immigrants, mostly praised the senators for adding to the "momentum" of reform, but did not comment on the specifics of the plan.
"Creating a 21st century immigration process won't be easy, but the framework the senators are proposing is a powerful and practical start to the legislative process, and it will make the peaks and valleys ahead much easier to traverse," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the the National Immigration Forum, in a statement.
But Chris Rickerd, policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, said his organization has "concerns" that the lengthy time frame and fine may discourage people from applying to legalize. Rickerd also noted that some people may be excluded from legalization because they were prosecuted for immigration-related crimes in their states. For example in Arizona, illegal immigrants can be charged with "self smuggling," which is a felony that does not exist in other states.
Groups that favor less immigration, meanwhile, have blasted the plan as "amnesty."
"Like previous amnesty proposals, this most recent iteration creates a 'path to citizenship' for nearly all illegal aliens and offers empty promises of enforcement without providing any concrete details," said the Federation of American Immigration Reform in a statement.
The eight senators who hammered out the deal are Republicans John McCain, Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, and Democrats Chuck Schumer, Michael Bennet, Dick Durbin and Robert Menendez.
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2-D electronic devices, may be possible: Fine patterns made with single-atom-thick graphene and boron nitride
Jan. 27, 2013 ? Rice University scientists have taken an important step toward the creation of two-dimensional electronics with a process to make patterns in atom-thick layers that combine a conductor and an insulator.
The materials at play -- graphene and hexagonal boron nitride -- have been merged into sheets and built into a variety of patterns at nanoscale dimensions.
Rice introduced a technique to stitch the identically structured materials together nearly three years ago. Since then, the idea has received a lot of attention from researchers interested in the prospect of building 2-D, atomic-layer circuits, said Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan. He is one of the authors of the new work that appears this week in Nature Nanotechnology. In particular, Ajayan noted that Cornell University scientists reported an advance late last year on the art of making atomic-layer heterostructures through sequential growth schemes.
This week's contribution by Rice offers manufacturers the possibility of shrinking electronic devices into even smaller packages. While Rice's technical capabilities limited features to a resolution of about 100 nanometers, the only real limits are those defined by modern lithographic techniques, according to the researchers. (A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.)
"It should be possible to make fully functional devices with circuits 30, even 20 nanometers wide, all in two dimensions," said Rice researcher Jun Lou, a co-author of the new paper. That would make circuits on about the same scale as in current semiconductor fabrication, he said.
Graphene has been touted as a wonder material since its discovery in the last decade. Even at one atom thick, the hexagonal array of carbon atoms has proven its potential as a fascinating electronic material. But to build a working device, conductors alone will not do. Graphene-based electronics require similar, compatible 2-D materials for other components, and researchers have found hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) works nicely as an insulator.
H-BN looks like graphene, with the same chicken-wire atomic array. The earlier work at Rice showed that merging graphene and h-BN via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) created sheets with pools of the two that afforded some control of the material's electronic properties. Ajayan said at the time that the creation offered "a great playground for materials scientists."
He has since concluded that the area of two-dimensional materials beyond graphene "has grown significantly and will play out as one of the key exciting materials in the near future."
His prediction bears fruit in the new work, in which finely detailed patterns of graphene are laced into gaps created in sheets of h-BN. Combs, bars, concentric rings and even microscopic Rice Owls were laid down through a lithographic process. The interface between elements, seen clearly in scanning transmission electron microscope images taken at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, shows a razor-sharp transition from graphene to h-BN along a subnanometer line.
"This is not a simple quilt," Lou said. "It's very precisely engineered. We can control the domain sizes and the domain shapes, both of which are necessary to make electronic devices."
The new technique also began with CVD. Lead author Zheng Liu, a Rice research scientist, and his colleagues first laid down a sheet of h-BN. Laser-cut photoresistant masks were placed over the h-BN, and exposed material was etched away with argon gas. (A focused ion beam system was later used to create even finer patterns, down to 100-nanometer resolution, without masks.) After the masks were washed away, graphene was grown via CVD in the open spaces, where it bonded edge-to-edge with the h-BN. The hybrid layer could then be picked up and placed on any substrate.
While there's much work ahead to characterize the atomic bonds where graphene and h-BN domains meet and to analyze potential defects along the boundaries, Liu's electrical measurements proved the components' qualities remain intact.
"One important thing Zheng showed is that even by doing all kinds of growth, then etching, then regrowth, the intrinsic properties of these two materials are not affected," Lou said. "Insulators stay insulators; they're not doped by the carbon. And the graphene still looks very good. That's important, because we want to be sure what we're growing is exactly what we want."
Liu said the next step is to place a third element, a semiconductor, into the 2-D fabric. "We're trying very hard to integrate this into the platform," he said. "If we can do that, we can build truly integrated in-plane devices." That would give new options to manufacturers toying with the idea of flexible electronics, he said.
"The contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the general process," Lou added. "It's robust, it's repeatable and it creates materials with very nice properties and with dimensions that are at the limit of what is possible."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rice University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- C. Drexler, S. A. Tarasenko, P. Olbrich, J. Karch, M. Hirmer, F. M?ller, M. Gmitra, J. Fabian, R. Yakimova, S. Lara-Avila, S. Kubatkin, M. Wang, R. Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, J. Kono, S. D. Ganichev. Magnetic quantum ratchet effect in graphene. Nature Nanotechnology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.231
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.
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Sunday, January 27, 2013
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Purchasing Real Estate from the FDIC 01/26 by The Power Is Now ...
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Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepowerisnow/2013/01/26/purchasing-real-estate-from-the-fdic
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Saturday, January 26, 2013
Staging a home to sell in Park City, Utah. | Scott Maizlish Real Estate
Are you looking to place your home or condo on the Park City real estate market and are hoping to sell for top dollar?
If the answer is yes, one of the most important physical and emotional investments you must make will be to stage your home properly. Many sellers become way too attached to furniture, artwork, knickknacks, items and layout.
Because of this personal attachment, it can be difficult to step into the shoes of a buyer and prepare a home in a way that shows the property at its best angle.
Carefully staging a home requires dedication and for most property owners a significant amount of de-cluttering ? however in the end that attention to detail may increase the overall value of your home by more than 10 percent.
I just recently came across this incredibly helpful list of 15 tips to successfully stage your home on the popular HGTV website.
Some of the most important ways you can stage your home include:
1. De-clutter and de-personalize: Nearly every home is initially cluttered with personal affects and memorabilia. Additionally, too much furniture can close in walls and make a home seem much smaller than it is.
Professional stagers prepping a home for the market will often remove half of original furnishings.
2. Strategically Placed Furniture: Instead of setting furniture at the edges of a room, home owners can make a space actually feel larger and more inviting by coupling furniture in groups to promote conversation.
3. Lighting: Changing out dated lighting fixtures can also add significant value to a home. Dark and dimly-lit homes can create a smaller feel. HGTV suggests you aim for 100 watts of light per 50 square feet.
4. Neutrally Painted Walls ? High quality neutral paint colors allow buyers to imagine themselves in a space and can help hide dated finishes. Bold colors on large walls can turn off potential buyers.
5. Bedroom Staging: When staging a bedroom, use a calm, tranquil color palette with sandy beiges, pale blues or soft greens. The bed frame should complement the room without over-sizing it and closets should be cleaned out to show ample space.
6. Bathroom Staging: Tile should be clean and clear of any mold. Professionally painted tile can bring a new feeling to a dated shower. In order to create a spa-like experience, stage a bathroom with items such as towels, green plants, candles, scented soaps, creams, lotions and shampoos.
As you prepare your Park City property to sell, always try to think through the eyes of a buyer seeing your home for the first time. Take the time to un-clutter and hire a cleaning service to ensure the home is spotless.
If you have any questions on staging your home to appeal to potential buyers ? be sure to contact me at 435-901-4309.
Make it a great day!
Scott Maizlish
Associate Broker
Accredited Buyer Representative
REALTOR?
Top Producer
Source: http://www.scottmaizlish.com/staging-for-success-keys-to-selling-park-city-real-estate/
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Economist: Euro crisis could erupt again this year
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? Is the euro crisis over? A leading U.S. economist says not by a long shot.
Even as the head of the European Central Bank talked Friday of "positive contagion" in the markets and predicted an economic recovery for the recession-hit eurozone later this year, economist Barry Eichengreen warned that the debt crisis that has shaken Europe to its core could easily erupt again this year unless European leaders move faster to solve their problems.
While European governments and markets have been breathing easier in recent months after years of turmoil, it's no time for complacency, said Eichengreen, who has chronicled the Great Depression and explored the consequences of a breakup of the euro currency used by 17 nations.
"Nothing has been resolved in the eurozone, where markets have swung from undue pessimism to undue optimism," Eichengreen told The Associated Press in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "They said all the right things last year ... and they've been backtracking ever since."
He warns that the crisis over too much debt burdening governments and banks in the 17-country currency group "is going to heat up again in 2013."
He urged eurozone leaders follow up on its proposals to steady its banking system and keep failed banks from adding to government debt through expensive bailouts.
European leaders in Davos this week are seeking to reassure investors and corporate leaders that the continent is on the mend after its punishing debt crises.
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Friday forecast a recovery in the eurozone economy in the second half of the year, and spoke of "a new restored sense of relative tranquility" and "positive contagion on the financial markets."
But he acknowledged "we don't see this being transmitted into the real economy yet."
Draghi said governments need to move ahead with structural reforms to make their economies grow faster, which will help reduce government debt.
Heavily indebted countries such as Spain and Italy faced alarmingly high borrowing costs on bond markets last year, as investors wondered whether they would be able to keep paying their debts. Those bond market rates fell after key steps by European leaders. One was the European Central Bank's offer to purchase bonds issued by indebted countries if they promise to reduce their deficits. Another was a proposal to set up a so-called banking union that would keep failed banks from bankrupting any one country by transferring the supervision of bank behavior and finances to a single, central EU supervisor at the ECB.
Europe, meanwhile, is in a recession that is putting added pressure on government finances.
"Europeans will be shocked out of their complacency, I think, soon enough," Eichengreen said. "There will be a relapse to the greater volatility of the first half of last year."
"None of the underlying problems have been solved. There is no economic growth in Europe. Germany itself is on the verge of recession. The banking union doesn't exist. There's less consensus on completing it than we thought last year, so the markets are going to lose patience at some point and the crisis will be back. "
Eichengreen, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, studied the possibility of a eurozone breakup long before the crisis that started in late 2009 forced other people to consider what was once unthinkable. He concluded that leaving the euro would be disastrously expensive and cause widespread chaos for any country that tries it.
Political leaders are aware of those high costs, which means a country such as debt-strapped Greece leaving the eurozone "is off the table for the moment," he said.
Concerns about Europe's economic future ? and the threat that Britain could one day pull out of the European Union, whose 27 members together make up the world's largest economy ? clouded this year's gathering in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos.
The forum pulls together corporate and political leaders who strike business deals, strategize about world problems and attend lavish parties ? and comes under regular criticism from activists and workers who say the elite event is disconnected from the world's economic realities.
Activists at Davos took over a Shell station Friday to protest drilling for oil in the Arctic.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/economist-euro-crisis-could-erupt-again-080530769--finance.html
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Friday, January 25, 2013
NASA testing vintage engine from Apollo 11 rocket
In this image taken from video, NASA engineers test fire a key part of a rocket engine left over from the 1960s-era Apollo moon missions on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, in Huntsville, Ala. Engineers hope to gain valuable knowledge from the engine, which was originally supposed to power the Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969 but was grounded by a problem. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
In this image taken from video, NASA engineers test fire a key part of a rocket engine left over from the 1960s-era Apollo moon missions on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, in Huntsville, Ala. Engineers hope to gain valuable knowledge from the engine, which was originally supposed to power the Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969 but was grounded by a problem. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) ? A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first U.S. lunar mission into Earth's orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape.
The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA sent Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts to the moon for the first time. The flight went off without a hitch, but no thanks to the engine ? it was grounded because of a glitch during a test in Mississippi and later sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where it sat for years.
Now, young engineers who weren't even born when Armstrong took his one small step are using the bell-shaped motor in tests to determine if technology from Apollo's reliable Saturn V design can be improved for the next generation of U.S. missions back to the moon and beyond by the 2020s.
They're learning to work with technical systems and propellants not used since before the start of the space shuttle program, which first launched in 1981.
Nick Case, 27, and other engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on Thursday completed a series of 11 test-firings of the F-6049's gas generator, a jet-like rocket which produces 30,000 pounds of thrust and was used as a starter for the engine. They are trying to see whether a second-generation version of the Apollo engine could produce even more thrust and be operated with a throttle for deep-space exploration.
There are no plans to send the old engine into space, but it could become a template for a new generation of motors incorporating parts of its design.
In NASA-speak, the old 18-foot-tall motor is called an F-1 engine. During moon missions, five of them were arranged at the base of the 363-foot-tall Saturn V system and fired together to power the rocket off the ground toward Earth orbit.
Thursday's test used one part of the engine, the gas generator, which powers the machinery to pump propellant into the main rocket chamber. It doesn't produce the massive orange flame or clouds of smoke like that of a whole F-1, but the sound was deafening as engineers fired the mechanism in an outdoor test stand on a cool, sunny afternoon.
The device produced a plume that resembled a blow torch the size of two buses and set fire to a grassy area, which was quickly extinguished.
"It's not small," Case said. "It's pretty beefy on its own."
And just like during the Apollo days, people in north Alabama heard rockets thundering in the distance during tests at Marshall.
"My wife and daughter were in our front yard and she said they could hear it, which was pretty cool," Case said after an earlier test. "We live about 15 miles away."
A single F-1 engine can produce 1.5 million pounds of thrust using a fuel composed of liquid oxygen and refined kerosene, which was not used in the space shuttle.
The tests were conducted at Marshall in a project conducted with Dynetics Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which are studying NASA's possibilities for deep-space missions years from now. The space agency plans to use commercial launches to reach low Earth orbit; larger rockets are required to escape the planet's gravity.
R.H. Coates, an engineer who works with Case in Marshall's liquid propulsion office, said young engineers can learn a lot from the work done by predecessors using slide-rules in the 1960s, but no one wants to simply rebuild the old Saturn V engine.
"This wouldn't be your daddy's F-1," Coates said. "We'd use new materials and try to simplify it, update it."
Case started at Marshall as a high school intern in 2002 and has been working there since graduating from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2008. He said today's technology allows things that weren't possible during the 1960s, but he has been impressed by what he learned taking apart the unused Apollo 11 engine.
Engine No. F-6049 didn't fit properly on the Apollo 11 rocket, but it is invaluable now as a testing tool. Coates said a total of 85 F-1 engines were used on 17 Apollo flights without a single failure.
About a dozen F-1 engines remain in Huntsville, home of NASA's main propulsion center, and others are located elsewhere. Most are on display; Case said engineers used engine No. F-6049 for the tests because it was the most complete.
"It is really an excellent booster," he said. "The guys in Apollo had it right."
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NASA Marshall Space Flight Center: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html
___
Follow Reeves at: http://twitter.com/Jay_Reeves
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County Track and Field Championships | Annapolis Sports ...
http://annapolis.patch.com/events/county-track-and-field-championships/media_attachments/edit?upload_started=1359068844
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Source: http://annapolis.patch.com/events/county-track-and-field-championships
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Women allowed in combat: Will that mean it's less safe for men? (+video)
Critics say that opening combat to women will create pressure to lower standards so that women can meet them. Backers say that equal treatment will attract more serious women athletes.
US Marine and Female Engagement Team leader Sgt. Sheena Adams (l.) and H.N. Shannon Crowley from First Battalion, Eighth Marines sit in an armored vehicle before heading out on an operation from their base at Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province Nov. 13, 2010.
Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters
EnlargeWith women now allowed to serve on the front lines, are men going to be more in danger on the battlefield?
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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has decided to lift the decades-old ban on women in ground combat units.And will America?s national security be jeopardized by men leaving the infantry in droves because they no longer see it as a tough, elite calling?
These have long been frequently-cited reasons for not allowing women to serve in combat.?
?I think some men will leave the infantry,? says one senior Marine Corps officer. ?You?ve got to ask yourself why most young men join the Marine Corps, especially that group that wants to be infantrymen.?
The answer, in many cases, is to ?shoot stuff and blow things up,? he adds. ?So some percentage of those guys would be like, it wouldn?t be as much fun.?
These arguments are often closely linked to the shared physical hardships that lead to espirit de corps.?
Can a woman carry her fellow soldiers out of danger, or hike long distances lugging heavy packs without falling behind and holding her fellow soldiers back?
?The answer to that is very straightforward: Create a physical fitness standard,? says Anne Coughlin, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, in Charlottesville, Vir., who is spearheading a conference?Feb. 1 on women in combat in Washington, D.C.?
?That?s all the litigation would ask for, or ? to be candid ? all that we would want.?
Yet some worry that as women fail to meet physical fitness standards, the Pentagon will be tempted to lower them. ?
Recent history suggests that some standards are getting higher. The Marine Corps just got rid of the flexed arm hang for women as a physical fitness standard, and instead implemented pull-ups. Women must complete two pull-ups to pass the physical training (PT) test, and eight to max it out. Men receive the highest scores for 18 pull-ups, and must complete two to pass.
?My great fear is that once they?re open, and there are physical tests and so forth ? you have to be able to bench press this, carry this, hump a 70 lb. rucksack or whatever it is ? then the advocates for women in combat will say, ?Those standards aren?t appropriate,? and they?ll attack the standards,? says Peter Mansoor, professor of military history at the Ohio State University and a former executive officer to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq.?
?My great fear is not that we open up combat arms positions to women, because I think we should,? he says.?My great fear is that we?ll dumb down the standards because women can?t meet them.?
There?s another possible scenario, and that is that the military will attract more talented female athletes who didn?t want to join the military previously because they didn?t want to be limited by lower standards, says Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women?s Action Network.?
A former company commander in the Marine Corps, Ms. Bhagwati was the second woman to complete the Corp?s Martial Arts Program instructor trainer school, earning a black belt in close combat techniques.
?Right now there?s no incentive for women to join the military, because they?re not going to be treated equally,? she says.?
While defense officials ?think they?re getting the best, many serious women athletes don?t see the military as a possibility because they know they?re not treated equally.?
That unequal treatment is often rooted in closely held cultural beliefs about femininity and fear of misplaced chivalry on the battlefield.
?If a male soldier is protecting other males he gets the medal of honor, but if he does it for females it somehow becomes an act of crazed chivalry that places national security in danger,? says Professor Coughlin.
It?s a line of thinking that tends to be dismissed even by those who have concerns about women in combat.?
?Out of all the arguments, that?s the one to me that holds the least water,? says the Marine Corps officer. ?Most guys don?t even open the doors for women anymore.??
What?s more, women have been serving alongside men in battle for years. ?Everyone?s on the same team ? those instances are extremely binary. It?s you and it?s the enemy,? he adds, ?and we?re going to win.??
With the right to take part in combat on behalf of their nation comes risks, but also full citizenship, says Bhagwati. ?I think in the history of the United States, every marginalized population only gained respect and real citizenship ? not just in the sense of the vote, but of one?s peers ? through military service,? she adds. ?Otherwise you?re not considered 100 percent American. You?re just not.??
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Peugeot unveils petrol hybrid using compressed air | Motoring ...
Reuters file photo
VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France ? French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen unveiled Tuesday a petrol hybrid engine that stores energy using compressed air which it hopes will be a game-changing technology to improve energy efficiency.The engine, which allows up to 80 percent driving on compressed air in cities, offers fuel economy of 2.9 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (81 miles per gallon) and emits just 69 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre.
?This breakthrough technology ? represents a key step towards the two litre per hundred kilometre car by 2020,? chief executive Philippe Varin said at a press conference unveiling a series of new technologies.
Peugeot said what it calls Hybrid Air technology can be fit into small to midsize cars without any loss to storage space.
Whereas conventional hybrids use electric batteries to store energy, the compressed air system ?allows the recuperation of energy from braking and slowing down,? said the head of the Hybrid Air project, Karim Mokaddem.
The project, partially financed by the French state, also includes German auto parts specialist Bosch and Faurecia, a car parts firm controlled by Peugeot.
Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/53351/peugeot-unveils-petrol-hybrid-using-compressed-air
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Emotional intelligence mapped in brain: Study of Vietnam veterans with combat-related brain injuries
Jan. 22, 2013 ? A new study of 152 Vietnam veterans with combat-related brain injuries offers the first detailed map of the brain regions that contribute to emotional intelligence -- the ability to process emotional information and navigate the social world.
The study found significant overlap between general intelligence and emotional intelligence, both in terms of behavior and in the brain. Higher scores on general intelligence tests corresponded significantly with higher performance on measures of emotional intelligence, and many of the same brain regions were found to be important to both.
The study appears in the journal Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience.
"This was a remarkable group of patients to study, mainly because it allowed us to determine the degree to which damage to specific brain areas was related to impairment in specific aspects of general and emotional intelligence," said study leader Aron K. Barbey, a professor of neuroscience, of psychology and of speech and hearing science at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois.
A previous study led by Barbey mapped the neural basis of general intelligence by analyzing how specific brain injuries (in a larger sample of Vietnam veterans) impaired performance on tests of fundamental cognitive processes.
In both studies, researchers pooled data from CT scans of participants' brains to produce a collective, three-dimensional map of the cerebral cortex. They divided this composite brain into 3-D units called voxels. They compared the cognitive abilities of patients with damage to a particular voxel or cluster of voxels with those of patients without injuries in those brain regions. This allowed the researchers to identify brain areas essential to specific cognitive abilities, and those that contribute significantly to general intelligence, emotional intelligence, or both.
They found that specific regions in the frontal cortex (behind the forehead) and parietal cortex (top of the brain near the back of the skull) were important to both general and emotional intelligence. The frontal cortex is known to be involved in regulating behavior. It also processes feelings of reward and plays a role in attention, planning and memory. The parietal cortex helps integrate sensory information, and contributes to bodily coordination and language processing.
"Historically, general intelligence has been thought to be distinct from social and emotional intelligence," Barbey said. The most widely used measures of human intelligence focus on tasks such as verbal reasoning or the ability to remember and efficiently manipulate information, he said.
"Intelligence, to a large extent, does depend on basic cognitive abilities, like attention and perception and memory and language," Barbey said. "But it also depends on interacting with other people. We're fundamentally social beings and our understanding not only involves basic cognitive abilities but also involves productively applying those abilities to social situations so that we can navigate the social world and understand others."
The new findings will help scientists and clinicians understand and respond to brain injuries in their patients, Barbey said, but the results also are of broader interest because they illustrate the interdependence of general and emotional intelligence in the healthy mind.
The study team also included Roberto Colom, of the Universidad Aut?noma de Madrid, and Jordan Grafman, now at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
This study was conducted in part at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., with support from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- A. K. Barbey, R. Colom, J. Grafman. Distributed neural system for emotional intelligence revealed by lesion mapping. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1093/scan/nss124
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Time Warner Bad Customer Service - Business Insider
Time Warner has announced that it is spending $50 million on ads in a variety of traditional and online media to win back customers it has lost. Why is the company doing this?
Time Warner representatives would like you to think that it is because they are ?nice guys? and their service has improved. As quoted in the New York Times, Jeffrey A. Hirsch, the chief marketing officer of Time Warner Cable says, ?We, as a company, are fundamentally different and better than we were a few years ago when these upstart competitors started coming in.? Could the real reason be better competition and lost business?
Better competitors
Yes, these upstart competitors ? AT&T U-verse, Verizon FIOS, and satellite TV providers Dish Network and DirecTV are ?upstarts? because they have done a better job of taking care of their customers. What a novel idea! According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index for Subscription Television Service, Time Warner ranks below average and near the bottom, and these upstarts are all above average.
Time Warner Cable is losing subscribers
The most likely reason Time Warner is feeling compelled to improve their service and advertise its improvements is they have been losing subscribers. According to the latest available data, Time Warner lost 140,000 subscribers in the 3rd quarter of 2012 ? an increase over the 129,000 they lost in the same quarter of 2011. In addition to losing subscribers to competitive services, many TV households are cutting the cord by watching TV and videos online or switching to free broadcast TV. There are many more choices than ever thanks to the ability to view content on desktops, laptops and mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.
Losing subscribers translates to losing revenue
According to ABI research the worldwide pay TV market was $236 billion by the end of 2012. Pay TV revenue in North America is expected to peak in 2013 and gradually fall to $88.2 billion by 2017. This will cause pay-TV operators to fight each other for subscribers. This is likely the impetus behind Time Warner?s ad campaign. Now that many have left, they want us back because their business is turning into a zero-sum game. Not only that. Options offered by Netflix, Hulu, and others are, in many cases, are more flexible and less expensive.
Understanding the Lifetime value of a customer
Too bad the cable TV operators, such as Time Warner, don?t seem to understand the Lifetime Value of a customer. If they did, they would not have to spend so much money getting back what they lost. They would have taken better care of those who called to complain about outages or snow on their TV sets. They would have done a better job of training customer service people who routinely ?played dumb? during an outage or were rude to subscribers calling for service. They would not have made it so difficult for subscribers to get credits for outages and other technical problems. The executives in these companies need to understand that they exist and prosper because they satisfy the needs of their customers.
If they take care of customers, the money will follow. If they chase after the money by cutting customer service quality or charging for previously included items, as they have done since they started in the cable TV business, they will end up losing the customers and money. Most important of all, they should understand that actions that are viewed to be exploitative and insensitive only cause many to no longer trust them. Once they lose the trust of the public, it is hard to get it back. Even if the ad campaign is exceptional, it will not work unless the product is significantly improved. For too many, the wounds are too deep, the switching costs are too high, and the trust is long gone.
DON'T MISS: The 15 Worst Companies For Customer Service >
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-should-anyone-trust-what-time-warner-says-in-its-new-ads-2013-1
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CyanogenMod 10.1 'M-Series' builds now available for select devices
A handful of select devices are getting CyanogenMod 10.1 "M-Series" builds starting today. These builds are meant to be released less frequently, and are considered stable for daily use. You can think of M-Series builds as a step above nightly builds, which often have many bugs. The following devices are supported for now:
- Samsung Captivate
- Samsung Nexus S (+4G)
- Samsung Galaxy S3 USA models (D2*)
- Samsung Galaxy S (galaxysmtd/galaxysbmtd)
- Google Nexus 7
- Google Galaxy Nexus (all variants)
- Google Nexus 4
- Google Nexus 10
- ODroid
- Samsung P3100, P3110
- Samsung P5100, P5110
The CyanogenMod team says in its post that it is on-track for a stable release of 10.1 soon, and these M-Series builds are a good step in the right direction. If you have one of the above listed devices and are interested in the new builds, head to the source link below and grab your downloads.
Source: Cyanogenmod
 |  |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/90d_IxWhPdw/story01.htm
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AP sources: Maloofs agree to sell Kings
Two people familiar with the decision says the Maloof family has agreed to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle group led by investor Chris Hansen.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Sunday night because the deal is still pending approval from the NBA Board of Governors.
One person said the Maloofs are selling all 65 percent of their share for $525 million to Hansen, who will move the team to Seattle and restore the SuperSonics name.
The Maloofs will still be allowed to look at other bids until the league approves the sale.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said last week he had received permission from NBA Commissioner David Stern to present a counteroffer to league owners from buyers who would keep the Kings in Sacramento.
The deadline for teams to apply for a move for the next season is March 1.
___
AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson contributed to this story.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-maloofs-agree-sell-kings-051521075--spt.html
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Monday, January 21, 2013
PST: Who had best weekend, Jozy or Clint?
Jozy Altidore seemed to have a stranglehold on best weekend for a Yank abroad, never mind that Vitesse defense was on Eredivisie holiday apparently on Saturday; a hat trick is a hat trick.
But what about Clint Dempsey?s day at snowy White Hart Lane? That?s got to be part of this conversation, at least.
Dempsey was in the right place at the right time to supply the stoppage time goal, as Tottenham took points off top-of-the-table Manchester United ? something not a lot of clubs are doing at the moment ??in a 1-1 draw in North London.
Spurs will keep their place in the table (third currently) after Dempey undid Manchester United yet again. Remember, it was the U.S. international who provided the game-winner in late September, his first goal for Tottenham after the huge late-summer move from Fulham.
Sunday, Spurs were creeping toward a disappointing 1-0 loss at home, already into the third minute of injury time. Dempsey had failed to convert on a one-on-one earlier in the contest, so poking in the winner from close range after some less than spectacular ball handling from Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea must have felt fantastic.
What Dempsey, now with five Premier League goals for Spurs, had to say in the flash interview immediately after Sunday?s draw:
?We needed to get a point, because we need as many point as possible if we want to finish in the top four. Anytime you get four points off Manchester United in a season, that?s a great return.
I?ve had a little bit of a slow start to the season in in terms of getting goals, but it?s great to start chipping in a little more and hopefully there will be more to come. It feels great to score against a club like Man United, and hopefully I can score a few more this season.??
And until the copyright cops speak up ? here?s the big goal for Spurs on Sunday:
.
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Finding Help Buying Your First Home - Edmonton Real Estate Blog
There is a ton of information out there on buying your first home. However, sorting through all of that information, and interpreting it can be challenging at the best of times. Buying a home can be easy, if you find the right guidance. So where can you go for guidance?
We've recently received a number of e-mails, asking if we offer first time buyer seminars, and the answer is yes! Absolutely!?
We have found that with the pace of life these days, our clients prefer to meet one on one, at their convenience instead of in a large group at specific times. So while we don't bring other professionals to the meeting as some companies may do during a large seminar, we do discuss all aspects of purchasing a home, and have personal recommendations for reputable mortgage brokers, inspectors, lawyers and any other professional service providers you may need.
Our buyer consultations cover a number of topics including:
- Avoiding common mistakes buyers make
- Agency relationships
- Types of listings
- Mortgages and pre-approvals
- The purchase contract (Chattels, Deposits, Conditions, Terms,
- Insurance, Warranties)
- How much money this is all going to cost
- Referrals to other professionals such as mortgage brokers, lawyers and inspectors
- The best time to buy a home
The consultation will give you a ton of valuable, free information, and give you a chance to decide whether or not you want to work with us before getting too far into the process to back out. If you're thinking of buying a home in the Greater Edmonton area, we'd be happy to help. Request a free, first time buyer consultation today!
About Sara MacLennan
Sara MacLennan is the Director of Marketing at Liv Real Estate and a licensed Real Estate Associate. The bulk of Sara?s experience and wealth of expertise lies in on-line technology and marketing both for agents and consumers. Sara is the former National Director for Interactive Marketing for Coldwell Banker Canada where she was responsible for an extensive training program traveling to offices across the country training agents and brokers on marketing and technology. Find Sara on Twitter @edmontonblogger.
Source: http://edmontonrealestateblog.com/2013/01/finding-help-buying-your-first-home.html
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Emboldened Obama lays out battle plan as he launches second term
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans on Monday to reject political "absolutism" and partisan rancor, as he kicked off his second term with an impassioned call for collective action and established a more assertive tone for the challenges he faces over the next four years.
Obama's ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol was filled with traditional pomp and pageantry, but it was a scaled-back inauguration compared to the historic start of his presidency in 2009 when he swept into office on a mantle of hope and change as America's first black president
Despite expectations tempered by lingering economic weakness and a divided Washington, Obama delivered a confident listing of his second-term plans for the battles he intends to fight, including over climate change, immigration reform and gay rights.
"We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said as he stood in the wintry cold atop a giant makeshift platform on the Capitol steps overlooking the National Mall. "We must act, knowing that today's victories will be only partial."
Looking out on a sea of flags, Obama spoke to a crowd of up to 700,000 people - less than half the record 1.8 million who assembled four years ago.
Obama, speaking in more specific terms than expected, promised "hard choices" to reduce the federal deficit and called for a revamping of the tax code and a remaking of government.
The Democrat arrived at his second inauguration on solid footing, with his poll numbers up, Republicans on the defensive and his first-term record boasting accomplishments such as a U.S. healthcare overhaul, ending the war in Iraq and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
But fights are looming over budgets, gun control and immigration, with Republicans ready to oppose him at almost every turn and Obama still seemingly at a loss over how to engage them in deal-making.
SECOND TIME TAKING OATH
When Obama raised his right hand and was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, it was his second time taking the oath in 24 hours - but this time with tens of millions of people watching on television.
The president beamed as chants of "Obama, Obama!" rang out from the crowd.
Obama had a formal swearing-in on Sunday at the White House because of a constitutional requirement that the president take the oath on January 20. Rather than stage the full inauguration on a Sunday, the main public events were put off until Monday.
It was another milestone of political passage for Obama, the Hawaiian-born son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. An electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic convention as a little-known Illinois state legislator lifted him to the national stage, putting him on a rapid trajectory to the U.S. Senate and a few years later the White House.
Obama, 51, his hair visibly grayed over the past four years, sought to reassure Americans at the mid-point of his presidency and encourage them to help him take care of unfinished business.
"Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action," he said.
Obama, who won a second term by defeating Republican Mitt Romney after a bitter campaign, opened round two facing many of the same problems that dogged his first term: persistently high unemployment, crushing government debt and a deep partisan divide. The war in Afghanistan, which Obama is winding down, has dragged on for over a decade.
He won an end-of-year fiscal battle against Republicans, whose poll numbers have continued to sag, and appears to have gotten them to back down, at least temporarily, from resisting an increase in the national debt ceiling.
And Obama faces a less-dire outlook than he did when he took office in 2009 at the height of a deep recession and world economic crisis. The economy is growing again, though slowly.
His call for political compromise contrasted with the more combative approach he has taken with Republicans on a range of volatile issues since winning re-election in November.
While there was no sign that Obama was returning to the more accommodating style that marked much of his first term, it appeared to be a signal to Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, that he is still open to finding common ground.
Nevertheless, Obama's appeals for bipartisan cooperation will remind many Americans of his own failure to meet a key promise when he came to power - - to act as a transformational leader who would fix a dysfunctional Washington.
Even though his second inauguration was more subdued than the first, the crowds that turned out on the National Mall made up for their lesser numbers with an abundance of enthusiasm.
"We're a bit surprised by how few people are out here this morning. But that's fine - makes the crowds more manageable. The weather is delightful and we're happy to be here," said Kathy Reid, 61, from Waco, Texas.
Obama's ceremonial swearing-in fell on the same day as the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. - and the president embraced the symbolism.
He took the oath with his hand on two Bibles - one from President Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery, and the other from King. Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights figure Medgar Evers, was given the honor of delivering the invocation at the ceremony.
(Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn, Jeff Mason and Robert Rampton; Editing by Alistair Bell and Philip Barbara)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-starts-second-term-low-key-white-house-034753050--business.html
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Sunday, January 20, 2013
Police and crime commissioner Tony Hogg: 'I can halt police cuts ...
The major decline in police officer numbers in Devon and Cornwall ? caused by Government cuts and blamed for a recent rise in crime ? could be halted. Police and crime commissioner Tony Hogg is still weighing up his budget proposals for 2013-14 with no word yet on whether the public will be asked to pay more for policing. But Mr Hogg, who published his police and crime plan yesterday , told the Western Morning News he may be able to maintain the current strength of 3,100.
"What we may be able to do is protect the numbers," Mr Hogg, who was elected in November, said. "If there is one thing people want to know it is that we are doing our damnedest to arrest the decline from 3,500 to 2,810.
"I think (Chief Constable) Shaun Sawyer has got a good idea that he doesn't want to go down to the bottom number. My job, with him, is to protect those numbers and that will be the basis for parts of the plan and the budget decision."
Devon and Cornwall Police has been faced with making budget savings of ?50 million in the four years to 2015 to meet Government cuts.
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Police numbers had been forecast to drop by 700 to a low of 2,810 ? a number last seen in the early 1980s. About 500 police staff were also expected to lose their jobs.
But while hundreds of police officers were being forced to retire, crime in the two counties spiked by 7%.
The pensions regulation, which compulsorily made officers retire after 30 years' service, was suspended last September after greater savings were achieved than had been expected ? a trend which is thought to have continued.
Council tax Band D properties in Devon and Cornwall currently pay ?159.66 a year for policing. Mr Hogg may choose to increase that by up to 2%, above which he would be forced to hold a referendum.
He also has the option of accepting a one-year Government grant to freeze council tax levels although the cash is not built into the baseline.
Meanwhile, the fledgling police and crime panel in Devon and Cornwall has complained of the "very short time scale" available to consider possible tax rises.
The panel, which is made up of local councillors and some independents, met for the first time in Plymouth on Thursday.
It is charged with holding Mr Hogg to account and has the key power to veto decisions, including over the appointment of the chief constable and the level of tax precept set for local policing.
But it has emerged that the panel's chairman, Devon County Councillor Roger Croad, had already written to the Home Office to complain about the lack of time it would have to examine budget proposals.
"The timetable leaves a minimum of just one week between notification by the police and crime commissioner of the proposed precept, and the deadline for the panel to respond," his letter said.
"The same period applies to the arrangements for a revised precept following any veto.
"This very short timescale appears to be arranged to allow maximum time for the commissioner, at the expense of the panel's time to respond, and does nothing to promote effective democratic oversight and scrutiny of the issue."
In his reply, Police Minister Damian Green conceded that the February 1 deadline for PCCs to announce their council tax plans was "challenging" but that he was "confident" it would be achieved.
Mr Green also said he would "give consideration" to how the process had worked and whether it should be revised in future.
The committee agreed that it would meet on February 8 to discuss the appointment of Shaun Sawyer as the force's new chief constable.
Mr Hogg's council tax plans will also be debated on that date.
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