Cyber Monday Laptop Deals, the Best Laptop Deals All Year?

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 28, 2010

In case of missing the boat on Black Friday, there's still Cyber Monday for laptop shoppers who've procrastinated through the weekend. Now, there even better laptop deals online because retailers are more desperate to offload excess inventory. Deals experts have actually seen this happen across many retailers including Apple's Macbooks, the prices are now lower than it was yesterday (Black Friday) or the whole year.

For example, Apple MacBook 13.3-Inch Laptop with model number MC516LL/A was $939.94 on Amazon but it has been lowered to $912.49 as of today, the day after Black Friday. That's additional $27.45 savings for consumers who've missed the Black Friday boat. This is the number one reason why shoppers actually should wait until Cyber Monday for the best deals on laptops.

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Small Business Saturday Entices Locals to Shop Mom and Pop

Small business owners are hoping shoppers will take a day off from the big box retailers–and the crowds.

To counter the corporate world's Black Friday, public and private organizations are joining American Express OPEN—the company's small business unit—in declaring the Saturday after Thanksgiving Small Business Saturday.

The first-time event encourages shoppers to include small, independently-owned businesses when they make their shopping rounds the day after Black Friday.

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Axiom IPO Excludes Retail Investors

DUBAI—In a move aimed at avoiding the sluggish retail demand that has blighted recent initial public offerings in the Gulf region, Axiom Telecom said Sunday that its 35% share sale, the first in the United Arab Emirates in more than two years, would be pitched solely at institutional investors.

The Dubai-based mobile-phone distributor set the price range for its IPO at between $0.80 and $1.15 a share, valuing the company at up to $1.09 billion. The share sale will run from Sunday until around Dec. 3, it said in an emailed statement.


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Facebook to assimilate MySpace

It's been an interesting week for the Facebook Borg, what with the end of email as we know it, playing footsie with Microsoft to send Google a Bronx cheer, and now the demise of MySpace. '

Last week, in a heated public rendition of the pot calling the kettle black, Google and Facebook traded barbs in an ongoing data-sharing dispute. Facebook won the round, scarfing up Google contact data with impunity. Google had no choice but to stand by as its data got sucked into Facebook, wailing as the data faded away, "Are you super sure you want to import your contact information for your friends into a service that won't let you get it out?"

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Google raise: Employees to get 10 pc salary hike

California, Nov 13: The computer giant Google
Inc has announced a 10 percent salary hike for its 23,000 employees on Friday, Nov 12.

All Google
employees will get a 10 percentage or more salary increase and a $1,000 cash Christmas bonus. Also the California based Google will pay the taxes for the cash bonus and give each employee an additional raise equivalent to their target bonus for the year.

Eric Schmidt, the CEO for Google, released a memo internally to confirm the good news.

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Europe could run out of new internet addressed in 2011: Google vice president

Europe will run out of capacity for new internet addresses by early next year, potentially cutting the U.K. off from the rest of the world online, one of the founding fathers of the communications network warned today.

Vint Cerf, vice-president of Google and the man dubbed “the godfather of the net”, said the shortage of internet address space represented a “serious boundary” to the growth of the medium.

Mr. Cerf added that the problem is one of the “biggest set of changes in the history of the internet”.

Online access across Europe will remain fixed at its current rate unless internet service providers (ISPs) move quickly to implement new internet protocol (IP) space, the leading computer scientist warned.

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iOS 4.2: The iPad Update and Businesses

If you have been disappointed with the iPad’s functionality in terms of business, you may be happy to hear that iOS 4.2 should improve things, if you check out this recent PCWorld article you can see some of the many ways iOS 4.2 does just this.

If you are using your iPad for business use you may have more apps installed than the average user, this may make your tablet quite cluttered and unorganized, however once iOS 4.2 is installed you will be able to tidy things up by putting shortcuts in folders.

Business users will be extremely interested in being as productive as possible, at the moment the iPad has a huge bottleneck in its one app at a time setup, however the iOS update will bring multitasking, which means you will be able to create documents, whilst checking your email and browsing the web.

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Which women are searched most often on Google?

COED Magazine has compiled a list based on Google search results that is flying around the Internet, sporting some surprises -- Justin Bieber comes in at No. 7 -- and some givens -- Lady Gaga tops the list at No. 1.

Here are the top 10:

1. Lady Gaga

2. Kesha

3. Madonna

4. Beyonce

5. Rihanna

6. Britney Spears

7. Justin Bieber

8. Miley Cyrus

9. Paris Hilton

10. Avril Lavigne

Washington's famous women made a showing as well: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is No. 18, first lady Michelle Obama No. 21 and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton No. 32.

Poor Justin Bieber. This is the second time in a week that the teen heartthrob and perpetual trending topic on Twitter has sent the Internet into a tizzy. He has also been accused of not knowing the meaning of the word "German."

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Gold surges to Rs 19,850 per ten gram

Gold prices on the eve of Diwali rose by Rs 110 to Rs 19,850 per ten gram in the bullion market here on fresh buying by retailers and jewellers amid a firming trend in global markets.

Silver, however, held steady in restricted trade and traded at Rs 37,600 per kg.

Trading sentiment turned better as retail customers entered the market to make token purchases for the Diwali festival on Friday and jewellers buying to meet the ensuing marriage season demand.

The Diwali is considered to be an auspicious day in Hindu mythology to make new purchases particularly in gold and other household articles.

The prices further bolstered on reports the gold rising in global markets, which normally set prices on the domestic front, as the dollar fell to near nine-month low after the US Fed said it will purchase more government debt.

From : www.indianexpress.com

Winning artists join Ukraine's Friends of EURO

The 20 winners of a nationwide drawing competition in Ukraine have become that country's newest and youngest members of the Friends of UEFA EURO 2012 campaign.

The exclusive group of Friends of UEFA EURO 2012 in Ukraine gained 20 new members as the winners of a drawing competition for young people were presented at the local organising committee (LOC) headquarters in Kyiv today.

The 20 prize winners joined the small number of Ukrainian celebrities already confirmed as Friends of UEFA EURO 2012 at a special ceremony in the capital. The youngsters had been invited to enter a drawing contest, between 15 September and 15 October, on the theme of their country staging UEFA EURO 2012 and what it means to them.

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Will the PSP phone meet expectations?

One complaint about the current smartphones on the market is that they don’t offer any real gaming performance like some of the handheld devices. And why should they… they’re phones, right? Well, Sony is offering a solution with their PSP phone, but I’m not yet convinced this is what we as consumers need, but it might be something we want. But will this phone meet our expectations of both a phone and a gaming device?

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Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Vladimirovich and the family name is Putin.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин, IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn] ( listen); born 7 October 1952) served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when president Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move, and then Putin won the 2000 presidential election. In 2004 he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May 2008.

Due to constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive Presidential term. After the victory of his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the 2008 presidential elections, he was then nominated by the latter to be Russia's Prime Minister; Putin took the post on 8 May 2008.

Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing the rule of law. During his eight years in office, due to strong macroeconomic management, important fiscal policy reforms, and a confluence of high oil prices, surging capital inflows, and access to low-cost external financing, Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase by 72% in PPP (sixfold in nominal), poverty cut more than half, and average monthly salaries increase from $80 to $640, or by 150% in real rates. Analysts have described Putin's economic reforms as impressive.

During his presidency, Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. At the same time, his conduct in office has been questioned by domestic political opposition, foreign governments, and human rights organizations for leading the Second Chechen War, for his record on internal human rights and freedoms, and for his alleged bullying of the former Soviet Republics.

A new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy—such as Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, or Yuriy Kovalchuk, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin—emerged according to media reports. Along with Putin's connections to the business world, he has been criticized since the beginning of his first term as developing a cult of personality.

From Wikipedia

President Obama on The Daily Show

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama apparently thinks politics is no laughing matter, even when he's staring down a comedian. Obama barely cracked any jokes during an appearance Wednesday on "The Daily Show" despite host Jon Stewart's attempts to draw out the president's humorous side with a few of his own snarky wisecracks.

Less than a week before the critical Nov. 2 congressional elections, Obama said he hopes Democratic lawmakers who made tough votes will be rewarded with another term in office. He promised more accomplishments in the two years left on his own term in the Oval Office and urged people to vote - early if they can.

Text from: www.huffingtonpost.com

2.8 million viewers tuned in Wednesday night to watch The Daily Show Interview with President Barack Obama and Comedy Central host of the show, Jon Stewart.

The rating is reported to be the third highest viewed episode, with his first appearance in October 2008 as a candidate as highest and the appearance of his wife Michelle Obama’s as second highest. Topics discussed included health care reform, patient’s bill of rights and cutting the deficit, as well as others.

Tag VDO from: http://sickhop.com/tag/obama-daily-show-2010/

It Gets Better

Recently, several young people have taken their own lives after being bullied for being gay – or perceived as being gay – by their peers. Their deaths are shocking and heartbreaking tragedies. No one should have to endure relentless harassment or tormenting. No one should ever feel so alone or desperate that they feel they have nowhere to turn. We each share a responsibility to protect our young people. And we also have an obligation to set an example of respect and kindness, regardless of our differences.

This is personal to me. When I was a young adult, I faced the jokes and taunting that too many of our youth face today, and I considered suicide as a way out. But I was fortunate. One of my co-workers recognized that I was hurting, and I soon confided in her. She cared enough to push me to seek help. She saved my life. I will always be grateful for her compassion and support – the same compassion and support that so many kids need today.

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Is e-business for small business?

Did you know that e-business is about more than selling your product or service online? E-business can also help your company connect with your customers, collaborate with your business partners, and lower your costs. If you're considering implementing e-business solutions, it's important to understand the possible risks. However, there are ways that you can reduce the risks and take advantage of the benefits of e-business.

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Graphics chips break supercomputing speed barrier

Nvidia claims its graphics chips are the driving force behind a Chinese supercomputer called Tianhe-1A that has claimed the world's speed record for number crunching.

The fully-operational computer is based at China's National Supercomputer Center (NSC) in Tianjin and knocked the US's Cray XT5 Jaguar from the top of the flops with a new performance record of 2.507 petaflops on Linpack benchmarks.

The scientific research that is now possible with a system of this scale is almost without limits

Read more: Graphics chips break supercomputing speed

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Aung San Suu Kyi 'could be freed next month'

Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, could be released from house arrest next month, Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa said on Thursday.

Asked if his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, had given any indication of when Suu Kyi would be freed during a regional summit in Hanoi, Natalegawa said: "Once the prison term of her sentence expires, and she has served her sentence, and that notion was not disputed.

"It was our understanding that she would have served her sentence in November," he told reporters.

Text from: www.dnaindia.com

Indonesian volcano erupts

Volcano

Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the East African Rift, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America.

Indonesian volcano erupts, injuring up to 20 people
Thousands of residents on the slopes have been evacuated

Indonesia's most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted Tuesday, spewing out hot ash that injured several people. An AP reporter witnessed up to 20 people being taken away for treatment of their injuries. Subandriyo, chief vulcanologist in the area, said Merapi started to erupt just before dusk Tuesday. It had rumbled and groaned for hours. Scientists have warned that pressure building beneath Merapi's lava dome could trigger one of the most powerful blasts in years. Thousands of residents on the slopes have been evacuated. However most who fled were the elderly and children, while adults stayed to tend to homes and farms on the mountain's fertile slopes. In a 1994 eruption after the volcano's lava dome collapsed, 70 people were killed. The volcano killed 1,300 people in 1930.

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Why is WikiLeaks important ?

WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organisation. Their goal is to bring important news and information to the public.

Wikeleaks website (www.wikileaks.org) describes their purpose and intentions :


1. Introduction to WikiLeaks
"Could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act." - Time Magazine
1.1 About WikiLeaks

We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. We are a young organisation that has grown very quickly, relying on a network of dedicated volunteers around the globe. Since 2007, when the organisation was officially launched, WikiLeaks has worked to report on and publish important information. We also develop and adapt technologies to support these activities.

I wont copy the entire site, of course - here are the main subjects they continue..


1.2 How WikiLeaks works
1.3 Why the media (and particularly Wiki leaks) is important
1.4 How WikiLeaks verifies its news stories
1.5 The people behind WikiLeaks
1.6 Anonymity for sources

2. WikiLeaks' journalism record
3. Short essays on how a more inquiring media can make a difference in the world

Listen to this!

Floods kill at least 25, affect 1.2 million

At least 25 people have been killed and 1.2 million other people affected as flooding continues to wreak havoc in 30 provinces, says the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Wat Bunkannawas in Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban district is ravaged by floods whichdestroyeda3-metrehigh earth embankment in front of the temple yesterday. The 10-rai temple compound in tambon Sai Noi isnow under two metres of water. SUNTHORNPONGPAO

The people who died are mainly the elderly and children. They drowned, or were electrocuted.

Nakhon Ratchasima and Buri Ram have recorded the highest casualties with six deaths each, followed by Lop Buri (5), Khon Kaen (3) and Sa Kaeo, Chaiyaphum, Rayong, Trat, and Saraburi, which have one death each.

One person is missing in Nakhon Ratchasima, the department said.

Still, the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand has put the number of fatalities slightly higher at 28 deaths. The differences are in Rayong which has two deaths, Phetchabun (3), Chaiyaphum (2) and Ayutthaya (1).

* See also: Rapid growth, green zone incursions faulted
* Aid lagging?: Academic criticises disaster relief effort
* Invalids at risk: Patients moved out of Phimai hospital
* Feature: What's in a relief bag?

More than 9,000 villages in 30 provinces have been badly flooded, leaving around 1.2 million people struggling with flooded houses and farmland, says the department.

It warned people in six northern provinces yesterday to expect possible flash floods and mudslides in the next round of heavy rain caused by a strong southwestern monsoon system. People living near risk areas in Tak, Kamphaeng Phet, Lampang, Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son were told to stay alert.

Bangkok-Nong Khai passenger trains passing Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen,UdonThaniandNong Khai are forced to suspend services after a section of track in Nakhon Ratchasima’s NonSung district is damagedby flooding. SAROTMEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

Meanwhile, the Royal Irrigation Department has told officials in Bangkok to reinforce embankments along the Chao Phraya River as water run-off from the North is flowing downstream to the capital with the high tide expected to peak on Monday and Wednesday.

City Hall has finished reinforcing 75 kilometres of its 77-kilometre flood wall along the river, says deputy Bangkok governor Porntep Techapaibul.

The water flow in the Chao Phraya passing the capital yesterday was 4,134 cubic metres a second, a rate considered very high, Mr Porntep said.

In 1995, the rate rose to 5,400 cu m a second, but the capital was still saved, he said.

Provinces upstream of the Chao Phraya River have flooded. In Ayutthaya, a three-metre high wall of sand bags failed to resist strong water currents.

In Pathum Thani, which is close to Bangkok, floods inundated a road and a riverside village in tambon Bang Luang in Muang district, forcing villagers to travel in boats.

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today's topic: Typhoons and storms

Typhoon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about Pacific tropical cyclones. For other uses, see Typhoon (disambiguation).
Three different typhoons spinning over the western Pacific Ocean on August 7, 2006

A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern (North America to 140°W), central (140°W to 180°), and western (180° to 100°E). A Pacific typhoon, then, is a tropical cyclone in the northern Pacific Ocean west of 180°. Identical phenomena in the eastern north Pacific are called hurricanes, with tropical cyclones moving into the Western Pacific re-designated as typhoons.

Within the Northwestern Pacific there are no official typhoon seasons as tropical cyclones form throughout the year. The majority of storms form between May and December whilst tropical cyclone formation is at a minimum between January and April. The Northwestern Pacific features some of the most intense tropical cyclones on record.

The effects of cyclones are many, like this - the typhoon Megi:

Typhoon Megi Kills Seven at Temple in Taiwan After

Triggering Landslides

Locals push a car through flood damage in Suao, eastern Taiwan. Photographer: Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images

Typhoon Megi crossed over Taiwan, killing at least seven people at a temple complex, leaving a busload of Chinese tourists missing and causing power outages before moving on toward Xiamen in China’s Fujian province.

The deaths occurred when a house next to a Buddhist temple in Suao township in Yilan county was covered in a landslide, the National Fire Agency in Taipei said in a statement on its website. Nineteen mainland tourists, their driver and guide remained missing as of 9 p.m. local time yesterday, the government agency said.

More than 1,182 millimeters (46 1/2 inches) of rain has fallen in Suao, Taiwan’s fire agency said in the statement. The agency said 2,742 people in the northeastern coastal county of Yilan have been evacuated.

Megi, which left 19 people dead in the Philippines, earlier trapped about 400 people in their vehicles as roads closed, Taiwan’s cabinet said in a faxed statement earlier yesterday. Search teams had reached all 53 people who remain trapped at 7 p.m., the fire agency said later.

In Hong Kong, which had braced for a possible direct hit, the city’s observatory canceled all storm signals at 8:40 p.m. local time last night. Megi is forecast to move at about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) per hour toward the coast of Fujian province in southern China, continuing to weaken, the observatory said.

The storm was about 200 kilometers south of Xiamen at 2 a.m. local time today and is projected to make landfall in southern China this afternoon, according to the Hong Kong Observatory’s website.

A total of 2,987 households are still without power in Taiwan at 9 p.m. and agricultural losses have reached about NT$46 million ($1.5 million), the fire agency said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of southeast China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Text from: www.bloomberg.com

and

www.telegraph.co.uk writes:

Record rains from a powerful typhoon caused massive mud- and rockslides in Taiwan that buried a Buddhist temple and trapped vehicles on a highway. The mudslide at the temple killed seven people, and overall, 25 people were missing in Taiwan as Typhoon Megi swept toward southern China. The storm earlier killed 26 people and damaged homes and crops in the Philippines. Megi dumped a record 45 inches (114 centimetres) of rain in Taiwan's Ilan county over 48 hours. It had winds of 90 mph (145 kph)

Will Smith - Willow Smith's Inspiring Song

Will Smith's nine-year-old daughter says her new single 'Whip My Hair' is meant to inspire people to be themselves.

Will Smith's daughter has revealed her new song is supposed to be an inspiration to people.

Willow, nine, says her track 'Whip My Hair' is telling people to be themselves and not be influenced by negative peer pressure.

She said: "'Whip My Hair' means don't be afraid to be yourself, and don't let anybody tell you that that's wrong. Because the best thing is you."

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Consumer Confidential: Another Toyota recall, coffee prices rise, Sex.com fetches big bucks

Here's your thoughtfully Thursday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Haven't we heard this song before? Toyota is recalling about 1.5 million vehicles worldwide because of brake and fuel pump problems. In the United States, the recall involves Lexus and Avalon models. Most of the vehicles being recalled need to be fixed for a problem in the brakes' master cylinder, which could leak fluid under certain circumstances, causing a loss in braking power.

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Nobody should teach us law, we also know it: Sena

Mumbai, Oct 20: After Mumbai police registered a case against Shiv Sena for playing loudspeaker above 50-decibel limit in their Dussehra rally, Sena proclaimed that no one should teach them any law as they know it very well.

Buzz up!
Sena's editorial party mouthpiece, Saamana on Oct 20 stated, "We also know the law. Nobody should teach us law."

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Justin Bieber under investigation over alleged assault

Teen singer Justin Bieber is at the center of an investigation in Canada after a 12 year old boy was allegedly hit in the face during a game of laser tag. Fans will be horrified to hear that 16 year old Bieber is being questioned by Royal Canadian Mounted Police over the incident.

Ontario born Justin Drew Bieber was first discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun who chanced upon his videos on youtube. He was introduced to Usher and the pair signed him to their RMBG label.



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Who Is Jasmine Waltz?

Jasmine Waltz is the 28-year-old cocktail waitress that David Arquette slept with shortly after separating from Courteney Cox. She's seen here after a dinner date at El Compadre Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles before heading over to Premiere nightclub.

The pair's relationship was confirmed by David on Howard Stern's radio show Tuesday and divulged a bit more information to the shock-jock than he should've, and apologized to Courtney later via his Twitter account.


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Fox-Cablevision carriage dispute at standstill

NEW YORK -- Representatives of Cablevision Systems and News Corp./Fox met here Saturday afternoon, but didn't resolve their carriage fee dispute, instead agreeing to more talks.

The result: Cablevision customers will continue to see dark screens when trying to tune in to two News Corp. TV stations in New York and one in Philadelphia, as well as several cable networks.

Saturday's meetings took place over several hours starting at noon EST. They appeared not to have made material progress, but plan to meet again Sunday.


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Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Lineup with AT&T, T-Mobile

Microsoft officially unveiled its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system Monday, announcing that it will be available on a total of five devices in the U.S.

Windows Phone 7 handsets from AT&T and T-Mobile will begin shipping in November, while devices from Sprint and Verizon will be available next year. All the devices announced Monday will run a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Microsoft said.

At a New York launch event, Microsoft chief executive characterized Windows Phone 7 as a means to keep in touch but not be tied to your phone 24-7. "Get in, out, and back to life," Ballmer said. The experience should be "delightful."




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NFL says it is looking into allegations against Favre

(CNN) -- The National Football League said Saturday that it is reviewing reports involving Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre after a sports website posted naked pictures, text and voice messages it alleges he sent to a model and former television host.

When asked about the allegations Friday, the star quarterback declined to comment.

Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesman, said the league is reviewing the matter, but declined further comment.

CNN could not independently confirm whether the voice heard in the recordings belonged to Favre, or whether the notes were in fact sent by him.

The website Deadspin reported the messages were sent while Favre played for the New York Jets. The recipient, Jenn Sterger, worked for the team at the time as a sideline personality and host, Deadspin reported.

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Hungarian PM promises barrier to protect property from red sludge

BUDAPEST, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Saturday promised residents of evacuated Kolontar in western Hungary a barrier to protect them and their property from any further contamination by a red sludge deluge that has left seven people dead and over 150 others injured.

Speaking at a news conference in Ajka in the region, Orban warned that the containment barrier holding millions more gallons of caustic red sludge was so badly damaged that it was at risk of collapsing once again.

He made the comments after visiting the barrier earlier in the day. The damaged barrier was the reason the village of Kolontar had been evacuated shortly after daybreak and why the residents of nearby Devecser had been prepared to also leave their homes.

The latest crack in the barrier is 7 centimeters (about 3 inches), he said. Another half a million cubic meters of sludge could spill out of the reservoir, Orban said.


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Chinese dissident wins Nobel Peace Prize

(CNN) -- The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liu Xiaobo, a leading Chinese dissident who is serving an 11-year prison term.

Liu was sentenced in 2009 for inciting subversion of state power. He's the co-author of Charter 08, a call for political reform and human rights, and was an adviser to the student protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

"From my personal angle, I feel in a dictatory society if you want to be a person with dignity, if you want to be a honest person, fight for human-rights improvement, fight for free speech, being ... [in prison] is part of what you are undertaking, and there is nothing to complain," Liu Xiaobo told CNN in 2007, while he was between a series of house arrests.

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Microsoft to Open Retail Store in Front of Apple Store at Mall of America

We knew that Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft was planning to open one of its new retail stores in Minneapolis, Minnesota. What we didn’t know is that Microsoft was going to open said store right in front of an existing Apple Retail Store at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That’s not all. To make matters worse, the Microsoft Store appears to be twice or even larger than the Apple Store across the hall.

Microsoft is definitely bringing it on.

Anyway, it’s currently unknown when exactly Microsoft plans to open this store. The huge sign just indicates that the store is opening soon. We’ll see how that goes for both Apple and Microsoft.

Check out a video after the break. Be sure to let us know what you think.



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Gaming Panasonic's Jungle portable gaming system emerges, gets shown off on video (update: makes appearance on Rob Dyrdek's MTV show)

Apparently Panasonic has been working itself into a frenzy over a new handheld video game console designed solely around the concept of taking MMORPGs with you everywhere you go -- like you weren't already wasting too much of your life. The makers of the ill-fated 3DO are returning to the gaming world with a portable system dubbed "The Jungle." The clamshell device will allegedly sport a super high-resolution display, features a full QWERTY keyboard along with what looks like a touch sensitive d-pad and button arrangement, and may run atop a custom Linux build. The Jungle will also apparently sport a mini HDMI port, a micro USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. To our eyes, the system looks a little on the clunky side, with a definite air of something out of Nokia's N-Gage line -- not a good thing for a 2010 device. Alongside the system itself, Panasonic will launch a Battlestar Galactica title for the device, and a web show called Online Underground.




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New Planet Discovered 2010, Earth like Planet Gliese 581G Photo

The New Planet, Gliese 581G was discovered by astronomers earlier this week. Gliese 581G is an Earth-like planet. It could have extraterrestrial power according to astronomers. This is the first Goldilocks planet according to astronomer Paul Butler. You can see a photo of the new planet Gliese 581G above.

The new planet, Gliese 581G, is 20 light years from Earth’s solar system. Forget about us reaching that planet because 20 light years is way too far. Gliese 581G is always sunny on one side. There is no night on planet Gliese 581G because it’s day all year long!

Astronomers don’t know whether or not any intelligent form of life exists on Gliese 581G, but this planet can support extraterrestrial life. “If we do discover life outside our planet, it would perhaps be the most significant discovery of all time,” said Edward Seidel of the National Science Foundation. You can find out more on this new planet here.
The new planet, Gliese 581G, is 20 light years from Earth’s solar system. Forget about us reaching that planet because 20 light years is way too far. Gliese 581G is always sunny on one side. There is no night on planet Gliese 581G because it’s day all year long!

Astronomers don’t know whether or not any intelligent form of life exists on Gliese 581G, but this planet can support extraterrestrial life. “If we do discover life outside our planet, it would perhaps be the most significant discovery of all time,” said Edward Seidel of the National Science Foundation. You can find out more on this new planet here.




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VaNYPD helicopter makes hard emergency landing in Brooklyn, cause unclear

An NYPD helicopter made an emergency landing Wednesday near the department's aviation base in Brooklyn.

It was not clear what caused the aircraft to suddenly go down, but it appeared to land in Jamaica Bay near Floyd Bennett Field just before 4 p.m., FDNY officials said.

Five police officers were inside the chopper when it landed. There were no serious injuries.

In August of 2009, one of the helicopters in the NYPD fleet made two emergency landings in a three-day span. The first happened at a soccer field in Maspeth, Queens. The second happened in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Both incidents were attributed to a faulty indicator light in the chopper's control panel.

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New BMWs To Sport Apple Interface, iPad And iPod Out Integration

The Paris Motor show is going on now. The usual car unveilings are a given, but also the shows are becoming a place for automakers to showcase and release exciting new tech. Take BMW, for example: they are known around the globe for making the “ultimate driving machines.” Now, they are entering the realm of being the ultimate connectivity machines.

Right now, we are witnessing a convergence in the way we run and drive our lives. We want to be connected at all times—to anything—so long as we are stimulated. For car companies, that means giving the people what they want. And what is that? Well we don’t want any more half-baked attempts at a third-party interface, no more reinventing the wheel with the interface. Instead, how about a continued consistent look pulled straight from things we’re already accustomed to. I use an iPhone; I like the interface; why can’t my car’s display duplicate that? Apple isn’t getting into the car business anytime soon.

Since the automakers are still lost, Apple has gone ahead and built a feature into iOS4 called iPod out, practically giving the people what they want — now automakers just need to accept the loss and go for the win.

BMW doesn’t want to make you learn another interface, because they know you really don’t want to. Remember, they were one of the original OEMs to support the iPod.



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HRP-4: Meet Japan’s New And Awesome Humanoid Robot (Video)

Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has done it again. After having developed one of the most advanced cybernetic human robots out there (namely the HRP-4C we covered previously), it is now time for the next humanoid. Meet the HRP-4 [JP].

The HRP-4 is primarily designed for use at R&D facilities at universities and companies. It stands 151cm tall, weighs 39kg, and boasts a total of 34 degrees of freedom. Buyers can mount a laptop on its bag to add further functionality.

The robot can strike poses in response to voice commands, and it can also detect and track human faces and certain objects.

AIST and co-developer Kawada Industries plan to start selling the HRP-4 in January next year. The robot itself plus the software necessary to control it will cost $325,000.

Here’s a quite impressive demo video



Link

About Google Instant

Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.

The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.
Benefits

Faster Searches: By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.

Smarter Predictions: Even when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, predictions help guide your search. The top prediction is shown in grey text directly in the search box, so you can stop typing as soon as you see what you need.

Instant Results: Start typing and results appear right before your eyes. Until now, you had to type a full search term, hit return, and hope for the right results. Now results appear instantly as you type, helping you see where you’re headed, every step of the way.

Link

Obama taps Elizabeth Warren to launch Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

President Obama picked a woman Wall Street loathes to crack down on unscrupulous behavior in the financial industry.

Harvard Law School Prof. Elizabeth Warren will launch the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, answering directly to Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the President announced Friday.



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Credit cards that hide the account number and store multiple accounts

If you’re anything like me, there’s a stack of credit cards bulking up the size of your wallet (or purse), making it fit to burst in a Costanza-like explosion of receipts and unused condoms. New technology from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania startup Dynamics Inc. could help cut the number of cards cluttering up your wallet by allowing you to access multiple credit card accounts on a single card. To enhance security, the technology also allows the credit card number that appears on the front of a card to be hidden until the correct code is entered.

The technology, which Dynamics Inc. has dubbed Card 2.0, includes the world’s first fully card-programmable ‘Electronic Stripe’ in place of the traditional magnetic stripe. While the Electronic Stripe can be read at any existing point-of-sale (POS) magnetic stripe reader, it also allows any bit of information stored on the programmable stripe to be changed at any time using the card itself. The device is as thin, flexible and durable as current credit cards and will last over three years on a single battery charge.

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Is Another Deepwater Disaster Inevitable?

The largest U.S. oil discoveries in decades lie in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico—one of the most dangerous places to drill on the planet.

By Joel K. Bourne, Jr.
Photograph by Joel Sartore

On a blistering June day in Houma, Louisiana, the local offices of BP—now the Deepwater Horizon Incident Command Center—were swarming with serious men and women in brightly colored vests. Top BP managers and their consultants wore white, the logistics team wore orange, federal and state environmental officials wore blue. Reporters wore purple vests so their handlers could keep track of them. On the walls of the largest "war room," huge video screens flashed spill maps and response-vessel locations. Now and then one screen showed a World Cup soccer match.




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Maldonado calls for quicker investigation into San Bruno explosion

California's acting governor, Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, called the timeline for an investigation into the rupture of a natural gas pipeline in San Bruno "unacceptable."

The explosion and fire killed seven people, injured dozens more and destroyed nearly 40 homes.

National Transportation Safety Board members investigating the disaster said it will take at least a year to complete their investigation.

Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado said California can't wait that long. He called on the Public Utilities Commission to immediately ensure the safety of California's natural gas transmission lines.


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Now!Watch Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode 1 online free streaming Read more: Press-Banner - nowwatch sons of anarchy season 3 episode 1 online free

Watch Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode 1 Online - The New Season in HD -Watch Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode Online as it premieres today and get the first hand info on the latest happenings of the lives of all the characters involved in this epic TV show. This show grabbed a lot of atention because of the weird nature of how a dad is juggling his family life and his involvement in a motorcycle gang at the same time.


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Apple TV - First Look review

Apple have said that Apple TV is just a hobby for them, reiterating the joke at the company's September update. To some, Apple TV stole the show, wowing with its new tiny dimensions, and a price that's difficult to ignore. We got our eyes on the new box at the launch event and here is what we thought.

As you'd expect, Apple have done a great job on designing the new Apple TV. The small black box measures just 2.29cm high, by 9.91cm square. The market is flooded with similar TV streamers, but so many are glossy black plastic that you'll want to hide from view; Apple TV by contrast looks every bit as good as the rest of the Apple range.

The black - rather than white - design means it will also fit in well with your existing home cinema kit, which is predominantly black, unless you are a massive Loewe fan. The small size, however, might see it getting lost amongst the rest of your kit, but be careful not to overlook this mighty device.

Around the back the connections are simple: power, HDMI, optical audio and Ethernet. Internally you also get Wi-Fi a/b/g/n so both connection routes to your network are covered, which is to credit to Apple as not all manufacturers will give you both. (A Micro-USB connection hides under the HDMI, but is indicated as for service and support only.)

Original preview here

Verizon iPhone and New iPod touch at Apple’s Sept 1st event?

Apple is scheduled a press event in which it is expected to announced new iPod touch or possible smaller nano iPod and new Apple TV. There are a lot speculations that Apple could take an opportunity to provide information for Verizon iPhone.

There is a lot of curiosity of what Apple will present during the conference. While looking through historically, Apple will stick with new iPod or possibly offers some insight about the revamp of Apple TV. It is difficult to believe that Apple may introduce Verizon iPhone especially during this conference. Well, this event is completely dedicated to music.

Ref: moretechnews.com

England entertain Bulgaria

England entertain Bulgaria
Published: Sunday 29 August 2010, 21.00CETFollowing a below-par performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Fabio Capello's England embark on their journey to reach UEFA EURO 2012 with a Group G opener against Bulgaria.

Following a below-par performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, England embark on their journey to reach UEFA EURO 2012 without injured Chelsea FC duo Frank Lampard and John Terry.

England team news
• Chelsea FC duo Frank Lampard (hernia) and John Terry (hamstring) both miss out, as does Fulham FC's Bobby Zamora (thigh), but Tottenham Hotspur FC strikers Peter Crouch ......

Read Orignal here...

Chile turning to high-tech to aid trapped miners

COPIAPO, CHILE - As 33 Chilean miners entered their fourth week trapped in a collapsed mine, experts from around the world gathered on this remote hillside to attempt what all consider a historic rescue operation.

With video footage showing the men in relatively good health, much of the focus has shifted to logistics and mental health while an Australian-built drilling rig slowly rips open an escape tunnel, an effort now expected to take 90 days.

"They are a tremendously cohesive group. . . . There is a positive and powerful leader, which makes the group more organized," said Rodrigo Figueroa, head of the Stress and Disaster Unit at Catholic University in Santiago. "As miners, they are disciplined and prepared for this kind of emergency, and preparation is fundamental."

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Hong Kong’s Stock Index Falls for Third Week; China Green Drops

Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index fell for a third week as developers dropped after Henderson Land Development Co. reported a larger-than-estimated decline in first-half underlying profit.

Henderson Land slid 1.6 percent. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest lender by market value, climbed 1.3 percent after second-quarter earnings beat analysts’ forecasts. China Green Holdings Ltd. tumbled by as much as 45 percent after the producer of fruits and vegetables said its auditor needed more time to complete the annual report for board approval.

Read more!

Tropical Storm Earl

Tropical Storm Earl continues to head off to the west-northwest in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, to the east of Hurricane Danielle.

Weather.com has various maps from current storm information to satellite images and the all-important "projected path".


Ref : Weather.com

Elin Nordegren on Tiger Woods

Elin Nordegren said she wanted to save her marriage to Tiger Woods even after she was "blindsided" by his multiple affairs, but in the end the damage was irreparable and she didn't trust him.

"I've been through hell," Nordegren, whose divorce was finalized Monday, told People magazine in the issue to hit newsstands Friday.

Nordegren revealed that she had no clue about her golfing superstar husband's infidelities, saying she was "blindsided" and "embarrassed" by the affairs.


By John Berman, Suzan Clarke and Sabrina Parise / abcnews.go.com
Posted: 08/25/2010 07:07:59 AM MDT

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The Power of the Future

In a world of climate change, fuel insecurity and escalating energy demands, it's time we started talking about how we're going to generate the power of the future.

Ref: Youtube

Who is George Michael?

George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in East Finchley, London, England) is an English pop musician of Greek Cypriot ancestry. Michael began his career by forming a band called The Executive together with his best friend Andrew Ridgeley, a fellow pupil at Bushey Meads School, though it did not survive for long.

George Michael

McCain's turn

John McCain Still Pallin' Around with lobbyists,
Arizona Republican is the clear front-runner against challenger J.D. Hayworth. There is an air of both tragedy and farce as the Arizona Republican primary for the United States Senate comes to a conclusion this Tuesday.

Today, pharmaceutical innovation

Pharmaceutical innovation looks very different than it did 100 years ago,
Environment is making it harder for companies to recover these costs.
Researchers are tackling increasingly complex diseases using new tools
The pace of scientific disease has increased exponentially in recent years.

Future of Health Care
Innovative medicines will assume an increasingly prominent role in the way we improve the quality of care for future generations.


Ref: Innovation today

Today's news: Wyclef Jean Blocked from Haitian Bid!

Friday night, Wyclef Jean said : “Though I disagree with the ruling,
I respectfully accept the committee’s final decision, and I urge my supporters
to do the same.” (The commission had rejected Jean’s application,
arguing that he dit not meet residency requirements to run.)

Trading?

Yet another interesting item landed on my desk today. TRADING.
This I just had to try, and opened a test account...

What happens next I will have to blog on later.


Do you want a demo?

PGA Tour 2010 is on!

I just started watching golf, and it was in fact very interesting. Did you know for instance that this years PGA-Tour is the 92nd? Imagine me start watching abit earlier, and i would not have missed out on all that fun!!
Of course, Norway's Suzann Pettersen does it pretty decent too -- with her coming in as nr 5 at Evian Masters last sunday.(Read all about it here!)

More to come ....

Business in Haiti

Wyclef Jean !

Wyclef Jean for Office 2010

This week Wyclef Jean announced he is running for office in Haiti on the upcoming Nov 28. election. He sure is popular, and has already made a huge impact on the Haitian society. I wish him and his team best of luck, and will of course follow closely as the Big Day gets closer.