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Friday, November 30, 2012
Fed's Beige Book: Single-Family Homes Continued to Improve ...
November 28, 2012 ? 7:51 pm
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Real Estate and Construction
Overall, markets for single-family homes continued to improve across most Districts with the exception of Boston and Philadelphia. Residential real estate markets in the New York District were mixed but generally firm prior to the storm. Selling prices were steady or rising. Boston, New York, Richmond, Atlanta, Kansas City, and Dallas noted declining or tight inventories. The Cleveland District indicated that the number of single-family housing starts had increased since our last report and from a year ago; most sales contracts were in higher price-point categories. Similarly, Richmond noted more residential work in the high-end home category for the first time in three years, and builders cited significant pent-up demand in the first-time buyer segment. Atlanta indicated that existing home sales were up slightly compared to a year ago and reported that investors were more active in Florida than in the rest of the District. In Chicago, residential construction increased at a slow but steady pace in October and early November, and construction increased for single-family as well as multi-family homes. St. Louis reported that residential real estate market conditions continued to improve, and Minneapolis indicated that segments of construction and real estate were growing at a double-digit clip. Kansas City characterized residential real estate activity as brisk and noted that a solid rise in home sales had reduced home inventories. Dallas noted that single-family housing activity remained strong, with both new and existing home sales activity increasing. San Francisco reported that home demand continued to strengthen and that home sales continued to grow on a sustained basis in most areas, spurring new home construction. However, sales growth generally slowed for both the condominium and single-family home markets in the Boston District, and the Philadelphia District noted that October began as a disappointing month for some Realtors, only to be punctuated by Hurricane Sandy.
Construction and commercial real estate activity generally improved across Districts since the last report. Gains, albeit modest in most cases, were reported by Philadelphia, Richmond, Chicago, and Minneapolis. The gains among Cleveland?s contacts were tempered by reports in recent weeks of a slowdown in inquiries and a decline in public-sector projects. Kansas City described activity as holding firm and noted that real estate markets remained stronger than a year ago. Demand for office and industrial space continued to increase in Dallas, although contacts at some businesses said they were ?holding back on expansions due to uncertainty.? Several Districts noted segments of little change in commercial real estate activity. Boston described market fundamentals as flat, and San Francisco depicted market conditions as stable but with pockets of strength for large infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. Commercial and industrial conditions were mixed in the St. Louis District and throughout most of New York prior to the hurricane. New York added that, while office markets across upstate New York were unaffected by the storm, there were some signs of recent softening.
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Source: http://www.crossfithawkesbay.co.nz/fitness-wod/30-nov-3/
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
LearnVest Gives You a Free Financial Checkup and Customized Financial Plans
Money management site LearnVest?our favorite service for getting a personalized financial plan?recently updated its offerings to include new tools for getting better control of your budget, financial priorities, and retirement needs. The free financial checkup shows whether you're on track for those three critical areas, after which you can buy relatively inexpensive, actionable plans created by LearnVest's Certified Financial Planners (CFPs).
As we've said before, financial planning services can be incredibly useful, but with average costs of $200-$300 per hour and 10 to 15 hours to get a plan from a financial advisor, the thousands of dollars cost is beyond the reach of most of us. That's why we like LearnVest, and its new services make it even better. The free financial health checkup measures whether your budget is sound, if you're on track for emergency savings and debt repayment, and if you're on track to reach your retirement target. Along with that one-page analysis, you can schedule a call with a CFP to discuss the evaluation and help you decide your next steps.
When it comes to the actual plans, there are three financial plans you can purchase. The Budget Starter ($89) helps you create a healthy budget by giving you a realistic picture of your monthly spending and how it should be allocated against your essential expenses, discretionary expenses, and financial goals. It also offers a customized list of tasks you should do to keep on track and comes with a phone consultation and three months of unlimited email support from the financial planner.
For more in-depth advice, though (especially if you've already developed a sound budget), you may be better off going with the 5-Year Planner ($349). This gives you not only the budgeting and financial prioritization advice, but a comprehensive 5-year financial plan with a monthly calendar for how much to allocate for each goal and progress estimates. It also comes with quarterly phone consultations and unlimited email support for a year.
The Portfolio Builder ($599) includes the above and adds some investing advice. It provides a recommended portfolio allocation based on your goal's time horizon and your risk tolerance. LearnVest does not, however, offer specific investments advice (the company says its goal is to make clients feel comfortable understanding their own portfolios). For that reason, and because you can get free asset allocation and investment tools elsewhere, I hesitate to recommend this plan unless you're a beginner investor who has a lot of questions about investing basics.
Overall, I've found the calendar and personalized 5-year financial plan (a full 53 pages including the investment advice) to be really helpful, with actionable, concrete recommendations for how to keep on track with all my goals. My CFP and the plan itself answered questions I had, such as how much life insurance I need and when to start college savings.
Although financial planning services may not be for everyone, if you could use a financial overhaul and professional advice throughout the year, LearnVest is a relatively affordable investment. (Note that you'll need to use LearnVest's Mint-like money management tools to be able to work with the financial planner.)
Talk to an Expert | LearnVest
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Ceton releases Windows 8 drivers, Echo set-top box is getting Android inside for the holidays
Ceton will have something unexpected under the tree for early adopters of its $179 Echo Windows Media Center Extender -- Android. Updates are on the way that will bring not only finalized Extender software, but also beta support for the Android platform and apps. Detailed in a message sent to testers this evening, there's also an update rolling out in the next 24 hours that upgrades video output to 1080p and exposes settings for the Echo like optical audio out, bitstreaming over HDMI or optical and diagnostics. Even if you're not in that beta test but just like running the latest software, Ceton has also pushed out beta InfiniTV drivers for Windows 8 users (note: tuner bridging is not supported if the card is installed in a Windows 8 PC.) There's even a beta version of the Ceton Companion services that connect Media Center PCs to its mobile Companion apps -- which coincidentally are on sale for $2.99 at the moment -- for Windows 8 users to try out as well. Hit the source links for all of the details and expect more info on how the Echo puts Android on your HDTV soon.
Update: The Echo is also now available and shipping from Amazon, as well as the previously announced NewEgg.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/CjLZO8oD9rU/
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Cossacks once again patrolling Moscow streets: ?We?re like Chuck Norris!?
A Russian Cossack, right, watches pedestrians as he patrols a Moscow railway station. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)They've technically been around for centuries, but a small group of Cossacks recently returned to officially patrol the streets of Moscow.
"We're like Chuck Norris!" Cossack patrol leader Igor Gulichev said, comparing his colleagues to the role made famous by Norris in the 1990s TV show "Walker, Texas Ranger."
According to the Russian 2010 census, about 650,000 citizens self-identified as Cossacks but only eight of the patrolmen, originally heralded for their sword-fighting ability, have been selected to walk the streets of Moscow looking for beggars, drunks and illegally parked cars, according to the Associated Press.
While their modern role has shifted, the newly appointed Cossacks are fighting crime in their traditional uniform and fur hat. The AP says the Kremlin hopes the return of the Cossacks will also "promote conservative values and appeal to nationalists."
The political angle leads straight to the top of Russia's government. In 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin was inducted into the Cossack Host and bestowed the rank of Cossack colonel, a title once held by the country's imperial czars.
Gulichev said if his patrol passes this initial test it could eventually become an armed and salaried auxiliary force. Currently, the patrol is a volunteer force but members get free city bus passes.
An All-Russia Cossack Host with 400,000 members reporting directly to Putin will be launched by the end of the year.
And to those who point to the Cossacks' controversial past, which has included opposition to Jews, Catholics and Poles, Gulichev said the modern incarnation is no different than that of the famed Texas Rangers.
"They are just like Cossacks and they work for the government, but they're welcomed with open arms," he said. "How come this should be allowed in America but not in Russia, with our rich Cossack traditions?"
However, the first Cossack patrol did not yield substantial results. According to the AP, the patrol removed two elderly beggars, an unlicensed sock vendor and an old woman selling dried mushrooms. The unlicensed vendor reportedly returned to his trading post shortly after the Cossacks departed.
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NZ Oil and Gas buys interests in three Taranaki permits from Octanex
New Zealand Oil & Gas has agreed to acquire interests in three offshore Taranaki permits from ASX-listed Octanex for US$12.5 million plus a share of seismic costs.
The company will pay US$12.5 million for a 12.5 percent interest in PE51906 which holds the Makatu prospect and is expected to be drilled in the second half of next year. Octanex will retain 22.5 percent and operator OMV holds 65 percent, NZ Oil & Gas said in a statement.
PEP 51906 covers 1,613 square kilometres adjacent and west of the Maui field. OMV has estimated mean recoverable resource for the Matuku prospect at around 65 million barrels.
OMV is currently seeking a semi-submersible rig to drill an exploration well in the Matuku prospect before the end of 2013. If the exploration is successful and an appraisal well is drilled at Matuku, NZ Oil & Gas or Octanex can exercise an option to increase NZ Oil and Gas's interest by a further 5 percent to 17.5 percent. In Return it would pay Octanex's share of the appraisal well.
NZOG is also acquiring a 50 percent interest in PEP 53473 that covers 853 square kilometres north of Tui, paying for the interest by funding 75 percent of the seismic programme costs. The seismic evaluation has to be completed by March 2014.
It will also take 50 percent of PEP 52593, which covers 3,509 square kilometres in offshore Taranaki by meeting 60 percent of the seismic costs. The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.
"These new acquisitions sit well within NZOG's New Zealand exploration portfolio, as they build on the knowledge base developed from NZOG's Taranaki history and provide exposure to the developing western fairway," chief executive Andrew Knight said in the statement.
Shares of NZ Oil & Gas rose 0.6 percent to 87.5 cents on the NZX and have gained 23 percent this year. The shares are rated 'outperform' based on the consensus of six recommendations compiled by Reuters.
Octanex last traded at 18.5 Australian cents on the ASX and has fallen 12 percent in the past 12 months.
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Can a Canadian driver collect Michigan No-Fault benefits after a car ...
Auto insurance attorney explains No-Fault law options for Canadian drivers injured in Michigan
I?ve probably helped people from Windsor and other cities in Canada who?ve been injured in auto accidents in Michigan for nearly 20years. Canadians who come across the border to do their shopping at Somerset in Troy, or who are here on business and are injured in Michigan have an interesting option available to them that actually can make a huge difference in their legal case.
Canadians are justifiably proud of their health insurance system.? But if they are seriously injured in a car accident, they have an even better option. It often? makes sense for a Canadian driver who has been injured in Michigan in a car accident to opt to collect Michigan No-Fault benefits.? Michigan No-Fault has been described as the ?best auto insurance coverage in the country,? providing the nation?s ?best no-fault medical benefits of any state.??
It also is a tremendous help for the lawyer in helping Canadian accident victims recover a better legal settlement, because of the challenges of getting objective testing like MRIs and CT scans, or referrals to specialists under the Canadian system.? These referrals, and objective proof of injury, are required to bring a case for a Canadian injured in Michigan under Michigan?s auto accident threshold law.
Fortunately for an injured Canadian driver, the laws in both Michigan and, at least, Ontario, Canada, are on her side.
Under the following two scenarios, a Canadian driver who was injured in a Michigan car accident is entitled to collect Michigan No-Fault benefits:
- The driver?s Canadian auto insurance company is ?certified? in Michigan.
- The driver is covered by an Ontario auto insurance policy which allows her to ?elect? to collect Michigan No-Fault benefits.
Michigan?s No-Fault Law guarantees the following insurance benefits for seriously injured car accident victims:
- Unlimited, lifetime medical benefits that are reasonably necessary to the victim?s care, recovery or rehabilitation;
- Lost wages reimbursement;
- Household services reimbursement;
- Coverage for attendant care expenses; and
- Home and/or vehicle modifications. (MCL 500.3107)
The advantages of the Michigan No-Fault Law for Canadian drivers
If there is a very serious automobile accident, the advantages of recovering attendant care alone (one of the medical benefits under the No Fault act) makes it worthwhile for an injured Canadian to opt to collect Michigan No-Fault.
Here?s the law:? Under Michigan?s No Fault law, a non-Michigan-resident driver who is injured in a car accident is not entitled to collect Michigan No-Fault benefits for her accident-related injuries.
However, there is a ?but.?? There is an exception to that rule for a non-Michigan-resident driver whose auto insurer ?has filed a certification in compliance with section 3163? of the Michigan No-Fault Law. (MCL 500.3113(c))
The ?certification? is a guarantee or promise by an auto insurer that, if its insured (who is a non-Michigan resident) is injured in a Michigan car accident, the auto insurer will pay benefits to its non-Michigan-resident insured in accordance with Michigan?s No Fault Law. (MCL 500.3163(1) and (2))
Here?s a link to the most recent ?No-Fault Certification List? from the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation, which identifies the auto insurers, including Canadian auto insurance companies, who are ?certified? under Michigan?s No-Fault Law:
Ontario accident benefits regulation
Under Ontario?s accident benefits regulation, O. Reg. 403/96, s. 57, when a driver who is covered by an Ontario auto insurance policy is injured in a Michigan car accident, ?the person may elect? to collect Michigan No-Fault benefits rather than the benefits provided under her Ontario auto insurance policy.
Specifically, the Ontario regulation provides:
?If, as a result of an [auto] accident in ? the United States of America, a person ? incurs an expense ?, the insurer shall pay, as the person may elect ? benefits in the same amounts and subject to the same conditions as if the person was a resident of the jurisdiction in which the accident occurred and was entitled to payments under the law of that jurisdiction.? (O. Reg. 403/96, s. 57(1)(b))
Who pays for a Canadian driver?s benefits?
An injured Canadian driver?s? auto insurance company pays for the driver?s Michigan No-Fault benefits, under both of the scenarios described above.? This means that the vast majority of people coming into Michigan from Windsor and other cities in Canada on business or for shopping or sports are going to be covered.
The Michigan No Fault Law?s ?certification? rule provides that an injured non-Michigan-resident driver, i.e., an injured Canadian driver, has ?the right to receive [Michigan No Fault] benefits? from her ?certified,? Canadian auto insurer. (MCL 500.3163(3))
And, the Ontario accident benefits regulation provides that ?the insurer shall pay? for Michigan No-Fault benefits when an injured Ontario driver ?elects? to collect Michigan No Fault benefits after a Michigan car accident. (O. Reg. 403/96, s. 57(1))
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NASA ponders new missions for spare spy telescopes
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., November 27 - NASA is looking for new ideas on what to do with two space telescopes left over from a once-secret U.S. spy satellite program.
The U.S. space agency asked the scientific community on Tuesday for its input into possible missions for a pair of space telescopes donated last year to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the nation's spy satellites.
"NRO offered us their leftover hardware if we want it. They've been totally open in allowing us to study whether this hardware would be of advantage to NASA," said Paul Hertz, who oversees NASA's astrophysics programs.
Topping the list of existing proposals is to use one telescope for a mission to learn more about an anti-gravity force known as "dark energy," which is believed to be responsible for speeding up the universe's rate of expansion.
The phenomenon was discovered in the 1990s by two teams of researchers who shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work.
The National Academy of Sciences has made that mission, known as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, its top choice for an astrophysics space mission for the next decade.
NASA estimates the WFIRST mission would cost $1.5 billion to $2 billion, but it cannot begin a major new astrophysics project until spending winds down on the over-budget and delayed James Webb Space Telescope, which is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and is scheduled for launch in 2018.
The NRO telescopes, which were built to peer down at Earth, each have a primary mirror that is 7.9 feet in diameter, much larger than the 4.3-foot (1.3-meter) observatory originally proposed for the WFIRST mission.
While a larger telescope may allow for more detailed observations, it could be more expensive to outfit with instruments and launch into space.
"There's a whole lot of ways that a larger telescope might benefit you, even if it doesn't save you money," Hertz said.
Another option is to pair the WFIRST mission with a new initiative to view Earth-sized planets beyond the solar system, said Princeton University researcher David Spergel, who organized a workshop for scientists in September to discuss telescope proposals.
The extra-solar planet hunter also could be a stand-alone mission.
Another idea is to use one of the telescopes to study how the sun affects Earth's magnetic field.
Like the Hubble observatory, the NRO telescopes are capable of producing extremely high-resolution images. Although they are declassified, NASA is prohibited from using the donated telescopes to produce visible-light images of Earth.
Looking beyond astrophysics missions may get at least one of the telescopes out of storage sooner.
"Astrophysics is limited in its ability to do anything based on pre-existing project developments in our budget. The rest of the agency has potentially more flexibility," said Michael Moore, NASA's assistant director for innovation and technology.
"Can you use the hardware to address things that are being done in advanced technology development or with humans or with robotics? That expands the universe of potential users," he said.
NASA said responses to its request for mission proposals are due by January 7.
The telescopes are being stored for NASA by ITT Exelis in Rochester, New York, at a cost of less than $100,000 a year, Hertz said.
"We can keep them in storage as long as we want to keep paying the rent," he said.
(Editing by Jane Sutton and Eric Beech)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-ponders-missions-spare-spy-telescopes-184929641--finance.html
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Google may be manipulating your online shopping search | Digital ...
As Google continues to transform itself into an entity building all things for the Internet, concerns and criticisms about its shopping platform are building. Is the platform putting small business and buyers at a disadvantage by giving better placement to businesses lining its pockets?
Way back in 1998 when Google launched, its core product was search and its main customer was the user. Throughout its early years, the company was laser focused on making the best search engine and refining the content it surfaced PageRank. Google wanted to perfect search so that users could find the best results based on an unbiased algorithm.
Almost 15 years later, Google has morphed into a search engine, advertising platform, software developer, hardware developer, game and app developer, mobile operating system developer, Web browser, video host, blog platform, social network, and most recently, an e-commerce site with its release of the pay-to-play service Google Shopping (formerly known as Product Search).
All this, despite the fact that Google?s core philosophy ? explained in a post titled 10 Things We Know to be True ? pointedly says: ?It?s best to do one thing really, really well.? Oh how the times have changed.
?You can make money without doing evil.?
But that?s not the only core principle that one-time lovers of the search giant have begun to question. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that have recently lost significant amounts of traffic from Google are worried that the search giant no longer lives by its founding principle: ?You can make money without doing evil.? With display ads ? expected to generate $2.31 billion in net revenues this year for the search giant ? increasingly seen as an outdated form of advertising, and the CPC of Google ads decreasing by 15 percent, Google is exploring new sources of revenue generation.
Critics of Google have started questioning whether the company has begun quietly exploring a system of pay-to-play for placement in its search results, an accusation that Google firmly denies. But some are loudly questioning whether a company in control of 65.3 percent of search ? processing more than one billion search queries a day ? can be completely unbiased when creating a search algorithm in which its own products, and the products of its advertisers, are competing for rankings. Unfortunately for Google, those critics include the Federal Trade Commission.
Is the search giant stifling free competition?
FTC investigators are also looking into whether or not Google AdWords, the search engine?s advertising marketplace, discriminates against companies advertising on sites that Google considers competitors ? like comparison shopping sites and consumer review sites.
Google vs. the small business owner ? and thus, you
Whether intentional or not, many small businesses have recently seen dramatic drops in traffic that previously flowed through Google. The comparison shopping site NexTag saw a 50 percent drop in traffic from Google in recent months; the number is especially significant when considering that 60 percent of NexTag?s traffic comes from Google in the form of search and paid ads. NexTag?s response was to double the amount it spent on Google ads.
In a recent OpEd in the Wall Street Journal, CEO of Nextag Jeffrey Katz wrote, ?[Google] has used its position to bend the rules to help maintain its online supremacy, including the use of sophisticated algorithms weighted in favor of its own products and services at the expense of search results that are truly most relevant.
?It?s easy to see when Google makes changes to its algorithms that effectively punish its competitors, including us. Our data ? shows without a doubt that Google has stacked the deck. And as a result, it has shifted from a true search site into a commerce site ? a commerce site whose search algorithm favors products and services from Google and those from companies able to spend the most on advertising,? Katz said, adding, ?Google?s latest changes are clearly no longer about helping users.?
While NexTag was able to increase the budget it allocated to Google ads, other small businesses that also get the majority of their traffic from Google can?t afford to follow suit. Tim Carter, who runs AskTheBuilder.com, said in less than two years, daily traffic to his site dropped 87 percent ? from 60,000 to 8,000.
?Google has decided, in their quest for higher profits, to put lower quality content on page one of their results. Much of the content now being served up on page one of Google results is either content created by advertising partners who are just interested in selling more of their products, or it?s content mashed up by work-at-home non-professionals who are feeding the gapping maws of the content farms,? Carter said.
On a Google search results page, the average click-through rate (CTR) for the first, second and third positions are 36.4 percent, 12.5 percent, and 9.5 percent respectively. That means the top three listings attract more than half of all click-throughs in a given search result. Companies whose listings don?t even make the first page better be destination sites, or have a strong flow of referrals from prominent sites, because they won?t likely get any substantial traffic from Google. And while this hurts businesses, the larger implication is that it hurts consumers.
?Google has drastically hurt my business, but it?s not about me,? Carter said. ?It?s about the collateral damage being felt by tens of millions of consumers. These consumers are being deprived of great independent content written by experts with hands-on experience. This information is needed by consumers in this tough economy to make informed purchasing decisions,? Carter said.
?In my opinion, Google is absolutely engaging in anti-competitive behavior. I?m convinced they?re making side deals with the major content farms ? If you want to know why Google changes their algorithm, just follow the money trail. It?s all about money.?
Buyer options get narrower
If the claims that Google is adjusting its search results to favor their own products and the products that advertise with it bear any truth, small businesses who can?t afford to increase their Google advertising budgets aren?t the only ones who stand to lose; millions of consumers who turn to Google each day for unbiased answers and find products will be affected too.
Companies that can afford pay-to-play aren?t always the ones with the best content; but if Google is guilty of what companies like NexTag and AskTheBuilder, among many others, allege, consumers searching online are exponentially more likely to end up clicking on promoted links and easily missing better results.
The biggest issue for consumers is that many of them don?t know that the search results are being tampered with. Craig Wildfang, an attorney with Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi who previously worked at the U.S. Justice Department, told CNET, ?Part of the problem is that consumers may not know that their results are being manipulated in a particular way.?
Katz expressed similar concerns in his OpEd, writing: ?Most people believe that when they type ?convection microwave oven? or ?biking shorts? into Google, they will receive a list of the most relevant sites. Not true. That?s how Google used to work. Now, when someone searches for these items, the most prominent results are displayed because companies paid Google for that privilege.?
Again, it?s important to note that despite the mounting criticism and evidence, Google has denied these allegations. In response to Katz?s claim, Amit Singhal, Senior Vice President, Engineering at Google wrote in a blog post, ?Let me be very clear: our unpaid, natural search results are never influenced by payment. Our algorithms rank results based only on what the most relevant answers are for users?which might be a direct answer or a competitor?s website. Our ads and commercial experiences are clearly labeled and distinct from the unpaid results, and we recently announced new improvements to labeling of shopping results. This is in contrast to most comparison shopping sites, which receive payment from merchants but often don?t clearly?label search results as being influenced by payment.? Still, you can see in the screenshot below Google explains part of its shopping results are based on compensation from merchants.?
Don?t like it? Well, you can leave
While Google denies manipulating its search results, supporters note that competitors like Bing, Blekko, and DuckDuckGo are just a click away. Google supporters also argue that whether or not the search engine is biasing its results, it?s their right to do so.
Kevin O?Connor, founder of DoubleClick and FindTheBest, a data-driven comparison engine, said regardless of whether it?s right or wrong, Google has the right to alter its search results as it sees fit, just as users have the right to search on other platforms if they don?t agree with what the search giant is doing.
?Google is doing what most of us would do if we ran the company?pursue growth opportunities.? Google does bias their search results but they have that right given it?s their product.? However, consumers can vote with their fingers and if Google gives poor search results, they will lose customers.? There were many search engines before Google?Lycos, Excite, AltaVista?who once dominated the market but disappeared when they expanded beyond core search,? O?Connor said.
Slickdeals CEO Bryant Quan agrees. ?I believe Google should be free to build whatever tools and services however they see fit, so long as they aren?t purposely suppressing competitors in organic search results.?
Really, the problem is being put solidly in consumers? hands: Google is free to do what it wants, regardless of ethics or whether it works in our best interest ? it is, at the end of the day, a company. But clearly, there are strong suggestions your Google shopping searches are being influenced by factors not in your control. What you do with this knowledge is up to you. The options? Turning to other search engines, or opting for shopping-specific ones like Shopzilla, TheFind, or PriceGrabber. Or of course, you can continue to use Google Search or Google Shopping ? just be sure to bring a discerning eye with you and try digging beyond the first few page results. You never know what you?ll find down there.?
Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/bias-and-google-shopping/
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Monday, November 26, 2012
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Dubai Is Building The Biggest Mall On The Planet ... - Business Insider
The Dubai Mall
Dubai Mall currently holds the title of "world's largest shopping mall"
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai?s ruler announced plans for a development boasting the world?s biggest shopping mall and gardens larger than London?s Hyde Park, as the emirate revives property projects on hold since the global financial crisis.Emaar Properties PJSC, the United Arab Emirates? largest developer by market value, and Dubai Holding LLC will together build a district called ?Mohammed Bin Rashid City,? named after the Persian Gulf emirate?s ruler. The project near central Dubai is to include 100 hotels, residential areas and green spaces 30 percent bigger than Hyde Park, according to an e- mailed statement yesterday.
Dubai already has bragging rights to the biggest emporium by total area, Dubai Mall, which sprawls opposite the planet?s tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa. Between these two Emaar structures is a man-made lake where the world?s largest dancing fountain shoots water 50 stories high.
Dubai, seeking to stimulate its economy, wants to resume several projects that halted after the global credit crunch drove down property values by 65 percent and caused companies to suspend construction of hundreds of developments. Builders in the U.A.E. have aborted about $757 billion of projects since the crisis, Citigroup said in a report on Oct. 16. Dubai is the country?s second-largest emirate, after Abu Dhabi.
Desert Venice
Meydan City Corp., which built a 60,000-seat horse-racing stadium and hotel complex in Dubai, said in October it would revive plans for two developments, one with low-rise buildings and lagoons and the other for a tower with ?sky gardens? and nine swimming pools. At about the same time, the emirate?s government re-approved construction of a mile-long (1.6 kilometer-long) canal from the Business Bay commercial area to the ocean.
New projects announced in the past two months include a replica of India?s Taj Mahal that would be four times the size of the original.
Emaar?s shares climbed 2.2 percent today to 3.73 dirhams, the highest close since Oct. 23. The company?s shares have jumped 45 percent this year.
?The current facilities available in Dubai need to be scaled up in line with the future ambitions for the city,? Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum said, according to the official statement. ?We have to start work immediately? on the project and boost the economy, he said.
Sheikh?s Vision
Under the ruler?s plan, Mohammed Bin Rashid City would span 5.1 square kilometres (2 square miles) and contain the biggest cluster of art galleries in the Middle East and North Africa. It?s so-called ?Mall of the World? would cater to 80 million shoppers a year.
The announcement didn?t specify the development?s expected cost or a construction schedule.
Dubai racked up $113 billion of debt transforming itself into a tourism and commercial hub. The emirate has $7 billion of debt maturating next year and $32 billion in 2014, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report Oct. 20.
A construction boom in the emirate, where developers began selling property to foreigners in 2002, led to several large projects including the world?s tallest tower and man-made islands off the coast. Work on two of three palm-shaped residential islands was interrupted as the bonanza turned to a bust in the third quarter of 2008.
--Editors: Bruce Stanley, Inal Ersan
To contact the reporter on this story: Zainab Fattah in Dubai on zfattah@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/dubai-is-building-the-biggest-mall-on-the-planet--again-2012-11
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Sunday, November 25, 2012
The Value of Tennessee Home Loans to Your Housing Needs ...
Author (armandinaskerl). Submitted on Fri, 23 Nov 2012
Tennessee's homeownership proportion in 2011 was 69.3 percent, down from 70.9 percent in 2000. This is quite small in light of the past decade's real estate crisis. One of the key reasons surrounding this is the detailed and reasonably rated home loans in Tennessee. There are actually numerous sorts of mortgages that may help you obtain your dream residence faster than you assume, and below are amongst the most typical ones.
Interest-only Home mortgage
As the term suggests, you can pay for only the loan's interest for a set period of time. This is fairly beneficial due to the marked security of the rate. Although this sort of home mortgage does not last forever, interest repayments remain steady throughout the term of the home loan. You'll need to pay off the loan's major at some point, but, by that time, you 'd have set aside adequate money to do so.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Loans
You have the US Department of Veterans Affairs (USVA) to thank for this one, established for veterans and their households to obtain house financing or loans. The USVA doesn't provide the loans, however it establishes standards or guidelines for people who may qualify, amongst other things. You have to provide a certificate of eligibility, which verifies record of military service, to be eligible for VA loans.
Fixed-rate Home mortgage
When deciding on between a fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage, it is very important to think about present market conditions and exactly how these will change over time. If you're after stability and surety, opt for a fixed-rate one so that you would not have to bother with rate of interest fluctuations. Trusted Tennessee mortgage companies can help you determine what type of home mortgage is ideal.
Federal Real Estate Administration (FHA) Loans
Low to moderate earnings debtors will certainly think this kind of loan ideal due to the fact that it's a home mortgage that requires only a 3 percent down payment. FHA loans make it feasible for an individual to obtain up to 97 percent of his or her home's value. Nevertheless, only federally qualified loan providers, who are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, distribute this sort of loan.
There's absolutely nothing to prevent you from getting a residence of your very own. The legitimate lending companies in Tennessee and the numerous types of loans they provide can turn your dream home into a reality. Discover even more about home loans by visiting ehow.com/about_4580239_home-loans.html.
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Friday, November 23, 2012
Proven Strategies That Will Help You Succeed At E-mail Marketing ...
Most people associate the term ?email promoting? with spam, and thus aren?t very sympathetic to the idea. You should work toward creating email campaigns which the customer not only enjoys looking at, but will also act upon. Read on to find methods you can begin using now.
You can enhance your e-mail marketing by choosing to include social networking sites, such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. This allows your customers to not only build brand awareness, but also to share your site with others in their social network. When this happens, you can expect a boost in the size of your email list.
Keep your branding consistent at all times. Always use the same company logo and colors in your email. Use a clear and legible font style. People will begin to recognize the emails that you send and look for them. A recognizable brand is an important marketing factor, especially with marketing via email.
TIP! Don?t bombard customers with a message that says ?Buy Now!? Don?t use that approach. You may lose business by doing this because it may appear like you are a spammer.
Make your emails rich in content and place helpful information in them as opposed to just placing sales information. Include articles and information for your subscribers which is not available on your website. Also include offers which are exclusive for your products or services. Don?t forget to send out emails that aren?t directly marketing related. Holidays, birthdays and other special occasions also warrant emails.
You can follow up with past clients by sending a freebie through email. Include a statement as to how they can take advantage of this deal. Encourage them to act swiftly by including a message regarding the available number of free offers.
TIP! Include an ?unsubscribe? link in your emails, and do your very best to process opt-out requests immediately. If you continue sending emails after someone has opted out, they will be very frustrated and potentially complain to the BBB.
Know your audience in order to have a marketing campaign that is successful. Consider what will appeal to them visually. Or, what they will like to read. How can you develop these ideas into things that are also financially beneficial to you? Find your answers in the information above and then get ready to watch your marketing campaign succeed!
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Thursday, November 22, 2012
Congo M23 rebels to stay in Goma until talks: official
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - M23 rebels in eastern Congo will not withdraw from the city of Goma as demanded by regional leaders but will advance until President Joseph Kabila agrees to talks, a senior rebel official said on Thursday.
Bishop Jean-Marie Runiga, head of the M23 rebel movement's political arm, said he did not consider Kabila's offer to look into their demands was serious.
"I'm not confident, because I've already waited for three months in Kampala for talks," Runiga told Reuters by telephone. "We'll stay in Goma waiting for negotiations. They're going to attack us and we're going to defend ourselves and keep on advancing," he said.
(Reporting by Jonny Hogg and Richard Lough; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Angus MacSwan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-m23-rebels-stay-goma-until-talks-official-091318380--sector.html
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President Obama Has Politics on His Mind as he Pardons Turkeys
The Rose Garden was prepared for the annual turkey pardon. But the president came with politics on his mind.
"They say that life is all about second chances," said the freshly-reelected President Obama. "And this November, I could not agree more."
Throngs of reporters from every corner of the globe joined a crowd of White House staffers, service members, and representatives of the National Turkey Federation to gather under a warm November sun. The lucky recipients of the president's forgiving (for the crime of being so delicious, presumably): Cobbler and Gobbler, the latter being Cobbler's back-up vice-turkey.
The birds are generally chosen for their plumage, lustrous "beards," quality snoods, and calm behavior. No one wants a repeat performance of that unfortunate incident when a turkey pecked President Bush.
"The American people have spoken, and these birds are moving forward," the president said, prompting a gobble.
The president's youngest daughter Sasha gave Cobbler a quick pat, while older sister Malia demurred.
"Now, I joke, but for the first time in our history, the winners of the White House Turkey Pardon were chosen through a highly competitive online vote," Mr. Obama said, referring to the White House Facebook vote on whether Cobbler or Gobbler would be designated the official bird. "And once again, Nate Silver completely nailed it. The guy is amazing. He predicted these guys would win."
The president also expressed his desire that "over this holiday weekend, we're also thinking about our extraordinary men and women overseas who are serving far away from home in harm's way. But the reason they're there is because they give thanks too for the extraordinary life that have here in the United States of America. So may God bless those brave men and women in uniform who are away from their families this holiday season. May God bless the American people. May you all have a very happy Thanksgiving." But even if the light-hearted event was replete with references to troops in harm's way, and allusions to the political season that just ended, the president was not willing to discuss the big news of the day. From the back of the event where reporters had been shoved, one reporter shouted to the president, "Mr. President can you comment on the ceasefire in the Middle East?"
Mr. Obama smiled but did not respond.
-Jake Tapper
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012
CoffeeGuru: Because You Don't Want to Drink That Starbucks Bullsh*t
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'Sir Jack' the toast of basketball after 138 pts
This image provided by Grinnell College shows Grinnell guard Jack Taylor (3) shooting one of 108 shots during Tuesday's Nov. 21, 2012 game against Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa. Taylor scored 138 points to shatter the NCAA scoring record in Division III. (AP Photo/Grinnell College, Cory Hall)
This image provided by Grinnell College shows Grinnell guard Jack Taylor (3) shooting one of 108 shots during Tuesday's Nov. 21, 2012 game against Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa. Taylor scored 138 points to shatter the NCAA scoring record in Division III. (AP Photo/Grinnell College, Cory Hall)
In this photo taken, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, and provided by Grinnell College, Grinnell's Jack Taylor (3) is congratulated by teammates after an NCAA college basketball game against Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa. Taylor shattered the NCAA scoring record with 138 points, hoisting a mind-boggling 108 attempts _ or one shot every 20 seconds _ in eclipsing the previous record by 25 points. (AP Photo/Grinnell College, Cory Hall)
In this photo taken, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, and provided by Grinnell College, Grinnell's Jack Taylor (3) is congratulated by teammate Brian McManamy after an NCAA college basketball game against Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa. Taylor shattered the NCAA scoring record with 138 points, hoisting a mind-boggling 108 attempts _ or one shot every 20 seconds _ in eclipsing the previous record by 25 points. (AP Photo/Grinnell College, Cory Hall)
In this photo taken, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, and provided by Grinnell College, Grinnell's Jack Taylor gets a hug from associated basketball coach David N. Arseneault, as teammates applaud after an NCAA college basketball game against Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa. Taylor shattered the NCAA scoring record with 138 points, hoisting a mind-boggling 108 attempts _ or one shot every 20 seconds _ in eclipsing the previous record by 25 points. (AP Photo/Grinnell College, Cory Hall)
In this photo taken, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, and provided by Grinnell College, Grinnell's Jack Taylor (3) goes to the basket in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa. Taylor shattered the NCAA scoring record with 138 points, hoisting a mind-boggling 108 attempts _ or one shot every 20 seconds _ in eclipsing the previous record by 25 points. (AP Photo/Grinnell College, Cory Hall)
How did Grinnell's Jack Taylor wind up with 138 points in a game?
Well, he did miss 56 shots, more than he made. And he didn't play for four minutes.
Otherwise he would have scored even more.
As it was, Taylor shattered the NCAA scoring record by 25 points Tuesday night in the Pioneers' 179-104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible in Grinnell, Iowa.
Taylor hoisted a mind-boggling 108 shots, one every 20 seconds. Layups, fadeaways and 3-pointers (27 of those) were all working in a display that had the NBA's basketball royalty buzzing a day later, from Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant to Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
"It's like a video game," Anthony said. "How can you shoot 108 times?"
"It's unbelievable, honestly," James said. "There's two games that I would love to see: One was Wilt, when he had 100, and this kid, I want to see him, too. Sir Jack."
Wilt Chamberlin's record of 100 points scored in 1962 still stands as the NBA mark. Taylor was the third player in NCAA basketball with at least 100 points, but his performance was the most prolific.
Taylor himself was still trying to catch his breath Wednesday.
"Honestly, it's still not settling in. It was hard to sleep," Taylor told The Associated Press after appearing on "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show.
Understandably so. Taylor is just a 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore from Black River Falls, Wis. How did he score more points than anyone in college history?
Well, he had 58 at halftime. And then he scored 30 more in the first nine minutes of the second half, draining seven straight 3s at one point.
The Division III record was the first to fall, as Taylor reached 91 points on a 25-footer from the left wing with 11:14 to go. He cracked 100 on a layup less than three minutes later, and with 4:42 to go he drained yet another 3 to pass the NCAA record of 113 set by Rio Grande's Bevo Francis against Hillsdale in 1954.
In 1953, Francis had 116 against Ashland Junior College but Frank Selvy is the only other player to reach triple figures, scoring 100 points for Division I Furman against Newberry in 1954. The previous Grinnell record was 89 by Griffin Lentsch last Nov. 19 against Principia.
Taylor made 27 of his 71 3-point attempts and was 52 of 108 overall. He had a hot hand, sure, but he plays in a system designed to reward high-volume shooting.
Grinnell's goal is to shoot within 12 seconds of getting the ball, something borrowed in part from the breakneck system Paul Westhead installed at Loyola Marymount in the 1980s. The 3 is the shot of choice ? in fact, every player must shoot 100 3s every day in practice ? and the four guys who don't shoot crash the boards. The Pioneers also press relentlessly on defense, hoping to force a turnover or a quick shot so they can get back to scoring more points.
The style demands fresh legs, and the Pioneers typically substitute every 60 seconds or so.
"It's just something completely different than you face any other time you play," said Brian Fincham, the coach at Faith Baptist Bible, a school in nearby Ankeny, Iowa, with fewer than 300 students. "If they've got a little bit of ability on you, it's tough to keep up."
When coach Dave Arseneault landed at Grinnell 24 years ago, he inherited a program that went from 1965 until 1994 without a winning season. Because of their high academic standards and rural location 50 miles east of Des Moines, winning basketball had simply eluded the Pioneers for decades.
Arsenault wanted to make up for Grinnell's lack of athleticism and size, and make the game more fun. The Pioneers have won four conference championships with the pour-it-on style but have yet to win an NCAA tournament game, raising questions about whether the emphasis on scoring at the expense of defense and patience doesn't reflect traditional basketball strategy and sportsmanship.
"Maybe they're right," said David N. Arseneault, the co-head coach and the Arseneault's son. "But the way I look at it is ... there's no chance we would have been able to have even close to the amount of success we've had without this system."
The Pioneers didn't set out to have Taylor break any records Tuesday night. But after discovering Taylor had 58 points at halftime, they decided to go for it.
"A lot of people are saying it wasn't the most team-oriented thing to do," Taylor said. "But I wouldn't have been able to do it without the encouragement and support from my teammates."
Taylor didn't leave the game until the closing moments with his team up 70. Arsenault said he thought about pulling Taylor earlier, but after watching him drain six straight 3s in a two-minute span, he couldn't bear to pull the plug on something so special.
"My thought was 'Hey, man, the kid's got it going. I'm going to let him go,'" he said.
Fincham said he wasn't offended by Taylor's pursuit of the record. In fact, Fincham decided at halftime that it would try to get at least 50 points for his own player, David Larson, who finished with the quietest 70-point night in the history of basketball. He broke the school record of 47 and gave his teammates a reason to hold their heads high.
"Our students come for ministry," Fincham said. "They don't come for basketball, obviously."
___
AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
___
Follow Luke Meredith on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LukeMeredithAP
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Pinch Valves along with Their Economy - Business - Industrial ...
Combined Operation involving Components
A Manufacturer with Pinch Valves will layout impressive products which has a view to compatibility along with additional factors with this control associated with product materials. This is actually put on inside the normal actuation on this form of valve as being a pneumatic process, including relieve with folded air flow to the casing from the valve, developing that beginning as well as closing procedure. The pneumatic valve procedure having solenoid valves is definitely extensively employed by industry, when using the larger size solenoid assortment triggered by the scaled-down pneumatic valve.
The combined operation with the a couple of actuating factors known as a "Piloted Valve" system; while offering a major valve system, it really is probable for the pneumatic controlled Pinch Valve in order to act within the capacity of an air conditioning cylinder, located in the major valve. In a situation of this type, your pneumatic solenoid valve is usually called a folded surroundings pilot valve. When regarding terminology utilised in the anatomist profession, some sort of solenoid talks about the transducer mechanisms employed in that the conversion process connected with power into motion.
A "solenoid" is the controlling factor within the helpful surgery regarding a solenoid valve plus usually correlates into the control of normal water or perhaps atmosphere within a swap capacity. Opening with the Pinch Valve can be performed if your solenoid can be active or current is actually applied. Should the solenoid not really become in an energetic style or maybe devoid of current, the actual valve will probably stay closed. A "Piloted Valve System" is found in an bodily position or externally, together with designation offered on the number of junctions or even item flow-paths contained from the system. In a scenario involving externally located pilot valves, surroundings pressure originating coming from an exterior origin will be used.
Piloted Pinch Valve Systems
The innovative design simply by that Manufacturer regarding Pinch Valves facilitates an actuating induce coming initially from by surroundings difficulty in addition to running from the valve housing, to help one on one this variety of your pneumatic powered valve system. It can be a kind of operation typically concerning that take of atmosphere for the duration of routine pastime in the merchandise processing cycle. Utilization within the activation regarding larger valves offers a good charge component into the end user along with an inexpensive methods of giving power to some solenoid valve. The have an effect on with compacted air could end result throughout vigor being available for re-cycling towards the end of a process.
As the actual structure of some sort of Pinch Valve is actually compact inside construction, therefore , it's pretty adaptable relating to it is placement with numerous applications. After your operation involving compression, surroundings is actually then stashed inside a phone in addition to after that refined and also routed towards pneumatically operated valve system, responsible in the processing product flow direction. Full practical as well as application talents can be found from
Read more tips about Safety Valve on this site
Source: http://itreviewbyme.blogspot.com/2012/11/pinch-valves-along-with-their-economy.html
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