V2 video conferencing help enterprises to build telecommuting ...

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Source: http://ellea608.blogspot.com/2013/02/v2-video-conferencing-help-enterprises.html

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TuneIn launches TuneIn Live, hopes to encourage radio station discovery through custom UI

With around 70,000 stations from around the world in its database, TuneIn is rightly one of the more popular radio apps out there. Unfortunately, it also means customers don't always have the easiest time finding what they want, something the Palo Alto firm plans to fix with a new update it's rolling out today. The key new feature is TuneIn Live, which aims to encourage content discovery through a customized interface. By culling eight favorite genres from about 100, users can build a custom tile layout that, when activated, hunts down a station playing the appropriate tune -- be it in Los Angeles, New York or even Iceland.

On top of that, the company introduced integration with Google+ Sign-in so you can immediately place a reminder for scheduled audio events on your Google Calendar. Radio stations broadcasting live sporting events or special in-studio concerts can add "@tunein" to their tweets to prompt TuneIn's servers to add them to the roster. This move towards improved discovery also includes a recently launched Trending feature that lets listeners know the most popular audio content at any given time.

TuneIn marketing director Ryan Polivka and director of product Kristin George told us that the refocus toward discovery will get users addicted to new stations they would never have heard of before. "What's best about radio [instead of algorithms like Pandora] is that there's a human on the other end hand-picking those songs," Polivka said. "Hopefully this will bring a bigger fanbase to those stations, no matter where they are in the world." The new TuneIn features should be available on the iPad app and TuneIn.com today, while other platforms will get them later in the year. For more information about the update, check out the press release and a full gallery of TuneIn Live screenshots after the break.

Filed under: Software

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Source: TuneIn, TuneIn Radio (App Store)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/28/tunein-live/

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First lady's anti-obesity campaign prompts change

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Wal-Mart is putting special labels on some store-brand products to help shoppers quickly spot healthier items. Millions of schoolchildren are helping themselves to vegetables from salad bars in their lunchrooms, while kids' meals at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants automatically come with a side of fruit or vegetables and a glass of low-fat milk.

The changes put in place by the food industry are in response to the campaign against childhood obesity that Michelle Obama began waging three years ago. More changes are in store.

Influencing policy posed more of a challenge for the first lady, and not everyone welcomed her effort, criticizing it as a case of unwanted government intrusion.

Still, nutrition advocates and others give her credit for using her clout to help bring a range of interests to the table. They hope the increased awareness she has generated through speeches, her garden and her physical exploits will translate into further reductions in childhood obesity rates long after she leaves the White House.

About one-third of U.S. children are overweight or obese, which puts them at increased risk for any number of life-threatening illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

While there is evidence of modest declines in childhood obesity rates in some parts of the country, the changes are due largely to steps taken before the first lady launched "Let's Move" in February 2010.

With the program entering its fourth year, Mrs. Obama heads out Wednesday on a two-day promotional tour with stops in Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri. She has been talking up the program on daytime and late-night TV shows, on the radio and in public service announcements with Big Bird. She also plans discussions next week on Google and Twitter.

"We're starting to see some shifts in the trend lines and the data where we're starting to show some improvement," the first lady told SiriusXM host B. Smith in an interview broadcast Tuesday. "We've been spending a lot of time educating and re-educating families and kids on how to eat, what to eat, how much exercise to get and how to do it in a way that doesn't completely disrupt someone's life."

Larry Soler, president and chief executive of the Partnership for a Healthier America, said Mrs. Obama has "been the leader in making the case for the time is now in childhood obesity and everyone has a role to play in overcoming the problem." The nonpartisan, nonprofit partnership was created as part of "Let's Move" to work with the private sector and to hold companies accountable for changes they promised to make.

Conservatives accused Mrs. Obama of going too far and dictating what people should ? and shouldn't ? eat after she played a major behind-the-scenes role in the passage in 2010 of a child nutrition law that required schools to make foods healthier. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee in 2008, once brought cookies to a school and called the first lady's efforts a "nanny state run amok."

Other leaders in the effort, such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have felt the backlash, too. Last fall, Bloomberg helped enact the nation's first rule barring restaurants, cafeterias and concession stands from selling soda and other high-calorie drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces.

Despite the criticism, broad public support exists for some of the changes the first lady and the mayor are advocating, according to a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.

More than eight in 10 of those surveyed, 84 percent, support requiring more physical activity in schools, and 83 percent favor government providing people with nutritional guidelines and information about diet and exercise. Seventy percent favor having restaurants put calorie counts on menus, and 75 percent consider overweightness and obesity a serious problem in this country, according to the Nov. 21-Dec. 14 survey by telephone of 1,011 adults.

Food industry representatives say Mrs. Obama has influenced their own efforts.

Mary Sophos of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's largest food companies, including General Mills and Kellogg's, said an industry effort to label the fronts of food packages with nutritional content gained momentum after Mrs. Obama, a mother of two, attended one of their meetings in 2010 and encouraged them to do more.

"She's not trying to point fingers," Sophos said. "She's trying to get people to focus on solutions."

A move by the companies signaling willingness to work with Mrs. Obama appears to have paid off as the Obama administration eased off some of the fights it appeared ready to pick four years ago.

The Food and Drug Administration has stalled its push to mandate labeling on the front of food packages, saying it is monitoring the industry's own effort. A rule that would require calorie counts on menus has been delayed as the FDA tries to figure out whom to apply it to. Supermarkets, movie theaters and other retailers have been lobbying to be exempted.

The industry also appears to have successfully warded off a move by the Federal Trade Commission to put in place voluntary guidelines for advertising junk food to kids. Directed by Congress, the guidelines would have discouraged the marketing of certain foods that didn't meet government-devised nutritional requirements. The administration released draft guidelines in 2011 but didn't follow up after the industry said they went too far and angry House Republicans summoned an agency official to Capitol Hill to defend them.

Besides labeling its store brands, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, also pledged to cut sodium and added sugars by 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively, by 2015, and remove industrially produced trans fats.

Leslie Dach, an executive vice president, said sodium in packaged bread has been cut by 13 percent, and added sugar in refrigerated flavored milk, popular among kids, has been cut by more than 17 percent. He said Wal-Mart shoppers have told the company that eating healthier is important to them. Giving customers what they want is also good for business.

New York reported a 5.5 percent decline in obesity rates in kindergarteners through eighth-graders between the 2006-07 and 2010-11 school years, according a report last fall by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which studies health policy. In Philadelphia, the decline was 4.7 percent among students in grades K-12 between the 2006-07 and 2009-10 school years, the foundation said.

Declines also were reported in California and in Mississippi, where Mrs. Obama stops Wednesday.

In Philadelphia, an organization called the Food Trust has worked since 1992 to help corner stores offer fresh foods, connect schools with local farms, bring supermarkets to underserved areas and ensure that farmers' markets accept food stamps, according to Robert Wood Johnson.

New York City requires chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus. Licensed day care centers also must offer daily physical activity, limit the amount of time children spend in front of TV and computer screens, and set nutrition standards.

Both cities also made changes to improve the quality of foods and beverages available to students in public schools.

___

Online:

Let's Move: http://www.letsmove.gov

___

Follow Darlene Superville and Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap and http://www.twitter.com/mcjalonick

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-ladys-anti-obesity-campaign-prompts-change-082054226--finance.html

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Donkey, buffalo found in South African meat products

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Donkey, water buffalo and other unconventional ingredients have been found in almost two thirds of hamburgers and sausages tested in South Africa, a study released on Tuesday showed.

The tests by the University of Stellenbosch were planned before a scandal broke out in Europe over horsemeat labelled as beef that raised concerns worldwide over the risks to human health from a complex and nebulous meat supply chain.

"Our study confirms that the mislabelling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labelling regulations, but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts," co-author Louw Hoffman of the university's Department of Animal Sciences, said in a statement.

Soya, donkey, goat, water buffalo and plant material were found in up to 68 percent of the 139 minced meats, burger patties, delicatessen meats, sausages and dried meats tested by the university. The items were not listed as ingredients.

Pork and chicken were the most common fillers found in products that were not supposed to contain them, according to the study that used DNA testing techniques and was published in the journal Food Control.

No similar discoveries had been made over the past two years, when DNA testing became more widely used in South Africa.

Stricter food labelling laws came into effect in the continent's largest economy in March last year, with mandatory information required on content, country of origin and allergens.

But there is no mandatory government testing of food sold in South Africa.

"It is a wake-up call for the industry to abide with the new labelling regulations," Hoffman, a noted game meat researcher, told Reuters.

He said extensive tests over two weeks of more than 100 samples had found no trace of horse meat.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/donkey-buffalo-found-south-african-meat-products-140125978.html

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Arkansas governor vetoes 20-week abortion bill

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) ? Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday vetoed a ban on most abortions in Arkansas at 20 weeks into a pregnancy, setting up an override fight with a Republican-controlled Legislature that has been pushing for more restrictions on the procedure.

Beebe said he vetoed the ban, which is based on the disputed belief that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, because it runs afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion until the point where fetuses can survive outside the womb, usually at 22 to 24 weeks. The Republican sponsor of the measure said he'll seek to override Beebe's veto.

"Because it would impose a ban on a woman's right to choose an elective, nontherapeutic abortion before viability, House Bill 1037, if it became law, would squarely contradict Supreme Court precedent," Beebe said in his veto letter. "When I was sworn in as governor I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend both the Arkansas Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. I take that oath seriously."

Beebe also cited the cost of a potential lawsuit if the state enacted the ban. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has said it would likely sue if it went into effect.

Beebe's veto comes as Arkansas lawmakers are weighing stricter legislation that would prohibit abortions at 12 weeks into a pregnancy. Beebe has said he has concerns about that legislation's constitutionality as well. That measure is expected to go before a Senate panel Wednesday.

Rep. Andy Mayberry, who sponsored the 20-week ban, said he was disappointed with Beebe's decision and would ask the House and Senate to override the governor's veto. It takes a simple majority in both chambers to override a governor's veto. Republicans hold 51 of the 100 House seats and 21 of the 35 Senate seats.

Beebe announced the decision shortly after Mayberry, R-Hensley, met with the governor and tried to alleviate his concerns about the bill.

"Apparently he and I have differing opinions on that bill," Mayberry said. "We'll enter into the next phase of the legislative process."

Seven states have enacted similar 20-week restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks laws affecting women's health. A similar law in Arizona has been blocked while a federal appeals court reviews a lawsuit challenging it.

In his letter, Beebe cited concerns about the cost of a similar challenge. He wrote that Arkansas had to pay nearly $148,000 in attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a 1997 late-term abortion ban that a federal appeals court overturned.

"Litigation fees and costs have increased extensively since then," Beebe wrote. "The taxpayers' exposure, should HB1037 become law, will be significantly greater."

Mayberry's bill included exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Opponents have criticized it for not including exemptions for fatal fetal conditions.

Mayberry said he was confident he would have the votes to override Beebe's veto. House Speaker Davy Carter and Senate President Michael Lamoureux, both Republicans, said they hadn't polled members but also believed there would likely be enough support for an override.

The House approved Mayberry's bill on an 80-10 vote last week. It had been previously approved by the Senate on a 25-7 vote.

Abortion rights advocates who had gathered at the Capitol cheered when Beebe's decision was announced.

"I am very grateful that the governor understood that it's not reasonable for the government to interfere with these very private and complex medical decisions that a woman needs to make with her doctor and with her faith and with her family," said Jill June, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. "The decision to end a pregnancy is one of the most complicated decisions a woman will make in her life."

The bill marks the 11th time Beebe has vetoed legislation since taking office in 2007.

Beebe, who is serving his second term, has backed some abortion restrictions, including a bill signed earlier this month that bans insurers participating in the exchange created under the federal health care law from covering most abortions. Two years ago, he signed into law a proposal placing new regulations on the clinics that offer the abortion pill and in 2009 he signed legislation that mirrors a federal law banning late-term abortions.

Beebe wouldn't say whether the decision means he'd veto the 12-week ban pending before lawmakers.

"I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do on a bill that's even more problematic than the one I already vetoed, but I won't tell you officially until that time," Beebe said.

___

Associated Press Writer Michael Stratford contributed to this report.

___

Andrew DeMillo can be reached at www.twitter.com/ademillo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/arkansas-governor-vetoes-20-week-abortion-bill-203729791--politics.html

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Singapore Law Watch - Financial-sector tax incentives extended

Concessionary tax rates will be extended for five years to Dec 2018

THE government has extended concessionary tax rates for financial services to ensure that Singapore remains an attractive financial centre.

It also gave boosts to the bond market and offshore specialised insurance sector.

The financial sector incentive (FSI) scheme, which comprises concessionary tax rates of 5 per cent, 10 per cent and 12 per cent, will be extended for five years to Dec 31, 2018, except for Islamic finance activities. Normal corporate tax rate is 17 per cent.

The FSI scheme, which covers a whole range of activities carried out by banks, fund managers, brokerages and other financial institutions, will be broadened.

But the 5 per cent rate for Islamic finance activity which has not taken off will be allowed to expire on March 31, 2013. Islamic finance activities will fall under the 12 per cent standard tier rate.

Also allowed to expire is the 5 per cent rate on Islamic insurance and reinsurance business. Insurers who conduct these activities may apply for the existing 10 per cent offshore insurance business scheme.

"I guess the take-up rate (for Islamic finance) was low," said Larry Sim, KPMG tax partner, financial services.

"Practically, the writing of onshore Islamic insurance is rather limited - requiring special rules and skills, for example Islamic scholars," said Yip Yoke Har, PwC Services, partner.

"Hence, to compete for a slice of the offshore Islamic insurance is always going to be difficult with major players in the region like Malaysia and Indonesia around us," said Ms Yip.

While tax consultants were ho-hum on the FSI extensions, they expect the extension and easing up on compliance to qualify for debt securities concessions to boost the bond market.

Bankers said they expect more companies to come to Singapore to issue debt with compliance easing.

The qualifying debt securities (QDS) and QDS-plus schemes will get the five- year extensions, the government said.

In addition the requirement that the QDS has to be substantially arranged in Singapore will be rationalised to ease compliance for issuers.

"The extension of the QDS tax incentive is important for the continued development of the Singapore bond market," said Kang Choon Pin, Ernst & Young, partner, financial markets.

"The tax regime is an important factor in the decision by the foreign company to use its Singapore subsidiary to issue bonds," said Mr Kang.

Said Clifford Lee, DBS head of fixed income: "Easing a requirement that the debt issue has to be substantially arranged in Singapore to qualify for the QDS scheme further opens up Singapore to regional and global players."

"This scheme will continue to attract more issuers and investors into the market, thus keeping the overall level of activity high," Sim Buck Khim, OCBC Bank co-head of capital markets.

The specialised insurance sector will get tax exemption for underwriting catastrophe risks while the offshore insurance broking business will get a five-year extension for their 10 per cent concessionary tax rate.

The favourable tax treatments should lead to more tax specialists coming here, said consultants.

To encourage the underwriting of severe and volatile catastrophe risks from Singapore, tax exemption will be given on qualifying income from offshore catastrophe excess of loss (XOL) reinsurance layers.

Under the tax incentive, an approved reinsurer will enjoy zero tax from existing 10 per cent on profits earned from writing offshore catastrophe XOL reinsurance risks that provide coverage for more than one risk arising from a single event and against natural perils, said PwC's Ms Yip.

The introduction of the risk incentive is timely given the increasing frequency of natural disasters, she said.

In 2011, there were the Thai floods, the Japan earthquake/tsunami, the Queensland floods, the New Zealand earthquake, to name a few and stark reminders that they occur in Asia, she said.

"The government's move to encourage the writing of catastrophe risks in Singapore will create capacity in Singapore and develop needed expertise here. It would make Singapore an attractive alternative location compared to traditional locations like Bermuda," said Ms Yip.

The maritime industry also got something. International shipping companies which base their operations in Singapore get tax exemption for 10 years, with renewal up to a maximum of 30 years. The government will increase the maximum tenure to 40 years.

Several corporate tax schemes were rationalised in this year's Budget including the start-up tax exemption for property companies.

The government said the start-up tax exemption was introduced in 2004 to encourage entrepreneurship.

"The start-up tax exemption for encouraging entrepreneurship is not intended for such companies," it said.

Under the scheme, the first $100,000 taxable income for the first three years could claim full tax exemption.

"It was more generous than envisaged," said Mr Kang.

---

Key points

• Concessionary tax rates for financial sector extended for five years

• Concessionary tax rates for debt securities extended for five years and compliance will be eased for issuers

• Enhancing the tax exemption scheme for offshore specialised insurance risks

---

'This is truly a Singaporean Budget, addressing the immediate needs of Singaporeans and SMEs. It focuses on narrowing the income gap in the nation, improving productivity and reducing the reliance on the foreign workforce, as well as providing the much-needed support to the elderly and lower income group.'
- Toh Boon Ngee, Partner, Tax, KPMG in Singapore

'The Budget has shown to be responsive to feedback and really speaks to Singaporeans.'
- Cheong Choy Wai, Partner, Tax Services, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP

Source: Business Times ? Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Permission required for reproduction.

Source: http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/slw/headlinesnews/21170-financial-sector-tax-incentives-extended.html?utm_source=rss%20subscription&utm_medium=rss

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sales teleselling: What's the Difference Between Inbound and ...

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Despite all the advancements in technology nowadays, telemarketing still remains to be one of the most dependable measures to publicize your business. With Business Process Outsourcing business establishments becoming a trend lately, they give a reasonably priced service to areas where labor is deemed expensive.

A telemarketing firm can branch out into several categories but can be viewed into two basic categories--they are the inbound and the outbound telemarketing. The application of these services is dependent on which one will be the most ideal to utilize for your organization.

Most people think of Inbound Telemarketing as comparable to customer support. This kind of service is slightly dissimilar to that of the latter because it will take into account some sales transactions in the process. This is because of the fact that when we mention customer service, it exclusively represents an agent answering the calls of customers just to reply to questions and aid them with their troubles and problems.

For instance, a travel agency for an airline firm would attempt and generate leads and also collect data regarding the people who they know would buy tickets for airline travel sometime in the future. Once these leads have already settled in purchasing the ticket, the contact center agent from this firm can now tend to the call of the lead into flight reservation for the person. This is referred as order processing and it's a part of inbound telemarketing.

In outbound telemarketing kind of service, call center agents usually perform a procedure also known as cold calling in which they will call prospects and attempt to engage them into buying a particular solution which is being offered to their leads. These prospects don't know that they will be called by the phone representatives so there will be some times that they'll be disrupted in what they're trying to do before the agent called.

Aside from sales, phone representatives can also perform lead generation campaigns. This is where call center agents will call prospective clients and attempt to collect as much data as they can from the people they've called.

The major distinction between inbound and outbound services from these firms is that in inbound services, the phone agents receive calls from clients while outbound services will contact people and try to convert them into customers.

With inbound call center services, sales training in the organization is less stressful than that of outbound services. This is for the reason that inbound call center representatives cater to individuals which are already customers even prior to the call was made. Outbound call center agents call for more training in sales than that of the inbound since it's part of their job to meet a definite quota to satisfy the standards granted upon them by their clients.

Though these two kinds of services may be unlike, they can always work hand in hand to complete processes within a company. When these two services work together, a company can serve the clients and prospects with ease.

Belinda Summers works as a professional consultant. She helps businesses increase their revenue by lead generation and appointment setting services through Telemarketing. To know more about this visit: http://www.callboxinc.com/

Source: http://bestsalesteleselling.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-difference-between-inbound-and.html

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Clues to climate cycles dug from south pole snow pit

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Particles from the upper atmosphere trapped in a deep pile of Antarctic snow hold clear chemical traces of global meteorological events, a team from the University of California, San Diego and a colleague from France have found.

Anomalies in oxygen found in sulfate particles coincide with several episodes of the world-wide disruption of weather known as El Ni?o and can be distinguished from similar signals left by the eruption of huge volcanoes, the team reports in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the week of February 25.

"Our ability to link of reliable chemical signatures to well-known events will make it possible to reconstruct similar short-term fluctuations in atmospheric conditions from the paleohistory preserved in polar ice," said Mark Thiemens, Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who directed the research and dug up much of the snow.

Thiemens, graduate student Justin McCabe and colleague Joel Savarino of Laboratoire de Glaciologie et G?ophysique de l'Environnment in Grenoble, France, excavated a pit 6 meters deep in the snow near the South Pole, with shovels.

"At an elevation of 10,000 feet and 55 degrees below zero, this was quite a task," Thiemens said. Their efforts exposed a 22 year record of snowfall, a pileup of individual flakes, some of which crystallized around particles of sulfate that formed in the tropics.

Atmospheric sulfates form when sulfur dioxide -- one sulfur and two oxygen molecules -- mixes with air and gains two more oxygen molecules. This can happen a number of different ways, some of which favor the addition of variant forms of oxygen, or isotopes, with and extra neutron or two, previous work by Thiemens's group has shown.

Unlike polar ice, which compresses months of precipitation so tightly that resolution is measured in years, relatively fluffy snow allowed the team to resolve this record of atmospheric chemistry on a much finer scale.

"That was key," said Robina Shaheen, a project scientist in Thiemen's research group who led the chemical analysis. "This record was every six months. That high resolution made it clear we can trace a seasonal event such as ENSO."

ENSO, the El Ni?o Southern Oscillation, is a complex global phenomenon that begins when trade winds falter allowing piled up in the tropical western Pacific to slosh toward South America in a warm stream that alters marine life crashing fisheries off Peru and Chile, and disrupts patterns of rainfall leaving parts of the planet drenched and others parched.

The warmed air above the sea surface lifts sulfur dioxide high into the stratosphere, where it's oxidized by ozone, which imparts a distinctly different, anomalous pattern of oxygen variants to the resulting sulfate particles.

In the Antarctic snow samples, the chemists found traces of these oxygen anomalies in sulfates trapped within layers of snow that fell during strong El Ni?o seasons.

Volcanoes too can shoot sulfur compounds high into the atmosphere where they react with ozone to produce sulfates with oxygen anomalies. Three large volcanoes, El Chich?n, Pinatubo and Cerro Hudson, erupted over the course of this time sample, which stretched from 1980 to 2002 and encompassed three ENSO events as well.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. S. Chakraborty, T. L. Jackson, M. Ahmed, M. H. Thiemens. Sulfur isotopic fractionation in vacuum UV photodissociation of hydrogen sulfide and its potential relevance to meteorite analysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1213150110

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/LfVdYx0ik8Q/130225153126.htm

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PFT: Mathieu runs a fast 40? |? But bench is weak

AP

Giants right tackle David Diehl said he hasn?t been asked to take a pay cut yet, or? heard any inkling about his future with the team.

But he?s seen enough to know his time could come any time.

Diehl offered Newsday?s Tom Rock a glimpse into the mind of a smart NFL veteran, admitting he never knows when he shows up at the office whether it?s going to be his last.

?The thing you realize at an early age is that as an NFL player you have an expiration date on you and it comes with a price tag,? Diehl said. ?That?s the way that it always goes. Nothing has been said to me yet, but that?s all things you can?t control. The only things you can control are the way you prepare each and every day, getting myself healthy, and whenever that comes about we?ll deal with it. But as of now, nothing has been said.?

The Giants have already parted ways with Chris Canty, Michael Boley and Ahmad Bradshaw, and more moves could be coming.

Diehl has been showing up daily at the Giants facility to rehab his right knee after an arthroscopic procedure, which he had right after the season. Getting well is a big deal, whether it?s for the Giants or another team.

The 32-year-old tackle is entering the last year of his contract, set to earn a base salary of $4.475 million. That makes him ripe for some degree of transaction depending on other moves the Giants make up front.

With Will Beatty and Kevin Boothe pending unrestricted free agents, the Giants might have to prioritize.

?Am I shocked or surprised? No,? Diehl said of Giants roster turnover so far. ?This has happened year in and year out since I?ve been in the NFL, not only with our team but with teams across the league. This is something that always happens.?

Diehl?s approach is at once fatalistic and realistic, as very few players get to leave on their own terms. And with the salary cap a factor in every transaction, having a big salary is only good news if you get to keep it into the regular season.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/26/tyrann-mathieu-runs-a-4-43-on-his-first-40/related/

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TELUS continues to roll out its 4G LTE network across Canada and today it has an...

TELUS continues to roll out its 4G LTE network across Canada and today it has announced the official launch in Charlottetown, with further expansion planned for PEI thoughout 2013. ?TELUS? ongoing commitment to offer the best experience for our ?

Source: http://www.facebook.com/iPhoneinCanadaFans/posts/599521330064211

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Pentagon extends benefits to same-sex military families

By Bill Briggs and Jim Miklaszewski , NBC News

Departing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta extended Monday a list of benefits ? all previously denied by the Pentagon???to the same-sex spouses of service members as well as to the unmarried partners of gay troops.

The perks, automatically available to heterosexual military spouses, will include child care services, member-designated hospital visits, and the issuing of military ID cards, which will give same-sex spouses and partners access to on-base commissaries, movie theaters and gyms. The policy changes will go into effect once training on the new rules is completed, Panetta said.

While advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families hailed Panetta?s policy switch as ?substantive? and ?encouraging,? the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still blocks the DOD from enacting more than 85 other benefits now provided to heterosexual military spouses and their children ? most notably medical and dental care, housing allowances, and death benefits.

---

Also, as NBC News reported Feb. 4, that same federal law mandates that when a gay service member is killed in combat, military officials must first notify that troop?s blood family, not their spouse, as is normally the course of action.?

Panetta said DOMA is ?now being reviewed by the United States Supreme Court" ? and he offered his first clear signal that the Pentagon wants that law overturned.

?There are certain benefits that can only be provided to spouses as defined by that law,? Panetta said. ?While it will not change during my tenure as secretary of defense, I foresee a time when the law will allow the department to grant full benefits to service members and their dependents, irrespective of sexual orientation. Until then, the department will continue to comply with current law while doing all we can to take care of all soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and their families."

Same-sex advocates have been pushing the DOD to extend full benefits to the spouses and partners of all U.S. service members since the repeal 17 months of ago of the ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? policy which prohibited gay troops from revealing their sexual orientation.

?At the time of repeal, I committed to reviewing benefits that had not previously been available to same-sex partners based on existing law and policy,? Panetta said. ?It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country ...

?Taking care of our service members and honoring the sacrifices of all military families are two core values of this nation. Extending these benefits is an appropriate next step under current law to ensure that all service members receive equal support for what they do to protect this nation."

Advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families praised Panetta?s policy shift although they said that the move is not groundbreaking due to the DOMA legal blockade.

?Secretary Panetta?s decision today answers the call President (Barack) Obama issued in his inaugural address to complete our nation's journey toward equality, acknowledging the equal service and equal sacrifice of our gay and lesbian service members and their families,? said Allyson Robinson, an Army veteran and executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an association of actively serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender U.S. military personnel with more than 50 chapters and 6,000 members.

?We thank him for getting us a few steps closer to full equality ? steps that will substantively improve the quality of life of gay and lesbian military families,? Robinson said.

The American Military Partner Association (AMPA), a support network for LGBT military families, released the following statement today in response to Panetta's announcement:?

?We?ve waited far too long for this, and it?s fantastic news that our dedicated military families will now have access to some of the benefits and support services they need and deserve,? said Stephen Peters, the group's president. ?However, (DOMA)? continues to undermine our military families who sacrifice so much for our nation. This summer, we hope that the Supreme Court will make it clear that our families are just as important and deserve the same protections, benefits, and support that federal recognition brings.?

To offer the new benefits to partners, DOD will ask gay and lesbian service members to sign a ?Declaration of Domestic Partnership? in which they will attest that they are in a committed relationship, and intend to remain so indefinitely, and that neither is legally married, according to OutServe-SLDN.

The changes will take ?several months to complete, Pentagon officials said. The extra time is needed so that military leaders can offer a chance for the public to comment on the new rules and also to allow an opportunity for each of the branches to update its IT system, develop new processes for issuing ID cards, and train their personnel on the refreshed benefits package.

Panetta did stop short on offering a full slate of benefits that gay advocates have been requesting for two years: on-base housing and burial at Arlington National Cemetery and other items that don?t fall under DOMA, according to OutServe-SLDN. (The organization?s lawyers drafted an explanation?outlining the policy shift for gay service members and their families.)

DOD officials have explained to OutServe-SLDN that ?policy for burial at Arlington National Cemetery is under review. At issue is how to verify eligible same-sex relationships for the surviving spouse in order to ensure equitable policy implementation."

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.

Related:

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/11/16927063-outgoing-dod-boss-panetta-extends-some-benefits-to-same-sex-spouses-partners-of-gay-troops?lite

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Nextdoor Closes $21.6 Million In New Series B Funding To Take Its Neighborhood-Focused Social Network Global

Nextdoor, the company that lets people create private social networks with others who live in their local neighborhoods, has raised $21.6 million in a new funding round led by Greylock Partners with the participation of existing investors Benchmark, DAG Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Allen & Company, Pinncacle Ventures, along with new investors Bezos Expeditions and Google Ventures.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/OxRQL_v1OT8/

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Africa?s dream team

Johannesburg ? From a player stuck in the obscurity of the French second division to one from a collection of millionaires at Champions League winners Chelsea, Reuters' selection of a 'dream team' for the African Nations Cup reflects the wide diversity of the players who competed at the finals in South Africa over the last three weeks:

Goalkeeper

Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria): The Nigeria captain never looked pressured and had an error-free tournament in contrast to some of the calamitous goalkeeping seen in South Africa. With more than a decade's experience in the national side, Enyeama proved a steely influence on his younger team mates. His best performance was against Ivory Coast in the quarter-final where he made a number of key saves, including one from Kolo Toure with the game at a critical juncture.

DEFENDERS

Fousseiny Diawara (Mali): Right back Diawara recently returned to international football and his addition to the squad for the Nations Cup gave Mali a defensive polish. Little got past him, even though he had some tough players to deal with, and he proved thoughtful and measured in his forward forays, adding extra impetus at the right moment to his team's attacks.

Bakary Kone (Burkina Faso): The runners-up ended the tournament conceding only three goals, one of them from the penalty spot. Much of this had to do with the form of the 24-year-old centrla defender from Olympique Lyon. Kone was one of Burkina Faso's three key players at the tournament, often coming to the rescue of his centre back partner Paul Koulibaly.

Nando (Cape Verde Islands): The captain of the gusty islanders retired from international football after an inspirational leadership role at the tournament, where Cape Verde were making their debut. With a mop of unruly hair, central defender Nando rose from the obscurity of the French second division to exemplify the fighting spirit of his team

Elderson Echiejile (Nigeria): Using the flanks was a big part of Nigeria's winning strategy and the Super Eagles' left back used every opportunity to get forward and pose an offensive threat. His goal against Mali in the semi-final keyed a devastating performance which set Nigeria up for the title. The 25-year-old now returns to Braga in Portugal, where he had been condemned to the reserves earlier in the season.

Midfielders

John Obi Mikel (Nigeria): The Chelsea man was imperious throughout and should have been crowned the tournament's best player. He has been a full fixture in Nigeria's side since 2006 but failed to live up to his potential until now. His command of the midfield, strength in holding onto the ball, disrupting opponents and driving the team forward laid the platform for his team's victory and re-established his credentials as one of Africa's best.

Charles Kabore (Burkina Faso): Suspended for the first game, Kabore returned to the side as Burkina Faso beat Ethiopia 4-0 in their second group match. He directed play from the heart of midfield, popping up at full back, where he usually plays for Olympique Marseille, and darting into the opposing penalty area soon after. He was a calming influence when his team were on the brink of being carried away by their enthusiasm.

Seydou Keita (Mali): The 33-year-old proved the catalyst for Mali's third place finish. He scored three goals to become his country's record Nations Cup finals scorer, going past Frederic Kanoute. Keita moved effortlessly around the pitch, fetching and carrying the ball, producing probing passes and running into clever positions. It was his sixth appearance at the finals.

Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso): An uncanny burst of acceleration and super skills made spindly Pitroipa a joy to watch. He was named the Player of the Tournament although will probably best be remembered for the red card that ruled him out of the final, only for the Confederation of African Football to rescind the decision.

Forwards

Victor Moses (Nigeria): Just a year on from his debut for Nigeria, the former England under-21 international is now an African champion. Despite battling injury throughout the tournament, Moses scored twice against Ethiopia in the last group game to ensure Nigeria's progress, and in the semi-final against Mali the winger tormented the opposing defence.

Emmanuel Emenike (Nigeria): Finished joint top goal scorer with four but had the heartbreak of having to sit out the final because of a hamstring injury. The Russian-based forward has a direct style with fearsome speed and strength, reminiscent of Nigeria great Rashidi Yekini, and also proved a threat at set pieces. ? Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/africa-s-dream-team-1.1468020

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College basketball doubleheaders set for ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU: TV/Radio for Monday, Feb. 11

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013

TELEVISION

NHL

7 p.m. - Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs (CSNP)

NBA

7 p.m. - Los Angeles Clippers at Philadelphia 76'ers (CN)

8 p.m. - San Antonio Spurs at Chicago Bulls (NBATV)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

7 p.m. - Marquette at Georgetown (ESPN)

7 p.m. - Old Dominion at Delaware (NBCSP)

7 p.m. - TCU at Oklahoma (ESPNU)

9 p.m. - Kansas State at Kansas (ESPN)

9 p.m. - Alcorn State at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (ESPNU)

COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

7 p.m. - Maryland at Duke (ESPN2)

8:30 p.m. - Nebraska at Iowa (BTN)

9 p.m. - Louisville at Notre Dame (ESPN2)

COLLEGE SPORTS

6:30 p.m. - Wrestling: Indiana at Purdue (BTN)

SOCCER

2:55 p.m. - English Premier League: Liverpool vs. West Bromwich (ESPN2)

Source: http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/02/college_basketball_doubleheade.html

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3 killed in Calif. helicopter crash while filming reality show

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Three people were killed Sunday in a pre-dawn helicopter crash in a rural area of northern Los Angeles County while filming for a new reality TV show for the Discovery Channel.

The copter crashed at about 3:40 a.m. at the popular filming location of Polsa Rosa Ranch in the city of Acton, Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher Robert Diaz said.

All three people aboard died, Diaz said. Their names weren't immediately released.

The show, listed on a filming permit as an untitled military-theme TV program, had not yet been aired or announced by Discovery, channel spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said.

"A production company was shooting a show for Discovery Channel when this tragic accident occurred," the station said in a statement. "We are all cooperating fully with authorities. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families."

The show's production company, Eyeworks USA, best known for creating NBC's "The Biggest Loser," also issued a statement expressing sympathies to the victim's families and saying they were cooperating with authorities.

The company had been approved to use a helicopter for a reality TV show shooting at the ranch from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, said Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman for FilmLA, which processes filming permits for location shootings in the Los Angeles region.

Records also showed Crossbow Helicopters received approval to participate in filming from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We wouldn't have referenced helicopter activity if we didn't already have pre-approval from the FAA," Sokoloski said.

The cause and other circumstances surrounding the crash are still unknown, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.

Television footage showed mangled wreckage in a rugged canyon area near Soledad Canyon Road.

According to its website, Polsa Rosa is a "movie ranch" where film crews can utilize a variety of terrains as well as two airstrips. The ranch, according to the Internet Movie Database, was used in "Windtalkers" and last year's remake of "Red Dawn."

It was the site of another entertainment industry death in September, when a 48-year-old crew member died of an apparent heart attack while underwater in scuba gear on the set of the upcoming Johnny Depp film "The Lone Ranger"

Sunday's wreck was also just 25 miles from a similar rural spot in Santa Clarita where actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed in another helicopter crash while filming the "Twilight Zone" movie in 1982.

That crash brought changes in production restrictions and led to producer John Landis and four others being charged with involuntary manslaughter. All were acquitted.

___

Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Tang reported from Phoenix.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-dead-copter-crash-calif-reality-tv-set-034310097.html

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Apple and Samsung, frenemies for life

Poornima Gupta and Miyoung Kim and Dan Levine , Reuters ? ? ? 13 hrs.

It was the late Steve Jobs' worst nightmare.

A powerful Asian manufacturer, Samsung, uses Google's Android software to create smartphones and tablets that closely resemble the iPhone and the iPad. Samsung starts gaining market share, hurting Apple's margins and stock price and threatening its reign as the king of cool in consumer electronics.

Jobs, of course, had an answer to all this: a "thermo-nuclear" legal war that would keep clones off the market. Yet nearly two years after Apple first filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Samsung, and six months after it won a huge legal victory over its South Korean rival, Apple's chances of blocking the sale of Samsung products are growing dimmer by the day.

Indeed, a series of recent court rulings suggests that the smartphone patent wars are now grinding toward a stalemate, with Apple unable to show that its sales have been seriously damaged when rivals, notably Samsung, imitated its products.

That, in turn, may usher in a new phase in the complex relationship between the two dominant companies in the growing mobile computing business.

Tim Cook, Jobs' successor as Apple chief executive, was opposed to suing Samsung in the first place, according to people with knowledge of the matter, largely because of that company's critical role as a supplier of components for the iPhone and the iPad. Apple bought some $8 billion worth of parts from Samsung last year, analysts estimate.

Samsung, meanwhile, has benefited immensely from the market insight it gained from the Apple relationship, and from producing smartphones and tablets that closely resemble Apple's.

While the two companies compete fiercely in the high-end smartphone business ? where together they control half the sales and virtually all of the profits ? their strengths and weaknesses are in many ways complementary. Apple's operations chief, Jeff Williams, told Reuters last month that Samsung was an important partner and they had a strong relationship on the supply side, but declined to elaborate.

As their legal war winds down, it is increasingly clear that Apple and Samsung have plenty of common interests as they work to beat back other potential challengers, such as BlackBerry or Microsoft.

Age-old rivalries
The contrast with other historic tech industry rivalries is stark. When Apple accused Microsoft in the 1980s of ripping off the Macintosh to create the Windows operating system, Apple's very existence was at stake. Apple lost, the Mac became a niche product, and the company came close to extinction before Jobs returned to Apple in late 1996 and saved it with the iPod and the iPhone. Jobs died in October 2011.

Similarly, the Internet browser wars of the late 1990s that pitted Microsoft against Netscape ended with Netscape being sold for scrap and its flagship product abandoned.

Apple and Samsung, on the other hand, are not engaged in a corporate death match so much as a multi-layered rivalry that is by turns both friendly and hard-edged. For competitors like Nokia, BlackBerry, Sony, HTC and even Google, whose Motorola unit is expected to launch new smartphones later this year, they are a formidable duo.

The way they were
The partnership piece of the Apple-Samsung relationship dates to 2005, when the Cupertino, California-based giant was looking for a stable supplier of flash memory. Apple had decided to jettison the hard disc drive in creating the iPod shuffle, iPod nano and then-upcoming iPhone, and it needed huge volumes of flash memory chips to provide storage for the devices.

The memory market in 2005 was extremely unstable, and Apple wanted to lock in a supplier that was rock-solid financially, people familiar with the relationship said. Samsung held about 50 percent of the NAND flash memory market at that time.

"Whoever controls flash is going to control this space in consumer electronics," Jobs said at the time, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

The success of that deal led to Samsung supplying the crucial application processors for the iPhone and iPad. Initially, the two companies jointly developed the processors based on a design from ARM Holdings Plc, but Apple gradually took full control over development of the chip. Now Samsung merely builds the components at a Texas factory.

The companies built a close relationship that extended to the very top: in 2005, Jay Y. Lee, whose grandfather founded the Samsung Group, visited Jobs' home in Palo Alto, California, after the two signed the flash memory deal.

The partnership gave Apple and Samsung insight into each other's strategies and operations. In particular, Samsung's position as the sole supplier of iPhone processors gave it valuable data on just how big Apple thought the smartphone market was going to be.

"Having a relationship with Apple as a supplier, I am sure, helped the whole group see where the puck was going," said Horace Dediu, a former analyst at Nokia who now works as a consultant and runs an influential blog. "It's a very important advantage in this business if you know where to commit capital."

Samsung declined to comment on its relationship with a specific customer.

As for Apple, it reaped the benefit of Samsung's heavy investments in research and development, tooling equipment and production facilities. Samsung spent $21 billion on capital expenditures in 2012 alone, and plans to spend a similar amount this year.

By comparison, Intel spent around $11 billion in 2012, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) expects to spend $9 billion in 2013.

But component expertise, cash and good market intelligence did not assure success when Samsung launched its own foray into the smartphone market. The Omnia, a Windows-based product introduced in 2009, was so reviled that some customers hammered it to bits in public displays of dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Samsung publicly dismissed the iPhone's success.

"The popularity of iPhone is a mere result of excitement caused by some (Apple) fanatics," Samsung's then-president, G.S. Choi, told reporters in January 2010.

Privately, though, Samsung had other plans.

"The iPhone's emergence means the time we have to change our methods has arrived," Samsung mobile business head J.K. Shin told his staff in early 2010, according to an internal email filed in U.S. court.

Later that year, Samsung launched the Galaxy S, which sported the Android operating system and a look and feel very similar to the iPhone.

Standoff
Jobs and Cook complained to top Samsung executives when they were visiting Cupertino. Apple expected, incorrectly, that Samsung would modify its design in response to the concerns, people familiar with the situation said.

Apple's worst fears were confirmed with the early 2011 release of the Galaxy Tab, which Jobs and others regarded as a clear rip-off of the iPad.

Cook, worried about the critical supplier relationship, was opposed to suing Samsung. But Jobs had run out of patience, suspecting that Samsung was counting on the supplier relationship to shield it from retribution.

Apple filed suit in April 2011, and the conflagration soon spread to courts in Europe, Asia and Australia. When Apple won its blockbuster billion-dollar jury verdict against Samsung last August, it appeared that it might be able to achieve an outright ban on the offending products - which would have dramatically altered the smartphone competition.

But Apple has failed to convince U.S. judges to uphold those crucial sales bans ?in large part because the extraordinary profitability and market power of the iPhone made it all but impossible for Apple to show it was suffering irreparable harm.

"Samsung may have cut into Apple's customer base somewhat, but there is no suggestion that Samsung will wipe out Apple's customer base, or force Apple out of the business of making smartphones," U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh wrote. "The present case involves lost sales ?not a lost ability to be a viable market participant."

Samsung, meanwhile, came under pressure from antitrust regulators and pulled back on its effort to shut down Apple sales in Europe over a related patent dispute.

A U.S. appeals court recently rejected Apple's bid to fast-track its case, meaning its hopes for a sales ban are now stuck in months-long appeals, during which time Samsung may very well release the next version of its hot-selling Galaxy phone.

The world is ours
The legal battles have been less poisonous to the relationship than some of the rhetoric suggests.

"People play this stuff up because it shows a kind of drama, but the business reality is that the temperature isn't that high," said one attorney who has observed executives from both companies.

Still, the hostilities appear to have put some dents in the partnership. Apple is likely to switch to TSMC for the building of application processors, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs, Sanford Bernstein and other firms. But analysts at Korea Investment & Securities and HMC Securities point out that Apple will not be able to eliminate Samsung as a flash supplier because it remains the dominant producer of the crucial chips.

Apple declined to comment on the details of its relationships with any one supplier.

Meanwhile, both companies are deploying strategies out of the other's playbook as they seek to maintain and extend their lead over the pack.

Samsung has developed a cheeky, memorable TV ad that mocks Apple customers, and dramatically ramped up spending on marketing and advertising, a cornerstone of Apple's success. U.S. ad spending on the Galaxy alone leaped to nearly $202 million in the first nine months of 2012, from $66.6 million in 2011, according to Kantar Media.

For its part, Apple is investing in manufacturing by helping its suppliers procure the machinery needed to build large-scale plants devoted exclusively to the company.

Apple spent about $10 billion in fiscal 2012 on capital expenditures, and it expects to spend a further $10 billion this year. By contrast, the company spent only $4.6 billion in fiscal 2011 and $2.6 billion in fiscal 2010.

But Apple and Samsung retain very different strategies. Apple has just one smartphone and only four product lines in total, and tries to keep variations to a bare minimum while focusing on the high end of the market.

Samsung, by contrast, has 37 phone products that are tweaked for regional tastes and run the gamut from very cheap to very expensive, according to Mirae Asset Securities. The company also makes chips, TVs, appliances and a host of other products (and its brethren in the Samsung Group sell everything from ships to insurance policies).

Apple devices are hugely popular in the United States; Samsung enjoys supremacy in developing countries like India and China. Apple keeps its core staff lean ? it has only 60,000 employees worldwide ? and relies on partners for manufacturing and other functions. Samsung Electronics, part of a sprawling "chaebol," or conglomerate, that includes some 80 companies employing 369,000 people worldwide, is far more vertically integrated.

It is those differences, combined with the formidable strengths that both companies bring to the market, that may render quiet cooperation a better strategy than all-out war for some time to come.

Said Brad Silverberg, a former Microsoft executive who was involved in the Mac vs. Windows wars, "Apple had learnt a lot of lessons from those days."

(Reporting by Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta in San Francisco, and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Tiffany Wu and Peter Cooney)

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/apple-samsung-frenemies-life-1B8318851

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Frank Ocean 'runs' in 'Forrest Gump'

John Shearer / AP

Frank Ocean channeled Tom Hanks in 'Forrest Gump' for his performance.

By Meena Hart Duerson, TODAY

Frank Ocean had a big night at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, leaving fans with one of the most memorable performances of the night as he donned a retro look and pretended to run in place while singing "Forrest Gump."

The singer performed his song in a stripey headband and lemon yellow blazer, his legs hidden behind a giant screen that projected a record image of his legs running, in what seemed to be an homage to the iconic Tom Hanks movie role. Fans likened the look to Luke Wilson's scruffy tennis player Ritchie Tenenbaum in the Wes Anderson classic "The Royal Tenenbaums."

Mike Blake / Reuters

Some fans compared the look to a Wes Anderson movie.

While some mocked Ocean for the performance stunt, others took to social media to express their support for the singer, who revealed on his blog last year that he had been in love with another man. "Forrest Gump," which includes the lines "Runnin on my mind boy," has been interpreted as a love ballad that reveals Ocean's sexuality.

We rounded up some of the reactions ? weigh in with yours in the comments!

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/11/16921149-frank-ocean-runs-at-grammys-in-forrest-gump-performance?lite

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Philippine town mourns largest captive crocodile

A worker places blocks of ice around "Lolong," the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity according to the Guinness World Records, as they wait for its autopsy Monday Feb. 11, 2013 at Bunawan township, Agusan Del Sur province in southern Philippines. The crocodile, measuring 20.24 feet (6.17 meters) and weighing more than a ton, died Sunday Feb. 10, 2013, 17 months after its capture by crocodile farm staff and some residents of this township. The southern Philippine town plans to hold funeral rites for the world's largest saltwater crocodile and then preserve its remains in a museum to keep tourists coming and prevent their community from slipping back into obscurity, the town's mayor said Monday. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas)

A worker places blocks of ice around "Lolong," the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity according to the Guinness World Records, as they wait for its autopsy Monday Feb. 11, 2013 at Bunawan township, Agusan Del Sur province in southern Philippines. The crocodile, measuring 20.24 feet (6.17 meters) and weighing more than a ton, died Sunday Feb. 10, 2013, 17 months after its capture by crocodile farm staff and some residents of this township. The southern Philippine town plans to hold funeral rites for the world's largest saltwater crocodile and then preserve its remains in a museum to keep tourists coming and prevent their community from slipping back into obscurity, the town's mayor said Monday. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas)

FILE-In this Sept. 4, 2011 file photo, residents watch as Mayor Cox Elorde of Bunawan township, Agusan del Sur province, pretends to measure a huge crocodile, later named "Lolong," after its capture by residents and staff of a crocodile farm along a creek in Bunawan in southern Philippines. The saltwater male crocodile, measuring 20.24 feet (6.17 meters) and proclaimed by Guinness World Records as the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Sunday Sept. 4, 2011 file photo, police and residents pose with a huge crocodile, later named "Lolong," following its capture by residents and crocodile farm staff along a creek in Bunawan township, Agusan Del Sur province in southern Philippines. The 1-ton crocodile, measuring 20.24 feet (6.17 meters) and proclaimed by Guinness World Records as the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, died Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/File)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? A remote southern Philippine town has gone into mourning over the death of the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, even though it was blamed for the deaths of several villagers.

Bunawan town plans to preserve the remains of the 1-ton crocodile, named Lolong, in a museum to keep tourists coming and stop the community from slipping back into obscurity, the mayor said Monday.

Lolong was declared dead Sunday after being found floating on its back with a bloated stomach in a pond in an ecotourism park which had begun to draw tourists, revenue and development because of the immense reptile, Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said.

"The whole town, in fact the whole province, is mourning," Elorde said. "My phones kept ringing because people wanted to say how affected they are."

Wildlife experts will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, he said.

Guinness World Records had proclaimed it the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity last year, measuring the giant at 6.17 meters (20 feet 3 inches). The reptile took the top spot from an Australian crocodile that measured more than 5 meters (17 feet) and weighed nearly a ton.

Estimated at more than 50 years old, the crocodile was named after a government environmental officer who died from a heart attack after traveling to Bunawan in Agusan del Sur province to help capture the beast.

Even though Lolong was blamed for the deaths of several villagers over the years, Bunawan villagers grew to love the giant reptile because it came to symbolize the rich biodiversity of the marsh where it was captured. The vast complex of swamp forests, shallow lakes, lily-covered ponds and wetlands is home to many animals, including threatened species such as the Philippine hawk eagle.

Various religious groups offered prayers Monday and spiritual leaders also planned to perform a tribal funeral rite, which involves butchering chickens and pigs to thank forest spirits for the fame and other blessings the crocodile has brought, Elordie said.

The rite is to be held at the ecotourism park, where the reptile was a star attraction, drawing foreign tourists, scientists and wildlife journalists to Bunawan, a town of 37,000 people about 515 miles (830 kilometers) southeast of Manila.

The crocodile's capture in September 2011 sparked celebrations in the town. It was caught with steel cable traps during a hunt prompted by the death of a child in 2009 and the later disappearance of a fisherman. Water buffalos have also been attacked by crocodiles in the area.

About 100 people led by Elorde pulled the crocodile from a creek using ropes and then hoisted it by crane onto a truck.

Philippine officials had planned to construct a road to the park to accommodate the growing number of tourists, Elorde said.

He said Lolong will be preserved so tourists and villagers can continue to marvel at it.

"I'd like them to see the crocodile that broke a world record and put our town on the map," Elorde said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-11-Philippines-Giant%20Crocodile%20Dies/id-04944bd26ca44df0850060b60fbc3f2a

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Should Democrats Listen to Bill Clinton's Mid-Term Election Advice?

If you want to win mid-term elections, Bill Clinton makes for a curious source of advice. Two years into his presidency, Republicans?swept the 1994 mid-term elections, adding 54 seats in the House and eight seats in the Senate. (The sweep?was later dubbed?the "Republican Revolution.") Nevertheless, Bill Clinton was called upon Friday morning, at a retreat for House Democrats in Virginia, to explain how Democrats can persuade undecided voters to vote for them in mid-term elections, which tend to attract significantly whiter and more conservative electorates than presidential elections.

RELATED: What Are They Saying About Bill Clinton's Big Speech Today?

While Clinton mostly stuck to platitudes ? "you need to turn into them, not away from them" ? he emphasized that Democrats need to burnish their image by approaching and talking to swayable voters, especially independents and centrist Republicans:?"It's important not to give up on anybody, to talk to them. The worst thing that can happen is they can see we're not crazy." According to BuzzFeed's John Stanton, when Clinton got around to discussing 1994, he said he tried to stop the same thing from happening in 2010:?

I did 133 events in 2010, and I remember I told Hillary somewhere in the process of it, 'You know, we're going to take a terrible lickin'.' And she said, 'Why do you keep doing more events?' And I said, 'I don't want them on my conscience ? I went through this in '94 and I don't want to go through that again.'

The problem here, again, is that 1994 did happen?during the 2010 mid-terms: Republicans picked up 63 House seats and 6 Senate seats.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democrats-listen-bill-clintons-mid-term-election-advice-185957216.html

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A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: How To Sell Ebooks

I just hit a milestone that is hard for me to grasp. As of January, I've sold over one million ebooks.

The question I get asked more than any other is: How can I make my ebooks sell more copies?

That's actually not the right question to ask. Because there is nothing you can do to make people buy your ebooks, except maybe hold them at gunpoint or kidnap their pets.?

This business isn't about what you have to sell. It is about what you have to offer. And luck plays a big part.

But I've found you can improve your odds. Here are some things I've done that have seemed helpful.

I can't overemphasize how important a good cover is. Hire a professional. And keep these things in mind:

1. At a glance, it should convey the type or genre of the book you've written.

2. It should be readable in grayscale.

3. It should be readable as a thumbnail.

4. Your name and the title should be large and clear.

There are other little tips that I recommend. Usually legacy book covers have a lot of writing on them, and that makes them subconsciously identifiable as professional. Taglines. Blurbs. "By the author of Whiskey Sour". That sort of thing.?

Your artist should know what vectors are, and the rule of three, and the importance of the color wheel, and all the other tricks used to make a cover pop.

If your sales are slow, consider getting a better cover.

Once your cover gets a browser's attention, you need a good book description to reel them in. Read back jacket copy on some of your favorite mass market paperbacks to get a feel for it. You can also add blurbs, reviews, a bio, past books, and more.

Make sure there is plenty of white space. I don't like big, blocky paragraphs, and I assume others don't either. Use bold and italics when needed, but don't overuse them.

GOOD BOOKS

This should be a no-brainer, but every book you publish should be well-written. It should also be well-edited, and well-formatted.

GOOD PRICE

You're going to have to experiment with this one. I have my novels priced at $3.99, my novellas and short story collections at $2.99, my trilogy sets at $9.99, and short stories at 99 cents.

Some of my peers sell for more, some for less. It's all about finding that sweet spot between unit sales and profit. I like my ebooks to be impulse buys, so I keep the prices low. Your results may vary.

VOLUME

The more books you publish, the greater your chances at finding readers. Besides new titles, you can also combine and split up titles to maximize your virtual shelf space.

I have box sets. I have single short stories that are also part of collections. I have joined forces with other authors, each of us putting a title into a set.

I also love to collaborate. That's an easy way to swap fans and increase readership

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ADVERTISING

My take on Twitter and Facebook is similar to my take on advertising. Maybe it'll bring in some sales, but I haven't found it brings in enough to justify the time and money spent.

I have 10,000 followers on Twitter. They don't follow me because they are anxiously awaiting news of my next published book, They follow me because of what I have to offer. Namely, information.

Sure, some of them may buy my books. But this number is?minuscule?compared to the number of people who have never heard of me before, and discover me for the first time surfing an ebook retailer.

My ebook The List has sold over 200,000 copies. In December it was featured in Kobo and earned $3,000 that month. In the last week, this book has earned me $2500 on Amazon.

I self-pubbed The List in 2009. This is not a new book. I don't advertise it. I don't blog about it, or tweet, or send out email blasts.

It is being discovered by people on their own. Kobo certainly gave it a boost by featuring it, but it was luck Kobo decided to do so. The List just came off a 5 day free period on KDP Select, which no doubt got it some attention, but that was zero cost to me and didn't involve me tooting my own horn anywhere.

I've done things in the past to increase my sales. Blog tours. Sending out review copies. Visiting bookstores. And I saw some success doing these things. But that success pales next to simply being discovered by strangers who haven't heard of you before.

Kobo and Amazon make it easy to find ebooks you like. Their user interfaces are surprisingly smart. Instead of pimping the books you've got, spend time writing more books to publish, then let their?algorithms?do their thing.

PLATFORMS

It's no secret that about 90% of my sales have been on Amazon. But 10% haven't. And that 10% equals a lot of money when you've sold a million ebooks.

I like dealing with Amazon. They are so smart, so motivated, and do so much right. They're the one to beat, and their online store is the best in the world.

I also like dealing with Kobo. They're dedicated, hungry, and also extremely smart. If you haven't visited Kobo.com lately, you should. They're doing some really cool stuff, making the shopping experience easier, better, and more fun.

Smashwords continues to raise the bar, innovate, and blaze new trails. Coker is one of the smartest men in the biz. I've done well with Smashwords.

I'm just now uploading my titles to Apple, so I don't have anything to report yet. But I'm not a fan of their iBookstore. It's clunky, not fun to surf, and lacks the ease of Amazon and Kobo.

B&N's PubIt program is easy to use, but I'm not impressed with their online store. Still, I've made some good money there.

Createspace is very easy to use, their books look great, and they integrate into both Amazon and B&N with ease.

Overdrive caters to libraries, and I'm making some money there, but they aren't easy to upload to. In fact, I'm not even sure they have opened up their site to self-pub yet.

As a writer, you should be on as many of these platforms as possible. The more places your books are available, the better.

Competition is good, because it makes everyone try harder, forcing them to raise their game to higher levels.

As a result, I haven't gone all in with Amazon. I don't like the exclusivity aspect of KDP Select. Amazon customers would have more choices, and authors would make more money, if it wasn't exclusive.

I also don't like proprietary formats. I think Kindles should read epub, and Nooks and Kobo ereaders should read mobi files.

FOREIGN SALES

My feeling are mixed on this issue.

One one hand, my agent has been amazing selling the foreign rights of my self-pubbed ebooks. I'm in more countries than I'd ever been in during my legacy years.

On the other hand, every right you sell is one you can't exploit yourself.

I've translated two works into German myself, at significant cost (a novel can cost $4k or more), but I'm in the black and set to earn profits forever. Forever is a long time.

But even though I'm doing well with ebooks, I'm not prepared, nor do I have to contacts, to translate every one of my fifty IPs into ten languages. I also don't have the 8 million dollars that would cost.

So my current solution is to sell foreign rights, but limit the term to three or four years, then they revert. That way I can make easy money now, and have the option of do it myself later without losing those rights forever.

AGENTS

If you want foreign deals, audio deals, movie and TV deals, or even a legacy deal, you probably need an agent.

But I don't recommend searching for one until you've sold a lot of ebooks. 50,000 is a good number. And I said sell, not give away for free.

EXPERIMENT

There isn't a single thing I'm saying here that you should automatically believe. Don't trust me, or any other so-called expert. Instead, try things out for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Many newbies reading this don't understand what it is like to have a publisher controlling your book. Many even welcome that opportunity.

I couldn't be happier having complete control over my intellectual property. Being able to change covers, prices, titles, content, quickly and efficiently, is invaluable to me. I can publish instantly, on all platforms, and reach more readers than publishers can.

This is a business. You need to adopt a businesslike attitude.

Businesslike doesn't mean tweeting every ten minutes, begging your 27 followers to buy your book.

Businesslike means looking at numbers and understanding what they mean. Hiring out for things you can't do yourself, or hiring out when your time becomes so valuable you need to. Learning how to repeat cause and effect.

I have an accountant, a financial planner, and an assistant. I hire out for cover art, formatting, and proof-reading. I use a close-knit group of bestselling authors as editors. I discuss strategies with peers, often try new things that fail, and am constantly trying to prepare for the future by watching trends, predicting what will happen next, and analyzing my own habits.

Self-awareness is something everyone claims to have, but few people do. If you want to sell ebooks, look at why you buy ebooks.

When was the last time you:

• Bought an ebook you saw in a tweet?
• Clicked on an Internet ad?
• Followed a Facebook ad?
• Bought an ebook because you got a postcard in the mail?
• Bought an ebook because you got an email about one?
• Read a free ebook?

If you can figure out why you buy what you buy, not just with ebooks, but with every single thing, you'll learn a lot.?

Use that knowledge. And if it works well, write about it so I can learn it too.

Source: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-sell-ebooks.html

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