Recycling the Economy: Turning Trash Into Cash ? Environmental ...

There?s a saying that goes like this: ?You haven?t really recycled until you?ve bought recycled products.? This suggests that recycling is only the first step in a broader cycle where re-processing and re-manufacturing also play vital roles. In fact, the universal recycle symbol of ?chasing arrows? represents the 3 stages of recycling: collection, processing and market development.

Market development, which includes the design, manufacturing and marketing of products, is required to close the recycling loop and stimulate the underwhelming US recycling rate. In 2008, only 7.1% of the 30.05 million tons of plastic waste in America was recycled. Compare this to the plastics recycling rate of around 70% found in leading countries such as Germany and Japan. The gap between potential and realized recycled materials represents a lucrative opportunity for innovative small and medium sized businesses.

Some states have attempted to jumpstart the stalled recycling economy. California was issuing up to $20 million a year in grants for recycling market development until it encountered budgetary constraints. Similar initiatives have been launched elsewhere, including Ohio, Arizona and Indiana. These grants are intended to develop the local infrastructure to compete in the promising multi-billion dollar global recycling market.

Make no mistake: strong demand for America?s recyclables already exists ? overseas. It is estimated that over half of all recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET, the material found in beverage containers) is exported to China. Once transported, the recycled feedstock is converted into a variety of products ranging from plastic lumber to carpeting to textiles. Many of these value-added consumables are sold back to U.S. buyers at a hefty premium.

In the process, domestic ?green-collar? jobs are being squandered. These positions could be filled by American people in local factories operating green machines. The possibilities are illustrated by Blue Mountain Recycling, which is a full-service recycler in Philadelphia that has invested millions in cutting-edge technologies to transform recycled waste into valuable end products. Blue Mountain employs 27 people and processes 10,000 tons of material per month. Green Business Bureau member and California company, Green Project, collects and remanufactures discarded ink and toner cartridges to give them a new life ? reducing landfill waste and saving consumers money. Ventures like Blue Mountain and Green Project are both good for the economy and beneficial to the environment. This principle is driving the new generation of American social enterprise.

Consumers can lend their support to stimulating the domestic recycled market. Promising signs have surfaced. A survey conducted by the Natural Marketing Institute found that 81% of Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability consumers (the ?green? market segment) completely agree with using products made from recycled materials (compared to 27% for non-LOHAS consumers). A host of small businesses have emerged to heed the consumer call. For example, EcoScraps extends the lifecycle of the estimated 40% of food in America that gets thrown out: the Utah-based startup converts produce waste into sustainable organic compost and other gardening products that are carried at Home Depot.

Environmental Attorney, Douglas P. Wheeler, asserts, ?To halt the decline of an ecosystem, it is necessary to think like an ecosystem.? A fragmented recycling system only moves trash around. Putting the ?cycle? back into recycling turns trash into cash and promotes a healthier economy, society and planet.

Ashok Kamal is the co-founder & CEO of Bennu, which is the leader in green social media marketing. Ashok coined the term ?green gamification? and has worked extensively with FORTUNE 500 clients and startups to develop game-based campaigns that promote sustainability while creating enterprise value. His writings on sustainability are regularly featured on leading websites and Ashok is a frequent public speaker at events such as the White House?s GreenGov Symposium, South by Southwest, GreenBiz Forum, Social Media Week, Gamification Summit and Sustainable Brands.

Stay Up-to-Date On Environmental Management, Energy & Sustainability News with EL's Free Daily Newsletter

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Source: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/01/31/recycling-the-economy-turning-trash-into-cash/

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How to Social Network | Tecnolandia reloaded

If you think that social media advertising is a jargon and nothing more, think once again ? Because, it?s so much more compared to that.

Couple of are alien to Facebook, Twitter, Digg, GOOG, Flickr and other social websites, and if you are, then you have to acquire out much more. The fantastic development and attraction of social networking websites have actually come to be a significant rage online, and the exclusive sector and firms alike are applying different social media advertising devices to obtain their share of attention.

Planning is among the most vital strategies that may make you taste success or failing while applying social media advertising. Much like all companies need a systematic and organized technique, the very same goes for social media advertising.

It?s a truth that social media advertising has actually improved the way individuals do business online. It assists to understand that link is the crucial word. All you have to do is ?connect? with the correct clients and clients, which is a rather easy activity. This makes the scenario transparent as you may assess your success, and keep up with exactly what your peers and rivals are doing also.

With social media advertising, it?s possible to get to out to your target crowd in an ingenious and initial way. As a matter of fact, social websites are the excellent system that allows you to:.

- Make friends and reconnect with old friends.
- Create a niche for your items and services, and draw in warm prospects to your website.
- Market and brand your items and solution in an explicit way either by blog sites, social areas and more.
- Generate passion and even draw in brand-new potential clients and clients by exposing them to your items and services online.
- Interact and engage your prospects in a one-on-one environment.

You ?d be surprised to find out that there are hundreds of social media advertising websites online where you may interact with potential clients and clients. You may develop reliability and count on, and boost the worth of your track record by setting up interesting social media advertising contacts, and using these modern-day advertising approaches.

Did you understand that this year around 82 % of firms are planning to execute social media advertising skills in their advertising approach? Well you ?d have to agree that the Internet is larger and much better compared to papers and journals, with much more readers from worldwide.

Facebook Advertising Basics.

You may promote on Facebook in style, and in an ingenious way.

Below are 3 good explanations to make use of Facebook:.
? Reach over 400,000,000 active Facebook users.
? Attach social activities to your advertisements to boost relevance.
? Create demand for your product with relevant advertisements.

Facebook advertisements are interesting, and you may:.
? Quickly develop picture and text-based advertisements.
? Advertise your own websites or something on Facebook like a Page or an Event.
? Choose to pay each click (CPC) or perception (CPM) in your local currency.

Below is an explanation of how CPC versus. CPM functions. For any sort of available ad stock, Facebook picks the very best ad to run based on the expense each click or perception and ad efficiency.

If you pick a Pay for Clicks (CPC) model, you will certainly additionally bid on how much you are prepared to pay for each click on your ad. Facebook will certainly present your ad in the Ad Space. The amount you are charged will certainly never ever surpass your day-to-day budget.

If you pick a Pay for Views (CPM) model, you will certainly additionally bid on how much you are prepared to pay for every thousand impressions of your ad. Facebook will certainly present your ad in the Ad Space, and the amount you are charged will certainly never ever surpass your day-to-day budget.

One of the advantages of the Facebook marketing system is that you have the ability to enhance your advertisements.

You can effectively:.
? Track your development with real-time reporting.
? Gain insight regarding who?s clicking on your ad.
? Make modifications to optimize your results.

Targeting choices available for ad positioning includes country area, and demographics such as age, sex, connections, and foreign languages. You may additionally pick the sort and interests, and education and work categories to fit your suitable potential crowd. While you?re establishing an ad and picking the targeting choices, you will certainly figure out the approximated get to number modification to show the size of the prospect base that will certainly see your ad.

On the Facebook Ads Page you may find situation researches and recommendation overviews, participate in discussions with other marketers, and remain on top of the most recent Facebook Ads news.

To develop an ad, you may adhere to the hyperlink below or visit your home web page, and click the hyperlink on the correct hand side near where the advertisements present that provokes you to develop a Facebook Ad.

For help composing your advertisements, attempt seeing the Suggested Best Practices web page, and the Advertising Guidelines. You might additionally prefer to evaluate the Common Ad Mistakes web page free of cost suggestions. If you have any sort of questions regarding creating Facebook advertisements, click on the Facebook hyperlink below for more responses.

You may additionally develop a product web page, which assists to brand your own self and your product or solution in an interesting way. It?s relatively easy to develop a product web page, and there are tutorials available on the subject matter. This will certainly give you the ultimate direct exposure, and individuals worldwide will certainly understand regarding your product/service.
For more information visit at How To Internet Market

Source: http://tecnolandia.info/2013/01/30/how-to-social-network/

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Zimbabwe checks bank balance: only $217

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

Desmond Kwande / AFP/Getty Images

Crippling inflation in Zimbabwe led the government to issue a 100 trillion-dollar note in 2009, leading to reforms that have tamed the cost of living but left the country with almost no cash.

Before you get depressed about the state of your finances, spare a thought for the nation of Zimbabwe, which as of Tuesday had exactly $217 in the bank.

That's 217 dollars, not $217 million or $217 billion.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Tuesday that that was all that was left in the country's public accounts after it paid its civil servants last week, the South African Press Association reported. He told reporters in the capital, Harare, that some of them were probably better off than the state.

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After a decade of inflation hit 500 billion percent in 2008 ? leading to the issuance of 100 trillion-dollar bills in Zimbabwean currency ? the country switched to the U.S. dollar and formed a coalition government in 2009, which the International Monetary Fund credited?in September with taming inflation and stabilizing the economy.

But the debt the country built up during those years of nationalist rule by President Robert Mugabe left it with a minimal tax base and few cash reserves, the IMF said, leaving Zimbabwe vulnerable to economic "shocks."

One of those would appear to be the regular wage bill for civil servants ? which accounts for 73 percent of the national budget.

Biti, an opposition member of Mugabe's coalition, said the lack of cash threatened elections that are expected some time after a March referendum on a new constitution.

Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com

"The government finances are in a paralysis state at the present moment," he said, adding that the country might have to seek donations to stay afloat.

Related links:

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/29/16758970-zimbabwe-checks-its-bank-balance-finds-only-217?lite

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Mali targets July 31 for elections - interim president

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Mali is hoping to organise elections on July 31, Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore said on Tuesday as French and Malian forces consolidated the hold on northern towns recaptured during a two-week offensive against Islamists.

"I'd like to reiterate our commitment here to conduct the transition in Mali with one agenda, one programme, which is to recover the north and also in particular, bring Mali back to a normal situation," Traore told a donor's conference in Ethiopia.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-targets-july-31-elections-interim-president-140523900.html

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Berries may be healthful, but some health benefits of berries may not make it past your mouth

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Research has suggested that compounds that give colorful fruits their rich hues, especially berries, promote health and might even prevent cancer. But for the first time, scientists have exposed extracts from numerous berries high in those pigments to human saliva to see just what kinds of health-promoting substances are likely to survive and be produced in the mouth.

It's too early to name the best berry for health promotion based on this initial work. But the researchers have discovered that two families of pigments that provide berries with their colors, called anthocyanins, are more susceptible to degradation in the mouth than are the other four classes of these pigments.

The Ohio State University study also showed that bacteria living in the mouth are responsible for most of the breakdown of these compounds that occurs in saliva. Researchers are investigating whether it's the berry pigments themselves, or instead the products of their degradation, that actually promote health.

Scientists say that these early findings will contribute to the further development of confectionaries, gums and other delivery devices for the prevention and possibly the treatment of conditions such as periodontal disease and oral cancers.

The researchers exposed extracts of anthocyanin pigments from blueberries, chokeberries, black raspberries, red grapes and strawberries to the saliva collected from 14 people. Black raspberries, in particular, have been shown in numerous previous studies to have chemopreventive effects on tumors in the mouth, esophagus and colon, mostly in animal studies. Their high anthocyanin content has been linked to those benefits.

"All fruits are unique because their chemical composition, or fingerprint, varies," said Mark Failla, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State and interim chair of the Department of Human Sciences. "There are many different edible berries. Some might be better for providing health-promoting effects within the oral cavity, whereas others may be more beneficial for colonic health. We simply do not know at this time.

"Increased intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk of some chronic diseases. An understanding of the metabolism of these compounds, and the relative activities of the compounds in the consumed fruit and their metabolic products, is needed to make scientifically sound dietary recommendations and to develop effective delivery vehicles for the mouth," Failla said.

The research is published in a recent issue of the journal Food Chemistry.

Failla and colleagues asked 14 healthy individuals between the ages of 21 and 55 years to collect saliva in the morning before they had eaten breakfast or brushed their teeth. Research participants later collected additional saliva samples before and after they had rinsed their mouths with an antibacterial liquid.

The five fruits selected for study allowed the scientists to test the six distinct families of the anthocyanin pigments. Researchers purified the anthocyanins from each berry type and added the extracts to saliva.

The extent of the pigment degradation in saliva was primarily a function of the chemical structure of a given anthocyanin, said Failla, also an investigator in Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center and Food Innovation Center.

Two families of anthocyanins consistently degraded when exposed to saliva: delphinidin and petunidin. Four other families were more stable: cyanidin, pelargonidin, peonidin and malvidin.

"Our observations suggest that the bacteria within one's oral cavity are a primary mediator of pigment metabolism. The bacteria are converting compounds that are present in the foods into metabolites," Failla said. "One area of great interest is whether the health-promoting benefits associated with eating anthocyanin-rich fruits like berries are provided by the pigment itself, the natural combinations of the pigments in the fruit, or the metabolites produced by bacteria in the mouth and other regions of the gastrointestinal tract."

There is context for this study that further complicates the understanding of anthocyanins' benefits. Multiple studies have led to the conclusion that anthocyanins themselves are very poorly absorbed by the body.

"If anthocyanins are the actual health-promoting compound, you would want to design food products, confectionaries and gels containing mixtures of anthocyanins that are stable in the mouth. If, on the other hand, the metabolites produced by the metabolism of anthocyanins are the actual health-promoting compounds, there will be greater interest in fruits that contain anthocyanins that are less stable in the oral cavity," Failla said. "We lack such insights at this time."

The extent to which the anthocyanins were degraded varied among the 14 people whose saliva was used in the study. However, two families of anthocyanins consistently degraded the most in all volunteers. Failla said the observed variation among individuals is likely related to differences in the microbial community that resides in each person's mouth.

This research group is continuing the work, examining which bacteria are most involved in the metabolism of anthocyanins and testing the stability of the pigments in berry juices in the mouths of human volunteers rather than in test tubes containing their saliva.

This work was supported in part by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Co-authors include Kom Kamonpatana of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Nutrition; Monica Giusti and Ken Riedl of the Department of Food Science and Technology; Chureeporn Chitchumroonchokchai of the Department of Human Nutrition; and Maria MorenoCruz and Purnima Kumar of the Department of Periodontology, all at Ohio State. All but MorenoCruz are also investigators in the Food Innovation Center.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Emily Caldwell.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Kom Kamonpatana, M. M?nica Giusti, Chureeporn Chitchumroonchokchai, Maria MorenoCruz, Ken M. Riedl, Purnima Kumar, Mark L. Failla. Susceptibility of anthocyanins to ex vivo degradation in human saliva. Food Chemistry, 2012; 135 (2): 738 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.04.110

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/veYPg32Q77U/130128113819.htm

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Pavano hospitalized following spleen removal

Pitcher Carl Pavano is in a Connecticut hospital following the removal of his spleen. He was injured when he fell in snow at his home in Vermont.

The pitcher's agent said Monday the accident happened in mid-January. When Pavano didn't feel well after a workout in Connecticut, the 37-year-old right-hander went to a hospital and was diagnosed with a lacerated spleen.

Agent David Pepe said doctors were not able to control bleeding, and Pavano's spleen was removed last week. Pepe hopes Pavano will be released from the hospital this week. He would not put a timetable on the free agent's possible return to baseball.

Pavano spent the last 3 1-2 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, going 2-5 with a 6.00 ERA in 11 starts last year. He didn't pitch after June 1 because of a strained right shoulder.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pavano-hospitalized-following-spleen-removal-161513449--mlb.html

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Immigration crime about to see its payday - Legal Insurrection

Question of Day ? Are 2nd Amendment rights not equal to squatters? rights?

From CBS News, some news and a rewrite of history as to ?immigration reform?:

A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation?s immigration laws.

The deal, which was to be announced at a news conference Monday afternoon, covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States.

Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation?s inefficient patchwork of immigration laws?.

The eight senators expected to endorse the new principles Monday are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona?.

Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on comprehensive immigration legislation pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn?t get enough GOP support.

That last paragraph is a rewrite of history.? Immigration reform was killed because of poison pills put in the legislation by Democrats (including Barack Obama) supported by some Republicans (including Jim DeMint).? Just another example of how the media, out of ignorance or worse, skews history to blame Republicans.

How big a payday this is for immigration crime depends on what the pathway to citizenship ends up being.

Regardless, it?s a payday because people who violated our laws to get here get to stay without consequence and get a pathway to citizenship.? That pathway takes immigration reform from some sort of humanitarian and practical solution to rewarding illegality.

It makes suckers of all the people who?followed?the rules and are on the other side of the borders and oceans because they didn?t want to become criminals.

Once again we send the message that immigration crime pays.? Apparently that is good politics.

Question of the Day ? Will violators of gun laws not connected to commission of?some other crime be given amnesty like immigration law violators?? Or are 2nd Amendment rights not equal to squatters? rights?

Update:? By the way, the comparison to squatters? rights is not something I thought up, it?s a theory advanced by former Cornell (and now U. Chicago) law professor Eduardo Pe?alver, who has written a book on the contribution of squatters to the development of property law, and who views?application of such theories?as a positive development as related to immigration law:

The better analogy is with the twin doctrines of adverse possession and prescription. These doctrines, which are virtually universal in systems of private property, recognize that possession or use of property that goes on for a long enough period of time should eventually be recognized as legal, even if they were illegal when they began. In most states, even an act of intentional squatting will ripen into full-blown property ownership after roughly seven to ten years.

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Source: http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/01/immigration-crime-about-to-see-its-payday/

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Twitter Is the One Place the Number of Copyright Notices Is Actually Down

Last June, Twitter hopped on the transparency train and released its first report indexing information requests, copyright takedown notices, and removal requests from governments around the globe. Now the second report is out, with its own site and some new details on what the U.S. government in particular is doing. And weirdly enough, copyright takedown requests are actually down from the past six months. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/X2sMfBVfl2A/twitter-is-the-one-place-the-number-of-copyright-notices-is-actually-down

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Feinstein has assurance assault weapon ban will get a vote

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The senator leading the charge to revive a assault weapons ban conceded on Sunday, just days before hearings on gun control open, that winning Senate passage will be tough but said she has been assured she will have the chance to bring it up for a vote.

President Barack Obama, who has made gun control a top priority after 20 children and six adults were killed by a gunman on December 14 at a Connecticut school, said in remarks published on Sunday that gun control advocates should take into account the views of rural Americans who use guns for hunting.

"Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas," Obama told The New Republic magazine as he continued his administration's outreach to gun owners even as he seeks new gun restrictions.

Senator Dianne Feinstein said Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised that even if the assault weapons ban is left out of a broader package intended to curb gun violence, she will have the opportunity to offer it as an amendment on the Senate floor.

Feinstein introduced legislation last Thursday to ban military-style assault weapons like the one used by the gunman in last month's school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and high-capacity ammunition clips.

"This has always been an uphill fight. This has never been easy. This is the hardest of the hard," Feinstein, a California Democrat, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.

"Now, will it (gun violence legislation) only be assault weapons? No, most likely. There will be a package put together. If assault weapons is left out of the package ... I've been assured by the majority leader I'll be able to do it as an amendment on the (Senate) floor, which is the way I did it in 1993," Feinstein added.

Feinstein was referring to the previous U.S. assault weapon ban that she authored. That law expired in 2004 after 10 years in effect and Congress refused to extend it.

No major gun control legislation has made it through Congress in two decades in the face of opposition from the National Rifle Association and its gun rights allies.

Republicans generally oppose gun restrictions and many Democrats, particularly those representing rural areas, also support gun rights. Reid has been a long-time backer of gun rights.

Asked if she concedes that getting the Senate to pass a new assault weapons ban would be tough, Feinstein said, "I concede because the NRA is venal. They come after you. They put together large amounts of money to defeat you. They did this in '93 and they intend to continue it."

Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer and executive vice president of the Virginia-based NRA, is among the witnesses scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on Wednesday on reducing gun violence.

RURAL VIEWS ON GUNS

Obama, in the magazine interview, said bridging a cultural divide in attitudes to gun ownership will be critical to his administration's push to curb gun violence.

"If you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that," Obama said.

Obama wants the ban on military-style assault weapons, a proposal that faces a tough battle in Congress, as well as mandatory background checks for all gun buyers, a step viewed as having a better chance of success.

The United States has a long-standing gun culture and the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms.

Vice President Joe Biden on Friday took the administration's case for gun control to the gun-friendly state of Virginia, part of a White House strategy to urge the public to pressure Congress into passing laws aimed at curbing firearms violence.

Feinstein's legislation would prohibits the sale, manufacture, transfer and importation of 157 military-style assault weapons. It would ban an additional group of assault weapons that can accept a detachable ammunition magazine and have one or more military characteristics.

It also would ban large-capacity magazines and other ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds and shooters to fire numerous rounds in rapid succession without reloading.

(Reporting by Will Dunham and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feinstein-assurance-assault-weapon-ban-vote-180954870.html

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Jennifer Lawrence At SAG Awards: What Wardrobe Malfunction?

'It was not ripped, and there was no malfunction ... it was the design of the gown,' a Christian Dior Couture rep says in a statement.
By Kara Warner

Jennifer Lawrence at the SAG Awards on Sunday
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700911/jennifer-lawrence-sag-awards-dress-malfunction.jhtml

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African leaders meet in Ethiopia amid Mali crisis

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) ? African leaders met in the Ethiopian capital Sunday for talks dominated by the conflict in Mali as well as lingering territorial issues between the two Sudans.

The African Union says it will deploy a force in Mali, where French troops are helping the Malian army to push back Islamist extremists whose rebellion threatens to divide the West African nation.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is attending the two-day summit in Addis Ababa, where Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn took over from President Yayi Boni of Benin as chairperson of the African Union.

"We are determined to do what we can to help the people of Mali in their time of need," Ban said. "Humanitarian agencies are helping suffering civilians. The United Nations has also sent specialists on the military and political tracks. This is a moral imperative for all in the international community. I have presented to the Security Council my recommendation on the logistics support package for (the Mali force)."

With Mali at the top of the agenda, African leaders hope they can make quick progress in deploying a substantial number of African troops there. As the African leaders met, French special forces fighting alongside Malian troops were pushing farther north into the Malian desert in an offensive against al Qaida-linked Islamists who took control of northern Mali more than nine months ago.

Africa's economic boom is threatened by violent conflicts across the continent, African Union officials said at the summit.

"While we are proud of the progress made in expanding and consolidating peace and security on the continent, we also acknowledge that much still needs to be done to resolve ongoing, renewed and new conflict situations in a number of countries," said African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Dlamini-Zuma said the Peace and Security Council of the African Union will report to the summit on efforts to resolve conflicts in countries ranging from Mali to Madagascar.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union said in a statement Saturday that it wanted "the early operationalization of the African Standby Force" in Mali. The council also said it fully supports Mali President Dioncounda Traore but urged him to put in place a roadmap to free and fair elections. It also said the African Union is committed to preserving the unity of Mali and would "spare no efforts" to safeguard the country's territorial integrity.

A number of African countries have pledged to send troops to Mali, and on Tuesday the African Union will hold a conference of donors with hopes that money will be raised for the Mali force. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union urged member states to "seize the opportunity of the donors' conference ... to meaningfully contribute toward the mobilization of the necessary resources."

The council also urged the international community to contribute generously to the Mali force.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met at the summit in Addis Ababa, although African Union officials said they did not expect them to make much headway. South Sudan President Salva Kiir and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month agreed to "the unconditional and speedy" implementation of deals they had reached back in September. But a subsequent meeting of the two countries' negotiating teams that should have outlined timetable for the deal's implementation ended in disagreement.

Ban urged the two Sudans to resume direct talks and spoke of the "dangerous humanitarian situation in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states."

"In Sudan and South Sudan the parties have taken positive steps to resolve outstanding issues," Ban said. "But they should make more progress in meeting their agreements."

Mediators led by former South African leader Thabo Mbeki have until July to push the two sides to agree on the status of the disputed Abyei region as well as other contested border areas.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-leaders-meet-ethiopia-amid-mali-crisis-100222090.html

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Jupiter Direct Astrology,Thor and his sexy hammer, Are you ready to ...

FAST RELIEF is 5 days away. Your best laid intentions gone nowhere? Your sex life bombed? Didn?t get the raise?

Been having a harder time sticking with your diet? ?Conquering an addiction or life just feels like ?my 14-year-old daughter says.

? IT SUCKS TO BE YOU.?

seem?s like you?re an upended turtle that ?nada is moving forward?

BLAME IT ON JUPITER?s RETROGRADE motion since Oct 5, 2012 that?s why. ?Just like Mercury Retrograde, ?Jupiter does that nasty too.

It?s hard to get ahead when Jupiter/ THOR ?is Retrograde.

THOR in Viking mythology is a personification of Jupiter, aka Zeus, throwing lightning bolts to the Greeks.?

THOR, the BIG ?hammer guy, is popping up as a cultural hero again. SUPER HERO for our age

Jupiter is MR. BIG, ruler of sign Sagittarius and Pisces traditionally. Jupiter rules OPTIMISM. Good humour, luck, abundance,honesty?

Ask yourself?

Have things been more serious while Jupiter is Retro in your life? ?Has your sex life bombed??

What do Retro Gods do? Hang out in God caves, lounge with their sport buddies, tell big jokes and smoke big cigars, bowl,carouse,

RETROGRADE JUPITER holds back all the actions Jupiter rules- such as

Jupiter rules the LIVER, the largest organ in the body, ?therefore de-toxing,

arteries, pelvis, thighs, a euphemism for sex,cholesterol, gout, weight problems,cataracts, intoxication.?sports, publishing, higher law, education, philosophy, travel, adventure, generosity, ?fertility, animals, ?gotta have it all, spirituality, religion, compassion, bliss,creativity, the arts.

Lawyers are Jupiter ruled, they are supposed to be honest; athletes, philanthropists, Santa Claus is a Jupiter type figure.?

Didn?t get that expected raise lately?

Did you have a lean Xmas?

All you hard to hold down Sagittarius and floaty Pisceans ?are frothing at ?the bit for THOR to get Thundering again.

Check out where the damage has been in your natal chart- where ?are Sagittarius and ?PISCES ?in your natal chart. Houses? aspects?

?You can go to ASTRODIENST ? http://www.astrodienst.com a very reliable free ?European site.

Jupiter in Gemini is weak as he is in the opposite sign of the one he ruled. THOR WEAK??

Jupiter turns DIRECT Jan 30 @ 3:37 am PST/ 6:37 am EST at 6 degrees 19 minutes of the TWINS

If you are ?SAGITTARIAN, a PISCES ?or a GEMINI you should feel THOR?s hammer start to rock with Thunder

and sparks of lightning beginning to fly!

It will take until April 25 for Jupiter to pass 16 degrees 25 minutes of Gemini where it left off last Oct.

So use the forward Jupiter action to work in the shadow period with full plans to BIRTH your new projects on that date and after in April.

Writers, artists, collective spiritual work, imagers, photographers, publishers,teachers the ?re-writing of laws are all in the agenda NOW.

Your usually optimistic bouncing ball, buoyant humored self ?will be back soon?

JUPITER WILL BE SWIMMING IN YOUR POOL SOON CANCER?s?

CANCER peeps it will be your BEST YEAR in 12, when Jupiter enters the MOST FEMININE motherly nurturing sign on JUNE 26.?

more bout that later.

Get YOUR professional astrology chart reading from ME now-?http://taratarot.com/id78.html

I am a Sagittarius + Moon + Mercury there at the Galactic Center. My North Node is in Pisces so Jupiter rules a lot of my stuff.

I am totally honest, and my role is to be a spiritual guide, teacher and traveller.?

I can?t wait to hammer the road ahead out.

JUPITER SONGLIST ? ?do you like it? Got anything to add?

1. HEY JUPITER by TORI AMOS ??https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK_qRHoEkJU

2. IF I HAD A HAMMER ? Peter PAul & MAry 1963?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUPr8oDRL8

3. DROPS OF JUPITER by Train 1998?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xf-Lesrkuc

4. JUPITER by Starlighter?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsSd58CiGQs

5. JUPITER- by Earth Wind and Fire?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7J99LtTjds

6. JUPITER PLANETARIUM by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly-?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-kiFfHkwkg

7. JUPITER by Jewel?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRmSpbs-D8

8. JUPITER?S V28 HRS Solfeggio and and Binaural beats

9. JUPITER and BEYOND the INFINITE from 2001 a Space Odyssey?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imbxqv_5TJU

10. THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN by BOB DYLAN 2006 ? ALicia Keys?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RPkJeziNyI&playnext=1&list=PLAD872EBCFDCA4D52&feature=results_video

11. JUPITER LOVE by Trey Songz -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0DMoPLIys

12. Oh I by JUPITER?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0DMoPLIys

13. JUPITER by Katy McAllister Ft. Shannon McAllister ? Jupiter (Original Song)?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lv4X35XUo

14. JUPITER by Free the ROBOTS?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq7chp71sRo

43.667923 -79.321969

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Source: http://infinitynow.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/jupiter-direct-astrologythor-and-his-sexy-hammer-are-you-ready-to-rock-on/

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Instagram Is Asking Users To Prove Their Identities with Government IDs

If you're not claiming to be famous, normally people couldn't care less who you say your are on the Internet. In fact, most people actively don't care. Instagram isn't in that crowd however. After its recent TOS update, it's been harassing more and more users to confirm their identities with pictures of government-issued IDs. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3SDxzrJvP5U/instagram-is-asking-users-to-prove-their-identities-with-government-ids

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Dozens reported killed in Venezuela prison riot

Relatives of inmates react outside the Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. A bloody riot erupted at the Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto Friday when National Guard troops clashed with inmates. Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed. It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons.(AP Photo/Rafael Rodriguez/El Informador)

Relatives of inmates react outside the Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. A bloody riot erupted at the Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto Friday when National Guard troops clashed with inmates. Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed. It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons.(AP Photo/Rafael Rodriguez/El Informador)

Relatives of inmates react outside the Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. A bloody riot erupted at the Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto Friday when National Guard troops clashed with inmates. Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed. It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons.(AP Photo/Rafael Rodriguez/El Informador)

Injured prison inmates arrive to the hospital in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. A bloody riot erupted at the Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto Friday when National Guard troops clashed with inmates. Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed. It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons.(AP Photo/Alexander Sanchez/El Informador)

An injured prison inmate is carried into the hospital in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. A bloody riot erupted at the Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto Friday when National Guard troops clashed with inmates. Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed. It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons.(AP Photo/Rafael Rodriguez/El Informador)

An injured prison inmate is carried into the hospital in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. A bloody riot erupted at the Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto Friday when National Guard troops clashed with inmates. Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed. It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons.(AP Photo/Rafael Rodriguez/El Informador)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuela's top prisons official said the government was evacuating a prison Saturday after a deadly riot that reportedly left dozens of people dead amid a clash between National Guard soldiers and armed inmates.

Penitentiary Service Minister Iris Varela said officials decided to evacuate all inmates from the Uribana prison in the central city of Barquisimeto after the bloodshed on Friday in order to "close this chapter of violence." Varela said inmates were being taken to other facilities. She spoke in a televised news conference and did not immediately give a death toll.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro called the violence tragic and said Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega Diaz and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello would lead the investigation.

"The prisons have to be governed by law," Maduro said on television early Saturday.

Humberto Prado, an activist who leads the watchdog group Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, said inmates' relatives and media accounts put the toll at 55 killed and 88 injured.

The Venezuelan newspaper Ultimas Noticias and the television channel Globovision reported more than 50 killed, both citing Ruy Medina, the director of Central Hospital in the city.

Relatives wept outside the prison during the violence, and cried at the morgue Saturday as they waited to identify bodies.

Varela said Friday that the riot broke out when groups of inmates attacked National Guard troops who were attempting to carry out an inspection.

Varela said the violence had affected a number of prisoners and officials, but said the authorities would hold off until control had been re-established at the prison to confirm the toll. She said the government decided to send troops to search the prison after receiving reports of clashes between groups of inmates during the past two days.

The death toll provided by Medina rose late Friday after he had initially reported four killed and dozens injured. Ultimas Noticias reported that the victims included a Protestant pastor and a member of the National Guard, as well as inmates.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles condemned the government's handling of the country's overcrowded and violent prisons.

"Our country's prisons are an example of the incapacity of this government and its leaders. They never solved the problem," Capriles said on his Twitter account. "How many more deaths do there have to be in the prisons for the government to acknowledge its failure and make changes?"

The Venezuelan Prisons Observatory said in a statement that in 2007 the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights had ordered the government to seize weapons that inmates had in their possession at Uribana prison and to take measures to avoid deaths in the facility. The group called for the government to release a list with the names of the dead and wounded in Friday's violence, as well as details about weapons seized in the search.

"No one doubts that inspections are necessary procedures to guarantee prison conditions in line with international standards, but they can't be carried out with the warlike attitude as (authorities) have done it," Prado told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It's clear that the inspection wasn't coordinated or put into practice as it should have been. It was evidently a disproportionate use of force."

Prado's group says Uribana prison was built to hold up to 850 inmates but currently has about 1,400.

It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's severely overcrowded prisons where inmates often freely obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards. Venezuela currently has 33 prisons built to hold about 12,000 inmates, but officials have said the prisons' population is about 47,000.

In April and May, a prison uprising in La Planta prison in Caracas blocked authorities from going inside for nearly three weeks. One prisoner was killed and five people were wounded, including two National Guard soldiers and three inmates.

Two months later, another riot broke out at a prison in Merida, and the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory reported 30 killed.

In August, 25 people were killed and 43 wounded when two groups of inmates fought a gunbattle inside Yare I prison south of Caracas.

Chavez's government has previous pledged improvements to the prison system, but opponents and activists say the government hasn't made progress.

Varela, the prisons minister, said news media including Globovision and a local newspaper had run reports on the inspections, which she said had in fact been a "trigger for the violence."

Prado denied that, saying: "The problem isn't the work of the media. The problem is that the government hasn't disarmed the prison population."

___

Associated Press writer Ian James contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-26-LT-Venezuela-Prison-Violence/id-2bea2f7d6f0b40cdb8b0e7a953f184d9

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Video: Bill Gates on Charity, Taxes & Technology

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50592442/

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Which Leadership Tips You Should Use | Wholesome Wisdom

We?ve all been here: The top in our careers everywhere all of a swift we?re presented with the opportunity to principal a team. We?ve earned it through blood, sweat, tears plus our skill and will are both equipped, willing and able. The skill to influence one?s thinking by persuasion or citing one?s own develop is a quality figure found in leaders. The followers start looking up to the leader as someone who will trade show him/her the aptly path to accomplishment. In the article below I will tell you more tips about leadership.

First, you should know that patience is a tricky business in the affair planet and board members and shareholders don?t permanently have it. Equally a team leader, it?s valuable to have the EQ to recognize peaks and valleys in an individual?s performance. If the drive and will are here, it?s valuable to support and help public make made known of their own way. Constructive pointer is a should but there?s thumbs down need to be a bull in a china supermarket, either.

Second, the foremost dynamic force that motivates and coordinates the organization is trust and the skill of succeeding must be furthermore based on cooperation and understanding. A skilled leader must be a source of inspiration to the followers. The faith held by the followers in their leader will principal to smooth completion of tasks assigned to them by the leader. Inside their attitude attention, confidence and open-mind are typically born -with attributes, influenced single by native personality.

Third, good leadership will not be built through one day, so you need to find some services and courses to help you. It is suggested that you can choose corporate training service companies to help you. The corporate training companies can offer you many services, such as Certificate Diploma service and Training Parramatta service.

Tags: Certificate Diploma, corporate training, Training Parramatta

Source: http://wholesomewisdom.com/which-leadership-tips-you-should-use.html

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Top senators reach deal to curb filibusters

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate's senior Democrat and Republican reached agreement Thursday to impose modest limits on the filibuster, the delaying tactics that minority parties have long used to kill legislation.

The deal would reduce ? but not eliminate ? the number of times opponents can use filibusters and also limit the time spent debating some bills and nominations. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., described the pact to rank-and-file lawmakers Thursday, and the Senate seemed likely to approve the restrictions later in the day.

The pact does not represent a dramatic reworking of Senate rules and leaves the minority party with far more power than it has in the House, where procedures allow a united majority party to muscle through its priorities.

But it would streamline some of the Senate's work and avoid what could have been prolonged, nasty battling between the two parties if Democrats ? frustrated by the GOP's growing reliance on the delays ? tried ramming through more decisive changes.

In an irony that underscores the Senate's complex rules, it was expected to take the chamber two votes to approve the changes.

The curbs on filibusters fall short of what Reid initially said he favored months ago. He wanted to completely ban the tactic's use when the Senate tries to begin debating a measure, and he threatened to use Democrats' strength in the Senate to enact that change and perhaps others by a simple majority vote.

That tactic is called the "nuclear option" because of the bitter partisan warfare it would likely trigger in the chamber, potentially halting almost any business the Senate tried to conduct.

Typically, rules changes take a two-thirds majority.

The restrictions also fall far short of what some of the Senate's newer Democrats were demanding.

Their proposals included requiring filibustering senators to actually debate on the chamber's floor, a practice immortalized in the film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" but seldom used in recent years. Instead, most filibusters in recent decades occur when a senator simply informs majority Democrats that they will need the votes of 60 of the 100 senators to end delaying tactics.

The No. 2 Senate Democratic leader, Richard Durbin of Illinois, said this week that Democrats lacked enough votes to force that proposal through the Senate.

Durbin said Thursday that the tentative deal was "great for the Senate," and said lawmakers who wanted tighter curbs would have to settle for less.

"That's how this world works," Durbin told reporters. "People start aspiring at very high levels, then you get a negotiation, then you reach something called compromise. And I think we are at that point."

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that while he and many other Republicans didn't believe the changes were needed, "This does this without doing irreparable damage to the Senate as an institution."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., among a bipartisan group of eight senators who proposed changes similar to those embraced in the deal, said the agreement showed that cooperation across party lines remained possible.

Alluding to the partisan clashes that could have resulted if Democrats used the "nuclear option," McCain said, "It could have really had repercussions for a very long time here in the Senate."

Tight restraints on filibusters were championed by less-senior Democrats like Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Tom Udall, D-N.M. They are frustrated with the chamber's often glacial debates and the ability of the minority ? these days Republicans ? to kill bills with less than majority support.

"Are they everything I want? Of course not," Udall said in an interview. But he said the Senate is "moving in the right direction. With these changes, it will make this a more efficient institution."

In an email to supporters, Merkley called the agreement an improvement but also complained that senators delaying legislation would not have to appear on the Senate floor.

"If senators want to force more debate, they should make their case before the American people so the public can weigh in on whether the filibusterers are heroes or bums," Merkley wrote.

More veteran Democrats like Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan were reluctant to stifle the tactic, mindful that his party could find itself in the minority after any election and would want to be able to use the maneuvers.

The liberal group Common Cause, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the filibuster, criticized Reid for the agreement, saying the senator "has gone missing in the fight for filibuster reform."

Democrats say Republican use of the tactic has become almost routine and far too frequent. Republicans say they use it because Reid often blocks them from offering amendments.

As part of the agreement, filibusters could be avoided when the Senate tries beginning debate on a bill or nomination. In return, the majority leader would have to allow each party to offer at least two amendments ? addressing a major complaint of Republicans that their amendments are often shut out.

In addition, once the Senate votes to limit debate on certain nominations ? district court judges and administration posts below Cabinet level ? the debate would be limited to two hours, far below the 30 hours now allowed. The proposal was aimed at speeding the time spent on such nominations.

In addition, instead of three separate opportunities for opponents of a bill to wage filibusters to block a Senate vote allowing the chamber to try writing compromise legislation with the House, there would only be one such filibuster allowed.

According to the Senate Historian's Office, there were 73 "cloture" votes to end filibusters in the two-year Congress that ended earlier this month. There were 91 such votes in the Congress that served in the two previous years, and 112 in the two-year Congress before that. Republicans were the Senate minority party in each of those Congresses.

Those are the three highest number of cloture votes in any Congress since the Senate started allowing such votes to end filibusters nearly 100 years ago.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Abrams, Stephen Ohlemacher, Andrew Taylor and David Espo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-24-Senate%20Filibuster%20Fight/id-577e2e67900e4d8c851f5068bf6318e2

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Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S85

In many ways, the WorkForce Pro GT-S85 is nearly identical to the Epson Workforce Pro GT-S55 that I recently reviewed. It offers the same basic strengths and is aimed at the same kind of office, meaning one that is most likely using scan-related programs?like SharePoint or enterprise content management (ECM) systems or services?that run on a server or in the cloud. Like the GT-S85, it's sold primarily through value added resellers. For companies that need its faster speed and higher duty cycle, however, it can easily be worth the higher price.

The two models are also physically similar. Both measure 8.4 by 11.9 by 8.0 inches (HWD) with the input and output trays closed, or 15.9 by 11.9 by 15.0-inches with the trays extended. That makes both of them small enough to share a desk with as a personal scanner. However, the GT-S85 is even less likely than the GT-S55 to serve in that role.

The GT-S85 offers the same 75-page capacity as its less expensive cousin for its automatic document feeder (ADF), but it promises to churn through the pages faster, with a 60 percent boost in the speed rating, to 40 pages per minute (ppm) and 80 images per minute (ipm) for duplex (two-sided) scans. It also offers a 50 percent higher duty cycle, at 3,000 pages per day. These differences are enough to make the GT-S85 much more definitively a workgroup scanner, or even a departmental scanner, despite all the similarities between the two.

Setup and Software
For my tests, I installed the GT-S85 on a system running Windows Vista. Setup was standard fare, with a USB connection as the only choice.

The software side of the package is identical to the software that comes with the GT-S55, starting with the Document Capture Pro scan utility. In addition to controlling scanning, the utility offers some basic editing features, including de-skewing images and adding, inserting, or replacing pages.

The utility will also let you send scans to an assortment of destinations. Options include sending the file as an email attachment, sending it to a printer or an FTP site; sending it to SharePoint, Evernote, or Google Docs; or saving it to disk in searchable PDF (sPDF), image PDF, JPG, BMP, TIFF, or Multi-TIFF formats.

The one application program Epson provides is Abbyy FineReader 6.0 Sprint Plus, for optical character recognition (OCR). As you would expect, you can use it to turn scanned documents into editable text files. In addition, Document Capture Pro automatically calls on the program to recognize scanned text when you give the command to scan and save to sPDF format. Finally, for software, the scanner comes with Twain, WIA, and ISIS drivers, so you can scan using virtually any Windows program with a scan command.

Scan Speed and Document Management
As is common for document scanners, the GT-S85 offers a 600 pixel per inch (ppi) optical resolution, but its 40 ppm rated speed is based on a 200 ppi default setting. In my tests using the default settings, I timed the scanner on our standard 25-sheet text document at reasonably fast speeds in absolute terms. However, as with the GT-S55, it was substantially slower than its rating, managing only 31.3 ppm for simplex scans and 58.8 ipm for duplex scans.

As I pointed out in the GT-S55 review, most scanners come much closer to their ratings in our testing. The Ambir ImageScan Pro 940u, which is also rated at 40 ppm and 80 ipm, came in at 38.5 ppm and 75 ipm, and the Editors' Choice Canon imageFormula DR-C125, rated at 25 ppm and 50 ipm, came in at 25.4 ppm and 50 ipm.

Very much worth mention, however, is that I saw an obvious lag between giving the scan command and the scan actually starting. The more pages you scan in a batch, the smaller a percentage that lag will be of the overall time, and the faster the speed will come out in pages per minute.

The speed for scanning to sPDF format, which is generally preferred for document management applications, is potentially more of an issue. When adding the text recognition step for sPDF files, the GT-S85 takes longer than less expensive scanners with slower raw scan speeds.

I timed it at 2 minutes 6 seconds on our 25-sheet duplex text document, making it only 11 seconds faster than the Epson GT-S55, more than a minute slower than the Canon DR-C125, and about a half minute slower than the 30 ppm, 60 ipm Kodak i2400. If you need to scan primarily to sPDF files, in short, you can get equal or better performance with less expensive scanners.

Other Test Results
The software that comes with the GT-S85 also let me test its OCR accuracy for scanning to editable text format. Interestingly, the combination of FineReader and the GT-S85 did much better on OCR than the combination of FineReader and the GT-S55.

Using the default 200 ppi setting, the GT-S85 read both our Times New Roman and Arial text pages at font sizes as small as 10 points without a mistake. At 300 ppi, it managed to read both at 8 points without a mistake. More impressively, it also did as good a job or better with several fonts that aren't part of our official tests because few scanners or programs can handle them well.

Whether the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S85 will be a better choice than its competition depends on your particular needs. If you need to scan primarily to sPDF format, less expensive scanners can do the job as quickly or faster. But the GT-S85 may give you better accuracy, as it does compared with the Epson GT-S55. If you need to scan primarily to image formats, however, you can take better advantage of its speed. So although the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S85 isn't a compelling choice for every office it is aimed at, it may be the right choice, or at least a reasonable choice, for yours.

More Scanner Reviews:
??? Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S55
??? Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S85
??? Apparent Doxie One
??? Xerox DocuMate 3125
??? Epson WorkForce WF-3540
?? more

?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/cjbRWJ4JTn8/0,2817,2414516,00.asp

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Murray edges Federer, reaches Australian final

Britain's Andy Murray reacts during his semifinal win over Switzerland's Roger Federer at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Kolbe,Pool)

Britain's Andy Murray reacts during his semifinal win over Switzerland's Roger Federer at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Kolbe,Pool)

Britain's Andy Murray reacts during his semifinal match against Switzerland's Roger Federer at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Switzerland's Roger Federer reacts after winning the second set of his men's semifinal against Britain's Andy Murray at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Switzerland's Roger Federer reacts during his semifinal loss to Britain's Andy Murray at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Kolbe,Pool)

Britain's Andy Murray gestures for a video replay of a line call during his men's semifinal against Switzerland's Roger Federer at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Andy Murray has finally beaten Roger Federer at a Grand Slam.

The U.S. Open champion beat 17-time major winner Federer 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 Friday at the Australian Open, calling it a massive confidence boost as he attempts to win his second consecutive major.

Murray, who missed his chance to serve out the match at 6-5 in the fourth set, will play defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. Djokovic cruised past David Ferrer in straight sets in just under 90 minutes ? 2 1/2 hours less than Murray's semifinal.

Advantage Djokovic.

There was some controversy in that 12th game of the fourth set when Federer appeared to glare and say something to Murray when the Scotsman stopped momentarily behind the baseline during the rally.

Murray ignored it after winning the point, but conceded serve in that game and lost the ensuing tiebreaker before regrouping in the fifth set.

"I mean, it wasn't a big deal," Federer said. "We just looked at each other one time. That's OK, I think. We were just checking each other out for bit. That wasn't a big deal for me ? I hope not for him."

While Murray came into the match with a 10-9 career advantage, Murray had never beaten Federer in their three previous meetings at a major ? the finals of the 2008 U.S. Open, 2010 Australian Open and last year at Wimbledon.

"It's always tough against him, when he plays in Slams is when he plays his best tennis," Murray said. "When his back was against the wall at 6-5 and I was serving, he came up with some unbelievable shots. I just had to keep fighting."

Federer outplayed Murray at stages of the match, but the 25-year-old Scotsman appeared to have the legs and stamina over the 31-year-old Federer in the fifth set, including a service break to clinch the tense match.

"It's big. I never beat Roger in a Slam before. It definitely will help with the confidence," Murray said. "Just knowing you can win against those guys in big matches definitely helps."

Federer said he was playing catch-up all night.

"Definitely it was more of a chase," Federer said. "I think I had my chances a little bit. Obviously, you're going to go through a five-setter with some regrets. But overall, I think Andy was a bit better than I was tonight."

With a capacity crowd of 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena watching, including the Australian legend Laver himself, Federer opened the match serving and was in trouble early, losing a 28-rally point to set up break point for Murray. But Federer held the game with a stunning cross-court forehand that just looped over the net from the baseline.

Murray, who had not lost a set through five rounds at Melbourne Park this year, had the first service break ? on his fourth break point ? to lead 2-1. It came in unusually cool summer conditions in Melbourne ? breezy and temperatures of only 60 degrees during most of the match.

The crowd was initially evenly split between Federer and Murray supporters ? and at times, they were competing to be heard. At one point in the second set, a group of Murray fans wearing white shirts with blue letters spelling his nickname "Muzza" stood to chant Murray's name, while a group of Federer supporters with Swiss flags on their cheeks and shirts chanted Federer's name.

Earlier Friday, top-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy won the first title of 2013 at Melbourne Park, beating the unseeded Australian pair of Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 for the women's doubles championship.

The 16-year-old Barty was attempting to become the youngest Grand Slam champion since Martina Hingis won the Australian Open singles title in 1997.

On Saturday, defending champion Victoria Azarenka plays sixth-seeded Li Na of China for the women's singles title. Li lost the Australian Open final to Kim Clijsters in 2011 two months before winning her first and only Grand Slam at the French Open.

"Last time was more exciting, (more) nervous because it was my first time to be in a final," Li said. "But I think this time (I'm) more calmed down, more cool."

Azarenka leads 5-4 in career matches, including the last four times they've played.

"I'm really hungry to defend my title," said Azarenka, who needs to beat Li to retain her No. 1 ranking. "I've put myself in the position to give it the best shot."

If Li win, Serena Williams will regain the No. 1 ranking.

Also on Saturday, American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan will play their fifth consecutive Australian Open doubles final and attempt to win their record 13th Grand Slam doubles championship. They'll play the Dutch pair of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-25-Australian%20Open/id-4049adcf613e46a2b60be7f36223e551

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Putting the squeeze on cells: By deforming cells, researchers can deliver RNA, proteins and nanoparticles for many applications

Jan. 23, 2013 ? Living cells are surrounded by a membrane that tightly regulates what gets in and out of the cell. This barrier is necessary for cells to control their internal environment, but it makes it more difficult for scientists to deliver large molecules such as nanoparticles for imaging, or proteins that can reprogram them into pluripotent stem cells.

Researchers from MIT have now found a safe and efficient way to get large molecules through the cell membrane, by squeezing the cells through a narrow constriction that opens up tiny, temporary holes in the membrane. Any large molecules floating outside the cell -- such as RNA, proteins or nanoparticles -- can slide through the membrane during this disruption.

Using this technique, the researchers were able to deliver reprogramming proteins and generate induced pluripotent stem cells with a success rate 10 to 100 times better than any existing method. They also used it to deliver nanoparticles, including carbon nanotubes and quantum dots, which can be used to image cells and monitor what's happening inside them.

"It's very useful to be able to get large molecules into cells. We thought it might be interesting if you could have a relatively simple system that could deliver many different compounds," says Klavs Jensen, the Warren K. Lewis Professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of materials science and engineering, and a senior author of a paper describing the new device in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT, is also a senior author of the paper. Lead authors are chemical engineering graduate student Armon Sharei, Koch Institute research scientist Janet Zoldan, and chemical engineering research associate Andrea Adamo.

A general approach

Biologists have previously developed several ways to get large molecules into cells, but all of them have drawbacks. DNA or RNA can be packaged into viruses, which are adept at entering cells, but that approach carries the risk that some of the viral DNA will get integrated into the host cell. This method is commonly used in lab experiments but has not been approved by the FDA for use in human patients.

Another way to sneak large molecules into a cell is to tag them with a short protein that can penetrate the cell membrane and drag the larger cargo along with it. Alternatively, DNA or proteins can be packaged into synthetic nanoparticles that can enter cells. However, these systems often need to be re-engineered depending on the type of cell and material being delivered. Also, with some nanoparticles much of the material ends up trapped in protective sacs called endosomes inside the cell, and there can be potential toxic side effects.

Electroporation, which involves giving cells a jolt of electricity that opens up the cell membrane, is a more general approach but can be damaging to both cells and the material being delivered.

The new MIT system appears to work for many cell types -- so far, the researchers have successfully tested it with more than a dozen types, including both human and mouse cells. It also works in cells taken directly from human patients, which are usually much more difficult to manipulate than human cell lines grown specifically for lab research.

The new device builds on previous work by Jensen and Langer's labs, in which they used microinjection to force large molecules into cells as they flowed through a microfluidic device. This wasn't as fast as the researchers would have liked, but during these studies, they discovered that when a cell is squeezed through a narrow tube, small holes open in the cell membrane, allowing nearby molecules to diffuse into the cell.

To take advantage of that, the researchers built rectangular microfluidic chips, about the size of a quarter, with 40 to 70 parallel channels. Cells are suspended in a solution with the material to be delivered and flowed through the channel at high speed -- about one meter per second. Halfway through the channel, the cells pass through a constriction about 30 to 80 percent smaller than the cells' diameter. The cells don't suffer any irreparable damage, and they maintain their normal functions after the treatment.

Special delivery

The research team is now further pursuing stem cell manipulation, which holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases. They have already shown that they can transform human fibroblast cells into pluripotent stem cells, and now plan to start working on delivering the proteins needed to differentiate stem cells into specialized tissues.

Another promising application is delivering quantum dots -- nanoparticles made of semiconducting metals that fluoresce. These dots hold promise for labeling individual proteins or other molecules inside cells, but scientists have had trouble getting them through the cell membrane without getting trapped in endosomes.

In a paper published in November, working with MIT graduate student Jungmin Lee and chemistry professor Moungi Bawendi, the researchers showed that they could get quantum dots inside human cells grown in the lab, without the particles becoming confined in endosomes or clumping together. They are now working on getting the dots to tag specific proteins inside the cells.

The researchers are also exploring the possibility of using the new system for vaccination. In theory, scientists could remove immune cells from a patient, run them through the microfluidic device and expose them to a viral protein, and then put them back in the patient. Once inside, the cells could provoke an immune response that would confer immunity against the target viral protein.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Anne Trafton.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. A. Sharei, J. Zoldan, A. Adamo, W. Y. Sim, N. Cho, E. Jackson, S. Mao, S. Schneider, M.-J. Han, A. Lytton-Jean, P. A. Basto, S. Jhunjhunwala, J. Lee, D. A. Heller, J. W. Kang, G. C. Hartoularos, K.-S. Kim, D. G. Anderson, R. Langer, K. F. Jensen. A vector-free microfluidic platform for intracellular delivery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218705110

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

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/sMbVCnJHjZ0/130123133717.htm

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