Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Ford profit beats forecasts on record North America margins

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co posted on Tuesday a third-quarter profit that trounced Wall Street forecasts, driven by higher vehicle prices and record profit margins of 12 percent in North America.

Worldwide, Ford earned $800 million (497 million pounds) more through price increases than it did last year. Half that jump came from North America, where Ford has earned more than $2 billion and posted margins over 10 percent for three quarters in a row.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker's strength in North America offset the effects of the sharp industry downturn in Europe, where Ford expects to lose at least $3 billion over the next two years, as well as its lagging position in growth markets, such as China.

Ford posted a pre-tax operating profit of $2.2 billion, or 40 cents per share, beating analysts' average estimate of 30 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In North America, Ford earned $2.3 billion with a 12 percent operating margin.

"Twelve percent segment margins is just insane," said Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold, who has a "buy" rating on Ford.

North America will continue to "carry the load" for Ford as its units in Europe, Asia and South America find their footing and cement their market position, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said during a call with analysts and reporters.

Operating margins in North America are unlikely to be as high in the fourth quarter due to higher spending in areas like engineering and advertising, Shanks said.

Ford's margin on its automotive business overall was 6.3 percent in the third quarter. Ford is aiming for overall margins of between eight and 10 percent by the middle of the decade.

In the third quarter, Ford lost $468 million in Europe. It earned $9 million in South America. It also earned $45 million in Asia Pacific and Africa, the first profit for that region since the second quarter of 2011.

Ford's strong showing in North America reflects the benefits of Chief Executive Alan Mulally's "One Ford" strategy to build more cars and trucks on five global platforms by the middle of the decade from the current nine platforms.

"We're at the relative start of that around the world, led by North America," Mulally said on a conference call.

EUROPE PLAN ECHOES U.S. TURNAROUND

Ford hired Mulally as CEO in 2006 to steer the automaker's turnaround in North America, which began in late 2005 with the "Way Forward" plan engineered by Mark Fields, who had led North and South American operations for 7 years.

From 2006 to 2009, Ford cut capacity in North America by a little more than one-fifth, Nesvold, the Jefferies analyst, has estimated. Higher prices garnered an additional $10 billion in revenue from 2006 to 2010.

Ford's restructuring during the U.S. auto industry's peak helped the company avoid the government financing needed to keep U.S. rivals, General Motors Co and Chrysler Group LLC , afloat in 2009.

This plan will serve as a blueprint for Ford's restructuring of Europe, although there are limits on how much Ford can draw from its past experiences, Shanks said. Ford of Europe is "much, much leaner" than the U.S. operations were in 2006, he said.

"Europe isn't North America," Shanks said. "It clearly has excess capacity - which we're addressing - but if you look in other areas, it's very lean. We actually want and need to invest in other areas in the business to grow the top line."

Last week, Ford announced three plant closures in Europe to cut costs by as much as $500 million. Executives also left open the possibility of further actions if a recovery in Europe fails to materialize.

Ford is taking steps to keep its European inventory at around 40 days supply, down from the typical 50 days, in line with tepid demand. Nevertheless, Ford is launching 15 new or refreshed models in Europe over the next five years.

In the first nine months of this year, Ford lost around $1 billion in Europe. Ford expects to lose at least $1.5 billion in the region this year, and another $1.5 billion in 2013.

Ford expects to U.S. industry-wide auto sales will be 14.7 million this year. It forecast European sales of about 14 million.

Ford's third quarter revenue fell 3 percent to $32.1 billion, better than the $30.9 billion expected by analysts. Net income in the quarter was about $1.6 billion, or 41 cents a share, on par with results from last year.

(Reporting By Deepa Seetharaman and Ben Klayman; Editing by Alden Bentley, David Gregorio and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ford-profit-beats-forecasts-record-n-america-margins-164040787--finance.html

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Barclays hit by fresh U.S. investigations

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays, already rocked by an interest rate rigging scandal, unveiled new U.S. regulatory investigations into the bank's financial probity on Wednesday and said its profit was hit by charges for mis-selling insurance.

Its shares fell almost 5 percent, hurt by a weaker performance in investment banking than most of its Wall Street rivals and fears that legal problems would handicap its new chief executive's efforts to overhaul the company.

Following investigations in the UK over its dealings with Qatari investors, Barclays said the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission were probing whether its relationships with third parties who help it win or retain business are compliant with U.S. laws.

The bank is under investigation by Britain's financial regulator and fraud prosecutor into payments to Qatari investors after it raised billions of pounds from the Gulf state five years ago to save it from taking a taxpayer bailout.

Barclays revealed the Financial Services Authority (FSA) investigation in July and confirmed the Serious Fraud Office had launched a probe the following month.

Barclays also said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could be close to fining it over an investigation into the manipulation of power prices in the western United States from late 2006 until 2008.

FERC could notify the bank of proposed penalties as early as Wednesday, and Barclays said it would "vigorously" defend this matter. The investigation was first announced in April, alleging the bank took substantial electricity market positions to move daily index settlements.

In March, the agency fined Constellation Energy a record $245 million over power market manipulation activities as part of a fresh crackdown on power market rigging.

New Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins, who took over at the end of July when his predecessor Bob Diamond quit after the bank admitted rigging Libor interest rates, is in the midst of a review to change culture and lift profitability, due to be unveiled in February.

Investors have made it clear they want a return on equity above the cost of equity, higher dividends and for pay to be cut, Jenkins said. That is expected to mean the investment bank arm will be significantly cut back.

"While we have much to do to restore trust among stakeholders, our universal banking franchise remains strong and well positioned," he said.

The bank has fired staff, clawed back pay and taken other disciplinary action after a "very rigorous" internal investigation into the Libor manipulation, Jenkins said. He declined to provide more specific details on how many staff it had taken action against.

Barclays was fined $450 million by U.S. and UK regulators for the rate rigging. More than a dozen other banks are expected to be fined.

CHARGES HIT PROFIT

The bank said its adjusted pretax profit in the three months to the end of September was 1.73 billion pounds, in line with analysts' forecasts and up from 1.34 billion a year ago.

But a 700 million pound charge for mis-selling payment protection insurance pulled pretax profit down 23 percent to 1.03 billion pounds, and a 1.1 billion pound loss on the value of its own debt dragged it to a loss of 47 million pounds for the quarter.

Investment bank income was 2.6 billion pounds in the quarter, up 17 percent on the same period the previous year, but down 13 percent on a strong performance in the second quarter.

The bank said performance during October had been affected by the "challenging economic environment and subdued market volumes".

That included a 20 percent fall in income in its fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) business from the previous quarter, a worse performance than rivals such as J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

Shares in Barclays were down 3.9 percent at 229.5 pence at 1114 GMT, having been as low as 227p, while the European bank index was up 0.3 percent.

"We were disappointed to find that total income in the Investment Bank fell short of market expectations, following a strong showing elsewhere in the industry," said Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood.

Barclays raised the prospect it would soon sell bonds that convert into equity if capital nears dangerous territory. Britain's regulator is assessing the merits of so-called "contingent capital", which Barclays said were an "attractive" option for investors and would help its capital structure".

"We have made considerable progress with the FSA regarding the capital value to be attributed to these instruments. Now that we have greater clarity we will be engaging with investors in the next few weeks to solicit their views," Finance Director Chris Lucas said on a conference call.

(Additional reporting by Sarah White and Karolin Schaps; Editing by Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/barclays-says-u-probes-profit-hit-ppi-072706571--finance.html

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43% of Small Businesses Spend 6+ Hours Per Week in Social ...

COMMENTS

Very informative. Can anybody tell how to collect such stats for the niche related to any business? That will be very informative for the new folks like me.
I love these infographics!?
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I think this info is relevant for both online and offline marketers. It's interesting that most of the focus is on Facebook and Twitter. I understand Facebook but it seems weird that businesses are focusing more time on Twitter then they are on Facebook or Blog content...?
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I definitely think spending time/money on blog content would be prioritized above Twitter in particular...?
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I guess it depends on the business too.
Your web content is very useful and full of impactful content for a small business owner. Thank you!
Hello from the Cambridge Innovation Center (Hubspot?s old haunt!) Yes, social media can seem like a ?time suck? to some CEOs and they may say that they want to spend less time on social media but this is about education - if you asked CEOs if they wanted to look and use alternate ways to participate in discussion, drive engagement, increase visibility and sales and address customer service then the response may not be ?we want to spend less time on this?. With regards to which channels, this is all about understanding your target audiences and being present where they are, so to Facebook or not to Facebook (ooh, we feel a blog post coming on) is about the your industry, your audiences and your objectives.
Great Infographic with a lot of information. Thank you, that was helpful.
Interesting numbers and engagingly set out. My question is: what measurable results / ROI are they getting back? Would be great to out the activity in context
Is this B-to-C or B-to-B, I know from running my own B-to-B business that I use Linkedin far more frequently than Facebook or Twitter.
I think that 1/3 CEO statistic can be interpreted in different ways. I thought it meant that the CEO or the proprietor specifically wanted to spend less time on social media, and maybe give the role to someone else or to outsource. I thought it meant that, currently, many owners and CEOs do the social media, but don't want it as part of their duties.

Beautiful infograph! It's a positive sign that so many SBs are willing to invest money into their social media presence and shows that they understand the importance of social features including social, search, and content marketing.?
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I think the percentage number for SB's using Facebook as their primary social media tool is pretty much the norm, wondering how their personal website or blog activity plays into these numbers.
Again, another informative piece, graphically displayed of course, and current. Thanks.

Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33776/43-of-Small-Businesses-Spend-6-Hours-Per-Week-in-Social-Media-INFOGRAPHIC.aspx

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Music Lessons Teach Valuable Life Lessons | arts and entertainment

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Source: http://ispell-cognizance.blogspot.com/2012/10/music-lessons-teach-valuable-life.html

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VOCALOID Trans-Pacific Project Unveiled ? Vocaloidism

A new initiative titled ?VOCALOID Trans-Pacific Project? (not to be confused with the more heinous Trans-Pacific Partnership) was unveiled at DC Expo a few days ago. DC Expo (short for Digital Content Expo) is ?an international event intended to shape the future of [the digital content] industry five or ten years into the future as well as promote the exchange of the latest information between participating researchers, creators and businesspeople active in this field.? According to a talk segment (recording available on Ustream) involving INTERNET, Bplats and Yamaha, the project aims to spread the creative culture behind VOCALOID to the US and eventually throughout Asia. INTERNET Co. Ltd. also unveiled a tentative release date of February 2013 for the English version of megpoid. This is the third year VOCALOID was featured at DC Expo, with simple demonstrations of the software and LiveAR performances held previously.

Preliminaries

At the venue, the projector first played back related footage from previous years of DC Expo, including shots of HRP-4C MIMU as well as a LiveAR performance featuring Akikoloid-chan and GUMI dancing to Aoi Konbini de Aimashou and Megane no Mukou no Sekai. The video concluded with a series of on screen messages: ?2012?, ?VOCALOID meets Cool Japan? and ?VOCALOID Trance[sic]-Pacific Project?. After the video showing, four panelists walked on stage, apologizing for being just a group of old men.

After everyone sat down, the panel chair, Masaru Ishikawa, talked briefly about what was shown on screen. He also mentioned that this was the third year VOCALOID was featured at DC Expo and a new project will be unveiled. Ishikawa then invited the rest of the panel to introduce themselves: Noboru Murakami from INTERNET, Takuma Miyazaki from Bplats and Osamu Ohshima from Yamaha. Finally, Ishikawa introduced himself as a researcher from University of Tokyo working in the Information and Robot Technology Research Initiative.

With introductions finished, Ishikawa summarized the aim and content of this talk show. This Trans-Pacific Project is essentially a collaboration between VOCALOID and the Cool Japan Project, the latter aiming to spread culture based on Japanese creative works as well as related industries throughout the world. The title ?Trans-Pacific? was intended to convey the idea of crossing the Pacific and spreading VOCALOID culture over to the US, as well as to other Asian countries over time.

Bplats?s Yamazaki noted that there actually hasn?t been a VOCALOID product native to North America yet. Yamaha?s Ohshima then clarified that although there are several English VOCALOID sound banks, none of them originated in North America. Having one come out of the US would require a suitable business partner.

What is VOCALOID?

Before going further, the panel wanted to describe in more detail what VOCALOID is. Ohshima stated that while VOCALOID is simply vocal synthesis technology to Yamaha, people began writing songs with VOCALOID and others started drawing artwork, resulting in VOCALOID spreading far and wide.

As far as business was concerned, the biggest role Yamaha plays is the development of the technology and its licensing to business partners. One such licensee is INTERNET, which creates the voice banks and packages the two together into a product. Meanwhile, companies like Bplats operate in the background and handle the logistics of eventually setting up a product on a store shelf.

However, the panelists stated that VOCALOID embodied more than simply the business aspect. In fact, a ?VOCALOID culture? as developed. One example given was a specific LiveAR showing outside a train station in Japan. Footage on the projector showed animated computer generated models of Tone Rion, Akikoloid-chan and GUMI dancing with the crowd, while Cyber Thunder Cider played in the background. This event was held outside of Seibushinjuku Station, and the original camera footage was combined with the 3D models using augmented reality techniques and then displayed on giant YUNICA VISION screens. Some of the people in the crowd didn?t really know what was going on, but a lot of them were happily partying along. Ohshima mentioned that perhaps this could be expanded into a digital signage business and also stressed that the music was created by ?normal? creators. In a way, he said, this was like a guerrilla concert. Ishikawa noted that while people of his generation probably don?t have a very good idea of VOCALOID, younger generations, especially those in their teens, are very familiar with VOCALOID; VOCALOID songs consistently score very high on song popularity rankings for karaoke.

VOCALOID through INTERNET, Bplats and Yamaha

With an overview of VOCALOID and its culture out of the way, the panelists wanted to then go into more detail about their respective businesses. Murakami started by going over the release history of his company?s VOCALOID products, starting with the VOCALOID2 releases. He noted that although he started with sound banks recorded by singers, for some reason they also decided to release Gachapoid. Murakami then moved onto giving an overview of INTERNET?s VOCALOID3 releases, at which point one of the panelists wondered if there were perhaps multiple copies of him, since he worked personally on all these databanks. The slides then ended up with a shot of a white product box, stating that megpoid English had a tentative February 2013 release date. Apparently this information hadn?t even been sent out via press releases yet, so this was considered an ?unofficial announcement?. According to Murakami, the recording for this sound bank had already been finished, and the panelists started discussing the differences between Japanese and English sound banks.

Apparently, while Japanese sound banks have approximately 500 or so phonemes, English has approximately 5 times the amount. However, unfortunately while the work is greatly magnified, they obviously couldn?t raise the price and still expect it to sell, and thus one panelist quipped that Murakami had to take a pay cut (in terms of income per phoneme). According to him, it also takes approximately three to four times as long to record the audio for the English sound bank.

Murakami then moved on to promote his company?s upcoming Singer Songwriter (SSW) 10 product, with a scheduled release date of November 9. He noted that although VOCALOID can provide the vocals, songs still needed backing instrumentation, which is where digital audio workstation (DAW) software such as SSW came in. Although VOCALOID3 stopped supporting ReWire (and thus direct synchronization with DAW software), SSW 10 claims to be able to synch with VOCALOID through the use of a VST plugin that VOCALOID3 Editor would load. This plugin sounds very much like V3Sync, a third-party plugin which let VOCALOID3 Editor talk with other DAW packages.

After Murakami?s overview of INTERNET, Ohshima proceeded to give an overview of the recently-released VocaListener, touted as a tool which can be used to copy the singing style of a vocalist from a recording. As an example, he showed GUMI copying Kaori Mochida?s performance of Every Little Thing, which was originally to demonstrate MIMU, but the MIMU voice bank isn?t publicly available. He noted that the provided vocals unfortunately had some reverb and thus VocaListener got confused by it, making the result kind of strange. VocaListener?s distribution is handled by Bplats.

And with that segue, Yamazaki went over what Bplats was about. Bplats provides many services, including cloud service brokerage and conversion assistance. However, Bplats also handles distribution of VOCALOID products. The company was involved with the CloudVST project (which enabled usage of VST plugins through the cloud) as well as the VOCALOID STORE, VOCALOID CHINA and the distribution of VOCALOID3 products. Recently, Bplats started a new label called VOCALOID MUSIC PUBLISHING (VMP), which aims to help VOCALOID artists distribute their music. Although not mentioned during the panel, Bplats was involved in the distribution of galaco and encouraged downloaders to sign up with VMP. VMP then sent out emails recently about their service, which submitted songs to various digital distribution platforms for a 50% cut of the revenue (after the distribution platforms take their cut).

VOCALOID Trans-Pacific Project ? Slide 1

At this point the panelists realized they may have dwelt too long on preliminaries and moved on to talk more about the Trans-Pacific Project. A giant word-packed slide was shown on the screen detailing the project.

This first slide talked about one aspect of the VOCALOID Trans-Pacific project ? setting up a foundation for a VOCALOID-using music business in America. The slide gives a background on VOCALOID as well as the lack of a basis for VOCALOID music in America, which is where the project would come in. The project aims to break down previous bottlenecks to establish the basis for a ?very profitable? [VOCALOID music] business outside Japan. This will be accomplished through digital distribution of music, sales through both online and retail channels, promotions during events attended by music creators, construction of a foundation for interchange through VOCALOID as well as business-to-business marketing, all timed to coincide with the release of English sound banks for VOCALOID. These measures will be enacted in America, with its high Asian population and being the epicenter of a music business with global reach. The fruits of this endeavor would then be circulated through Asian cultural networks in the Asia Pacific region. The actual plan involves the following specific actions:

  1. Promotion of the sale of English VOCALOID
  2. Distribution of VOCALOID music through social media
  3. Promotion at New People in San Francisco
  4. Marketing and promotion at events in the US attended by music creators
  5. Partnership with the English version of niconico, niconico.com [though that has technically merged with niconico proper already]
  6. Promotion in collaboration with Japanese businesses

The main parties (or ?producers?) involved with bringing this to fruition are: Yuki Seto (producer from Yamaha?s yamaha+ Promotion House) as overall lead, Noboru Murakami (CEO of INTERNET Co., Ltd.) to handle VOCALOID software, Seiji Horibuchi (CEO of NEW PEOPLE Inc.) to handle relations with the American side, and Masaru Ishikawa (CEO of think.communications and Specially Appointed Researcher at Tokyo University) to handle marketing and promotion.

The project?s primary schedule consists of the following:

  • From October 2012 to January 2013: content and website creation
  • From January 2013 to March 2013: Promotion both at retail outlets and through the media
  • From January 2013 to March 2013: Promotion for the sales of English VOCALOID
  • From January 2013 to March 2013: Promotion and marketing at creator-oriented events [e.g. conventions/conferences]

Lastly, the main slide provided a list of participating companies. They are: Bplats, Inc., Yamaha Corporation, UGC Publishing, Inc., INTERNET Co., Ltd., AHS Co. Ltd., 1st PLACE Co.,Ltd., STUDIO DEEN CO.,Ltd. and DWANGO Co.,Ltd.

VOCALOID Trans-Pacific Project ? Slide 2

A second slide illustrates a second part of the project, with ideas aimed at creating a foundation for businesses rooted in VOCALOID user-generated content. In other words, the planners wish to elevate VOCALOID as a genre to a level commensurate with genres well known all over the world, like rock and fusion. They break this aim up into five smaller goals:

  • Increase inbound Japanese pop-culture tourism traffic to Akihabara and Harajuku.
  • Increase the media content market in America via English VOCALOID.
  • Increase opportunities for talented young Japanese creators to debut in America.
  • Ripple effects affecting distribution and other businesses.
  • Ripple effects emanating towards the Pacific rim, including countries such as China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

They also detail several more specific plans:

  1. Promotion timed to coincide with release of an English VOCALOID [with a picture of GUMI surrounded by glowsticks].
  2. Distribution of VOCALOID music ? Broadcast of music by Japanese creators through internet streaming sites [with a flipped picture of YouTube].
  3. Sales through brick and mortar outlets ? sales of physical product through NEW PEOPLE in San Francisco, a beachhead for J-Pop.
  4. Promotion of the project at creator-aimed events, including International CES and the NAMM Show.
  5. Constructing a foundation for VOCALOID interchange in America ? collaboration with the English version of niconico on niconico.com.
  6. Business to business marketing in America.

This project will involve the participation of both VOCALOID-related and unrelated businesses, such as Bplats, Yamaha, INTERNET, AHS, 1st PLACE, STUDIO DEEN and niconico.

VOCALOID Trans-Pacific Project ? Discussion

While the slides were running, the panelists commented on them, mentioning January events in Las Vegas (CES) and Anaheim (NAMM). Murakami stated that his biggest goal was for American creators to use megpoid English. Yamazaki noted that Bplats will be providing the distribution infrastructure required. He also played a curious clip of a demo song sung in three different languages. SeeU sang the Japanese and Korean versions of Kimpaksa?s ?Alone? (lyrics by 45 degrees), with Luo Tianyi covering the Chinese version of the song. The panelists agreed that usually, there are two types of people who enjoy VOCALOID ? those who like it in Japanese and those who?d like to experience it in their own native language, and they note that America is likely like that as well. Ohshima commented that Yamaha is known internationally for their musical instruments and they would also like for VOCALOID creativity to bloom as well.

Finally, Ishikawa added that he is happy that VOCALOID is getting more popular in America. However, he wants the idea of VOCALOID as a musical instrument to spread more and want users to make new media using VOCALOID and spread them on content sharing websites, getting fans to comment on them, etc. Without this cycle, he feels that the VOCALOID phenomenon in Japan wouldn?t be able to be replicated elsewhere. He would like the business process of nurturing VOCALOID in Japan to expand step by step into America.

And with about 20 seconds left on the clock, the panelists said the closings to conclude the panel.

Source: http://www.vocaloidism.com/vocaloid-trans-pacific-project-unveiled/

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Samsung Galaxy Premier is official - 4.65-inch screen, Jelly Bean and TouchWiz

Android CentralAfter numerous rumors and leaks, the Samsung Galaxy Premier has finally been officially announced by Samsung Ukraine. Aimed at Eastern European markets, the Galaxy Premier combines mid-to-high-end smartphone internals with the latest software from Google and Samsung.

The Galaxy Premier packs a 4.65-inch, 1280x720 HD SuperAMOLED display, and is powered by a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4 CPU, backed up by 1GB of RAM. You've also got 16GB of storage, expandable via a microSD slot, an 8MP rear camera and 1.9MP front-facer. On the software side, you're looking at Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and Samsung's latest TouchWiz UI.

At one point the Galaxy Premier was rumored as a possible Samsung Nexus device, owing to its product number (GT-i9260) being similar to that of the Galaxy Nexus. Instead, it merely looks like Samsung's re-using some Galaxy Nexus components in its latest mid-range handset.

The Samsung Galaxy Premier is due for a November launch, priced at ?5,555 ($679). So far there's no information available as to any launch outside of Eastern Europe.

Source: Samsung Ukraine, via: Engadget



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/1KWVJYNoxDs/story01.htm

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Dawn sees 'young' surface on giant asteroid Vesta

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) ? Like a Hollywood starlet constantly retouching her makeup, the giant asteroid Vesta is constantly stirring its outermost layer to present a young face. Data from NASA's Dawn mission show that a form of weathering that occurs on the moon and other airless bodies we've visited in the inner solar system does not alter Vesta's outermost layer in the same way. Carbon-rich asteroids have also been splattering dark material on Vesta's surface over a long span of the body's history.

The results are described in two papers released today in the journal Nature.

"Dawn's data allow us to decipher how Vesta records fundamental processes that have also affected Earth and other solar system bodies," said Carol Raymond, Dawn deputy principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "No object in our solar system is an island. Throughout solar system history, materials have exchanged and interacted."

Over time, soils on Earth's moon and asteroids such as Itokawa have undergone extensive weathering in the space environment. Scientists see this in the accumulation of tiny metallic particles containing iron, which dulls the fluffy outer layer. Dawn's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) and framing camera detected no accumulation of such tiny particles on Vesta, and this particular protoplanet, or almost-planet, remains bright and pristine.

Nevertheless, the bright rays of the youngest features on Vesta are seen to degrade rapidly and disappear into background soil. Scientists know frequent, small impacts continually mix the fluffy outer layer of broken debris. Vesta also has unusually steep topography relative to other large bodies in the inner solar system, which leads to landslides that further mix surface material.

"Getting up close and familiar with Vesta has reset our thinking about the character of the uppermost soils of airless bodies," said Carle Pieters, one of the lead authors and a Dawn team member based at Brown University, Providence, R.I. "Vesta 'dirt' is very clean, well mixed and highly mobile."

Early pictures of Vesta showed a variety of dramatic light and dark splotches on Vesta's surface. These light and dark materials were unexpected and now show the brightness range of Vesta is among the largest observed on rocky bodies in our solar system.

Dawn scientists suspected early on that bright material is native to Vesta. One of their first hypotheses for the dark material suggested it might come from the shock of high-speed impacts melting and darkening the underlying rocks or from recent volcanic activity. An analysis of data from VIR and the framing camera has revealed, however, that the distribution of dark material is widespread and occurs both in small spots and in diffuse deposits, without correlation to any particular underlying geology. The likely source of the dark material is now shown to be the carbon-rich material in meteoroids, which are also believed to have deposited hydrated minerals from other asteroids on Vesta.

To get the amount of darkening we now see on Vesta, scientists on the Dawn team estimate about 300 dark asteroids with diameters between 0.6 to 6 miles (1 and 10 kilometers) likely hit Vesta during the last 3.5 billion years. This would have been enough to wrap Vesta in a blanket of mixed material about 3 to 7 feet (1 to 2 meters) thick.

"This perpetual contamination of Vesta with material native to elsewhere in the solar system is a dramatic example of an apparently common process that changes many solar system objects," said Tom McCord, the other lead author and a Dawn team member based at the Bear Fight Institute, Winthrop, Wash. "Earth likely got the ingredients for life -- organics and water -- this way."

Launched in 2007, Dawn spent more than a year investigating Vesta. It departed in September 2012 and is currently on its way to the dwarf planet Ceres.

JPL manages the Dawn mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corp. in Dulles, Va., designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are international partners on the mission team. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Dawn, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov .

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121031144327.htm

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A Morphing Storm: As Sandy Moves Inland, Snow And Winds Follow

An ambulance is stuck in over a foot of snow off of Highway 33 West, near Belington, W.Va. on Oct. 30. Superstorm Sandy buried parts of West Virginia under more than a foot of snow.

An ambulance is stuck in over a foot of snow off of Highway 33 West, near Belington, W.Va. on Oct. 30. Superstorm Sandy buried parts of West Virginia under more than a foot of snow.

Robert Ray/AP i

Even though Sandy has switched from hurricane to post-tropical cyclone, it's still a formidable storm. The latest forecast predicts strong winds and coastal storm surges up to four feet in some places. Areas from the eastern Great Lakes region to the mid-Atlantic and up to southern New England can also expect an additional inch of rain.

And NPR's Dan Charles reports from Beckley, W. Va., that there's at least a foot of snow on the ground there, and more on the way.

The mid-Atlantic region is no stranger to hurricanes, but as Sandy made its way north and onto land, it became far more wintery.

Hurricanes draw their power and energy from the heat of ocean water, releasing it high in the atmosphere. It's this transport of heat that keeps the system spinning in the characteristic counter-clockwise direction.

As Sandy moved north and turned westward toward land, it collided with cold air making its way south from Canada. The huge, rotating storm began drawing this cold air into its cyclonic path, driving it farther south. That's why we're now seeing snow in places like Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

The National Weather Service points out that winter storms can spin around like a hurricane does, but there's a key difference between a wintertime cyclone and a hurricane (one type of tropical cyclone). Winter cyclones draw their energy from differences in temperature and pressure in the atmosphere, not from ocean heat.

What continues to make Sandy so powerful is its broad diameter ? more than 1,000 miles ? and its union with the winter storm descending from Canada.

Blizzard warnings remain in effect in the higher elevations of the central Appalachians. Charles reports the heavy, wet snow is breaking tree branches and downing power lines as wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour continue to lash the region.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/10/30/163955358/a-morphing-storm-as-sandy-moves-inland-snow-and-winds-follow?ft=1&f=1007

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Mammoth storm Sandy plunges NYC into darkness

NEW YORK (AP) ? Much of New York was plunged into darkness Monday by a superstorm that overflowed the city's historic waterfront, flooded the financial district and subway tunnels and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people.

The city had shut its mass transit system, schools, the stock exchange and Broadway and ordered hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to leave home to get out of the way of the superstorm Sandy as it zeroed in on the nation's largest city.

Residents spent much of the day trying to salvage normal routines, jogging and snapping pictures of the water while officials warned the worst of the storm had not hit.

By evening, a record 13-foot storm surge was threatening Manhattan's southern tip, howling winds had left a crane hanging from a high-rise and utilities deliberately darkened part of downtown Manhattan to avoid storm damage.

"It's really a complete ghost town now," said Stephen Weisbrot, from a powerless 10th-floor apartment in lower Manhattan.

Water lapped over the seawall in Battery Park City, flooding rail yards, subway tracks, tunnels and roads. Rescue workers floated bright orange rafts down flooded downtown streets, while police officers rolled slowly down the street with loudspeakers telling people to go home.

"Now it's really turning into something," said Brian Damianakes, taking shelter in an ATM vestibule and watching a trash can blow down the street in Battery Park before the storm surge.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the surge was expected to recede by midnight, after exceeding an original expectation of 11 feet.

"We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm, and the storm has met our expectations," he said. "This is a once-in-a-long-time storm."

About 670,000 customers were without power late Monday in the city and suburban Westchester County.

"This will be one for the record books," said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at ConEdison. "This will be the largest storm-related outage in our history."

Because a customer is defined as an individual meter, the actual number of people affected is probably much higher.

It could be several days to a week before all residents who lost power during the storm get their lights back, Miksad said.

Shortly after the massive storm made landfall in southern New Jersey, Consolidated Edison cut power deliberately to about 6,500 customers in downtown Manhattan to avert further damage. Soon, huge swaths of the city went dark.

After a backup generator failed, New York University's Tisch Hospital began evacuating more than 200 patients to other facilities, including 20 babies from neonatal intensive care, some of them on respirators operating on battery power.

Without power, the hospital had no elevator service, meaning patients had to be carefully carried down staircases and outside into the weather. Gusts of wind blew their blankets as nurses held IVs and other equipment.

Late Monday, an explosion at a substation at 14th Street and FDR Drive contributed to the outages. No one was injured, and ConEd did not know whether the explosion was caused by flooding or by flying debris.

The underground power lines that deliver electricity to much of New York City are much less vulnerable to outages than overhead lines because they aren't exposed to wind and falling trees or branches. But when damaged, they are harder to repair because the equipment is more difficult to access.

If substations are flooded while in operation, the equipment will fail and need to be replaced. If they are shut down in advance, workers can more quickly power up the machinery and restore service after floodwaters have receded.

Earlier Monday, another 1 million customers lost power in New York City, the northern suburbs and coastal Long Island, where floodwaters swamped cars, downed trees and put neighborhoods under water.

The storm had only killed one New York City resident by Monday night, a man who died when a tree fell on his home in the Flushing section of Queens.

The rains and howling winds, some believed to reach more than 95 mph, left a crane hanging off a luxury high-rise in midtown Manhattan, causing the evacuation of hundreds from a posh hotel and other buildings. Inspectors were climbing 74 flights of stairs to examine the crane hanging from the $1.5 billion building.

The facade of a four-story Manhattan building in the Chelsea neighborhood crumbled and collapsed suddenly, leaving the lights, couches, cabinets and desks inside visible from the street. No one was hurt, although some of the falling debris hit a car.

On coastal Long Island, floodwaters swamped cars, downed trees and put neighborhoods under water as beachfronts and fishing villages bore the brunt of the storm. A police car was lost rescuing 14 people from the popular resort Fire Island.

The city shut all three of its airports, its subways, schools, stock exchanges, Broadway theaters and closed several bridges and tunnels throughout the day as the weather worsened.

On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange was to be closed again ? the first time it's been closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city.

Earlier, some New Yorkers defiantly soldiered on, trying to salvage normal routines and refusing to evacuate, as the mayor ordered 375,000 in low-lying areas to do.

Tanja Stewart and her 7-year-old son, Finn, came from their home in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood to admire the white caps on the Hudson, Finn wearing a pair of binoculars around his neck. "I really wanted to see some big waves," he said.

Keith Reilly posed in an Irish soccer jersey for a picture above the rising waters of New York Harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

"This is not so bad right now," said the 25-year-old Reilly.

On Long Island, floodwaters had begun to deluge some low-lying towns. Cars floated along the streets of Long Beach and flooding consumed several blocks south of the bay, residents said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, holding a news conference on Long Island where the lights flickered and his mike went in and out, said most of the National Guards deployed to the New York City area would go to Long Island.

Anoush Vargas drove with her husband, Michael to the famed Jones Beach Monday morning, only to find it covered by water.

"We have no more beach. It's gone," she said, shaking her head as she watched the waves go under the boardwalk.

___

Associated Press writers Karen Matthews, Colleen Long and Deepti Hajela in New York, Larry Neumeister, Frank Eltman and Meghan Barr on Long Island, and Seth Borenstein in Kensington, Md., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mammoth-storm-sandy-plunges-nyc-darkness-014428580.html

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Writing cover letters and editing resume | Academic Writing | Articles ...

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Hi there,
I have many transferable skills and looking for several positions in different fields. I need someone to write sound cover letters for me that will emphasize my skills and draw from my past experiences. In some cases I may be overqualified.
You must have experience in writing resumes/cover letters. This is ongoing project - as I find the openings I will need you to help to tweak my resume and write cl. Please make your bid for 10 of my job applications.

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Source: http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Human-Resources-Articles/Writing-cover-letters-editing-resume.html

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You're Hired Total Job Search 2013 is the ... - Here 4 Business

By Alan, on October 30th, 2012

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You?re Hired Total Job Search 2013 is the definitive guide to job hunting

If you are one of the thousands who are currently in the middle of a job hunt that is, so far, proving fruitless, then you will know all about the frustration that comes from sending out dozens of job applications only for the phone not to ring and the rejection letters to drop through the door.

There is no denying that it is tough out there in the market, and it doesn?t matter if you are a school leaver or a CEO, there simply aren?t enough jobs for the amount of applicants.

Don?t lose hope however, as a great new handbook has been published that gives loads of helpful hints and tips to making that next application a success. You?re Hired Total Job Search 2013 is the must have guide to securing that much wanted position, and will be of invaluable help in your job search.

The book covers all of the important advice on writing a great CV, preparing for job interviews and assessment centres but also includes a professional recruiter?s tips and tricks that set it apart from other books in the job search market. It contains advice on how to search for jobs using professional networking platforms like LinkedIn and up to the minute advice on using the social media including Facebook and Twitter to build new contacts and unearth unadvertised jobs.

Aimed at job hunters at every level, this book is crammed full of smart techniques to help job hunters plan their job search, get short-listed and stand out from the crowd at interviews and assessment centres.

You?re Hired! Total Job Search 2013 is the great new guide for job hunters who want to get up, get out and get hired!

No related posts.

Source: http://www.here4business.co.uk/youre-hired-total-job-search-2013-is-the-definitive-guide-to-job-hunting/

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In Virginia, Obama and Romney camps mount furious final push for votes (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/259478585?client_source=feed&format=rss

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US Navy sends in carriers to help in wake of Sandy

The U.S. Navy is sending three helicopter carrier ships to the coast off New York and New Jersey to help rescue and recovery operations in the wake of superstorm Sandy, officials told NBC News.

Navy officials said USS Wasp, USS Carter Hall, and USS Mesa Verde had been ordered to head to the area to provide landing platforms for Coast Guard, National Guard and civilian agency helicopters if needed.

The Atlantic Fleet command made the decision in the name of "prudent planning," officials said.

With six days to go before the Nov. 6 elections, President Barack Obama will visit flood-ravaged areas of the New Jersey shore, where the storm made landfall on Monday.

As his guide, he will have Republican Governor Chris Christie, a vocal backer of presidential challenger Mitt Romney who has nevertheless praised Obama and the federal response to the storm.

"Tomorrow recovery begins. Today was a day of sorrow," Christie told a news conference late Tuesday. "There's nothing wrong with that. So long as sorrow doesn't replace resilience, we'll be just fine."

Millions across the Northeast were stricken by the massive storm with ongoing power and mass transit outages around New York for several more days. However, Wall Street, airports and some businesses were reopening Wednesday.

Sandy was responsible for the deaths of at least 47 people in the United States, NBC News reported Wednesday, after killing 68 in the Caribbean. Some 6.6 million were still without power.

Footage from a helicopter flying over the New Jersey coastline showed fires raging among storm-damaged homes, with TODAY's Natalie Morales reporting that she counted some 25 separate points of flame.

She speculated that fractured natural gas pipes or downed electrical lines could have caused the fires. Emergency dispatchers in Bricktown, N.J., told NBC News they were dealing with fires in the area.

Boats that Morales said had been "tossed as if toys" could be seen piled up next to wrecked houses in the area.

Meanwhile, Sandy pushed inland, dumping several feet of snow in the Appalachian Mountains -- nearly 30 inches was recorded in Red House, Md. -- and then headed into Canada Wednesday.

Sandy by the numbers

BreakingNews.com's coverage of Sandy

The National Weather Service said "remnants of Sandy continue to weaken over Pennsylvania," in a 5 a.m. Wednesday update.

However, it said gale warnings and small craft advisories were in place for parts of the Great Lakes.

"Flood and coastal flood watches, warnings and advisories are in effect over portions of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states," the notice said.

Winter storm warnings and advisories remained in effect for parts of southwest Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia, eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, and extreme western North Carolina. A further 2 to 4 inches of snow were expected in the mountains of West Virginia into western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania.

And dangerous surf condition were expected to continue from Florida to New England for the next couple of days, the NWS added.

Video: Fire rages on Sandy-stricken Jersey Shore (on this page)

Sandy caused waves up to two-stories high in the Great Lakes Tuesday, forcing massive cargo ships -- some longer than three football fields ? to seek shelter.

"We don't stop for thunderstorms and flurries," said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers' Association, which represents U.S.-flagged cargo ships on the Great Lakes. "The lakes don't have to be perfectly flat. It has to be a significant weather event for ships to go to anchor or stay in port. But this was just too much."

Sandy leaves trail of destruction, disbelief in its path

Subway tracks and commuter tunnels under New York City, which carry several million people a day, were under several feet of water. The lower half of Manhattan remained without power after a transformer explosion at a Con Edison substation Monday night.

Slideshow: Sandy slams into East Coast (on this page)

Hit with a record storm surge of nearly 14 feet of water, New York City likely will struggle without subways for days, authorities said. Buses were operating on a limited basis.

Officials with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said they would release a timetable of their recovery plans sometime on Wednesday.

Sandy leaves NYC subway system, infrastructure licking its wounds

Officials planned to reopen financial markets on Wednesday and on Broadway, most shows ?will go on,? Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, said in a statement on its website.

Video: Entertainment for stranded tourists in Times Sq. (on this page)

Two of the area's three major airports -- John F. Kennedy International in New York and Newark Liberty International -- planned to reopen with limited service on Wednesday.

New York's LaGuardia Airport was flooded and remained closed. Nearly 19,000 flights have been canceled since Sunday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.com.

Sunday?s New York Marathon is still on, but weather.com pointed out that ?flying in runners from out of town will be tricky, and there may not be a subway to get everyone to the starting line.?

In New Jersey, Christie took a helicopter tour of the Jersey shore on Tuesday and saw boats adrift, boardwalks washed away, roads blocked by massive sand drifts and other destruction. He stopped in the badly damaged resort towns of Belmar and Avalon.

"I was just here walking this place this summer, and the fact that most of it is gone is just incredible," he said at one stop.

Christie said it could be seven to 10 days before power is restored statewide. He said residents could not yet return to homes on the shore's battered barrier islands.

Thousands of residents of Hoboken, N.J., just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, were stranded in their homes due to flooding, the mayor said.

Dawn Zimmer, mayor of Hoboken, said half the city remained flooded Tuesday night.

"We have, probably, about 20,000 people that still remain in their homes, and we're trying to put together an evacuation plan, get the equipment here," Zimmer told MSNBC TV.

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitterand Facebook

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49619068/ns/weather/

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Potentially hazardous airbags may lead to product liability suits ...

Our Atlanta readers may be interested to learn that the Better Business Bureau and the U.S. Department of Transportation are warning consumers of possible dangers associated with counterfeit airbags. Unbeknownst to many automobile repair shops, they have received a variety of counterfeit airbags, many looking identical to name brand airbags, and have installed them in vehicles involved in accidents.

While no one has reported any injuries or fatalities due to these counterfeit airbags as of yet, at least one study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has revealed a counterfeit airbag to be a potentially dangerous product. Results indicate the equipment may fail to deploy in an accident, or may scatter metal debris upon inflation.

The NHTSA has stated cars that have had their airbags replaced in the last three years are at risk, and owners should have their airbags inspected by auto repair professionals to determine if they received a counterfeit. The manufacturers of cars most likely to be at risk have established consumer call centers that can address further questions.

Anyone who is injured by what is established to be a dangerous product may have a claim for legal compensation if the source of the item can be identified.

If just a few individuals are harmed, each may be in a good position to pursue personal injury lawsuits. In such cases, a court may award victims of a dangerous product compensation for medical expenses, property damage, lost wages and pain and suffering.

If these potentially dangerous airbags prove to cause injuries to a number of victims, an attorney experienced in products liability and class action lawsuits can help the plaintiffs to organize and pursue legal remedies against the same defendant. In such a case, any damages received would be shared by the group of plaintiffs.

Source: Roswell Patch, "BBB, Feds Warn of Fake Airbags Being Installed," Oct. 22, 2012

Source: http://www.atlantagapersonalinjuryblog.com/2012/10/potentially-hazardous-airbags-may-lead-to-product-liability-suits.shtml

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High Anxiety Around Hurricane Sandy

New York area families who were slammed by last year's Hurricane Irene are girding for a storm that promises to hit even harder. Still hours away from the worst of Hurricane Sandy, those who are in its path are in a state of high anxiety, holding their collective breath.

Kelly Salus, a 42-year-old mother of four from suburban New Jersey, has barely recovered from the hurricane last August, which left seven feet of water in her house. She and her husband were taken to dry land by boat.

It was there at the Pompton Lakes fire house Sunday where Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency and ordered evacuations of the state's barrier islands and Atlantic City casinos.

ABC News to Broadcast Special Expanded One-Hour Editions of "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline" Dedicated to Storm Coverage

The governor has predicted that residents could be out of power for up to a week after Sandy, now a category 2 hurricane, hits land later tonight.

The town's residents were asked to voluntarily evacuate because of power lines so close to houses, but Salus said, "I don't know where we would go with no family close by."

The special needs teacher and her four children, aged 4 to 17, are homebound today with all schools closed in New Jersey.

Last year, she and her husband, who is in pharmaceutical sales, had no flood insurance because they don't live in a flood zone. They got help from FEMA, but were out of pocket more than $25,000 when flood waters filled their house, destroying the furnace, washer and dryer and most of their finished basement.

Hurricane Sandy: Reporter, Producer Hit by Storm Wave Watch Video

Hurricane Sandy: Full Coverage

While cleaning out the basement in preparation for Hurricane Irene, Salus reached for a cast-iron roasting pan that landed on her head, breaking her nose and giving her a concussion.

"It was on a top shelf and I reached for it and it fell on me and knocked me out," she said. "I had two black eyes and I was starting a new job ? I looked like mess, like someone had beat me up."

While coastal residents are more worried about the tidal surge, Salus said the rain and wind is her concern.

"I am hopeful if there is less than 10 inches of rain," she said. "Now we have insurance and a drain system and sump pumps...we should be able to handle it."

Hurricane Sandy: Live Storm Tracker

"We are as prepared as we can be," Salus said. "The winds can be a tad scary and downed power lines. But we saw the worst 15 months ago. We can handle it."

Lisa Palmer of Glastonbury, Conn., looks at old photos of the Hurricane of 1938 as she waits anxiously for another historic storm, Hurricane Sandy, to move up the coast.

"It's a little unsettling," said Palmer, 62, and a retired landscaper. "The Main Street was completely flooded. Stores had water up to the second-floor windows. People were polling in rowboats. We don't have a rowboat."

Palmer's home is on the Connecticut River flood plain, so she likely won't be inundated, but the town's sewage treatment plant could flood, as it did last year during Hurricane Irene, leaving them without water.

She has six prize goats, two of them milking. Hurricane-force wind gusts could also hamper getting buckets of water to the barn. "Livestock need fresh water all the time and those who are milking need more than ever," said Palmer.

"I have to get milk to the barn once a day and I am not sure I can tie a rope around my waist to get there," said Palmer. "I don't know how bad the gusts of winds are going to be. I am afraid to get out of the house."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/irene-high-anxiety-hurricane-sandy/story?id=17590910

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Wine & Spirits: Halloween Cocktails | Washington Life Magazine

Washington bars scare up witches brews, creepy concoctions and spine-tingling sips on Oct. 31.

By Kelly A. Magyarics

The Misty Mummy at Capitale is just one of the Halloween-themed liquids creations at District bars. (Photo by Vithaya Photography)

Hurricane Sandy got you down? Have no fear ? Wednesday is Halloween. So after she?s barreled through and left her trail of downed power lines and treebranches,?flooding?and misery, head to one of these area bars on October 31 for some liquid treats.

Capitale (1301 K St. NW, 202.962.3933) will be mixing up the Bruja Brew, with Tequila, lime juice and Cointreau, smoked with applewood and peppercorn, and topped with dry ice; Or try the?Misty Mummy, a cinnamon-tinged fizz wrapped in King Tut-worthy streamers. The two libations are $12 ($10 during happy hour). Capitale shared a variation of the Misty Mummy with WL Wine & Spirits for your own Halloween happenings:

The Misty Mummy
Recipe courtesy of Capitale, Washington, D.C.

1 ? oz. Cinnamon-infused vodka (see Note)
? oz. simple syrup
? oz. lemon juice
1 egg white
2 drops black food coloring
Soda water

Combine the vodka, simple syrup, lemon juice, egg white and food coloring in a cocktail shaker. Shake?without ice, and then add ice and shake again. Strain over ice in a tall Collins glass wrapped in white?streamers and top with soda.

To prepare the cinnamon-infused vodka:

Take a 750 ml bottle of vodka and add a handful of cinnamon sticks. Shake the bottle each day for?several days, until the desired cinnamon flavor is achieved. Remove the cinnamon sticks, or keep them?in the bottle for additional flavor.

Public Tenley's deceptively potent punch mixes vodka, apple cider and fruit juice. (Photo by Vithaya Photography)

Public Tenley?s (4611 41st St. NW, 202.237.1793) Wicked Witch PUBLIC Apple Punch ($10) is a witch-worthy brew with vodka, cider and fruit juice. Don?t be fooled by the drink?s easy drinking nature?it?s a ghoulishy potent potable.

The Bloody Bang ($11) at 901 Restaurant (901 9th St. NW, 202.524.4433) combines Emperor Imperial Vodka, Champagne and raspberry pur?e. The restaurant promises it will unleash your inner zombie so you can continue your revelry until dawn breaks.

Graffiato (707 6th St. NW, 202.289.3600) is celebrating Halloween Jersey-Shore style with?The Fist Pump ($13). A mix of dark, light and 151-proof rum, Applejack, papaya pur?e and pineapple juice, The Fist Pump is garnished with orange and cherry. Additionally, they?ll be offering two seasonal cocktails: the Smashing Pumpkin 2.0 ($10) has pumpkin spice Moonshine, lemon, Allspice Dram, maple, Old Fashioned bitters and pumpkin ale; the Hot Tottie ($10) mingles Laird?s Apple Jack, Rittenhouse Rye, pumpkin puree, lemon, honey, Angostura bitters and nutmeg.

Mixologist Horus Alvarez at U Street hotspot Vinoteca (1940 11th St. NW, 202.332.9463) uses the ubiquitous orange orb in the Harvest Pumpkin ($12). He infuses Boyd and Blair potato-based vodka with locally sourced, fresh pumpkin and squash and reaches for his grandmother?s recipe to make a pumpkin candy pur?e with brown sugar and spices. He mixes both with Domaine de Canton and tops the sipper with a piece of candied pumpkin.

Bar Pilar and Caf? Saint-Ex are both hosting a rock star Halloween party on October 31 from 7 PM until close, paying tribute to two of the hottest pop and rock stars of our time. Caf? Saint-Ex?s (1847 14th St. NW)?Halloween soir?e is?themed around Ozzy Osbourne,?the??Prince of Darkness? himself.?Saint-Ex encourages guests to dress like their favorite Osbourne (Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly or Jack), and will offer Ozzy-inspired cocktails for $7. Jam to rock and metal music upstairs or spins from DJ Ari Goldman downstairs.

Just down the block, Bar Pilar (1833 14th St. NW, 202.265.1751) is hosting a Thriller Halloween, encouraging guests to dress like Michael Jackson. They?ll be mixing up cocktails like Graveyard Punch and the Old Overholt-based Pumpkin Manhattan. Tunes from the King of Pop and fab bands will be blasting with a fog machine recreating that Thriller video ambiance. The best MJ costume wins a $50 bar tab, with judging done at 11 PM.

Kelly Magyarics is a wine and spirits writer, and wine educator, in the Washington, D.C. area. She can be reached through her website, www.kellymagyarics.com, or www.twitter.com/kmagyarics.

Source: http://www.washingtonlife.com/2012/10/30/wine-spirits-halloween-cocktails/

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Video: UK bans Ash tree imports to stop disease spread

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/49599625/

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Epic irony: Crowe's 'Noah' film in path of Sandy

Splash News

Russell Crowe on the set of "Noah" earlier this month.

By Peter Gicas, E! Online

Superstorm Sandy has caused several film and TV productions to shut down in New York City, including, of all things, the biblical epic "Noah."

Shooting on the Darren Aronofsky-directed film starring Russell Crowe was put on hold on Monday, the Los Angeles Times?reports, and there is growing concern over potential damage to the two massive ships built for the project. One is housed in a Brooklyn sound stage, while the other resides in Oyster Bay, N.Y., an area that has already suffered flooding and winds of up to 63 mph.

The outdoor ark reportedly measures 450 feet long and is 75 feet tall and 45 feet wide, but was not designed to actually be seaworthy.

Alec Baldwin braves Sandy by taking dogs on a walk

Meanwhile, Crowe's costar in the film, Emma Watson, couldn't help but comment on the latest developments surrounding the project.

"I take it that the irony?of a massive storm holding up the production of Noah is not lost @DarrenAronofsy @russellcrowe," the actress tweeted.

"Noah" is due to hit theaters in March 2014.

These celebrity homes could be threatened by Sandy as well

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/30/14805452-russell-crowes-noah-in-the-path-of-sandy-emma-watson-tweets-the-irony?lite

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Text, don't call, once Sandy hits, say carriers

12 hrs.

Wireless carriers have made extensive preparations to deal with the impact of Hurricane Sandy, and are asking customers to do the same. Among the best things you can do to help keep your phone battery going and to ease network congestion is to limit your voice calls???keep them short???and to send text messages instead.

"Limit non-emergency calls to save battery power and free up wireless networks for emergency workers and operations and send brief text messages instead," Verizon Wireless says in a hurricane preparedness statement. "When the network gets busy, texts have a higher chance of getting through the first time and can be more efficient."

Among other tips offered by Verizon, AT&T,?Sprint and T-Mobile:

  • Keep phones and phone accessories???batteries and chargers???in sealed plastic bags?to avoid water damage.
  • If you have an extra phone battery and you?have power, charge that battery so it's ready.
  • Add to your phone's contact list all key emergency phone numbers and email addresses, including police,?fire and rescue agencies; schools and service people.
  • If you are being evacuated, forward home or work phone calls to your wireless number.
  • Use your phone's camera to take photos or video of your property and valuables before the storm hits, so you have "before" photos if your home suffers storm damage.
  • If cell service is down in your area, but your home Wi-Fi network is working, switch to Wi-Fi on your phone.
  • Expect high-call volume, which can lead to network congestion. If that's the case, you'll hear "fast busy" signals on your wireless phone (or a slow dial tone on your landline phone). If that?happens, hang up, wait several seconds and then try the call again. That allows your original call data to clear the network before you try again.

For additional tips on conserving your cellphone's battery, see NBC News' Bob Sullivan's Facebook page here. He says:?

How to conserve cell phone power during the storm: a nice set of tips. 1) Airplane mode 2) Turn off cell, wifi to gadget isn't searching for networks til you need them. Added to this, I have my auto jump-start battery in the house, which has a convenient USB port, too. Yours might at least have a cigaretter lighter 12V out ...?use a car charger or converter with that. HT to @steverubel

In advance of Sandy, all carriers have been deploying portable cell sites and mobile emergency generators?in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast?that can replace damaged cell towers. Carriers?are also coordinating their work with local and emergency agencies.

You can read more about your carrier here: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/text-dont-call-once-sandy-hits-say-wireless-carriers-1B6739587

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Iraq War Veteran Given New Champion Built Home

U.S. Army Veteran, Sgt. John Jones II and his family received a new home from Champion Home builders and its House United program partners

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (PRWEB) October 29, 2012

The Champion built home that was manufactured as part of the House United program in partnership with Craftsman, NextGen Home, Bank of America, Rebuilding Together, Sears Heroes at Home, and with assistance from DIY expert Ty Pennington, during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, was given to Sgt. John Jones II, a U.S. Army veteran, on October 17.

The home was manufactured at Champion?s Salisbury, N.C. facility, and placed in Charlotte?s Belmont neighborhood. Half of the home was finished in Tampa, Fla. during the RNC on Aug. 28 and the other half was finished in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 3 during the DNC. State delegates from both conventions hammered nails and painted alongside Pennington and volunteers from Champion and the partnering organizations.

Click here to view the home reveal.

"This house is a physical reminder of the positive legacy that both conventions leave behind and the power of what we can achieve when we work together," said Charlotte Mayor, Anthony Foxx. "I'd like to thank all the sponsors and all the volunteers in Charlotte and Tampa who worked to build this house, and on behalf of the City of Charlotte, I'd like to be the first to welcome Sgt. John Jones II and his family to their new home."

After completing his military service, Jones, his wife Tanisha, and their three children relocated from Goldsboro to Charlotte where they initially found themselves homeless. With assistance from the American Legion, the Jones family was able to secure rental housing and assistance from the State. Jones cannot currently work because of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but is receiving treatment to be able to someday return to work. He receives disability assistance from the Veterans Administration.

"Champion is incredibly proud that both the nation?s corporate community and elected officials came together to support the House United program,? said Jack Lawless, CEO of Champion Home Builders. ?Our military veterans and their families are some of the most deserving people in our nation. With each deployment and assignment, they give up a part of their life for our freedom and way of life. Being a part of House United and having the opportunity to donate a beautiful home to John and his family is an honor for Champion and our affiliated retailers across the country.?

Jones served in the Army from 2000-2010. During his service, he was deployed on two tours of duty in the Middle East ? Kuwait in 2003/2004 and Iraq in 2006/2007 ? where he served as a Water Craft Operator. In this role, Jones was responsible for the transportation of troops and supplies via sea vessels, he also helped to build bridges. The ravages of war during his deployments resulted in PTSD and severe migraines. Jones also sustained respiratory injuries due to the smoke from oil wells as well as burns and rashes from sun exposure.

About Champion


Troy, Michigan-based Champion Home Builders, Inc. is a leader in factory-built construction which, through its operating subsidiaries, manufactures products at 29 facilities in North America and the United Kingdom and distributes its products through independent retailers, builders and developers. The Champion family of builders produces manufactured and modular homes, as well as modular buildings for government and commercial applications. For more information, please visit:

http://www.championhomes.com


http://www.championcommercialstructures.com


http://www.cbsmods.com

Corinne Petras
cpetras@pushtwentytwo.com
248-730-3008
Email Information

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-war-veteran-given-champion-built-home-130218943.html

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