How to Review the How-To App Snapguide

Snapguide is a free, iOS-only app that acts as a hub for how-to guides on your phone. Gadget Lab decided the best way to cover this app was to provide our own how-to guide -- how to review the Snapguide app.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/DpVEnwG_lKg/

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Real Estate in Tampa News You Can Use! | Tampa Home ...

A man?s guide t? making high-impact, low-fuss romantic meals

It?s t?m? t? banish th?t old stereotype th?t th? ?nly guys wh? c?n cook ?r? professional chefs. Men, ?v?n ?f your culinary expertise starts w?th boiling water ?nd ends ?t th? microwave, y?u c?n serve ? dazzling one-pot meal f?r your significant ?th?r, your best buds ?r just yourself.

?Dining w?ll doesn?t h?v? t? involve ? trip t? ? restaurant, ?r ?v?n ? lot ?f work ?t home,? says Mike Martini, winemaker ?t California?s Louis M. Martini Winery. ?I don?t like fussing around ?n th? kitchen ?ft?r ? d?y ?n th? winery, but nothing beats ? special, home-cooked meal t? end th? d?y.?

According t? Martini, it?s n?t too difficult t? elevate ? simple meal t? th? level ?f ? gourmet experience. Ambiance, ? well-set table, ? good one-pot recipe ?nd th? right wine ?r? ?ll ?t takes. Martini offers ? f?w tips:

Set th? mood

Hosting ? football party ?s ? f?r cry fr?m an intimate dinner f?r two. If it?s game d?y, dust ?ff th? sports paraphernalia, find s?m? casual serving dishes ?n team colors, ?nd you?re ?ff ?nd running. F?r ? romantic occasion, however, develop ? sophisticated ambiance w?th music, lighting ?nd decor.

Start w?th an attractive table t?p. A tablecloth adds ? touch ?f refinement wh?l? protecting furniture ?nd easing post-meal cleanup. Add ? floral centerpiece t? d? double duty ?s ? decoration ?nd ?s ? gift f?r h?r. Light s?m? candles t? enhance th? mood.

Finally, follow th? rules ?f proper place settings. Use your good dishes ?nd set th?m ?n opposite sides ?f th? table, ?r side-by-side f?r greater intimacy. Place knives ?nd spoons t? th? right ?f th? plate ?nd forks t? th? left. Turn th? sharp side ?f knives toward th? plate, ?nd ?nly include utensils you?ll actually b? using f?r th? meal.

Create th? perfect pairing

Whatever meal y?u decide t? serve, there?s ? sophisticated wine t? complement th? culinary experience. F?r ideas ?n what t? pour, talk t? th? wine steward ?t your local grocer ?r wine shop. Many stores ?ls? suggest recipes t? pair w?th th??r featured wines.

F?r ? can?t-miss meal, g? w?th an easy y?t impressive dish, like braised beef sh?rt ribs. Simple t? prepare ?nd delicious, one-pot sh?rt ribs require minimal fuss ?nd cleanup ?nd w?ll leave your guests impressed. A bottle ?f Louis M. Martini 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ?s ? perfect match.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients:

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons coarse sea salt

3 fresh rosemary sprigs

2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves

Freshly ground pepper

4 1/2 pounds beef sh?rt ribs, w?ll trimmed

1/2 cup corn ?r grape seed oil

4 cups beef broth, divided

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional f?r potatoes

2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups finely chopped carrots

1 1/2 cups finely chopped celery

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 750-ml bottle bold red wine, such ?s Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon

6 t? 8 large, white-skinned potatoes

Directions:

Grind together th? bay leaf, sea salt, rosemary ?nd sage. Sprinkle ribs w?th pepper ?nd 3 1/2 teaspoons ?f th? herb-salt mixture.

Heat 1/2 cup oil ?n heavy large pot ?v?r high heat. Working ?n batches, add beef ?nd brown w?ll, turning occasionally, ?b?ut eight minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer beef t? large bowl.

Pour ?ff oil fr?m pot. Add 1 cup broth t? drippings ?n pot ?nd bring t? boil, scraping up ?ny browned bits. Pour deglazed pan juices into small bowl.

Heat 4 tablespoons oil ?n same pot ?v?r medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, ?nd celery; saute unt?l beginning t? brown, ?b?ut 12 minutes. Add tomato paste ?nd saute two minutes. Add deglazed pan juices ?nd bring t? simmer. Return beef ?nd ?ny accumulated juices t? pot. Add wine ?nd remaining 3 cups broth ?nd bring t? boil. Reduce heat t? low.

Season w?th pepper. Cover ?nd cook unt?l beef ?s v?ry tender, stirring occasionally, ?b?ut two t? three hours. Ab?ut ?n? hour prior t? being done, place potatoes ?n th? pot ?nd mix w?ll.

Wh?n done, spoon ?ff ?ny extra fat fr?m surface.

Serve sh?rt ribs ?nd vegetables ?n individual bowls, w?th glasses ?f Louis M. Martini 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

?

Real Estate in Tampa News You Can Use!

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Real Estate in Tampa News is updated every week with a variety of information that you can use in and around your home. In the Real Estate in Tampa News, we share home decorating and home improvement ideas, as well as information on senior living, green living and much more.

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Source: http://tampahomeinspectionnews.com/a-mans-guide-to-making-high-impact-low-fuss-romantic-meals/

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Voice of Experience: Janet Adams, Head of Strategic Projects and ...

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

One of the major challenges women face in the financial services industry, said Janet Adams, Head of Strategic Projects and Change Management for Group Regulatory Affairs at RBS, is a shortage of female role models. ?It can be daunting being in meeting after meeting where you are the only woman or there is a minority of women.?

?We have three new female non-executive directors at RBS, and our Chairman is actively committed to developing women in senior positions so we do have successful female role models,? she said. ?I have been mentored by two of the more senior women here over the past five years and benefited greatly from this.?

It?s also incumbent on women to reach out to role models, she said. ?You need to go out and find them and approach them.?

Career in Change Management

Adams graduated from Imperial College in 1985 with a master?s degree in petroleum exploration and geosciences. ?At the time, there weren?t many jobs available in the field aside from those based on rigs or abroad,? she recalled, ?so I moved into the thriving IT environment of the ?80s.?

?It was a time of technological revolution and the internet was emerging? she explained. ?I began working as a self employed software product tester and then became a project manager. It was an exciting time, with the creation of the Euro and the Millennium Bug both demanding large scale responses in the financial services sector. In the 90s I moved into big change management jobs,? Adams continued.

?Working as an independent self-employed consultant was very liberating, with the business environment changing at such a fast pace. This experience allowed me to learn and grow fast, keeping up with the technological advancements creating the working world we know today,? she said. ?I enjoyed working on predominantly male teams and managing them. Very quickly I learned how to hold my own and express new ideas with confidence.?

Adams joined RBS as a contractor in the mid ?00s, working as a project manager to implement changes put in place by the international accounting standards board. ?I absolutely loved the supportive and nourishing culture here and decided it was the place for me to put down roots.?

She explained, ?I found it to be a very supportive place for women ? my boss from that time still mentors and sponsors me today.?

?I moved to work for the corporate bank, leading a multi-million pound internet banking change program. This was one of the biggest and most progressive platforms of its kind at the time. My career then progressed through to senior change manager and COO roles until taking up my current position in mid 2011, a position I am very proud of.? Adams continued, ?To sum it up, I?m a change agent.

Currently, as RBS?s group head of strategic projects and change management for Group Regulatory Affairs, she is helping the bank take the best course of action in response to new global financial regulations. She said, ?In the financial services industry, we have been rocked by the financial crisis, regulators across the globe have responded with reforms to to ensure a more sustainable banking future. I?m looking at change with all of our divisions and functions to see how we can most effectively deliver and implement changes and regulations required of us across the globe, while optimizing our opportunities.?

?We, as senior managers, have the responsibility to create a sustainable banking industry future that adds value to society and restores trust in the industry. We?re architects of the future ? and I?m excited to be a major part of this change and major shift going forward,? she added.

The Taktile Management Technique

Adams said one of her proudest achievements is developing a new performance management technique that has delivered big results.

?When I worked as the head of delivery for the corporate bank, I managed a program of work to increase customer satisfaction across all of our clients. I devised a program of management that is the most effective I?ve seen to date. It?s a radical technique for managing change,? she said.

?It?s called ?Taktile,? from the German ?Takt,? which means the beat of an orchestra, and ?agile,? which in management has to do with piloting and trialing,? she explained. ?The team delivers output to a beat, and our beat is set at three days. Every three days my team had to deliver something ? to execute it, to the stakeholders, to our customers. It improved our performance dramatically, and we saw customer satisfaction rates soar in nine months.?

She added ?Taktile management is a way of coming up with creative solutions to new and old problems to get better results for the client.?

Advice for Women in Financial Services

Adams encouraged young women to be ambitious. ?Be very confident in yourself. Just because some people may talk a bigger game than you, don?t think they are any better than you ? because they?re not. Go for your career and give it everything you?ve got.?

?The advice I would give to a younger self would be to be very conscious and aware of how much you learn and develop in everything you do, and find the optimal time to move on to the next opportunity, within your organization ? your next role may be right under your nose, when you have been looking elsewhere,? Adams said. ?In my experience its healthy to change roles every few years to keep growing.?

She added, ?At RBS, with each move I?ve had the opportunity to learn, grow, and develop. That?s what has given me rounded skills as a professional.?

Women at RBS

?Here at RBS,? Adams said, ?We have many women in senior positions, who are inspiring the next generation. They are doing a fantastic job paving the way and our Chairman is right behind them, supporting them.?

She has been involved with several of the bank?s initiatives to attract and retain women. ?I?continue to be?an active member of the RBS?Global Focused Women?s network, which is a group-wide program launched in 2007?to support the attraction, retention and development of?our female talent. The initiative provides?cross company?networking, career development,?mentoring,? coaching, and??more,? she said. ?I?ve made great connections through the network as there are over 5,400 members in 38 countries.??

Adams also helped launch the women?s network for the investment bank, the Compass network, and serves as its deputy chair. ?It?s one of our great successes ? we had over 1,000 members within a year of launching.?

She continued, ?We have strong and thriving diversity programs in all areas of RBS ? we train people on unconscious bias and ensure women are considered equally to men across the RBS group. I?ve benefited from many initiatives over the years.?

She also mentioned one of the bank?s community investment programs. ?It?s an employee volunteer program ? you can sign up online as an individual or as a group and you can do anything from painting a school playground to planting a vegetable garden in a community or mentoring a young person.?

In Her Personal Time

?My 13 year old daughter comes first,? said Adams. ?I was a single mother for six years of my earlier career and I?m very proud to be a role model for my daughter.?

?I spend a lot of my spare time in the outdoors with my family. I find that nature inspires me to come back to the office with a fresh perspective and new ideas.?

Additionally, she is involved in charity work, including organizing a fundraiser for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. ?I consider myself extremely blessed,? Adams said.

Source: http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2012/03/29/voice-of-experience-janet-adams-head-of-strategic-projects-and-change-management-for-group-regulatory-affairs-royal-bank-of-scotland/

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Whitney Houston was reportedly planning to remarry Bobby Brown in Las Vegas?

The 48-year-old singer – whose body was discovered in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel suite on February 11 – had apparently wanted to reunite with her former husband of 14 years and the pair had decided on an intimate ceremony with their daughter Bobbi Kristina, 19, as the only witness. Author Derrick Handspike [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/whitney-houston-was-reportedly-planning-to-remarry-bobby-brown-in-las-vegas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whitney-houston-was-reportedly-planning-to-remarry-bobby-brown-in-las-vegas

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Improving Business Profit and Productivity Without Cleaning House ...

Article by Chris Robertson

There?s a strange thing happening at small to medium businesses around the world, and you might be tempted to follow the crowd. Here?s the trend: panicked owners and managers see profits falling and race to reduce the workforce without considering the long-term effects. Here?s a common sense approach to how to increase business profit without also having to ?clean house.?Business consultants who work with small to medium business owners to improve profitability say there?s always a tendency to reduce payroll first. After all, employees are a significant expense to any business ? salaries, benefits, payroll taxes, retirement packages ? all those expenses add up to a big chunk of a small business owner?s financial burden.On the other hand, the productivity gained by maintaining a well-trained workforce, even in difficult financial times, can?t be overstated. When machines, desks or computers sit idle, productivity will eventually flatten and it could be nearly impossible to recover your momentum.If, instead of immediately reducing payroll at the first sign of financial trouble, you examined every aspect of your business from the viewpoint of productivity, you might see another path to staying afloat. Today?s innovative business productivity improvement systems allow owners and managers to dig into the details of their businesses from every angle and set benchmarks for measuring each indicator?s impact on productivity.Using these cutting edge business improvement tools, they?re often able to see that a slight increase in the rates they charge, for example, or a restructuring of vendor contracts might have more impact on the bottom line than immediately laying off employees. You may also see opportunities for shifting those employees within departments without significant retraining to avoid losing them completely.The question for you, as the owner of a small to medium business, is this: ?Can you afford to let valuable, well-trained talent go in pursuit of a better bottom line?? The follow up question is, of course, ?How long will it take you to replace and retrain those employees once the market improves??Industry sectors around the globe are feeling the effect of widespread ?talent loss?, the shrinking of innovation, experience and wisdom that keeps an industry growing. Extended periods of unemployment motivate those seasoned employees to move to other sectors, creating a flood of newly trained employees when the industry recovers.This phenomenon isn?t limited to large corporations; service industries, for example, are often populated with small to medium businesses. When those smaller firms are hit with an industry-wide slowdown, the talented professionals working in that sector are forced to migrate to other professions unless business owners find innovative ways to control the bottom line.There may come a time when industry factors force you to let go of experienced personnel. Not every market decline can be overcome by increasing your rates or extending the delivery schedule of raw materials. But by taking advantage of today?s business profit increase systems to examine every benchmark of your business, you may be able to keep the wolves at bay long enough to hold onto valuable talent and keep your company in the black, as well.

Source: http://www.andreeanedeff.com/?p=177

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Hammerhead shark double whammy

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2012) ? Identity confusion between a new, yet unnamed shark species, originally discovered off the eastern United States by Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center (NSU-OC) researchers, and its look-alike cousin -- the endangered scalloped hammerhead shark -- may threaten the survival of both species.

According to an April 2012 article in the scientific journal Marine Biology, the new look-alike hammerhead species has now been discovered more than 4,300 miles away near the coast of southern Brazil. This confirms that the original finding was not a local oddity and the new species is much wider spread. The look-alike species may face the same fishery pressures as the real scalloped hammerhead, which is being fished unsustainably for its highly prized fins.

"It's a classic case of long-standing species misidentification that not only casts further uncertainty on the status of the real scalloped hammerhead but also raises concerns about the population status of this new species," says professor Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., who oversaw the new research at the NSU-OC's Save Our Seas Shark Center USA and Guy Harvey Research Institute.

Tens of millions of sharks are being killed for their fins and meat worldwide, resulting in dramatic reductions in shark populations and concerns about the broad scale negative impacts to ocean ecosystems. This has prompted international protection and other management efforts to reduce the unsustainable slaughter of sharks.

"It's very important to officially recognize, name and learn more about this new hammerhead species and the condition of its populations through systematic surveys," Shivji says. "Without management intervention to curtail its inadvertent killing, we run the risk that overfishing could eradicate an entire shark species before its existence is even properly acknowledged."

Shivji's team first discovered the new hammerhead species in 2005 when examining the DNA of sharks thought to be scalloped hammerheads based on their physical appearance. A research team from the University of South Carolina independently confirmed the existence of the new species in 2006.

Combining genetic assessments of NSU and South Carolina researchers shows that at least 7 percent of the sharks in U.S. waters originally thought to be scalloped hammerheads turned out to be the new species. This means that the population of the endangered real scalloped hammerhead in U.S. waters is probably smaller than originally thought.

The status of the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) is currently under review by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to determine if it warrants listing as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. It's already on the red list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The new species is on neither list.

"We hope that during this important scalloped hammerhead status review, the new look-alike species will be recognized, and possible impacts of historical mix-ups between the two species on past scalloped hammerhead stock assessments will be considered," says Shivji.

According to Danillo Pinhal, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the UNESP-S?o Paulo State University in Brazil who performed the lab work as a visiting graduate student in Shivji's laboratory in 2009, "the finding of this species all the way down in Brazilian waters, where hammerhead sharks are heavily fished, raises concerns about the population status of both species not just in U.S. waters but throughout the western Atlantic. It's an international issue now and it's essential that further research on this new species be conducted in Brazilian waters."

Other than differences in their DNA, the two shark species also differ in their number of vertebrae. The new look-alike species has approximately 20 fewer vertebrae than the scalloped hammerhead, in the range of 170 vs. 190. An analysis of the DNA suggests that the new species and the scalloped hammerhead separated from each other approximately 4.5 million years ago, a surprisingly long time given how similar they look externally.

There are three well-documented species of large hammerhead sharks (scalloped, great and smooth hammerheads), and their fins have high value in the international shark fin trade. The finding of this new hammerhead now brings the total to four large species with this unique hammerhead shape.

Hammerheads and other large sharks have been overfished for years. Scientists are concerned that further reductions in their numbers and biodiversity may irreversibly alter the ocean's intricate food web and upset ecosystem balance. For example, a high-profile study has shown that the large reduction of sharks off the U.S. East Coast is associated with a huge increase in the population of one of their prey -- the cownose ray -- which in turn has then been responsible for overeating the bay scallop, dramatically reducing the supply of scallops for the fishing industry.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Nova Southeastern University, via Newswise.

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

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120326132801.htm

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Deep Thought is Dead, Long Live Deep Thought

On Tuesday, March 19^th, Alan Jacobs posted a technology article for The Atlantic titled ?Jobs of the Future: A Skeptic?s Response.? In the article, he voices his doubts that a skillset promoted by the internet and social networking would usher in a new wave of future employment:

?Where are these jobs that will?require such rapid ?searching, browsing, assessing quality, and synthesizing the vast quantities of information?? We don?t need those skills to drive a truck or manage company accounts or sell clothes or do IT customer service or write novels or write code or give inoculations to patients or teach seven-year-olds how to read ? so what do, or what will, need them for? And how many of us will need them??

We might not need those skills to drive a truck, but if you are responsible for a whole fleet of trucks, you may need to search a database that tracks every truck?s location and cargo. Online retailers of clothes have huge customer databases that they can use to selectively target promotions to those they think would be most responsive to them. A typical call to IT tech support goes to a first tier agent, whose first task is to request your information so they can find you in a database. Then, when it comes down to the actual support, if they don?t know how to fix your problem, they search through forums, help documents, and bug databases to try and find an answer.

In my own field of bioinformatics, the trend toward ?searching, browsing, assessing quality, and synthesizing the vast quantities of information? is driving a shift of focus (more on that in a future blog post) that is real science, not science-fiction.? The advancement of machines that sequence DNA has progressed so rapidly that it?s broken Moore?s Law , and we can now sequence an entire human genome in a ?matter of weeks?.

All of these facts point to a single trend: our ability to produce data is outstripping our ability to understand it. In fact, the need to make sense of these mountains of information is so great that it?s given rise to one of the hottest interdisciplinary fields on the market: data mining and predictive analytics.

Data mining, loosely defined, is the process of analyzing data and shaping it into useful information. But how does a data miner know which piece of data matters and which doesn?t? They must cleave through those mountains of information in order to find data diamonds, and that requires the skills that Alan Jacobs questions.

Later in his article, he calls on employers of the future to seek individuals capable of slow, patient, and careful thought. Rest assured, these skills will not fall by the wayside. Let?s set aside the fact that we?ll always need this kind of thought to drive innovation. This kind of ?deep thought? (and no, I don?t mean the Jack Handy variety) is the next logical step after data mining, and it is called predictive analytics. Using a statistical skillset, analysts try to predict future trends in everything ranging from the business forecasting to political unrest.

In the field of bioinformatics, we produce more genetic sequence data than we can analyze. The fact is that before we can do any deep thinking about this data, we have to mine out the really difficult problems, to separate the wheat from the chaff, so we can turn them into diamonds. I suspect this trend applies to just about any field that collects data, and what field in this century doesn?t? As the clich? goes, knowledge is power, and this is one clich? that proves truer day by day.

So what do jobs of the future look like? Yes, we?ll still need truck drivers, teachers, and novelists. I won?t argue that their core competencies will include data searching, though they can all benefit from these skills. For the growing workforce that deals with data, however, these skills are mandatory, and of those people, it will be the deep thinkers who make that data precious.

?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=461eddb293176c2d49b5e43a9e6c4cc5

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Fanatix Attempts to Bring the Second Screen Sports Viewing Experience to iOS

Fanatix is an app for getting social media updates on sporting events.

The ?second screen? experience is still something being figured out by app developers, and a new app is ready to play ball to try and dominate their opponents. Fanatix hopes to integrate social features with live sports results to let its users track events while watching them more efficiently, and to be able to chat with friends also watching. The app aggregates tweets about the game, offers a Fan Stream that?s a wall of Fanatix users chatting with each other, and a Group Chat of a user?s friends to chat within themselves.

The app can connect with Facebook to log in, and to bring together friends who are interested in a given event?s involved teams. It features iOS 5 Twitter account integration, a feature still sorely lacking from many apps, to let users tweet about the game they?re tracking from within the app. Users can also check-in to events to say that they?re watching them, attending them, or just tracking the match. The app appears to be built by non-Americans and/or soccer fans as the home team is displayed on top and in front of the visiting team, which is reverse of how American sports list teams: Visting at Home. It?s a curious wrinkle. The app still tracks red-blooded American sports like baseball, though. The app is available now for free.

FREE!

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-10-21 :: Category: Sports

FREE!

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-03-02 :: Category: Sports Posted in: Blog

Tagged with: apps, Fanatix, free, second screen, Sports

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/148apps_news/~3/NAPlBkgOpzo/

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Personal Injury Law

The word ?tort? means ?injury? in old English.Tort laws were written to compensate victims for damages due to the fault or negligence of someone. Because of tort law, an injured person has the right to be compensated for damages he or she has suffered.
The three basic types of torts are
1. strict liability,
2. intentional, and
3. negligent.

In these types of cases, it doesn?t matter how careful the defendant was or should have been. If the defendant's actions caused the plaintiff's injury, then the defendant is liable.

lawyer

Source: http://www.isitlegalto.com/other-country-laws/24779-personal-injury-law.html

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Pythons Come to be Common Pet dogs

The a short time when families had exclusively dogs and also cats seeing that pets have passed away. Today, the sheer numbers of people that have pets that once regarded unorthodox is rising. Python is a great petDog Food.
Your pets, as we understand, are enjoyable. And pythons happen to be big enjoyable. They will likely make great pets and carry joy with your life. You will find yourself fascinated from their self-effacing process, laid-back perspective and giant-like visual appeal. But before you decide to acquire some sort of python, you will need to realize typically the commitment that you are getting in.
Pythons happen to be everything you will want in some sort of pet. They are certainly more beautiful to visit, easier to keep your and manage, they wish for little, yet present lifetime from companionship. And they?re safe much too. No contemplate, they generate excellent house animals. Lots of folks agree. Studying your market ., every 365 days, there are a great number of new python keepers.
But you will find a sad limitation. Most of such newly procured pythons die from the first 365 days. The factor is stunning but valid ? a strong insufficient know-how about python rearing. We happen to be sure these nouveau python keepers loved its recent exchange. We may also be sure that they can did all sorts of things they imagined was needed. Unfortunately some people didn?t know enough.
Goods on the market prompted us to create out a zero cost Newsletter labeled Python Techniques.
http: //www. pythonsecrets. com/
However , before all of us started typically the newsletter, we did a wide research with the help of existing python keepers and aspirants (418 individuals to turn out to be precise), to see what some people knew along with what they wanted to know. Python Techniques newsletter uses their advice.
Let?s know some basic info about Pythons:
Pythons happen to be large snakes obtained in India, East Indies, Photography equipment and Questionnaire. They are in rugged temparate regions which happen to have heavy rain fall and forested acres, or some type of low, heavy growth. They are part of the python along with boa home, Boidae. Pythons happen to be coldblooded; they already have the similar temperature given that the environment. They can quickly grow all their lives, getting much bigger and bigger every year.
The world?s greatest known python, sighted on the dense forested acres of Philippines, is some sort of Reticulated Python testing 49 ft 15 meters extended. And typically the shortest will be the Anthill Python, which measures extra than 2 ft 0. 6 meter.
All of the pythons may well climb along with swim. Some pythons happen to be truly beautiful to visit. Like typically the Carpet Python which often resembles a strong intricately weaved oriental gym floor, with their solid velvety dermis speckled with the help of bright blue markings; the dazzling Green Bonsai Python which is bright renewable with skillful white updates; or typically the Indian python, having bold trend of brownish blotches, edged during yellow, for the light darkish background.
Pythons may also be called constrictors. Learn why? Given that they wind them selves around its prey along with strangle those to death. It is no convenience to their victims, however python is not going to crush its bones; just press them limited enough to avoid their respiratory. Large pythons constantly eat animals the figures on a home cat, although 100-pound (43. 3 kilos) outdoors boars happen to be eaten in the process.
Pythons ingest their food whole, start first; and not surprisingly, take days to digest them. But we?re able to breathe very easy. Despite its enormous effectiveness and daunting size, Pythons happen to be inoffensive by nature and usually assault humans. They?ve been not harmful either. Sad to say for pythons, the makes these folks easy finds for searchers.
A python?s finest wisdom is actually its feeling of reek. They can smell using the ?Jacobson?s organ during the roof from the mouth? People dart its tongues during and outside of their mouths to have gases through the air. The tongue gets small allergens floating during the air for this organ. Also they already have special sensors on the tip of the nose to identify the high temperature generated by way of the prey Dog Food. For that reason, the python may well catch its prey during light and also dark issues. This allows those to hunt during dense jungles even overnight.
The python is not going to chase their prey. That waits discreetly hiding, and as a food comes near enough, grabs it having Ainward-curving your teeth. The python?s top and base jaws happen to be attached to each other with stretchy ligaments, which allow snake ingest animals larger than themselves. The food cannot step away, because more the application tries to get, the lower the python?s needlesharp your teeth will washing up bowl and keep it far more firmly during the mouth. The python these days quickly coils around the victim?s physique and squeezes, not consequently hard regarding break their bones, just much enough to avoid its blood circulation and suffocate the application to dying Dog Food.
Then should begin the extended, leisurely mechanisms for unhinging their jaw along with savoring typically the prey; swallowing it bit by bit, starting having head initially. The rhythmic deliciously carved movements will pull typically the prey through the mouth towards the throat also to the belly, where it?ll turn out to be dissolved along with digested from strong acids.
You will find 24 significant species from pythons. Some are for ones novice, and many strictly for ones seasoned herpetologist.
No matter what species, Python Secrets speak to you everything you must know about pythons ? with regards to their range, care, supplying, breeding, management, healthcare, caging and choosing the healthy example of beauty. Python Secrets should serve as the single supplier reference on the subject, whether that you are a first-time python proprietor or a pro seeking more details.
http: //www. pythonsecrets. com/
Wish you as well as your python (pet/ pet-to-be) a hard and pleased companionship!

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Source: http://wmstafford.org/pythons-come-to-be-common-pet-dogs/

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Traffic Building ? Site Promotion or Custom Lead Generation ...

Massive Sales Results @ 1/2 the investment

Traffic Building ? Site Promotion or Custom Lead Generation

Article by Leo Hanes

What is the difference between Web Site Promotion and Custom Lead Generation?

Site Promotion: is an internet marketing term that refers to the activity of publicizing the vendor?s web site to consumers.(i.e. advertising)

Lead Generation: is a marketing term that refers to the manufacture of connections between well-matched consumers and target corporate vendors.

Custom Lead Generation: is an internet marketing term that refers to producing specific types of visitors to your web site yourself from specific publicity about your web site offer.

In layman?s terms that simply means communicating with, and attracting a qualified visitor to your web site, willing to provide you with their contact information, and have a need for your specific offer today, and are potentially going to purchase today, and again in the future.

What is a custom lead?

Somebody you have communicated with

Somebody attracted to your specific offer

Somebody willing to provide you their contact information

Somebody that wants your product, solution, or opportunity

Somebody that has bought your product, solution, opportunity or a competition?s

Somebody that is capable of making purchases immediately, and in the future

Site promotion therefore is just telling everybody about your web site, hoping they will visit sometime (i.e. branding for example)

Custom lead generation is a very specific process that results first in the capture of a specifically defined somebody?s contact information, and finally with multiple repeat sales transactions with them.

So if you intentionally will start off to generate custom leads instead of promoting your web site, your methods of advertising, communicating, requesting information, making your offer, asking for their order, and after sales communicating will all automatically change for the best for you.

Custom leads are generated for the sole purpose of creating profits online for your business, and one of the best methods of generating your own custom leads is through article marketing. You are writing articles to communicate with somebody that is already interested in your niche market that you publish the article in.

After reading your article, and if they like your style, and your offer they are very willing to give you their contact information when they get to your capture page on your web site. Since you are targeting somebody who has already demonstrated theyare capable of buying, have bought similar items, or want your offer they willsign up, and buy in much higher numbers that visitors from site promotion.

For example: Somebody that is wearing tattered old shoes may very well need to buy new shoes, so you think they are a prime target for your exciting new shoe offer. The reality is the best custom lead is somebody who is already wearing shiny new shoes, with a few rather new looking shoes in their closet already.

The first person may need to buy your new shoes, but do not, they are obviously still wearing the tattered old ones you seen, waiting for that perfect pair to go on sale. (i.e. opportunity seekers)

The second person has already demonstrated that they are willing, are capable of buying, and want to buy new shoes. They will buy your new shoes if your shoe offer is communicated in a way that attracts them today, and they will buy again in the future ? they are shoe buyers. ( i.e. entrepreneurs, investors, buyers)

The Difference is Custom Lead Generation Will Result in Creating Profits On-Line for You Faster than Site Promotion!

Are you interested in learning more about creating profits online, if so click here now: The Art of Creating Profits On-Line

Do you want to know more about how to become your own web site traffic and custom lead generator? Click Here: Are More Leads Really Profitable?

Discover more how you can start generating your own custom leads fast, check it out here now: Generate Your Own Custom Leads and Profits On-Line

About the Author

Leo Hanes is an experienced full time internet marketer, who has written a number of articles on the principles of custom lead generation and creating profits online.

Massive Sales Results @ 1/2 the investment

Source: http://voip-business-phones.info/?p=5609

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Natural Health is All About You Being in Control | All About Health

Natural health is timeless. It will never date. It will always be relevant, despite what the media tells you about ?new?, ?improved?, ?scientific? and all the other gimmicky words that are only employed to impress you enough to buy something.

And, happily, natural health is currently enjoying the comeback it deserves. To enjoy it, there are at least three really important aspects to address.

The first is your diet. There?s a saying that a quarter of what you eat keeps you alive. Three quarters of what you eat keeps your doctor alive. So if you eat a typical western diet of fast foods, canned drinks and sweets or chocolate, you know you?re heading for disaster.

A natural diet consists of lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, preferably raw. Raw isn?t essential, but will take you that extra mile. As long as at least 30% is raw, you?ll do all right. By raw I mean unpasteurised, unheated in any way, un-radiated, unadulterated. Just fresh produce recently harvested.

So fresh produce should be the bulk of your diet. If you can?t see yourself eating a lot of fresh produce, then I suggest you invest in a food dehydrator. That dries fresh food without losing the nutrients in them. Have you ever tried dried strawberries? They are absolutely delicious.

I?m sure you?ll enjoy making your own unsundried tomatoes, too. And try foods you haven?t tried before. My neighbour has never tried avocado and yet they could grow in her back yard. Be adventurous!

The next biggest food group is the nuts, seeds, rice, oats and yogurt. Then come eggs, bread, wheat, cereal, fish, chicken, chocolate. Then comes the red meat. Lastly comes artificial sweeteners. My suggestion is to avoid these altogether.

This diet follows the 80/20 principle. Eat 80% alkalising foods (fruit, veggies, whole foods) and only 20% acid food (meat, sugar, processed foods such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, sweets).

If you maintain this diet, it?s amazing what ailments won?t affect you. Make sure 100% of what you eat goes into keeping you healthy, not just alive. And let the doctors starve!

Another really important aspect of natural health is your health care modality. Obviously that?s going to be a natural one. Which you choose is a very personal matter. But I suggest you remain open and honour your feelings. Your feelings will always take you in the right direction. I have long since learnt the folly of following my head over my feelings. It never works!

With evidence now suggesting a link between taking antibiotics and cancer, your choice of a natural health care system will ensure as healthy a body as you can get. All drugs and medication have a knock-on effect with your health. That?s why it becomes a slippery slope ? you suddenly find you?re on a myriad of drugs, with one countering another?s side effects.

The last important point of natural health, is keeping your environment healthy. This will almost guarantee you a healthy body. This means your home really is your castle, your sanctuary. Make sure you create a peaceful and happy home. Work on areas that aren?t. Don?t put up with them. It may be your upbringing that makes you a negative person. It may be you are living with people who don?t support you. List those things that aren?t nurturing you and decide what to do about them.

Time spent with animals is invariably calming, as is time spent in nature. Visit the park regularly. Walk on the beach. Watch a thunderstorm. Make sure you have, even if short, time for yourself every day. And use it to recharge your batteries ? whether it?s gardening, sun-bathing or walking your dog. Just make sure it benefits you. That without it, you?re more volatile, have less energy or just don?t cope as well.

Many people think they can?t have time out for themselves as they have too much to do. This is not how it works. The more you stress, the less you accomplish. The less you stress, the more you accomplish and in less time.

Natural health is really all about you being in control of you. You create your life. So why not make it as fun, as joyful as possible? You are important. If you?re joyful, it will rub off on others. Maybe subscribe to a natural health magazine as that will not only help keep you on track, but will also provide you with useful hints and tips.

And lastly, don?t forget that people will readily mock you, with your new found natural health care, because you?ll be showing them up. Don?t let them dissuade you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Article Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://polstina-preklady.com/natural-health-is-all-about-you-being-in-control.html

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Romney adds to delegate lead in Illinois primary

[ [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Shortly after he wrapped up his victory remarks', 2]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/4-straight-romney-wins-washington-gop-caucus-1330835515-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/3/e9/3e9b0082c3c3111dcc19e3527ae94cc7.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/Steven Senne', ], [ [['best understands the problems of average Americans', 2]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/4-straight-romney-wins-washington-gop-caucus-1330835515-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/3/e9/3e9b0082c3c3111dcc19e3527ae94cc7.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/Steven Senne', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120320/trayvonjquery.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GB2RVy', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/20/photo-1332257995646-4-0-jpg_171722.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AFP', ], [ [['A massive manhunt is underway in France on Monday', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzy0M9', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/d/b4/db49ba9fa9a9bb5b59d2503822dd212c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Manu Blondeau', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['French police stepped up the search',17]], ', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/romney-adds-delegate-lead-illinois-primary-011419908.html

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6 ways to manage use of personal smartphones for work ...

by Philip L. Gordon, Esq.

As more employees buy smartphones, more of them are using those versatile devices to perform work. That can seem like a win-win for employers. Employees can use their own equipment to stay in touch with office email and download company documents to carry with them and work on at home. The employer avoids a technology expense.

But employees? use of personal smartphones (and tablets such as iPads) raises risks not present when employees use company-issued de??vices. When you provide a laptop or phone, IT probably loads it with software to protect its contents from corruption and keep hackers from compromising your network when employees connect to it. You may provide encryption systems to keep sensitive data secure. Plus, you can demand access to the device at any time and require the employee to return it upon termination.

There?s no guarantee your em??ployees? personal devices are so well-protected. To ensure the safety of employee-owned smartphones and continued access to your company?s information, take these six steps before allowing employees to use them for work.

1. Demand the installation of adequate IT protections. Employees often fail to activate controls that en??hance their devices? security. These include encryption, password protection, automatic lockdown after a period of inactivity, automatic dele??tion after several failed log-in attempts, remote wipe capability and anti-virus protection.

Require employees to load an approved security package to any personal device they will connect to the corporate network.

2. Get consent to issue a ?kill? command. If an employee?s smartphone is lost or stolen, your organization?s data could be at risk. One way to ensure sensitive information doesn?t fall into the wrong hands is to issue a kill command, in which a remote signal wipes clean the phone?s memory. For a small fee (paid in advance), most smartphone manufacturers and service providers offer such a service.

Sending a kill command to a personal device without the employee?s prior consent could violate the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and state computer trespass laws, which generally prohibit unauthorized destruction of information stored on someone else?s computer. That?s why you should obtain em??ployees? written consent to send a kill command to any personal device.

You should also have ?employees sign a release absolving you of lia??bil??ity for any damage to personal files?such as music, photos and e-books?deleted by a kill command.

3. Prepare in advance for a potential security threat. If an employee?s lost or stolen smartphone contains personal information?such as employees? or customers? Social Security numbers or credit card num??bers?you must be prepared to notify affected parties that there has been a security breach.

A kill command may not prevent a security breach, because a sophisticated thief might be able to access personal information on the device before the command is activated.

Requiring employees to activate encryption on their personal devices, when available, should eliminate the need for security breach notification because of the ?encryption safe harbor? in all security breach notification laws.

If encryption isn?t feasible, at least require employees to immediately re??port loss or theft to your security staff.

4. Get consent to access the de??vice for legitimate business pur?poses. Employers that permit use of personal devices for work may sometimes need to access them?for example, during a workplace investigation or to implement a litigation hold. Unlike company-issued devices, an employer has no right to access an employee?s personal device, even for legitimate business purposes.

Notify employees up front that refusing to comply with a reasonable and legitimate request for access to information stored on a personal device could result in discipline.

5. Amend your policies to address monitoring of personal devices. Corporate electronic resources policies commonly speak only in terms of the organization?s own computer network and equipment. Your existing policy?s warning that employees should have no expectation of privacy when using company systems will not apply to their own personal devices.

Amend your policy to warn em??ployees that it applies with equal force to personal devices that are connected to the corporate network.

6. Plan to retrieve business information upon termination. Hav??ing a portable cache of confidential business information makes it easy for former employees to misappropriate trade secrets. To reduce this risk, consider incorporating the review of information stored on an employee?s personal device used for work into the standard exit interview process.

For hostile terminations, sending a kill command may be the only feasible way to prevent misappropriation of trade secrets. However, without the consent and release noted above, those actions could strengthen the hand of a former employee in pending or threatened litigation against you.

____________________________________________

Author: Philip L. Gordon is a Littler Mendelson shareholder and chair of the firm?s Privacy and Data Protection Practice Group.

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Electric car revolution faces increasing headwinds

DETROIT (Reuters) - Scott Kluth has a love-hate relationship with his new Fisker Karma luxury electric sedan.

The 34-year-old car lover bought the plug-in hybrid electric Karma in December for $107,850, but five days later the car's battery died as he was driving in downtown Chicago. While the car he affectionately calls a "head turner" was fixed in a recall, Kluth remains uncertain how much he will drive it.

"I just want a car that works," Kluth said. "It's a fun car to drive. It's just that I've lost confidence in it."

The Karma's problems -- one vehicle died during testing by Consumer Reports this month -- follow bad publicity arising from a probe of General Motors Co's Chevrolet Volt and weak sales of the car, and the closure or bankruptcy of several electric vehicle-related start-ups.

The unrelenting bad news has led to questions about the readiness of electric cars and raises fresh doubts about a technology that has around since the late 1890s but still struggling to win over the public.

Whether electric vehicles can find an audience beyond policymakers in Washington and Hollywood celebrities depends on lowering vehicle prices without selling cars at a loss, analysts and industry executives say, while extending driving range to make the cars competitive with their gasoline-powered peers.

"It's going to be a slow slog," said John O'Dell, senior green car editor at industry research firm Edmunds.com. "Maybe there's too much expectation of more and quicker success than might realistically be expected of a brand new technology."

He also questioned whether priorities will simply change for whomever is U.S. president after the November election. Electric vehicles could lose tax breaks -- currently worth $7,500 a vehicle for buyers -- particularly if a Republican ends up in the White House.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

EV demand growing but vehicles still not competitive

http://link.reuters.com/rub27s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Edmunds expects pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids to make up only 1.5 percent of the U.S. market in 2017, compared with 0.1 percent last year, and O'Dell said that may be optimistic. Consumers charge all-electric cars by plugging into an outlet, while hybrid versions include a gasoline engine.

President Barack Obama's administration has been a strong proponent of electric vehicles like the Volt and set a goal of getting 1 million battery-powered vehicles on the road by 2015. Lux Research estimates that number will actually be fewer than 200,000. Both the Volt and Karma's development were supported by low-interest federal loans.

That has not dissuaded automakers, many of which plan to launch electric vehicles to join the Volt and Nissan's <7201.T> all-electric Leaf in a bid to meet rising fuel efficiency standards. Toyota <7203.T> has begun selling a plug-in Prius, and EVs from Ford , Honda <7267.T>, BMW and Fiat will join the fray this year, along with cars from start-ups Tesla and Coda Automotive.

HENRY FORD'S WIFE

Electric cars aren't a new concept. Henry Ford bought his wife, Clara, at least two electric cars in the early 1900s offering at best 50 miles driving range and top speeds of about 35 miles per hour, according to the Henry Ford Museum.

But analysts said automakers have not done a good enough job getting the costs down and explaining the technology to win over anyone beyond early adopters like actor Leonardo DiCaprio, pop idol Justin Bieber, comedian Jay Leno and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"You can do all the advertising and promotion you want, but if people don't buy into the message the needle's not going to move," said George Cook, a marketing professor at the University of Rochester's business school and a former Ford executive.

The Volt, at almost $40,000 before federal subsidies, is seen as too expensive by many critics. Fiat-Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, a long-time EV skeptic, has said Chrysler will lose more than $10,000 on every battery-powered Fiat 500 it sells.

And even with rising gasoline prices -- topping $4 a gallon in parts of the country -- EVs are just not competitive, according to the Lundberg Survey. Gasoline prices would have to rise to $8.53 a gallon to make the Leaf competitive and hit $12.50 for a Volt to be worth it, based on the cost of gasoline versus electricity, fuel efficiency and depreciation, the survey said.

Obama's vision, which he laid out at a Daimler truck plant in North Carolina this month, includes a car battery that costs half the price of today's versions and can go up to 300 miles on a single charge. The industry is far from achieving that.

Since last fall, there has been a run of bad news for EVs, starting with the late November news that U.S. safety regulators were investigating the Volt for possible battery fires.

While the federal investigation was closed with the conclusion there was no defect and the car did not pose a greater risk of fire than gas-powered vehicles, weak demand led GM to halt production for five weeks and temporarily lay off 1,300 workers at the plant that builds the car. GM, which strengthened the structural protection of the Volt battery, has repeatedly said the car is safe, and some said the safety probe should have never occurred.

The Karma that died during testing by Consumer Reports magazine was another blow following a recall of more than 200 of the cars last year and the halting of sales in January for a software issue. Fisker, which builds the Karma in Finland, also suspended work last month at its U.S. plant scheduled to make another car, the Nina sedan, while it works to renegotiate a $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher said problems can arise with new technologies and a new company but added Fisker had gone "beyond the call of duty" in instituting a system to respond to customer issues and had plenty of satisfied owners. CEO Tom LaSorda in a letter to Karma owners last week said Fisker was committed to giving customers "complete peace of mind" and he had created a "SWAT team" of 50 engineers and consultants to identify issues with the car.

'FIRST LAW OF DISNEY'

"The expectations have always been too high for electric cars," said Bill Reinert, Toyota's U.S. manager for advanced technology. "The realities have always been clouded by the dreams. I like to say it's the first law of thermodynamics versus the first law of Disney. Disney is wishing it will be so. It doesn't work." Toyota has always been skeptical EVs would quickly boost its share of the auto market.

Meanwhile, several companies have struggled due to lack of funding or customer troubles.

A123 Systems posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss this month after Fisker, one of its largest customers, cut battery orders. Bright Automotive, an Indiana electric commercial truck start-up, closed its doors in February after failing to get a federal loan.

Ener1 Inc , which received a $118.5 million federal grant to make lithium-ion batteries for EVs, filed for bankruptcy in January, and Aptera Motors, a California-based EV start-up, went out of business last December after it couldn't raise $80 million in private funding.

"There will be more companies that fail, but it's no different than Internet companies," said Kristen Helsel, vice president of EV solutions for AeroVironment , which makes EV charging stations for BMW, Mitsubishi <7211.T> and Nissan. "People with the right business model are going to do fine."

A number of top national retail chains, including Kohl's and Walgreen , have begun installing charging stations at their stores, but critics say the U.S. push for electric cars has come before such infrastructure is in place, weakening the case for consumers to be attracted to the technology.

But since the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a solar panel maker that received $535 million in U.S. loan guarantees, federal support for advanced vehicle technology programs has ground to a halt. Industry officials and analysts point to tightened U.S. Department of Energy requirements in the face of withering criticism from Republicans about the Obama administration's generosity for anything related to green technology.

"There was certainly a different energy level one year ago, even two years ago," said Oliver Hazimeh, sustainable transportation practice leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. "This year, it just had a different drumbeat." Hazimeh sees long-term demand for EVs rising to up to 9 percent of the global market by 2022, but he predicts there will be some setbacks along the way.

Obama wants to increase the tax subsidies for buyers of electric vehicles to $10,000 per vehicle from the current $7,500. But critics say the small EV sales totals tell the real story.

Complicating matters, automakers continue to squeeze increased fuel efficiency out of the internal combustion engine. That makes it tougher to make EV sticker prices attractive enough to put a dent in the traditional gasoline-powered vehicles' domination of the market.

The EV's industry's struggles have vindicated the more deliberate approach taken by Toyota, Ford and Chrysler's Marchionne, who killed plans for a Chrysler electric car, analysts said.

Still, proponents say electric-car sales will grow just like Toyota's hybrid Prius rose from about 5,500 in its U.S. debut in 2000 to a peak of more than 180,000 in 2007.

Doug Parks, GM's chief Volt engineer, said the proof is in the large amounts of money automakers are spending on EV technology development.

"Follow the money. People are investing huge in this stuff," he said. "This is a 10- or 20-year discussion and we've been selling the Volt for a year."

GM, which recently launched a new advertising campaign centered on testimonials by adoring Volt owners, has made the car the centerpiece of efforts to seize from Toyota the mantle as the world's greenest automaker. Meanwhile, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has estimated pure electric vehicles like the Leaf will make up 10 percent of industry global sales by 2020.

Time will tell if that's wishful thinking.

"It's been the Kool-Aid that the entire political system has been drinking for a decade," said Bob Martin, a senior consultant with auto product development firm The CarLab. "Electric cars are not ready for prime time. They're really interesting toys for very, very rich people."

(Additional reporting by Braden Reddall in Benecia, California and Bernie Woodall in Geneva; Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Edward Tobin, Martin Howell and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/electric-car-revolution-faces-increasing-headwinds-041340378.html

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Santorum Resurrects Romney's Dog Tale (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/213178136?client_source=feed&format=rss

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The mainstream fronts of Synthetic Biology: Guest post

This is a guest post from M. Loera from the iGEM team UANL 2012. I have carried out a few small grammar edits but otherwise the essay is all his work, and I would like to thank him for the opportunity to host it on my blog. All references are below the main text.

The mainstream fronts of synthetic biology

?What I cannot build, I cannot understand?.

This phrase by the genius physicist Richard Feynman is cleverly encrypted into the genetic code of the first bacterial cells with an artificial genome that have ever existed.

Actually the quote says ?what I cannot create??, but maybe the scientists at the JCVI ?who are behind this tremendous breakthrough- preferred to save some base pairs to avoid the use of the word ?create? and its tricky implications.?They published this work in 2010 and opened a whole new world of possibilities and made it completely clear to anyone what we mean when we talk about Synthetic Biology and what its ultimate purpose should be: to understand life by building it.

Although the term ?Synthetic Biology? has been around since the mid-1970s, the definition of it has been very vague: some people would call Synthetic Biology anything related to general genetic engineering procedures; others, perhaps more rightfully, would claim to be doing Synthetic Biology because of working with DNA synthesis or making bacteria behave like tiny computers. Even the 2010 report by the US Presidencial Comission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has to define the term considering different points of view (that of the molecular biology, the chemist and the engineer) and states that the activities related to Synthetic Biology are considered by some to be just extensions of already existing fields, like Molecular Biology, Genetic Engineering and Microbiology.

I remember (oh, the shame!) being skeptic about the possibility of something so oxymoronic being, well? true. I still turn red when I recall that I kind of corrected the person who first said ?Synthetic Biology? to me by telling her that what she wanted to say was maybe Systems Biology.

So what is it really?

Well, my work in Bio! has been devoted to dig into the deeps of Synthetic Biology and the iGEM competition, and throughout this time I began to notice what I would call ?the mainstream fronts of Synthetic Biology?. These are the main orientations that so called Synthetic Biology projects would take and by enlisting them, I think it will be easier to clarify the distinctive characteristics of this field.

Front 1: DNA synthesis

The development of DNA synthesis techniques allows us now to synthesize DNA sequences larger than just PCR oligos; genes and genomes are being fully synthesized; difficult constructions are eased by just synthesizing the needed sequences, without needing sub-clonations to gain a useful restriction site. One of the most awesome accomplishment is the generation of the first replicating cells with a fully synthetic genome, which by the way was dubbed ?Synthia?.?Moreover, one of the most amazing applications of synthesized DNA has little to do with living cells: they are used as mechanical pieces, because after all DNA is a physical entity and can be used as such, giving place for the field of DNA Nanostructures.

A particular technique called ?DNA origami? has been really fruitful (ref1) Since the publication of its invention in 2006, DNA origami custom structures have been employed as mechanical and computational devices; there is software available for generating the DNA sequence needed to construct a wanted shape. More recently, DNA origami structures have been employed as intelligent devices that recognize and deliver drugs to cancerous cells.

Front 2: The standardization school and the iGEM competition

The iGEM logo

One of the characteristics of gene cloning is the messy and sui generis protocols that vary from lab to lab and from construction to construction. What would happen if these procedures were standardized, so that any construction needed could be accomplished by anyone with the same steps and same restriction enzymes?

A group at MIT has been dedicated for the last years to standardization in the biological field. The main drive is to accelerate the development of Biology by mimicking the development ofthe engineering fields, i.e. to have a consensus analogous to what mechanical engineers have with the size of materials and tools. Moreover, if we are using standard parts, the quantitative characterization of them would be also facilitated, making mathematical models and simulations useful as predictive tools.

Accordingly, there is the Registry for Standard Biological Parts, which is basically a collection of DNA sequences that share a particular set of rules that ease their combination with each other. Each of these sequences is a biological part and among the existing parts are promoters, ribosomal binding sites, coding genes and also composite parts made of the combination of single parts; the parts are also referred as ?BioBricks? and the organism in which they are meant to work is termed the ?chassis?.

The fundamental characteristic of BioBricks is the set of rules that ease their combination; these rules allow the concatenation of DNA sequences by iteratively using the same restriction enzymes in the same order. The basics of this technique are the design of idempotent vectors and were first presented by the Knight group at MIT.

The huge potential of the use of BioBricks is reflected by the number of awesome and creative projects that have been presented at the International Engineered Machine competetion (iGEM), which began at the MIT too.?In this competition, undergraduate students are challenged to make the most innovative biological machine by using BioBricks. Among the projects that have been presented since the first iGEM edition are biosensors, bioremediators, light-controlled cells, metabolically engineered cells, synthetic genetic circuits and many others, along with their corresponding mathematical models. Students are also encouraged to make a contribution for the humanities side of the project.

Front 3: Genetic code expansion

There are many amino acids that would give proteins many useful characteristics, but in nature, only twenty amino acids are commonly encoded by the 64 codons found in living beings, plus some organisms that also encode some rare amino acids like pyrrolysine and selenocysteine.

What can be done to exploit all the chemical potential found in the so called unnatural amino acids??One approach would be to chemically incorporate the unnatural amino acids into already existing proteins, but this method is highly unspecific and may have a low efficiency; the ideal way would be to incorporate those unnatural amino acids at the very moment when the wanted protein is translated from its mRNA.

This is actually possible by using orthogonal translation systems and expanded genetic codes.?The common 64-codon/20-amino acids genetic code has been expanded to 64-codon/21-amino acids and even 65-codon/21-amino acids, with one codon adapted for an unnatural amino acid. (refs 2 and 3)

The system behind the incorporation of this unnatural amino acid is the presence of a tRNA and an aminoacyl tRNA-transferase (AARS) enzyme from a phylogenetically distant organism; both the tRNA and the AARS have been modified to recognize the unnatural amino acid by directed evolution. Because of the phylogenetic distance with the host machinery, the AARS would charge the unnatural amino acid into the tRNA without interfering with the native tRNAs and AARS from the host, i.e. they would be an orthogonal translation system.

The remaining piece is the codon that would code for the unnatural amino acid. In Escherichia coli, the amber codon (UAG) is the least frequent codon found in its genes, so it has been commonly employed to be recognized by the orthogonal tRNA without having a gross effect on the growth rate of the bacteria. Nevertheless, custom codons have also been generated; most interestingly,?four-nucleotide codons have proven to be functional.

Unnatural amino acids in proteins have been used as sites for chemical synthesis (the presence of some chemical groups in the unnatural amino acid increases the efficiency and specificity for some procedures, like click chemistry), so that many different active compounds can be conjugated. In this way, proteins conjugated with fluorescent probes, FRET pairs and poly ethylene glycol have been generated. Also, by incorporating phosphorylated residues, it has been possible to hack the normal signal transduction systems in cells. Finally, recently, genetic code expansion has been used to make ?oligobodies?, a mix of DNA oligos and antibodies.

Front 4: Synthetic genetic circuits

If the intricate regulation of gene expression can be broken down to a number of basic processes, then by understanding these basic processes, we should be able to eventually understand what happens when they are combined and how they can make a full gene regulation mechanism.

The generation of synthetic circuits like switches and oscillators in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells has been an exciting matter of study that has brought together mathematicians, computer scientists, molecular biologists and engineers.?Switch-like genetic circuit behavior has been attained by using riboswitches, engineered promoter sites and transcription factors that respond to a particular stimulus, like light or some chemical compounds.

The conception and mathematical study of synthetic oscillating genetic circuits have been active since the early 1960s, but it has not been until recently that in vivo experiments have validated those idealizations. A considerable amount of effort has been dedicated to the mathematical characterization, simulation and in vivo implementation of oscillating genetic circuit topologies.

Synthetic genetic circuits have been employed to elucidate natural circuits by rewiring them or inducing ?short circuits? into signaling cascades; properly functioning basic synthetic genetic circuits are the key for composite synthetic systems, like logic gates and synthetic?signalling?cascades.

Front 5: Metabolic Engineering

The realization that for Metabolic Engineering it was not enough to just mix existing genes to rewire biosynthetic pathways is perhaps the main reason why some Metabolic Engineering studies are considered to be also part of Synthetic Biology.?The holistic understanding of metabolic flux, promoter activity, preferential codons and scaffold proteins are the basics for Synthetic Metabolic Engineering.

One of the seminal studies was that from the Keasling group, who rewired E. coli with asynthetic metabolic pathway that leads to the production of a precursor of an anti-malarial drug, artemisinin. The field has developed to include also biofuel biosynthetic pathways. (ref 5 and 6)

Another approach for Synthetic Metabolic Engineering, also developed by the Keasling group, is the use of synthetic protein scaffolds. These synthetic scaffolds are made by natural protein binding domains from phylogenetically distant organisms; a synthetic scaffold contains a number of different binding domains. When a set of enzymes from a particular metabolic pathway is genetically conjugated with a ligand domain ? each enzyme with a different ligand domain- they will attach to the synthetic scaffold in an ordered pattern. The synthetic scaffold acts then as a spatial anchor for the metabolic pathway that can greatly alter the metabolic flux towards a desired product.

One interesting derivation of the scaffold concept was developed by team Slovenia in the iGEM 2009. Instead of using proteins as scaffolds, the team used a DNA molecule to recruit the enzymes of the metabolic pathway; this was possible by genetically conjugating the enzymes to a DNA binding domain from a phylogenetically distant transcription factors. Thus, the DNA-binding enzymes would attach to their recognition sites in a synthetic DNA construct and enhance metabolic flux through a biosynthetic pathway.

Closing remarks

With the enumeration of the main Synthetic Biology fronts:
1) DNA synthesis
2) biological parts standardization
3) genetic code expansion
4) synthetic genetic circuits
5) metabolic engineering,
it can be seen that something that all the projects share is the drive to gain an increasingly precise control over cellular processes, considering ground elements ?i.e., custom DNA sequences, custom proteins produced by genetic code expansion, standard biological parts and basic synthetic circuits- but also higher-order elements ?composite synthetic circuits and engineered metabolic pathways.

The degree and the tools with which Synthetic Biology intends and is actually beginning to control cellular processes are what distinguish it from any other field of the biological sciences.

Synthetic Biology is a fast growing and productive field. There is indeed a lot to do, particularly regarding to the precise quantitative characterization of biological parts and circuits; but since the field is attracting many smart and active young minds from different disciplines, the growth and innovation rate will likely increase in the years to come.

MALS/G?ttingen
Mar 18, 2012.

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References:
1) Douglas, S., Marblestone, A., Teerapittayanon, S., Vazquez, A., Church, G., & Shih, W. (2009). Rapid prototyping of 3D DNA-origami shapes with caDNAno Nucleic Acids Research, 37 (15), 5001-5006 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkp436
2)?Young, T., & Schultz, P. (2010). Beyond the Canonical 20 Amino Acids: Expanding the Genetic Lexicon Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285 (15), 11039-11044 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.R109.091306
3) Kazane, S., Sok, D., Cho, E., Uson, M., Kuhn, P., Schultz, P., & Smider, V. (2012). Site-specific DNA-antibody conjugates for specific and sensitive immuno-PCR Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109 (10), 3731-3736 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1120682109
4)?Moon TS, Clarke EJ, Groban ES, Tamsir A, Clark RM, Eames M, Kortemme T, & Voigt CA (2011). Construction of a genetic multiplexer to toggle between chemosensory pathways in Escherichia coli. Journal of molecular biology, 406 (2), 215-27 PMID: 21185306
5) Nielsen, J., & Keasling, J. (2011). Synergies between synthetic biology and metabolic engineering Nature Biotechnology, 29 (8), 693-695 DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1937
6)?Jarboe, L., Zhang, X., Wang, X., Moore, J., Shanmugam, K., & Ingram, L. (2010). Metabolic Engineering for Production of Biorenewable Fuels and Chemicals: Contributions of Synthetic Biology Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2010, 1-19 DOI: 10.1155/2010/761042

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