Reid says 2 sides still apart on 'fiscal cliff'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the two sides are still apart as they race against a midnight deadline for resolving their differences over the "fiscal cliff."

The Nevada Democrat says negotiations are continuing. But he cautioned that bargainers are running out of time and still have differences over some issues, though he did not say what still divides them.

Reid's remarks came Monday morning after the two sides narrowed their differences during an evening of bargaining between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden.

Without agreement by midnight, wide-ranging tax increases and budget-wide spending cuts ? the so-called fiscal cliff ? will begin taking effect. Though the impact of those changes would be felt gradually, economists have warned that they could cause recession if left intact.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reid-says-2-sides-still-apart-fiscal-cliff-161637057--finance.html

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India rape sets off debate over women's rights

NEW DELHI (AP) ? India's army and navy canceled New Year's celebrations on Monday out of respect for a New Delhi student whose gang-rape and murder has set off an impassioned debate about what the nation needs to do to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

Protesters and politicians have called for tougher rape laws, major police reforms and a transformation in the way the country treats its women.

"To change a society as conservative, traditional and patriarchal as ours, we will have a long haul," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Center for Social Research. "It will take some time, but certainly there is a beginning."

The country remained in mourning Monday, two days after the 23-year-old physiotherapy student died from her internal wounds in the Singapore hospital where she had been sent for emergency treatment. Six men have been arrested and charged with murder in the Dec. 16 attack on a New Delhi bus. They face the death penalty if convicted, police said.

The army and navy canceled their New Year's celebrations, as did Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party. Hotels and clubs across the capital also said they would forego their usual parties.

"She has become the daughter of the entire nation," said Sushma Swaraj, a leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

Hundreds of mourners continued their daily protests near Parliament demanding swift government action.

"So much needs to be done to end the oppression of women," said Murarinath Kushwaha, a man whose two friends were on a hunger strike to draw attention to the issue.

Some commentators compared the rape victim, whose name has not been released by police, to Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor whose self-immolation set off the Arab Spring. There was hope her tragedy could mark a turning point for gender rights in a country where women often refuse to leave their homes at night out of fear and where sex-selective abortions and even female infanticide have wildly skewed the gender ratio.

"It cannot be business as usual anymore," the Hindustan Times newspaper wrote in an editorial.

Politicians from across the spectrum called for a special session of Parliament to pass new laws to increase punishments for rapists ? including possible chemical castration ? and to set up fast-track courts to deal with rape cases within 90 days.

The government has proposed creating a public database of convicted rapists to shame them, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set up two committees to look into what lapses led to the rape and to propose changes in the law.

The Delhi government on Monday inaugurated a new helpline ? 181 ? for women, though it wasn't working because of glitches.

Responding to complaints that police refuse to file cases of abuse or harassment brought by women, the city force has appointed an officer to meet with women's groups monthly and crack down on the problem, New Delhi Lt. Gov. Tejendra Khanna said.

"We have mandated that any time any lady visits a police station with a complaint, it has to be recorded on the spot," he said.

Kumari said the Delhi police commissioner sent her a message Monday asking her group to restart police sensitivity training that it had suspended due to lack of funds.

There have also been proposals to install a quota to ensure one-third of Delhi's police are women.

There also have been signs of a change in the public debate about crimes against women.

Other rapes suddenly have become front-page news in Indian newspapers, and politicians are being heavily criticized for any remarks considered misogynistic or unsympathetic to women.

A state legislator from Rajasthan was ridiculed Monday across TV news channels after suggesting that one way to stop rapes would be to change girls' school uniforms to pants instead of skirts.

"How can he tell us to change our clothes?" said Gureet Kaur, a student protester in the Rajasthani town of Alwar. "Why can't girls live freely?"

Some activists have accused politicians of being so cossetted in their security bubbles that they have no idea of the daily travails people are suffering.

Kumari said the country was failing in its basic responsibility to protect its citizens. But she was heartened to see so many young men at the protests along with women.

"I have never heard so many people who felt so deep down hurt," she said. "It will definitely have some impact."

___

Associated Press reporters Archana Thiyagarajan and Ashok Sharma contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ravi Nessman on Twitter at twitter.com/ravinessman

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/india-rape-sets-off-debate-over-womens-rights-130143030.html

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Cliff may be worrisome, but debt ceiling scarier

Investors fearing a stock market plunge ? if the United States tumbles off the fiscal cliff next week ? may want to relax.

But they should be scared if a few weeks later, Washington fails to reach a deal to increase the nation?s debt ceiling because that raises the threat of a default, another credit downgrade and a panic in the financial markets.

Market strategists say that while falling off the cliff for any lengthy period ? which would lead to automatic tax hikes and stiff cuts in government spending ? would badly hurt both consumer and business confidence, it would take some time for the U.S. economy to slide into recession. In the meantime, there would be plenty of chances for lawmakers to make amends by reversing some of the effects.

That has been reflected in a U.S. stock market that has still not shown signs of melting down. Instead, it has drifted lower and become more volatile.

In some ways, that has let Washington off the hook. In the past, a plunge in stock prices forced the hand of Congress, such as in the middle of the financial crisis in 2008.

?If this thing continues for a bit longer and the result is you get a U.S. debt downgrade ... the risk is not that you lose two-and-a-half percent, the risk is that you lose ten-and-a-half,? said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at UBS Equity Research, in New York.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said this week that the United States will technically reach its debt limit at the end of the year.

The White House has said it will not negotiate the debt ceiling as in 2011, when the fight over what was once a procedural matter preceded the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. But it may be forced into such a battle again. A repeat of that war is most worrisome for markets.

Markets posted several days of sharp losses in the period surrounding the debt ceiling fight in 2011. Even after a bill to increase the ceiling passed, stocks plunged in what was seen as a vote of ?no confidence? in Washington?s ability to function, considering how close lawmakers came to a default.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor?s lowered the U.S. sovereign rating to double-A-plus, citing Washington?s legislative problems as one reason for the downgrade from triple-A status. The benchmark S&P 500 dropped 16 percent in a four-week period ending August 21, 2011.

?I think there will be a tremendous fight between Democrats and Republicans about the debt ceiling,? said Jon Najarian, a co-founder of online brokerage TradeMonster.com, in Chicago.

?I think that is the biggest risk to the downside in January for the market and the U.S. economy.?

There are some signs in the options market that investors are starting to eye the January period with more wariness. The CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, the market?s preferred indicator of anxiety, has remained at relatively low levels throughout this process, though Thursday it edged above 20 for the first time since July.

More notable is the action in VIX futures markets, which shows a sharper increase in expected volatility in January than in later-dated contracts. January VIX futures are up nearly 23 percent in the last seven trading days, compared with a 13 percent increase in March futures and an 8 percent increase in May futures. That?s a sign of increasing near-term worry among market participants.

The CBOE Volatility Index closed Friday at 22.72, gaining nearly 17 percent to end at its highest level since June as details emerged of a meeting Friday afternoon of President Barack Obama with Senate and House leaders from both parties where the president offered proposals similar to those already rejected by Republicans. Stocks slid in late trading and equity futures continued that slide after cash markets closed.

?I was stunned Obama didn?t have another plan, and that?s absolutely why we sold off,? said Mike Shea, a managing partner and trader at Direct Access Partners LLC, in New York.

Obama offered hope for a last-minute agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff after a meeting with congressional leaders, although he scolded Congress for leaving the problem unresolved until the 11th hour.

?The hour for immediate action is here,? he told reporters at a White House briefing. ?I?m modestly optimistic that an agreement can be achieved.?

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to convene Sunday and continue working through the New Year?s Day holiday. Obama has proposed maintaining current tax rates for all but the highest earners.

Consumers don?t appear at all traumatized by the fiscal cliff talks, as yet. Helping to bolster consumer confidence has been a continued recovery in the housing market and growth in the labor market, albeit slow.

The latest take on employment will be out Friday, when the U.S. Labor Department?s non-farm payrolls report is expected to show jobs growth of 145,000 for December, in line with recent growth.

Consumers will see their paychecks affected if lawmakers cannot broker a deal and tax rates rise, but the effect on spending is likely to be gradual.

Options strategists have noted an increase in positions to guard against weakness in defense stocks such as General Dynamics because those stocks would be affected by spending cuts set for that sector. Notably, though, the PHLX Defense Index is less than 1 percent away from an all-time high reached on December 20.

This underscores the view taken by most investors and strategists: One way or another, Washington will come to an agreement to offset some effects of the cliff. The result will not be entirely satisfying, but it will be enough to satisfy investors.

?Expectations are pretty low at this point, and yet the equity market hasn?t reacted,? said Carmine Grigoli, chief U.S. investment strategist at Mizuho Securities USA, in New York. ?You?re not going to see the markets react to anything with more than a 5 to 7 percent correction.?

Save for a brief 3.6 percent drop in equity futures late Thursday evening last week after House Speaker John Boehner had to cancel a scheduled vote on a tax-hike bill due to lack of Republican support, markets have not shown the same kind of volatility as in 2008 or 2011.

A gradual decline remains possible, Golub said, if business and consumer confidence continues to take a hit on the back of fiscal cliff worries. The Conference Board?s measure of consumer confidence fell sharply in December, a drop blamed in part on the fiscal issues.

?If Congress came out and said that everything is off the table, yeah, that would be a short-term shock to the market, but that?s not likely,? said Richard Weiss, a Mountain View, California-based senior money manager at American Century Investments.

?Things will be resolved, just maybe not on a good time table. All else being equal, we see any further decline as a buying opportunity.?

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/International/2012/Dec-31/200433-cliff-may-be-worrisome-but-debt-ceiling-scarier.ashx

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SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad Review

Over the past two days I?ve taken a look at two different wireless keyboard solutions. ?Up first was the SHARKK Wireless Keyboard Case for the iPad Mini. ?Next I took a look at the?SHARKK Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard. ?Today we?ll finish up our look at SHARKK?s line up of Bluetooth keyboards with the?SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad.

If you?d rather not carry around two things (keyboard and tablet), and your an iPad user in search of a keyboard, the?SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad might be the answer. ?Combining wireless keyboard and case into one package the?SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad offers some unique functionality others miss.

Click on through for my full review.

Inside the packaging you?ll find the case along with an instruction manual as well as a charging cable.

Here?s what SHARKK has to say about the?SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad.

Product Features

• USB cable included for charging. Works with all versions of iPad2, iPad3, and The New iPad4. Keyboard will connect to any Bluetooth device but it can only be used as a case and stand for iPad 2, iPad 3, and The New iPad 4.
• Made by SHARKK Brands. Customized with sleep/wake hibernation mode when case is on the tablet.
• Rotates 360 degrees for multiple viewing options including vertical and horizontal.
• Keyboard, Skin and Stand are all detachable.
• Dimensions: 245 x 190 x 23 mm, weight: 475 g.

This case features a built in?rechargeable?battery. ?You?ll use the included micro USB cable to charge the battery. ?The battery takes a few hours to completely charge but you?ll get a few weeks before needing to charge it again. ?You?ll also need to complete the Bluetooth pairing process so that the keyboard and your iPad are synced. ?This only needs to be done once.

The case itself has a soft touch finish which is easy to hold.

The case opens up to reveal a clam shell design.

Installing your iPad into the case is as easy as snapping it in.

This case has a ton of features! ?For starters you can remove the case portion, where you iPad lives, and place it separate from the keyboard.

You can also slide it in or out to adjust the angle at which the iPad sits.

Second, you can remove the snap on the back case from the rest of the case for an even slimmer look and feel, for times when you don?t need the keyboard.

As for the keyboard, it feature small style plastic keys which offer good feedback when pressed. ?They keys themselves are about half the size of a full sized keyboard.

There are plenty of iPad specific keys on the keyboard as well.

The case has a ratcheting mechanism which allows you to prop up the iPad in either the portrait or landscape position. ?This is one of the only keyboard cases for the iPad, that I?ve seen, which allows you to use the iPad in the portrait position.

Check out my full video review below?

If you miss the feel of a laptop computer in your iPad the?SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case might be just what you need to bring that portable computer feel to your Apple tablet. ?The case supports multiple angles, has iPad specific keys built in and offers a nice protective solution for those longing for a real keyboard to type away on. ?Oh yeah, it?s priced right too. ?At under $70 the?SHARKK Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad is one of the most affordable keyboard cases on the market.

You can learn more about the X by visiting this page on Amazon.

MSRP: ?$69.99

PROS: ?Soft touch finish. ?Multiple angles.

CONS: ?Bulky.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/runaroundtechcom/~3/4zHIJHZ_RWk/

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WWE Spoils Title Change at Tonight's RAW Tapings In Washington, DC

- WWE announced the following tonight:

"WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Wade Barrett won the Intercontinental Championship at tonight?s Raw taping, defeating Kofi Kingston at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. to capture the coveted title for the second time.

The victory comes just days after Barrett pinned the acrobatic former champion during a Six-Man Tag Team Match on SmackDown. In fact, the British Superstar seemed to have Kingston?s number during their tense rivalry over the past few weeks, but it was Kofi who prevailed when the two men met with the Intercontinental Championship on the line at WWE TLC. Although he had fallen victim to Barrett?s Bull Hammer on more than one occasion, the resourceful Kingston always retained his title when the stakes were high ? that is, until tonight."

Exclusive Update on CM Punk's Status and Feud with The Rock...

Source: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe/WWE_Spoils_Title_Change_at_Tonight_s_RAW_Tapings_In_Washington_DC.html

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Storms on US Plains stir memories of the 'Dust Bowl'

Staff / Reuters

A sprinkler is in use near Dodge City, Kansas, November 26, 2012. Residents of the Great Plains over the last year or so have experienced storms reminiscent of the 1930s Dust Bowl. Experts say the new storms have been brought on by a combination of historic drought, a dwindling Ogallala Aquifer underground water supply, climate change and government farm programs. Picture taken November 26. REUTERS/Kevin Murphy (UNITED STATES - Tags: AGRICULTURE ENVIRONMENT)

By Reuters

LIBERAL, Kan. - Real estate agent Mark Faulkner recalls a day in early November when he was putting up a sign near Ulysses, Kansas, in 60-miles-per-hour winds that blew up blinding dust clouds.?

"There were places you could not see, it was blowing so hard," Faulkner said.?

Residents of the Great Plains over the last year or so have experienced storms reminiscent of the 1930s Dust Bowl. Experts say the new storms have been brought on by a combination of historic drought, a dwindling Ogallala Aquifer underground water supply, climate change and government farm programs.?

Nearly 62 percent of the United States was gripped by drought, as of Dec. 25, and "exceptional" drought enveloped parts of Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.?

There is no relief in sight for the Great Plains at least through the winter, according to Drought Monitor forecasts, which could portend more dust clouds.?

A wave of dust storms during the 1930s crippled agriculture over a vast area of the Great Plains and led to an exodus of people, many to California, dramatized in John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath."?

Drought worsens in High Plains; winter outlook grim

While few people believe it could get that bad again, the new storms have some experts worried that similar conditions -- if not the catastrophic environmental disaster of the 1930s -- are returning to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado.?

"I hope we don't talk ourselves into complacency with easy assumptions that a Dust Bowl could never happen again," said Craig Cox, agriculture director for the Environmental Working Group, a national conservation group that supports converting more tilled soil to grassland. "Instead, we should do what it takes to make sure it doesn't happen again."?

Handout / Reuters

Webcam views show South Loop 289 before and during a dust storm in Lubbock, Texas, in these National Weather Service handout images dated December 19.

Satellite images on Dec. 19 showed a dust storm stretching over an area of 150 miles from extreme southwestern Oklahoma across the Panhandle of Texas around Lubbock to extreme eastern New Mexico, said Jody James, National Weather Service meteorologist in Lubbock. Visibility was reduced to half a mile in places, stoked by high winds, he said. At least one person was killed and more than a dozen injured in car crashes.?

"I definitely think these dust storms will become more common until we get more measurable precipitation," James said.?

'Dirty 30s'?
The Great Plains is a flat, semi-arid, area with few trees, where vast herds of buffalo once thrived on native grasses. Settlers plowed up most of the grassland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to create the wheat-growing breadbasket of the United States, encouraged by high commodity prices and free "homestead" land from the government.?

The era known as the "Dirty 30s" -- chronicled by Ken Burns in a Public Broadcasting Service documentary that aired in November -- as when a 1930s drought gripped the Great Plains and winds carried away exposed soil in massive dust clouds.?

More stories in Environment

Bill Fitzgerald, 87, a farmer near Sublette, Kansas, remembers "Black Sunday" on April 14, 1935, when a clear, sunny day in southwest Kansas turned black as night by mid afternoon because of a massive cloud of dust that swept from Nebraska to the Texas panhandle.?

"My older brother and I were in my dad's 1927 or '28 Chevy truck a mile north and a mile west of the house and we saw it rolling in," Fitzgerald said. "It was about 10 p.m. when it cleared enough for us to go home."?

Farming practices have vastly improved since the 1930s. Farmers now leave plant remnants on the top of the soil and less soil is exposed, to preserve moisture and prevent erosion.?

The governor of Missouri has enacted an emergency measure to drill new wells in areas where water is scarce, providing much-needed relief for the state's farmers and ranchers. NBC's Thanh Truong reports.

Irrigation beginning in the 1940s from the Ogallala aquifer, a huge network of water under the Great Plains, also made land less vulnerable to dust storms.?

Drying?
But the Ogallala aquifer is drying up after years of drawing out more water than was replenished.?

Many farmers have had to drill deeper wells to find water. Others are giving up on irrigation altogether, which means they can no longer grow crops of high-yielding and lucrative corn. They will instead grow wheat, cotton or grain sorghum on dry land, which depends completely on natural precipitation in an area that typically gets 20 inches of rain a year or less.?

Near Sublette, Kansas, farmer Gail Wright said he would probably give up irrigating two square miles of his land and would plant wheat and grain sorghum instead of corn because of the diminishing aquifer. Drilling deeper wells would cost $120,000 each, Wright said.?

/

Drought conditions plague much of the United States after a summer of scorching temperatures and a lack of rain. The dryness is affecting America's farmland, threatening crops like soybean and corn.

"When we drilled those wells in the 1960s and 70s, we were doing 1,500 or 1,600 gallons per minute," said Wright. "Now, they are down to anywhere from 400 to 600 gallons per minute. We probably pumped out 200 feet of water."?

Another farmer in Sublette, 79-year-old Lawrence Withers, whose family farms land his grandfather settled in 1887, is resigned to a future without irrigation.?

"We have pumped 170 feet off the aquifer, that's gone. There's just a little tick of water at the bottom," he said.?

The Ogallala supplies water to 176,000 square miles of land in parts of eight states from the Texas panhandle to southern South Dakota. That amounts to about 27 percent of all irrigated land in the nation, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.?

60 percent of lower 48 states now in drought

The volume of water in the aquifer stood at about 2.9 billion acre feet in 2009, a decline of about 9 percent since 1950, according to the Geological Survey. About two-and-a-half times as much water was drawn out in the 14 years ended 2009 as during the prior 15-year period, data shows.?

The water may run out in 25 years or less in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and southwest Kansas, although in other areas it has 50 to 200 years left, according to the Geological Survey.?

Rationing has been imposed on irrigation in the region but it may be too little too late.?

"It's a situation where across the Plains the demand far exceeds the annual recharge," said Mark Rude, executive director of the Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District.?

Record drought?
The worst drought in decades has exacerbated the situation. The semi-arid area around Lubbock, which typically gets about 19 inches of rain a year, received less than 6 inches in 2011, the lowest ever recorded. This year was better but still far below normal at 12.5 inches, meteorologist James said.?

Climate change is also having an impact on the region, said atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe, co-director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.?

Grain prices soar as drought impact deepens

"It is definitely hotter in the summer and drier in the summer because of climate change," she said.?

The average annual temperature in Lubbock has increased by one full degree over the last decade, according to National Weather Service data, and the average amount of rainfall has fallen during summer months by about .50 inch over the decade.?

Some say government policies are making things worse.?

Federal government subsidized crop insurance pays farmers whether they produce a crop or not, encouraging farmers to plant even in a drought year.?

Another subsidized U.S. government program that pays farmers to take sensitive marginal land out of crop production and put it into grassland is gradually shrinking.?

A look at the latest market moves from the trading floor, including the trade on corn prices, with Phillip Streible, RJO Futures.

In a possible case of history repeating itself, high commodity prices are encouraging farmers to break up the land and plant crops when the 10-year conservation contracts with the government expire, said environmentalist Cox. This is similar to what happened in the 1920s when vast areas of grassland were plowed up.?

The government also has imposed restrictions on how much land can go into conservation reserves to save money at a time of massive U.S. budget deficits, he said.?

The amount of land in conservation reserves has declined by more than 2.3 million acres over the last five years in five states of the Great Plains -- Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data.?

If most of that land is plowed up for crops it could lead to more dust storms in the future.?

"I think you are probably going to see increased erosion if that happens," said Richard Zartman, Chairman of the Plant and Soil Science Department at Texas Tech, adding that it was unlikely to get as bad as the Dust Bowl days.?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/30/16248220-storms-on-us-plains-stir-memories-of-the-dust-bowl?lite

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Organize Your Home: 12 Ways to Declutter Using Pocket Organizers ...

I love how versatile Shoe Hangers are for organizing!? Here are 12 different ways for you to organize your home in less than?20? minutes by using a over?the door shoe hanger to store your stuff. You can find these at any store and sometimes you can even get them at the $1 store.

12 Ways to Organize Your Home Using Shoe Storage Pockets

1. School supplies or teaching supplies can be stored in each pocket. If you want to go the extra mile label each pocket. idea via Something To Do

2. Toys-?Action figures- Place all of your child?s action figures inside each pocket and hang low for them to have easy access.? idea via Organize Your Stuff Now

3. Bathroom Caddy- place blow dryer, hair accessories, brushes, make up bag, hand mirror?

4. Shoes or books under the bed- Instead of hanging it over the door place it in between your mattresses and hang from there. The blankets will hide it.

5. Dolls- Do you have one too many dolls lying around Place each one in?pocket and have them in a visible and reachable area for your child. image via Container Store

6. Laundry Room organizer Place your laundry?spray bottles, lint brushes??inside each pocket for easy access. idea via The Nest

7. Ribbon and Craft Supplies- I love how she placed her ribbons, threads on cardboard and then place them in each pocket.? You can easily fill these pockets up with all of? your crafting supplies. idea via All People Quilt

8. Car Organizer- Place behind a seat or in the back storage area and fill it up with your traveling essentials. idea via: Decororganizer

9. Lingerie and Jewelry Organizer-?I never would have thought of this one but very clever. Place your lingerie in each pocket for easy organizing. idea via Sew 4 Home

10. Hat and Scarf Hanger- place all of your outdoor essentials neatly inside the pockets.

11. Medicine- Store all of your meds in each pocket keeping everything organized and visible. Ours is all in a box and it can get frustrating digging through it trying to find fever medicine in the middle of the night for our kids.

12. Pantry Items ? I love this clever idea. She places seasoning packets in each pocket. You can also place other light weight pantry?items in it unless you are using a durable shoe organizer. idea via Mashup Mom

Also another fun one I found was for your plants. Idea via Instructables

Other post you may enjoy:

DIY Decorative Storage Bins

Action Packer Turned Storage and Pirate Ship

DIY Storage Baskets using cereal boxes

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Source: http://inspiredbyfamilymag.com/2012/12/29/organize-your-home-12-ways-to-declutter-using-pocket-organizers/

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johir.khan: Self-Improvement Affirmations with Self-Hypnosis Audios

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Source: http://williamsjohn273.typepad.com/blog/2012/12/johirkhan-self-improvement-affirmations-with-self-hypnosis-audios.html

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A solution to this scourge in our society - Guyana Times International ...

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Source: http://www.guyanatimesinternational.com/?p=22738

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What's Hot and Hotter ? Womens Fashion Clothes for the Coldest ...

The winter season is here and womens fashions have delivered a range of styles to suit most tastes. Unlike previous season, in which plus size women in particular have been penalised by Dame Fashion for not having certain tastes or not looking good in certain cuts, the AW 2012 season has put together what is almost a hit parade of previous fashion favourites from nearly a century?s worth of styles, cuts and colours.

The womens fashion clothes on offer for the AW 2012 season range from highly coloured late 20^th Century prints to delicate, sombre mid-century dresses and from high Victoriana to understated 21^st Century cool. From peplum to chiffon, from floaty to figure hugging, there?s a combination for every lady as the party season gets under way again.

Plus sized fashions this year combine a number of looks and feels ? including the two tone look popularised by the world?s favourite plus size beauty, Christina Hendricks. Ever since being voted World?s Sexiest Woman in a poll of the readers of an influential and well-known male interest magazine, Christina has reminded us all why the bountifully proportioned girl is the one we all love. This year?s fashions pay homage to some of her outfits in hit TV show ?Mad Men? ? as well as to the years and styles that have formed some of our most enduring impressions of retro cool.

This year?s womens fashion clothes include 50s style dresses, Edwardian style dresses and even a return to the loudness of the 80s and 90s with some delicious outfits that remind us of the times without repeating their fashion crimes (so, no massive shoulder pads, for example!). The modern retro look does what retro does best ? taking the spirit of an era without actually replicating the materials and cuts it used to be famous for.

For the plus sized lady, the most complementary fashions are the 50s style dresses, modern floating dresses (which also have a late Victorian Gothic look to them) and of course, the classic jeans and jacket look ? which can be stunning on a lady with generous hips and chest measurements.

As a plus sized lady, you will already know what styles suit you the best. Make the most of our peplum dress for the hourglass figure featured with a heavier waist ? perfect for most occasions from parties to work. Or balance a top heavy figure with a jacket and trousers. Wearing the cut of the trousers loose from midthigh down can reinstate balance to the silhouette of a lady whose upper deck is notably bigger than the rest of her.

The clothes you choose need to express your personality as well as your fashion sense. That?s why the AW 2012 selection is so exciting. For the first time in a long time, you?re able to really combine your personal style with the styles available to you on the high street and from the internet sites you use. AW 2012 womens fashion clothes represent the widest selection of tastes and styles seen on the street in a long time.

?

Summary

AW 2012 womens fashion clothes represent the widest selection of tastes and styles seen on the street in a long time.

Source: http://www.elvi.co.uk/blog/2012/12/whats-hot-and-hotter-womens-fashion-clothes-for-the-coldest-season/

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November Pending Home Sales - Business Insider

AP

U.S. pending home sales jumped 1.7 percent month-over-month in November.

Economist were expecting a 1.0 percent month-over-month gain.

"Even with market frictions related to the mortgage process, home contract activity continues to improve," wrote Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors.? "Home sales are recovering now based solely on fundamental demand and favorable affordability conditions."

Here's more from the NAR:

WASHINGTON (December 28, 2012) - Pending home sales increased in November for the third straight month and reached the highest level in two-and-a-half years, according to the National Association of Realtors^?.

The Pending Home Sales Index,^* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 1.7 percent to 106.4 in November from a downwardly revised 104.6 in October and is 9.8 percent above November 2011 when it was 96.9. The data reflect contracts but not closings.

The index is at the highest level since April 2010 when it hit 111.3 as buyers were rushing to beat the deadline for the home buyer tax credit. With the exception of several months affected by tax stimulus, the last time there was a higher reading was in February 2007 when the index reached 107.9.

Lawrence Yun , NAR chief economist, said home sales are on a sustained uptrend. "Even with market frictions related to the mortgage process, home contract activity continues to improve. Home sales are recovering now based solely on fundamental demand and favorable affordability conditions."

On a year-over-year basis, pending home sales have risen for 19 consecutive months.

The upward momentum means existing-home sales should rise 8 to 9 percent in 2013 to approximately 5.1 million, following a 10 percent gain expected for all of 2012. The median existing-home price is projected to rise just over 4 percent in 2013, after rising more than 7 percent in 2012.

The PHSI in the Northeast rose 5.2 percent to 83.3 in November and is 15.2 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index edged up 0.1 percent to 103.8 in November and is 15.2 percent above November 2011. Pending home sales in the South were unchanged at an index of 117.2 in November and are 13.9 percent higher than a year ago. In the West the index rose 4.2 percent in November to 110.1, but is 3.2 percent below November 2011 with inventory constraints limiting sales.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/november-pending-home-sales-2012-12

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Five questions that will be answered by UFC 155

The UFC's end-of-the-year cards are usually stacked. Despite injuries, UFC 155 is no different. It features intriguing bouts that will answer some burning questions.

Did a knee injury hold back Cain Velasquez the first time he fought Junior dos Santos? When the two first met up last November, Velasquez reportedly had a badly injured knee. He was knocked out in 64 seconds. This time a (seemingly) healthy Velasquez will get to show if he deserves the heavyweight belt.

Has Chris Leben returned to form, for really real this time? Since Leben was on the original "Ultimate Fighter," he has been a man who wrestled with his demons. Most recently, those demons took the form of a banned pain killer which resulted in a one-year suspension from the UFC. Against Derek Brunson, Leben can show he's again the man who knocked out Wanderlei Silva.

Can Tim Boetsch be the next guy to challenge Anderson Silva? Though his original bout with Chris Weidman was called off because of an injury to Weidman, Boetsch still has another opportunity to show he can beat up opponents. He wants a chance to beat up Silva,* and this bout with Costa Phillippou is an opportunity for Boetsch's fighting to shine.

Or should Alan Belcher be the man to take on Silva? It's been more than three years since Belcher lost a fight. His last four fights have been stoppage wins. An impressive win over Yushin Okami could put him in line to fight for the middleweight belt.*

Is Todd Duffee still the knockout artist who once graced the octagon? Back in 2009, Duffee knocked out Tim Hague in a mere seven seconds. After that, the hype train was running behind him full steam. It was derailed when Mike Russow came back to knock Duffee out in the third round of their bout. Duffee was cut from the UFC, and is getting another shot at the octagon on Saturday. He'll fight Philip De Fries on the Facebook preliminaries, and get a chance to show if he can still knock people out very quickly.

*Assuming the next middleweight belt is based on competitiveness and earning a title shot by fighting, not by calling opponents out. Considering what has happened recently in the UFC welterweight and light heavyweight divisions, there are no guarantees.
Related MMA video from Yahoo! Sports

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Slideshow: Sports tweets of the year
? After intentional injury admission, Lomas Brown loses ground in NFL lawsuit
? Avery Johnson got fired, but Deron Williams is sinking the Nets
? Y! Finance: Mark Zuckerberg's sister up in arms when someone tweets her Facebook photo

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/five-questions-answered-ufc-155-221719074--mma.html

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Overwhelmed Newtown officials seek temporary halt to gifts

NEWTOWN, Conn. - Officials in Newtown, Conn., are asking people to stop sending gifts to the grief-stricken community following the deadly school shooting, saying they're deeply grateful but can't handle the donation deluge.

The town's first selectman, police chief and schools superintendent made the request Wednesday through an editor at The Newtown Bee newspaper.

They say since a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators Dec. 14, gifts from school supplies to artwork have arrived in such numbers they've overwhelmed the small community's ability to process them.

The officials are asking people to temporarily stop sending gifts. They say once they process the "warehouses full of items," they'll detail the best ways to help.

Meanwhile, the United Way of Western Connecticut announced Wednesday that a fund established after the shooting to support Newtown has grown to $3.5 million.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/overwhelmed-officials-newtown-conn-seek-temporary-halt-gifts-003017199.html

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Is One Pound Fish Man the Next Trololo Man?

This is Muhammad Shahid Nazir aka One Pound Fish Man, as many people call him. You probably don't know about him, but he's huge in the United Kingdom already—a YouTube sensation that is quickly racking up views and becoming a freaky internet sensation, much like Trololo Man. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ELqnZI5Ux6Y/is-one-pound-fish-man-the-next-trololo-man

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Mental illness, poverty haunted Afghan policewoman who killed American

KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan policewoman suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at police headquarters in Kabul suffered from mental illness and was driven to suicidal despair by poverty, her children told Reuters on Wednesday.

The woman was identified by authorities as Narges Rezaeimomenabad, a 40-year-old grandmother and mother of three who moved here from Iran 10 years ago and married an Afghan man.

On Monday morning, she loaded a pistol in a bathroom at the police compound, hid it in her long scarf and shot an American police trainer, apparently becoming the first Afghan woman to carry out such an attack.

Narges also tried to shoot police officials after killing the American. Luckily for them, her pistol jammed. Her husband is also under investigation.

Her son Sayed, 16, and daughter Fatima, 13, described how they tried to call their parents 100 times after news broke of the shooting, then waited in vain for them to come home.

They recalled Narges's severe mood swings, and how at times she beat them and even pulled out a knife. But the children said she was consistent in bemoaning poverty.

"She was usually complaining about poverty. She was complaining to my father about our conditions. She was saying that my father was poor," Sayid said in an interview in their damp, cold two-room cement house.

On the floor beside him were his mother's prescriptions and a thick plastic bag filled with pills she tried to swallow to end the misery about a month ago. On another occasion, she cut her wrist with a razor, Sayed said.

"My father was usually calm and sometimes would say that she was guilty too because it wasn't a forced marriage. They fell in love and got married."

There was no sign in their neighborhood of the billions of dollars of Western aid that have poured into Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, or of government investment.

RAW SEWAGE, STAGNANT WATER, DIRT ROADS

The lane outside their home stank of raw sewage.

Dirty, stagnant water filled holes in dirt roads nearby, where children in tattered clothes played and butchers stood by cow's hooves in shops choked by dust.

Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest nations, with a third of its 30 million residents living under the poverty line.

The sole distractions from the daily grind appeared to be a deck of playing cards and a compact disc with songs from Iranian pop singers, scattered on the floor of a room where Narges would lock herself in and weep, or sit in silence.

At times, Narges would try to focus on building her children's confidence, telling them to be guided by the Muslim holy book, the Koran, to tackle life's problems.

Sayed and Fatima said she never spoke badly of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan or of President Hamid Karzai's government.

Neighbor Mohammad Ismail Kohistani was dumbfounded to hear on the radio that Afghan officials were combing Narges' phone records to try to determine whether al Qaeda or the Taliban could have brainwashed her into carrying out a mission.

But he was acutely aware of her mental problems and often heard her scream at her husband, whose low-level job in the crime investigation unit of the police brought home little cash.

Kohistani, who operates a small sewing shop with battered machines, never imagined his neighbor could be accused of a high-profile attack that raised new questions about the direction of an unpopular war.

"I became very depressed and sad," said Kohistani, sitting on the floor few feet from a tiny wood-burning stove in Narges's home, alongside family photographs and a police training manual.

Fatima would often seek refuge in Kohistani's house when her mother's behavior became unbearable. "She did not hate us, but usually she was angry and would not talk to us," said Fatima, her eyes moist with tears.

Nevertheless, she missed her mother. The children were staying with a cousin.

"I ask the government to free my mother, otherwise our future will be destroyed," said Fatima.

Officials described it as another "insider shooting", in which Afghan forces turn on Westerners they are meant to be working with to stabilize the country. There have been over 52 such attacks so far this year.

The shooting at the police headquarters may have alarmed Afghanistan's Western allies. But some Afghans have grown numb to the violence.

Kohistani's 70-year-old father Omara Khan, who sports a white beard, sat twirling prayer beads beneath a photograph of Narges in a black veil beside one of her husband.

Asked what he thought of the attack, he laughed.

"This is common in Afghanistan," said Khan, who lived through decades of upheaval, including the 10-year Soviet occupation and a civil war that destroyed half of Kabul and killed some 50,000 civilians.

"People are killed every day."

(Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mental-illness-poverty-haunted-afghan-policewoman-killed-american-153553139.html

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Nigeria: Warehouse said to hold fireworks explodes

	Essential News from The Associated Press

? ?Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-26-Nigeria-Fireworks%20Warehouse/id-66a4c9536ea54666a453ac872e0e8dbd

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A WEALTH BUILDING GIFT FOR YOU-part 1 | Barbara Friedberg ...

Wealth Tips #1-8 today.?

Thank you for reading and participating in Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance. Every single visitor is important to me. To show my appreciation for your visits and comments?please accept these?21 wealth building strategies (read tips #1-8 today), straight from my Wealth Tips Newsletter.

How I Made $60 Just by Asking-Wealth Tip #21

The Day Started Out Badly- While trying to plug in my cell phone charger, I pushed the desktop computer monitor on the floor. I figured it was ruined, but took it to the repair shop just in case it could be fixed. When I got to the shop, they asked for the power cord to see if it functioned. I forgot the cord and drove back home to get ?it.

After the repair guy plugged in the cord, he confirmed it was broken. So I asked if they had a new monitor for sale. If I could buy a new one at a good price, I?d get back to work quickly.

wealth building gift

Are you on the path to get rich? Take the Wealth Predictor Quiz- Wealth Tip #20

Are you on the path to get rich? Take the Wealth Predictor Quiz and find out. ? Life is made up of small decisions every day. Most of the time, you don?t see the impact of your decisions right away. Eat cake with every meal and it will take a bit of time to get fat, but if you continue, you will gain weight!! Spend with abandon and you will not amass wealth. [?]

Easy way to boost retirement funds- Wealth Tip #19

When Yahoo!Finance picked up my retirement article, I was reminded that everyone is worried about the future. Whether you?re young or old, the economic uncertainties and market volatility create anxiety.Today I?ll describe the best strategy for wealth building. Young or older, you can plan all you want, but no one knows for certain how much money you will need in retirement.

Groundbreaking research by scholars Steven Venti of Dartmouth University and David Wise of Harvard found that the greatest determinant of lefetime wealth is a person?s savings rate.

Need more motivation? Jean Chatzky in The Difference found that 55% of self made rich attributed habitual saving to their financial success.

This strategy is [?]

GET A HIGH RETURN ON YOUR CASH-Barbara Friedberg?s WEALTH TIP # 18

Readers and friends ask me why I don?t write about the great returns I get on cash from investing in peer to peer lending accounts. My pat response is, ?I?m in the business of finance education, not finance promotion?. After one year of investing and earning returns north of 10%, I decided to show you a screenshot of my investments and returns.For a complete picture of where and how to get out-sized returns on your cash, please check out, the screen shot of my [?]

Make $3,600 by managing your clothes spending ? BarbaraFriedberg?s WEALTH TIPS #17

Clothes cost less than ever, exploit the savings.?Inflation makes almost everything more expensive. Yet, clothing costs remain constant over decades.

Make $3,600 with this smart clothes shopping strategy. Here?s how:

Stock up on the classics when they go on sale at the end of the season. Classic slacks, shirts, and ?t shirts, don?t go out of style. At the end of every season, clothes are marked way down. Use that opportunity to buy the items you will wear in the future. My husband loved the Marc Anthony line at Kohl?s but was unwilling to pay $40 for a shirt. At the end of August, he bought the shirt when it dropped to $10. That?s a $30 savings (?)

Use the ?Spaghetti Strategy? for Wealth Building ? Barbara Friedberg?s WEALTH TIPS #16

In?The Start-up of You, by Hoffman and Casnocha, the respective founders of LinkedIn and Zynga shout that, if you aren?t evolving, you are dying. In today?s economy, you need to?add to your skill base,?seek new opportunities, and?prove your value?to your employer. Do not be shy about sharing why you are an important and valuable employee.
When I was in my 20?s, dating, and seeking a mate, someone said ?just get on the bus and keep on riding the bus and eventually you will meet your mate?. In other words, keep putting yourself in places where you?ll meet someone, keep putting yourself out there and connecting with people, and eventually you?ll find a partner. After joining countless community involvement groups, networks, and you name it, I eventually found and married my spouse.

The Spaghetti Strategy is this. (?)

Cheap Summer Vacation Tips (& more) ? Barbara Friedberg?s WEALTH TIPS #15

( I know it?s the beginning of winter, but these tips still apply!)
This year?s getaway is to Vegas! We are taking our daughter and mom on a four day, three night trip. The room and airfare for the four of us is $1,100.00. For those math impaired, that?s $275.00 per person. Of course we?ll need to eat and?have some fun, but I?ll let you know how to do that on the cheap as well. (?)

Tip to Create Lifetime Security and Satisfaction ? BarbaraFriedberg?s WEALTH TIPS #14

A bleak future does not have to be your reality.
The theory of life cycle economics purports that the best measure of your financial well being is how much enjoyment you receive from consuming experiences, goods, and services throughout your lifetime. This theory shifts from the view that dollars in the bank equals happiness to the reality that how you live and consume, both now and in the future determines your life satisfaction.
Human Capital is the Starting Point
Your earning power or human capital equals in the millions of dollars over a lifetime.
Every decision you make to consume today, impacts your ability to consume in the future.
You want a nice flow of income today, tomorrow, and in retirement.(?)

Please stop by next time for more Wealth Building Gems.

What is your favorite wealth building tip?

image credit; google limages_fundraising hq

Source: http://barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com/wealth-building-gift-pt1/

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What 2013 Holds for Technology | Products ... - Epoch Times

Joshua Philipp
Epoch Times Staff Created: December 24, 2012 Last Updated: December 24, 2012

By charting the course of technology over the last several years and predicting its continued path, it?s fair to say that we have an interesting year ahead of us.

The largest shift will take place in how we interact with computers. Touch screens on smartphones and tablets brought in human touch, Siri popularized voice-controlled systems, and the hacker community has begun to advance thought-controlled computing with EEG headsets. Voice, touch, and thought will slowly join the keyboard and mouse as ways to interact with electronics, and 2013 will see a new level in this shift.

The other major shift will be the return of the robotics market?starting with the popularization of drones and robots as toys.

The Toshiba U925t ultrabook hybrid notebook converts from a powerful notebook into a portable tablet. Hybrid computers such as the Toshiba U925t are likely to gradually replace tablets and notebooks. (Courtesy of Toshiba)

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Rise of the Hybrids

Let?s face it, laptops are just too heavy and too clumsy when there?s not a desk or table nearby. But tablets aren?t perfect either. Sometimes we need more power, so we use both a tablet and a notebook. And sometimes we just need a keyboard, so we?ve found ourselves attaching keyboards to our tablets, which ironically makes them not much different from notebooks.

Thus, from the rift between tablets and notebooks, the hybrid emerged. These are touch-screen notebooks that convert into tablets, such as the Toshiba U925t, Asus Taichi, and Sony Tap 20. When you need a notebook, they become notebooks. When you need a tablet, they become tablets.

Hybrids are just starting to become practical, however, and this is thanks to Windows 8. The major hurdle with hybrids is the operating system?do you use a full-fledged operating system, or one meant for mobile devices and tablets? Windows 8 includes both, allowing users to switch between a conventional Windows interface and a spiffy new one ideal for touch screens.

In 2013, expect to see Microsoft dominate the hybrid market. Since Mac OSX is only usable on Apple computers, Apple will not create a hybrid operating system until they release a hybrid computer. As for Google, its flagship operating system, Android, is intended for smartphones and tablets, and until they release a hybrid Chromebook, it is also unlikely they will release a hybrid operating system.

Yet, as developers shift the market to hybrid computers and touch screen notebooks, Apple and Google will need to follow Microsoft?s lead or risk falling behind. It is likely both companies will release hybrid operating systems?paired with hybrid computers?by 2014, although they may appear in 2013 if Microsoft?s hybrids outpace the popularity of their own devices.

A woman wears an Emotiv EPOC headset in a press image. The 14-electrode headset uses electroencephalography (EEG) technology and allows users to interact with computers using their thoughts and emotions. (Courtesy of Emotiv)

EEGs and Thought-Controlled Computing

When Emotiv first announced the EPOC in 2008, it was backed by a new vision of human-computer interaction. The headset with 14 electrodes uses electroencephalography (EEG) technology to detect the electric signals emitted by the brain, and translates these into computer commands. It allows users to control their computers with thoughts, emotions, and subtle movements.

At just $300, the EPOC was meant to bring EEG technology into the mainstream. Yet, it was too far ahead of its time. It was written off as more of a novel science fiction concept than a practical tool.

Despite the mainstream market never taking to EEGs, the technology was kept alive by the U.S. military, health researchers, and a small circle of software developers. And the odd inventions of this community have brought EEG systems into the public eye.

Videos of people using prosthetic limbs using their thoughts have gone viral. Researchers, such as the folks from the CNRS-AIST Joint Robotics Laboratory are creating thought-controlled robots that can be used like real-world avatars by paralyzed people.

And now, a new hip-looking EEG headband is on its way to the mainstream market. After nearly doubling its goal on crowd-funding website, Indiegogo, the MUSE indents to make EEG systems not only practical, but also stylish.

With its four electrodes, the MUSE sends your brainwave data to your smartphone or tablet and lets you see how your brain is performing, similar to a heart rate monitor. The MUSE is also open to software developers, and the more you use it, the more accurate it becomes. InteraXon, the company behind the MUSE, is working on accompanying technology that will let users use the MUSE with their phones or televisions?maybe allowing them to turn off a television if they drift off to sleep.

In 2013, EEG technology will begin drawing more attention, although it will likely not become mainstream until 2015. Health systems using EEG technology will become much more prominent in 2013, however, particularly among paralyzed people and for individuals, thanks to the already growing community of independent developers.

?

Apple iPhones are shown alongside an Apple iPad in a press image. Apple's integration of Siri in the iPhone 4S helped popularize voice recognition software. (Courtesy of Apple)

Voice Recognition Features

Voice recognition software is by no means new. Software developers such as Nuance have been working on it for years, Microsoft Word 2002 had speech recognition features, and even your pre-smartphone phone likely had speech recognition features built in. But the technology never got much attention until Apple announced Siri?s integration into the iPhone 4S in 2011.

Siri changed the landscape for voice recognition, although the system did little if anything different from pre-existing tools?even Siri itself started off as an app in the App Store that was available on all iPhone models. Siri?s popularity, however, was fueled by clever marketing, and its charm was in its near seamless integration into the iPhone 4S.

Along with Siri?s popularization, so too is growing the popularity of voice recognition systems on other platformers, including Android.

In 2013, expect voice recognition systems to grow more popular on smartphones and tablets. As people grow more accustomed to voice-to-text systems, and the ability to control computer functions with voice, expect voice recognition to begin growing more popular on laptops and notebooks by early 2014.

A six-legged robot from ArcBotics stands on a table at the Maker Faire on Sept. 29, 2012, at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York. Robots are gradually becoming more popular thanks to the DIY community. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)

Return of the Robots

In 2008, the home robotics market was about to hit it big. Telepresence robots like the Rovio WowWee intended to let you visit family members or go to the office when you were away. Companies like iRobot were releasing robots that would help around the house by cleaning and vacuuming.

The market for household robotics was crushed by the financial crisis. But development continued nonetheless, thanks to independent developers and the U.S. military?s ever-growing interest in drones and bomb disposal robots.

Now the market is starting to return, although in a much different direction than was expected in 2008. In 2013, expect drones and robots to become more popular as toys. The massive success of the Robot Dragonfly on crowd-funding website Indiegogo is a testament to this, bringing in close to $950,000 on its $110,000 funding goal.

The palm-sized Robot Dragonfly can hover and fly around, and is meant for aerial photography, new forms of gaming, and home security. Similar household drones are coming out with similar purposes, replacing the remote-controlled helicopters of yesteryear. Drones are also making their way from remote battlefields to local police and border patrol stations.

Meanwhile, the DIY community is hard at work developing robots of their own, thanks to an open source system called Arduino and a dedicated community open to sharing their designs. This has led to robot toys from small companies like ArcBotics, and books such as ?Make an Arduino-Controlled Robot,? by Michael Margolis.

Expect drones and robots to become more common as household toys in 2013, and as kids make them fly and scoot around parks, expect them to grow in popularity. And as their popularity grows, in the coming year, expect independent developers and small companies to build on existing technology and find common uses for robots and drones for household chores.

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/technology/what-2013-holds-for-technology-328408.html

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SEBA Result 2013 HSLC Exam Board of Secondary Education Assam

SEBA Result 2013- Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) will announce the result 2013 soon for HSLC (high school leaving certificate) examination. Candidates who will attempt HSLC exam they can get their result information on this page by privatejobshub.blogspot.in. We are providing details about SEBA result 2013 here on this page. SEBA result 2013 will declare approximately in the month of June 2013. Candidates can check their result through SEBA home site. Candidates go on the official site of SEBA through www.seba.net.in and get their result online. For more details about how to check SEBA Result 2013 HSLC candidates must see below: How to check SEBA Result 2013 HSLC on internet 1.??? Candidates open the SEBA sit through www.seba.net.in 2.??? Go on the Result link which provides in the Student Zone panel. 3.??? Candidates get their result by entering roll no. 4.??? Candidates must take the hard copy of their result for future reference.

When SEBA Result 2013 HSLC will announce on the official portal we will update this web page so candidates keep stay in touch with us.

Candidates can register their email at privatejobshub.blogspot.in for getting more details about SEBA Result 2013 in your mailbox. Note-Candidates must visit www.seba.net.in for getting more details about SEBA Result 2013.

Infosys, Wipro Are Hiring Apply Now

Source: http://privatejobshub.blogspot.com/2012/12/seba-result-2013-hslc-exam-board-of.html

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How to cope with a slow connection away from home

19 hrs.

Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker

Q. ?I'm going home for the holidays, and my parents have a very slow connection. Do you have any tips for getting my work done effectively when everything's moving slower than molasses??

Separate your Internet-heavy work and postpone it?
A.?Before you start making tweaks to your browser and computer, it's a good idea to take stock of what work you have and separate it into two categories. GigaOM explains:

Divide your tasks into bandwidth-heavy and bandwidth-light. Evaluate your routine web tasks and see which ones you can do with a slow connection, and which ones require a faster, more reliable one. This is especially important if your mobile Internet provider charges based on bandwidth usage instead of time. Aliza Sherman did something similar in a previous post, to help her work around bandwidth limits.

This is particularly useful if you know you're going to be stuck on a slow connection, but even if you get yourself in a bind, you can still do some re-prioritization quickly. If you have some Internet-heavy tasks that can't wait, you should delegate them to someone else if you can???heck, even offer to pick up some of your co-workers' Internet-light load if they can help you out.

Tweak your browser for low-speed connections
Chances are, your browser isn't exactly primed for slow Internet speeds. So, we recommend grabbing a second browser that you can tweak to work better with slow connections. Opera is a great choice, because it has a Turbo Mode that optimizes the Web for faster loading, but no matter what, there are a number of tweaks you can make to speed up your browser, like:

With these few tweaks in place, you should find things run a little smoother and you won't be stuck waiting for pages quite as long.

Use mobile, HTML or other low-footprint sites
These days, a lot of websites load up their pages with junk that isn't really a problem when you have a normal high-speed connection, but can really bog things down when your connection is limited. Some of them have alternatives in place.?

Gmail, for example, has a handy HTML version that you can use to cut down on the crap when you need to get into your email quicker. You can also see if a specific site has a mobile version, designed for smartphones. Most mobile sites will only load if you're actually on a mobile device, though, so you'll want to change your browser's user agent to make sites recognize you as a smartphone.

Work outside your browser whenever possible
The?more you stay in your browser, the longer you'll be waiting for pages to load. Travel website Gadling recommends transferring as much of that work outside your browser as possible. For example, if you write on a blog or do any work in Google Docs, transfer that to a desktop app like Microsoft Office or LibreOffice for the time being. Heck, you can even compose an email in Notepad while you wait for it to load???don't waste any time watching a progress bar when you could be doing something else.

When you do have to work in your browser, try not to put too much stress on it. Open one tab at a time, so you aren't trying to load a bunch of pages at once (since it'll take them longer, and you can only read one at a time). Close tabs you aren't using often, as they can often take up bandwidth even if you aren't looking at them.

Turn off bandwidth-sucking background apps?
With all the focus on your browser, you may forget that other apps like Dropbox might be taking up precious bandwidth in the background. Close any and all of those you don't need to do your work, or put them into offline mode so they aren't constantly checking if they need to sync. Some apps may require some foresight for this to work: Notational Velocity and ResophNotes will work fine without a connection, for example, but Evernote will require you to go into its settings and download your notebooks before it'll work in offline mode.

When all else fails, find better Wi-Fi?
No one wants to rush around all day trying to find better Internet, but if what you're using is just too slow, look elsewhere. Free Wi-Fi is everywhere, and if at first you don't succeed, find a faster hotspot. You won't be able to do this all day if you have work to get done, but you should be able to find something that's somewhat workable for the time being.

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/how-deal-slow-internet-connection-away-home-1C7660214

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