Bridging the Gap Between Digital, Mobile and In-Store Experiences ...

In the mid-?90s I was a teenager just entering high school. I loved computers, and the emergence of the Internet simply astounded me. I would spend hours on Prodigy, then AOL, chatting away and browsing every corner of the emerging web.

My big prediction was that there would come a day when we?d go to the mall online. We?d walk a character through the mall, entering shops where we could buy real items. Turns out it wasn?t that bold a prediction, as I wasn?t far off.

Today e-commerce has become a formidable challenger to brick-and-mortar stores, which rely on customers getting dressed (it?s harder than you think), leaving their houses, driving to the store, finding parking and dealing with store employees who are too eager or absent to be of any assistance, only to realize the item is out of stock. But in the early days of the web, it wasn?t clear that anyone would ever buy anything online. Who would you be buying from? How would you pay, and would it be safe? Did you need that item now, or could you wait six to 10 days for shipping? Why buy online when you could get everything at the mall (or so you thought) in one day? What if the items didn?t fit? What if they never arrived?

Just take a look at this report from a show called TV.com where they cover the growth and dangers of e-commerce and feature a very correct and forward-thinking Jeff Bezos. Wasn?t it great when we used phrases like ?the Net? and ?Cyberspace??

Those doubts weren?t enough to stop a new industry. Companies did achieve economies of scale online, and e-commerce continues to grow year after year as access to the Internet increases. Smartphones are more ubiquitous every day, so a customer doesn?t even have to be near the computer to snag that pair of shoes they?ve been eyeing since they saw them on Pinterest.

But the final bell in the fight for retail supremacy hasn?t rung. The brick-and-mortar stores that are still in there swinging are those that have evolved into e-commerce innovators, finding ways not only to keep up with Amazon (Target recently vowed to match Amazon.com prices) but also to offer experiences that simply can?t be duplicated by pure e-commerce; and it all starts with your phone.

Mobile + In-Store = Experience

Don?t blink, because if you do you?ll miss yet another evolution in mobile technology. The limits of mobile experiences seem to be limited only by our imagination. Apple wasn?t kidding. Whatever it is, there?s an app for that.

Mobile has the potential to enhance in-store experiences by delivering special offers at the shelf, generating a shopping list and guiding you through the store by using the phone?s GPS, enabling comparison shopping from anywhere, taking and making payments, providing product reviews with the scanning of a barcode, and so on. In other words, mobile technology can allow customers access to the necessary information and let them take command of physical stores the way they do online.

Your Customers are Ready

It?s one thing to develop innovative technology; it is another to get your customer base to adopt and actually use it. Mobile shoppers are expecting more from retailers when it comes to mobile technology, a recent study by Latitude found. Some of the highlights are:

• 79% of participants were interested in having digital content delivered to their mobile phones while shopping in the store
• shoppers of all ages are looking for a more comprehensive mobile-payment platform
• 80% are interested in a ?mobile wallet?
• 60% of smartphone owners have used a mobile device while shopping in a store
• 79% want the ability to virtually try on clothes while shopping in a store
• 86% want their mobile deice to alert them when they?re near a store that sells recommended or sought-after items.

Set. Go!

The barriers between e-commerce and in-store retail are coming down. Just as social media will eventually become just ?media,? e-commerce will eventually be just ?commerce.? Now it?s up to the retailers to see who will innovate the fastest and smartest.

Have you seen any brands enhancing the in-store experience with mobile technology? Let us know!

Source: http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/bridging-the-gap-between-digital-mobile-and-in-store-experiences-0377957

dolly parton stephen colbert running for president richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom coachella lineup joran van der sloot coachella 2012 lineup

MLI study on Dutch Disease and Canadian manufacturing covered in The Globe and Mail, Postmedia, Wall Street Journal, CBC News, Global News, Calgary Herald, Huffington Post Canada, iPolitics, and more

January 16, 2013 ? MLI?s recently released study by Philip Cross, Dutch Disease, Canadian Cure: How Manufacturers Adapted to the High Dollar, makes waves across the media today. Media coverage listed?below:

?How Canada?s ?petro-currency? became the ?Bay St. Buck?? by Michael Babad, The Globe and Mail, January 16, 2012

?Canada?s Dutch Disease diagnosis flawed, study says? by Gordon Isfeld, Financial Post, January 16, 2012 (reprinted in Postmedia newspapers)

?Dutch Disease is a myth, think tank says? by Paul Vieira, Wall Street Journal?s Canada Real Time, January 16, 2013

?Dutch Disease not a major factor in Canada?s manufacturing woes, report argues? by Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press, January 16, 2013 (reprinted in the Calgary Herald, CBC News,?Global News, Waterloo Region Record, Metro News, Huffington Post Canada, Winnipeg Free Press)

?High dollar?s impact fleeting for most Canadian factories, report says? by Barrie McKenna, The Globe and Mail, January 16, 2013

?Economy Today: Tapping into a weak global economy? by Eric Beauchesne, iPolitics, January 16, 2013

Business Daily update from the Hamilton Spectator, January 16, 2013

Top Business Stories from The Globe and Mail?by Michael Babad, January 16, 2013

More updates to follow!

?

?

Related posts:

1. MLI study in Financial Post, Globe and Mail, CBC, Wall Street Journal, Toronto Sun, Huffington Post Canada and more: European style debt crisis could happen here October 18, 2012 ? MLI?s latest study, Provincial Solvency and Federal Obligations, by author Marc...
2. Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal, Toronto Star, & iPolitics write about MLI?s book, Northern Light: Lessons for America from Canada?s Fiscal Fix October 15, 2012 ? The release of MLI?s book, Northern Light: Lessons for America from...
3. MLI?s Philip Cross in the Financial Post: Dutch Disease in Canada a myth January 16, 2013 ? MLI?s Philip Cross writes about his latest study, Dutch Disease, Canadian...
4. Surprise: Manufacturing survives high dollar and Dutch Disease is a false diagnosis, study finds High commodity prices do not account for all of Canadian dollar strength. Manufacturing resuming lead...
5. MLI?s CNOOC-Nexen Panel covered in The Globe and Mail, Financial Post, Global National, BNN, Sun News Network, CPAC and much more! October 18, 2012 ? The Macdonald-Laurier Institute hosted a timely panel discussion yesterday on the...

Please note that the link above was live when posted. Older links may no longer be functional.

Source: http://www.macdonaldlaurier.ca/mli-study-on-dutch-disease-and-canadian-manufacturing-covered-in-the-globe-and-mail-financial-post-global-news-calgary-herald-huffington-post-canada-ipolitics-and-much-more/

khalid sheikh mohammed masters par 3 gwen stefani overeem laron landry mary j blige burger king islands

Shipment of 18 human heads found at Chicago's O'Hare airport

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Investigators probing a shipment of 18 human heads intercepted at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport have determined they came from bodies donated for scientific research and were being transported for disposal, officials said on Tuesday.

U.S. Customs agents discovered the grisly package, which was shipped to Chicago from Italy shortly before Christmas, on Monday. Because the shipment's paperwork was not in order, agents confiscated the heads and sent them to the Cook County Medical Examiner for safekeeping, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said.

The heads, which had been used by a medical research facility in Rome, were properly embalmed, wrapped and labeled when they arrived at the airport, said Mary Paleologos, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner. Foul play has been ruled out, she said.

On Tuesday, the cremation company that was supposed to take delivery of the heads and dispose of them presented the missing paperwork to the medical examiner, Paleologos said.

The medical examiner said the remains would not be released to the company until federal authorities verified the paperwork.

In the meantime, the medical examiner is photographing and x-raying the embalmed heads for record-keeping purposes, Paleologos said.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shipment-18-human-heads-found-chicagos-ohare-airport-203342608.html

seattle times seattle times walker recall censor pipa and sopa sopa pipa wikipedia blackout

The Lung Cancer Project studies disease's stigma

A sign reading "Thank you for not smoking" hung on the front door of her home for years.

Neither Carollee Stater nor her husband ever smoked cigarettes, and the sign was to prevent secondhand smoke from visitors at her Apple Valley home.

But her efforts didn't stop the 73-year-old from being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer almost seven years ago.

"Unless you tell them up front that you've never smoked, the first question people ask is how long did you smoke?" Stater says. "That's fairly typical. People just assume that you got it because you smoked."

And the stigma is not exclusive to Stater. The Lung Cancer Project - a research collaboration aimed at better understanding lung cancer biases - found that three out of four people had a negative bias toward people with lung cancer.

"We found that people had conscious and unconscious beliefs that were more negative toward lung cancer and people suffering from the disease as compared to people with breast cancer," says Brian Nosek, founder of Project Implicit, a multi-university research collaboration involved in The Lung Cancer Project.

"For example, we found that people perceived those with lung cancer to be more to blame for their cancer, and that their diagnosis was more hopeless. This is probably due to the fact of the well-known association between smoking and lung cancer."

And while these are only the initial findings of the ongoing study, Dr. Marianna

Koczywas, an oncologist at the City of Hope who treats Stater along with many other lung cancer patients, says she has seen the negative connotation lung cancer patients, their families and the public associate with the diagnosis.

Many of her patients who were smokers, or had family members who smoked, say they deserve the disease because of the habit, she says.

And even those who didn't smoke are still assumed to have done so, she says.

While it's true that smoking is a main cause of lung cancer - active smoking attributes to almost 90 percent of lung cancer patients, according to the American Lung Association - Koczywas says a growing number of patients diagnosed with the disease never smoked.

"So I think that the thought has been changing," Koczywas says. "And I think from a physician's point of view, we're taught to educate these patients, their families and society that not everyone who develops lung cancer has cigarette exposure."

Other causes of lung cancer include exposure to asbestos, radiation or toxic chemicals like radon, and medical conditions that cause recurrent lung inflammation or lung scarring from diseases such as tuberculosis, says Koczywas.

In fact, radon exposure is the second-leading cause of lung cancer, accounting for 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths each year, according to the American Lung Association.

Stater, who never smoked and tried to avoid being around secondhand smoke, couldn't believe her diagnosis.

"I thought this is impossible, it shouldn't be happening to me," Stater says.

She still can't put a finger on the possible cause of her diagnosis, but Koczywas says patients shouldn't dwell on the reason why they got the cancer, but rather focus on the future and beating the disease.

Nosek hopes The Lung Cancer Project will help not only reduce the stigma associated with the disease, but also raise awareness of the other causes of lung cancer

and promote treatment seeking.

"Effective treatment is not just knowing what procedure to do or medicine to give. It also includes proper preventative care, treatment seeking, and many other behaviors that relate to people's beliefs about what they think they can do and their knowledge about their health and diseases," Nosek says.

"Better knowledge will lead to better care," he adds.

As for Stater, she just wants people to not assume that she, or other people with the disease, were smokers and deserve their diagnosis.

"Even having a smoker in the house doesn't mean that you got it because of that," Stater says. "You could have picked it up anywhere, any party you've gone to, just the right amount of whatever to trigger the cancer. You just never know."

Stephanie Cary

310-543-6630

stephanie.cary@dailybreeze.com

twitter.com/stephiecary

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22387056/researchers-study-lung-cancer-bias?source=rss

levon helm firelight world peace elbow kevin love think like a man world peace world peace lakers

Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, seeks balanced gun control regulations

MOBILE, Alabama ? Mayor Sam Jones today said he would like to see a balanced approach to gun control that would preserve people's Second Amendment rights while controlling gun violence that affects cities like Mobile.

Jones, a member of the growing Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, was one of two Alabama mayors to sign a Dec. 19 letter to President Barack Obama urging his gun control agenda include regulations making it harder for dangerous people to possess guns, and easier for police and prosecutors to crack down on them.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns have seen their membership soar since last month's tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The organization, which was started by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has more than 800 mayors from cities across the U.S.

"I hope we come up with a program to give people the right to bear arms, but we have some stipulations in there with assault weapons sold to cities," Jones said today. "An AK-47 is a larger weapon then our (police) officers are carrying. We are trying to curtail that. I don't know how you do that and still preserve the rights of everyone who wants to bear arms."

The mayors group called on Obama to do the following: appoint a director to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; push the Justice Department to "vigorously prosecute" felons and other prohibited purchasers who fail background checks; require federal agencies to report records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); and repeal remaining "Tiahrt restrictions," which are riders to the federal budget that restrict access to federal gun data.

Jones said criticism that the mayors group is an "anti-second amendment" coalition is "an extreme interpretation of what it's about."

"Mayors are interested in public safety of cities," Jones said. "That's their primary interest. We are not interested in keeping anyone away from hunting or bearing arms legally. But we have a serious issue with people dying every day from illegal assault weapons being in communities."

Jones' comments come one day before Obama unveils a package of gun control proposals including a ban on assault weapons.

His comments also come on the same day that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a new package of gun regulations that, among other things, limits the number of bullets in magazines and strengthens rules that keep the mentally ill from owning firearms.

The New York package also includes a statewide gun registry and adds a uniform licensing standard.

John Sharp, Press Register

Source: http://blog.al.com/live/2013/01/mobile_mayor_sam_jones_a_membe.html

is snooki pregnant snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr jack white kowloon walled city ronda rousey vs miesha tate

Petition to oust Swartz prosecutor has 29,000 signers

1 hr.

Suzanne Choney , NBC News

A petition asking the White House to remove the federal?prosecutor in the Aaron Swartz case now?has nearly?29,000?online signatures, more than?enough to require a response from the administration in the tragic case.

Swartz, 26, who helped create RSS as a teen, reportedly took his own life last Friday, and his death has sparked outrage as well as sadness.?

A passionate advocate for making as much information public as possible on the Web, Swartz was under indictment by the federal government on charges of wire fraud and computer fraud.

In an attempt to provide free access to JSTOR, a subscription service for science and literacy journals on MIT's network, he downloaded nearly the entire library of 4.8 million articles and documents to make it publicly available, according to?The New York Times.

The?case?was?dismissed?Monday?by?U.S.?Attorney?Carmen?Ortiz?because?of?Swartz's?death,?as?is?custom?when?a?defendant?dies?before?a?court?verdict.?But?angry?fans?and?sympathizers?filed?an?online?petition?with?the?White?House,?seeking?Ortiz's?ouster,?from office "for overreach" in the Swartz?case.

While?it?is?"too late to do anything for Aaron Swartz,"?the petition says, the prosecutor who "used the powers granted to them by their office to hound him into a position where he was facing a ruinous trial, life in prison and the ignominy and shame of being a convicted felon" for "an alleged crime that the supposed victims did not wish to prosecute"?should be ousted.

An Obama administration initiative called "We the People" says that staffers will respond and consider taking action on any issue that receives at least 25,000 online?signatures within 30 days. The Swartz petition received nearly 29,000 online signatures as of Tuesday morning; the petition itself was created last Saturday.

Now, it is up to the White House to review the petition and decide if it will take action.?

Kimberly Allen, a Department of Justice spokeswoman,?told NBC News Tuesday the?department?does?not?have a comment about the petition.

She?referred?to?the?investigation?that?MIT?president?L.?Rafael?Reif?said?will?be?done?by?MIT?professor?Hal Abelson?"to lead a thorough analysis of MIT's involvement from the time that we first perceived unusual activity on our network in fall 2010 up to the present."

"We are awaiting a report on what information?will come out of that,"?Allen?said?Tuesday.

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, Digital?Life and InGame on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/petition-remove-swartz-prosecutor-gets-total-needed-review-1B7982786

pebble beach golf beverly hilton roland martin whitney houston dead at 48 whitney houston dead 2012 whitney houston passed away heartbreak hotel

Now's The Time To Try Cloud Accounting | WePay

January 16, 2013 ? By Josh Brier ? Comments

Have you ever sat down and gone through all of the things you should have done sooner in your life? It?s a really enjoyable exercise of reminiscing about all of your screw-ups and reliving them one by one. Like the time you should have exited the highway to get gas thinking that you could make it to the next exit, only to end up making it to the next exit but by foot instead. How about the time you should have bought that jacket on sale in the department store only to wait and see that it was sold out and you?d now have to fork over double to get a similar one. Maybe you?d think about how you hawed and hummed over picking Mike Trout up from waivers last year in your fantasy baseball league, while he was still in the minor leagues, because you didn?t want to drop Nick Swisher only to see Mike Trout go on to have the single greatest fantasy season EVER!!

You get my point, we all have countless examples of decisions we should have made sooner but didn?t. Well, here is your time for some redemption. As I?ve written about in previous blogs, the beginning of the year is a crucial time for any business owner to make decisions that will impact the entire year. One area that should be under consideration is how to store and access your business? accounting information. Additionally, it?s important to make decisions about accounting services earlier in the year, so you can get all of your information from January input (as opposed to doing it after the fact). Enter cloud accounting! See the below benefits to this great service and how it may be beneficial helping you manage your business finances:

1. You are always on the run and busy- right? How would you like being able to access your accounting information on the go or from remote locations? This would allow you the flexibility of being away from your office and the ability to access your data anywhere. Perhaps you need some revenue figures before making a purchase or decision, but you?re not at your office; bam!!?Cloud Accounting. Great services like Outright?help you by easily linking all of your information for access on the run.
2. Every time I see that commercial for the document scanner-thingy, alleging to help me reduce all of the paper in my life, I generally have a big smile on my face. I think how wonderful being organized is and then I?m brought back to the reality of my cluttered desk (and how I should have called that company to order a scanner months ago). Well, cloud accounting can assist here! The beauty of this service is that you are able to sync your cloud accounting service with you banks, credit cards, PayPal, etc., and this takes the hassle of constantly inputting financial data into your computer?it?s done for you! Think about how great it would be to have all relevant financial information for your business auto-loaded into a central site.
   
   Timing alert- most banks only allow cloud accounting applications to import information from 30-90 days in the past. If you wait until later in the year to sign up for a service, it?s likely that you?ll have to go back in and manually enter some information. To get the most out of a service, and to save the most time, GET ON IT NOW!!!
   
3. Lastly, who enjoys the activity get everything ready to file their taxes? It probably falls between root canal and colonoscopy on the joyous activity list. If there is one reason to move to cloud accounting it is this feature- the ability to consolidate and itemize your tax liabilities and details automatically. This will not only save you dozens of hours, but will ensure that you are using the correct information and have all of relevant data at your fingertips.

Don?t have yourself a ?I should have picked up Mike Trout? moment in August when it comes to migrating to cloud accounting ? you?ll thank me. If my above points were not convincing enough, please read this article on additional ways that cloud accounting can benefit your small business.

Source: http://blog.wepay.com/2013/01/16/nows-the-time-to-try-cloud-accounting/

venezuela Sarah Jones chicago marathon barcelona vs real madrid Johnny Depp Dead college football rankings Steel Magnolias

Computer system and Tech Stocks Shifting Forward - Test Prep

Computer system and Tech Stocks Shifting Forward

Another working day, I had been listening to some commentary on CNBC fiscal information speaking about the future outlook and forward-looking projections from Cisco Methods. Generally speaking, the tech sector and also the analysts from Wall Avenue shelling out within the computer system and technology market used CiscoGlen H Franklin / Kayla L AndersonMethods as their bellwether. Even so, it seems to me moving ahead that Cisco may well not be very good the right baseline. Let me reveal.

Were you aware that if Apple desktops had been amongst the 30 Dow shares in 2009 which the Dow Jones industrial typical can be 2500 details bigger than it is ideal now these days in May perhaps of 2012? It is correct. And when we took Apple desktops given that the new bellwether for your pc and technologies sector it could have outperformed every one of the some others (merged) and actually taken absent quite a bit of their industry discuss, and profit potential too.Bernice S Watson / James M OrtizHence, I might not recommend exchanging Cisco Devices for Apple since the new baseline, but I'd advise having Cisco's performance and long term projections that has a grain of salt.

Upcoming, I'd wish to describe that the individual engineering sector is significantly diverse compared to the IT sector. Oracle, SAP, IBM, Cisco, and other people together with all those firms focusing on govt and navy contracts for cyber safety are within a fully unique realm. The smart cellphone, tablets, and personal tech markets are international, and unbelievably wide in character. Something I had normally mentioned, and I detected this in technological innovation information - is the fact that technological innovation has practically turn out to be synonymous with Apple. That kind of leaves absolutely everyone else out in the unique class.
Alyssa A McCown / Judith T Jones
Am I saying that Cisco is irrelevant? No, needless to say not, nevertheless getting their statements and meeting calls being an estimation and prospective development in the full tech sector is mindless in any respect. A lot of the federal government spending has got to do with selections built in Washington DC, lobbyists, and congressmen with pet tasks to modernize the federal govt with additional pcs opening just how on the potential eRepublic - governing administration to be a giant laptop or computer and website - hmm, that may be all right?

Firms and corporate costs on IT does have some bearing to the exclusive tech current market, Paul J Bird / Dolores S Stewartalthough not a great deal, as it is just one venue for companies like Apple. These Cisco meeting calls are often enlightening and very helpful, nevertheless they tend not to appear to be as important for projecting the long run in technological innovation stocks because they the moment had been. In fact, I really hope you will be sure to contemplate this all and imagine on it. If you'd like to focus on tech shares, go on and shoot me an e-mail.

Annie C Andrade / Erma D Mills

Source: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/TestPrep/20130116/1358319362

columbus day Stacy Dash Amber Tamblyn Lilit Avagyan Nashville TV Show VP debate drew brees

For Some Children, Autism Symptoms May Fade With Age - Health ...

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) ? Some children who are diagnosed with autism at an early age will ultimately shed all signs and symptoms of the disorder as they enter adolescence or young adulthood, a new analysis contends.

Whether that happens because of aggressive interventions or whether it boils down to biology and genetics is still unclear, the researchers noted, although experts suspect it is most likely a combination of the two.

The finding stems from a methodical analysis of 34 children who were deemed ?normal? at the study?s start, despite having been diagnosed with autism before the age of 5.

?Generally, autism is looked at as a lifelong disorder,? said study author Deborah Fein, a professor in the departments of psychology and pediatrics at the University of Connecticut. ?The point of this work was really to demonstrate and document this phenomenon, in which some children can move off the autism spectrum and really go on to function like normal adolescents in all areas, and end up mainstreamed in regular classrooms with no one-on-one support.

?Although we don?t know exactly what percent of these kids are capable of this kind of amazing outcome, we do know it?s a minority,? she added. ?We?re certainly talking about less than 25 percent of those diagnosed with autism at an early age.

?Certainly all autistic children can get better and grow with good therapy,? Fein said. ?But this is not just about good therapy. I?ve seen thousands of kids who have great therapy but don?t reach this result. It?s very, very important that parents who don?t see this outcome not feel as if they did something wrong.?

Fein and her colleagues reported the findings of their study, which was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, in the Jan. 15 issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

The 34 individuals previously diagnosed with autism (most between the ages of 2 and 4) were roughly between the ages of 8 and 21 during the study. They were compared to a group of 44 individuals with high-functioning autism and a control group of 34 ?normal? peers.

In-depth blind analysis of each child?s original diagnostic report revealed that the now-?optimal outcome? group had, as young children, shown signs of social impairment that was milder than the 44 children who had ?high-functioning? autism. As young children, the now-optimal group had suffered from equally severe communication impairment and repetitive behaviors as those in the high-functioning group.

That said, the optimal group retained none of the telltale signs of autism with respect to impaired social skills, communication behaviors or the ability to recognize faces. What?s more, all were enrolled in school settings that did not cater in any special way to the needs of children with autism.

Fein stressed that her group?s work is ongoing, and the team will analyze brain imaging information that might reveal some of the structural shifts under way among the formerly autistic group. The researchers also will look at various types of therapies the children had received following their initial diagnosis, to determine what kind of intervention seemed to have the greatest positive impact.

?We do have data on this, but we haven?t looked at it yet,? Fein said. ?From 40 years of clinical experience, it seems to me that behavioral interventions are the ones that are most likely to produce this outcome.

?But I want to point out that this is the result of years of hard work,? she added. ?This is not anything that happens overnight. I would say that at minimum we?re talking about two to three years of intensive therapy to produce this outcome, but it could also be five years. It?s variable.

?The other important thing to say,? Fein said, ?is that, even for the minority of children who experience this outcome, you don?t want to let go of therapy prematurely. Although we haven?t seen any kids whose autism has come back, we don?t really know that that can?t happen. Children who go on to lose the symptoms of autism will still continue to be at risk for certain things, like attention problems and anxiety, so intervention of some sort may be needed on a continual basis.

?Apart from that, I would tell parents that with all of this an early diagnosis and early intervention is very, very important,? Fein added. ?If a parent out there has any questions about their child and autism they should not wait and see. If a doctor tells you to wait, you should not. Get an evaluation.?

Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, said the study provides concrete support for what many on the front lines of autism have been witnessing.

?Clinicians have long observed that a minority of children who originally received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder will lose that diagnosis,? she said.

?We still don?t know what factors account for why some children lose their diagnosis, whereas others continue to have significant challenges,? Dawson added. ?However, it is likely that a combination of both early intervention and inherent biological factors play a role.?

More information

For more on autism, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Source: http://news.health.com/2013/01/15/for-some-children-autism-symptoms-may-fade-with-age/

vanessa bryant Prince Harry naked Prince Harry Vegas Melky Cabrera Mayim Bialik Rich Kids of Instagram felix hernandez

Under Cabinet Lighting Adds Style and Function to Your Kitchen

With the movement of technology, under cabinet lighting became a highly rated addition to every kitchen. Not only does this type of lighting add style to the overall interior of your kitchen, it also makes the space fully functional and performing at its best. With the use of cabinet lighting, the light in your kitchen is evenly distributed and from various options like the puck lighting, linkable, plug-in, dimmable, linear and concealed, you are sure to find multiple options that work for you and your kitchen space.

Ultra modern glossy kitchen with under cabinets lighting

Under cabinet lighting ideas for your kitchen

Image: MG Designs Inc ? via

Yes, you can make food preparation in the kitchen easier, safer and create a kitchen that looks fabulous at the same time. The two ways through which you can enjoy under cabinet lighting is through accent lighting and task lighting. Whether your choice of lighting is fluorescent, xenon, halogen or low voltage LED cabinet lights, you are sure to bring out the full potentials of your kitchen with the following ideas.

Modern under cabinet lights come in a variety of types

Image: Divine Kitchens - via

Task Lighting:

The task areas in the kitchen are those areas found directly over the kitchen sink, stove and the countertop. In order to enhance the functionality of your kitchen and also beautify it, a single or multiple recessed lights over the stove, sink or countertop will do the magic.

Modern kitchen cabinets with recessed lighting

by Robert Legere Design

Stylish lighting under kitchen cabinets

by Anne Fougeron

Since fluorescent fixtures are more economical while properly illuminating these areas, it would top the list of task lighting options. There is also the low voltage linear track which you can dim when you want to and the cooler xenon.

Lighting will provide a safer and more enjoyable kitchen

Image: Arnal Pix- via

Assess your kitchen lighting needs before hand:

When deciding on lighting ensure your kitchen has the proper areas for preparing, cleaning, cooking and dining. Assessing your family?s eating habits, and lifestyle will help you make a sound decision about under cabinet lighting. If you need help, visit your local home improvement or lighting store and bring pictures of your kitchen. This will help them give you ideas on what type of lighting fixture will work best for your home.

white kitchen under cabinet lighting

Image: Design Line Inc - via

Accent Lighting:

Having taken care of the task lighting, it is time to improve your kitchen?s lighting system more with accent lighting. With this type of lighting, you are able to add that extra touch to your kitchen while at the same time making it a fun-filled space as far as meal preparations is concerned. Does your kitchen have tray ceilings finished in crown molding? Then accent lighting is encouraged and the lighting options open to you are LED rope light or a low-voltage track light. A good way to highlight your countertop and backsplash.

Streamlined under cabinet lighting idea

Image via: Meister Construction ? via

Elegant under cabinets lighting for your kitchen

by Laura Burton Interiors

With the under cabinet lighting, you can create an amazing ambient light in your kitchen, especially if you opt for accent lighting in those cabinets with glass doors. Who says you have to spend a million bucks before you can improve your kitchen. Enhancing the look of your kitchen in anyway helps, to a large extent, in increasing its market value all year round.

Would you add under cabinets lighting for your kitchen?

Source: http://www.decoist.com/2013-01-16/under-cabinet-lighting/

stand your ground law dancing with the stars season 14 david garrard michael bay ninja turtles san antonio weather mike daisey nicollette sheridan

How to know if your advertising works - Steve Gordon Marketing ...

OK?seems like a simple answer: ?We?ll have more customers.?

Not so simple.

I was on the phone yesterday with a good sized company, doing a lot of different types of marketing?

• Direct mail
• Events
• Sponsorships
• Telemarketing
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Email marketing
• Print
• Blogging
• Social media

That?s a lot (and it?s expensive)?

And the smart question they posed was this:

?How do I know which of these moves the needle??

What if a prospect sees 5 of the 9 types of marketing you?re doing?which one worked?

The problem isn?t knowing which one is working (although that is vital). The problem is in the approach.

This is a ?fire in the direction of the enemy and hope we hit something? strategy. It?s almost impossible to track with any precision.

It also points to a deep problem for the business?

A lack of clear understanding about exactly who you?re marketing to and what problems you solve for them?that THEY care about.

So instead of working to gain clarity, you simple load up the advertising gun and fire away. If you have enough ammo, it works. You will hit something.

But it gets expensive?and in challenging economies it is hard to sustain.

There?s a better, more effective approach that?s highly targeted, trackable and accountable for results?

I teach it to my clients. You can start here >>>

Steve Gordon

by Steve Gordon

Steve Gordon builds automated marketing systems that attract ideal clients, follow-up with prospects and convert them to happy, paying, referring clients. Follow Steve on Facebook

Your Business Could Double This Year, IF You Fix These 7 Marketing Mistakes

Enter your name and email to get a free copy of my E-Book 7 Deadly Marketing Sins That Will Kill Your Business?

Source: http://stevegordonmarketing.com/how-to-know-if-your-marketing-works/

VP debate drew brees drew brees sandusky Sam Champion Hulk Hogan sex tape orioles

Fresh Prince: Google Translated

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TastefullyOffensive/~3/ZzNjPXFrsPE/fresh-prince-google-translated.html

Connecticut shooting Nancy Lanza school shootings cbs news Jenni Rivera chase Adam Lanza Facebook

How small firms are gearing up for health reform - Fortune ...

By Elaine Pofeldt

FORTUNE -- Lenny Verkhoglaz wishes he could provide health insurance to the nearly 300 home care aides he employs at Executive Care, based in Hackensack, N.J. No such luck.

Verkhoglaz hasn't been able to muster enough participation among his employees to qualify for the group plans he's considered so far. These plans require 75% of employees to participate. Many of his workers, who mainly assist clients with nonmedical tasks, earn a modest income ($10-14/hour) and aren't interested in contributing part of the premiums, he says.

"A lot of folks are immigrants," says Verkhoglaz, who came from the Soviet Union in 1978. "They send money overseas."

MORE:?5 robots that want to lend a hand

Now that the presidential election has come and gone and it is clear that health care reform will proceed, businesses like Executive Care need to prepare for change. Legions of small and midsize businesses that don't offer health insurance but have 50 or more "full-time equivalent" employees will have to provide health insurance by 2014 under the reform or pay financial penalties if their workers obtain insurance through one of the state exchanges currently being set up. To be considered a "full-time equivalent," someone must work an average of 30 hours a week or more.

Verkhoglaz says that he'll likely have at least 50 employees who count as full timers at his firm in 2014. He has been speaking to a lot of insurance carriers about his options. "It looks like we might be providing health care," he says. "It's going to cost us some money."

Owners like Verkhoglaz will have to make some tough decisions over the coming year. Can they offer health insurance and still stay profitable -- or would it be better to pay the penalties and let workers, who will be required to obtain health insurance, buy it through the exchanges?

If a company doesn't provide health coverage and someone on their team buys subsidized insurance through an exchange, the firms will have to pay a penalty of $2,000 per employee, although the first 30 employees are excluded. A company with 60 employees, for instance, would have to pay $60,000 in fines.

"If they can afford it, they will more than likely want to give it to their employees as an option," says Xavier Epps, owner of XNE Financial Advising, a firm in Woodbridge, Va. that advises individuals and small businesses on managing cash flow and related matters. However, owners also have to be mindful of the bottom line. "It's about them continuing to make money quarter after quarter."

While Verkhoglaz has no plans to slow hiring, some business owners are already scaling down their headcount or hiring plans to avoid the 50-employee threshold, so they can skirt the issue altogether.

"I see them taking some temporary steps," says Shawn Jenkins, president and CEO at Benefitfocus, a benefits software company based in Charleston, S.C. ?In some cases, he says, this means "not hiring one or two people -- or if people leave, not replacing them."

MORE:?Are generics really the same as branded drugs?

Current health insurance rates are a big obstacle to many small firms. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently found that, for small businesses, the average annual premium for an employer-sponsored plan for a family in 2012 was $15,253, with workers paying 35% of the total premium, on average.

Nonetheless, an August 2012 survey of employers of all sizes by the Midwest Business Group on Health, a nonprofit business coalition based in Chicago, found little indication that employers plan to drop their health coverage in the immediate future and give employees money to cover the cost of buying their own insurance, a trend some observers predicted.

Many employers seem to be taking a wait and see attitude toward the exchanges. Just 9% of employers planned to buy insurance through state-run health insurance exchanges from 2014 to 2016, and only 4% expected to purchase it through privately run exchanges in that same period, the Midwest Business Group's survey found.

In the meantime, however, many firms are shifting to lower cost, high-deductible plans. Among respondents, 57% said that they offered high-deductible plans along with health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements to cover expenses employees incurred before meeting their deductibles. By 2013, 62% expected to opt for high-deductible plans and 71% expected to use such plans in 2018, based on the survey's findings.

In the years to come, those firms that offer more robust health plans may find that they are a strong selling point to attract talent, says Jenkins. "Their strategy may be to offer a rich benefits package to compete with everyone else who is cutting their benefits," he says.

PAN Communications, a 45-person publicity firm in Boston, Mass. founded in 1995, voluntarily provided health insurance long before the state of Massachusetts enacted its law mandating universal healthcare in 2006. The state's health reform requires that employers with 10 workers or more provide coverage or pay penalties. PAN Communications views health insurance as an investment in its talent pool. "We want employees to be confident and comfortable when they come to work and able to focus on our clients' needs," says Elizabeth Famiglietti, senior vice president of human resources.

But PAN has had to do some fancy footwork to stay ahead of rate hikes -- like switching carriers recently to stave off a hefty increase. It has, like many firms, opted for a high-deductible plan to keep costs down, educating workers on how best to use it.

MORE:?2013: The year we become the health care nation

Some companies anticipate that health care reform may help them save on health care in the long run. Derrick Parks, president and CEO of Metropolitan Protective Services, a security company based in Lanham, Md. with about 250 employees, provides health insurance to his employees or an hourly stipend to cover their insurance costs, a requirement under federal contracts. He also offers health insurance to workers on his commercial accounts, sharing the costs of premiums with them.

Parks anticipates that the health insurance rates he pays will eventually get better as carriers compete for the millions of new customers who will flood the marketplace. "Because health care will be a necessity that every company will have to provide, it should bring the cost of health care down tremendously," he says.

Source: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/14/small-business-health-care-reform/

smokey robinson smokey robinson Sandy Hook Elementary School Colors Cassadee Pope Victoria Soto nbc sports morgan freeman

Tampa paper solves mystery of Gov. Scott's 'missing' dog

Reagan the dog (Gov. Scott?s Facebook page)

During his successful 2010 campaign for Florida governor, Republican Rick Scott adopted a rescue Labrador retriever and named the pooch Reagan. Scott won the election, but the dog isn't living it up in the governor's mansion.

So where the heck is Reagan? Has the dog entered the witness protection program?

[Related: Lucky the dog reunited with owners after 5 months, 380 miles]

The Tampa Bay Times vowed to find out?and eventually did.

Reporters who noticed that Reagan hadn't been seen since early 2011 asked members of the governor's staff for answers, but were rebuffed. The paper then conducted a Woodward and Bernstein-style investigation into the missing dog, and the resulting article is definitely worth a read, especially for the passive-aggressive back and forth between the governor's director of communications and the reporters.

Reporters doggedly pursued the story, and Brian Burgess, who served as communications director during the Scott campaign and now works for the Florida GOP, dodged questions.

"At one point an exasperated reporter asked Burgess if he had killed the dog," wrote the paper, "and Burgess denied ever killing a dog, but still wouldn't say where Reagan was."

And then comes the money quote:

Late Wednesday, Burgess testily emailed that he was working on an answer and recognized "the potential for a PR nightmare if the Tampa Bay Times doesn't receive a photo of Reagan next to today's copy of the Tampa Bay Times. So take it to the bank I'm getting you every bit of info I can lay my hands on."

At last, the reporters asked Gov. Scott about Reagan. The governor said, "He was a rescue dog, and he couldn't be around anybody that was carrying anything, and so he wouldn't get better." Scott said that Reagan "scared the living daylights" out of people at the governor's mansion. A kitchen employee, he added, threatened to quit and a photographer was scared of the pooch's barking.

[Related: Dog who wouldn't die home after surgery]

So Reagan was sent back. The Scott family now has a new dog, Tallee, who comes with his own set of challenges.

"This dog is the neediest dog," said Scott. "When I worked out this morning, he wants to be right next to you the whole time. If you do a pushup, he wants to be underneath you as you do a pushup. He's a sweet dog."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mystery-solved-gov-scott-missing-dog-170659491.html

hocus pocus mta schedule PECO Hurricane Sandy update mta ellen degeneres tomb of the unknown soldier

Justice System 'Overreach Blamed in Suicide of Open-Access Technology Activist

Aaron Swartz faced an imminent trial for having downloaded some 4 million articles from a not-for-profit scholarly archive, and a possible penalty of 35 years in prison and a $1M fine, which some call disproportionate to his actions

By Declan Butler and Nature News Blog

?

This weekend, the Internet world mourned one of its heroes: Aaron Swartz, 26, a prodigy, programmer and well-known Internet activist,?who hanged himself in his New York apartment on Friday. Swartz was to face an imminent trial?for having downloaded some 4 million articles?from JSTOR, a not-for-profit scholarly archive hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He faced extraordinarily severe charges ? see?here?and?here?? carrying a possible penalty of 35 years in prison, and more than US$1 million in fines. Swartz is reported to have suffered from serious depression, but some ? including his immediate family ? have explicitly alleged that the pending charges contributed to his suicide. (Btw; serious depression is more common than one might think; see ?Global survey reveals impact of disability? though few commit suicide.)

Online commentators have expressed indignation at the disproportion between the charges and Swartz?s alleged act.?Lawrence Lessig, a law researcher at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has posted a must-read analysis?here. Alex Stamos, an expert witness for the defence in the case,?also argues that the charges were over the top. Other analyses worth reading include those from?Glenn Greenwald?and from?The Economist.

In?a statement, Swartz?s family?said: ?Aaron?s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney?s office and at MIT contributed to his death. The US Attorney?s office pursued an exceptionally harsh array of charges, carrying potentially over 30 years in prison, to punish an alleged crime that had no victims.?

Rafael Reif, the president of MIT, in a?statement?yesterday said: ??I want to express very clearly that I and all of us at MIT are extremely saddened by the death of this promising young man who touched the lives of so many. It pains me to think that MIT played any role in a series of events that have ended in tragedy.? He also announced that he had asked Hal Abelson, a leading computer scientist, to assess MIT?s response in the case. JSTOR also released a?statement, which mentioned its widely appreciated decision not to pursue charges in the case after Swartz returned the files he had taken.

Meanwhile, a campaign has also started on Twitter calling for researchers to post their papers openly online in reaction and commemoration ? at hashtag?#pdftribute.

In passing, Swartz was a past invitee to Science Foo Camp, an annual invitation-only informal gathering of hundreds of leading scientists, technologists and other leading creative lights, organized by?Nature?in collaboration with Google and O?Reilly Media ? see?here?and?here. See Swartz?s own account of part of the 2007 meet?here.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0a50bad7475de564104093d56728ad09

les miserables Django Unchained iTunes Alfred Morris weight watchers fandango kobe bryant

Braam Jonker Discusses Canada Coal?s Vast Nunavut Project

On December 19, Canada Coal Inc V.CCK announced it had applied for an additional 11 coal exploration licences within the Fosheim Peninsula region on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Once granted, this will bring the company?s total coal licence holdings to 86 covering approximately 2.7 million acres.

President/CEO Braam Jonker spoke to Kevin Michael Grace January 10.

RW: Tell me about your history in the coal industry.

BJ: I started in coal in 1999. I was with Anglo American in corporate finance. I was then CFO of Cambrian Mining, and when we sold Cambrian to Western Coal, I became the CFO. We sold Western Coal [to Walter Energy] in 2010 for just under $3 billion. I have a lot of coal experience, on the transaction side as well as the operations side.

RW: What led to the formation of Canada Coal?

BJ: Bruce Duncan, our Chairman, found out about these Nunavut assets and decided to acquire them. Bruce and I first met in mid-2010. He walked me through the assets, and I liked them a lot. They asked me if I would come on board.

RW: Why Nunavut?

BJ: The sheer size of these assets, and we know we have very good quality thermal coal up there. The work we?ve done indicates that the coal formation improves in quality as you go deeper. My view is that if we are successful in finding metallurgical coal, it would most likely be a fairly sizable deposit. There will be environmental challenges, and logistics will be difficult, but these are all things that we will need to manage once we know exactly what we have up there. There is only one way of finding out exactly what we?ve got, and so our next step to drill the most prospective areas we identified during our 2012 program.

RW: You?re now up to 86 licenses covering approximately 2.7 million acres.

BJ: That?s correct.

RW: I work that out to 4,254 square miles. That?s an enormous holding.

BJ: Yeah, it is big. Ellesmere Island has been described as an island of coal. Now, obviously, we won?t be exploring all that area. Some of it we are holding on to for strategic reasons. Our main focus now is the West Fosheim Peninsula.

RW: What did Canada Coal accomplish during 2012?

BJ: What we set out to do was basically derisk the project for everything but the drilling. Despite the historical reports that were to our disposal, there were still a lot of unanswered questions. We thought that shipping the coal would be doable, but we didn?t have confirmation. So we had a logistical study done.

It was a desktop study which indicated that there is sufficient reason to continue. As you pointed out, we have a huge, huge area, and we can?t just go in and drill everything. We had to identify the areas that would be most important to us, and we did that through a mapping and sampling program. We also wanted to confirm the results of the studies done in the 1980s, and so we took more than 200 surface samples and had those analyzed in order to confirm the quality of the coal from the outcrops.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/01/15/braam-jonker-discusses-canada-coals-vast-nunavut-project/

jessica chastain jessica chastain hugh jackman Claire Danes Amy Poehler Colin Kaepernick Australian Open

Beyond Structured Settlements: Secondary Market Update

DBRS 2013 Outlook

DBRS, a rating agency that covers various structured finance product groups including structured settlement payment rights, has published its 2013 Outlook for commercial asset-backed securities. Among DBRS' observations and projections for the structured settlement secondary market:

• "From the structural and rating perspective, implementation of the restructuring plan for Executive Life Insurance Company of New York provides a rare and valuable glimpse into the insurer liquidation process and adds evidence to the expected recovery proceeds assumptions in case of default by an insurer in the future."
• "Based on the estimated 15% increase in issuance in 2012 to $630 million, DBRS expects further 10%+ increase in issuance in 2013 amid the continuing popularity of the asset class among certain investors."
• "Expected steady collateral performance in 2013 will be supported by low delinquencies and improving condition of the insurance industry."

Based upon interviews with industry experts, S2KM previously estimated total 2012 structured settlement secondary market profit of $120 million calculated as follows:

• $1 billion received from investors;
• Less: $360 million paid to transferors;
• Equals: $640 million of revenue;
• Less: $520 million of expenses;
• Equals: $120 million of profits.

The difference between S2KM's estimated "$1 billion received from investors" and DBRS' estimated $630 million of "issuance" (meaning presumably "total face amount of structured settlement collateral debt obligations sold to investors") can be explained by two factors according to industry experts:

• Except for J.G. Wentworth (JGW) and Peachtree Settlement Funding (Peachtree), most structured settlement factoring companies and brokers currently do not obtain financial ratings when they re-sell structured settlement payment rights.
• JGW, Peachtree and other issuers of rated bonds backed by structured settlement payment rights in 2012 may receive as much as $50 million of additional income from investors in the form of residuals, servicing rights and other income over time.

Drinker Biddle Structured Settlement Alert?

Drinker Biddle's website features summaries of two recent cases where state court judges in Florida and California have denied proposed transfers of structured settlement payments rights paid pursuant to awards under the Longshore Act and the California workers compensation statute, respectively.

In each case, the objecting structured settlement annuity issuer was represented by Drinker Biddle attorneys.

In the Florida case (In Re: Approval for Transfer of Structured Settlement Proceeds by Derrick Robotham), Circuit Court Judge Michelle Morley held the proposed transfer would contravene Federal law which prohibits assignment of Longshore Act payments. It would not, therefore, satisfy the requirements of the Florida structured settlement protection act which prohibits transfers that would violate or conflict with any applicable law.

In the California case (In Re Rudy Andrade), Superior Court Judge Amy D. Hogue applied similar reasoning in denying a petition seeking court approval for the transfer of a payee?s rights to payments under a workers? compensation settlement. Among other findings, Judge Hogue held that the California structured settlement statute does not apply to transfers of workers' compensation payments. In addition, according to the Judge, the proposed transfer contravened: 1) the California Labor Code which prohibits assignment of workers' compensation payments; 2) California common law because the release agreement signed by the payee prohibited assignment of payments; and 3) a prior order of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board that also expressly prohibited assignment of the payments.

Additional Resources

For S2KM's complete reporting about the structured settlement secondary market, see the structured settlement wiki.

For more comprehensive legal analysis about transfers of structured settlement payment rights, see Chapter 16 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J).

Source: http://s2kmblog.typepad.com/rethinking_structured_set/2013/01/secondary-market-update.html

49ers game steven tyler national anthem paterno newt gingrich joe pa joe pa joe paterno dead

Danica Patrick Divorce - The Huffington Post

NASCAR driver Danica Patrick has officially filed for divorce from husband Paul Hospenthal, according to documents obtained by Sporting News.

"My marriage is irretrievably broken and there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation," the 30-year-old wrote in the divorce documents filed in Arizona on Jan. 3.

Patrick first announced her plans to divorce Hospenthal, a physical therapist, on Facebook in November 2012.

"I am sad to inform my fans that after 7 years, Paul and I have decided to amicably end our marriage," she wrote. "This isn't easy for either of us, but mutually it has come to this. He has been an important person and friend in my life and that's how we will remain moving forward."

According to the documents, the couple has a prenuptial agreement and neither side is asking for alimony. That's good news for Patrick, who is worth a reported $18 million.

Patrick tied the knot with Hospenthal -- who is 17 years her senior -- in 2005. The pair met in 2002 when he was treating her for a hip injury. They have no children.

Patrick isn't the first NASCAR superstar to call it quits with her spouse. Click through the slides below for five others who did the same.

• Jeff Gordon

  This NASCAR legend and his wife, Brooke, split in 2002 after seven years of marriage. While she was the one who filed the paperwork and received a reported <a href="http://www.askmen.com/sports/business_100/112b_sports_business.html" target="_hplink">$15.3 million settlement</a> when the split was finalized, she kept one significant memento from their marriage -- Gordon's last name. In 2010, the #24 driver <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/431010-jeff-gordons-ex-wife-brooke-in-custody-dispute-over-babys-last-name" target="_hplink">got dragged into a custody dispute</a> when his ex bestowed his last name onto a child she fathered with another man. Gordon is now married to model Ingrid Vandebosch, with whom <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20409069,00.html" target="_hplink">he has two children</a>.

• Kurt Busch

  Former racing champ Kurt Busch announced that he was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/01/kurt-busch-divorce-nascar_n_888773.html" target="_hplink">separating from his wife</a>, Eva Bryan, in 2010 after he was spotted <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/01/kurt-busch-divorce-nascar_n_888773.html" target="_hplink">smooching another woman</a> in Victory Lane -- the spot on the racetrack where the first-place driver goes to celebrate his or her victory. The former couple had been <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2011/07/nascar-kurt-busch-says-marriage-coming-end" target="_hplink">married for three years</a>.

• Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

  Seven-time NASCAR Champion Dale Earnhardt, Sr. married his first wife, Latane Brown, when he was just 17. The couple had one son together, Kerry, but divorced a year after he was born. Earnhardt embarked <a href="http://nmpaonline.com/archives/2006/di-columns-1.html" target="_hplink">on his second marriage</a> in 1971 with Brenda Gee, the daughter of NASCAR car builder Robert Gee. The couple had two children together, daughter Kelley and son Dale Jr., who went on to follow in his father's NASCAR footsteps. Like his first marriage, Earnhardt's second union ended soon after the birth of his son. Earnhardt <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/biography-ralph-dale-earnhardt-sr-1951-2001-23232.html?cat=49" target="_hplink">married his third wife</a>, Teresa in 1982 and they remained together for almost 20 years, until his death in 2001.

• Michael Andretti

  Michael Andretti, the son of famed Italian race car driver Mario Andretti, has been divorced twice and married three times. He <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004708/bio" target="_hplink">wed Sandra Spinozzi in 1985</a>, but they split up after 11 years -- and two children -- together in 1996. The following year, he married Leslie Wood. "I can't wait for our 30th [anniversary]," Andretti told <a href="http://articles.mcall.com/2003-05-25/sports/3469867_1_racing-leslie-andretti-michael-andretti" target="_hplink">Lehigh Valley newspaper <em>The Morning Call</em></a> in 2003. "I'm looking forward to growing old together." A year later, the couple split. Andretti <a href="http://autoracingsport.com/michael-andretti-weds-ex-playmate-jodi-paterson/ " target="_hplink">tied the knot for a third time on October 7, 2006 </a> to Jodi Ann Paterson, who was <em>Playboy's</em> Playmate of the Year in 2000.

• Brian France

  NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France -- whose grandfather <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-23/brian-france-on-steering-nascar-to-a-tv-deal" target="_hplink">founded NASCAR</a> over 60 years ago -- has had his fair share of divorce drama. He married and divorced his ex-wife, Megan, <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/brian-france-alleges-exwife-threatend-extort-money-him" target="_hplink">not once, but twice</a>. In January 2013, the North Carolina Court of Appeals <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/02/brian-france-nascar-ceo-d_n_2397593.html#slide=989710" target="_hplink">upheld an order that will unseal</a> the previously confidential divorce documents against France's wishes.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Divorce on Facebook and Twitter.

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/14/danica-patrick-divorce-_n_2475214.html

academy of country music awards brad paisley zac brown band aubrey born to run pranks pregnancy test

Internet trivia for a new year | Custom Information Services

Business Insider recently ran an interesting look at the way the Internet actually works. This is a intriguing account because so many of us are dependent upon the online world in such a short period of time. Most of us don?t really know how this massive communications and information tool really works. Business Insider, though, revealed several interesting facts about what really transpires online. Based on the story, 27 percent of U.S. consumers use their mobile phones and the mobile Internet to shop. Seven percent of U.S. consumers have obtained things from online auction websites. U.S. residents aren?t shy about banking on the internet, either. According to Business Insider, 33 percent of U.S. residents use their mobile phones and Internet for mobile banking. Here are a couple more of the most fascinating:

Facebook is King

You might know Facebook as that place where all your acquaintances tell each other regarding their latest vacations or post daily that game-winning goal their kid scored for the high school team. But did you also realize that Facebook pretty much dominates the Internet in terms of online traffic? It?s true. According to numbers from Hitwise, Facebook accounts for one in every five page views on the Internet. This past year, Facebook soared beyond the 1-billion-user mark.

The Biggest Data Center is Rising in Utah

Do you know where the largest data center is located? Soon, it?s going to be Utah. As outlined by Business Insider, the National Security Agency is already in the process of making a massive data center in the state. When the center is ready for operation, it will eventually store an awesome yottabyte of data. Like most of us, you probably have no clue what a yottabyte is. But the name is undoubtedly impressive. And know this: A yottabyte of data represents an absolutely large amount of data. A yottabyte is equivalent to 1,000 zettabytes or 1 million exabytes.

Streaming is on the Rise

Do you stream movies or TV shows to your TV, computer or tablet? Even if you don?t, the possibilities are high your next door neighbor likely does. Streaming has become one of the Internet?s most popular features. As stated by the Business Insider story, quoting statistics from Harris Interactive, in excess of Half of U.S. residents are now using the web to watch TV. Streaming video has become a particularly desired service among the younger customers that are flocking to Web streaming. As stated by Business Insider, streaming is a huge hit among individuals below the age of 35.

>

Source: http://blog.dallas-it-services.net/2013/internet-trivia-for-a-new-year/

pietrus cheney tori spelling marion barber marion barber syracuse ohio state

Bill Cash asked the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and ...

Tuesday 15 January 2013

---

William Cash (Stone, Conservative) To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of Germany's (a) most recent structural surplus in its trade with the UK and (b) structural surplus over each of the last five years.

Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks, Conservative) The balance of trade (goods and services) between the UK and Germany is publicly available in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ?Pink Book 2012? publication.

More timely data for goods only is available via the time series tool on the ONS website at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?cdid=ENYW&dataset=mret&table-id=F2

and shows the UK balance of trade with Germany is -?5,846 million in Quarter 3 2012.

Source: http://www.europeanfoundation.org/my_weblog/2013/01/bill-cash-asked-the-secretary-of-state-for-business-innovation-and-skills-1.html

earthquake california earthquake california roy orbison the third man 2012 nfl draft order mohamed sanu chris polk

Netflix to carry more Time Warner shows

(Reuters) - Netflix Inc will carry more shows from Time Warner Inc, intensifying efforts by the video streaming company to attract more subscribers and beat back competition.

Netflix signed licensing deals with Warner Bros Television (WBTVG) and Turner Broadcasting System Inc for previous seasons of shows from Cartoon Network, Warner Bros Animation and Adult Swim for U.S. subscribers.

Shows such as Cartoon Network's "Adventure Time", "Ben 10" and "Johnny Bravo", and WBTVG's "Childrens Hospital" will be available from March 30.

Adult Swim shows "Robot Chicken", "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", and Sony Pictures Television's "The Boondocks" will also be available on Netflix.

The first two seasons of Warner Horizon Television-produced TNT series "Dallas" will be exclusively available on Netflix in January 2014.

Netflix said last week that it would carry previous seasons of popular shows such as "Revolution" and "Political Animals" produced by Warner Bros Television.

It also won a deal in December to stream movies from Walt Disney Co's live action and animation studios, including those from Pixar, Marvel, and the recently acquired Lucasfilms.

Netflix shares were trading up 3 percent at $103.92 on Monday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/netflix-carry-more-warner-bros-shows-174847376--finance.html

social darwinism jamie lynn spears wisconsin recall election april 4 santa monica college wisconsin primary dallas fort worth airport

Does anyone use Fantasy Grounds II?

Hey guys, I have recently purchased the "Fantasy Grounds II" software. It's like virtual pen-and-paper RPing, and you are allowed to connect and have real time RPs through the software.

Thought it would be really neat if anyone else had the software and wanted to run something.

The pointless point: Reality.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/YrSM3vviNJI/viewtopic.php

kobayashi margaret sanger paul george eddie long ufc 143 weigh ins micron ceo glenn miller