Twitter launches two-factor authentication

Keep your tweets your own and your Twitter account safe with two-step verification

After a slew of high-profile account hacks, Twitter has finally launched a two-step verification system to keep your account from falling into the wrong hands. Once enrolled, each time you sign in to Twitter.com you will be asked to enter a six digit verification number sent by SMS to your phone. If you don't have your number, you can't log in.

Existing accounts on other devices should still work, and when your Twitter account to other devices or applications, you'll visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to validate who you are. Users can set up the new account verification system starting today from their Twitter settings, and you'll need a verified phone number and email address. 

Two-step authentication is a good move (probably one Twitter should have adopted a while ago) and one that we heartily recommend. It may be inconvenient setting things up the first time, but losing your online identity to hackers is far worse. To learn more, and get started, visit the source link below.

Source: Twitter

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/3yfl_TSH24A/story01.htm

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Survey: Verizon tops all other major carriers in customer service

When it comes to U.S. carriers, just about everyone dreads the thought of having to call customer service to resolve an issue. Some carriers are certainly worse than others, of course, and the annual?American Customer Satisfaction Index survey found that Verizon Wireless once again was ranked highest in customer service quality by subscribers. The company scored 73 points out of a possible 100, up 3 points from 2012. Sprint was flat in the No.2 spot with 71 points while AT&T gained a point to hit 70. T-Mobile remained the lowest-ranked major carrier as its score slid to 68 in 2013 from 69 last year. The full press release follows below.

ACSI: Customer Satisfaction with Wireless Phone Service, Subscription TV Improves; ISPs Debut at Bottom of Index

[More from BGR: The gaming industry?s great hope finally arrives: Microsoft unveils Xbox One]

Verizon Tops in Multiple Industries; Comcast Makes Gains but Stays Low; Apple Slips While Samsung Surges

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (May 21, 2013) ? The annual Information Sector report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows that customers are happier with telecommunication services and technologies than they were a year ago. The Information sector benchmark-the combined aggregate score for wireless telephone service, Internet service providers (ISPs), subscription television service, cellular telephones, fixed-line telephone service and computer software-climbs 0.6% to 72.3 on a 0 to 100 scale. The improvement, along with gains for energy utilities and health care (reported by ACSI in April), pushes the national customer satisfaction benchmark up 0.4% to 76.6.

?Customer satisfaction with the Information sector is improving, but none of these industries score higher than the national average,? says Claes Fornell, ACSI founder and chairman. ?Limited competition combined with high consumer expectations for information services are a formula for relatively weak buyer satisfaction, despite the gains.?

Subscription TV: Customer Satisfaction Improves in a Low-Performing Industry

Subscription television service ends a three-year run of stagnating customer satisfaction with a 3.0% gain to an ACSI benchmark of 68. While the boost is good news for cable, satellite and fiber-optic television providers, the industry remains the third worst of the 43 industries covered in the ACSI.

Among TV service providers, those offering service via fiber optics or satellite earn the best marks for customer satisfaction. On average, fiber-optic/satellite service receives an ACSI score of 72 compared with 63 for cable service. Verizon (FiOS) stays in first place at 73 (-1%), with DIRECTV at 72 and AT&T (U-verse) at 71 close behind after strong gains of 6% and 4%, respectively. DISH Network rounds out the above-average group with a near-steady benchmark of 70 (+1%).

While most cable providers do better in 2013, all remain below the national ACSI average. Cox Communications leads at 65 (+3%), but is chased by a much-improved Charter Communications at 64 (+8%) and a modestly stronger Comcast at 63 (+3%). Time Warner Cable backslides, dropping 5% to an industry low of 60.

?While nearly 90% of households have some form of TV subscription, the industry is facing small, but growing, competition from Internet video streaming,? says ACSI director David VanAmburg. ?The industry?s pattern of yearly price increases, coupled with sporadic reliability, keeps customer satisfaction low relative to other household services and vulnerable to new technologies that enter the market.?

Subscription TV customers give picture quality strong ratings for both HD and basic resolution, but find call center service to be lacking compared with most other industries.

Internet Service Providers Enter ACSI With Weak Customer Satisfaction

The ACSI?s coverage of telecommunications expands with inaugural measures for the Internet service provider (ISP) industry-a change that ensures comprehensive assessment of customer satisfaction with the video, voice and data services available to U.S. household consumers. ISPs debut with a customer satisfaction benchmark of 65-the lowest score among 43 ACSI industries.

?High monthly bills combined with problems across a broad spectrum of customer experience benchmarks-such as service reliability, data transfer speed and video-streaming quality-leaves customers less than satisfied with their ISP service,? says Fornell. ?But in a market even less competitive than subscription TV, there is little incentive for companies to improve.?

Only Verizon?s FiOS and the aggregate of all other smaller ISPs break out of the 60s with identical ACSI scores of 71. Cox beats the average at 68, followed by AT&T U-verse and Charter at 65. The low end belongs to CenturyLink at 64, Time Warner Cable at 63 and Comcast at 62.

Customers Happier As Wireless Service Improves and Smart Phones Deliver

The wireless phone industry performs an about-face in 2013, reversing a two-year trend of declining customer satisfaction with a 2.9% gain to an ACSI benchmark of 72. Despite matching its 10-year high, wireless service remains well below the national ACSI average.

?Barriers to switching, including contracts with cancellation fees, make the wireless industry less competitive,? says VanAmburg. ?ACSI research shows that customer satisfaction is almost always lower when consumers have less choice and more headaches when it comes to switching to another seller.?

The aggregate of smaller wireless carriers easily tops the industry at 78 (+3%). Verizon Wireless leads the larger carriers due to a 4% jump to 73, leapfrogging a stalled Sprint at 71. Nearly in line with Sprint, AT&T Mobility inches up 1% to 70, while the sole decliner, T-Mobile, drops 1% to 68.

Much like its service counterpart, the cellular telephone category improves customer satisfaction by 2.7% to match its historic ACSI high at 76. With smart phones representing just over half of all phones purchased, the industry is delivering better features and more apps.

Apple dominates at a score of 81 despite a 2% ACSI loss. Still, compared with Apple?s PC benchmark of 86, the iPhone is not quite at the same lofty level. Samsung leaps 7% to 76 after launching Galaxy S III, but stays significantly behind Apple. Nokia (+1%) also earns an ACSI score of 76, while Motorola, up 5% to 77, creates a virtual three-way tie for second place. HTC drops 4% to 72 and LG falls 5% to 71. BlackBerry seems lodged in last place-flat at 69.

Consumers respond positively to cell phones for ease of calling and text messaging. Battery life, however, is an irritant. For wireless service, the top customer experience benchmarks go to in-store staff for courtesy and helpfulness. For reliability, the wireless industry lags its older technology counterpart, fixed lines, by receiving lower marks for call clarity, dropped calls and network coverage.

Strong Gain for Fixed-Line Phone Service Amid Shrinking Market

Customer satisfaction gains populate nearly the entire fixed-line phone business, even though customers continue to migrate toward wireless. The paradox of higher satisfaction amid dwindling usage reflects the fact that those who stay are more satisfied than those who leave. The fixed-line industry?s ACSI score increases 5.7% to 74, with gains for individual companies ranging from 4% to 8%.

The aggregate of smaller landline companies, such as Frontier and Vonage, holds on to the category lead despite a 1% slip to 75. Among larger providers, Verizon surges 6% and Cox gains 4% to tie for the lead at 74. AT&T follows closely at 73 (+4%), while digital phone provider Charter enters at 72. Large increases of 8% and 6%, respectively, bring CenturyLink and Comcast into a tie at 71. In its first fixed-line appearance, Time Warner Cable falls short at 68.

Among the telecom industries, fixed-line benefits from quality and clarity of calls, along with the ability to keep outages to a minimum. Similar to other telecom services, however, fixed-line does not receive high marks from its customers regarding website or call center satisfaction, although it beats low-scoring ISPs on both benchmarks.

Computer Software: Deteriorating Customer Satisfaction Continues

Customer satisfaction with computer software for desktops and laptops continues to fall. This year the category?s ACSI score slips 1.3% to 76. Market-share leader Microsoft and the aggregate of smaller software makers both backslide 1% to 74 and 76, respectively. With global PC shipments having their largest quarterly drop in 20 years, the market remains thorny. Windows 8, criticized by users for its interface, has not derailed customer satisfaction for Microsoft, but it has not helped either.

The full report is available for free download at http://www.theACSI.org. Follow the ACSI on Twitter at @theACSI and Like us on Facebook.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-verizon-tops-other-major-carriers-customer-133006722.html

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Healthcare workers set to strike California public hospitals

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nearly 13,000 healthcare employees at five University of California medical centers plan to strike on Tuesday in a move that threatens to back up emergency rooms and already has forced the postponement of elective surgeries.

Vocational nurses, respiratory therapists and radiology technologists say they will walk off their jobs for two days to draw attention to issues they tried unsuccessfully to address at the negotiating table - "chronic understaffing and reckless cost-cutting," said Todd Stenhouse, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Some of the public hospital system's estimated 3,400 pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists and lab scientists also are expected to walk out Tuesday as part of a one-day sympathy strike at the five medical centers in San Francisco, Davis, Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine.

"Leaders of both unions claim their chief concern is patient care but it's very simple: If they strike, services to patients suffer," said Dwaine Duckett, vice president for human resources for the university.

He said the walkout had forced the postponement of hundreds of surgeries, including five pediatric heart surgeries and procedures like chemotherapy infusions for children with cancer.

Stenhouse said the striking workers, who have been working without a contract since September, will be ready to return to the hospital in the event of an area-wide emergency.

"We're not trying to hurt UC," he told Reuters, saying the workers had never before walked off their jobs. "We're trying to save it.

"Our top concern is about safe staffing, and we need to put a stop to the diversion of resources away from patient care," he said.

Duckett said the problem was the "union's ongoing resistance to UC's pension reforms," which include raising employee pension contributions, revising eligibility rules for retiree health benefits and creating a second tier of pension benefits for new workers.

Duckett said the university system had offered the workers a four-year contract with up to 3.5 percent annual wage increases. The average employee in the striking union earns $55,000 a year, he said.

California's labor board asked a judge to intervene and order the employees to continue to work.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge David I. Brown found on Monday that about 100 burn center respiratory therapists and poison-control pharmacists were essential workers and barred them from striking. But he refused to stop the other workers from their labor action.

Stenhouse said the union has asked the medical centers to form committees to determine enforceable, safe-staffing levels.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/healthcare-workers-set-strike-california-public-hospitals-031108425.html

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Pandora's new Premieres station will let you listen to new albums up to a week before they launch.

Pandora's new Premieres station will let you listen to new albums up to a week before they launch. Starting with new work from John Fogerty and Laura Marling, the station will highlight pre-release music right up until it drops, and won't be subject to the same limitations as the normal Pandora player. [FastCompany]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/pandoras-new-premieres-station-will-let-you-listen-to-n-509129287

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Obama to speak on legality of drone program (The Arizona Republic)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306836830?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sennheiser's HDVD 800 digital headphone amp now available in the US for $2,000

Analog may be king for audiophiles, but digital is the future, friends, and Sennheiser knows it. That's why it built the HDVD 800 digital headphone amplifier to improve the sound of your digital tunes, and now stateside listeners can finally get their mitts on the thing. That's right, folks, a year after it was revealed across the pond alongside its analog brother, Senn's digital offering's finally available in the US for just a nickel less than two grand. Folks looking to part with the necessary cash to improve their listening pleasure can do so at the company's online storefront linked below.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Sennheiser

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/xCww1ctWmX4/

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Analysis: Airline emissions deal may not come before EU deadline

By Allison Martell

(Reuters) - Hope is fading for a global deal to regulate the airline industry's greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a fall deadline, even though failure could push the industry back to the brink of a trade war over the European Union's emissions trading system.

Last November the EU suspended its controversial scheme to force all airlines to buy carbon credits for any flight arriving in or departing from European airspace.

The scheme had pitted European states against China, the United States, India and others, who said it violated their sovereignty. The EU said it had to act, after more than a decade of inaction on the environmental impact of aviation.

European officials gave the United Nations' agency that governs aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), more time to craft a compromise in the form of a global regulatory regime.

They have vowed to bring their own program back into force unless they see real progress by the ICAO assembly, which runs September 24 to October 4. The assembly, which would have to approve any global regime, meets only once every three years.

But there is still disagreement on how to charge for emissions from flights that cross borders; how to deal fairly with developing countries; and whether airlines, states or both should be subject to regulation.

All those issues have stalled efforts to reach a compromise.

"Think of aviation as a microcosm of the big geopolitical process," said Paul Steele, executive director of the industry group Air Transport Action Group and one of the technical experts who has advised ICAO on the issue.

The group, a coalition of some 50 plane makers, airlines and narrower associations like Airports Council International, wants a global emissions regime, not a messy and expensive "patchwork" of systems around the world.

Steele said lack of progress on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.N.'s main climate treaty and home of the Kyoto Protocol, may be holding back talks at ICAO. That treaty and ICAO's process are legally independent, but inevitably, they are linked by politics.

Take "common but differentiated responsibilities," an argument that developed countries should shoulder most of the burden of cutting emissions. That has been a key sticking point at ICAO, as Reuters first reported last year.

Steele said some countries fear that if they compromise at ICAO, it will prejudice broader talks ahead of 2015, when climate negotiators hope to clinch a new deal to cut emissions under the U.N. Framework Convention.

And so, even as aviation industry leaders urge ICAO to hammer out a deal, talks at a high-profile ICAO committee have effectively broken down, and a key member of the agency's governing council has said a resolution may not be ready in time for the assembly.

That could escalate the conflict, especially since a U.S. law signed in November prohibits any U.S. airline from complying with the EU law. And while China partially lifted a retaliatory blockade of some $11 billion in Airbus jet orders last month, a new chapter in the conflict could put those orders at risk.

HIGH LEVEL FIZZLE

ICAO has quietly set standards and rules on everything from cargo safety to air traffic control since 1944, reaching deals between countries that may agree on very little, aside from the value of keeping planes in the sky.

But on climate change, the diplomats posted to Montreal are part of a fraught and complex geopolitical conflict that has little to do with planes. They seem to have recognized as much last fall, when talks at ICAO's governing council stalled.

Seeking to break the impasse, they convened a new group, which Kerryn Macaulay, Australia's council representative, recently said was to include "some of the decision-makers in government" who might be able to hash out compromises.

It was the creation of that "high-level group" that the EU cited when it suspended its scheme. It was just a new committee, but it was seen as a sign of good faith, and an opportunity to get a deal.

But as Macaulay told a conference hosted by the Air Transport Action Group in Montreal on May 13, the high-level group made little progress. Quite the opposite: "In some areas there has been a risk of reopening old issues that the council in fact was recently settled on."

It is not clear if the high-level group will meet again, and the ICAO governing council is now working on a draft resolution in which very little has been agreed.

"We will continue to work on that resolution, if and when necessary up to the day before the assembly," Macaulay said, adding that it still may not be ready in time.

"NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED" -EU

But even if a resolution is ready for the assembly, it may attempt to rein in the EU system, rather than establishing a global alternative, as European officials had hoped.

ICAO's process is split into two threads: looking for a global "market-based measure" to cut emissions, like a cap and trade system or carbon offsetting; and a "framework" document that lays out how market-based measures should be implemented.

Some see a "framework" only governing local or regional systems like the EU's, and not resolving any disputes on how to implement a global scheme. A draft framework proposed by the United States early this year, and obtained by Reuters, would limit the geographical reach of emissions systems.

Lourdes Maurice, executive director for environment and energy at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, said last week that the United States wants the framework to take a "national or regional airspace approach," where countries or blocs would only regulate emissions in their own airspace.

That would put about 80 percent of emissions from aviation out of reach of national or regional carbon taxes, Macaulay said, as many flights are over international waters.

But Elina Bardram, responsible for carbon markets in the aviation and maritime sectors for the European Commission's climate division, said a proposal that did not do anything meaningful to protect the environment is "not what we expected."

(Reporting by Allison Martell in Montreal; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Janet Guttsman and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-airline-emissions-deal-may-not-come-eu-140417617.html

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Hey, Hardware Hackers! There's A WiFi-Enabled Arduino Now

Lets say you've come up with a brilliant idea for some shiny new piece of hardware. You brush up your coding chops, scratch out a design, and set out to build a prototype. First, you'll need a programmable chip to act as the brain. Because of the relatively gentle learning curve and friendly community, you go with the Arduino. The problem: your hardware idea requires WiFi. Until now, that's actually been a pretty complicated issue.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aqbM2FDdHNk/

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CA-BUSINESS Summary

TSX rises as gold miners lone sore spot

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Friday as robust economic data helped drive gains in energy stocks and financial shares, offsetting weakness in gold producers. The materials sector, a major component of the S&P/TSX composite which includes gold miners, was the lone sector to finish in the red of ten main sectors, as the price of gold fell for a seventh straight session.

Tesco clothing brand plans international expansion

LONDON (Reuters) - The clothing brand sold by Britain's biggest retailer Tesco said on Sunday it planned to open more than 50 new franchise stores worldwide over the next five years. F&F, which opened its first franchise store in Saudi Arabia last year, said it would open shops across the Middle East and in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Greece to sell Postbank, Proton in July, stress-test big banks

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's bank rescue fund will aim to sell Hellenic Postbank and Proton by mid-July with big banks continuing to absorb small lenders as part of plans to revive the battered sector, the country's foreign lenders said in an inspection review. Greece is recapitalizing its four big banks and winding down others deemed non-viable to improve the sector's capacity to fund the economy out of a deep six-year recession. Banks suffered heavy losses from debt writedowns and bad loans.

UK lawmakers consider probe into transparency of mining firms

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's parliament will this week consider whether to probe the transparency of oil and mining firms listed in London, an issue highlighted by corruption probes at emerging market miners which lawmakers fear have dented the stock market's reputation. The chairman of parliament's Committee for Business, Innovation and Skills said on Sunday he would this week propose an inquiry into issues including governance and anticorruption protection at mining and oil companies.

Analysis: Little sign Abe can shake up Japan's inbound FDI

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan risks missing, yet again, an opportunity to use foreign investment to help fuel sustained economic growth that has eluded it for the last two decades. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make Japan "the world's easiest country for companies to do business in" as part of his economic revival plan, which so far has been largely met with approval. The stock market has rallied 45 percent this year and Abe's approval ratings are around 70 percent.

Bankia compensation qualms signal loss of faith in Spain's banks

MADRID (Reuters) - Many duped savers at Spanish lender Bankia are shunning a state-supervised compensation scheme in favor of expensive lawsuits, prolonging a mis-selling scandal and complicating efforts to restore faith in the banking system. The disputes over mis-selling at Bankia and other nationalized banks have created a major headache for the government as it tries to take the next step in their rescue, imposing large losses on holders of junior debt.

Analysis: Airline emissions deal may not come before EU deadline

(Reuters) - Hope is fading for a global deal to regulate the airline industry's greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a fall deadline, even though failure could push the industry back to the brink of a trade war over the European Union's emissions trading system. Last November the EU suspended its controversial scheme to force all airlines to buy carbon credits for any flight arriving in or departing from European airspace.

German minister calls EU move on China solar 'grave mistake'

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said the European Commission made a "grave mistake" by agreeing to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China and urged the Commission to work to prevent the eruption of a trade conflict. "It's a grave mistake," Roesler told Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday.

Analysis: Frontier Markets booming but risks mounting

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With the world's biggest central banks driving yields on safe assets to near zero, some investors are tossing caution to the wind and rushing to buy illiquid and previously overlooked bonds sold by countries with no capital markets track record. Even the biggest investors acknowledge that "frontier markets" like Vietnam and Romania aren't for the faint of heart because nobody knows whether these new debt market players will be able to make good on their obligations.

Exclusive: South Africa's NUM seeks 15-60 percent wage rises from gold, coal producers

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said it would seek pay rises of up to 60 percent from gold and coal producers, raising the prospect of fresh strikes as firms battle higher costs and falling prices in an already heated labor climate. Africa's biggest economy is hoping to avoid the 2012 wildcat strike action at platinum and gold mines that cost billions in lost revenue and production and killed over 50 people.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-101044953.html

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Palestinian Refugees In Egypt Exiled And Forgotten (PHOTOS)

GEZIRAT AL-FADEL, Egypt -- In 1948, Suleiman Mamoudi fled by foot with his parents and other families from their village of Bir el-Sabae in Palestine. The 28-year-old and his family walked west for several hundred miles, crossing the Sinai Peninsula before settling in an area around 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Cairo.

They had not planned to stay long in Egypt's Sharqiya province, until they found themselves unable to return home after the Jewish takeover of their city, renamed Beersheba.

Mamoudi, now 93 years old, is among some 3,000 Palestinians living in the impoverished village of Gezirat al-Fadel. He spends his days sitting on a cushion on the ground outside his sparsely furnished two-bedroom, mud brick home. The dirt roads make it difficult for him to walk with his cane.

He lives with his 13 children and 28 grandchildren. Like his neighbors, they sleep on mats spread in the corridors of the house.

His neighbor, Khadra Mohammed, 52, lives in a 540 sq. foot (50 sq. meter) mud brick house with 19 of her family members. Inside one of the rooms is a rickety bed and a fan hanging from a ceiling covered with spider webs.

Mamoudi has seen three generations of Palestinians from Bir el-Sabae born here without access to free education and health care, a right afforded to Egyptians. He says their plight is forgotten and the area they live in ignored.

As Palestinians around the world recently marked the 65th anniversary of their mass displacement during the war over Israel's 1948 creation, the refugees in Gezirat al-Fadel say they have it worse than others who fled to Jordan, Syria or Lebanon. Unlike the millions who live in refugee camps there, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) does not have offices in Egypt and so does not offer Palestinians in the country assistance.

For residents here, there is no foreseeable return from the "nakba" or "catastrophe" ? the term they use to describe when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their homes during the fighting.

The Palestinians of Gezirat al-Fadel have had to fend for themselves, and are not allowed to hold public sector jobs.

The vast majority of adults and children are illiterate, unable to afford even the low-cost of a nearby government-run school. Many of the children, barefoot with torn clothes, spend their days helping adults sift through garbage to find what can be recycled, one of the few ways to earn a meager living in this tiny village.

Others work in nearby farms and are paid in wheat grains for their work. The women then sift the wheat and grind it by hand to make bread.

A typical home has a roof made out of straw and palm leaves. Some families have old refrigerators, while others do not. The homes have no kitchens, so women cook on small, portable gas stove top burners. They rock toddlers to sleep in a blanket that is tied from all four corners by a rope slung over the shoulder.

They are a tightknit community and intermarriage between first cousins is common, leading to birth defects among many of the village's children. One family has two deaf children, but lacks the funds to offer the young girls the special care they require.

While many know nothing more of life beyond Gezirat al-Fadel, they say they have not lost their connection to Bir el-Sabae. They say they dream of returning to their land in hopes of living a more dignified life and leaving behind this almost forgotten corner of Egypt, a nation already burdened by a population boom and widespread poverty.

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/palestinian-refugees-in-e_n_3299755.html

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Google Glass Apps - Business Insider

Couldn't make it to Google's fireside chat with the Glass team?

The Next Web has a paraphrased transcript of the event, and in it, the Google Glass team talks about the apps they'd most like to see for the device.

Here's what they had to say.

Isabelle Olsson, lead industrial designer: "I?m really in to karaoke. If there was a way to sing and have the lyrics located in Glass, so that you could face your drunk friends as you scream, that would be awesome."

Charles Mendis, Glass engineer:?"I would love to be able to pay with Glass. To just say, ok, pay, and then move on."

Steve Lee, product director: "I am an exercise fanatic, and would love to have a fitness app on Glass, and to have it integrate with my heart rate monitor. With that app, I could have information relevant to my workout fed to me, without breaking my stride. This would also make cycling a much safer activity."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-glass-apps-2013-5

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'Hatchet hitchhiker' arrested in NJ homicide

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) ? The unlikely pair ? an itinerant hitchhiker turned Internet celebrity and a lawyer three times his age ? met amid the neon lights of Times Square and headed back to a squat brick home on a quiet New Jersey cul-de-sac, authorities say.

Days later, the lawyer was found beaten to death in his bedroom, wearing only his socks and underwear. The hitchhiker was arrested Thursday and charged with his murder.

Caleb "Kai" McGillvary took a star turn in February when he became known to millions as "Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker" after intervening in an attack on a California utility worker. McGillvary described using a hatchet he was carrying to repeatedly hit a man who had struck a worker with his car, fending off a further attack.

Once lauded as a hero, McGillvary, 24, was arrested at a Philadelphia bus station Thursday evening and charged with the murder of Joseph Galfy Jr., a 73-year-old attorney.

"I believe that everyone is a little safer with this person off the streets," said Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow.

McGillvary will be processed in Philadelphia and sent to back to New Jersey in the coming days, Romankow said. His bail is set at $3 million.

Galfy was found dead in his Clark, N.J., home Monday, two days after authorities said he met McGillvary in New York City. Galfy, who lived alone, was found by police who went to his home to check on his well-being, Romankow said.

Statements posted on McGillvary's Facebook page following the homicide were "sexual in nature," Romankow said.

McGillvary's last post, dated Tuesday, asks "what would you do?" if you awoke in a stranger's house and found you'd been drugged and sexually assaulted. One commenter suggests hitting him with a hatchet ? and McGillvary's final comment on the post says, "I like your idea."

It was a hatchet that helped give McGillvary a brief taste of fame in February when he gave a rambling, profanity-laced interview to a Fresno, Calif., television station about thwarting an unprovoked attack on a Pacific Gas & Electric employee. The interview went viral, with one version viewed more than 3.9 million times on YouTube. McGillvary later traveled to Los Angeles to appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Kimmel asked him what people were saying to him since the Feb. 1 encounter. "Hey, you're Kai, that dude with the hatchet," he responded.

Romankow declined to say what object was used in Galfy's beating.

Romankow said McGillvary, who said in his TV appearance he prefers to be called "home-free" instead of homeless, traded on his fledgling celebrity to meet fans across the country.

Authorities know he was in Times Square based on witness accounts, the prosecutor said.

"He was well-known," Romankow said.

McGillvary spent at least two nights in Galfy's home in Clark, 20 miles west of New York, Romankow said. The dark brick home is neatly landscaped, with carefully-pruned bushes lining a path to the entrance. Red tape labeled "evidence" now is affixed to the front door.

Authorities believe McGillvary took two trips to meet a fan in Asbury Park; Galfy picked him up after the first trip, Romankow said.

On Tuesday, McGillvary boarded a train in New Jersey bound for Philadelphia, Romankow said.

In the popular February interview, McGillvary told the Fox affiliate in Fresno that he was traveling with a man who veered into the utility worker.

After the driver got out of the car, he walked up to the utility worker and allegedly said, "I am Jesus and I am here to take you home." McGillvary pulled a hatchet from his backpack and struck the driver in the head several times to subdue him, The Fresno Bee reported.

"That woman was in danger," McGillvary told KMPH. "He just finished, what looked like at the time, killing somebody, and if he hadn't done that he would have killed more people."

The driver is now facing charges including attempted murder. Last month, he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the newspaper reported.

McGillvary also told the television station that he once came upon a man "beating on this woman he calls his" in an orchard and intervened.

"I started smashing him in the head and the teeth," McGillvary said.

In a Facebook post from May 10, written from a mobile phone, McGillvary thanked the people who "invited me in, partied hardy with me," and kept him grounded even though he realized how "crazy fame can be in flippin ones life upside down."

"ive met some of the greatest people in my life in these last three months," he wrote, "and i wouldnt trade these experiences with you for all the money in hollywood."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hatchet-hitchhiker-arrested-nj-homicide-063103847.html

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Bradley has 3-stroke lead after 2 rounds at Nelson

Keegan Bradley hits off the eighth fairway during the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament Friday, May 17, 2013, in Irving, Texas. Bradley ended the day at 11 under par for the tournament. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Keegan Bradley hits off the eighth fairway during the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament Friday, May 17, 2013, in Irving, Texas. Bradley ended the day at 11 under par for the tournament. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Keegan Bradley lines up his putt on the ninth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament Friday, May 17, 2013, in Irving, Texas. Bradley ended the day at 11 under par for the tournament. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Keegan Bradley watches his shot off the 16th fairway during the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament on Friday, May 17, 2013, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Keegan Bradley hits out of a bunker onto the 15th green during the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament on Friday, May 17, 2013, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Charl Schwartzel of South Africa chips onto the 14th green during the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament Friday, May 17, 2013, in Irving, Texas. Schwartzel ended the day at 7 under par for the tournament. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

IRVING, Texas (AP) ? Keegan Bradley again bogeyed Nos. 1 and 18 in the second round of the Byron Nelson Championship.

Unlike the first round, Bradley didn't set a course record. But he still finished with a three-stroke lead.

Bradley started and ended his round Friday with those bogeys, part of a 1-under 69 that got him to 11-under 129, the lowest 36-hole total at the Nelson since 2001.

"I'm almost more proud of this round than yesterday because I didn't feel comfortable all day," said Bradley, whose opening 60 included his only bogeys at those same holes in the middle of that round. "I don't know what it was, I can't put my finger on it but, you know, I bogeyed the first hole. I was a little uncomfortable and then I settled in and hit some really good shots."

Tom Gillis, who shot 63 in the first group of the day off the No. 10 tee, and Sang-Moon Bae (66) were tied for second.

A stroke further back were 2012 PGA Tour rookie of the year John Huh (64), Ryan Palmer (68) and 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel (70). Schwartzel had an opening 63 and was the closest to Bradley after the first round.

"It was a bit up and down out there," said Schwartzel, who had three birdies and three bogeys. "Bit of a frustrating day, but I suppose it's the mix."

Bradley, whose first PGA Tour victory came as a rookie at the Nelson two years ago, started his second round with a drive that missed the fairway at the 458-yard first hole, then left his approach short of the green.

"The first hole is probably the easiest hole out here," he said. "I don't know why I keep making bogey on that hole."

At No. 18, he drove right into rough under the trees again near a cart path. He punched the ball, which rolled and flirted with water to the left before settling into a swale behind the green. He chipped to 6 1/2 feet, but missed the par putt.

"I've got a four-shot lead, so the last thing I wanted to do was plop it in the water. I bailed out," said Bradley, who also won the PGA Championship in 2011 and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational last year. "I didn't hit that bad of a shot it just got in the wind. I thought it was going to be way left of where it was, but I'm going to hit good ones Saturday and Sunday."

In between those bogeys, Bradley had another bogey at No. 6, four birdies and several nice par-saving shots, including a two-putt from 35 feet after driving into the trees at No. 14 and a blast to 4 feet of the hole from a greenside bunker at No. 15.

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China, missed the cut with rounds of 70 and 77.

After driving into the rough and then hitting into two bunkers for a double-bogey 6 at No. 12, his third hole Friday, Guan had a 19-foot birdie putt on the following par 3. He then had five consecutive bogeys.

Guan last month made the cut at the Masters and then again in New Orleans, becoming the youngest player ever to make the cut on the PGA Tour. He said he "probably" would stay in the United States to play more golf, but wasn't specific about where or confirm if he would play in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier June 3.

Defending Nelson champion Jason Dufner, playing with good friend Bradley, had his second consecutive 70 to make the cut of even par.

Gillis got rolling with three consecutive birdies, starting with a 13-foot putt at No. 12 before burying a 32-footer on the 180-yard par 3 right after that. His only bogey came at his closing hole, when he three-putted from 12 1/2 feet at the 427-yard ninth hole.

He had played an afternoon round Thursday, when 13 players shot 66 or better in the morning and the only one in the afternoon was Marc Leishman with a 66.

"It was easier, I think the wind was down and I was hoping that we would get a fair shot like they had (Thursday) morning just to see what it would be like," Gillis said. "Definitely, I thought it played better than in the afternoon."

After 1 1/2 inches of rain fell on the course Wednesday night, players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls hit in fairways and other short-cut areas. That rule remained in place Friday, even though the grounds were dry and the greens were firming up with more breezy conditions.

Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton matched Gillis for the best round Friday, his 63 a nine-stroke improvement from the opening round to put him in a tie for 13th.

Gillis had missed his last five cuts with 12 straight rounds without breaking 70 before his opening 1-under 69 even while bogeys on three of his last four holes.

Asked about what was different this week, Gillis said he was more relaxed after reuniting with his coach.

"I stepped with a way for a couple of months and tried to do some things on my own and kind of got lost," Gillis said before explaining their separation. "We had disagreements on some things. ... You talk things out, work things out. People change. I think he was right all along, to be honest with you."

Bae, the 26-year-old South Korean who has 11 international victories but none on the PGA Tour, had six birdies and in his second 66 in a row.

"That was a little weird, I thought this course was very windy, but (Thursday) morning was really good weather," Bae said. "So yeah, different, but I shoot same score as (Thursday), so I'm happy."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-17-GLF-Byron-Nelson-Championship/id-b9a1156d49974c81b5e991ef2a6f3f4a

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UN: 14 Iranian exiles moved from Iraq to Albania

BAGHDAD (AP) ? The first exiles from an Iranian opposition group have moved to Albania from a camp near Baghdad as part of a relocation process, the United Nations said Thursday, a step toward defusing an explosive dispute left over from the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and the U.S.-led ousting of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

In a statement, the U.N. envoy in Iraq, Martin Kobler, said 14 members of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq arrived in Albania late Wednesday, the first of 210 set to travel to new homes in Albania.

The MEK, or the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, opposes Tehran's clerical regime. It carried out assassinations and bombings in Iran until renouncing violence in 2001. Several thousand of its members were given sanctuary in Iraq by dictator Saddam Hussein, who was deposed in 2003.

Since then, the MEK refugees have been a stubborn, anachronistic thorn in the side of Iraq and the United States, even after the U.S. turned over responsibility for Camp Ashraf, housing the remnants of the militant group, to the Iraqi government in 2009.

The MEK fought alongside Saddam's forces in the 1980s Iraq-Iran war, and its members fear persecution and death if they return to Iran.

The Shiite-led government in Baghdad that replaced Saddam's regime is bolstering its ties with Iran. It considers the MEK a terrorist group and wants its members out of the country.

The MEK exiles have come under fire from armed Iraqis who demand their expulsion. In one incident, seven people were killed in a rocket attack on the MEK camp in February. Later, the head of a Shiite militant group threatened to carry out more attacks on the camp if the MEK members refused to leave.

Last year about 3,000 MEK exiles were moved from their decades-long enclave in northeastern Iraq to a refugee camp outside Baghdad at a former U.S. military base, part of an effort to ensure their peaceful departure from Iraq. However, while Albania is taking in a small group, it remains unclear where the rest of the MEK members might go, leaving a clear potential for further violence.

The U.S. government praised Albania for accepting to host the MEK members, urging the Iranian opposition group to cooperate fully with the relocation process.

"The relocation of Camp Hurriya residents outside of Iraq is vital to their safety and security. It is the responsibility of the MEK leadership to facilitate for the residents of Camp Hurriya free and unfettered access to U.N. human rights monitors," said a statement by the U.S. State Department.

Albanian Interior Minister Flamur Noka pledged to quickly complete arrangements to resettle the 14. He told The Associated Press that they will get the refugee status immediately and then receive residence permits and proper documentation.

"They will be treated like every other Albanian citizen," he said, though "for the moment they will have the status of the refugee," meaning they will not be free to travel outside Tirana, the capital.

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton negotiated the agreement with Albania and the U.N. to take in the 210 MEK exiles late last year.

The U.S. took the MEK off its list of terror groups in September 2012, raising a stiff protest from Iran, charging that the U.S. move was "a violation of America's legal and international obligations" that could threaten U.S. interests.

"There is much evidence of the group being involved in terrorist activities. Delisting it shows America's double standard policy on terrorism," Iran state TV said then. The U.S. distinguishes between "good and bad terrorists" and the MEK are now "good terrorists because the U.S. is using them against Iran," the TV report said.

The MEK spent large sums of money in years of lobbying for removal from the U.S. terror list, holding rallies in European capitals and elsewhere.

On Thursday, Kobler described the transfer of the first group as "an encouraging first step in the relocation of the group of 210 residents the Albanian government has agreed to receive."

Ortenc Balla, a U.N. official in Tirana, said the 14 were in an asylum-seekers center. "The Albanian government has undertaken all the responsibilities, including their security," he told the AP.

Phone calls to the Iraqi government and MEK officials went answered.

___

Associated Press writers Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-14-iranian-exiles-moved-iraq-albania-141342650.html

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Twitter partners with NBA to highlight in-game replays, Blake Griffin posterizations

In all honesty, Blake Griffin himself could start a social network that served no purpose outside of featuring his dizzying (and disgusting, if you will) array of dunks, and it'd probably go over quite well. Instead, he -- along with other superstars in the National Basketball Association -- will soon see replays of in-game highlights making waves across Twitter in more official fashion. Hot on the heels of a deal between ESPN and Twitter comes this: a partnership between the NBA and the aforesaid social network that'll get video highlights to the world while the game is still ongoing.

#NBARapidReplay will be the hashtag to watch for as the playoffs progress, and as you'd expect, short advertisements will appear alongside those clips. Twitter's foray into the television universe is hardly a new one, but it's becoming ever more obvious that the company is following the ad dollars into the homes of everyday viewers. Up next? A deal to tweet highlights from the 2014 Masters golf tournament... but only in extremely soft spoken, lowercase, predominantly pompous characters.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Bloomberg

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Puerto Rico faces lowest coffee production ever

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ? Coffee production in Puerto Rico has hit the lowest level ever in the island's history, leaving farmers and government officials worried about how to revive a once burgeoning industry amid a deep economic crisis.

Farmers produced some 80,000 pounds (39,900 kilograms) of coffee during the most recent harvest, which represents only a third of local consumption, Agriculture Secretary Myrna Comas said Thursday.

Production in previous years has fluctuated between 105,000 pounds (47,600 kilograms) and 150,000 pounds (68,000 kilograms), according to department statistics.

"We need to fortify this industry ... and restore its much-deserved standing," Comas said. "We were once known worldwide for the quality of coffee produced on this island."

The U.S. territory has since been forced to import coffee from countries including Mexico and the Dominican Republic to meet local demand.

The reasons behind the recent production drop are many, and farmers worry that few solutions will be found.

One of the main problems is a severe shortage of coffee pickers, said Wilfredo Ruiz, president of the Puerto Rico Coffee Buyers & Growers Association.

An estimated 35 percent of the crop is lost every year because there is no one to pick it, leading to millions of dollars in lost revenue, he said.

"This keeps getting worse every day," he said. "There is no substitute for farm workers, and there won't be one. As people become educated, the last choice is to work in agriculture."

The government previously tried to draft troubled teens and inmates as pickers, but the measures weren't considered successful. Comas said part of the problem was lack of coordination, with inmates being sent several months too late to pick beans. She said she would revive the inmate program this year, as well as look at ways to increase salaries for coffee pickers.

Another problem that led to the limited harvest was a lack of seeds, Ruiz said.

Farmers buy locally produced seeds from greenhouses contracted by the government, but few seeds were available last year for unknown reasons, he said.

In addition, a rise in the cost of fertilizer has led farmers to abandon their land or to use it on a limited basis, he said. Currently, a 100-pound (45-kilogram) bag costs about $38, up from $22 in 2005, he said.

The government supplies farmers with two bags per 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of coffee produced, but Ruiz said the arrangement is flawed because farmers are not given enough fertilizer to protect the coffee plants that were not picked due to a lack of workers.

The emergence of a pest that began attacking coffee fields in recent years also is being blamed for a drop in production, as well as the lack of workers to spray fields with pesticides, Ruiz said.

He and other agronomists called on the government to provide more incentives to help revitalize the island's coffee industry.

"During the previous administration, there were no new coffee trees planted," said William Mattei, coffee sector president of the island's Association of Agronomists. "It's something that needs to be done."

Some farmers have chosen to focus on the lucrative, high-quality coffee market to survive economically, while others are experimenting with cultivating coffee plants near coastal towns with high unemployment rates in hopes of luring workers, Mattei said.

Currently, the majority of Puerto Rico's coffee is grown along the island's central mountain region, but many of those farms have been abandoned. Only about 4,000 coffee farmers are left, compared to some 11,000 farmers less than a decade ago, Ruiz said.

There have been recent attempts to revive the sector, however.

In May 2011, the Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters company opened the largest coffee-processing plant in the Caribbean. And this month, the Caribbean's first university laboratory dedicated to coffee tasting opened at the University of Puerto Rico's Utuado campus in the island's central region.

In another push to help boost the industry, Comas this week signed an agreement with farmers to plant 16 million coffee trees in upcoming years. She said the move would generate more than 2,500 jobs and benefit all coffee farmers.

While many celebrated the news, Ruiz remained skeptical.

"The secretary's project has to be coupled with a solution to find farm hands," he said. "Otherwise, it will be in vain."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-16-Puerto%20Rico-Coffee%20Woes/id-da9baf879e3c40858f4e2c664e6f3b64

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Relationship troubles? Some sad music might help you feel better

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Consumers experiencing relationship problems are more likely to prefer aesthetic experiences that reflect their negative mood, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Emotional experiences of aesthetic products are important to our happiness and well-being. Music, movies, paintings, or novels that are compatible with our current mood and feelings, akin to an empathic friend, are more appreciated when we experience broken or failing relationships," write authors Chan Jean Lee (KAIST Business School), Eduardo B. Andrade (FGV School of Administration), and Stephen E. Palmer (University of California, Berkeley).

Consumers experience serious emotional distress when intimate relationships are broken, and look for a surrogate to replace the lost personal bond. Prior research has reported that consumers in a negative mood prefer pleasant, positive aesthetic experiences (cheerful music; fun comedies) to counter their negative feelings. However, under certain circumstances, consumers in negative moods might choose aesthetic experiences consistent with their mood (sad music; tear-jerking dramas) even when more pleasant alternatives are also available.

In one study, consumers were presented with various frustrating situations and asked to rate angry music relative to joyful or relaxing music. Consumers liked angry music more when they were frustrated by interpersonal violations (being interrupted; someone always being late) than by impersonal hassles (no internet connection; natural disaster).

In another study, consumers were asked to recall experiences involving loss. Preference for sad music was significantly higher when they had experienced an interpersonal loss (losing a personal relationship) versus an impersonal loss (losing a competition).

"Interpersonal relationships influence consumer preference for aesthetic experiences. Consumers seek and experience emotional companionship with music, films, novels, and the fine arts as a substitute for lost and troubled relationships," the authors conclude.

###

University of Chicago Press Journals: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu

Thanks to University of Chicago Press Journals for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128266/Relationship_troubles__Some_sad_music_might_help_you_feel_better

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?Radio Without Rules?: Google Announces New Music Streaming Service

Google announced its subscription streaming service, Google Play Music All Access (wow that's a mouthful), at Google I/O Wednesday. It's all about harnessing the power of Google to provide you with stellar music recommendations, on your phone, tablet, or on ...

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

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Home Based Business Advice: Take It To A Whole New Level ? Hot ...

People often say that information is power, that happens to be true in today?s world. If you want to learn what type of information will skyrocket your business then you are in the right article.

One of the things you should do first if you want to succeed is have an action plan or a business plan that is long term and detailed. This plan will basically have your goals for each month and what actions you will take to get there. You must be aware that you will find many obstacles in the way to success with your home based business, having an action plan will ensure you stay focus and determined to make it work.

Any business requires an investment of either time or money, you have to decide which one applies to your business. If you want to make the real money from your business then you must not be afraid to invest your time & money.

Just because you are working for yourself it does not mean you should be messy, try to be organized with the way you run your business from home. Set aside a spot where you can work and concentrate on what you are doing without distractions. If you can be disciplined with your business you will start believing in it.

Make sure you have all the tools and resources you need to have a great website. A website that looks cheap and unprofessional may drive customers away and that is a big mistake. Use professional websites as an example of what you?re aiming for and remember your site will be your image on the internet.

There are hundreds of online businesses, each one is different and you must keep that in mind when you encounter issues you are not familiar with. Be open minded to learning new things and applying what you learn along the way. Don?t get frustrated with things you don?t understand and remember chances are someone already encountered your problem so do some research until you find a solution.

Many people want the internet lifestyle or want to simply work from home. The reality is not everyone has what it takes to do it. It comes down to having the right information and patience to make your home business work.

Learn more about starting a business with my empower network review, then see what it takes to get started with these empower network that will help you.

Source: http://hotarticledepot.com/home-based-business-advice-take-it-to-a-whole-new-level-2/

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HP Pavilion M6-1148CA

The HP Pavilion M6-1148CA ($599.99), available in Canada, is a well-rounded Windows 8-equipped laptop that marries a sleek aesthetic with several useful niceties like a large display, full-size keyboard, and roomy hard drive. Although its AMD APU is often outperformed by the Intel-equipped competition, the Pavilion M6-1148CA's decent feature set, and reasonable price tag partially acquit it of this otherwise major flaw. For the average user who occasionally edits photos or home movies, though, it's worth checking out, even if it isn't the best option.

Design and Features
Measuring 1 by 14.9 by 9.8 inches (HWD), the Pavilion M6-1148CA isn't exactly a petite laptop, but its svelte profile helps reduce unnecessary bulk. Moreover, its weight of 5.02 pounds is relatively light for its size and lighter than competing laptops of equal-size, like the HP Pavilion G6-2368CA (5.08 pounds) and Lenovo IdeaPad N581 (5.71 pounds). Although its underside is a standard black plastic affair, a handsome brushed aluminum finish on the system's lid and palmrest add a touch of panache to the Pavilion M6-1148CA's overall aesthetic.

The Pavilion M6-1148CA's 15.6-inch display has a maximum resolution of 1,366 by 768 is sufficient of supporting 720P content, a useful feature for movie buffs given the fact that the Pavilion M6-1148CA features a tray-loading DVD burner. Outside of movies, the display is easy on the eyes, and its glossy coating lends itself to bright colors and crisp text. The Pavilion M6-1148CA's speakers and integrated subwoofer, meanwhile, are housed in a horizontal grille directly above the keyboard and sport the familiar Beats by Dr. Dre logo. Although "Beats Audio technology" is often marketed as a groundbreaking auditory experience, in practice it's just a control panel that features volume boost and an equalizer. Not to say that the Pavilion M6-1148CA's speakers are disappointing: at maximum volume, Radiohead's "Idioteque" sounded crisp and distortion-free and was loud enough to fill a medium-sized room. The much-hyped bass, however, wasn't as nearly as pronounced as I had hoped.

The Pavilion M6-1148CA's raised tile keyboard offers plenty of space for your hands and even includes a dedicated alphanumeric keypad. Although its keystrokes are somewhat shallow, it's not enough to pose an ergonomic issue when typing a lengthy email or term paper. The absence of backlighting is a regrettable shortcoming that's sure to frustrate users who prefer to work in dimly lit environments. The Pavilion M6-1148CA's touch pad sports a smooth finish and its fluid support for the usual bevy of Windows 8-specific gesture controls, which allows users to intuitively navigate through Microsoft's latest operating system despite the absence of a touchscreen.

The I/O port selection is solid on the Pavilion M6-1148CA, thanks to its generous offering of three USB 3.0 ports, which is more than either the Lenovo Ideapad N581 (two USB 3.0 ports) and the Samsung Series 3 NP300E5E-A05CA (no USB 3.0 ports). Two of these USB 3.0 ports can be found on the left side of the system alongside full-size HDMI and VGA outputs, Ethernet, and a headphone jack. The right side sports the system's sole USB 2.0 port, the third USB 3.0 port, and a tray-loading DVD burner. A memory card reader is located in the front of the system. At the same time, though, the Pavilion M6-1148CA's USB 3.0 ports are marked with tiny "SS" (super-speed) logos rather than the familiar blue color, which may confuse less observant users.

The Pavilion M6-1148CA's 750GB 5,400rpm hard drive offers ample storage space for your program files and media. It does, however, come with a hefty serving of preloaded software that must be waded through. It ranges from useful (Microsoft Office Starter 2010, CyberLink disc-burning suite) to delete-on-arrival bloatware (WildTangent Games, Microsoft Live Essentials 2011, links to eBay, Netflix). There's also a large amount of proprietary software by HP (Connected Music, CoolSense, Games, MyRoom, and so on) and trial software (60 days of Norton Internet Security). Accordingly, users who prefer starting with a clean slate should be prepared to devote an afternoon shoveling through the Pavilion M6-1148CA's preloaded software. HP covers the Pavilion M6-1148CA with a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

Performance
Although the Pavilion M6-1148CA's 1.9GHz AMD A8-4500 processor and 8GB RAM churned out respectable scores on our benchmark tests, it had difficulty holding its own against Intel-equipped competitors. Its PCMark 7 score of 1,654 points outperformed the AMD-equipped Pavilion G6-2368CA (1,319 points) but struggled to keep up with the Intel-based systems, like the Acer Aspire V5-571P-6627 (2,301 points).The Pavilion M6-1148CA's weaker processing speed was also apparent in our Cinebench R11.5 test, where its score of 1.73 points failed to keep pace with the Lenovo N581 (2.49 points) and the class-leading Series 3 NP300E5E-A05CA (3 points).

The Pavilion M6-1148CA performed more competitively in our multimedia tests. It completed our Handbrake video-encoding test in 2 minutes 3 seconds, putting it within striking distance of the Acer V5-571P-6627 (1:57). Similarly, it churned through the dozen or so filters in our Photoshop CS6 test in 7 minutes 38 seconds, or nearly equal to that of the Acer V5-571P-6627 (7:36) but nonetheless significantly short of the Lenovo N581 (5:34) and the top-performing Samsung Series 3 NP300E5E-A05CA (4:35). On the other hand, the Pavilion M6-1148CA landed at the bottom of the pile in 3DMark11, (986 points in Entry-level settings) and showed signs of struggle in keeping up with the rest, like the Lenovo N581 (1,234 points). Overall, the Pavilion M6-1148CA demonstrated a moderate capacity for media creation. You won't necessarily make a living as a graphic designer with it but can nonetheless still tinker with Photoshop effects and convert movie files.

One area where the Pavilion M6-1148CA performed on equal footing with its Intel-equipped competition was in our gaming test. In both Aliens Vs. Predator and Heaven benchmark tests, the Pavilion M6-1148CA, too, failed to cross the 30 frames-per-second playability barrier.

The Pavilion M6-1148CA landed at bottom in our battery rundown test, where its removable 6-cell 2,800 mAh Li Ion battery lasted for 2 hours 23 minutes, or less than half as long as the class-leading Samsung Series 3 NP300E5E-A05CA (5:11. I If you're on the market for a system that can last an entire workday on a single charge, the Pavilion M6-1148CA probably isn't the way to go. At the very least, however, it gives you the option of using a spare battery.

Despite its less-than-robust processing power, the HP Pavilion M6-1148CA's good feature set helps make it a well-rounded choice. For the average user who occasionally edits photos or home movies, it's worth checking out. At the same time, however, it's not the best choice in this price range and prospective purchasers should accordingly explore other options before making a final decision.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/mA8h2IPeYgM/0,2817,2418812,00.asp

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