booking trustworthy

lonsdaleverena63

30/07/2013 - 07:34:48Back to Business Home

T?naiste Eamon Gilmore is beginning a four-day political and economic mission to China.

Eamon Gilmore's visit marks the first time a sitting T?naiste has visited the country.

He will hold talks with the Chinese foreign minister and the chairman of the Communist Party during his visit.

It is the seventh visit to China by an Irish minister in the last year.

Source: http://feeds.breakingnews.ie/~r/bntopstories/~3/rF08eDIZgAo/gilmore-in-china-trade-mission-602081.html

Nexus 4 Girl Meets World Jason Babin Nolan Daniels angus t. jones monday night football monday night football

lonsdaleverena63

Almost one in five respondents said that they would have more confidence in a charity if the staff paid for their own Christmas party. Photograph: Stockbyte/Getty Images

Almost three in four people have said that London-based offices and rebranding are a waste of money for charities, an nfpSynergy poll of 1,002 adults has shown.

The poll was carried out as part of nfpSynergy's Charity Awareness Monitor, which surveys a representative sample of adults in Britain. Of those surveyed, 74% felt that London-based offices for charities were a "somewhat" or "very" wasteful expenditure, with just 4% saying they were "fairly" worthwhile, and the rest saying they were unsure.

Rebranding recieved a similar response, with 72% of people saying it was wasteful for charities to spend money on changing their name, logo or look, and just 9% saying they felt it was worthwhile.

Joe Saxton, founder of nfpSynergy, said: "London offices make complete sense for many charities, so they need to be honest and proactive about the benefits. Being in London provides a much better pool of staff to recruit from and the small savings outside London would be a false economy."

More than half (62%) of those surveyed said they would feel confident that a charity spends donations well if staff did not travel in first class and 55% of respondents said they would feel confident if the organisation was mostly ran by volunteers. Of those surveyed, 51% said that if nobody in the organisation was paid more than ?50,000 a year that would increasse their confidence in the charity.

In addition, close to one in five (23%) said that they would have more confidence in a charity if staff paid for their own Christmas party, while 9% felt that staff would need to work for free one day a month for them to feel confident in a charity's spending.

"Paying someone more than ?50,000 and ?100,000 [makes sense for charities]," Joe Saxton said. "If that person brings a skillset, a breadth of experience and other benefits, be proactive and tell the world about it. I think every major charity can justify paying their chief executive over ?100,000.

"What charities need to remember is that if London offices or ?100,000 salaries are worthwhile, they need to scream and shout about why. The sector needs to talk about these issues now, not hope that nobody notices what they are doing."

Online tools and lobbying recieved a more positive response, with 70% of respondents saying they felt that spending money on a website was worthwhile and over half of those surveyed saying that lobbying government and other organisations (58%), as well as advertising (67%), were worthwhile.

In addition, 48% believed that producing a magazine to update supporters on work that had been done was a worthwhile expenditure for charities.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2013/jul/31/london-offices-waste-money

Game Of Thrones Season 3 campfire Kordell Stewart cesar chavez Wichita State hbo Buckwild

lonsdaleverena63

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Study shows birds eavesdrop on owls and change their dusk singing patterns to avoid becoming potential prey. If you hear an owl hooting at dusk, don't expect to catch the flute-like song of a Veery nearby. This North American thrush has probably also heard the hoots, and is singing much less to ensure that it does not become an owl's next meal.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/7voZJPhRHcA/130730091257.htm

Google Now Jason Collins White House Correspondents Dinner 2013 NHL playoff schedule Queen of Versailles Nicole Eggert yvette prieto

lonsdaleverena63

Jayson Werth has rediscovered his power stroke in the season's second half.

Matt Slocum/AP

Consider this the silly season in fantasy baseball. You already have more than a few teams out of the race in your league, the stretch run is coming up, and the playoffs will follow. The problem is the players and teams don't have your fantasy interests in mind.

Case in point this weekend: Albert Pujols (plantar fasciitis) is shutting it down and might be done for the season. He is just the first of many that will enter Operation: Shutdown -- which was so immaturely coined by the Pirates' Derek Bell over a decade ago.

The good news is as you lose players for the season -- injury and suspension -- the competition for waiver pickups wanes. Fewer teams are left in the hunt, and the ones with waiver priority (and likely the bulk of the free-agent acquisition budget dollars) aren't going to be challenging you for the flavors of the week.

Here are a few quick pieces of advice on how to handle the season's final two months in fantasy:

Keep your ear to the news: This is especially pertinent to this week with the trade deadline approaching. When players swap teams, there are going to be opportunities created and destroyed. If you're in deep leagues, you need players rising out of the woodwork, and there should be a number of them in the coming days.

Beware of the ax: Biogenesis news has finally come to a boil and claimed the season of Ryan Braun, so you can be sure more dominoes are going to fall this week and beyond. If you have one of the Biogenesis guys like Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera, sell, sell, sell! (If, and only if, someone is buying.) Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon are probably the two that started this whole mess, so they might be able to skirt more punishment because of de facto "double jeopardy."

Follow the pennant races: You need to bank on players with something to play for down the stretch. Those are the ones that are going to play through injury, and they are also the ones with the most productive supporting casts.

Prey on the weak: This is a bit unethical, but we are not asking you to live like a saint here. You're out to win a fantasy league. The teams that are out of the race -- or better yet, at desperation or on the cusp of the playoffs -- are the most likely to give you value for your depth. The trade deadline tends to bring out in the inner GM in everyone, so there will be more fantasy owners inclined to make a deal this week than any other point of the season!

And now for the rest of the staples of SI.com's Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner:

Player of the week

OF Jayson Werth, Washington Nationals -- The team's season has gone south, but Werth's renaissance has been a bright spot. The power is back -- he hit five homers this past week -- and he's finally performing up to a level close to his contract. You should get him active in all leagues now, something we thought we might have never been able to say for him again.

Player of the weak

CC Sabathia, New York Yankees -- You know the season has really gone down the tubes when you cannot even get this guy to perform. Sabathia was due for a disappointing season in a career full of consistency, we suppose. It is easy to say his days as an ace are over, but we are more inclined to claim this as a lost season for him. Consider him a decent buy-low candidate in keeper leagues.

Rookie spotlight

2B/SS Nick Franklin, Seattle Mariners -- This is one of the burgeoning gems of midseason. He had another two-homer game Saturday and is providing some potentially elite pop for a second-base position that historically needs it. Consider him a must-start in mixed leagues when he is going well and a top-10 candidate for the position next March.

Bargain bin

RP Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates -- Jason Grilli's loss is Melancon's gain. The Red Sox castoff has had a great rebound season and is a must-add closer because he is pitching for a contender. Own him in all leagues. He is still available in over 40 percent of CBSSports.com formats and has the type of ERA and WHIP than can make him a just-as-good substitution for someone in Grilli that was pitching like one of the elite closers of fantasy.

Roster trends

Most added:

1. SS Junior Lake, Chicago Cubs -- The trade of Alfonso Soriano has opened up playing time for him, and he will be a regular starting outfielder now. He is not quite as good as this hot start, but you can take a flier on him just in case. He is a big guy whose power should develop.

2. OF Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins -- It should take some time for the power to come, so if you were using Marcell Ozuna, you should be adding Yelich. He is here to stay, if only because the Marlins are determined to give him a long look.

3. SP Alex Wood, Atlanta Braves -- If you can look past his mediocre start, you might want to take a chance on him in a two-start week. The matchups are not overwhelming for him, and he is a lot better than he showed against the Mets.

4. SP Scott Kazmir, Cleveland Indians -- You cannot be sure he will hold up, but his last start is a sign he can be useful in all fantasy leagues for as long as he does. He is a must-add in leagues where you stream two-start pitchers -- even over Wood.

5. OF Marlon Byrd, New York Mets -- Sometimes fantasy is inexplicable, like the 35-year-old's brilliant season. Byrd is on pace for almost 30 homers and 100 RBI, a career year. You cannot expect this to continue, so sell if anyone is buying.

Most dropped:

1. SP Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves -- That gruesome injury knocks him out for the season and might end his career. He can be dropped in all leagues.

2. OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers -- In highsight, he might have gotten the best deal possible. He wasn't healthy or able to produce his numbers anyway. Count on him coming back strong next year, though.

3. SP Jason Marquis, San Diego Padres -- If you were getting mileage out of him in fantasy, consider yourself lucky. The elbow injury ends his season and perhaps his career.

4. SP Paul Maholm, Atlanta Braves -- His rotation spot was on thin ice anyway, but if he can prove himself healthy and effective again before the end of the season, he will make some starts and perhaps impact fantasy leagues.

5. SP Martin Perez, Texas Rangers -- The past three starts have been less than stellar, but you had to expect some streakiness. He will prove useful in all leagues in the second half -- if only in spurts.

Most viewed (Rotoworld):

1. OF Alfonso Soriano, New York Yankees -- He is an instant hit in New York, and you have to love this move for him, outside all NL-only leagues that are forced to cut players traded to the other league.

2. 3B Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees -- You have to be getting the sense A-Rod is getting closer to the end of his baseball career than your starting lineup. You can stash him, but you cannot expect anything at this point. The Yankees don't even want to play him (read: pay him).

3. OF Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers -- You cannot use him until next week in fantasy, but his promising first game back last Sunday gives you hope for the season's final two months.

4. SP Jake Peavy, Chicago White Sox -- He is going to be traded somewhere in the coming days, and the signs point to teams in the AL West right now. It is good news for his fantasy owners. Keep him active in all leagues.

5. SP Matt Garza, Texas Rangers -- There have been some that said he is not a game-changer. Baloney. He has won six consecutive starts and is pitching at a Cy Young level, if even just for a few months of the season. He is going to be a must-start fantasy ace down the stretch with the Rangers.

Most traded (CBSSports.com):

1. SP Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers -- This is just not his year. You cannot trade him if you own him, and if you don't, you might as well try to acquire him under value. BUY

2. OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers -- Ouch. Some took a gamble and were snakebit. If you're dealing for him in keeper leagues, you probably made a pretty favorable deal. He is going to be a first-round-caliber outfielder again (if his health holds up). HOLD

3. OF Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers -- The luster has to wear off at some point, right? Well, he can carry this stretch for the final two months and the NL Rookie of the Year award. HOLD

4. CC Sabathia, New York Yankees -- Nothing has gone right for the Yankees. There still could be some faithful out there. Trading pitching for hitting this time of year is always the thing to do. SELL

5. OF Josh Hamilton, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- If he can stay healthy, you should count on him picking up for the loss of Albert Pujols. He is better than he has shown. BUY

Tout Wars moves

Taking a flier on Jenrry Mejia, New York Mets -- The right-hander has a great arm and is coming off an eye-opening first start against the Braves. He warrants a pick-up in mixed leagues and his next start against the Marlins is a favorable one.

My daily lineup

If you play in those daily fantasy leagues, here are the players by position that yours truly will be going with for Monday's games. If you want to challenge me, hit me up on Twitter @EricMackFantasy:

SP -- A.J. Griffin, Oakland Athletics

SP -- Jeff Samardzija, Chicago Cubs

C -- Wilin Rosario, Colorado Rockies

1B -- Mark Reynolds, Cleveland Indians

2B -- Jedd Gyorko, San Diego Padres

3B -- David Wright, New York Mets

SS -- Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

OF -- Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins

OF -- Josh Hamilton, L.A. Angels of Anaheim

OF -- Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves

DH -- Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/fantasy/news/20130728/fantasy-baseball-weekly-planner-july-28/index.html

Misty May And Kerri Walsh Jake Dalton London 2012 field hockey Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics Danell Leyva

lonsdaleverena63

Secretary of State John Kerry stands with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk at the State Department in Washington, Monday, July 29, 2013, as he announces that he Indyk will shepherd the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

In this image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Egyptian interim President Adly Mansour, center, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, July 29, 2013. Israeli and Palestinian teams will try again in preliminary talks today to get Middle East peace talks back on track after two decades of failure. Both sides have flown to Washington but each group says many obstacles need to be overcome. (AP Photo/Ahmed Fouad, Egyptian Presidency)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? With a cast of characters that has presided over numerous failed Middle East peace efforts, the Obama administration launched a fresh bid Monday to pull Israel and the Palestinians into substantive negotiations.

Despite words of encouragement, deep skepticism about the prospects for success surrounded the initial discussions, which were opening with a dinner hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry. He named a former U.S. ambassador to Israel to shepherd what all sides believe will be a protracted and difficult process.

Former envoy Martin Indyk, who played key roles in the Clinton administration's multiple, unsuccessful pushes to broker peace deals between Israel and Syria and Israel and the Palestinians, will assume the day-to-day responsibility for keeping the talks alive for the next nine months.

Kerry called Indyk a "seasoned diplomat" and said he "knows what has worked and he knows what hasn't worked." Neither Kerry nor the State Department would say what has worked in the past, although the fact that there is no peace deal now would seem to indicate that nothing has worked in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian standoff.

President Barack Obama echoed Kerry's hopeful sentiment in a White House statement that said Indyk "brings unique experience and insight to this role, which will allow him to contribute immediately as the parties begin down the tough, but necessary, path of negotiations."

The Israeli side will be led by chief negotiator Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister who was active in the Bush's administration's ill-fated Annapolis peace talks with the Palestinians, and Yitzhak Molcho, a veteran adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was part of the Israeli team involved in Obama's two previous attempts to broker negotiations. Those two efforts relied heavily on Dennis Ross, a former Indyk colleague and Mideast peace envoy, and veteran negotiator George Mitchell.

The Palestinian team will be led by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and President Mahmoud Abbas' adviser, Mohammed Shtayyeh, both of whom have been major players in failed negotiations with the Israelis since 1991.

Despite the presence of so many people whose past experience does not include success, Kerry and other officials voiced cautious optimism about the resumption of talks which he painstakingly negotiated during six months of shuttle diplomacy that began with Obama's own trip to Israel in March.

"It sounds like we're lucky to have decades of experience ready to come back to the table and make an effort to push forward," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Previous attempts to get talks started have foundered on Israel's continued construction of Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and Palestinian attempts to win international recognition as a sovereign state in the absence of a peace deal. Actual negotiations have died because the two sides have been unable to compromise on the most serious disagreements between them: borders, the status of Jerusalem, refugees and security.

With a U.S.-imposed gag order on revealing any details about the substance or framework of the talks, gauging progress will be difficult. But the outlines of any eventual peace deal are fairly well known: a Palestinian state based on the lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel seized east Jerusalem and occupied the Palestinian territories, with agreed land swaps and recognition of a secure, Jewish state of Israel.

But neither side will publicly commit to those goals, and getting there will require major concessions that will be difficult to sell to the Israeli and Palestinian publics.

Ahead of the initial discussions on procedures and guidelines for the meetings, which the U.S. hopes will grow into deeper, more substantive talks on the key sticking points, Kerry urged both sides to strive for "reasonable compromises on tough, complicated, emotional and symbolic issues."

He acknowledged that the path ahead would be long and difficult. But he said that Indyk had the respect and confidence of all involved and that his vast experience in Middle East diplomacy could only help.

"Ambassador Indyk is realistic," Kerry said. "He understands that Israeli-Palestinian peace will not come easily and it will not happen overnight. But he also understands that there is now a path forward and we must follow that path with urgency. He understands that to ensure that lives are not needlessly lost, we have to ensure that opportunities are not needlessly lost."

Indyk, 62, will take a leave of absence from his current job as vice president and foreign policy director at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank.

In announcing Indyk's appointment, Kerry noted the former ambassador had opened the preface to his 2009 book, "Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peacemaking Diplomacy in the Middle East," with lines from the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

"If men could learn from history, what lessons it would teach us," Kerry quoted.

He did not continue to the next lines as Indyk did in his book:

"But passion and party blind our eyes,"

"And the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern,"

"Which shines only on the waves behind us."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-29-US-US-Mideast-Talks/id-4958252a2ce546e5a67bd3199a2b75fb

buffett rule lollapalooza lineup joss whedon ronnie montrose melissa gilbert dancing with the stars dandelion wine cough

lonsdaleverena63

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.betaarchive.com --- Monday, July 29, 2013
In Forum: Tutorials and Guides By User: comeburstingtheconcrete You can install IE6 on Windows 95?? Wow. I honestly didn't expect that, but I just tried it in a VM, and it works fine. Thanks for the tip! ...

Source: http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=28685&sid=43e3d4c83c94c367ae7db265ba538877

nyc marathon willie nelson Wreck It Ralph Movember USC shooting halloween lsu football

lonsdaleverena63

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

?

The Green Bay Packers won the NFC North in 2012, but for the second straight year a disappointing playoff loss ended their season short of their preseason goal. But they remain the favorites to win the division this year, despite some notable changes the other three teams have made,?and any road to the Super Bowl in the NFC may have to include a win over the Packers once again.

The Packers have plenty of talent on their roster, but there are few players I would call irreplaceable?for the 2013 season. An obvious choice is linebacker Clay Matthews, who had 13 sacks (fifth in the league)?last season while no one else on the team had more than 4.5, and he will again be asked to spearhead Green Bay?s pass rush. But?to me the Packers? most irreplaceable player for this season is clear.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had another excellent season in 2012, finishing in the top 10 in passing yards (4,295-eighth) and passing touchdowns (39-second) along with completing over 67 percent of his passes and throwing just eight interceptions. But he was also sacked a league-high 51 times last season, which caused the Packers to reshuffle their offensive line during the offseason.

Behind Rodgers on the depth chart is Graham Harrell, who has attempted just four passes in his career, and 2012 seventh-round pick B.J. Coleman, who spent all of last season on the practice squad. Rodgers is obviously one of the NFL?s best quarterbacks and he has only missed one game due to injury since becoming Green Bay?s starter in 2008,?so keeping him upright and healthy is vital to any chances the Packers have to reach and win a Super Bowl.

Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24.

Source: http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/07/29/most-irreplaceable-green-bay-packers-player-for-the-2013-nfl-season/

Andrea Bargnani Bart Strike 2013 ciara jessica simpson Ray Donovan despicable me dwyane wade

lonsdaleverena63

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point initiated a new position in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturer CF industries during the second quarter, according to a quarterly investor note.

"CF currently trades at an unwarranted discount to fertilizer and commodity chemical peers," Loeb said in the letter, dated July 29. "We believe its structural cash flow generation strength is misunderstood and that management should deliver a much larger dividend to its shareholders."

Loeb said that CF's "access to low-cost North American natural gas - the primary input in nitrogen fertilizer production - gives the company a structural, sustainable margin capture relative to global peers with higher input costs."

(Reporting by Katya Wachtel; Editing by Gary Hill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/loebs-third-point-opens-stake-cf-industries-letter-193209325.html

Seth Meyers mothers day Mothers Day Cards Players Championship 2013 rod stewart derrick rose lena horne

lonsdaleverena63

Now here?s something interesting for all Windows 7 users looking forward to Battlefield 4: Technical Director on Frostbite at DICE Johan Andersson, has stated that Battlefield 4?s Frostbite 3 engine would fully support Direct X 11.1 and that systems utilizing this API would see better CPU performance.

Which systems feature Direct X 11.1? Why, only Windows 8 systems of course!

As stated on NeoGAF, Andersson explained that, ?We use DX11.1, there are some optimizations in it (constant buffer offsets, dynamic buffers as SRVs) that we got in to the the API that improves CPU performance in our rendering when one runs with DX11.1. This will be in BF4.?

Not that the game won?t be running great on other machines ? it will certainly look better on more powerful machines like the latest computers, Xbox One and PS4 in comparison to the current generation. However, Microsoft?s decision to make Direct X 11.1 exclusive to Windows 8 might come back to haunt them given the OS?s notoriety.

That pesky Internet again. "Thanks to the Internet, social media and smartphones, the walls between citizens, journalists and the military have never been thinner."

Pentagon Spokesman: Public Affairs Must Change With Times

article quotes:

?Public affairs is an absolutely critical component of our military and our department,? he said. ?We operate in a world so tightly connected that every world event, big or small, can be felt in real time.?

"Little said new approaches should include engaging more with nontraditional journalists such as bloggers and tweeters, who sometimes break news but also may report gossip and rumor."

(The money quote...) ?When bad things happen, the American people should hear it from us, not as a scoop on the Drudge Report,? he said."

Source: http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2013/07/that-pesky-internet-again-thanks-to.html

The Last of Us Yeezus Flag Day 2013 UFC 161 College World Series Alex Cobb superman

lonsdaleverena63

NEW YORK (AP) ? T-Mobile said Friday that it is temporarily eliminating upfront payments on new phones, but it is increasing the prices for some models through higher monthly payments.

Unlike rival carriers, T-Mobile charges the full retail price of phones, spread over two years, but reduces monthly service fees for voice, text and data. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and others typically charge $200 or so up front for high-end phones and make up for the rest of the phone's cost through higher service fees over the life of a two-year contract.

Under a new payment plan introduced in March, T-Mobile charges a down payment for the phone and monthly installments until the device is paid off in two years. For instance, customers pay $146 up front for an iPhone 5 and $21 a month for two years for a total cost of $650. That's about the same price Apple charges when someone buys the phone without a two-year contract for use at another carrier.

In eliminating the down payment, starting Saturday, some phones will be cheaper. For instance, customers will be paying $600 overall for Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S4, compared with $630 currently. Apple's iPhone 5 will be $2 cheaper, at $648 overall.

But HTC Corp.'s One will cost $600, up $40. Other higher-priced devices include Sony Corp.'s Xperia Z and BlackBerry Ltd.'s Q10. T-Mobile said it was revising prices to reflect demand and other factors.

"Every time we have a chance to change pricing, we always make adjustments," said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer at T-Mobile. "Some are going up. Some are going down. Each and every one is going to zero down."

The promotion follows the introduction of new upgrade plans at three of the four national wireless carriers. T-Mobile started the wave about two weeks ago with its $10-a-month Jump program. For that fee, you get insurance to cover loss and damage and the right to upgrade up to twice a year. You pay a new down payment for the new phone when you upgrade, but remaining installments on the old phone are waived. As a result, it can cost you hundreds of dollars more than keeping the same phone the entire two years.

T-Mobile's elimination of down payments is part of a limited-time promotion. T-Mobile hasn't announced an end date, but Sievert described it as a "summer promotion." That means down payments are likely to return by the time the first of the Jump participants will be eligible to upgrade, six months from when they first sign up, or next January at the earliest.

Under AT&T Inc.'s Next and Verizon Wireless' Edge upgrade programs, customers pay the full retail prices for phones over 20 or 24 months, instead of the traditional way of paying just $200 up front. Unlike T-Mobile, however, neither has reduced the service fee component of phone bills, meaning customers effectively pay for the same phone twice. There's no additional monthly fee, but there's no insurance, either.

Even though Next and Edge require customers to pay more overall for phones, both waive the down payment and make T-Mobile look bad in charging it. Sievert said T-Mobile's zero-down promotion is a direct response to that perception.

The promotion applies to phones bought through T-Mobile's website, over the phone or at its retail stores. It doesn't apply to phones bought through resellers and other retailers, such as Sony's store for the Xperia Z.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-mobile-nixes-down-payments-ups-monthly-fees-151238485.html

the hartford illinois primary 2012 michael bay zsa zsa gabor illinois primary trayvon martin 911 call kiribati

lonsdaleverena63

Branding is as distinguished as anything else in your business. It is not unbiased about picking a catchy name or getting the good theme color but with your gain heed, you can accomplish more than you ever expected. inspect around and check out how many businesses have their gain tag. Almost every competitors have their gain branding. So, there is no reason why you should not be doing the same to your business.

Branding is like giving life to your business. A friendly branding will bring in more benefits in the long race. A price name with the lawful description is a key for customer loyalty. mediate of Adidas and immediately you will know that it is a sports apparel ticket name. This is because you already know Adidas and it is an international label name so almost everyone knows about it.

However, when you are creating a price name for your business, acquire clear it is well connected to sure things in life. People like determined stuff so if you can represent your impress name to something like ?You can do it? or ?You can change it too?, they are going to savor you more. accumulate something that portrays clear attitude, characteristic and value to attract more customers.

However, with the accurate branding, you need to have top quality products as well to go with it. You cannot mark your product if you have awful quality products. People are not going to catch your products impartial because of your name. In fact, your name won?t win your any customers if your products are as poor as trash. find an worthy product before you go on to branding.

In case you are level-headed wondering what branding can do for your business, be amazed that you can net about 10% to 20% of extra profits if you are doing your branding the factual blueprint. This is not a lie, in fact branding itself allows you to raise your profit margin slightly higher and your customers won?t even grumble, because you have a trusted mark unprejudiced like any other celebrated brands in the market such as Nike and Adidas.

As long as your label is easy to remember and there is something for the customers to behold forward to every time they visit your store, I am clear you will be able to find more profits. This is why you need to select care of all your branding needs lickety-split and efficiently.

Source: http://northeastambassadors.com/why-business-branding-is-so-important.html

Katherine Jackson Olympics Opening Ceremony Time US weekly Sally Ride Ichiro minka kelly James Holmes court

lonsdaleverena63

COLCHESTER ? Bacon Academy boys basketball coach Kevin Fennell has resigned after six years at the helm of the Bobcats.

Fennell?s wife recently had the couple?s second child.

?I wanted to make sure I got to spend some time with him,? said Fennell, who sent in his letter of resignation two weeks ago. ?It wasn?t an easy decision to make, but it was one I knew I had to.?

The 40-year-old Fennell, who teaches at Johnston Middle School in Colchester, coached at Bacon for the last 15 years, serving as an assistant under girls coach Dave Shea for nine years before taking over the boys program. ?

The Bobcats finished 13-7 last year, including a win over eventual Class S champion Granby.

GOLF

Jones fourth

GROTON ? Norwich native David Jones finished in a tie for fourth at the 31st Connecticut Senior Open, held at Shennecossett Golf Course.

Jones? two-day total of 1-under 141 was three shots behind the winner, Simsbury?s Kevin Foster, who carded a 4-under 138 and won by two shots over Jerry Courville and Ralph Salito. Jones, who went 71-70, shot the second-best score for an amateur; Foster was tops.

East Lyme?s Bill Hermanson (72-79) and Old Lyme?s Richard Wilczewski (74-77) tied for 43rd with a 9-over 151 to round out the locals.

Torrance shoots 76

KILLINGTON, Vt. ? Lake of Isles? Nick Torrance shot a 76 and is 10 shots behind the leader after the first day of the New England Amateur Championship at Green Mountain National Golf Course.

Jamison Randall, of Rhode Island, shot a 66 to hold a one-shot lead over five players.

Fox Hopyard?s Kyle Buschmann added an 80 for the locals.

SENIOR LEGION

Norwich 7
Jewett City 5

NORWICH ? Stephen Sieczkowski had three RBIs to help Norwich snap an eight-game losing streak. Brandin Strickland had two hits and scored two runs for Norwich (7-19), and Logan Gordon and Brandon Deveny had two hits apiece. Evan Dunham had two hits for Jewett City (5-21).

TriTown 10
Led-Paw 9

THOMPSON ? J.P. Bergeron had two hits and two RBIs and drove in the go-ahead run with a suicide squeeze bunt in the sixth inning as TriTown came back from a 7-0 first-inning deficit. Tim Cutler, Mike Thienel and Ben Brissette each had two hits and two RBIs for TriTown (7-19).

Ryan Francis had two hits and drove in three, and Troy Stefanski was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Ledyard-Pawcatuck (12-13).

Willimantic 2
New London 1 (8)

WILLIMANTIC ? Connor Hope hit a game-winning RBI single to score Aaron Martineau in the bottom of the eighth inning and Willimantic ended the regular season with a win.

Martineau had two hits for Willimantic (18-9). New London is 18-8.

JUNIOR LEGION

Norwich 3
Jewett City 2

JEWETT CITY ? Daniel MacLean (4-2) went the distance and allowed four hits and two runs with five strikeouts and one walk to lead Norwich (8-5).

Josh Favro had a two-run single in a three-run fifth inning that gave Norwich the lead for good. Bryan Caisse added two hits for the victors.

Zach Christensen had a double, run scored and RBI for Jewett City (0-11).

TriTown 1
Led-Paw 0

STONINGTON ? Ryan Gadoury struck out six and allowed just three hits in a complete game shutout. Nicholas Foucault had three hits and Evan Tremblay and Jared Carignan had two hits apiece for TriTown (6-8). L-P is 6-8.

NECBL

BaySox 2
Schooners 1

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. ? Ryan Plourde hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to hand Mystic its third straight loss. The Schooners (15-14) tied the game with a run in the eighth before New Bedford won it in the ninth. Former Fitch standout Anthony Turgeon had two hits and scored a run and East Lyme product Eric Morse pitched three shutout innings of relief in his debut. He struck out four.

16-18 BABE RUTH

Tri-County III 9
Waterford 4

WATERFORD ? Winning pitcher Russell Puleo had two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored for Tri-County III.

Frank Bazzano had three RBIs and added 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief, Tim Palacious-Baughman scored three runs, and Devin McCall contributed two walks, three stolen bases and two runs scored for Tri-County III (8-5-1).

Ty Rieman doubled and scored for Waterford (15-2).

SWIMMING

Camels honored

NEW LONDON ? Conn College?s men?s and women?s teams were honored for their excellence in the classroom by the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America with the Team Scholar All-America award.

The CSCAA recognized 135 NCAA Division III women?s swimming and diving squads that achieved a 3.0 grade-point average or higher, and the Camels ranked No. 1 with a team GPA of 3.66.

There were 78 NCAA Division III men?s programs honored, and Conn College was 36th with a 3.23 GPA.

In addition, six Camels were honored with the Individual Scholar All-America Award. Julie Pielock received first-team recognition, while Mackenzie Lilly, Esther Mehesz, Samantha Pierce and Sarah Lauridsen were named to the Honorable Mention team. Cameron Johnson represented the men?s program on the Honorable Mention side.

LATE MONDAY

SENIOR LEGION

Willimantic 1 (8)-0
New London 0-2

NEW LONDON ??Shawn Nadeau tossed a two-hit shutout with one walk and 13 strikeouts to help New London (18-7) earn a doubleheader split in the second game.

Cooper Robinson?s single in the fifth drove in Zach Wolfgang with the first run, and Tristan Hurley?s sacrifice fly brought in Gabby Diaz in the sixth for some insurance.

In the opener, Chris Gonnelli?s single brought in Alex Cornell with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for Willimantic (17-9). Keith Chamberlain went the route and struck out eight with one walk.
Izzy Davila had three hits and Jon Mewha struck out seven for New London.
?

Source: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/sports/x997482789/Local-roundup-Fennell-resigns-as-Bacon-basketball-coach?rssfeed=true

andy williams andy williams New Girl Avalanna Gigi Chao Ed Hochuli Opie

lonsdaleverena63

Employees travel around campus via bicycles at Google headquarters Tuesday, July 16, 2013, in Mountain View, Calif. Google reports quarterly earns on Thursday, July 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Google views the computing shift to smartphones and tablets as a golden opportunity, but the Internet search leader's second-quarter performance served as an unsettling reminder that it poses a nagging financial challenge, too.

The report released Thursday showed Google's average ad rate fell from the previous year for the seventh consecutive quarter. In an unexpected turn, the decline deepened for the first time in a year.

The average ad rate, or "cost per click," fell by 6 percent during the three months ending in June. The magnitude of the declines had eased in each of the previous three quarters, raising hopes that the worse was over. Instead, things deteriorated from the 4 percent decline in ad rates during the first three months of the year.

The regression undercut earnings and revenue. Both fell below analyst forecasts, scaring off some investors. Google's shares fell $40.79, or 4.5 percent, to $869.89 in extended trading after the results came out.

Although the problem isn't as severe as at other companies, including computer makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., Google is still having trouble navigating a technological transition driving more online activity on to smartphones and tablets. Those devices pose a financial challenge for Google Inc. because their smaller screen sizes fetch lower ad rates than the marketing pitches made on traditional desktop and laptop computers.

Google is in a far better position to prosper from mobile computing because it makes Android, the most widely used operating system on smartphones. The software also is gaining traction on tablets challenging Apple's pace-setting iPad.

Android typically features Google's search engine and other services, such as maps and Gmail, giving the company more opportunities to show ads.

Now, Google is taking steps to persuade advertisers to pay higher prices to connect with consumers on mobile devices at times when they appear to be mulling a purchase or may be in a merchant's neighborhood.

Google is trying to drive up prices more quickly by changing the way it sells ads to prod more marketers into buying spots on mobile devices at the same time they plan campaigns aimed at PCs. About 6 million advertisers have already switched to Google's new pricing system. All marketers will be forced to adopt the new approach, known as "enhanced campaigns," by the end of the month.

Google earned $3.2 billion, or $9.54 per share, up 16 percent from $2.8 billion, or $8.42 per share, a year earlier.

If not for the costs of employee stock compensation, the Mountain View, Calif., company said it would have earned $9.56 per share. That missed the average target of $10.80 per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue rose 19 percent to $14.1 billion, from $11.8 billion.

After subtracting Google's ad commissions, revenue stood at $11.1 billion ? about $275 million below analyst projections.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-07-18-Earns-Google/id-52b354516b314556b0d75ee830474110

tom watson kawasaki disease resurrection masters tickets one direction tulsa news scalloped potatoes

lonsdaleverena63

Share With Friends:

|

| Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/319831105?client_source=feed&format=rss

susan powell lotto numbers megamillions winners university of louisville louisville ky lotto winners mega ball winning numbers

lonsdaleverena63 · Wed, Jul 17, 2013 | 22:12 BST

Wed, Jul 17, 2013 | 22:12 BST

Microsoft?s legal team has successfully secured the XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net domains following a dispute.

Fusible reports that the domains were previously registered by a UK registrant, prompting Microsoft to lodge a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum in May.

Control of the domains has switched to Microsoft with the aid of The Richard Law Group, the same firm that represents the company whenever it has a legal dispute.

Here?s a grab of the updated record:

Meanwhile, Nintendo is still struggling to secure the WiiU.com domain after it failed to acquire it through the courts.

Thanks IGN.

lonsdaleverena63

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/07/selena-gomez-seeks-super-private-love-life-accepts-pitfalls-of-f/

stephen colbert Exodus International John McAfee publix North West James Gandolfini stock market

lonsdaleverena63

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Youth and online skills dominated as the final table of World Series of Poker was set, but it was an experienced grinder who carried the day.

As Monday night bled into Tuesday morning, the most veteran player of the final 10 gamblers competing for a seat at the nine-person final table worth $8.4 million for the winner was defeated by the second-most respected player.

Deep into the 14th hour of play on the seventh day of the world's biggest no-limit Texas Hold 'em competition, well-known Sacramento, Calif., grinder J.C. Tran went head to head with Carlos Mortensen, a Spanish pro known as "El Matador," who won the main event in 2001 and was making a second run.

Tran was holding a seven and an eight, while Mortensen had an ace and a nine.

The flop, the first three common cards, came down 10, six, three. Tran went all in on the turn, the fourth card, and Mortensen called, pushing all his chips in.

The turn was a nine, giving Tran a straight. Mortensen would have needed a club on the river, or fifth card, to make a flush but got a two of diamonds instead, costing him his spot in the championship.

As that card was dealt, whoops went up from the increasingly swaying and song-prone crowds in the bleachers of the makeshift ESPN stage at the Rio casino off the Strip.

"The guy that I respected the most was the one guy that I just busted," said Tran, 36, grinning and bleary-eyed moments after Mortensen busted out. "It's kind of sad to see him go. But at the same time, I'm happy he's gone because he's the one I respected most."

Tran, who holds first place in the chip count, might have reason to think he can beat the other finalists to take the diamond-encrusted bracelet. After all, many of them are newbies.

Jay Farber, 28, fourth in the chip count, has a lifetime poker winning of just over $2,000. That's the smallest lifetime earnings of any of the "November nine" since 2008.

The Las Vegas club host acknowledged he was flagging as the tournament entered its 70th hour Monday, despite the steady cheering from a horde of his club friends in the stands that chanted "Oh, Jay" to the tune of an Italian soccer song as 3 a.m. Tuesday neared.

"I'm not a tournament player. It's frustrating coming from being a cash-game player to playing 12 to 14 hours a day," he said. "But I really enjoyed the main event because it's like playing a deep stack cash game."

As the field narrowed to 11 and then to 10, some players hoping to avoid bad beats and roller-coaster chip swings simply refused to gamble.

The conservative play seemed to annoy tired fans who began urging players in heavily accented English to "double down" and bet all their chips or, once players went all in, yelling out the card that would ensure a loss.

The youngest of the six 20-somthings who make up the final table is Ryan Riess, 23, of Las Vegas, who was playing in his first world series.

He reflected on his coming celebrity as he took in the ESPN cameras swooping and diving above the tables where the field of 27 was whittled to nine.

"Not only is it a ton of money, which is obviously life changing, but I feel like so many people know of me that did not know me." he said, adding, "I'll still be the same person."

Also new to the ranks of the tournament champions was Sylvain Loosli, 26, who dubs himself an "online poker cash game specialist" but had never made the money at the world series.

"I'm quite impressed I didn't feel any pressure," the Frenchman said, still wearing the gray hoodie he'd used to hide his eyes during play.

Among those coming back in November are tattoo artist Marc McLaughlin, of Brossard, Quebec, and Columbia University student David Benefield, of Fort Worth, Texas. The rest of the finalists are pros, including Amir Lehavot, of Israel, Michiel Brummelhuis, of Amsterdam, and Marc Newhouse of Chapel Hill, N.C.

The $10,000 buy-in competition, which began July 6 with 6,352 entrants, now takes a break until Nov. 4, when the gamblers will reconvene to determine a champion on live television. Each player is already guaranteed at least a $700,000 payout.

For Tran, the final table could confirm his hopes that tournament poker is not only a young man's game.

"The past couple years, I've been really distracted with a lot of things going on ? I became a family man, married, I have a son," he said. "I came to the world series not really having that fire that I used to have. And when I looked back on the past couple years, I said, look, these results are not so good."

Tran said he is expecting a daughter and hopes that his shot at the final table may help him realize a long-held dream before retiring.

"I'm going to set one last goal, and that is to win this thing, and then I'm going to take a nice little break, enjoy my wife and my kids and watch them grow up. Poker should be for fun from here on out."

___

Eric Uribe contributed to this report. Hannah Dreier can be reached at http://twitter.com/hannahdreier .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newbies-rule-final-table-wsop-main-event-131413798.html

spacex tupac hologram tupac back tax deadline death race buffet rule carlos santana

lonsdaleverena63

Alex Wong / Getty Images file

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton, right, and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CEO John Ryan announce on January 3, 2013, that 123 victims of child sexual exploitation were identified by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) during Operation Sunflower with 44 children directly rescued from their abusers.

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

Sexual predators are enticing teenagers and even younger children to send lewd pictures of themselves, then blackmailing them to get more ? a scheme known as sextortion that has authorities increasingly worried.

While it?s too early to have firm statistics on sextortion, experts on child exploitation say the number of instances is unmistakably on the rise and has coincided with the explosive popularity of social media and the age of a camera on every phone.

?We?re talking about kids with a lot of privacy and a lot of technology,? said Michelle Collins, vice president of the exploited children division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ?And they?re at a sexually curious age.?

On Monday, federal authorities revealed that a five-week crackdown had led to the capture of 255 suspected child predators ? among them two men believed to be sextortionists with dozens of victims between them. One is a former high school cheerleading coach.

Experts say sextortion usually starts when a child, typically a tween or early teenager, meets a stranger online, through social media or a chat site. The predator gains the child?s trust and convinces him or her to send a lewd photo.

Then the predator uses that photo to blackmail for more, threatening to send the photo to the child?s parents or friends ? or publish it online for the world to see ? unless the child provides something racier and racier.

In a case last month in Indianapolis, the FBI said a man pretended to be a young woman on Facebook, then made contact with teenage girls and offered to trade self-made photos.

And an Alabama man was sentenced in January to 35 years in prison for what was described as a massive sextortion scheme. To gain the trust of girls in at least six states, he posed as a new kid in town looking to make friends, or even as Justin Bieber, authorities said.

Once he had their trust, he turned friendly conservations into something more personal, talking them into sending a racy photo. That was all he needed to execute the blackmail and demand ever more revealing photos, authorities said.

?Predators take advantage of that misstep,? said John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which announced the crackdown Monday. ?And teenagers make a lot of missteps.?

Authorities say they are especially concerned because the technological nature of sextortion makes it easy for predators to victimize huge numbers of kids, and to do it around the world.

In one of the cases announced Monday, the immigration agency said a Puerto Rican man extorted as many as 80 children, including a girl thousands of miles away in California and one in the Netherlands.

And a confessed sextortionist from Indiana was sentenced two weeks ago to 40 years in prison after he admitted to tricking more than a dozen teenagers into performing lewd acts through a webcam.

The man, Richard Finkbiner, used a site called Omegle that offers random, anonymous one-on-one chats, prosecutors said. The teens thought they were looking at live video of the other person performing a sex act.

Instead, Finkbiner was showing them recordings, prosecutors said. When the teens performed sex acts on their own cameras, Finkbiner threatened to upload them to the Internet unless the teens made more recordings, prosecutors said.

The victims were 12 to 16 years old and lived in nine states.

Collins, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said the best weapon parents have to prevent their own children from falling prey to sextortionists is awareness ? knowing it?s easy for kids to get in over their heads online.

The center has a tip line for online threats, and most chat services offer buttons to report abuse. Collins said children need to know they must talk to an adult if they?re uncomfortable, especially at a time when kids spend so much time wired.

?There is no online or offline anymore,? she said.

Related stories:

This story was originally published on Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:52 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2eb76ee7/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C160C194886820Eexperts0Eincreasingly0Eworried0Eabout0Esextortion0Eof0Eminors0Eonline0Dlite/story01.htm

black friday How long to cook a turkey green bean casserole green bean casserole recipe red dawn sweet potato pie sweet potato pie

lonsdaleverena63

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup's strong earnings helped the S&P 500 end higher on Monday for an eighth straight day, the longest such streak since mid-January, though weak retail sales limited gains in a session with the lowest volume of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 finished at record closing highs for the third consecutive session. The Nasdaq scored its highest close since September 2000.

Volume was the lightest of any full trading day this year, with just 4.91 billion shares trading on exchanges, based on the latest available data. This year, daily volume has averaged 6.4 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT.

Shares of Citigroup climbed 2 percent to $51.81 after the third-largest U.S. bank by assets reported a 26 percent increase in adjusted quarterly profit. The S&P 500 financial industry sector index <.spsy> gained 0.4 percent.

The day's economic data was mixed, however, with growth in New York state manufacturing for July accelerating, while June retail sales fell short of expectations. May business inventories barely increased.

Investors are watching for changes in earnings or economic news that could derail the market's rally. Stocks have climbed this year, except for a late-May selloff triggered by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments, which raised the prospect of trimming the Fed's $85 billion in monthly stimulus. The S&P 500 has gained 18 percent since December 31.

"Earnings so far seem to have gotten off to a pretty decent start," said Cam Albright, director of asset allocation for Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors in Wilmington, Delaware. "We think there was a lot of bringing down of expectations prior to reaching earnings season, so that is probably giving the earnings numbers a little bit more cushion."

Leap Wireless International Inc shares more than doubled after AT&T Inc said late Friday it would buy the company for $1.19 billion. At least two brokerages raised their ratings on Leap's stock. Leap, which was among the Nasdaq's most actively traded stocks, ended at $16.95 - up 112.41 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 19.96 points, or 0.13 percent, to 15,484.26, a record closing high. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> gained 2.31 points, or 0.14 percent, to finish at 1,682.50, also a record. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 7.41 points, or 0.21 percent, to end at 3,607.49 - its highest close since September 2000.

Much of the focus this week will be on earnings. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies' second-quarter earnings to have grown 2.8 percent from a year earlier, with revenue up 1.5 percent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters data showed.

While earnings growth has slowed in recent quarters, it is expected to pick up the last half of the year. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 1,750 from 1,600, citing expected earnings growth.

Most companies also are exceeding analysts' earnings expectations, as they have done in recent quarters. Of the companies that have reported second-quarter results so far, 66.7 percent are beating earnings estimates. Revenue results, however, are faring worse and are likely to remain a concern for investors, analysts said.

S&P 500 industrial shares rose after airlines expressed confidence over the weekend in the safety of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner following a fire on one of the jets last week. Boeing gained 3.7 percent to $105.66 and ranked as the Dow's top performer.

This week's agenda includes comments from Bernanke, who is scheduled to testify about monetary policy before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. He will appear on Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee.

"Given what he has been saying, I don't expect much different," Albright said.

First Solar Inc was the S&P 500's best percentage gainer, rising 5.5 percent to $50.27.

Shares of Tiffany & Co jumped 3.6 percent to $79.78 in active trading after Stifel Nicolaus upgraded the high-end jeweler's stock to a "buy" from a "hold" and set a price target of $92.

On the flip side, shares of Ingredion dropped 9.9 percent to $62.57, a day after the company warned on earnings.

Utilities outperformed other sectors in the S&P 500, with the sector index <.splrcu> up 1.6 percent. Utility companies, including FirstEnergy Corp and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc , were among the sector's best performers after power grid operators in the U.S. Northeast said they had enough electricity to keep air conditioners running this week through an anticipated heat wave.

Advancers outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of about 19 to 11, while on the Nasdaq, 16 stocks rose for nearly every nine that fell.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry, Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-data-helps-futures-edge-higher-112122867.html

safety not guaranteed lifehouse al gore la dodgers lawrence o donnell magic johnson jetblue pilot

lonsdaleverena63

It's been a long time since we heard from the gorgeous Oceanhorn, an iPad game that's inspired by everything from Wind Waker to Seiken Densetsu. Long enough to make me worried about the project's future. Which is silly, because the team were just saving themselves for a very pleasant, and unexpected surprise.

The guys behind Oceanhorn have just let us know that legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and another accomplished JRPG veteran, Kenji Ito (who has worked on the Mana and Saga series), are doing some (but not all) of the music for the game.

That's one hell of a scoop for an indie game on the iPad from a small team. Guess we weren't the only ones impressed with what we've seen of Oceanhorn! When I asked creative director Heikki Repo how exactly they managed to secure their services, he said..."I really don't understand."

Seems publishers FDG Entertainment contacted Uematsu's label, Dog Ear records, with nothing but a "translated email and Oceanhorn screenshots." Based just on that they said yes.

Which understandably has the devs in a bit of a state of shock, as you'll see with the wording of the announcement on the game's site, which basically amounts to "holy shit guys".

Source: http://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-composer-somehow-helping-out-on-beautiful-784857232

google privacy changes windows 8 preview leap year moratorium dwts season 14 cast leap day michigan primary results

lonsdaleverena63

Verizon

Still no break in monthly service charges for buying a device off-contract

Newly leaked Verizon training documents indicate that the carrier is planning to release a new device purchasing plan called "VZ Edge". Building on the previously announced "Verizon Wireless Device Payment Plan" that lets customers buy a device off-contract with a year of monthly payments, VZ Edge will give customers an option to buy yet another device after paying off half of their current payments on a device. Presumably to fall in line with T-Mobile's new JUMP! upgrade plan, VZ Edge would offer customers "upgrades" every 6 months.

The waters are still murky on this one, however.

The current Device Payment Plan splits up the full off-contract price of a phone to 12 equal payments, with an additional $2.50 per month in financing charges. What isn't revealed by this current leak is how the devices will be handled when moving on to a new device mid-way through a payment plan on VZ Edge. Will the device be returned to Verizon for a credit? Will future payments be forgiven or tacked on-top of new payments from the next device?

Whatever way Verizon plans on laying out the payments of new devices, there is still no indication that the carrier will cut your monthly bill for not accepting a subsidy on your device. It's great to see more options emerging for buying devices off-contract, but Verizon's really double dipping (into your wallet) charging full price for a device and again for a subsidy that you're not taking advantage of.

Hit the break to see the promotional materials, which indicate that VZ Edge is ready for launch at the end of Q3.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Player of the week

Player of the weak

Rookie spotlight

Bargain bin

Roster trends

Most dropped:

Most viewed (Rotoworld):

Most traded (CBSSports.com):

Tout Wars moves

My daily lineup

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sunday, July 28, 2013

That pesky Internet again. "Thanks to the Internet, social media and smartphones, the walls between citizens, journalists and the military have never been thinner."

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Still no break in monthly service charges for buying a device off-contract

Monday, July 15, 2013