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Thursday, January 31, 2013
Analysts raise Amazon price targets as margins surprise
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's better-than-expected profit margins surprised Wall Street, prompting at least five brokerages to raise their price targets on the world's largest internet retailer's stock on Wednesday.
Shares of the Kindle maker are poised to open up 9 percent on the Nasdaq, after closing at $260.35 (165.29 pounds) on Tuesday. The stock had hit a record high of $284.72 on January 25.
"We can't help but stop and wonder whether the Amazon bull case has now pivoted from one of revenue growth to one of margin expansion," Barclays Capital analysts said in a note and raised their target price on the stock to $260 from $245.
The analysts said they would now concentrate on Amazon's ability to manage costs in order to drive margin expansion and operating income growth.
Amazon on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter gross profit margins of 24 percent, higher than Wall Street expectations of about 22 percent.
J.P.Morgan Securities raised its target price on Amazon shares to $333 from $245 and said the company's fourth-quarter results suggest the retailer can continue to expand gross margins.
"We believe Amazon continues to show strong ability to take share of both overall retail and eCommerce," J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said in a note.
A shift to a combination of third party and Amazon Web Services - a cloud computing offering - along with higher shipping efficiency is helping drive gross margin expansion, Robert W. Baird & Co said in a note.
Baird raised its price target on the internet retailer's shares to $325 from $300.
BofA Merrill Lynch, which nudged its target on Amazon shares to $315 from $300, said growth metrics at Amazon may have disappointed, but investor sentiment will be supported by a third-party shift, ongoing gross margin upside and solid U.S. margins.
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysts-raise-amazon-price-targets-margins-surprise-100144020--finance.html
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Flip Charts 101: Basic Tips to Use This Lonely Versatile Tool
When I was in high school, every teacher used an overhead projector regularly. Many years later, I can?t recall the last time I saw one used as meeting rooms are increasing equipped with digital projectors to display PowerPoint and Keynote slides. This is a clear technology upgrade, and I don?t miss the overhead projector at all.
Similarly, the flip chart is another device my teachers used often; sadly, it also gathers dust often in dark, neglected corners of meeting rooms.?But flip charts are more than just relics; they remain one of the most versatile tools readily available to speakers.
In this article, we list the core benefits of using flip charts, and give several tips that will help you use this wonderful tool effectively.
Core Benefits of Flip Charts
Flip charts are both a static display tool (like slides or props) and a dynamic creation tool (like a whiteboard or the ubiquitous back of the napkin). This versatility offers many key benefits to speakers, including:
- Writing or drawing on a flip chart is an active process, and energizes the speaker. Whenever I step up to the flip chart, my energy levels rise.
- Audiences ask more questions. I don?t really know why, but perhaps it?s because the scribbles or sketches on a flip chart feel less permanent (than electronic slides), and thus more open to questioning and dialogue.
- Writing takes time, and this provides healthy pauses for your audience to absorb information or take notes.
- Flip charts and brainstorming go together like peanut butter and bananas (yummy!).?One of my favorite training techniques is using a flip chart to record brainstorming sessions. I ask questions, and then speedily record responses shouted out by my audience.
- Flip charts are low tech and analog. You don?t need to worry about passwords, projector bulbs, or extension cords ? just present! (I?m not saying they are better than slides; rather, I think speakers should master both options.)
Flip Chart Do?s and Taboos
Using flip charts effectively is a basic skill every competent speaker must possess. You may not use flip charts in every presentation, but you should be able to wield one effectively when appropriate.
Here?s a few tips to help you:
1. Be prepared.
Check and double check that you have markers (and that they aren?t dried out) and enough paper.
2. Choose dark, saturated colors.
To maximize visibility all the way to the back of the room, stick to high contrast colors like black, blue, red, or dark green. Stay away from yellow or anything pastel-shaded.
3. Use colors consistently.
If you are using more than one color (you should), then use them consistently. I typically use black as my base color, but then use red or blue to emphasize key words, or annotate the text.
4. Position the flip chart to maximize visibility for your audience.
I?ve seen speakers use flip charts from exactly where they stood at the beginning of the session: in a far, dark corner. Don?t hesitate to move the flip chart to a more convenient location.
5. Minimize the time spent standing in front of the flip chart.
Lots of people advise standing to the side, even when writing. I find this difficult to do without compromising legibility. However, it is important to quickly move off to the side when you aren?t writing or drawing to avoid being an obstacle.
6. Be neat? it matters.
If nobody can read it, it?s pointless.?Practice your penmanship. It?s not hard to do, but it does take practice as it is different than writing on a desk or table.
7. Print.
Don?t write.
8. Print large.
Make sure every word you print can be read by the person sitting in the back row of the room.
9. Print straight across.
Keep your words/phrases oriented straight along the page. Don?t dip down as if your words are tumbling down a waterfall. If you find this difficult, pre-trace some faint pencil lines along the flip chart pages.
10. Give the flip chart the focus.
If you are using both slides and a flip chart within the same presentation, consider whether the two are needed concurrently. If you don?t need your slides when using a flip chart, black out the slides (use the ?B? key in PowerPoint to do this) to put the entire focus on the flip chart.
11. Don?t use flip charts for lengthy sentences.
Focus on single words or short phrases. This will keep the tempo quick and active ? just what the flip chart should be.
12. Draw pictures. You don?t need to be an artist.
Of course flip charts are good for planned diagrams, but they shine when used for impromptu sketches. Use colors wisely.
13. Make tables, charts, or graphs.
Let your imagination go wild.
14. Pre-fill some pages, either in whole or in part.
It depends on your overall presentation plan, but sometimes it makes sense to pre-write or pre-draw some or all of the pages. On pages meant for brainstorming, I?ll often pre-write the column headings. When using diagrams, I?ll often draw out the main blocks using black marker before my session, and then add color labels and highlights during the presentation. If you do this, be sure to leave a blank page in between prepared pages so that the lines don?t show through.
15. Use pencil to give yourself invisible hints.
You can sketch diagrams in pencil beforehand, and nobody will be able to see them. (You can do this for an arbitrarily detailed figure by projecting it onto the flip chart and tracing in pencil.) Then, during your session, just draw over these invisible lines with markers. Alternatively, you can write reminders to yourself in the corner of the page in pencil. If you plan well, you can eliminate hand-held notes entirely, even for lengthy sessions.
16. Refer back to flip chart pages throughout your presentation.
Help your audience draw connections by referring back to relevant flip chart pages from earlier in your presentation. For example, I sometimes open by brainstorming some big picture questions the audience has about my topic. Then, as the presentation proceeds, I can refer back to those questions as they are answered. If necessary, rip off the pages and post them on the wall to ensure they are accessible.
17. Get your audience members at the flip chart.
You could have a volunteer act as a scribe for you, or you could have small-group activities planned using flip charts. There are endless training techniques you can employ? perhaps that?s another article.
Your Thoughts?
Do you have tips for using flip charts? Please share in the comments.
Source: http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/flip-charts-101/
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Surface Pro comes out of the box two-thirds full
8 hrs.
Microsoft's highly?anticipated Surface Pro tablet, which runs the full version of Windows 8 rather than the poorly?received Windows RT, will come out of the box with nearly two-thirds of its 64 GB of storage filled up. The 128 GB version will likewise boot up with far less room?than many users expect to see.
Microsoft, which confirmed the information to NBC News,?was quick to add that much of this space can be reclaimed, although the method is not one?that tech novices will likely?understand or undertake. Nor are the reasons for the reduced space particularly easy to grasp without some explanation:
First, the gigabytes listed on any gadget's box don't actually correspond to the way computers think about data. The result is that 64 GB shown?on the box (whether the device?runs Windows, Android, or iOS) really translates to 59?of what the computer actually uses ("gibibytes," if you must know).
Second, Windows is a much larger and more complex piece of software than what you find on an Android tablet or iPad. It is, after all, a full-on desktop operating system ? it can do more, run programs from years back, and so on. So naturally, it takes up more space.
Third, because it's a "real" OS, it takes backup very seriously, keeping a "recovery partition," or backup of itself right there on the device ? which takes up even more space. And then you have the built-in apps and the trial version of Office 2013. The end result is that the 64 GB Surface comes out of the box with just 23 GB of usable space, and the 128 GB version is reduced to 83 GB.
The new Apple iPad with 128 GB of space, on the other hand, will likely have about 115 GB out of the box.
The Windows RT tablet had a similar problem, shipping with about half its?space full, resulting in a consumer?backlash, despite Microsoft's insistence that the space crunch was unavoidable.
Users can delete installed apps and move the recovery partition to external storage or delete it entirely, but these tasks aren't exactly simple, especially for less-experienced users.
The capabilities of the Surface Pro tablets are in many ways far beyond those of competing tablets and even many laptops. Microsoft made sure to mention the fact that the device's USB 3.0 interface,?SDXC card slot?and free SkyDrive storage allow for lots of extra storage. But users simply may not be able to get over the fact that their premium device came out of the box with nowhere near the amount of free space they expected.
The Surface Pro will be out in the U.S. on February 9th. The 64 GB version will retail for $899; the 128 GB model, $999.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/surface-pro-comes-out-box-two-thirds-full-1B8169731
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Walk It Off, Champ
The Ravens' Ray Lewis saw a doctor who was not affiliated with the team when he had triceps surgery earlier this season. Can you blame him? Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
The NFL season ends Sunday, as it always does, with two teams of the walking wounded pounding each other one last time. This year it?s the Baltimore Ravens against the San Francisco 49ers?or if you?re inclined to credit their respective medical teams, it?s MedStar Union Memorial vs. Stanford Hospital & Clinics. The Ravens and 49ers are among the 23 NFL teams with ?official? health care providers. (That figure is a hand count that the league declined to confirm.) These arrangements differ, but the standard deal includes reduced-rate medical care and/or a payment from the hospital to the team in exchange for the medical provider getting to ballyhoo the affiliation in its marketing. ?The halo effect is huge,? Lew Lyon, vice president of the Ravens-affiliated MedStar Sports Medicine, tells me. ?Friends will call me and say, ?Can you get me into see one of the Ravens docs?? And they?re very accessible. They have private practice like other physicians.?
But the opacity of these marketing arrangements should give you pause as you?re weighing whether to drag your balky knee to the local jock docs. For one, by league policy, individual players are free to opt out of any official team arrangement and see another medical provider, as the Ravens? Ray Lewis did this year when he had surgery on his triceps (and when the linebacker allegedly ingested deer-antler spray to aid in his comeback). More fundamentally, fans ought to think through the inherent conflicts of interest at play when a doctor serves both a team and a patient who happens to be that team?s employee.
To a lot of us freelance contractor types, the idea of an employer covering our health care sounds like a Cadillac plan fit for a CEO. But consider the logjam for a physician in this setting. Privacy, confidentiality, speed of recuperation, treatment regimens?all of them stand to suffer when players see a doctor employed by an organization that prefers they return to work ASAP. Then imagine this added conflict: The doctor who just cleared you for duty was so thrilled to have the gig that she paid your employer for the privilege. Now you?re getting closer to the situation many pro athletes face. Put yourself in their cleats for a moment. Would you want to be treated by a doctor who had your employer?s profitability anywhere on her list of concerns? And further, would you be forthcoming about your health problems to someone with a direct pipeline to managers with the power to effectively fire you for poor health?
The expansion Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars signed the first known medical sponsorship deals in the mid-?90s. Since then, health care providers have been cutting deals with teams for the right to advertise themselves as the franchise?s ?official? choice?even paying millions for those marketing rights.
Medical ethics codes expressly forbid conflicts that could place financial gain ahead of patient welfare; the 1,500-year-old Hippocratic Oath protects patients against ?harm and injustice.? Yet it?s standard for teams to sell their affiliations to the highest bidder. After the New York Yankees won the 1999 World Series, the team solicited $1.5 million for its health care marketing rights. Among the hospitals to decline that honor was the Yankees? longtime care provider, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Its executive vice president told the Daily News: ?Even if we were flush, I'm not sure I would do it. I'm not comfortable with that kind of deal, and I don't think it would necessarily be good for the institution." Other doctors have voiced similar concerns. Then-Atlanta Falcons team doctor Andrew Bishop told the New York Times in 2004 that he would resign if the team entered a hospital sponsorship deal: ?It compromises you as a physician. The perception is that if this individual was so eager to do this he's willing to pay to do it, then he's going to do whatever management wants to keep the job he paid for.?
Perhaps no conflict was as glaring as that of the Boston Red Sox when Arthur Pappas, the team?s longtime orthopedic surgeon, was also part-owner. Marty Barrett, a player and a patient, tore his ACL during the 1989 pennant race, and later won a suit against Pappas in which the player claimed that the doctor/owner disclosed to Barrett neither the extent of his injuries nor the time needed for proper recovery. A 1995 Sports Illustrated report on Pappas and other team docs cited a Chicago Bears doctor who botched a knee operation and then tried erasing part of a videotape of the surgery so as not to lose his contract with the team. No less than Bill Walton, Dick Butkus, and Carlton Fisk also believe their injuries worsened when team physicians hustled them back into the lineup. (Pappas was Fisk?s doctor as well.)
In 2002, former Jaguars offensive lineman Jeff Novak won a malpractice suit against Stephen Lucie, who had been the Jaguars? team doctor since the team?s founding. (Lucie?s employer, Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute, is still the team?s ?exclusive sports medicine partner? after winning its bid for that right.) Novak suffered a bone bruise that the lawsuit claimed Lucie squeezed and scraped at. Novak played hurt, which led to infection, profuse bleeding and, ultimately, his retirement. John Jurkovic, a teammate of Novak?s in Jacksonville, described the health culture that coach Tom Coughlin fostered there: ?[The team trainer] would never intervene on a player's behalf. He was browbeaten. Coughlin controlled him. That's who has no spine. He's a puppet.? Novak said Coughlin was prone to kvetching that injured players were ?sick, lazy and lame.? Far from becoming a pariah, Coughlin has since won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.
Only when health outcomes turn into news are these marketing deals exposed for the morass they are. Weeks before St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile died of a heart attack during the 2002 season, the team?s official health care provider had published a publicity shot of him with a Washington University doctor as evidence of the hospital?s bona fides. The doctor, George A. Paletta, explained soon after Kile?s death that a normal battery of tests for a 33-year-old athlete wouldn?t have caught the 90 percent blockage in two of Kile?s arteries. ESPN.com found doctors who disagreed, saying Kile?s father?s fatal stroke at 44 should?ve prompted a stress test for the pitcher. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa took the opportunity to advise his players to retain a physician unaffiliated with the team to administer off-season tests, as La Russa himself did.
None of this is meant to impugn every team doctor. But it?s worth noting that there?s a lot at stake here beyond merely keeping players upright. These multiyear contracts include marketing components such as gate sponsorship, in-stadium signage, presence at league health events, training camp sponsorship, training facility sponsorship, athlete and coach endorsements, as well as medical components beyond just caring for players and their families. MedStar, for example, also has the contract to provide medical services at Ravens home games, a setting that MedStar Sports Medicine VP Lew Lyon describes as a war zone, albeit one imagined by Joseph Heller. He recalled one incident in which a woman aspirated on a chicken bone and went into cardiac arrest. The medics got the bone out and got her heart going again. When they tried to move her to a hospital, she threw a fit, saying she?d paid to see the game. ?They didn?t even sell chicken wings at the stadium,? Lyon said. ?She had brought in a bucket under a jersey or something.?
Serving as the official bone-removal crew for dying Ravens fans?now there?s a real endorsement. But if players have reason to prefer doctors of their own hire, why don?t players hire the doctors in the first place? When contacted for this story, an NFL spokesman would say only that the league does not allow marketing contracts that require a team to hire a partner hospital?s doctors exclusively.
It?s time for the NFLPA and other unions to go further, and to insist on hiring players? main sports medicine physicians. Steve P. Calandrillo suggested as much in a 2006 Saint Louis University Law Journal article about sports medicine conflicts of interest; he says malpractice insurance may even be cheaper without the perception of divided loyalties, and that teams could thus shed worker?s comp liability.
Until the players are choosing the doctors, leagues should bar sponsorship deals that let hospitals describe themselves as an ?official? health care provider for this or that team. You don?t assume that all NFL players drink Bud Light or drive GM trucks just because those brands sponsor the league, and no one is harmed if you?re that gullible anyway. Health care is different. Such branding implies that players trust those doctors with the most vital service they can get in a high-risk occupation. The truth is something else. Players may have their own favorite surgeons. Or they may not trust the doctors? competing allegiances to patient health and management?s demands. How could you blame them?
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=4de121583e12ce9bd4fe1d2ae830295d
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
ZTE to reveal its own Firefox OS phone at MWC 2013
ZTE's plans for this year's Mobile World Congress just got a little more interesting. While we've already taken a look at the huge Grand Memo in action, the Chinese maker's invite suggests that there will be another "major new mobile device" to show us, throwing in a 'ZTEMozilla' hashtag for good measure. We knew that Mozilla and ZTE have been holding hands for a while, and this serves to confirm mutterings that we'd see some Firefox OS hardware early this year -- although there's no hint of that mysterious European carrier just yet. Hold on, Barcelona. We're coming.
ZTE - Life is Grand
Mobile Devices Global Media Launch - MWC 2013
ZTE would like to invite you to the announcement of two major new mobile devices at MWC 2013. To whet your appetite - the hashtags for the announcements will be:
#ZTEGrandMemo
#ZTEMozilla
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/iutanA9TgsE/
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Facebook gets ahead of Graph Search privacy panic by educating users
20 hrs.
Facebook's new search feature, still being rolled out to users, promises to be pretty nifty if you want to find friends who, say, moved to another city or use a certain doctor. But if you don't want to be found???and pestered??? the social network wants you to know there are steps you can take to remove your information from its new Graph Search.
Privacy advocates are understandably concerned about Graph Search because, like other personal information you can't hide on Facebook, this is another feature?you cannot opt out of; you can only change your settings to try to?minimize what others find out about you.
"Ultimately, Graph Search will make everything you share with the public and with friends a whole lot easier for people to find," notes security software maker Kaspersky, on its blog. (For a funny???but scary???look at how Graph Search can be used, see Tom Scott's Tumblr blog;?hat tip to NPR's On The Media.)?
On Facebook, users can find a handy Q-and-A about Graph Search and a helpful video, shared below as well, about changing privacy settings.?
Facebook wants users to believe it takes their privacy seriously, especially after a settlement last summer?of federal charges that Facebook deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they had intended. As part of the settlement, the Federal Trade Commission requires Facebook to get user consent for some changes to privacy settings. Facebook is?also subject to 20 years of independent audits about privacy.
Michael Richter, Facebook privacy officer for product, writes on the Q-and-A page that "privacy works consistently across Facebook, not just on Graph Search. When you control who you share your information with, you determine who it's shared with across Facebook???including News Feed, timeline and in Graph Search."
There are also two other Graph Search info pages that are very useful, one on How Privacy Works with Graph Search and another, Graph Search Privacy. Bookmark those pages, because you'll want to refer to them often once Graph Search is completely rolled out.
In a related move this week, Facebook said its Chief Privacy Officer of policy, Erin Egan, now has an "Ask the CPO" feature on the site's "Facebook and Privacy" page, where you can ask Egan?questions. Not all will be answered, but Facebook says, "Each month, Erin will respond to some of your questions."
Here's Facebook's video that?walks?you?through?the?steps you can take to help ensure privacy when it comes to Graph Search:
Check out Technology, GadgetBox, Digital?Life and InGame on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
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Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium review
It feels like we've been talking about Office 2013 for a while now -- we first previewed the software back in July, and it's been available as a free beta download ever since. Today, though, it's launching in a more formal way: the final version of Office 2013 is now on sale, as is Office 365 Home Premium, which lets you purchase a subscription to Office 2013 and then install it on up to five computers.
Though you can still buy the software outright, Microsoft has gone out of its way to make subscribing seem like the more attractive option: buying a one-year subscription costs $100 a year and nets you five installs, while the purchase cost is $139 for a single user. To sweeten the deal, Microsoft is giving Office 365 subscribers 60 Skype minutes per month, and expanding the standard SkyDrive limit from 7GB to 20GB. Naturally, too, subscribing to the service means you always get the latest software -- a particularly important point for Apple fans still waiting on a new version of Office for Mac. Either way, though, Office 2013 now has an app store, and you can poke around even if you're not a subscriber.
As it is, we've already given you an in-depth walk-through of all the major new features in Office, but we haven't yet gotten to experience it as a subscription, with all our settings following us from one PC to another. But we're still wondering: is it worth shelling out a hundred bones a year for a subscription?
Getting started
Though Office 2013 and Office 365 will both be available to purchase in stores, you won't actually find an installation CD in the box. Even if you buy it from a brick-and-mortar kind of place, you'll only really see a written product key when you tear open the packaging. So, regardless of whether you purchase in stores or online, you'll eventually need to head over to office.com, enter your license number and then proceed to download the software.
As ever, the system requirements are fairly modest: so long as you have 3.5GB of free disk space and an x86 or x64 system clocked at 1GHz or higher, you'll be good to go. DirectX10 graphics are required, along with a minimum resolution of 1,024 x 576. Microsoft also recommends 1GB of RAM for 32-bit systems and 2GB for 64-bit machines.
In any case, once you enter your product key it's smooth sailing. Just sign in with your Microsoft account (you'll have a chance to create one if you're a new user) and verify your country and language. So far so good, right? From that home screen on office.com, you can see how many of your five installations you've used. You can view your payment method, expiration date, billing history and automatic renewal information, if applicable. And, of course, there's a big "install" button, which you'll need to click since you haven't actually downloaded the software yet.
While Office sets itself up for the first time, you can choose to page through a few introductory slides. All told, it's not unlike how Windows 8 loads a primer on new gestures while the OS readies itself for the first time. Naturally, once they're fully installed the various Office apps appear as Live Tiles on the Start Screen, not as desktop shortcuts.
Once you've installed Office, you can sign in to your Microsoft account (or not -- in which case it's just a local copy). You can also choose the border that will appear on new Word documents and other files. In all, there are 14 of these themes, though there's also a "no background option" for people who find doodles of circles and circuits offensive. Not that we're pressuring you or anything, but they're really very subtle: they only take up a small patch of space on the fringe of the screen, and don't actually call much attention to themselves.
Office 2013
As crazy as this might sound, we don't plan on dwelling too much on the actual Office suite, just because we already wrote thousands of words on the subject back when it was first released. For a full run-down of the new features (plus dozens of screenshots), we'll direct you back to our preview, first published six months ago. For those of you who lack the attention span, though, we'll humor you with a quick recap. Notable new features in the suite include PDF editing in Word, a full-screen Reading Mode (great for tablets) and a behind-the-scenes Presenter View in PowerPoint. Touch Mode is exactly what it sounds like, which is to say it makes all the UI elements a little bigger and more touch-friendly -- not that it magically makes Excel convenient to use without a keyboard, per se. Resume Reading remembers exactly where you were in a document the last time you opened it, which is useful if you've been charged with editing a 40-page patent infringement brief or something equally tedious.
Even when the software was still in development we found it to be fast and stable, while the features themselves were intuitive to use.
By default, the various Office apps now save to SkyDrive, and you can always send someone a link to your work so they can read it in a browser. Adding online video to Word and PowerPoint files is much easier than it had been, and it's now possible to reply to comments in Track Changes. Flash Fill in Excel can predict what information should go in blank cells if the data is repetitive and follows a pattern. Finally, Outlook gets a feature called Peeks, which lets you hover to view your calendar and such without leaving the inbox. Meanwhile, so-called Social Connectors are plug-ins from services like LinkedIn.
For the most part, the software is the same as when we last tested it. And that's a good thing: even when the software was still in development we found it to be fast and stable, while the features themselves were intuitive to use. The only point of controversy might be the carryover of the Ribbon UI, which debuted all the way back in Office 2007, and which some people still haven't warmed up to.
There are a few new features, however, many of them subtle fit-and-finish sort of things. The icon for switching to Touch Mode has changed, and when you tap it you now get a pop-up menu that briefly explains the difference between that and mouse mode (the gist being that in Touch Mode there's no Ribbon menu, and the various UI elements are spaced farther apart). There's also a rotating group of templates, which vary depending on region and also the time of year. For instance, you won't see any Valentine's Day-related options in August, and you also won't see any sample Fourth of July party invites if you live outside the US. It's a smart idea, making these things timely and region-specific. We're not sure how many people actually use templates to begin with, but if you do, knock yourself out.
PowerPoint, meanwhile, has gotten a new transitions category called "Exciting," which includes some new animations. As you might have guessed, they're flashy transitions, sequences with names like "Curtains," "Origami" and "Paper Airplane" (they all are exactly what they sound like). What can we say? They're playful and call lots of attention to themselves, which is to say they probably won't be especially welcome at a board meeting. But just like with the templates, we're glad they're there for people who require a few more resources to truly express themselves.
Office Store
Now that Microsoft has dragged Office kicking and screaming into the cloud-computing era, it's doing something else to bring the software up to date: it's giving the suite its very own app store. The Office Store lives on office.com, and is accessible even to folks who don't have a subscription to Office 365 (meaning, it's fine if you just own Office 2013). So far, the store includes apps for Word, Excel, Outlook, Project and SharePoint (but not PowerPoint, strangely). If you like, you can sort apps by any of the above programs, which is how we prefer to go about it. Alternatively, though, you can browse through a page of features apps, too. Similar to the Windows Store, you can read user reviews and click through to see detailed system requirements. Installing an app is as easy as hitting an "Add" button, though you'll need to go through an extra step to make sure it appears in the Ribbon of whatever Office application uses the add-on.
What's interesting about browsing the store is that because no one really expected or asked for Office applications, it doesn't matter so much how many there are, or whether you've heard of any of them. (In other words, this isn't like demanding Instagram on Windows Phone 8 and accepting no substitutes.) In fact, there are some big names represented, including LinkedIn, which has a plug-in for Outlook, and Merriam-Webster, whose dictionary works across Word and Excel. We also found some other apps we could see ourselves using, like Bing News for Word and "Random Generator" for Excel.
Most of these are free, which creates a nice incentive for downloading a bunch and seeing what sticks. (As you can see, "nice and inoffensive" seems to be a running theme here, at least as far as the new features go.) A few of the apps do cost money, however, particularly some of the more sophisticated programs designed for enterprise users. If you're a developer reading this, Microsoft takes a 20 percent cut from application purchases, which matches the revenue split already in place for Windows applications.
To use the apps, just click the Insert in the Ribbon, followed by "Office Apps." Each one shows up as a pane along the right-hand side, which you can easily close by tapping an "X" button. You can open more than one app at once (as evidenced in the screenshot above) but be warned: for every app you open, you'll have less space to actually do your work. The apps in Word, for instance, line up side by side, causing the actual document to narrow. If you only open up one application, you'll still be able to type in Word without having to do any extra scrolling from side to side; that changes once you open a second app, though. All told, it's a minor inconvenience: just decide whether you need to be using Bing News at the moment, or if Merriam-Webster is more vital.
As for the apps themselves, they're exactly what they sound like, and that's a good thing. Bing News has a search bar into which you can type queries. Ditto for the dictionary app we tried, and LinguLab WordCloud. Web searches, definitions and everything else shows up in the same box where you performed the search so that you don't have to toggle over to IE 10 -- or any other program, for that matter. That alone makes these apps useful, though it helps that the information itself is clearly presented and comes from reliable sources.
Wrap-up
More Info
What can we say? Office 2013 is a top-notch product: fast, intuitive and feature-rich. All of the new features work as promised, and are easy to get the hang of. At the same time, since the UI is similar to the previous version, it should be easy to master if you're upgrading from Office 2010. Now it's true, there are various free alternatives out there, including cloud-based ones like Google Docs. Still, we're wary of steering all our readers there, because we know lots of folks are already comfortable using Office, or have come to rely on some of the more advanced features you can't get elsewhere. Assuming you don't have any interest in switching to a more basic suite, then, the real question is: does it make more sense to buy Office once for $139 and make do with one license? Or is it wiser in the long run to pay $100 every year for a subscription in exchange for five installations and ongoing software updates?
Obviously, the more computers you own, the more it makes sense to pay $100 a year for five activations. For example, buying five individual copies would cost $695 up front, as opposed to $600 for six years of service. Basically, you'd be saving money until that seventh year rolls around, and that's a long enough stretch that you'd get upgraded to Office 2017 in the interim. That said, the subscription model isn't for everyone. Many of the perks -- Skype minutes, extra SkyDrive storage -- seem like weak reasons to go with Office 365 if you're on the fence. Meanwhile, the Office Store is useful but it's not like you need a subscription to enjoy it. With all that in mind, if you own just one machine it might make sense to shell out $139 for a single license and not have to pay $100 on an annual basis. In short, then, Office itself is a polished product, but your decision on whether to get 2013 or 365 should mainly come down to how many computers you own. Almost everything else is beside the point.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/microsoft-office-365-home-premium-review/
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HBT: Contreras goes back to homeland
Jose Contreras defected from Cuba in 2002 while playing a game in Mexico. When he did that, and especially after signing a $32 million contract with the New York Yankees, he became persona non grata in Cuba. ?He, like all other defectors, were barred from returning home and?labeled?traitors.
But a change in Cuban law that went into effect last month allow defectors to return to Cuba to visit and eases restrictions on the comings and goings of residents. ?Contreras was the first big name athlete to take advantage of that law and recently returned home for the first time in a decade.
CNN has the story, with some emotional words from Contreras himself.
While the money and fame obviously make the decision of athletes who defect an understandable one, it?s hard to imagine how they live for years, even decades, without meaningful contact with their family. ?Here?s hoping we?ve seen the end of those days.
Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/29/jose-contreras-goes-home/related/
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Where to Eat and Drink in St. Louis | Travel News from Fodor's ...
By Alexis Korman
It's got the iconic stainless-steel arch and Midwestern charm to spare, but for most, St. Louis's foodie culture flies under the radar. And while they say that St. Louis is the Gateway City?a term that applies to its unique geographical position where East meets West, "gateway" also seems an apt term for describing its enticing food and drink scene (yes, we said enticing). With a host of edgy eateries, top-notch cocktail joints, and cool culinary experiences, this town is officially pushing the food and drink envelope.
1. Destination eats. With a nomination from the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef Midwest in 2012, Niche is prospering in its swanky new location on Forsyth Blvd, still serving up some of the city's finest high-concept dishes, such as white sweet potato soup with sage marshmallows in nightly chef's tastings. For a more local-to-St. Louis experience, try Salt, featuring Missouri farm produce and a penchant for terrines, along with playful dishes like barbecue pork rinds with smoked mayo. Rustic Italian can be found in the trending Maplewood neighborhood at Acero, where the four-course tasting menu is a savory steal, starting at just $30.
2. Cocktails. From Water Street's creative tipples?don't miss the eponymous drink with gin, Champagne, and St-Germain foam?to Hendrick's BBQ (which offers a wide array of moonshine cocktails), craft drinks are a huge hit in St. Louis. The speakeasy renaissance hasn't missed this city, either. The clubby, weekends-only Thaxton Speakeasy is only accessible via side alley: Know the password (it can be obtained on the website) to get in at a reduced rate.
3. Specialty food stores. No matter what your culinary leanings are, you can find sweet or savory satisfaction at one of St. Louis's gourmet stores. Fill up on fine vinegars and oils at Vom Fass, snack on locally adored Scotch oatmeal cookies at Dad's Cookie Company, or seek out something exotic at Global Foods Market, (http://www.globalfoodsmarket.com), offering everything from Eastern European cheeses to banana leaves.
4. Beer. With everyone from established big-name brewers like Anheuser-Busch to craft breweries like 4 Hands Brewing Company offering tastings, there's no shortage of suds for beer geeks to sample in St. Louis. Don't miss the Schlafly Tap Room?opened in 1991?the first new brewpub in Missouri since Prohibition. Located in a restored brick building on the National Historic Register, the tap room offers a great spot to sip one of 18 beers on draught and cask, like the Irish-style extra stout or Scotch ale, all while listening to live music.
5. Culinary experiences. St Louis's premier culinary tour company, STL Culinary Tours, is decidedly upscale, and gives diners access into some hotspots that don't even take reservations. Case in point: "Members only" dinner club Blood & Sand on the Downtown Tour, which serves up creative dishes like a mortadella corndog and expertly made cocktails like the Devil's Work (with bourbon, Campari, Vermouth, artichoke, and baked apple bitters), along with stops at fine-dining favorites like Cielo in the swanky Four Seasons. For an innovative, interactive dining experience, try Tenacious Eats, a food and film extravaganza at Meyer's Grove theater, pairing a culinary-themed movie with a multi-course tasting menu. Now that's dinner and a show.
Alexis Korman is a freelance wine, food, and travel writer based in New Orleans. She is also Contributing Food Editor at?Wine Enthusiast Magazine?and founder of a blog,?City City Bang Bang. Follow her on Twitter @lexisips
Photo credits: Niche restaurant courtesy of Niche; Water Street cocktail courtesy of Water Street; Tap Room at Schlafly courtesy of Schlafly; STL Culinary Tours courtesy of J Pollack Photography
Source: http://www.fodors.com/news/where-to-eat-and-drink-in-st-louis-6392.html
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Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Access Point (AP20000G)
Amped Wireless' High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Access Point (AP20000G) is a piece of networking hardware that can either be used to bring wireless access to an existing network, or to upgrade wireless networks with legacy 802.11x technology to the more modern 802.11n standard. The access point (AP) delivers excellent throughput, especially on the 5GHz band and provides very good coverage but lacks some more business-oriented features of some SMB access points on the market.
Specs
The AP20000G operates at the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. The device supports up to 600Mbps of theoretical throughput. Dual amplifiers on both the 2.4 and 5GHz wireless radios help the access point with wireless signal coverage. Two high gain 5dBi dual band antennas screw into the antennas ports on the casing.
The access point features five Gigabit Ethernet ports?one for wiring to a router or switch and four for connecting other networking devices to leverage Gigabit speeds. There's also a USB 2.0 port for sharing data on connected USB storage drives.
Users can operate the access point on an included stand, or flat on a desktop. The device is also wall-mountable.
Set Up and Configuration
There's very little to set up; the process is very easy. I powered the AP and connected its port labeled "network" to a switch on my network. I also connected a laptop to one of the ports on the AP labeled "Wired Devices."
The AP takes a few seconds to configure itself. There are several LEDs on the device's front panel that light up when power is on, when a device is connected to one of the Ethernet ports, and when there is an active network connection.
Once the LEDs were lit, I could see two new SSIDs, created by the AP20000G in my laptop's list of wireless networks. The AP creates an SSID for each band. The security key for each is printed on the bottom of the access point.
Of course, you will want to change the default SSID password and the AP's admin password. To configure the AP, I just opened a browser on my laptop and pointed to the URL: setup. ampedwireless.com. The interface has the same neat, intuitive-to-navigate design of Amped Wireless' High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Router (R20000G).
The AP20000G shares some features that are built-in across Amped Wireless' product line. One such feature is the ability to control the wireless coverage area. Radio buttons allow you to set coverage at 100 percent (which is the default setting), down to 15 percent. Lowering the coverage area means lowering the range? area in which the AP broadcasts itself, which may be desired for security reasons, and lowers the overall output power.
Users also have the option to disable the wireless radios based on a schedule by day and time Access to the AP can be granted or denied based on a MAC address control list.
The AP is designed to extend wireless network connectivity in small business networks and homes. I would recommend it as an AP more for consumers and for smaller business networks not requiring a lot of security or controls. This is because, aside from RADIUS authentication support, there are fewer business-class features in the AP20000 than some other SMB APs we've tested. For instance, there's no native firewall or Active Directory integration, as there is in a true SMB AP such as the Meraki MR16.
While the AP20000G supports up to eight guest networks, you can't create a custom splash page for guests that access the AP as you can with the Meraki MR16?device.? However, each guest network on the AP20000G can be set with its own login credentials and you can limit bandwidth for each network.
Also, there's no AP isolation preventing wireless clients from communicating with one another when they are connected to the AP which may be a security concern for some.
These lack of features may be fine for smaller businesses especially ones with routers that have these features such already, such as a built-in firewall. However, those needing APs with more business controls may want to look into business-class APs from Meraki or HP.
I found the same lengthy reboot required for just about changing any settings in the AP20000G as in Amped Wireless' R20000G router. A settings' change requires a 70 second reboot of the device which can be slightly annoying when you are first configuring the AP the way you want.
Performance
Amped Wireless' main focus is on range. You get good range and very good throughput, in fact the top throughput we've tested for an AP at 5 GHz, with the AP20000G.
The speeds are more on par with a dual-band wireless router. In 5 GHz mode at 30 feet, the AP2000G clocked a very impressive 113 Mbps. In comparison, many of the SMB APs on the market have tested quite a bit slower. For example, Meraki's MR16 AP? also a dual-band 802.11n AP? only managed 49 Mbps at the same distance in 5 GHz mode.
As expected, the AP20000G was slower, albeit, still with decent throughput in 2.4 GHz-N only mode, achieving an average throughput of 74 Mbps. Below is a chart comparing the AP20000G with other APs at 5 GHz:
Speedy, But Biz Feature-Light
For home users looking to extend a wireless network in a coverage area where a less-powerful wireless extender wouldn't get the job done, the AP20000G is an ideal piece of networking hardware.
Although this is a fast access point with very good coverage, business networks that need more control over security and user access may need to look into access points specifically marketed to the SMB. On its own,? the AP20000G is solid hardware showcasing Amped Wireless' commitment to delivering network products that are fast-performing and able to cover large areas. The AP20000G is a 3.5 star earner and is a very good access point.
More?Wireless Networking?Reviews:
??? Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Access Point (AP20000G)
??? My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender
??? Meraki MR16 Cloud Managed Wireless Access Point
??? Kanex mySpot
??? Western Digital My Net AC Bridge
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/fO0XE-EvVv0/0,2817,2414719,00.asp
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Edmonds Military Wire: Six in 10 VA claim denials are in error | My ...
Edmonds Military Wire: Six in 10 VA claim denials are in error
By Michael Schindler
Despite some process and administrative changes in the Federal Veterans Administration, veterans can still expect they?ll have to fight to see their claim approved, and that approval could take well over three months if everything goes right.
As we start 2013, many of the headlines are expressing the angst of what now seems to be the perpetual fiscal cliff and the rather dismal unemployment numbers. Not to side track too much, but Ted Daywalt, president of VetJobs.com, believes ?unemployment will remain in the 7 percent to 9 percent range throughout 2013. This will be due to the stalled recovery and layoffs created by new federal regulations (DOL, EPA, etc.), new taxes, especially Obamacare and union actions.?
With our veterans experiencing some of the highest unemployment, the Department of Defense facing significant cuts in a matter of months, and more than a million service members cycling back into our communities over the next few years, one would think the VA would be preparing for a significant increase in claims ? and certainly their mandate would be ?efficiency and excellence.?
After all, haven?t those who volunteered to stand in the gap earned at least that when dealing with our government?
Unfortunately, the VA has a long way to go.
Rick Maze, staff writer for the Military Times, reports that six of 10 VA claims are in error. While Mr. Maze?s report is new, the problem isn?t ? as a matter of record this ?old problem? hasn?t improved much at all over the years:
- 31 percent of claims filed with the Veterans Affairs Department are likely to be denied ? and 60 percent of those denials will be erroneous.
- 60 percent of claims will take longer than 125 days to be processed, more than 7 percent of claims will be misplaced, and 4 percent will be completely lost.
- A veteran calling VA?s benefits hotline has just a 49-percent chance of being connected to someone and receiving a correct answer.
The report, ?The Veterans Disability System: Problems and Solutions,? was released Dec. 12, 2012 by the nonprofit National Center for Policy Analysis. Based on a review of the 870,000 benefits claims pending before VA in 2011 ? a number that has climbed to about 900,000 pending claims today ? the report says the pile of pending claims has grown despite the fact that VA is processing more claims than ever before and using a variety of new efforts to work faster and more accurately.
Government solutions to government problems typically are not known for being efficient and the report goes on to suggest that ?faster claims processing might be possible by contracting out administrative services or transferring claims processing from the federal government to states.?
The nonpartisan National Center for Policy Analysis, which specializes in retirement and health care programs, is skeptical about VA?s stated goal of eliminating the claims backlog by the end of 2015. VA ?is barely able to process current claims,? the report says, ?and has exhibited little to no progress toward their stated goal of 125 days and 98% accuracy for processed claims by 2015.?
The report goes on to state, ?The federal government, in general, does a poor job of administering disability benefits and services as evidenced by the state of Social Security Disability. But the Veterans Benefits Administration appears to be far worse.?
Bottom line: While Congress scrambles to get a budget passed, debate the debt ceiling and preserve their benefits, every day Americans are ?fighting for milk? ? to quote a great movie ?Cinderella Man.? Our veterans are coming home only to face a tough economy, misperception among hiring managers and a fight not only for milk but also for their benefits. It is time for real change.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2013 and is filed under Military News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Source: http://myedmondsnews.com/2013/01/edmonds-military-wire-six-in-10-va-claim-denials-are-in-error/
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St. Anthony's site sells for $9.5 million | Inside Real Estate News
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A view from the 5th floor of St. Anthony?s Hospital, overlooking Sloan?s Lake.
Article Highlights:
- St. Anthony?s campus sells for $9.5 million.
- The 629,785-square-foot hospital will be razed.
- Property taxes are likely to dwarf the $136,697 paid by CHI, when the land is redeveloped into housing and retail.
The company that bought the former St. Anthony?s Hospital paid $9.5 million to Catholic Health Initiatives Colorado, according to documents obtained by InsideRealEstateNews.com.
Earlier in the month, Denver-based EnviroFinance Group announced it had purchased the hospital campus next to Sloan?s Lake in northwest Denver, but neither CHI nor the company disclosed the purchase price.
However, the special warranty deed filed with the City of Denver puts the sales price at $9.5 million. EnivroFinance Group, or EFG, created an entity called EFT-South Sloan?s Lake I LLC to buy the land, which will be redeveloped into a large urban, residential and retail community.
Neither EFG nor CHI would discuss the purchase price.
The property, east of Sheridan Boulevard and south of West Colfax Avenue, has been described as being approximately 19 acres in size.
City documents show that CHI owned 11 separate parcels in the hospital area with a total of 800,875 square feet, or just under 18.4 acres. The purchase price equates to $11.86 per square foot.
?That is a great deal,? said developer Jonathan Alpert, who is developing the nearby 28-unit Framework at Sloan?s Lake residential community, a few blocks northeast of the former hospital campus.
?The value of it, of course, is all relative to the cost of the cleanup, which will add to their cost basis,? added Alpert, principal of Imagine Infill LLC. ?I think it is a phenomenal price. To buy any land in Denver around $12 a square foot is great. They get a discount for buying such a large piece of property, of course. They are buying by the pound. To have that kind of scale in such an unbelievable site is fantastic. It is a strong location. The neighborhood is changing and only getting better.?
For a comparison, the sales price for the 30-acre, former University of Health Sciences Center at East 9th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard is $31.8 million, or slightly more than $24 per square foot.
?So this is half the price of 9th and Colorado,? Alpert said.
Alpert said the sale of the St. Anthony campus already has provided a lift to the neighborhood, including more interest in his community.
?Everybody knew this was going to happen, but the actual sale of St. Anthony?s made it real,? Alpert said. ?Ever since the announcement, interest has really picked up in the area.?
The single biggest parcel, according to city records, is the main hospital site with 618,823 square feet of land. That parcel alone equates to 77.3 percent of the entire site.?The city?s ?actual,? or market value of that parcel at 4001 W. 16th Ave., is $15.8 million and the assessed value of the land is $4.6 million.
All the CHI land on the 11 parcels has a total actual value of $19.05 million, according to city records. The land and buildings on all 11 parcels have a total actual value of $131.4 million, with $124.6 million from the main hospital site.
One person said the $9.5 million price is so much less than what the city values the property at that he wonders if there is another transaction associated with the purchase that has not yet been recorded.
A look at EFG?s proposed plan for the redevelopment of the St. Anthony campus.
The special warranty deed provides a legal description of the land that EFG bought, but not the addresses of the properties.
EFG will raze the 629,785-square-foot hospital building, which is filled with asbestos.
EFG anticipates it will take about 12 months to demolish many of the buildings on the property and prepare the site for redevelopment. Some buildings, such as a historic chapel and a large parking garage, will not be torn down.
Eventually, the campus is expected to include tinclude 900 to 1,200 new residential units and up to 300,000 square feet of commercial and retail space in a seven-block, urban-grid development.
CHI, as a nonprofit organization, did not pay taxes on the hospital itself, according to city records. It did pay a total of $136,697.82 in property taxes this year on nine of the 11 properties it owned, according to records.
Once the site is redeveloped, it is likely that property taxes generated by new construction will far exceed what CHI paid.
The median price of a home for sale in the Sloan?s Lake area currently is $500,000, according to COhomefinder.com. One home in the area that is listed at $500,000 and is under contract, has an actual value of $375,400 according to records and a tax bill of $2,512.80.
It is expected the private investment in the redevelopment will surpass $300 million.
EFG has the capability for ?vertical? buildings, that is, constructing buildings on the seven-block site.
However, EFG primarily is a land developer known for cleaning up extremely polluted properties known as ?brownfields.?
EFG likely will sell parcels to various developers.
EFG plans to raze and clear the site in the most sustainable way possible, which will including recycling and reusing much of the building material generated by the demolition. The land itself is not that contaminated, according to Doug Elenowitz, EFG?s manager for the project.
Interested in buying a home in the Sloan?s Lake area. Please visit COhomefinder.com.
To learn more about EFG, please visit EnviroFinance Group.
Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.
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Source: http://insiderealestatenews.com/2013/01/st-anthonys-campus-sells-for-9-5-million/
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Cultural evolution changes bird song
Jan. 29, 2013 ? Thanks to cultural evolution, male Savannah sparrows are changing their tune, partly to attract "the ladies."
According to a study of more than 30 years of Savannah sparrows recordings, the birds are singing distinctly different songs today than their ancestors did 30 years ago -- changes passed along generation to generation, according to a new study by University of Guelph researchers.
Integrative biology professors Ryan Norris and Amy Newman, in collaboration with researchers at Bowdoin College and Williams College in the U.S., analyzed the songs of male Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichiensis) recorded over three decades, and found that the songs had changed distinctly from 1980 to 2011.
"The change is the result of cultural transmission of different song elements through many generations," said Norris.
Norris added that the change in tune resembles changes in word choice and language among humans.
"If you listen to how people used to talk in the 1890s and how we talk today, you would notice major differences, and this is the result of shifts in culture or the popularity of certain forms," he said. "The change in sparrow songs over time has occurred much the same way"
The sparrows, which live on Kent Island, N.B., in the Bay of Fundy, can generally sing only one song type that consists of several parts. Male sparrows learn that song early in their first year and continue to sing the same tune for the rest of their lives.
"Young male sparrows learn their songs from the birds around them," said Norris. "It may be their fathers, or it could be other older male birds that live nearby."
Each male sparrow has his own unique sound, added Newman.
"While the island's sparrows all sing a characteristic 'savannah sparrow song,' with the same verses and sound similar, there are distinct differences between each bird," she said. "Essentially, it is like karaoke versions of popular songs. It is the rise and fall in popular cover versions that has changed over time."
The research team found that, in general, each song has three primary elements. The first identifies the bird as a Savannah sparrow, the second identifies which individual is singing, and the third component is used by females to assess males.
Using sonograms recorded from singing males each breeding season, the researchers determined that, while the introductory notes had stayed generally consistent for the last 30 years, the sparrows had added a series of clicks to the middle of their songs. The birds had also changed the ending trill: once long and high-frequency, it is now shorter and low-frequency.
"We found that the ending trill of the song has become shorter, likely because female sparrows preferred this, because males with shorter trills had higher reproductive success," Norris said.
Kent Island has been home to the Bowdoin Scientific Station since it was donated by J. Sterling Rockefeller in 1932, and the birds have been recorded since the 1980s. Individual birds are also monitored throughout their lifetime.
"We know the identity and history of every single sparrow in the study population" said Norris, who has led the project with Newman since 2009. "To have 30 years of recordings is very rare, and it was definitely surprising to see such drastic changes."
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Guelph.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Heather Williams, Iris I. Levin, D. Ryan Norris, Amy E.M. Newman, Nathaniel T. Wheelwright. Three decades of cultural evolution in Savannah sparrow songs. Animal Behaviour, 2013; 85 (1): 213 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.028
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/LwCj0OG8ALE/130129121937.htm
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Obama launches push for immigration overhaul
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. center, answers a reporter's question as he and a bipartisan group of leading senators announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. From left are Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. The deal covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. center, answers a reporter's question as he and a bipartisan group of leading senators announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. From left are Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. The deal covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Seeking swift action on immigration, President Barack Obama on Tuesday will try to rally public support behind his proposals for giving millions of illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship, as well as making improvements to the legal immigration system and border security.
The president will launch his push in a campaign-style event in Las Vegas, a day after a bipartisan group of senators unveiled their own plan for addressing an issue that has languished in Washington for years.
Administration officials said Obama would largely endorse the senators' efforts, though immigration advocates said they expected the president's own proposals to be more progressive than the Senate group's, including a faster pathway to citizenship.
The simultaneous immigration campaigns were spurred by the November presidential election, in which Obama won an overwhelming majority of Hispanic voters. The results caused Republican lawmakers who had previously opposed immigration reform to reconsider in order to rebuild the party's reputation among Hispanics, an increasingly powerful political force.
Most of the recommendations Obama will make Tuesday are not new. He outlined an immigration blueprint in May 2011 but exerted little political capital to get it passed by Congress, to the disappointment of many Hispanics.
Obama "believes that we are at a moment now where there seems to be support coalescing at a bipartisan level behind the very principles that he has long put forward and behind principles that have in the past enjoyed bipartisan support," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday. "And that is a very positive thing."
The president was to make his pitch in Nevada, a political battleground he carried in November, in large part because of support from Hispanics in the state.
Nationally, Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, giving him a key advantage over Republican rival Mitt Romney.
Administration officials said the president would bolster his 2011 immigration blueprint with some fresh details. His original plan centered on four key areas: a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., improved border security, an overhaul of the legal immigration system, and an easier process for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.
Administration officials said they were encouraged to see the Senate backing the same broad principles. In part because of the fast action on Capitol Hill, Obama does not currently plan to send lawmakers formal immigration legislation.
However, officials said the White House does have legislation drafted and could fall back on it should the Senate process stall. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy.
Gay and lesbian advocates were also expecting Obama's proposals to include recognition of same-sex couples where one partner is American and another is not.
Obama's previous proposals for creating a pathway to citizenship required those already in the U.S. illegally to register with the government and submit to security checks; pay registration fees, a series of fines and back taxes; and learn English. After eight years, individuals would be allowed to become legal permanent residents and could eventually become citizens five years later.
The Senate group's pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. would be contingent upon securing the border and improving tracking of people in the U.S. on visas. Linking citizenship to border security could become a sticking point between the White House and lawmakers.
The Senate framework would also require those here illegally to pass background checks and pay fines and taxes in order to qualify for a "probationary legal status" that would allow them to live and work here ? but not qualify for federal benefits ? before being able to apply for permanent residency, a critical step toward citizenship. Once they are allowed to apply they would do so behind everyone else already waiting for a green card within the current immigration system.
Passage of legislation by the full Democratic-controlled Senate is far from assured, but the tallest hurdle could come in the House, which is dominated by conservative Republicans who've shown little interest in immigration reform.
The senators involved in formulating the immigration proposals were Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on comprehensive immigration legislation pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn't get enough GOP support.
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Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.
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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
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Monday, January 28, 2013
NYC apartment for $95M, with $60K in monthly fees
13 hrs.
As apartments go, it's a palace, with 15 rooms, five of which have 18th-floor views of Central Park. At $95 million, you'd think it would come with a doorman too. But at high-end buildings in New York, basics like a doorman and a super come extra -- as much as $60,000 extra.The high cost of Manhattan real-estate is usually measured by the sales price. But for many buyers, it's the maintenance fees that break the bank.
Monthly maintenance fees in Manhattan have soared to an average of $1.70 per square foot, meaning that a 1,200 square foot condo will cost you $2,000 a month in maintenance fees, on top of your mortgage, utilities and (usually) property taxes.
Maintenance fees have continued to climb throughout the recession even as prices dipped. Average maintenance fees have risen 30 percent since 2008, according to Jonathan Miller at Miller Samuel, the New York appraisal firm. That's more than twice the rate of overall inflation.
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The increase has been driven mostly by higher costs of building insurance, underlying mortgages, fuel and building staff, like doormen and supers.
But Miller said high maintenance fees can derail a deal or cause even wealthy buyers to sell if the fees get too high.
He said that some of the newer developments that came with high prices and high maintenance fees were forced to reduce their prices when buyers balked at the high monthly payments.
"There was an assumption during the boom that the wealthy didn't care about maintenance and you could saddle an apartment with high fees and not have an impact," he said. "That turned out not to be true. There is an inverse relationship between carrying costs and market value."
Still, some rare apartments have both sky-high prices tags and high maintenance fees. The 18th floor of the Sherry-Netherland, currently on the market for $95 million, has monthly maintenance fees of $60,000.?
More from CNBC: America's Most Expensive Homes
The apartment is part of the hotel, so the fees include twice-daily maid service, spa services and other ultra-plush amenities.?
But the apartment is proof that some of New York's wealthy are still willing to pay more in monthly maintenance fees than some Americans pay for their house. We'll see, of course, whether the apartment sells at its price.
Watch CNBC's exclusive access to the "Secret Lives of the Super Rich: Mega-Homes." Premieres Jan. 28th, 9ET
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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/nyc-apartments-price-tag-95m-60k-monthly-fees-1C8133668
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