Thursday, January 24, 2013

?ingleton 3 announced for October 11-13, ?2 videos start going online

?ingleton 3 is real, and it'll be taking place at Hotel Nelligan in Montreal from October 11-13, 2013. Cingleton is a symposium for iOS and OS X developers, designers, media, and enthusiasts that focuses on big-picture issues like the future of Apple, or how companies scale.

Through a series of talks with industry luminaries, and plentiful meals and mixers, new points of view and opinions get discussed, friendship get made and renewed, and networking abounds. The organizers, Luc Vandal, Guy English, Scott Morris, and Thomas Unterberger haven't let any other details slip yet, but if past performance is any indicator of future performance, it should be a great event.

Speaking of which, Unterberger, who doubles as ?'s ace videographer, has begun posting the videos from the 2012 symposium. Available now are:

  • Jason Snell's keynote and Wrath of Kahn send up
  • Glenn Fleishman on crowd-sourcing
  • Molly Reed on scaling Omni
  • Marco Arment on conquering industries
  • Serenity Caldwell on eBook domination

More videos will be coming soon, and the 2011 videos are still available. Check them all out ?ingleton's homepage or Vimeo page, linked below. (You can also check out our photos and recaps, to get some additional color.)

Source: ?ingleton



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/TmnhMKZXXoo/story01.htm

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Walmart Explores Offering Private Health Insurance for Small

Once again I am here to sing the praises of Walmart. Over the years I have done so on many occasions.

Many misguided souls take the other side. They blame Walmart for ruining mom and pop grocery stores, mom and pop hardware stores, etc.

Not me, I praise cheaper prices. Moreover, it's what consumers voted for with their hard-earned dollars.

If anyone wants to pay more for stuff, all they have to do is shop at a mom and pop hardware store, grocery store, or pharmacy. Most don't because they want a bargain.

Today, I have good news. Walmart-style competition may be on the way in the healthcare business.

The Orlando Business Journal writes Wal-Mart exploring private health insurance exchange for small biz.

Wal-Mart is exploring the idea of building a private health insurance exchange tailored to offer cheaper health insurance to small businesses, a vice president told Orlando Business Journal Jan. 11.

Marcus Osborne, vice president of health and wellness payer relations for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), spoke to OBJ after his keynote speech at the Foundation of Associated Industries of Florida?s 2013 Health Care Affordability Summit. Osborne said Wal-Mart wants to work with insurers and managed care companies to find new, low-cost health insurance options tailored for small companies, which historically have limited options.

The idea is to offer those products through a health insurance exchange ? or as Osborne said, simply a marketplace ? that would leverage Wal-Mart?s buying and marketing power to make the exchanges widely available and used. ?It would allow small employers to piggyback Wal-Mart,? Osborne said. ?We haven?t got it all figured out, but it?s one of the things we?re looking at.?

?The biggest problem today small employers face from a health insurance perspective is they have no alternatives,? Osborne said. ?If they find anything, they?ve got to take it. There?s something wrong with that.?

In Praise of Walmart

Obamacare is going to raise the cost of healthcare. Walmart will lower costs. I have been waiting for this since Summer of 2008.

Flashback June 22, 2008: Trade Wars, Health Care, and Wal-Mart

This post is about trade wars, tariffs, health care, and Wal-Mart. I will tie these themes together starting with a look at Wal-Mart and health care.

I have many disagreements with Jim Jubak, but he hits the nail on the head with Let Wal-Mart fix US health care.

I know who can fix our broken health care system -- and who can't:
  • Not presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. He proposes a tax credit of $5,000 per family to encourage us to buy private health insurance.
  • Not Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She proposes universal health insurance supported by tax credits.
  • Not Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He proposes a mix of public and private health insurance with government subsidies to those who don't qualify for government insurance plans such as Medicaid.
I say, let Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) do it. Hold your guffaws. Stifle your impulse to scoff. Control those sputters of rage.

Wal-Mart has done more to expand coverage and lower costs in the past year than any government program to come out of Washington in the past 10 years. And I'd bet the new programs that this company -- known for stiffing its own part-time workers on health care benefits -- has announced in the past year will do more to expand coverage and cut costs than anything likely to come out of a McCain, Clinton or Obama first term.

Letting Wal-Mart run the health care system would fix many of those problems. It's a company that understands how low prices can build market share and thus increase profits. Furthermore, it's a company with a culture of cutting costs that has shown no compunction in pushing suppliers to the wall over price. The Wal-Mart motto ought to be, "Make it cheaper, or we'll find someone who can." I'd love to see that attitude brought to bear in health care.

Inquiring minds will want to read the rest of the article. It's surprisingly good.

Jubak makes a compelling case. He never said this explicitly but I will. "We do not need higher wages or higher prices. We need lower prices and a dollar that buys more".

Hopefully a good idea, long overdue, is about to happen. I repeat what I said in 2008: "We do not need higher wages or higher prices. We need lower prices and a dollar that buys more".

Walmart-style competition would do just that.

My primary fear is regulators will kill the idea based on trumped up charges of some sort (or bribes from healthcare providers who fear competition) before the idea takes hold.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Disclaimer:The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, including advertisements, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument, or to participate in any particular trading or investment strategy. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of sponsors or firms affiliated with the author(s). The author may or may not have a position in any company or advertiser referenced above. Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or advertisement on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

Source: http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/01/walmart-explores-offering-private.html

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Cornell University Athletics - Men's Hockey Finally Back Home to ...

The Big Red returns to the hallowed ice of Lynah Rink this weekend for its first home games in 56 days, when it hosts Ivy League opponents Yale and Brown. Friday's contest will mark the second time this season that NBC Sports Network will broadcast a game from Lynah Rink with Dan Parkhurst handling the play-by-play and Ken Hodge serving as the color analyst. The game can be viewed on Ithaca-area Time Warner Cable on Channel 59 and is also available throughout the country on many basic cable packages. Additionally, Saturday's game against Brown can be accessed worldwide on Cornell's Redcast subscription service. Jason Weinstein will handle the play-by-play for both games on WHCU-AM (870) in the Ithaca area, with his call also available for both games on Redcast.
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GAME 18: #7/8 YALE at #18 CORNELL
DATE: Friday, Jan. 25, 2013
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Lynah Rink ? Ithaca, N.Y.
2012-13 RECORDS: Yale 11-4-3, 7-3-1 ECAC Hockey; Cornell 8-7-2, 4-4-2 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 79-56-5
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 4-2, on Feb. 11, 2012 in Ithaca, N.Y.
TV: NBC Sports Network (Dan Parkhurst and Ken Hodge)
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Jason Weinstein)
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/mhockey/
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GAME 19: BROWN at #18 CORNELL
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: Lynah Rink ? Ithaca, N.Y.
2012-13 RECORDS: Brown 6-8-4, 2-5-4 ECAC Hockey; Cornell 8-7-2, 4-4-2 ECAC Hockey
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 69-42-5
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 5-2, on Feb. 10, 2012 in Ithaca, N.Y.
RADIO: WHCU 870 AM (Jason Weinstein)
LIVE VIDEO: http://cornellbigred.com/showcase/
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/mhockey/
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Cornell game notes (PDF)
Yale games notes (PDF)
Brown games notes (coming soon)
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ABOUT THE BIG RED
The challenging road schedule has yielded mixed results? for Cornell, which has posted a 2-4 record since its last game action on its home ice. Five of those six games have come against teams in the top 30 of the Ratings Percentage Index, including last weekend's 3-2 victory over defending ECAC Hockey champion Union and a 3-2 loss at Rensselaer the following night. ... The Big Red currently sits in sixth place in the league standings, but it has games in hand against all of the teams ahead of it ? including multiple games in most cases. ... Senior center Greg Miller (7-9?16) has 11 points over his last nine games, surging to the team lead in scoring. He is attempting to become the Big Red's first three-time scoring champion since current NHLer Matt Moulson did it in 2006. ... Senior John Esposito (8-2?10) leads the team in goals by one over Miller and sophomore Joel Lowry (7-6?13). Esposito also leads the team with four power-play goals. ... Senior Nick D'Agostino (2-8?10) and sophomore Joakim Ryan (0-10?10) are tied for the team lead in scoring from defensemen. ... Junior goalie Andy Iles (8-7-2, 2.34, .913) is in line to start his 54th consecutive start for the Big Red on Friday.
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ABOUT YALE
The Bulldogs have surged to four straight league victories and are 5-1-1 over their last seven games overall. Yale earned a 3-3 tie Jan. 4 at then-No. 1 Boston College before rattling off a sweep of St. Lawrence and Clarkson in the North Country before returning home to deal losses to Ivy League foes Harvard and Dartmouth. ... As usual, Yale's offense has been center stage with an average of 3.33 goals per game (3.86 over the last seven games). Senior Antoine Laganiere (12-11?23) is tied for the team scoring lead with junior forward Kenny Agostino (9-14?23). Five of Laganiere's team-leading six power-play goals have come in league play. ... Agostino typically plays on a line centered by senior Andrew Miller (9-10?19). ... The power play is ranked sixth in the nation with a conversion rate of 23.1 percent. It has scored on 10 of its last 26 opportunities (38.5 pct.) ... Yale's defense has been markedly improved this season with senior Jeff Malcolm (10-3-2, 2.36, .922) claiming the majority of time in goal after Yale after splitting time last season.
?
ABOUT BROWN
The Bears have earned splits in each of the last two weekends, with victories at Clarkson and at home to Harvard bookending losses at St. Lawrence and at home to Dartmouth. The victories were Brown's first in league play this season. ... Sophomore center Matt Lorito (13-9?22) leads the team in scoring and has six points in his last three games. He has five of the team's 11 power-play goals and has accounted for 28.9 percent of the team's overall goals. ... Junior defenseman Dennis Robertson (1-11?12) leads the team in assists. He is also the team's lone NHL draft pick, having been selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs after his freshman season. ... Senior Anthony Borelli (4-3-3, 1.79, .936) has taken over the starting role in goal after only making seven appearances in his first three years at Brown.
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THE SERIES WITH YALE
Friday's game will be the 141st all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Big Red, with Cornell holding a 79-56-5 advantage since the teams first met during the 1902-03 season. The Big Red swept last year's games, winning 6-2 when Yale was ranked ninth in the country on Nov. 4, 2011, then clinching the Ivy League title outright with a 4-2 victory on Feb. 11, 2012. The Bulldogs won the eight matchups before that, including a 6-0 victory over the Big Red for its last ECAC Hockey Championship in 2011.
?
THE SERIES WITH BROWN
The Bears have finished in the league's bottom third in each of the last seven seasons and currently sits there again ? but Brown has given Cornell fits of late. The Bears
led by two goals 21 minutes into the teams' last meeting before the Big Red scored five unanswered goals for a 5-2 victory on Feb. 10, 2012 at Lynah Rink. Brown won the three meetings prior to end a seven-game Cornell winning streak. The Big Red still has a commanding lead in the all-time series, 69-42-5.
?
GOLDEN AGAIN
Sophomore forward Cole Bardreau won a gold medal while serving as an assistant captain for the United States at the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship earlier this month in Ufa, Russia. He then scored a goal and added an assist in his first game back with the Big Red last weekend against Union. It wasn't the first time Bardreau's earned gold with the U.S. either ? he also wore an ?A? while capturing gold at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April 2011. Sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan was also among the 45 players who started the camp for this year's World Juniors before the roster was trimmed.
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CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up? the ranks of the coaching fraternity in his win totals.? Now in his 18th season, Schafer has 340 career victories, ranking him second in ECAC Hockey. Schafer trails only Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold by 14 games. He is also tops among Ivy League coaches, with Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet up to 322 career victories in his 25th season as a head coach.
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FIRST 1,000 DOWN
The Big Red's 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals in 2011 marked the 1,000th victory all-time for the Cornell men's hockey program. Cornell became the 17th program to reach that milestone.
?
WARMING UP
Sophomore forward John McCarron scored his first three goals of the season in three consecutive games from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4, then added his fourth in Saturday's game at Rensselaer. It's a similar trend to his freshman season, when all six of his goals game in January, February or Match. All 10 of his career goals have now come after the December break for final exams and the holidays ? including three goals in the playoffs.
?
POLLS PROSE
Despite a road victory against a ranked team at Union, Cornell slipped two spots this week to a season-low 18th in the USCHO.com college hockey poll. The Big Red also remains on the outside, though it is receiving votes for the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll's Top 15. Cornell has been in that poll for a league-high 14 weeks this season. Cornell, which plays #7/8 Yale on Friday, is 5-3-1 in games against teams in the USCHO.com poll.
?
ILES FILES
Junior Andy Iles has already twice been named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week. The first time was on Oct. 30 after the Big Red's two victories against Colorado College, including a season-opening shutout. Iles then stopped 26 shots in the Big Red's 5-1 victory over Michigan on Nov. 24 in The Frozen Apple to earn the league's weekly goaltending honor on Nov. 27. Iles was an All-Ivy League First Team and All-ECAC Hockey Second Team selection last season after earning all-league rookie team honors as a freshman.
?
REST OPTIONAL
Andy Iles is the only goalie in Division I this season who was used exclusively by his team last season, having now made 53 consecutive starts in the Cornell net. By starting and finishing all of the Big Red's games in 2011-12, Iles became the first goalie at Cornell to accomplish that feat since Darren Eliot in 1982-83, and the first Cornell sophomore to do so since Laing Kennedy in 1960-61 ? when the season was just 19 games long.
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CLASS-Y GUY
Tri-captain Nick D'Agostino is one of 20 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to an NCAA Division I senior that has notable achievements in four areas of excellence ? community, classroom, character and competition. D'Agostino has emerged as one of the league's top point-producing defensemen, leading the Big Red with six power-play goals en route to All-Ivy League Second Team and All-ECAC Hockey Second Team selections last season. He posted career-highs in goals (8) and points (20) last season, producing a whopping five game-winning goals. Outside of the rink, he has been involved in a service trip with the Portal De Belen Foundation to Don Juan, Dominican Republic, Feed My Starving Children, the United Way Day of Care and the Ithaca Youth Hockey Association. He is also a three-time member of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations' Dean's List in 2011 and 2012.
?
POWERFUL START ...
Senior forward John Esposito is tied for the team with seven goals ? the first four of which came on the man advantage. All five of the Big Red's goals in its two victories Oct. 26-27 over Colorado College came on the man advantage, including one strike on a five-on-three. It was the first time since 2000 that Cornell opened the season without scoring a five-on-five goal. The last time the team scored as many as five power-play goals in its first two games actually wasn't that long ago ? 2009, when it racked up six against Niagara and Dartmouth.
?
... BUT POWER STRUGGLES OF LATE
Strong special teams are a staple of Cornell hockey, but this year has been an anomaly with the Big Red struggling on both the power play and penalty kill of late. Cornell has scored just twice in its last 30 power-play opportunities (6.7 percent) and has surrendered eight goals in its last 18 penalty-killing scenarios (55.6 percent).
?
FIVE-ON-THREE PROWESS
There are few situations in hockey more dire than when your team is facing a two-man disadvantage, but the Big Red has been impregnable in those scenarios so far this season. Cornell is a perfect 4-for-4 on the two-man disadvantage through the opening eight games, spanning a total of 3 minutes, 47 seconds. Conversely, the Big Red offense has scored in one of its four five-on-three advantages this season ? John Esposito's season-opening goal on Oct. 26 against Colorado College.
?
HOBEY WATCH
The same three members of the Big Red who were nominated for the Hobey Baker Award in 2012 are back on the ballot in 2013. Senior defenseman Nick D'Agostino is one of the squad's tri-captains and is tied for the team leadin scoring among blueliners, senior forward Greg Miller is on pace to lead the team in scoring for a third consecutive season, and junior Andy Iles is the team's exclusive goaltender and a reigning All-Ivy League First Team selection.
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FOR THE RECORD
With three consecutive shutouts in November 2011, Andy Iles recorded the second-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 35 seconds over a five-game span. The only Cornell shutout streak that went longer was posted by Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens, who held the opposition scoreless for 267:11 during the 2010 playoffs. But Iles wasn't done there ? he posted back-to-back shutouts against St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, respectively, spurring another lengthy shutout streak of 152:36 that ranks ninth all-time in Big Red history. His success has stretched into the postseason, as evidenced by a career-high 46 saves in a March 9 double-overtime victory against Dartmouth. Iles was third in the nation with six shutouts and 10th in goal-against average (2.12). He also set a record for longest streak in ECAC Hockey play of 286:54 from November 2011 to January 2012.
?
COLLECTING HARDWARE
While sophomore forward Cole Bardreau became the first Cornell player to earn gold with the U.S. at the IIHF World Junior Championships, junior goalie Andy Iles was the first to earn a medal with Team USA. Iles claimed bronze at the 2011 tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., with the only player before to compete with the United States being goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier in 1998.
?
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH
The Big Red has scored 22 of its 43 goals (51.1 percent) this season in the third period of its 17 games. Cornell is the only team among the country's 59 Division I programs to have scored at least half of its goals in the third period.
?
BLANK YOU VERY MUCH
With its season-opening 2-0 victory over Colorado College, Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 18 seasons. The last time the Big Red went a full schedule without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season under former coach Brian McCutcheon, as Cornell finished that year 11-15-4. The following year marked the first season for current head coach Mike Schafer, and his clubs have never gone a full year without recording a shutout.
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COME ONE, COME ALL
The Big Red is used to playing in front of sold-out crowds at Lynah Rink, but Cornell hockey has been a commodity this season no matter the location. Four of the Big
Red's five away games within ECAC Hockey play have sold out so far this season, plus the team's home away from home at the 18,200-seat Madison Square Garden in New York for The Frozen Apple against Michigan on Nov. 24. Cornell played in front of 10 consecutive capacity crowds prior to the Florida College Hockey Classic in December.
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NOW THAT'S A STREAK
If the Big Red scores just one goal between this weekend's two games, it will mark 1,500 games since the program has been shut out in back-to-back games. The last time it happened was vs. Clarkson and St. Lawrence in December 1963.
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FEEL THE DRAFT?
Cornell has eight players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including three picks from last June. Freshman defenseman Reece Willcox was selected in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Flyers, then sophomore forward John McCarron was snagged in the sixth round by the Edmonton Oilers. The San Jose Sharks then selected sophomore defenseman Joakim Ryan in the seventh round, giving the Big Red its most NHL draft picks entering a season since it had eight in the 2006-07 campaign. Other NHL draft picks on this year's team include sophomore forwards Brian Ferlin (Boston Bruins) and Joel Lowry (Los Angeles Kings), senior defensemen Braden Birch (Chicago Blackhawks) and Nick D'Agostino (Pittsburgh Penguins), and junior defenseman Kirill Gotovets (Tampa Bay Lightning).
?
GLOBAL INFLUENCE
The Big Red has 11 players on the roster born in the United States, the second-highest total for a Mike Schafer-coached team at Cornell (trailing only the 12 it had last season). The Big Red also now has players native to seven different countries on its squad. Aside from the bulk of its roster hailing from the United States and Canada, Cornell also has a player from Belarus (Kirill Gotovets), Denmark (Christian Hilbrich), Finland (Teemu Tiitinen), Singapore (Dustin Mowrey) and South Africa (Armand de Swardt).
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CLOSER TO HOME
Hometown fans of the Big Red got a rare treat when goalie Andy Iles became the first Ithaca native to play for the team since Mike Tallman in 1988-89. Sophomore forward Kevin Cole then made his collegiate debut last season, marking the first time in at least 50 years ? and perhaps the first time in program history ? that two Ithaca natives have played for the Big Red in the same season. Cole was born in Ithaca and raised in nearby Lansing before heading off to junior programs in Syracuse and Cornwall, Ontario. His father, Dave, lettered for the Big Red in the 1981-82 season. Yet another Ithaca area connection came on board this season when the Big Red added junior defenseman Craig Esposito, who is also from Lansing and serves as one of the tri-captains on Cornell's men's golf team. Freshman forward John Knisley, who calls Pittsford, N.Y. home, also joins the Big Red this season to give Cornell five players that call Upstate New York home for the first time since 1963-64.
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INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE
Junior Kirill Gotovets got a taste of the big time when he was selected to represent his native Belarus in the 2010 IIHF World Championships ? not an age group World Championships (though he did play for Belarus at the U20 World Championship as well) ? playing against some of the best players the world has to offer. He played in three of Belarus' eight games at the World Championships, recording two shots and two minutes in penalties, helping his nation to a 10th-place finish. The Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick has only been on the ice for two goals against over the last eight games.
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UP NEXT
The Big Red will play exclusively within ECAC Hockey for the remainder of the season, attempting to chase down the program's 13th league title. Cornell will hit the road next weekend to make its annual trip to the North Country, visiting St. Lawrence on Friday, Feb. 1 and Clarkson on Saturday, Feb. 2. The Big Red will then return home for its penultimate home stand of the regular season when it hosts league-leading Quinnipiac on Friday, Feb. 8 and Ivy League rival Princeton on Saturday, Feb. 9.

Source: http://www.cornellbigred.com/news/2013/1/23/MICE_0123130954.aspx

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Make an Electronics-Free Zone in Your Home to Escape Distractions

Make an Electronics-Free Zone in Your Home to Escape DistractionsWe're surrounded by all types of gadgets and technology all day long. That means we're available to work, interact socially, and waste time online no matter where we are. Blogger Patrick Rhone suggests one simple fix if you're overwhelmed by it all: create a tech-free zone in your house or office.

Technology is great, and it has certainly made our lives easier. However, tech can also be a massive time sink. Rhone's suggestion isn't to get rid of a technology completely, it's just to create a small area where no electronics are allowed:

[W]hat if one were to create an electronics free zone in their home or office? A desk, a small space, a room, or even a whole floor of the home where electronic technology was not allowed? No smartphones, tablets, tv's, computers, or radios. Books, pen and paper, board games, and other such items were not only welcome in that space but championed.

It's an interesting idea that doesn't require that much on your part. If you find yourself a little overwhelmed by all the tech everywhere (or even addicted to it), a small zone in the home or office where you can escape to might be just what you need.

Idea: The Amish Space (No Electronics Allowed) | Patrick Rhone

Photo by Michael Derr.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/JFJPkwfU4xU/make-an-electronics+free-zone-in-your-home-to-escape-distractions

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Verbruggen defends UCI warnings to 'doping' riders

GENEVA (AP) ? Former International Cycling Union president Hein Verbruggen defended the governing body's doping policy during the Lance Armstrong era, and said it acted appropriately when it informed riders about suspicious test results.

Verbruggen, who headed the UCI during Armstrong's domination of the Tour de France, said the federation's policy was part of a "two-pronged attack" on doping at a time when it had an "impressive" record of catching drug cheats.

"It used to be the UCI's policy ? and indeed also of other federations ? to discuss atypical blood test results, or other test results, with the riders concerned," Verbruggen said Wednesday in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

"Riders who were doping (but who had yet to fail a test) were effectively warned that they were being watched and that they would be targeted in future with the aim of getting them to stop doping," he said. "However, if the atypical test results were genuinely not caused by doping, the rider also had the opportunity to have a medical check."

Verbruggen, who is the UCI's current honorary president, issued a statement after Dutch magazine "Vrij Nederland" reported his comments that Armstrong and other riders were contacted about doping suspicions.

Armstrong's suspicious sample with traces of EPO at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland led the UCI to set up a meeting with the laboratory director who oversaw the analysis to explain how the test worked.

Armstrong and his team manager, Johan Bruyneel, then met Lausanne lab head Martial Saugy in Luxembourg ahead of the 2002 Tour. Saugy has said the meeting came several weeks after Armstrong returned another suspicious sample at a Tour warm-up race, the Dauphine Libere, in France.

The Dutch magazine reported that rider Karsten Kroon also met with UCI officials in 2004.

"First, it was not Hein Verbruggen who contacted riders," his statement said. "Instead, it was the UCI's medical advisers."

The UCI's former policy was formed "after some considerable debate and deliberation," Verbruggen's statement said. "Its purpose was to protect clean riders against competitors who might be doping, rather than to let those clean riders continue to be put at a disadvantage until such time that the drug cheats could be caught.

"It was intended to be a two-pronged attack on doping: prevention both by dissuasion and repression."

The magazine released extracts of its interview Tuesday, after French newspaper Le Monde published a doping control document relating to Armstrong's positive test for a corticosteroid during his first Tour win in 1999.

Armstrong, who has been stripped of his seven Tour titles and banned from elite sport for life, admitted to talk-show host Oprah Winfrey last week that he used a back-dated prescription to avoid sanctions for doping. He said the drug was a cream to treat saddle sores.

However, Le Monde's evidence suggested the UCI should have disqualified Armstrong anyway for breaching its rules requiring declarations of therapeutic use of substances. Armstrong and Bruyneel signed the doping control document that stated that he was not taking any medication at the time.

Verbruggen, who led the UCI from 1991-2005, insisted the governing body had "always been" a pioneer in sports' fight against doping.

"At the same time, the UCI's impressive record of catching riders through positive tests shows that cycling's governing body was not in any way soft on cheats," his statement said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/verbruggen-defends-uci-warnings-doping-riders-132252267--spt.html

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Mobile Gamers Anticipating the Oppo 5 ? Online Casino Archives

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

First global assessment of land and water 'grabbing' published in national journal

First global assessment of land and water 'grabbing' published in national journal [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Fariss Samarrai
fls4f@virginia.edu
434-924-3778
University of Virginia

As world food and energy demands grow, nations and some corporations increasingly are looking to acquire quality agricultural land for food production. Some nations are gaining land by buying up property and accompanying water resources in other, generally less wealthy countries.

Sometimes called "land grabbing," this practice can put strains on land and water resources in impoverished countries where the land, and needed water, has been "grabbed" for commercial-scale agriculture.

A new study by the University of Virginia and the Polytechnic University of Milan, and currently published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the first global quantitative assessment of the water-grabbing phenomenon, which has intensified in the last four years largely in response to a 2007-08 increase in world food prices.

"Over less than a decade, the rates of land and water grabbing have dramatically increased," said Paolo D'Odorico, Ernest H. Ern Professor of Environmental Sciences in the University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences, and a study co-author. "Food security in the grabbing countries increasingly depends on 'grab-land agriculture,' while in the grabbed countries, local populations are excluded from the use of large parcels of land. Even just a fraction of the grabbed resources would be sufficient to substantially decrease the malnourishment affecting some of the grabbed countries."

The study shows that foreign land acquisition is a global phenomenon, involving 62 grabbed countries and 41 grabbers and affecting every continent except Antarctica. Africa and Asia account for 47 percent and 33 percent of the global grabbed area, respectively, and about 90 percent of the grabbed area is in 24 countries.

Countries most affected by the highest rates of water grabbing are Indonesia, the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The highest rates of irrigated water grabbing occur in Tanzania and Sudan.

Countries most active in foreign land acquisition are located in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. Overall, about 60 percent of the total grabbed water is appropriated, through land grabbing, by companies in the United States, United Arab Emirates, India, United Kingdom, Egypt, China and Israel.

D'Odorico said that in most cases where land has been acquired, there is a switch from natural ecosystems such as forests and savannas or small-holder agriculture run by local communities, to large-scale commercial farming run by foreign corporations.

He said one possible positive effect of foreign land acquisition is that "corporations can afford investments in technology, such as irrigation systems, that increase agricultural productivity while creating employment opportunities for local populations."

However, there also are negative implications, D'Odorico said, such as that the local populations are excluded from the direct use and management of their land and water resources and concern that in the long run, foreign land acquisitions could lead to overuse of water and land with negative effects on the environment (whereas local small-holder farmers are often in a better position to be good stewards and managers of their land and water).

"By losing control of part of their land and water, in many cases local people are giving up to wealthier nations their most precious natural resources resources that could be used now or in the future to enhance their own food security," D'Odorico said.

He noted that countries such as Sudan and Tanzania have the potential to become new "breadbaskets" because of either rain or river flow, but lack investments in agricultural technologies that would enhance productivity. For this reason, he said, foreign corporations see in them strong potential for high-profit investments and thus are rushing to "grab" these lands and water.

"It is hard to think that this phenomenon may be stopped," D'Odorico said. "However, both the United Nations and the national governments should ensure that some of the wealth generated by foreign investments in agricultural land are used to benefit local populations, for example by sustainably improving their food security and enhancing the productivity of small-holder agriculture.

"There is also the need for institutions that can make sure that locals are involved in decisions about the reallocation of rights on land and water resources."

D'Odorico's study co-authors are Maria Cristina Rulli and Antonio Saviori of Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) in Italy.

###

To access their paper, visit: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/01/02/1213163110.abstract?sid=88d6a2ce-9fde-4df9-8e9e-daa2bbddfaf7.


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First global assessment of land and water 'grabbing' published in national journal [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jan-2013
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Contact: Fariss Samarrai
fls4f@virginia.edu
434-924-3778
University of Virginia

As world food and energy demands grow, nations and some corporations increasingly are looking to acquire quality agricultural land for food production. Some nations are gaining land by buying up property and accompanying water resources in other, generally less wealthy countries.

Sometimes called "land grabbing," this practice can put strains on land and water resources in impoverished countries where the land, and needed water, has been "grabbed" for commercial-scale agriculture.

A new study by the University of Virginia and the Polytechnic University of Milan, and currently published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the first global quantitative assessment of the water-grabbing phenomenon, which has intensified in the last four years largely in response to a 2007-08 increase in world food prices.

"Over less than a decade, the rates of land and water grabbing have dramatically increased," said Paolo D'Odorico, Ernest H. Ern Professor of Environmental Sciences in the University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences, and a study co-author. "Food security in the grabbing countries increasingly depends on 'grab-land agriculture,' while in the grabbed countries, local populations are excluded from the use of large parcels of land. Even just a fraction of the grabbed resources would be sufficient to substantially decrease the malnourishment affecting some of the grabbed countries."

The study shows that foreign land acquisition is a global phenomenon, involving 62 grabbed countries and 41 grabbers and affecting every continent except Antarctica. Africa and Asia account for 47 percent and 33 percent of the global grabbed area, respectively, and about 90 percent of the grabbed area is in 24 countries.

Countries most affected by the highest rates of water grabbing are Indonesia, the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The highest rates of irrigated water grabbing occur in Tanzania and Sudan.

Countries most active in foreign land acquisition are located in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. Overall, about 60 percent of the total grabbed water is appropriated, through land grabbing, by companies in the United States, United Arab Emirates, India, United Kingdom, Egypt, China and Israel.

D'Odorico said that in most cases where land has been acquired, there is a switch from natural ecosystems such as forests and savannas or small-holder agriculture run by local communities, to large-scale commercial farming run by foreign corporations.

He said one possible positive effect of foreign land acquisition is that "corporations can afford investments in technology, such as irrigation systems, that increase agricultural productivity while creating employment opportunities for local populations."

However, there also are negative implications, D'Odorico said, such as that the local populations are excluded from the direct use and management of their land and water resources and concern that in the long run, foreign land acquisitions could lead to overuse of water and land with negative effects on the environment (whereas local small-holder farmers are often in a better position to be good stewards and managers of their land and water).

"By losing control of part of their land and water, in many cases local people are giving up to wealthier nations their most precious natural resources resources that could be used now or in the future to enhance their own food security," D'Odorico said.

He noted that countries such as Sudan and Tanzania have the potential to become new "breadbaskets" because of either rain or river flow, but lack investments in agricultural technologies that would enhance productivity. For this reason, he said, foreign corporations see in them strong potential for high-profit investments and thus are rushing to "grab" these lands and water.

"It is hard to think that this phenomenon may be stopped," D'Odorico said. "However, both the United Nations and the national governments should ensure that some of the wealth generated by foreign investments in agricultural land are used to benefit local populations, for example by sustainably improving their food security and enhancing the productivity of small-holder agriculture.

"There is also the need for institutions that can make sure that locals are involved in decisions about the reallocation of rights on land and water resources."

D'Odorico's study co-authors are Maria Cristina Rulli and Antonio Saviori of Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) in Italy.

###

To access their paper, visit: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/01/02/1213163110.abstract?sid=88d6a2ce-9fde-4df9-8e9e-daa2bbddfaf7.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uov-fga012213.php

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