Friday, November 30, 2012

Completely new method of manufacturing the smallest structures in electronics

Thursday, November 29, 2012

A completely new method of manufacturing the smallest structures in electronics could make their manufacture thousands of times quicker, allowing for cheaper semiconductors. The findings have been published in the latest issue of Nature.

Instead of starting from a silicon wafer or other substrate, as is usual today, researchers have made it possible for the structures to grow from freely suspended nanoparticles of gold in a flowing gas.

Behind the discovery is Lars Samuelson, Professor of Semiconductor Physics at Lund University, Sweden, and head of the University's Nanometre Structure Consortium. He believes the technology will be ready for commercialisation in two to four years' time. A prototype for solar cells is expected to be completed in two years.

"When I first suggested the idea of getting rid of the substrate, people around me said 'you're out of your mind, Lars; that would never work'. When we tested the principle in one of our converted ovens at 400?C, the results were better than we could have dreamt of", he says.

"The basic idea was to let nanoparticles of gold serve as a substrate from which the semiconductors grow. This means that the accepted concepts really were turned upside down!"

Since then, the technology has been refined, patents have been obtained and further studies have been conducted. In the article in Nature, the researchers show how the growth can be controlled using temperature, time and the size of the gold nanoparticles.

Recently, they have also built a prototype machine with a specially built oven. Using a series of ovens, the researchers expect to be able to 'bake' the nanowires, as the structures are called, and thereby develop multiple variants, such as p-n diodes.

A further advantage of the technology is avoiding the cost of expensive semiconductor wafers.

"In addition, the process is not only extremely quick, it is also continuous. Traditional manufacture of substrates is batch-based and is therefore much more time-consuming", adds Lars Samuelson.

At the moment, the researchers are working to develop a good method to capture the nanowires and make them self-assemble in an ordered manner on a specific surface. This could be glass, steel or another material suited to the purpose.

The reason why no one has tested this method before, in the view of Professor Samuelson, is that today's method is so basic and obvious. Such things tend to be difficult to question.

However, the Lund researchers have a head start thanks to their parallel research based on an innovative method in the manufacture of nanowires on semiconductor wafers, known as epitaxy ? consequently, the researchers have chosen to call the new method aerotaxy. Instead of sculpting structures out of silicon or another semiconductor material, the structures are instead allowed to develop, atomic layer by atomic layer, through controlled self-organisation.

The structures are referred to as nanowires or nanorods. The breakthrough for these semiconductor structures came in 2002 and research on them is primarily carried out at Lund, Berkeley and Harvard universities. The Lund researchers specialise in developing the physical and electrical properties of the wires, which helps create better and more energy-saving solar cells, LEDs, batteries and other electrical equipment that is now an integrated part of our lives.

###

Lund University: http://www.lu.se

Thanks to Lund University for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125582/Completely_new_method_of_manufacturing_the_smallest_structures_in_electronics

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The Whole Health Cairn: A Radical New Wellness Model | Care2 ...

As a physician, I?ve been exposed to a variety of wellness models, most of them pie charts and pyramids detailing what it takes to be optimally healthy ? a nutritious diet, an exercise regimen, enough sleep ? you catch my drift.

But something about these wellness models always left me feeling like something was missing. First, it was the format. A pie chart implies that you can take out a piece of the pie and still keep the rest of the uneaten pie intact. The same is true for a pyramid ? if you take a strip out of a pyramid ? you wind up with a shorter, but still stable pyramid.

Some wellness models are more holistic than others, accounting not only for conventionally ?healthy? behaviors, but also for other facets of what makes a good life ? social network, professional life, etc.? Even still, I never found one that spoke to my soul. None of them ever felt expansive enough, comprehensive enough, or acknowledging of the interdependency of all the facets of what makes us whole and how these life factors affect the body.

From the day I launched?OwningPink.com on April 26, 2009, my intention was to create a blog that explored all the facets of what I believed led to a healthy life ? relationships, work/life purpose, creativity, spirituality, sexuality, your environment, finances, mental health, and physical health.? My hypothesis was that each of these facets had to be in balance, not only with each other, but with the truth of who you are, the part of you I call your ?Inner Pilot Light.? ?In other words, it?s not enough to be in a relationship if your relationship is out of alignment with your truth. It?s not enough to be having sex if you?re selling out your authentic sexual desires. It?s not enough to go to church if you really find communion with Source in nature instead. For years, my blog focused on helping people understand health in this kind of expanded way, but it didn?t fit neatly into an elevator speech or any wellness model I?d ever stumbled across.

The Vision

Then one day, while I was hiking in coastal West Marin County on the North Coast trail up towards Mount Tamalpais, I had a vision that appeared in front of me like a slide projected over the coastal landscape. The image that appeared before me was so vivid, I raced home and drew it on a large piece of watercolor paper. It looked like this, and I called it the ?Whole Health Cairn.? (You can watch me talk about it in my TEDx talk here).

The Strength & Fragility of the Cairn

The new wellness model that downloaded into my consciousness was based on the image of a ?cairn,? those stacks of balanced stones that tend to grace beaches and mark sacred landmarks (featured in the photo at the top of this blog). I?m an artist, so I?ve always been drawn to cairns for their sculptural beauty, but I also love them because of their simultaneous strength and fragility.? A well-built cairn subjected to ocean surf can survive a winter storm, but displace one stone out of balance and the whole thing topples.

The Body On Top

Most wellness models suggest that the body is the foundation upon which everything else is built, that in order to have close relationships or a successful career, the body must be healthy. But I?ve come to believe that the opposite is true, that the body is a barometer of the health of other areas of our lives, and that when our lives become unhealthy or unbalanced, the body is first to decompensate.

The body starts communicating via whispers ? subtle physical symptoms like nausea or a headache or a tightness in your chest or a pain in your back. But if we ignore the messages the body is trying to communicate when it whispers, the body begins to yell ? and suddenly ? THWACK ? you?re facing a serious illness.

This is why the Physical Health ?stone? is on the top of the Whole Health Cairn, as a reminder that if you?re in a toxic relationship or you?re not singing that song your soul longs to sing or you?re stuck in a miserable job, your Whole Health Cairn is likely to become unstable, and as the most precarious stone on top, the body is likely to get sick.

Your Inner Pilot Light Is The Foundation Of A Healthy Life

So if the body isn?t the foundation of your health, what is? The foundation stone of the Whole Health Cairn, the one upon which everything else is balanced, is that part of you I call your ?Inner Pilot Light,? that essential, unapologetically authentic, always radiant, never extinguished essence of your core ? call it your ?highest self? or your ?Christ consciousness? or your ?Buddha nature? or your soul.

When we lose touch with this part of ourselves, we wind up out of alignment, and as an extension of that core imbalance, we might find ourselves in jobs we hate, relationships that poison us, with spiritual lives that fail to feed us or sex lives that leave us feeling drained, rather than fulfilled or living in environments that deplete us. It?s no wonder our bodies respond with illness.

(If you feel like you?ve lost touch with your Inner Pilot Light,?sign up here for free daily messages from your Inner Pilot Light).

The Science Of The Whole Health Cairn

When I first saw the vision of the Whole Health Cairn, I had no idea whether what I saw was scientifically verifiable. Was there scientific proof that your relationships affect your health? Can your job really make you sick? Does expressing yourself creatively or enjoying an aligned sex life or tapping in spiritually really optimize your health?

What ensued was a deep dive into the Bible of modern medicine, the peer-reviewed medical journals like the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. The copious data I collected became my upcoming book?Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself (Hay House, May 2013). But until then, suffice it to say that the data I uncovered blew my mind.

Is there proof that each stone in the Whole Health Cairn is critical to living an optimally healthy life? You betcha. In fact, what I found suggests not only that it?s critical, but that the health of your relationships, your professional life, your creative life, your spiritual life, your sex life, your environment, your finances ? in essence, the health of your mind ? impacts your health far more than your diet, exercise, smoking, drinking, sleep habits, or how many vitamins you take. In fact, the data I uncovered led me to make this radical statement in my TEDx talk.

What if caring for your body is the least important part of your health?

I now believe ? and the scientific data supports this ? that caring for your mind is the single most important preventative health measure you can take ? even more so than quitting smoking, daily exercise, eating your veggies, or enough sleep.

Which Stones Bring You Peace? Which Stress You Out?

Each stone in the Whole Health Cairn has the potential to both heal you or make you sick. A healthy romance can cure you, whereas a toxic one can poison you. Making your art or writing your novel or singing your song or creating your dream business can be medicine ? but if you know what you long to do and aren?t doing it, it can toxify you.? Living in nature and surrounding yourself with what you love can be your body?s medicine ? while living where your Inner Pilot Light feels squashed can make you sick.

The key to preventing disease ? or curing it if you?re sick ? is determining what is out of alignment with your Inner Pilot Light and then being brave enough to take actions meant to bring your life back into alignment with your truth. When you do, you make the body ripe for miracles.

What Is Out Of Balance In Your Whole Health Cairn?

I challenge you to assess your Whole Health Cairn and ask yourself which stones stress you out and which ones bring you peace? Which are forces of healing for you? Which might be making you sick?

If you are sick,?what does your body need in order to heal?

Share your answers with us here.

Always seeking balance,

Lissa

Lissa Rankin, MD: Creator of the health and wellness communities?LissaRankin.com and?OwningPink.com, author of Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself (Hay House, 2013),?TEDx speaker, and Health Care Evolutionary.?Join her newsletter list for free guidance on healing yourself, and check her out on?Twitter and?Facebook.

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Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-whole-health-cairn-a-radical-new-wellness-model.html

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Hybrid Sports Bicycle eyes-on (video)

DNP Hybrid Sports Bicycle eyeson video

The L.A. Auto Show isn't just loaded with flashy concept cars from auto industry heavyweights, it's also a breeding ground for innovation in the transportation industry as a whole. While cruising the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center, a unique contraption caught our eye. Pictured above is the Hybrid Sports Bicycle (HSB), a triple threat that runs on gas, electricity and good old fashion human pedaling. The project is currently seeking investors, with its creator Tomas Bubilek targeting a retail price somewhere between $6,000 to $7,000. For those of you who might think that this is a high premium, we've definitely seen hybrid bikes that far exceed this toll. So, if you're in the business of being an early adopter, check out the video below to see what might be replacing that segway you bought a few years back.

Continue reading Hybrid Sports Bicycle eyes-on (video)

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/30/hybrid-sports-bicycle-eyes-on/

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Video: Report: Gitmo prison could close safely

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50014732/

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Friday, November 23, 2012

Stocks log 4-day win streak ahead of holiday

3 hrs.

Stocks closed higher in thin, choppy trading Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, after a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, but some mixed economic reports and worries over Greece put a limit on gains.

The market will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will be open for a shortened session on Friday.?

The?Dow Jones Industrial Average?rose 48.38 points, or 0.38 percent, to end at 12,836.89, led by?Hewlett-Packard, after trading in a tight 60-point range all day.?DuPont?led the blue-chip laggards.

The?S&P 500?added 3.22 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 1,391.03. The?Nasdaq?gained 9.87 points, or 0.34 percent, to finish at 2,926.55. Both the S&P and Nasdaq ended higher for the fourth-straight session.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, ended above 15.

Most key S&P sectors ended in positive territory, led by?telecoms?and?energy.

Egypt announced a?cease-fire agreement?to end fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The cease-fire took effect at 2pm ET.?Oil prices closed off their highs?following the news.

Stocks finished largely unchanged in the previous session as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's negative comments on the looming "fiscal cliff" added to ongoing worries.?

Policymakers are not expected to return to negotiations until next week.

?We have this vacuum on the 'fiscal cliff'???that?s a mild positive under the market. Then Congress comes back next week so there might be some untoward comments,? said Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services. ?There?s a mild upward historic bias to today and also the abbreviated session on Friday.?

Euro zone finance ministers failed to finalize the details of a debt-reduction package for Greece before the close of their meeting.

Still,?European shares reversed their initial losses to close higher?after Reuters reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had told lawmakers at a closed-door meeting that lower interest rates and an expanded European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) could fill?Greece's financing gap.

Hewlett-Packard?rose after plunging nearly 12 percent in the previous session following an?$8.8 billion writedown?related to its purchase of Autonomy last year. Still, at least three brokerages lowered their price target on the company, while another two cut their rating.?

Among earnings,?Deere?fell after the equipment maker?missed earnings expectations, though revenue exceeded consensus. Deere said it is seeing continued strength in demand for large equipment, but did note caution surrounding its U.S. livestock and dairy markets.

Salesforce.com?soared to lead the S&P 500 gainers after the enterprise cloud computing company edged past earnings expectations and boosted its full-year 2013 revenue.

Scholastic?plunged nearly 20 percent after the children's book publisher cut its guidance for the fiscal year amid lower sales in its high-margin educational business.

St. Jude Medical?tumbled to lead the S&P 500 laggards after an inspection report from the FDA cited flaws in the medical device maker's oversight of design changes in its Durata line of implantable defibrillator leads. Wells Fargo lowered its rating on the stock to "market perform." Meanwhile, rival?Boston Scientific?rallied.

On the economic front, consumer sentiment rose to 82.7, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey. Still, the reading was below projections for 84.5, according to a Reuters poll.

Weekly jobless claims?fell to 410,000, according to the Labor Department, matching expectations from Reuters, but the report was still distorted by Hurricane Sandy.

And the leading economic indicator?edged up in October, according to the Conference Board, pointing to modest economic expansion growth in the near term.

Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturing grew at its fastest pace in five months in November, according to financial information firm Markit's U.S. "flash" manufacturing PMI.

Weekly mortgage applications?eased last week?as interest rates ticked higher, though demand for new loans improved, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-log-4-day-win-streak-ahead-holiday-1C7206754

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Fire Destroy's Family's Home Near Desoto - St. Louis News ...

Posted on: 8:34 pm, November 22, 2012, by George Sells, updated on: 10:54pm, November 22, 2012

JEFFERSON COUNTY, MO. (KTVI) ? A family?s home is destroyed on Thanksgiving, while the family was away from their home near Desoto, Missouri.? The fire broke out around 1:50 pm on Klondike Road, off Highway E, just south of Desoto.

The Desoto Fire District responded to the fire, calling in a two alarm fire once they arrived on scene.? The volunteer firemen had to battle wind and the lack of water to put out the blaze, using a near-by lake to get water.

The home was a total loss and a neighboring home suffered damage to its roof and siding.

Three firefighters were slightly injured and treated on scene.

Fire officials are looking at an electric turkey smoker as a possible cause of the fire.

Source: http://fox2now.com/2012/11/22/fire-destroys-familys-home-near-desoto/

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Marketing on the Internet | Business Online at Home - my blog!


Product Features

a pan and two spatula
microwave
oven
refrigerator and freezer doors all open and close
step-by-step assembly instructions

Product Description
It?s time to cook up some fun! Playing with our Grand Espresso Corner Kitchen makes any young kid feel like a world-class chef. This deluxe kitchen is loaded with fun details, including an innovative structure and an entire set of metal accessories. Features: Washing machine, oven, microwave, refrigerator and freezer doors all open and close Cloth curtains behind the sink 4 metal accessories ? a pot, a pan and two spatulas Knobs that turn and click Removable sink for quick and easy cleaning Large enough that multiple children can play at once Made of wood Smart, sturdy construction Packaged with detailed, step-by-step assembly instructions.

Christmas surprize,
Before deciding on this Kitchen for our Granddaughter, we did lots of reviewing and even had the chance to see her play with one, similar to this at a Giggles Place. Since Sophia lives 2000 miles away, we relied on our daughter?s description of her surprise on Christmas morning. Her Daddy and Uncle had great fun putting it together! Every time we Skpe now, she fixes us some delectable treat from her kitchen. Look out Iron Chef, she may be 2 but she has wonderful recipes and plans to execute them!

So many screws,
Who knew there could be so many screws in one box?? The box arrived promptly and was deceivingly small, leading me to think this might be a simple project. WRONG! It was a long night before Christmas. There were more screws than I ever believed possible. It took us about 2 1/2-3 hrs to assemble the kitchen. That being said, it is really nice and my child loves it. It had lots of nice touches and looks very contemporary. Overall a great kitchen, but it does take quite a bit of work to assemble.
KidKraft Grand Espresso Corner Kitchen

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Source: http://iblog.at/terryfernandes/?p=7118

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How To Make Money With Video Marketing | Business 2 Community

Did you know video is outpacing most other forms of online advertising every year? As people Video Marketingcontinue to get most of their information from the Internet, video is only ready to continue to grow as businesses push for a higher focus on their online presence. Did you also know that you can make quite a bit of money with online video, too? There are several ways you can make money off of video, not just through capturing new leads who have the potential of becoming paying customers?there?s even direct monetization methods that any business can take advantage of!

Going beyond YouTube

Most people know that one way to make a profit off of video online is to have a wildly successful video or channel on YouTube, and just have Google ads on your video. And for some people, that is enough. But, there are ways beyond YouTube which can be even more successful in the long run. What are other ways, you ask?

  • Providing a link to a website with more monetizing avenues at the end of your video is another very popular way to make money with online videos. Having all of your videos link to one another as well as to your website is the perfect way to boost up your SEO and make sure that your leads are being even more engaged beyond a video on YouTube.
  • Video marketing doesn?t just have to be all about blasting your brand all over YouTube, there are tons of other alternatives out there that you need to have a presence on as well for the best exposure. Vimeo, Meta Cafe, Daily Motion, and even Blip are all high-traffic alternatives to consider when planning out your online video marketing.
  • Adding ?apps? to your videos can help boost not only engagement, but also turn viewers into leads. Did you know that calls-to-action don?t have to only be for blogs and written content? They can be embedded on your videos, too. So can customizable branding to give you that professionally competitive edge.
  • Don?t forget to have your very own video player for your videos when users land on your website directly! All of your channels elsewhere can be linked to this video player, too.

It?s more than just viral videoscreating videos
When most professionals think of video marketing, they usually just assume that means putting together a video that will hopefully go viral and bring in a huge surge of non-targeted traffic. But, video has become a lot more sophisticated and can be highly targeted to boot. Yes, viral videos have their place and can bring in money, but, it?s normally short-lived and a one-time shot. With deep analytics in place and enough research, your videos can bring in consistent traffic that gets you paid.

Like mentioned earlier, videos now have the ability to have calls-to-action, analytics, and other customized widgets that are unique to your business. Run a local hotel? No problem, your viewers can check out available rooms right in your video player while watching your videos. Or, if you run a restaurant, let your viewers check out the current daily specials with a map to your location without having to pop-up another tab or window in their browser.

It?s time to think beyond the stray viral video and start empowering your video with the help of in-video apps and brand customization. Sure, YouTube is great for creating videos of cats, but it?s time to get down to business with your videos and bring in some serious revenue.

What other methods do you use to monetize your video marketing?

Author: Becky Stefansky????

Becky Stefansky is the the Director of Client Services and Marketing Manager for Viewbix. ?Aside from her love of video, she is addicted to all things news, celebrity and Tom Brady related.

Becky is also dedicated to helping you make the most out of Viewbix ? no matter what your goal? View?full?profile

Source: http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/how-to-make-money-with-video-marketing-0336174

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Friday, November 16, 2012

Erdrich wins her first National Book Award

FILE - This May 16, 2008 file photo shows author Louise Erdrich at her store BirchBark Books in Minneapolis. Erdrich, 58, won a National Book Award Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, for her story, "The Round House" the second of a planned trilogy, about an Ojibwe boy and his quest to avenge his mother's rape. Erdrich, who's part Ojibwe, spoke in her tribal tongue and then switched to English as she dedicated her fiction award to "the grace and endurance of native people." (AP Photo/Dawn Villella, file)

FILE - This May 16, 2008 file photo shows author Louise Erdrich at her store BirchBark Books in Minneapolis. Erdrich, 58, won a National Book Award Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, for her story, "The Round House" the second of a planned trilogy, about an Ojibwe boy and his quest to avenge his mother's rape. Erdrich, who's part Ojibwe, spoke in her tribal tongue and then switched to English as she dedicated her fiction award to "the grace and endurance of native people." (AP Photo/Dawn Villella, file)

(AP) ? The National Book Awards honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for "The Round House" to Katherine Boo for her debut work, "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers."

Erdrich, 58, has been a published and highly regarded author for nearly 30 years but had never won a National Book Award until being cited Wednesday for her story, the second of a planned trilogy, about an Ojibwe boy and his quest to avenge his mother's rape. A clearly delighted and surprised Erdrich, who's part Ojibwe, spoke in her tribal tongue and then switched to English as she dedicated her fiction award to "the grace and endurance of native people."

The works of two other winners also centered on young boys ? Boo's for nonfiction, and William Alexander's fantasy "Goblin Secrets," for young people's literature. David Ferry won for poetry.

Boo's book, set in a Mumbai slum, is the story of a boy and his harsh and illuminating education in the consequences of crime or perceived crime. The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist currently on staff with The New Yorker, said she was grateful for the chance to live in a world she "didn't know" and for the chance to tell the stories of those otherwise ignored. She praised a fellow nominee and fellow Pulitzer-winning reporter, the late Anthony Shadid, for also believing in stories of those without fame or power.

Boo was chosen from one of the strongest lists of nonfiction books in memory, from the fourth volume of Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson series to Shadid's memoir "House of Stone." Finalists in fiction, which in recent years favored lesser known writers, included such established names as Dave Eggers and Junot Diaz. Publishers have been concerned that the National Book Awards have become too insular and are considering changes, including expanding the pool of judges beyond writers.

Winners, chosen by panels of their peers, each will receive $10,000.Judges looked through nearly 1,300 books.

Ferry is a year older than one of the night's honorary recipients, Elmore Leonard. Ferry, 88, won for "Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations," a showcase for his versatile style. He fought back tears as he confided that he thought there was a chance for winning because he "was so much older" than the other nominees. Attempting to find poetry in victory, he called the award a "pre-posthumous" honor.

Alexander quoted fellow fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin in highlighting the importance of stories for shaping kids' imaginations and making the world a larger place than the one they live in.

"We have to remember that," Alexander said.

The ceremony was hosted by commentator-performer Faith Salie and went smoothly even though Superstorm Sandy badly damaged the offices of the award's organizer, the National Book Foundation, whose staffers had to work with limited telephone and mail access.

Honorary prizes were given to Leonard and New York Times publisher and chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-11-15-National%20Book%20Awards/id-b5e429f1fa5a4f408485b525f789d2f4

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Microsoft and Skype are dreaming up new ad formats ? paidContent

As web advertising faces challenges, how can an operating system and a VoIP service show more ads whilst not disrupting users? By threading them so deeply in to the technologies that no-one notices, Microsoft and Skype say.

One has faced challenges in its existing online ad business, while the other is just getting going. Now Microsoft and its recently acquired Skype are setting out to prove they?can profit where consumers aren?t paying ? by introducing a new lineup of advertising formats native to their new products.

At Monaco Media Forum, Microsoft?s advertising and online VP Frank Holland said the firm was no longer just trying to sell advertisers to its web services like Bing and MSN ? now the very system level of new-look Windows 8 is up for grabs as real estate.??It?s more useful to a consumer,? Holland said. ?Where the consumer finds utility, marketers want to be.?

So far, Microsoft has sold a spot in the Accuweather app on Windows 8?s start screen to Jeep, in which the vehicle reacts to weather forecasts.

The beauty of building in ads at this OS level is more than just reaching users where they find utility, Holland said.??We can measure when someone takes their index finger and scrolls to get to an ad, when it?s presented and how deep they get in to it.?You?re getting a lot more detail in a contextually relevant sense than if you were clicking on a banner ad.

?So far, we?re sold out. These sponsorships last for three months. The next sponsors come up in February and we?re already seeing some pretty strong pipeline there.?

Skype introduced basic display banners in March 2011, two months before Microsoft announced it would buy the internet calling service. Now it, too, is moving on to new concepts.

In a later session, Skype president Tony Bates told Monaco Media Forum he would introduce ?conversation ads? and ?more sharing moments? that are part and parcel of Skype?s regular usage.

?We?think it can go a lot further, we?re going to broaden the experience,? Bates said.??If I want to share something with you as a friend on Skype, you?re more likely to find that very relevant and have a deeper affinity with that.?

That could be ?the ability to share a customer service moment, a buying moment and so on.? ?We think, in future, you could have a sponsored group or brand that would literally be a contact in Skype, and could have a meaningful connection. This is a big shift.?

So far, it?s also somewhat vague. What?s more, figuring out the pricing structure and return on investment for such a mechanism could also prove challenging.?But what both Bates and Holland were speaking to was an ambition to bake advertising so deep in to their products that it is indistinguishable from utility.

?We want to be careful not to interrupt the Skype experience,? Holland said. ?We don?t want to let the golden egg of two people having a conversation to turn in to anything else.?

Nevertheless, one example he is envisaging from Skype is: ?Let?s design a Nike shoe together online if we happen to be in the mood to do that.?

That doesn?t sound like the kind of organic conversation that two people would ordinarily have.

But new formats matter. Microsoft this summer wrote off most of the $6.3 billion it paid to acquire online ad outfit aQuantive, many folks are freaking out about an ongoing collapse in web ad rates and others are concerned about the conventional search ads model embodied by engines like Bing is giving way to social discovery.

Now Microsoft is trying out new techniques like Xbox ads engaged with via Kinect.

Skype also has its challenges. The app is widely used but little paid-for. In last year?s S-1 filing, the outfit disclosed average monthly users currently stood at around 145 million, but only 8.8 million of them are paying users. That represents a big opportunity to monetise freeloaders, if Skype can make the right call.

In Monaco, sounding more like an ad space salesman than a VoIP operator, Skype?s Bates said what are now 218 million users clock up an average two hours and 55 minutes engagement time. Bates? hope is to sell ad buyers on this ?engagement? ? but what concepts we see in reality, who knows?

Regardless, Microsoft?s Holland had a note of surprise for anyone who thought Microsoft?s main line was in making operating systems. ?We?re a media company when it comes down to it,? he said.

Source: http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/15/microsoft-and-skype-dreaming-up-new-utilitarian-ad-formats/

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NFL Pick?em Podcast

Hunter Lang and Parker Smith go over their Week 10 picks on the Sports Power Talk NFL Picke?m Podcast.

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Source: http://www.wzip88.com/2012/11/nfl-pickem-podcast-3/

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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Cequent Introduces Reese Carbon Forged Line | RV Business

Cequent Performance Products Inc. has launched its Reese Towpower Carbon Forged line of patented ball mount bars that increases towing capacity, according to a press release.

The ball mounts carry a 100,000-mile road tested stamp of approval and feature the patented Reese Towpower Interlock One Wrench Tightening System for quick and easy securing of the hitch ball. The new products will be available at retail in March 2013.

?Carbon Forged is the next innovation from Reese Towpower,? said Eric Yukich, marketing director. ?With increased strength, built-in convenience and innovative design, our industry partners are excited and eager to offer these to consumers and enthusiasts in the coming year.?

Cequent Consumer Products, a designer, manufacturer and marketer of premium towing and trailer products, recently debuted Carbon Forged at the 2012 Automotive Aftermarket Product Expo (AAPEX) held at the Sand?s Expo in Las Vegas, Oct 30-Nov 1.

A website for Carbon forged was created at www.CarbonForgedTough.com, which features product information, photos and video.

In addition, Cequent Consumer Products also launched at the show its Carbon Forged with a Quick Response Code program which uses DENSO Wave original ISO complaint QR Codes. The code assures maximum performance and optimum user scan ability.

Customers who scan the code will be taken to a mobile version of the Carbon Forged website to learn more about the products while they are shopping.

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Source: http://www.rvbusiness.com/2012/11/cequent-introduces-reese-carbon-forged-line/

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

T-Mobile posts Q3 2012 earnings, prepaid doing well

T-Mobile

T-Mobile has finally posted its Q3 2012 earnings and they're looking pretty good. We'll start first with the carrier's postpaid contract earnings. On the postpaid side, T-Mobile posted total revenues of $4.9 billion, down 6.4-percent year-over-year. Contract ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) dropped slightly by 3.3-perecent to $56.59, mostly due to the move to Value Plans which make up a quarter of postpaid subscribers. T-Mobile in the end lost 492,000 postpaid customers for the quarter, which is an improvement from last quarter.

The positive side of this quarter's earnings is in prepaid. T-Mobile added 365,000 prepaid subscribers on the quarter, and prepaid revenues were up 38-percent (year-over-year) to $450 million. ARPU was also up 12.5-percent to $27.35 for prepaid customers. Wholesale customers (that's M2M and MVNO) also increased by 287,000. These are pretty big growth numbers, and you can understand why T-Mobile has started to push towards prepaid more and more.

Overall, T-mobile's net income for the quarter was a loss to the tune of $7.8 billion. That sounds bad, but let us quickly explain why they made a loss this quarter. Because of the merger between T-Mobile and MetroPCS, the carrier had to take a non-cash "impairment charge" of $8.1 billion, and chose to write it all down in one quarter. This turned a quarter that would have been a $400 million profit into one with a considerable loss. Mergers aside, expenses for the quarter were down 0.4-percent year-over-year.

When looking at the root causes behind the numbers you can hardly call this a "loss" for the quarter, all things considered. Money was well spent on a merger that will improve T-Mobile's position in the U.S. market considerably, and prepaid growth is looking positive for the future.

Source: T-Mobile Newsroom; Extended Financial Summary (PDF)



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

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