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Friday, November 30, 2012
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VeriSign wins .com renewal, but can't hike prices
NEW YORK (AP) ? The federal government has cleared VeriSign Inc. to manage the databases that house ".com" domain names for another six years, but the company won't be allowed to raise prices without approval.
Under the current contract, which expires Friday, VeriSign was guaranteed four price increases of up to 7 percent each on domain name registrations. VeriSign sought a similar guarantee as part of the contract renewal, but the Commerce Department rejected it. The new contract freezes the annual price at the current $7.85 per name, barring special circumstances.
"Consumers will benefit from VeriSign's removal of the automatic price increases," Lawrence E. Strickling, assistant Commerce secretary for communication and information, said in a statement. "At the same time, the agreement protects the security and stability of the Internet by allowing VeriSign to take cost-based price increases where justified."
Anyone who wants a ".com" name can obtain one from various companies, which pay VeriSign $7.85 of what they collect on each name. The new contract lets VeriSign continue receiving those fees, but won't guarantee more.
The ".com" suffix is the most popular Internet domain name in use, with about 105 million names registered. Although hundreds of other suffixes exist ?and hundreds more are coming in the next few years? none has matched the success of ".com." VeriSign's ".com" directories are used by millions of computers and mobile devices around the world to locate websites and send email to addresses ending in ".com."
The $7.85 fee translates to $824 million a year in revenue for those 105 million names. Had VeriSign been allowed to raise prices four times by 7 percent each, as called for in a draft of the new contract, the company could have charged as much as $10.29 by the end of the six-year term. That would have meant an additional $256 million a year on those 105 million names.
VeriSign's stock fell $5.42, or 14 percent, to $33.92 in midday trading Friday. Calling the new price cap a surprise, Citi Investment Research analyst Walter Pritchard reduced his price target on VeriSign to $35, from $42.
VeriSign, which is based in Reston, Va., had justified previous price hikes by pointing to its need to ensure that ".com" directories run smoothly amid increases in Internet traffic and heightened security threats.
In a statement, VeriSign CEO Jim Bidzos said the new contract "provides certainty and sets a clear direction for the company."
The annual fee had been $6 for several years, until VeriSign was guaranteed price increases in its 2006 contract. The company took advantage of that and raised the fee to $7.85, a penny short of what had been permitted.
The new contract allows VeriSign to request an end to price caps if it can demonstrate that "market conditions no longer warrant such restrictions." Factors could include reduced demand for ".com" names, competition from other Internet suffixes and increased use of alternative navigation techniques such as search engines.
The contract also extends a provision giving preference to VeriSign for any renewals in the future, without requiring an open-bidding process.
VeriSign's contract is with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit organization that oversees Internet address policies. ICANN tentatively approved a contract extension with price increases in June, but it needed the Commerce Department's approval. Commerce removed the price hikes and approved the modified contract Thursday.
VeriSign also runs the database for the less-popular ".net" suffix, but that is not subject to government oversight. Under its contract with ICANN, VeriSign is allowed to raise prices on ".net" names by up to 10 percent a year.
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London plan to sell Henry Moore work hits legal snag
LONDON (Reuters) - Plans by a cash-strapped London borough to sell a Henry Moore sculpture worth up to 20 million pounds to help pay the bills has hit a snag after the Art Fund charity launched a legal challenge over who owns "Draped Seated Woman".
Tower Hamlets in the east of the capital, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the country, is struggling to make austerity savings of 100 million pounds over the next two years, and proposed the sale of the Moore as a partial solution.
That decision caused an uproar in the art world, with senior figures including Tate gallery director Nicholas Serota and Oscar-winning film maker Danny Boyle opposing what they saw as a short-term fix that could set a dangerous precedent.
The Art Fund has now questioned the ownership of the sculpture, known affectionately as "Old Flo", which Moore sold in the 1960s at below market prices on the understanding it should be put on public display for Londoners to enjoy.
When Greater London Council was dissolved in 1986 it was assumed that the sculpture was transferred to Tower Hamlets, but Art Fund's lawyers say that works of public art may have been handled separately from land and buildings.
"Ownership must be established beyond reasonable doubt before a work of art can be sold," the Art Fund said. "No-one has previously queried who owns 'Old Flo', as no-one has previously wanted to sell it."
The mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman, who has expressed regret at having to sell the Moore, dismissed the Art Fund's move as a "desperate PR stunt".
He received a letter from the Art Fund's solicitors on November 26, and the council's lawyers are preparing to respond within the "standard" seven-day timeframe.
Tower Hamlets has approached auction house Christie's to sell the Moore, and, while its value has been put as high as 20 million pounds, some experts caution that it could go for significantly less.
The artist's auction record of 19.1 million pounds was set at Christie's in February for "Reclining Figure: Festival".
It is not the first time a local council in Britain has sold art treasures to make ends meet, although the Moore sculpture is the most important such case experts can remember.
Last year, Bolton Council sold 35 paintings from its art collection to fund the restoration and preservation of the remaining works, and in 2006, Bury Council sold an L.S. Lowry painting for 1.4 million pounds.
Old Flo was initially installed in the Stifford housing estate in east London, but after the estate was demolished the work was loaned to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in northern England where it has been on display for years.
The Art Fund said several offers had been made to display, conserve and insure the Moore sculpture, including from the Museum of London, but that Tower Hamlets had refused to consider them.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/london-plan-sell-henry-moore-hits-legal-snag-130926307.html
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Internet service goes out across Syria
BEIRUT (AP) ? Internet service went down Thursday across Syria and international flights were canceled at the Damascus airport when a road near the facility was closed by heavy fighting in the country's civil war.
Activists said President Bashar Assad's regime pulled the plug on the Internet, perhaps in preparation for a major offensive. Cellphone service also went out in Damascus and parts of central Syria, they said. The government blamed rebel fighters for the outages.
With pressure building against the regime on several fronts and government forces on their heels in the battle for the northern commercial hub of Aleppo, rebels have recently begun pushing back into Damascus after largely being driven out of the capital following a July offensive. One Damascus resident reported seeing rebel forces near a suburb of the city previously deemed to be safe from fighting.
The Internet outage, confirmed by two U.S.-based companies that monitor online connectivity, is unprecedented in Syria's 20-month-old uprising against Assad, which activists say has killed more than 40,000 people.
Regime forces suffered a string of tactical defeats in recent weeks, losing air bases and other strategic facilities. The government may be trying to blunt additional rebel offensives by hampering communications.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned what she called the regime's "assault" on Syrians' ability to communicate with each other and express themselves. She said the move spoke to a desperate attempt by Assad to cling to power.
Syrian authorities often cut phone and Internet service in select areas to disrupt rebel communications when regime forces are conducting major operations.
The government sent mixed signals about the Internet outage but denied it was nationwide. The pro-regime TV station Al-Ikhbariya quoted Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying that "terrorists" have targeted Internet cables, interrupting service in several cities.
Separately, state-run TV said the outage was due to a technical failure that affected some provinces, adding that technicians were trying to fix it.
Activists in Syria, reached by satellite telephones unaffected by the outage, confirmed the communications problems.
A young Syrian businessman who lives in an upscale neighborhood of Damascus, which some refer to as part of "the green zone" because it has remained relatively safe, sent a text message to an Associated Press reporter Thursday that said the Internet had been cut in his area and that mobile phone service was cutting out.
He said he was driving Wednesday through the Damascus suburb of Aqraba, near the airport, and saw dozens of rebel fighters for the first time in the area, riding in pickup trucks and motorcycles, and wielding AK-47s.
Their presence so close to the "green zone" may have led to the Internet being cut, said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared government reprisal. He said the military was positioned a few hundred meters away from the rebel fighters and had built large speed bumps to enclose the area.
The opposition said the Internet blackout was an ominous sign that the regime was preparing a major offensive.
"I fear that cutting the Internet may be a prelude to a massacre in Damascus," said Adib Shishakly, a Syrian opposition figure from Cairo, Egypt. "The regime feels it is being choked off by rebels who are closing in on the capital from its suburbs. It's a desperate move; they are trying to sever communications between activists."
Renesys, a U.S.-based network security firm that studies Internet disruption, said in a statement that Syria effectively disappeared from the Internet at 12:26 p.m. local time.
"In the global routing table, all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the Internet," Renesys said. It added that the main autonomous system responsible for Internet in the country is the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, and that "all of their customer networks are currently unreachable."
Akamai Technologies Inc., another U.S.-based company that distributes content on the Internet, also confirmed the complete outage.
Jim Cowie, the chief technology officer at Renesys, said the abruptness of the outage suggested it wasn't due to a severed cable. Syria has several cables that connect it to the outside world, and all of them would have had to be cut at once for a complete outage. A power outage or an intentional shutdown at central Syrian telecommunications facilities is a more likely cause, he said.
"We saw everything go in three to four minutes, which looks like a light switch," Cowie said.
He said the profile of the outage was similar to what the Egyptian government did in January 2011 during the Arab Spring uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Egypt switched off the Internet for five days, halting businesses, banking and ? at the height of the demonstrations ? the ability of protest leaders to organize and communicate with each other.
Bahrain's Sunni rulers also jammed cellphones during the military offensive on the protesters' encampment in the capital of Manama in March 2011. Internet service remained at a crawl when the Bahrain's military stormed the city's Pearl Square ? the headquarters of the revolt ? after weeks of street protests.
Ann Harrison, deputy program director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said in a statement that the group worried the communications were cut in Syria "to shield the truth of what is happening in the country from the outside world."
The shadowy group of hacker-activists known as Anonymous sent out a tweet Thursday saying that as of 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Friday) it would "begin removing from the Internet all web assets belonging to the Assad regime that are NOT hosted in Syria. We will begin with the websites and servers belonging to ALL Syrian Embassies abroad, which we will begin systematically removing from the Internet tonight." It said the first target was the website of the Syrian Embassy in China.
"By turning off the Internet in Syria, the butcher Assad has shown that the time has come for Anonymous to remove the last vestiges of his evil government from the Internet," Anonymous said in its statement.
Thursday's violence appeared to be focused on southern suburbs near the Damascus international airport, forcing the military to shut the road to the facility. The surrounding districts have been strongholds of rebel support since the uprising began.
At the United Nations, the secretary-general's office said at least four soldiers assigned to the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights were injured in the crossfire on the airport road as their unit was heading out for a routine rotation of forces.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the regime has started a major offensive around the airport where rebels have been particularly active in recent weeks.
Abdul-Rahman, who relies on a network of activists in Syria, said large convoys of government reinforcements were seen heading south toward the airport, which is 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Damascus. The fighting was concentrated in and around the suburbs of Aqraba and Beit Saham, he said.
The Syrian Information Ministry later said the airport road was secure after attacks by "terrorist groups" on motorists, according to state TV. It was not immediately clear whether the road had been reopened.
The fighting prompted both Emirates airline and EgyptAir to cancel flights to Damascus.
Despite months of sporadic fighting and deteriorating security in Damascus, the airport has remained open.
But EgyptAir said in a statement that the airline will halt all flights to Damascus and Aleppo starting Friday, until further notice. EgyptAir head Rushdi Zakaria said the decision was due to deteriorating security conditions in Syria.
Syrian TV also said government forces were chasing "al-Qaida elements" around Damascus, mostly in the eastern suburbs of Douma and the southern suburb of Daraya.
The Observatory said the regime used warplanes to hit districts including Daraya, where fighting has raged for days.
The operation around Damascus comes days after rebels made significant advances in the area. Last week, they captured a major helicopter base just outside the capital.
In the southern city of Daraa, where the uprising began, rebels detonated a car bomb near the house of a senior member of the country's ruling Baath Party, killing him and his three bodyguards, activists said. Rebels frequently target regime figures and military commanders.
___
Associated Press writers Barbara Surk in Beirut, Matthew Lee in Washington, Peter Svensson in New York, Peter James Spielmann at the United Nations, Robert H. Reid in Berlin and Aya Batrawi in Cairo contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/internet-goes-across-syria-213845781--finance.html
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Texas records raise question about warning before train crash
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Reuters) - The Texas railroad crossing where four U.S. military veterans were killed this month during a parade was designed to give 30 seconds warning but gave only 20, according to state records and federal investigators.
Sixteen other people were injured when a train slammed into a parade float in Midland, Texas, on November 15 at the start of a weekend of festivities to honor veterans wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Four of those wounded have sued Union Pacific, the operator of the train, and Smith Industries, the company which owns the truck that pulled the trailer the veterans were riding on for the parade.
The Texas Department of Transportation released on Wednesday records from 1992 that said the intersection known as Garfield in the southern part of the oil town had been designed to give at least 30 seconds of warning and possibly more.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said the warning bells began sounding and lights flashed at the intersection 20 seconds before the train arrived at more than 60 miles per hour (97 km per hour).
The parade float, one of two, was an open trailer hauled by a semi-truck donated from Midland-based Smith Industries. The float had been pulling 12 war-wounded veterans and their wives.
The cab made it across the intersection but the train hit the open float.
Two attorneys specializing in train crash lawsuits, Kevin Glasheen of Lubbock and Bob Pottroff of Manhattan, Kansas, are representing the four victims of the train crash, two veterans and their wives.
"Ten seconds, even five seconds, would've made a difference," Glasheen said.
The lawsuit says that Union Pacific failed to provide a safe crossing or a proper warning of an approaching train. It also says the truck driver employed by Smith Industries who drove the cab pulling the float failed to exercise reasonable care for his passengers.
Union Pacific said on Thursday the records released by the state of Texas are outdated.
"Documents from 20 and 30 years ago do not reflect current conditions at the Garfield crossing," said spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza.
She said preliminary findings of a federal government investigation showed that the signal system met federal requirements.
Union Pacific has blamed the driver of the truck pulling the float for the accident. The government investigation continues.
(Editing by Greg McCune and Eric Beech)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-records-raise-warning-train-crash-035224802--finance.html
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Voters Approve Transportation Spending, AASHTO's New President and More
While infrastructure netted hardly a mention in this year's presidential campaign, dozens of state, city and county governments held elections related to highway, transit and water infrastructure. By and large, voters supported these efforts.
The narrative, infrastructure advocates say, is a familiar one, and the results aren?t unusual. Historically, state and local voters have more often than not supported funding local transportation projects.
The trend also illustrates a stark contrast to the state of affairs at the federal level. Congressional lawmakers have been wary of approving solutions that would generate new revenue for transportation projects. "I think the initiatives we saw that were successful [in states and localities] showed again that when people know what they're going to get, they're more likely to support it," said Kerry O'Hare, vice president and director of Building America's Future Educational Fund.
This article appears in our new, free Infrastructure e-newsletter. Click to subscribe.
Roughly 68 percent of measures that would extend funding for highways, bridges and transit were approved, according to The American Road & Transportation Builders Association. The projects tracked are valued at $2.4 billion. The American Public Transportation Association found a similar rate of success with the batch of transit ballot initiatives it tracked on Election Night.
Successful campaigns tend to have clear project lists, broad coalitions that grassroots activists along with the business community support, and an easily identifiable benefit to voters, said Jason Jordan of the Center for Transportation Excellence, which tracks transit votes.
"When you make a specific request of people -- 'do you want this kind of project, this set of transportation options in your community and are you willing to pay for it?' -- the data is pretty unambiguous," Jordan said. "Most of the time the answer to the question is yes."
Some of the most significant, successful campaigns are highlighted below:
- By a 57 percent margin, Alaska voters approved a $453.5 million bond measure that will pay for a slew of major projects, including $50 million for the port in Anchorage and $30 million for a rail extension. The future of these two projects, however, is unclear amidst legal disputes. The bond will also help pay for several congestion-relieving highway projects. "We're a young state," said Acting Transportation Commissioner Pat Kemp. "We're trying to get our unique problems taken care of."
- In Honolulu, the number one issue in the mayoral election was the fate of the city's elevated rail line, which has been viewed as integral to reducing congestion in the island city. The $5.1 billion project, which has been praised by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is projected to generate 116,000 trips each weekday. Kirk Caldwell, a supporter of the project, defeated former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who had pledged to stop it if elected and replace it with a less expensive plan that included bus rapid transit and other elements.
- Michigan voters proved that money doesn't always win elections, defeating a proposed amendment backed by the state's wealthy Moroun family, which controls Detroit's privately-owned Ambassador Bridge. The family was threatened with increased competition -- and potentially a loss in revenue -- due to a new crossing backed by Gov. Rick Snyder. Canada is poised to front the costs of the toll road bridge project. About $28 million was raised to fight the project, nearly all of? which came from the Moroun's businesses. The ballot measure pushed for an amendment that would require a statewide vote on any new international bridge. Observers, including many of the state's major newspapers, said the campaign blatantly mischaracterized the international project. "People made clear in Tuesday?s election that they believe in Michigan?s future and support the governor?s vision of moving forward so we can grow our economy and create jobs," Snyder spokesman Ken Silfven said.
- Other infrastructure wins: Arkansas voters approved a half-cent sales tax for highways, bridges and roads that would be used to fund a $1.3 billion highway improvement bond. Maine voters said yes to Question 4, a $51 million transportation bond primarily for road and bridge repairs, and Question 5, a $7.9 million bond for the state's water and wastewater revolving loan fund. Oklahoma voters approved up to $300 million in bonds that would give the state's Water Resources Board a reserve fund. Arlington County, Va., voters approved bonds of $14.6 million to help fund the D.C. regional transit agency, and $17.3 million for bike and pedestrian improvements along with road repaving. And Rhode Island voters approved bonds of $12 million for the state's wastewater infrastructure fund and $8 million for the drinking water fund. "The product we're promoting here is improvement ... caused by groundwater and wastewater pollution," said Anthony Simeone, executive director of the Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency. "So it's something that makes perfect sense to our voters when they look at it, and there's a job creation aspect of it."
Below are highlighted some of the most significant ballot losses:
- Memphis voters opted against a one-cent per gallon gas tax that would have been used to provide a dedicated funding stream to the area's transit agency. Supporters had hoped for a win, since the cost per driver wasn't particularly high -- less than $7 per year for an average motorist getting 20 mpg. But supporters also noted that voters in the area faced other tax hikes on the ballot, which might have hurt their cause. Memphis City Councilman Edmund Ford Jr., an ardent supporter of the tax, says he views a strong transit system as an economic driver since it would help people get to work. "This is one tax that no one should have speculation over where the money will go," Ford said.
- Voters in Los Angeles County overwhelmingly supported Measure J, which would have extended an existing half-cent sales tax for transportation projects for another 30 years beyond 2039, when the existing tax is set to expire. In the end, it wasn't enough. State law requires a two-thirds majority of votes to enact the tax, and the ballot only got 64.7 percent. Officials had hoped that by passing Measure J, the timetable for the expansion of subways, bus service and light rail would have been dramatically accelerated. The measure would have allowed the transportation authority to borrow more money now and pay it back with the future tax revenues
- Arizona voters shot down Proposition 204, which would have renewed a one-cent sales tax set to expire next year. In its first year, the tax would have generated a projected $971 million, 10 percent of which would have gone towards transportation projects, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Opponents characterized the tax hike as unnecessary.
- Other infrastructure losses: Hawaii voters said no to a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the state to issue revenue bonds to help dam and reservoir owners pay for safety improvements. Virginia voters passed a constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the use of eminent domain. Some observers believe it could spell trouble for infrastructure, since governments would now be on the hook not just for the value of the property they take, but for lost profits that result from it.
Q&A with Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director (RIDOT) Michael P. Lewis
The debut of this newsletter happens to come at the same time the country's state DOT directors are convening in Pittsburgh for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) annual conference. I caught up with RIDOT Director Michael P. Lewis, AASHTO's new president.
What are your priorities for your new term?
We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of AASHTO in 2014. It's time to take stock of where we've been for the last 100 years. We're all collectively trying to figure out how we implement MAP-21. There are some obvious, groundbreaking new elements in the surface transportation bill, particularly as it relates to performance measurement and more discretion from states on how they spend federal money. But it's only a two-year bill. So while we're thinking about how to implement MAP-21, we're immediately thinking about MAP-22, and what the next bill should look like.
Our entire senior executive leadership is moving on. [Executive Director John Horsley, Director of Program Finance and Management Jack Basso, and Director of Engineering and Technical Services Tony Kane are all retiring in early 2013]. We're clearly in a transition year. I want to be very careful not to bring too many things in. I want to carry forward (outgoing AASHTO President and Michigan DOT Director) Kirk Steudle's emphasis on technology and ITS [Intelligent Transportation Systems].
What are your members going to be discussing in Pittsburgh this weekend?
A big effort is going to be the implementation of MAP-21 and ensuring we're all understanding what the goals are of the performance measures and the timing of it. As much as MAP-21 is great -- we have two years of commitment from the federal government -- it is level funded. Many of us look at that as a victory compared to the alternative. But we can't forget the fact that that's very much below what we need to be investing in transportation infrastructure in this country. So as much as we cheer the fact that we have MAP-21, we need to figure out how to best utilize our resources to cover as much as we need to cover with such a deficit in investment.
How soon are you going to start making your case and lobbying for the successor to MAP-21, which expires in two years?
We absolutely need to start talking about it. It takes that long to coordinate with the administration, the House and the Senate. It looks like we're going to have a new secretary of transportation, and there's going to be a new set of priorities. The House and Senate makeup will be different. All of that we're going to have to learn. We at AASHTO will have to step back and say, "Now that we have MAP-21 in place, what do we want to build on for the future?" I don't think it's ever too early to begin that discussion.
What do you like about MAP-21? What are your biggest concerns with implementation?
I'm a glass half-full kind of guy and look at this as a positive. I think some of the concerns that have been expressed about additional reporting are legitimate. But we also need to continue to learn to work smarter. When times are tough, it often produces more innovation. If it's not hard and things are coming easily, there's less incentive to innovate. I don't think we're every going to be in a position that we're flush with so much cash that we become lazy. I think that's a good thing.
Must Reads
- Transportation Nation: A self-reported survey by the leaders of Denver's bikeshare program reveals that its members are nearly 90 percent white, and less than 1 percent are black.
- Washington Examiner: The regional authority overseeing a $6 billion rail extension to Dulles airport -- one of the largest transportation projects in the country -- is rife with nepotism and mismanagement, according to a new report.
- Bloomberg Businessweek: Meet Chris Couri, the man behind the cheekily named company, "We Do Lines," which specializes in the unusual field of parking lot painting.
- Eno Center for Transportation: AASHTO finance guru Joung Lee explains five myths about TIFIA, the federal credit program that received a huge boost in funding under the new highway bill.
- FastCoExist.com: See a slideshow of how workers removed hundreds of millions of gallons of salt water from the New York subway system in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
- The Hill: President Obama's victory means Amtrak is unlikely to be privatized and transportation funding probably won?t be gutted.
- Popular Mechanics: TSA could be more effective -- and less frustrating -- if it switched to a system that relied more on background checks and intelligence gathering.
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Sony Bravia KDL-42EX440
Buying a budget HDTV no longer means having to settle for skewed colors and subpar image quality, but you will still have to make some sacrifices. With the Sony Bravia KDL-42EX440 ($549.99 direct) you get solid color quality and a sharp 1080p picture that looks good from all angles, but that?s about it. This no-frills HDTV doesn't offer Internet connectivity or any Web apps, nor does it have 3D capabilities.? Its contrast ratio is less than optimal as well. That said, its very reasonable price tag will appeal to budget-conscious shoppers.
Design
There's nothing notable about the look of the 42EX440; it uses a matte black cabinet with a glossy black bezel and a rigid glossy black rectangular base. The base does a good job of supporting the 29-pound cabinet but doesn't allow for swivel adjustments. A silver Sony logo sits on the lower bezel along with seven touch-sensitive buttons, including Power, Channel, Volume, Source, and Home (menu) buttons. The controls are erratic; sometimes they respond with one touch and other times they need to be pressed several times. You're better off using the included remote.
I/O ports are limited. The 42EX440 only has two HDMI inputs (most HDTVs come with four). One is mounted on the left side of the cabinet above a USB port and the other is on the back of the cabinet along with digital and analog audio outputs, a VGA (PC) video input, a TV Coaxial jack, and component A/V inputs. If you have more than two devices (three if you're fine with using component video), you'll need to find other ways to connect them. And there's no Ethernet or Wi-Fi, so you can't connect this set to the Web.
The two 8-watt speakers are actually quite loud considering they are rear-facing. They don?t put out a lot of bass, but you can coax a bit of low end by enabling the bass boost option.
The remote is a little over 8 inches long and contains 36 buttons plus a four-way directional navigation button. None of the buttons are illuminated. It has a dedicated Scene button that lets you select one of seven picture presets (Auto, General, Photo, Music, Cinema, Game, Graphics, and Sports), along with the typical player controls (Play, Forward, Rewind, Pause, Stop), a Source button, a number pad, and a Home button that takes you into the settings screens.
You get the usual selection of picture, audio, and channel settings.? Picture settings include Backlight, Picture (contrast), Brightness, Color, Hue, Sharpness, and Color Temperature. There's also a CineMotion setting that helps reduce blurring when watching film-based content, and five noise reduction settings. Advanced settings include a black corrector and a contrast enhance—both of which can help strengthen contrast, but introduce artifacts when enabled—as well as a gamma adjustment and white balance controls. Additionally, there's a menu selection for Sony?s Photo Frame application that will play USB-stored photos and music in a slideshow while displaying a calendar.
Performance
Picture performance was a mixed bag. Using images from the DisplayMate HDTV diagnostic tests and a Konica Minolta CS-200 Chroma Meter, the 42EX440 turned in a relatively low peak brightness of 159.79 cd/m2 (candelas per square meter) and a black level reading of 0.06 cd/m2. That works out to a contrast ratio of 2,663:1, which is considerably better than the LG 42CS560's 987:1 contrast ratio, but just shy of the Editors' Choice Samsung PN51E490B4F, a 720p plasma HDTV that doesn't have quite as high a black level (0.08 cd/m2) but gets much brighter at 225.08 cd/m2 for a contrast ratio of 2,814:1. It's well short of what you?ll get from a more expensive set like the Sharp Aquos LC-60LE640U? (12,221:1).
Red and green color measurements matched up nicely with the CIE 1976 chromaticity specs. Blue was a bit cool, but fortunately there were no tinting errors as a result. The mediocre black levels came into play while watching Tree of Life on Blu-ray; shadow detail was somewhat muddy, particularly in darker scenes, and the picture could have been brighter. Otherwise, colors were well-saturated and the high-definition image looked sharp. Off-angle viewing looked great, with the picture not fading and colors not distorting at all when watched from the sides.?
The set averaged 68 watts of power during my testing with power saving disabled, which is in line with similar-size LED-based models. Switching to the low setting cut usage down to 57 watts without making the picture too dim, while the high setting cut it down to 28 watts (but made it much too dark). By way of comparison, Sony's 46-inch KDL-46EX750 used 67 watts with power saving disabled and 48 watts with power saving enabled.
Conclusion
You won't get a lot of extras with the Sony Bravia KDL-42EX440, but you won't pay a premium price for it either. What you do get is good color performance, relatively wide viewing angles, and a sharp HD picture for around $550. Black levels and peak brightness could certainly be better, but if you're short on cash and want a basic 42-inch HDTV, the 42EX440 will fill the bill nicely. If you want a larger, still-affordable HDTV with a more robust feature set, including out-of-the-box active 3D with glasses, the $690 51-inch Samsung PN51E490B4F is our Editors' Choice for budget HDTVs. It's a plasma set, however, and it maxes out at 720p resolution.
More HDTV Reviews:
??? Sony Bravia KDL-42EX440
??? Vizio E701I-A3
??? Sony Bravia KDL-50EX645
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/p5GXnCJJrRA/0,2817,2412391,00.asp
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Millennial: Apple Still Leads Samsung In Overall Impressions, But Android Dominates iOS With 52% Share
Leading mobile ad network Millennial Media today released ist Q3 Mobile Mix report, and it would appear that Apple has kept its lead as top manufacturer on the platform, with the top device being the iPhone. However, Apple didn't see a drastic spike in mobile ad impressions with the release of the iPhone 5, as was expected. Apple accounted for 31.45 percent of overall device impressions, up from 31.38% in Q2, and the iPhone the number one device on the platform with 16.04 percent of impressions, up from 15.84 last quarter.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/enBlJx2ClPA/
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Nuclear Power Could Blast Humans Into Deep Space
A team of researchers, including engineers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, this week reported their successful demonstration of a new concept that could provide reliable nuclear power for space exploration. The technology is still years away from the warp drive of Star Trek, but it could provide a means of propulsion for space travel beyond the moon.
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Bennett Insurance Group, Inc.: Boat and Marine Insurance
Boat and Marine Insurance
Whether you?re a long-time boater or a first-timer, having fun, being responsible and being safe is what it?s all about. Being responsible includes finding the right insurance for your watercraft.
Boat or Marine insurance is available for small boats, yachts, high performance powerboats, live-aboard houseboats, catamarans, or pontoons. Marine insurance will cover intended use including personal recreation, commercial, or charter vessels.
Boat policies can cover damage to your boat, motor, trailer, and personal effects in the boat. Available coverage includes liability, medical payments, injury to a water skier and damage to the boat itself, sometime called hull coverage. Availability varies by state and by insurance company. Even though boat insurance premiums are low, shopping your rate can sometimes save a substantial amount.
Our marine insurance provides an array of convenient services that take the hassle out of the search and acquisition of watercraft insurance coverage. ?We compare quotes from major providers to help you find the best deal.
At Bennett Insurance Group, we cover everything from row boats, fishing boats and ski boats to house boats and cruisers. We even cover special construction boats, sail boats, party barges, sport boats and personal watercraft. And with exceptional insurance coverages, you can take to the water with confidence.
As always we want you to practice safe and knowledge watercraft operation. ?Follow the rules of the water as you enjoy fun weekends.
When considering your needs for insurance products for your home or business consider contacting Bennett Insurance Group at 623-979-4140
Brought to you by:
Jim Bennett
Bennett Insurance Group
623-979-4140
http://jimbennettinsurance.com
jim@jimbennettinsurance.com
Source: http://bennettins.blogspot.com/2012/11/boat-and-marine-insurance.html
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Apple Macbook Air 13.3? (june, 2009) Crack Screen But Works Great
selling this macbook air. the laptop runs well. it's fast and it comes with a charger. The only thing wrong is that it has a crack in the screen. its really not in the way. its on the side on the screen. check out the pictures. NO BOX Posted with eBay Mobile
Recommended Reading
Tags: 11, 13, apple, charger, laptop, Mac, MacBook, MacBook air 13, screen
Source: http://macbookfreak.com/apple-macbook-air-13-3-june-2009-crack-screen-but-works-great/
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wayne Thornton: El Paso adult slow-pitch softball tournament has ...
Adult slow-pitch softball is one of the most popular recreational sports in the city.
On any given Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday, thousands of players -- men and women of all levels-- are playing softball.
Bragging rights will be on the line Dec. 14-16 when the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department puts on its King of the Hill Softball Tournament.
Recreational and competitive divisions are available for men, women and coed teams.
All of the games will be played at various times at Marty Robbins Fields, 11600 Vista Del Sol; Blackie Chesher Fields, 9143 N. Escobar; and Northeast Regional Fields, 11270 McCombs.
This annual event is a slugfest of the "best of the best" in the city.
"This is one of the premier softball tourneys in the city for those that love to play softball or love to watch the game," said Gregory Edmunds, recreation specialist with the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department.
Today is the final day for teams to register for the tournament. The registration fee is $150 per team. Teams can register at www.elpasotexas. gov/parks or in person at Chalio Acosta Sports Center, 4321 Delta.
"My crew of nine will be out in force for the weekend tournament along with doing our daily chores each week of preparing 75 to 80 different fields for various sports," said Dennis Elengold, a recreation sports coordinator, said of his grounds crew. "This tourney is a great way to showcase our city to people that participate
from out of town."Robert Garza, tournament co-chairman, expects a huge turnout.
"The coed division usually has 30 to 40 teams and the men's division has upwards of 30 teams," he said, noting that the women's division has fallen off in recent years. "The tourney has open registration and is open to any team in El Paso and the surrounding area. Teams come from places such as Portales, New Mexico, and other outlying areas of Texas."
Awards will be given to team champions and runners- up, along with individual T-shirts for the top two teams in each division.
The tournament, now 5 years old, has gathered a great following of softball enthusiasts even though the weather can be quite chilly. Teams seem to love the atmosphere and camaraderie and, of course, being called King of the Hill.
After this tournament, players will take a year-end break before a new league starts in late January.
Registration for those leagues will start in mid-December at the Acosta Sports Center or online at the Parks and Recreation website.
The fee is $380 for men's, coed and women's teams for a 16-game regular season.
The coed division is the most popular as many players bring their families out to watch.
The competition will be tough and exciting to decide this year's King of the Hill as well as later on for the more than 350 teams that participate in El Paso Parks and Recreation leagues.
For more information call 534-0254.
Wayne Thornton may be reached at 373-6708 or wlegend@elp.rr.com. For more, 562-7071 or www.elpasotexas.gov/parks
Source: http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_22083885?source=rss
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Deval Patrick's Wisdom (and lack thereof) on Health Reform ...
Governor Deval Patrick is rightly proud of the progress Massachusetts has made in health reform. Essentially every child has health insurance and nearly every adult, too. Businesses have not dropped coverage, and the state budget has not been busted. He hits some high points in a 2-minute video interview from SolomonMcCown.
He also offers some lessons for the Administration in implementing ObamaCare ?and while he makes some good points, overall the advice is not going to be a game changer.
He starts by noting that MA health reforms polls in the 70% range for favorability among Massachusetts residents, whereas the Affordable Care Act/ObamaCare is only 50%, despite being essentially the same thing. He attributes the difference to a lack of marketing by the feds.
He also notes that the in Massachusetts the coalition that invented health reform stayed together to refine it over time.
The suggestions are reasonable enough, but there are some problems with this take:
- Actually it is rational for a person to support Massachusetts health reform but not ObamaCare. Count me as someone who supports both but is more bullish about the Massachusetts version. Massachusetts already had a high percentage of people under insurance, guaranteed issue, no medical underwriting, a high-wage economy that could support employer provided insurance, an uncompensated care fund, and generous Medicaid eligibility and benefits. It was less of a leap to reform in Massachusetts than it will be for the US as a whole, and there is room to argue for other approaches.
- The Administration has tried to market reform, and while it could perhaps have done a better job, there is fervent?opposition?to marketing of the program. HHS Secretary Sebelius has been subpoenaed on the topic and opponents are not above spreading misinformation
- We had (and still have) a broad based coalition for health reform in Massachusetts. Partly it?s just the structure of the system here, where no one is trying to go to war with the other party. The Affordable Care Act ending up being a Democrat-only event. Republicans blame the President for this; I don?t really buy that. But regardless, there never really was a coalition in the first place so it?s hard to ask them to stay together on improvements. But it is a good point that we should expect to need to make refinements over time
- Opponents of the Massachusetts health care reform law did not work to overturn the bill or sabotage its implementation
So, good for Deval Patrick for touting Massachusetts and offering to help the President. But don?t hold your breath for a sudden turnaround.
?
Connect: 
Authored by:
David E Williams
David E. Williams is co-founder of MedPharma Partners LLC, strategy consultant in technology enabled health care services, pharma, biotech, and medical devices. Formerly with BCG and LEK. MBA (Harvard), BA (Wesleyan)See complete profile
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Louisa May Alcott: 10 quotes on her birthday
Louisa May Alcott, author of the beloved novel, "Little Women," was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pa. She grew up around transcendentalist writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who were family friends. Much of her schooling came from the instruction of her philosopher father, along with some informal lessons from the neighboring transcendentalists. In 1851, Alcott began writing her own work, publishing poems, short stories, and tales with the pen name Flora Fairfield. In 1865 that she started to use her own name for her work and with the enormous popularity of "Little Women" (1869-1870) she became financially independent. In the following years, Alcott published a number of novels and short stories, generally focused on the younger generation; these novels include, "Little Men" (1871), "Eight Cousins" (1875), and "Jo's Boys" (1886). In addition, she wrote several adult novels, which include "Work" (1873), and "A Modern Mephistopheles" (1875). None of her adult works ever reached the popularity of her young adult novels. Alcott, like many of the female writers of her time, was interested in addressing women?s issues in her writing. By the time she died, Alcott had published more than 30 books and left a lasting impression on the American literary tradition.?
1. Books
"Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable."
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Xq0vXUDYsko/Louisa-May-Alcott-10-quotes-on-her-birthday
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'Argo' Screenwriter Tackles George Clooney Crime Thriller ...
Ramona Rosales
Chris Terrio
George Clooney and Grant Heslov are reteaming with?Argo?screenwriter Chris Terrio for an untitled crime thriller set up at Sony, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Paul Greengrass, the director of Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Identity, would direct the thriller with Clooney attached to star. Clooney and Heslov's Sony-based banner Smoke House?will co-produce with?Greengrass.
VIDEO:?The Writers: Full Uncensored Interview
While the plot remains under wraps, the untitled project is set in the world of New York crime.
Many of the deals for the project were made over a year ago but it?s only now that Terrio, who became an in demand writer due to Argo, is tackling it.
Terrio?s stock has continued to rise since the opening of the Ben Affleck thriller, which has become a bona fide hit and an Oscar frontrunner.?
He finished work on A Murder Foretold for Paramount, Indian Paintbrush and producer Steve Zaillian?and is also writing the English-language remake of the French thriller Tell No One for Warner Bros.
?
Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/argo-screenwriter-tackles-george-clooney-395345
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Watch: Hospitalized Boston Mayor Begins Rehab
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Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/hospitalized-boston-mayor-begins-rehab-17820983
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Video: Tsunami debris washes up in Hawaii
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50002132/
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The CSI behind exhuming Arafat: Tissue, hair and soil
The remains of the legendary Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have been exhumed. Specimens will be taken to a lab to test for polonium, the same poison used to assassinate spy-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko.
By Maggie Fox, NBC News
Investigators who exhumed the body of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday will be testing samples of tissue, possibly bone, and hair, a forensic specialist says. But they?ll be up against the clock in trying to detect the radioactive substance, polonium, that many Palestinians suspect may have been used to poison him.
It?s tricky looking for evidence of poisoning after a body has been buried, says Bruce Goldberger, director of forensic toxicology at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
?The investigators are likely taking small samples from various regions of the body for polonium testing,? Goldberger told NBC News. ?Very small pieces of tissue are needed. You don?t need the whole body.??
Investigators sampled Arafat?s remains without fully removing his body from the grave in the West Bank city Ramallah, Palestinian officials said. The Palestinian medical team gave samples to Swiss, French and Russian?experts who will examine them in their home countries.
They?ll also need to test the soil. Arafat was buried according to Muslim tradition ? wrapped in a cloth and placed directly into the ground. ?They are going to certainly sample the soil immediately proximate to the body as well as further away from the body,? Goldberger said.
?The evidence should be there,? said Dr. William Bass of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, who founded the original ?body farm,? known officially as the Anthropology Research Facility, where students study real, decomposing human bodies.
Any chemicals would be in the remaining bone, tissue, hair and nails, Bass told NBC News.
They will be looking first and foremost for polonium. Arafat, 75, died in a French military hospital near Paris on Nov. 11, 2004, after his already-poor health took a sudden turn for the worse during an Israeli military siege of his Ramallah headquarters.
Arafat?s wife, Suha, ruled out an autopsy but she later filed a lawsuit, which prompted a French investigation. French and Palestinian investigations found no evidence of poisoning or other foul play.
But then the Swiss-based Institute of Radiation Physics discovered traces of polonium-210, the same radioactive compound that killed former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in?2006, on samples of Arafat?s clothing.
French experts have said it will be difficult to detect polonium eight years after Arafat?s death. Polonium-210 has a very short half-life, meaning it decays very quickly. Eight years is about the outside limit.
If it?s a radioactive substance that caused Arafat?s death, it would be detectable even if the body is decomposed, Goldberg said. It wouldn?t be like looking for an illegal drug such as cocaine, which would require testing of blood, urine and organ tissue.
And after eight years, the body is certainly decomposed, even if the soil is dry. Palestinian officials are not giving morbid details.
"The state of the body was exactly what you would expect to find for someone who has been buried for eight years. There was nothing out of the ordinary," Health Minister Dr. Hani Abdeen told a news conference.
?The only thing you can do is dig it up and look at it," Bass said.
That means checking the entire grave, Goldberger said.
?No doubt they are going to collect samples from the sheet he was buried in,? he said. ?They are going to collect his hair for sure. Hair samples provide a long-term measure of drug and chemical exposure.?
Hair, which can last for thousands of years, is a great way to check for poisoning, said Goldberger, who examined the remains of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, who was killed in 2008. Caylee?s mother Casey was cleared of her murder? in 2011 in a highly publicized case. He found no evidence about how she died.
?Once the drug and/or chemical is integrated into the hair, it stays there forever,? Goldberger said. Napoleon?s hair was tested for arsenic -- investigators found it but said it was likely from hair ointment.
?I worked on hair from Jesse James many years ago,? Goldberger added. He did not find hoped-for traces of morphine, which would have confirmed legends about the outlaw?s purported addiction to the painkiller laudanum in the months before he was shot to death in 1882.
What?s clear is that the tests on Arafat?s body will take time to produce results.
"In order to do these analyses, to check, cross-check and double cross-check, it will take several months and I don't think we'll have anything tangible available before March or April next year,"?said Darcy Christen, spokesman for Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report
Related stories:
Arafat's body exhumed
Body of former Turkish leader shows signs of poisoning
Investigators to check Mexican grave site
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Rapper PSY wants Tom Cruise to go 'Gangnam Style'
BANGKOK (AP) ? The South Korean rapper behind YouTube's most-viewed video ever has set what might be a "Mission: Impossible" for himself.
Asked which celebrity he would like to see go "Gangnam Style," the singer PSY told The Associated Press: "Tom Cruise!"
Surrounded by screaming fans, he then chuckled at the idea of the American movie star doing his now famous horse-riding dance.
PSY's comments Wednesday in Bangkok were his first public remarks since his viral smash video ? with 842 million views and counting ? surpassed Justin Bieber's "Baby," which until Saturday held the record with 803 million views.
"It's amazing," PSY told a news conference, saying he never set out to become an international star. "I made this video just for Korea, actually. And when I released this song ? wow."
The video has spawned hundreds of parodies and tribute videos and earned him a spotlight alongside a variety of superstars.
Earlier this month, Madonna invited PSY onstage and they danced to his song at one of her New York City concerts. MC Hammer introduced the Korean star at the American Music Awards as, "My Homeboy PSY!"
Even President Barack Obama is talking about him. Asked on Election Day if he could do the dance, Obama replied: "I think I can do that move," but then concluded he might "do it privately for Michelle," the first lady.
PSY was in Thailand to give a free concert Wednesday night organized as a tribute to the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who turns 85 next month. He paid respects to the king at a Bangkok shopping mall, signing his name in an autograph book placed beside a giant poster of the king. He then gave an outdoor news conference, as screaming fans performed the "Gangnam Style" dance.
Determined not to be a one-hit wonder, PSY said he plans to release a worldwide album in March with dance moves that he thinks his international fans will like.
"I think I have plenty of dance moves left," he said, in his trademark sunglasses and dark suit. "But I'm really concerned about the (next) music video."
"How can I beat 'Gangnam Style'?" he asked, smiling. "How can I beat 850 million views?"
___
Associated Press writer Thanyarat Doksone contributed to this report.
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U.S. price hikes on branded drugs far outpace 2012 inflation
(Reuters) - U.S. price increases on popular branded drugs in the past year have been more than six times the overall rate of inflation for consumer goods, while spending on specialty medications is up nearly 23 percent, according to data compiled by Express Scripts for its first quarterly drug trend report.
The pharmacy benefit manager, whose recent acquisition of rival Medco Health Solutions greatly increased its available data, found that prices on a collection of the most widely used brand name prescription medicines rose 13.3 percent from Sept 2011 to Sept 2012. That easily outpaced the overall economic inflation rate of 2 percent.
Somewhat offsetting price hikes of branded drugs was a 21.9 percent drop in prices for generic drugs, helped by the recent entry to the market of generic versions of some of the most popular medicines, such as Pfizer Inc's cholesterol fighter Lipitor and the blood clot preventer Plavix, sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Sanofi. Those two drugs had been the world's top selling medicines prior to facing generic competition.
The generic utilization rate in the United States is now approaching 80 percent.
"The big takeaway from this for me is actually not so much that we have ongoing brand inflation, because we've always had that, though it's larger than usual," said Steve Miller, chief medical officer for Express Scripts. "What's really remarkable is the gap (between branded drug prices and generics) is getting larger because of the number of generics and the discounts on those generics are steep."
The 35.2 percentage point net inflationary difference is the largest gap between brand and generic prices since Express Scripts began calculating its Prescription Price Index in 2008.
"Especially during this time of financial crisis the opportunity is a great for patients to move to generics. Most of the drugs they want are available in generic and the prices are really competitive," Miller said.
There is great incentive for companies like Express Scripts to increase generic usage, not only to save client's money but because the profit margin is higher on cheap generics than with expensive branded drugs.
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, administer drug benefits for employers and health plans and run large mail order pharmacies.
Spending on traditional medications, such antidepressants, and those for blood pressure and cholesterol, fell 0.6 percent over the first three quarters of the year primarily due to increased use of generics, the report found.
However, spending on specialty drugs, such as treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, jumped 22.6 percent compared with the first three quarters of 2011, spurred by price hikes and approvals of expensive new medicines.
Specialty drug costs ate up 20.8 percent of total pharmacy spending, Express Scripts found.
The biggest jump in the category came from utilization of new treatments for hepatitis C, with spending up 117.3 percent over 2011 levels.
Those numbers are likely to decline short term, however. Sales of new hepatitis C drugs from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc and Merck & Co that drove the increased spending have started to fall as patients await a next generation of medicines that promise fewer side effects and shorter treatment durations. Approvals of those drugs, likely over the next two years, from companies such as Gilead Sciences Inc and Abbott Laboratories, should re-ignite the inflation all over again with multibillion-dollar annual sales projected for the category.
Miller said the next big area for huge potential savings would come from generic versions of highly expensive biotech drugs, known as biosimilars. Some are already available in Europe but approval in the United States has been very slow.
"The savings opportunity is truly in the billions every year," he said.
The inaugural quarterly drug trends report quantified changes in utilization, unit costs and overall prescription drug spending, based on Express Scripts claims data for its commercially-insured members. That total is now nearly 100 million people, with more than half of those coming from former Medco members, the company said.
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-price-hikes-branded-drugs-far-outpace-2012-050147263--finance.html
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