A 5-year-old girl was shot in the stomach by a stray bullet after returning home from a baby shower with her family on Sunday, the New York Daily News reports . Scroll down for video of story Haily Dominguez (pictured) is listed in critical but stable condition
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5-Year-Old Shot By Stray Bullet After Leaving Baby Shower With Family
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With back pain cited as the reason for 48% of long-term absences by manual workers, Occupational Health magazine explains why this is such a crucial area for health professionals to focus on.?
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Case study: back pain and assessing fitness for work A case study that considers the impact of a lumbar disc prolapse on a professional horse rider in relation to his fitness to work.?
Safety at work for manual workers?Use this model contract clause when drafting an employee's contract or employment particulars.?
Cutting health risks through manual handling training Although manual handling cannot be designed out of some occupations, training people in good technique can help protect them from strain and reduce risk of back pain or other injury.?
Source: http://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/114741/managing-the-occupational-health-impact-of-back-pain.aspx
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? A crate full of sushi arrives. Workers wearing wetsuit shirts or in bare feet bustle past with slim laptops. With days to go, a buzzing intensity fills the once-dilapidated warehouses where Peter Jackson's visual-effects studio is rushing to finish the opening film in "The Hobbit" trilogy.
The fevered pace at the Weta Digital studio near Wellington will last nearly until the actors walk the red carpet Nov. 28 for the world premiere. But after "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" hits theaters, there's more work to be done.
Weta Digital is the centerpiece of a filmmaking empire that Jackson and close collaborators have built in his New Zealand hometown, realizing his dream of bringing a slice of Hollywood to Wellington. It's a one-stop shop for making major movies ? not only his own, but other blockbusters like "Avatar" and "The Avengers" and hoped-for blockbusters like next year's "Man of Steel."
Along the way, Jackson has become revered here, even receiving a knighthood. His humble demeanor and crumpled appearance appeal to distinctly New Zealand values, yet his modesty belies his influence. He's also attracted criticism along the way.
The special-effects workforce of 150 on "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy a decade ago now numbers 1,100. Only five of Weta Digital's workers are actual employees, however, while the rest are contractors. Many accept the situation because movie work often comes irregularly but pays well. Union leaders, though, say the workers lack labor protections existing in almost any other industry.
Like many colleagues, Weta Digital's director, Joe Letteri, came to New Zealand in 2001 to work on the "Rings" trilogy for two years. The work kept coming, so he bought a house in Wellington and stayed.
"People come here because they know it's their chance to do something really great and to get it up on the screen," he said in a recent interview.
Jackson, who declined to be interviewed for this story, launched Weta in 1993 with fellow filmmakers Jamie Selkirk and Richard Taylor. Named after an oversized New Zealand insect, the company later was split into its digital arm and Weta Workshop, which makes props and costumes.
Loving homages to the craft are present in Weta Digital's seven buildings around the green-hilled suburb of Miramar. There are old-time movie posters, prop skulls of dinosaurs and apes, and a wall of latex face impressions of actors from Chris O'Donnell to Tom Cruise.
Its huge data center, with the computing power of 30,000 laptops, resembles a milk-processing plant because only the dairy industry in New Zealand knew how to build cooling systems on such a grand scale.
Little of Weta's current work was visible. Visitors must sign confidentiality agreements, and the working areas of the facilities are off-limits. The company is secretive about any unannounced projects, beyond saying Weta will be working solidly for the next two years, when the two later "Hobbit" films are scheduled to be released.
The workforce has changed from majority American to about 60 percent New Zealanders. The only skill that's needed, Letteri says, is the ability to use a computer as a tool.
Beyond having creativity as a filmmaker, Jackson has proved a savvy businessman, Letteri says.
"The film business in general is volatile, and visual effects has to be sitting right on the crest of that wave," Letteri says. "We don't get asked to do something that somebody has seen before."
The government calculates that feature films contribute $560 million each year to New Zealand's economy. Like many countries, New Zealand offers incentives and rebates to film companies and will contribute about $100 million toward the $500 million production costs of "The Hobbit" trilogy. Almost every big budget film goes through Jackson's companies.
"New Zealand has a good reputation for delivering films on time and under budget, and Jackson has been superb at that," says John Yeabsley, a senior fellow at New Zealand's Institute of Economic Research. "Nobody has the same record or the magic ability to bring home the bacon as Sir Peter."
"You cannot overestimate the fact that Peter is a brand," says Graeme Mason, chief executive of the New Zealand Film Commission. "He's built this incredible reputational position, which has a snowball effect."
Back in 2010, however, a labor dispute erupted before filming began on "The Hobbit." Unions said they would boycott the movie if the actors didn't get to collectively negotiate. Jackson and others warned that New Zealand could lose the films to Europe. Warner Bros. executives flew to New Zealand and held a high-stakes meeting with Prime Minister John Key, whose government changed labor laws overnight to clarify that movie workers were exempt from being treated as regular employees.
Helen Kelly, president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, says a compromise could easily have been reached. She says the law changes amounted to unnecessary union-busting and a "gross breach" of employment laws.
"I was very disappointed at Peter Jackson for lobbying for that," she says, "and I was furious at the government for doing it."
Weta Digital's general manager Tom Greally compared it to the construction industry, where multiple contractors and mobile workers do specific projects and then move on.
Animal rights activists said last week they plan to picket the premiere of "The Hobbit" after wranglers alleged that three horses and up to two dozen other animals died in unsafe conditions at a farm where animals were boarded for the movies. Jackson's spokesman Matt Dravitzki acknowledged two horses died preventable deaths at the farm but said the production company worked quickly to improve animal housing and safety. He rejected claims any animals were mistreated or abused.
Jackson's team pointed out that 55 percent of animal images in "The Hobbit" were computer generated at Weta. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have asked Jackson in the future to create all his animals in the studio.
Controversies aside, the rise of Weta and the expat American community in and around Miramar is visible in everything from a Mexican restaurant to yoga classes. On Halloween, which in the past was not much celebrated in New Zealand, hundreds of costumed children roamed about collecting candy. Americans gave the tradition a boost here, but the locals have embraced it.
The National Business Review newspaper estimates Jackson's personal fortune to be about $400 million, which could rise considerably if "The Hobbit" franchise succeeds. Public records show Jackson has partial ownership stakes in 21 private companies, most connected with his film empire. He's spent some of his money on philanthropy, helping save a historic church and a performance theater.
For all his influence, Jackson maintains a hobbit-like existence himself, preferring a quiet home life outside of work. In the end, many say, he seems to be driven by what has interested him from the start: telling great stories on the big screen.
___
Follow Nick Perry on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nickgbperry
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hobbits-superheroes-put-magic-nz-film-industry-054242009.html
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John Makely / NBC News
Ken Court removes sheetrock and plywood damaged by the floodwaters of Hurricane Sandy from his home in Breezy Point.
By Maggie Fox, NBC News
From his perch on top of his father?s house in Breezy Point, N.Y., Ken Court can see an array of health disasters in the making.
?There are asbestos roofs that have collapsed near the ocean,? says Court, a 52-year-old roofer. ?There is a lot of dust. You see people walking around with masks on. You use the hand cleaners all day long.?
Breezy Point sits at the tip of the peninsula jutting into the waters south of Brooklyn where Jamaica Bay, New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean come together. Much of the close-knit, blue-collar neighborhood was destroyed when Superstorm Sandy hit three weeks ago ? swamped in the storm surge, roofs ripped by flailing winds or burned to the ground?in a six-alarm fire that took out block after block of homes.
Now it?s one of the last places left without power or clean water, with no ETA on when either will be restored. And as Court works day in and day out to clean up the mess, he sees long-term trouble wherever he looks.
"You should really wear masks. I remember that everyone in 9/11, when they went there to help, they got sick,? Court told NBCNews in a telephone interview.
Asbestos and other chemicals from the collapsed World Trade Centers created a pall of dust that persisted in lower Manhattan for months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Firefighters, police and other rescue workers are eligible for federal compensation for the illnesses they have developed since the cleanup ? most recently 50 different types of cancer.
People who were in the area have higher death rates in general than similar populations, and were especially likely to develop respiratory diseases and asthma. Asbestos can cause a rare type of lung cancer called mesothelioma.
While the dust caused by the Sandy cleanup isn?t nearly as bad, Court isn't taking chances. Asbestos is only a problem if it is kicked up in dust and breathed in ? but he?s seeing plenty of dust being generated as wrecking crews pile up and remove the debris. "Those corrugated roofs on the houses down by the ocean ? they?re all asbestos,? he said.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene advises on its website that "While Sandy has not caused problems with outdoor air quality, indoor dust, mold, fumes from temporary heating sources and the use of strong cleaning products can be irritating to the eyes, throat, and lungs. Dust can also be produced by repair and debris removal. In addition, debris removal and repair work can lead to injuries of various types.?
John Makely / NBC News
Breezy Point residents clean up after Hurricane Sandy
Kate Sisk. at her summer home at 21 Jamaica Walk in white jump suit trying to remove the fiberglass in the crawlspace before mold starts to grow.
What concerns Court most, however, is mold. His 79-year-old father, Rod, has emphysema ?and needs supplemental oxygen. ?We got a foot of water up into the first floor. We are just ripping everything out and starting fresh,? said Court, who grew up in Breezy Point and who now lives in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island.
?Right now I have men ripping out the tile. We can?t take a chance with mold with my dad,? Court added. ?Now that we took up the tile floor, it?s all wet under there and it?s black.?
Health officials say Court?s doing the right thing. Anything that might turn moldy should be removed or cleaned with a bleach solution. Mold spores can cause allergic reactions or asthma in people who are sensitive to them.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has done many studies on the health dangers that linger after hurricanes, but the CDC's parent agency, the Health and Human Services Department, is not making federal officials available to talk about Sandy's aftermath.
Still no clean water
Despite the flooding that swamped water treatment plants, poured into subway tunnels and flushed raw sewage into rivers, most of New York City?s tapwater supply remained clean. But Breezy Point?s water pipes were damaged so badly that the water still isn?t safe to drink, according to local authorities.
?Breezy Point Cooperative is in the process of re-establishing its internal drinking water system and the City will meet with the Breezy Point Cooperative to ensure that it can safely and reliably provide potable water to its residents," the New York health department said in a statement.
?DO NOT drink the water from the faucets. Do not use this water to cook, wash yourself or wash food, make ice, brush teeth or for any other activity involving consumption of water,? the Breezy Point Cooperative web site advises. It?s not even okay to boil it ? meaning chemicals could be contaminating the water, also.
Andrew Juhl, an ecologist and oceanographer at Columbia University, has been testing the waters around New York City for years and knows well what could have seeped into the broken water pipes at Breezy Point.
?With the hurricane there was this enormous flood of water that came into the city and flooded sewage treatment plants and also damaged pipes,? Juhl told NBCNews. ?It is possible that there was a lot of sewage released. We don?t really know. No one was out sampling at that time.?
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His tests the days after Sandy hit showed lots of bacteria in the water, however ? enough to where people shouldn?t touch the water without washing afterwards.
?We measure Enterococcus,? he said. It?s found in the guts of warm-blooded animals, including people. ?If you find it in the environment, you know it was recently in the body of a warm-blooded animal.? While enterococci are not themselves a big threat to health, if they?re in the water, so are other germs. These include anything that the people and animals in the area contribute to sewage, from hepatitis to parasites such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia that may cause diarrhea and stomach cramps.
One thing that people may fear is cholera, but cholera isn?t commonly found in New Yorkers, and so it?s very unlikely to be in the sewage or water.
?The most common illness that people get is gastrointestinal problems,? Juhl says. ?They get nausea, diarrhea, cramping, skin rashes, eye infections -- that kind of thing.?
You don?t have to drink the water to get ill ? people who touch the water can touch their eyes, mouths and noses and become infected. Juhl?s team sampled flooded basements in Queens and found the water was teeming with bacteria commonly found in sewage. They also found germs all over dried-out storm debris.
?The stuff we sampled up in Rockland County had been sitting around dry for a week and it still had really high (bacterial) counts. That actually surprised me,? Juhl said. ?We haven?t done that kind of sampling before and we don?t have a context for it.? Maybe there are really high counts there all the time.?
Nonetheless, it could make people handling it sick. ?They should wear gloves. They should wear face masks. They should make sure they clean themselves really well before they eat. We don?t know what the specific threat is. l would be prudent,? Juhl advises.
Court?s doing just that. ?Most people are wearing protective equipment when they are working in the basements,? he said. ?You wear boots.?
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A lawyer for the trustee seeking money for Bernard Madoff's victims asked an appeals court on Wednesday to restore nearly $30 billion in claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other banks, saying it would force those who furthered the fraud to "pay their fair share."
In arguments before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the trustee's lawyer sought to overturn lower court rulings that only Madoff victims themselves -- not the trustee -- could sue third parties such as banks for damages.
The trustee has said JPMorgan, Madoff's main bank for two decades, and other banks ignored numerous warning signs about Madoff's business -- allegations the banks have denied.
Oren Warshavsky, a lawyer for trustee Irving Picard, told the appeals court that federal law empowers Picard to pursue claims on behalf of Madoff customers. He said the banks' failure to detect that the money manager was running a Ponzi scheme exacerbated the victims' losses.
"Anybody who suffered by virtue of this fraud, their suffering was increased each time it was extended," Warshavsky said. "Those that helped propagate it should pay their fair share."
Lawyers for the banks said only the victims of a purported fraud themselves can pursue fraud claims.
"A trustee has no standing generally to sue third parties on behalf of creditors," said John Savarese, a lawyer for JPMorgan.
The Madoff fraud was revealed in December 2008, when the financier ran out of money to meet redemption requests from his customers. Madoff, 74, is serving a 150-year prison sentence.
The trustee was appointed to liquidate Madoff's firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, and hunt for recoveries for the swindler's victims. As part of his efforts, Picard sued various banks or "feeder funds" that did business with Madoff, saying they ignored red flags about the fraud, often to win more fees or commissions.
In a setback for the trustee, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan last November tossed all but $425 million of Picard's $19.9 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan. Her decision followed a similar ruling in July 2011 from U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who dismissed $8.6 billion of Picard's claims against HSBC Holdings Plc and the Italian bank UniCredit SpA.
Picard has recovered more than $9.2 billion for former Madoff customers. The Rakoff and McMahon rulings wiped out close to one-third of the trustee's more than $103 billion of claims against banks and other defendants. Individual Madoff customers also have sued banks.
The cases are Picard v. HSBC Bank Plc et al, No. 11-5175 and Picard v. JPMorgan Chase & Co et al, No. 11-5044, both in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Martha Graybow and Dan Grebler)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/madoff-trustee-asks-court-reinstate-bank-claims-204422483--sector.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Housing starts rose to their highest rate in more than four years in October, suggesting the housing market recovery was gaining steam, even though permits for future construction fell.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday housing starts increased 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000 units -- the highest since July 2008.
The report was the latest to show the broadening housing market recovery was now entrenched. Economists, who had expected groundbreaking to slow to an 840,000-unit rate, said the housing strength laid a foundation for faster economic growth next year.
"The broad improvement in home prices, home equity, starts, and inventory clearing are key developments that position the economy for stronger growth next year, and beyond," said Eric Green, chief economist at TD Securities in New York.
The housing market has decisively turned around after an unprecedented collapse that landed the economy in its worst recession since the Great Depression. The recovery, marked by rising home sales, prices and building activity is being driven by pent-up demand and record low mortgage rates.
Homebuilding is expected to add to gross domestic product growth this year for the first time since 2005. Though home construction accounts for only about 2.5 percent of GDP, economists estimate that for every new house built, at least three new jobs are created.
Last month's data led some economists to raise their fourth-quarter growth estimates. Even so, growth in the last three months of the year is expected to be soft, largely because businesses appear reluctant to invest given the prospect for deep government spending cuts and higher taxes next year.
Fourth-quarter growth forecasts currently range between an annual rate of 1 percent and 2.2 percent.
The Commerce Department said superstorm Sandy, which slammed the East Coast in late October, had a minimal impact on the data. Economists expected the storm to weigh on homebuilding in November, with rebuilding in the months ahead mitigating the impact.
The upbeat homebuilding report buoyed housing-related shares on Wall Street, with PulteGroup Inc -- the second-largest U.S. homebuilder -- soaring more than 6 percent. The overall housing sector index was up 2.5 percent in early afternoon trade, outperforming a broadly weak shares market.
NO LONGER A HEADWIND
The Federal Reserve has targeted housing as a channel to boost U.S. growth, announcing in September that it would buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities per month until the outlook for employment improved substantially.
It hopes the purchases will drive down borrowing costs. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday acknowledged the housing market improvement, but said stricter lending practices remained an obstacle to a faster pace of recovery.
"It seems likely that, on net, residential investment will be a source of economic growth and new jobs over the next couple of years," Bernanke said at the Economic Club of New York.
A steady rise in the number of U.S. households, which fell during the 2007-09 recession as financially strapped Americans moved in with friends and family, is also supporting the housing sector.
"The amount of construction now is below the level to maintain housing for the population as a whole. The trend (in housing starts) will continue to rise as the housing stock is absorbed by population growth," said Robert Gray, managing principal at real estate investment firm TerraCap Management Corp in New York.
Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate that household formation -- the net increase in the number of households each year -- will increase to a 1.2 million rate in 2013 from 1 million currently.
They forecast housing starts rising to a 1 million rate by the end of next year and 1.5 million by the end of 2016.
Groundbreaking for new homes has risen 41.9 percent over the last year, but starts remain about 60 percent below the peak of 2.27 million reached in January 2006.
Last month, groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, slipped 0.2 percent to a 594,000-unit pace. Starts for multi-family homes surged 11.9 percent to a 300,000-unit rate, reflecting increased demand for rental apartments.
Building permits fell 2.7 percent to an 866,000-unit pace in October after jumping 11.1 percent the prior month, in line with expectations.
The drop last month was concentrated in the multifamily segment and is likely to be short-lived. Permits to build single-family homes rose 2.2 percent last month to a 562,000-unit pace, while permits for multi-family homes fell 10.6 percent to a 304,000-unit rate.
(Editing by Andrea Ricci and Tim Ahmann)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/housing-starts-hit-four-high-october-180047310--business.html
(Reuters) - What do a former U.S. Army special operations officer, a computer scientist and an experimental psychologist have in common? Data.
James Reese first came across data analytics company Saffron Technology when he was an officer with the U.S. army's Delta Force.
"I was first turned on to Saffron Technology while we were doing special operations in the Middle East," Reese said in an interview. "It does predictive analysis a lot faster than you and in military terms allows us to think faster than the bad guys."
Saffron Technology is a small data analytics company that uses technology that mimics the way the human brain connects between people, places and things, except at a much faster speed.
The company was founded by two former IBM Corp employees: Jim Fleming, a computer scientist, and Manuel Aparicio, who has a PhD in experimental psychology with a focus on biologically based neuro-computing.
Its technology was originally used in Iraq to predict where bombs would be located, but now it offers its products to corporations such as Boeing Co, which uses the technology to forecast when aircraft parts need to be replaced.
When Reese retired in 2007 to start security company TigerSwan he stayed in touch with Saffron Technology CEO Aparicio and eventually decided to partner with the company.
Reese, who joined the army after his football scholarship came to an end more than 20 years ago, now combines his expertise of special operations with data analytics for companies looking at mergers and acquisitions in emerging countries.
"I call it true diligence," Reese said, explaining that his staff will vet executives and companies looking for anything from cartel connections to fraudulent entities beyond what accountants can do by using "human and artificial intelligence."
The ability to forecast and identify patterns or behavior by analyzing structured data inside databases and unstructured data from social networks, mobile devices, meters or sensors is a rapidly growing market.
According to research firm IDC the business analytics software market will grow almost 10 percent a year to $50.7 billion by 2016.
TigerSwan, which Reese started in his living room, is now active in 23 countries with a staff of 250 and revenue of $35 million.
"I'd like to see us at $100 million in three to five years and become an employee-owned company," Reese said.
TigerSwan and Saffron compete with much larger companies such as the privately held SAS Institute and IBM.
Asked if privacy issues ever come up, Reese said the company works with lawyers to ensure its methods comply with privacy laws.
Thanks to his past with Delta Force Reese says he can fall back on a network of trusted people to work with no matter where companies are looking to go.
"Someone can call me in the middle of the night and say we want go to Nigeria, Ghana and I can say got it, we got folks there," Reese said. "You have to do it with a local presence; you can't do it by bringing in a bunch of Americans."
(Reporting By Nicola Leske. Editing by Andre Grenon)
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Over the years, as Heisman Trophy campaigns came to resemble political campaigns, universities took a more active role in extolling the virtues of their contenders. Tactics included mailing neckties to voters (Brigham Young for Ty Detmer), paying for a towering billboard in Times Square (Oregon for Joey Harrington) and sending binoculars (Rutgers for Ray Rice) that urged voters to ?See Ray Run.?
Quarterback Johnny Manziel is not allowed to speak to reporters, and Texas A&M keeps tight limits on the merchandising of his name and image.
Interviews, insight and analysis from The Times on the competition and culture of college football.
Johnny Manziel has impressed John David Crow, Texas A&M?s only Heisman Trophy winner, who also received little hype.
This season, Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel took a subtler approach, in part because Manziel surged only recently into contention. Texas A&M?s method lacks what would seem to be an essential element: an actual campaign. In this era of advertisement, where universities build platforms and solicit votes for players, this is a rare strategy. Less ?look at me.? More ?look at me ? if you feel like it.?
Manziel?s Heisman noncampaign also lacks what would seem to be an essential voice: Manziel?s. Because he is a freshman, Texas A&M does not allow him to speak to the news media. He speaks to the public only in person or on Twitter. No interviews. Only mystery, wrapped in a homespun narrative.
?There?s a tremendous appetite among this fan base to see billboards and blimps,? said Jason Cook, Texas A&M?s vice president of marketing and communications. ?But if you watch ESPN, if you look at Twitter, if you read what the media is writing about, the buzz is already there.?
After Manziel led the Aggies to an upset of top-ranked Alabama last weekend, and his popularity skyrocketed, Texas A&M faced a decision it never expected to confront this season. It could carry out the wishes of Coach Kevin Sumlin and largely protect Manziel from an adoring football public. Or it could go with the more typical late push.
Ultimately, Texas A&M decided the best campaign was no formal campaign at all. Cook described the situation as uncharted territory. ?Part of it is the exposure that college athletics has these days,? he said. ?It?s wall-to-wall, 24/7. Our approach is somewhat old-school.?
Heisman promotions have become more prevalent, more over-the-top and more creative in recent years. This week, Southern California started a campaign for its electric receiver, Marqise Lee, that included a highlight video with music from the Beatles and clips from opposing coaches extolling Lee?s talents.
A&M took the opposite approach. In most cases, Cook said, the more gimmicky promotions came from smaller universities, or bigger universities in conferences that received less exposure, like those on the West Coast.
The Aggies are banking on the visibility of the Southeastern Conference, college football?s pre-eminent conference, which Texas A&M joined this season. The Aggies? win over Alabama garnered a 6.6 overnight TV rating, the second-highest this season, behind only Alabama?s last-minute triumph over Louisiana State on Nov. 3. In addition to that built-in exposure, university officials planned to note other points to voters, like the number of blowout victories during which Manziel played only part of the game. But nothing beyond that.
More important to Texas A&M, at least in the short term, is protecting Manziel?s image and his nickname, Johnny Football. That process is rather complicated in an age when most anybody can sell most anything on the Internet.
In the past week, Cook said, the university sent at least 10 cease-and-desist orders to various entities. He e-mailed a photo of one action figure that included both ?Manziel? on the back of the jersey and A&M?s logo. It looked, but was not, authentic.
Manziel is not allowed to profit off his nickname, not if he wants to remain eligible, but he can prevent others from doing so. The Manziel family hired lawyers who began working with the university about two weeks ago, Cook said. Texas A&M?s marketing and license group, its compliance office and attorneys on both sides are involved.
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An interesting thing has happened in the days since Apple (AAPL) released its new smaller iPad:
Many Apple devotees have said it will become THE iPad, at least in their own personal use.
Why?
Mainly because of weight and size.
Once you've held the new iPad Mini, the full-size iPad feels like a brick.
Related: Apple's New iPad Mini Is Pricey But That Won't Deter Fans: TechCrunch's John Biggs
Apple analyst John Gruber says the Mini has become his main iPad. Apple analyst Dan Frommer thinks Mini sales will soon surpass full-size iPad sales and become Apple's second-best selling gadget after the iPhone. Seamus Bellamy and Brian Lam at Wirecutter say the iPad Mini is "the best tablet and way better than the full-sized iPad for nearly everyone."
All this despite a relatively low-resolution screen that has disappointed most Apple fans.
(I'm a happy Apple customer, if not a fanatic, and I think the screen looks great. But I'm still using an older iPhone, so I haven't been spoiled by the "retina" resolution screen that Apple uses on its new iPads and iPhones yet. And the weight and size of the new iPad really is great.)
Related: Forget The iPhone 5 ? Apple Is About To Start Production Of The iPhone 5S
Given the lower price-point of the new iPad Mini, which should get considerably cheaper over the next couple of years, it seems likely that the Mini might, in fact, fulfill the initial promise of the iPad, which was to have low-priced tablets all over the house. A tablet for each person in the family. Tablets for guests. Tablets in the kitchen. A tablet in the bathroom. Apple's Mini is still too expensive for that to happen, but the prices of other tablets are now hitting levels where it could quickly become a reality.
Related: Here's A New Report On Why Apple Decided To Overcharge For The iPad Mini
And all this is ironic, given the initial appraisal of Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs of smaller tablets.
Back in 2010, Jobs famously dissed smaller tablets and said that Apple would not make one. He pronounced the smaller tablets "DOA--dead on arrival," and explained that the screen-size was just too small to create a good app experience.
(Apple recently said that Jobs was just dissing 7-inch tablets, while the iPad Mini is slightly larger, but as the transcript shows, the slam was aimed at all tablets smaller than 10 inches).
Jobs' rant about smaller tablets was a classic (read it here), and he was certainly right that the first "avalanche" of competitors to the iPad would flop.
But it's becoming clear that Jobs was dead wrong about the potential for smaller tablets, as the reactions of Apple fans who have bought the Mini make clear.
In fact, if normal folks view the Mini the way early adopters do, it seems possible that the full-sized iPad could soon come to seem like a huge, lumbering dinosaur--the same way the MacBook Pros and iMacs of several years ago seem relative to the versions that have just been released.
Of course, Steve Jobs was known to change his mind from time to time. And he was also known to go on awesome hyperbolic rants about the pathetic lameness of the competition. So his famous 2010 dissing of smaller tablets may have been driven primarily by the latter desire rather than an actual belief that all smaller tablets would be DOA.
Either way, if the early read is clear, Apple's next mega-hit product may be one that Jobs publicly bodyslammed two years ago.
By the way, if the iPad Mini does become "The iPad," what wlll that mean for Apple's business?
Related: iPad Mini: Will It Cannibalize Apple's Regular iPad Sales?
Initially, anyway, it might mean a modest hit to revenue growth.
Apple's full-sized iPad is now a $40 billion business. It seems unlikely that normal Apple users are likely to buy BOTH a full-sized iPad AND an iPad Mini. Rather, they'll likely choose one of the two. And based on the initial reaction, the choice for most is likely to be the iPad Mini. iPad Minis will likely have an average price-point that is about $200 less than the full-sized iPad. So, on a per unit basis, Apple's revenue will take a hit.
But this loss of revenue on a unit basis will likely be at least partially offset by some additional sales--especially next year, if Apple releases an upgraded version of the Mini and the current version gets cheaper. This could help increase the velocity of iPad sales, even though revenue per-unit decreases.
Related: Nothing Lasts Forever: Apple Is Showing Its Age
The iPad Mini will also likely have a smaller gross profit contribution margin than the full-sized iPad. So, especially initially, Mini cannibalization could put pressure on Apple's profit margin. As with revenue, this margin pressure should be offset by additional margin dollars.
But if the iPad Mini becomes the main iPad, it seems reasonable to conclude that this will put more pressure on Apple's overall profit margin.
Another irony here is that, two years after the launch of the original iPad, Microsoft (MSFT) has finally scrambled to produce a well-reviewed tablet of its own--the Surface. But the Surface is a bigger tablet. It will be frustrating for Microsoft, to say the least, if the company has finally made a strong entrance into the tablet market only to have bigger tablets quickly rendered obsolete.
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?Basing on the healthy conditions of applicants of insurance, the health care insurance provides the payments as the compensations in order to pay the bills of medical costs of applicants.
The health care insurance has three divisions,
1. The critical illness insurance. As long as the applicants has the illness which is included in the clause of contract, no matter what the costs are on the medical care, the applicant of the health insurance can have the compensation.
?? 2. The hospital to submit an expense account model. The eligibility for benefits is the applicant of health insurance has happened the accident and lead to be in hospital, and the costs in hospital can be paid some by the insurance company. This insurance completes the social insurance and business insurance. The sort of insurance can be got on premise that the applicant is sent to the hospital by an accident and then the insurance company pay the compensation according to the requirements of contract, which has no relations with the social insurance and business insurance with the final payment when the applicant leave the hospital. There are the detailed instructions post on our homepage online, if the clients need, they can browse anytime and anywhere.
Source: http://www.xspwn.com/2012/11/health-care-insurance-needing/
A North Korean soldier walks past from behind a fence on an island located in the middle of the Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju and the Chinese border city of Dandong. ? Reuters pic
GWANGJU, Nov 5 ? Conversations between men and women are forbidden at the school on the outskirts of Seoul, where security cameras watch the students? every move.There is no access to television, the Internet, mobile phones or MP3 players.
Welcome to the monastic life of a boarding school for students dedicated to spending nine months preparing to retake South Korea?s college entrance exams, in the hopes of a place at the best college and a job for life at a top corporation.
?During study hours it?s difficult to go to the bathroom even if I want to. Waking up early in the morning is also hard,? said Um Hee-joon, 20, over a spartan lunch of pork cutlet.
This year, the life-defining tests are on Thursday.
South Korea?s exam hell is an annual event so full of pressure that many students are driven to despair, with some even taking their own lives.
More than 50 per cent of those between the ages of 15 and 19 who are suicidal have given ?academic performance and college entrance? as a reason, says the national Statistics Korea.
Pity even more the hundreds of thousands of students, around 20 per cent of the total, who take the exams twice or more.
They aren?t delinquents, but simply failed to meet their own or their parents? expectations the first time around and are living through another year of hell.
Some 140,000 of the test takers signed up for this year?s entrance exam, 21 per cent of the total, have already graduated from high school, according to government data.
But in some Seoul districts where middle-class parents drive their offspring even harder, such graduates account for more than 50 per cent of test takers, education experts say.
Those who are really determined, or desperate, may decide to spend nine months at one of 40 private boarding schools like the Deung Yong Moon in Gwangju, on the outskirts of Seoul, to dedicate all of their waking hours to preparing for the test.
While male and female students study in the same classroom they are forbidden to go to the snack shop at the same time, stand in separate lines for lunch and eat at separate tables. Dating is definitely off the menu.
Wake-up calls at the schools, which can cost 2 million Korean won (RM5,512) a month, come at 6.30am.
Apart from group exercises, meals and short breaks it is study, study and more study until midnight.
Not one of the five hundred students in the boarding school has access to television, the Internet, mobile phones or an MP3 player. Men wear regulation blue tracksuits, women red.
?I feel really suffocated here. I wrote down 100 things I want to do after the exam. I want to travel most,? said Cho Hwan, 20.
?I thought if I studied for the exam another year again, I would be able to get higher scores. But not that much,? added Cho, frustrated over practice tests.
To make sure that Cho and his classmates don?t waste their time, there are more than 80 closed-circuit TV cameras. Supervisors monitor the students? every move to catch anyone dozing off during study hours.
If they break rules, the students, of whom 80 per cent are male, get ?yellow cards?.
At worst, they could be expelled.
The study regimen gets more intense from a month before exam day. The school takes down pay phones and bans leaves. Even parental visits are strictly limited.
?Students grew up with a lot of freedom and have been pampered,? said Han Sang-hee, head of the school, whose name translates to ?Gateway To Success?.
?We (the school and students) agreed with each other that the school would help bring out their best abilities through strict discipline and control like a military training academy. So the students can bear with it,? he said.
?Army reservists sometimes escort them to the exam site.?
Some students even resort to the service of a school-provided therapist, who hypnotises students and then intones in a low voice, ?You have the strongest confidence in your entire life,? as if it was exam day.
?I?ve spent a whole year to retake this exam.
?I really hope I will get a good score so I won?t regret this,? Cho said. ? Reuters?
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2012) ? A drug therapy shows promise for treating an inherited form of kidney disease called autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), Mayo Clinic researchers say. The medication, tolvaptan, slowed the pace of kidney cyst growth over the three years of the study.
The phase three clinical trial results were being presented November 3 at the American Society of Nephrology annual meeting and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The multicenter study found tolvaptan demonstrated a nearly 50 percent reduction in the rate of increase in total kidney volume (a measurement of kidney cyst growth) in ADPKD patients over the study period, compared to placebo.
"ADPKD is the most common inherited and the fourth most common overall cause of kidney failure worldwide," says lead author Vicente Torres, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic nephrologist.
"In most patients with this disease, relentless cyst growth within the kidneys destroys the tissue, causes hypertension and painful complications, and negatively impacts the quality of life," Dr. Torres says. "The results of this study reveal a potential treatment that blunts kidney growth, lessens associated symptoms and slows kidney function decline when given over three years."
While the trial findings are encouraging, tolvaptan has not yet been approved for this indication, Dr. Torres notes.
The study was funded by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/otTxr4XRfbI/121104082203.htm
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/secret-agent-found-dead-apparent-suicide-source-021642100.html
The Royal Gazette:
You tell your children that they can go on Facebook if you can monitor, but later you find out you?ve only been allowed to see a dummy account.
You set the password and they change it. You ban them from Facebook so they spend all their time on Tumblr, and once you finally figure out what Tumblr is they switch to another social media site. Keeping up with your child?s internet use can feel as futile as chasing the elusive White Rabbit across Wonderland -- curiouser and curiouser, but a youth communications expert says keep trying.
Read the whole story at The Royal Gazette
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/youth-and-social-media_n_2049641.html
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