Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Recipe for Successful 2013 Resolutions ? Swim Well and Live ...

Some interesting analysis of New Year?s Resolutions from statisticbrain.com:

The Top 10 Resolutions for 2012 were:

  1. Lose Weight
  2. Get Organized
  3. Spend Less . . . Save More
  4. Enjoy Life More Fully
  5. Stay Fit and Healthy (not always the same thing)
  6. Learn Something Exciting
  7. Quit Smoking
  8. Help Others Reach Their Dreams
  9. Fall in Love
  10. Spend More Time with Family

And some revelatory statistics about who makes resolutions and their success rate:

  • 62% of Americans make resolutions
  • 38% never do.
  • 8% of all resolutions made are achieved.
  • 39% of 20-something resolvers report success, while ? ouch ? only 14% of 50+ resolvers do.
  • However people who explicitly make a New Year?s Resolution are 10x more likely to achieve a goal than those who explicitly do not. (Huh?)
  • Self-improvement or learning resolutions are the most frequently achieved. Relationship resolutions rank lowest in success.

Takeaways.

  1. It?s better to resolve than not.
  2. Resolving to improve yourself or learn something improves your odds.
  3. Those who are 50+ (I?ve never taken a poll, but suspect the median age of those who follow this blog is probably around 50) probably need a more examined, strategic approach.

So for my final blog of 2012, some suggestions for making?and achieving?2013 resolutions. Naturally my advice will focus on improving your swimming?which can not only contribute to #s 1-4-5-6 in the list above, but also aid any self-improvement project.

Small is beautiful. ??The keystone of the TI Method is Kaizen, the philosophy of Continuous Improvement. Kaizen is rooted in the Taoist proverb: ?The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.? Kaizen is explicitly about incremental change?often so subtle you can?t sense it, yet never doubt it?pursued daily.

  • Some psychologists believe willpower is a limited resource: The more of it you require to make one change, the less you?ll have left over to make others. Or to sustain the first.
  • Researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer asked hundreds of resolvers to keep diaries. After reviewing their entries, they concluded: ?Small wins, achieved regularly, contribute much more to happiness than occasional ambitious accomplishments. The satisfaction produced by a greater achievement isn?t proportionately larger nor longer-lasting.?
  • Ambitious goals often lead to procrastination, while small ones are less daunting.

Make modest resolutions, and renew them throughout the year, rather than set ambitious goals now.

Focus on process. This is a central precept in work by George Leonard on Mastery, Mihalyi Csikszentmihaly on Flow, Anders Ericsson and colleagues on Excellence and Daniel Coyle in The Talent Code. In the simplest of swimming terms, it means stop focusing on getting to the other end and focus instead on being conscious of each stroke along the way. Before long you?ll become aware of ?consequential nanoseconds? within each stroke.

Or if you?d like to improve your 1500m time by 10 percent?say from 30 to 27 minutes, do you understand how you ?construct? your current pace? Have you sought answers to questions like these?

  • How do you pace your 1500 now ? how do the middle and final 500s compare to the first? If you slow down, why? Do you add strokes (lose Stroke Length) or lose tempo? What is the ideal way to ?construct? your goal time? What SPL and Tempo combination will produce your goal pace (per 100) . . . with the least effort?
  • Is your SPL within the range of 2 to 3 counts that are appropriate for your height or wingspan?
  • If your SPL is above that range, how much of that is due to poor balance and streamlining vs ineffective propulsion? Have you examined your stroke on video, or had it analyzed by a TI Coach?
  • Are you practicing with a Tempo Trainer? Do you know your Tempo ?Sweet Spot? ? the tempo at which you can most easily maintain an SPL that?s efficient for your height? At what Stroke Rates do your ease and efficiency break down?both when you slow or increase tempo?

With this info, you can plan 100% personalized practices that target your primary improvement opportunities in your skill makeup and in combinations of SPL and Tempo.

Embrace the imperfect.

Don?t wait for any particular condition to be fulfilled or to feel strongly motivated. Emotional states, like motivation, are too often transitory. And the supposition that you require motivation undermines action. ?The belief that you need to feel motivated, or need the perfect situation, before taking action is the biggest barrier to actually getting things done.

Imperfection is indeed, the natural state of the Human Swimmer and means we have limitless Kaizen potential.

Japanese psychologist Shomo Morita writes: ?Begin taking action now, while being neurotic or imperfect or a procrastinator or unhealthy or lazy or any other label by which you inaccurately describe yourself.?

Be happier today.

New York Times health writer Jane Brody wrote in her article Changing our Tune on Exercise? ?For decades, [we?ve been] bombarded with messages that regular exercise is necessary to lose weight, prevent serious disease and foster healthy aging. And most people say they value these goals. Yet a vast majority of Americans ? two-thirds of whom are overweight or obese ? have thus far failed to swallow the ?exercise pill.? She described new research that says people are far more likely to exercise when they anticipate it will make today a better day, than for some possible future benefit.??People who exercise for quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who value exercise for its health benefits.???

I ride a bike for every feasible errand between April and November, neither to be green, nor to be fit. I do it because it makes me feel 15 again (I?m 61) and because, on a bike, I can feel a breeze on my face, smell the flowers and hear birdsong?none of which happens in a car. My swimming motivation is essentially the same. While I do swim in meets and and open water races?and am a very competitive person at heart?and I hope to be mobile, agile and graceful at 85?my main reason for swimming is I feel fantastic, physically and mentally, during and after.

Final Word

Any of these precepts could be resolutions themselves. Next week I?ll share my resolutions for 2012 and how they worked out, and those I?ve set for 2013 and how I?ve been guided by these precepts in setiing ? and re-setting ? them.

Until then, what will your swimming goals be for 2013? If you?d like to share, I?ve set up a special thread on the TI Discussion Forum. ?Look for ?What are your 2013 Swim Resolutions?? in the Links and References conference.

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Source: http://www.swimwellblog.com/archives/1830/

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Schumer still confident fiscal cliff deal possible

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, gestures to show how close he says the Speaker and the President are to a deal on the fiscal cliff, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, gestures to show how close he says the Speaker and the President are to a deal on the fiscal cliff, during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

(AP) ? A Senate Democrat says he believes "odds are better than people think" that a deal can be reached to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts next week.

New York's Chuck Schumer tells NBC's "Today" show he's encouraged that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is getting "actively engaged" in talks to resolve the problem.

Appearing on the same show Friday, Republican Sen. John Thune noted a meeting later Friday among President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, saying, "It's encouraging that people are talking."

The South Dakota senator said, "I think in the end we will get a deal, but the question is the timing of that."

He also said the two sides are at stalemate because, quote, "Democrats haven't been willing to discuss the issue of spending."

I

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-28-Fiscal%20Cliff-Schumer-Thune/id-d8cd94406f5a41c9a80179379e0a9ee0

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Happy Holidays, from my tank to yours!


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Stumpy (devil scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis diabolus) and Ginny (Hawaiian green lionfish, Dendrochirus barberi) wishing you the best this holiday season!

Christie WilcoxAbout the Author: Christie Wilcox is a science writer and blogger who moonlights as a PhD student in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Hawaii. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @NerdyChristie.

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=ff14251df77b5c6b9870116b8e654af4

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Jack Klugman dies at age 90

Jack Klugman, one of television's most-loved actors, died today at the age of 90. He died peacefully at his home in Northridge, Calif., with his wife, Peggy, by his side, according to an announcement by his attorney.

In a career that spanned more than 60 years, Klugman epitomized the "everyman," and was best known for two popular television series of the 1970s and early 1980s: "The Odd Couple" and "Quincy, M.E."

In "The Odd Couple," about two divorced men living together -- a neat freak and a slob -- Klugman played Oscar Madison, the slob sportswriter to Tony Randall's overly fussy Felix Unger.

"The Odd Couple," which was based on Neil Simon's play of the same name, brought Klugman two Emmys, not bad for a man whose first drama teacher told him he was better suited to be a truck driver. The show ran for five years, and has lived on for decades in syndication.

PHOTOS: In Memoriam -- People We Lost in 2012

In "Quincy, M.E.," a precursor to "CSI," Klugman became just as iconic playing the relentless Los Angeles medical examiner with a talent for forensics. "We had some wonderful writers," Klugman said in a 1987 Associated Press interview. "Quincy was a muckraker, like Upton Sinclair, who wrote about injustices."

A heavy smoker, Klugman fought throat cancer, and subsequent surgery left him with a raspy voice, which was worked into later movie and TV roles, including "The Odd Couple: Together Again" in 1993 and "Dear God" in 1996.

A year after his "Odd Couple" co-star, Tony Randall, died in 2004, Klugman published "Tony and Me," and told CNN: "A world without Tony Randall is a world that I cannot recognize."

Klugman began his career in 1954 on the soap opera "The Greatest Gift." In the same year he made several appearances on the NBC legal drama "Justice," whose episodes drew from actual cases of the Legal Aid Society of New York.

His major movies included "12 Angry Men" (1957), playing juror No. 5; "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), starring opposite Jack Lemmon; and "Goodbye Columbus" (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth, starring Ali MacGraw and Richard Benjamin.

Born Jacob Joachim Klugman on April 22, 1922, in Philadelphia to Russian Jewish immigrants, Klugman studied acting at Carnegie Insitute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, and moved on to summer stock and off-Broadway, rooming with actor Charles Bronson, according to The Associated Press. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in a revival of "Golden Boy." An early TV high point was appearing with Humphrey Bogart and Henry Fonda in a production of "The Petrified Forest." He also had roles in several "Twilight Zone" episodes.

He was married to actress-comedian Brett Somers, who played his ex-wife Blanche in "The Odd Couple," from 1953 until her death in 2007. His survivors include their two sons, Adam Klugman and David Klugman, and two grandchildren.

He married Peggy Crosby, the ex-wife of Bing Crosby's son, Phillip Crosby, in 2008.

A memorial service has not yet been scheduled.

The Associated Press and ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jack-klugman-dies-age-90-233645463--abc-news-tv.html

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Christmastime is tamale time across the USA

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Christmastime is tamale time in South Texas, and Valerie Gonzalez is in the middle of another busy day at Delicious Tamales, the business she has owned for 30 years on San Antonio's largely Latino west side.

Moving quickly between answering the phone and greeting customers in English and in Spanish, she says that December is her busiest month when it comes to the steamed Mexican delicacy that is a holiday tradition among Hispanic families.

Customer Jesse Villanueva, 54, of San Antonio, came to buy some for his family.

"As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't be Christmas without tamales," he said.

Gonzalez said she is seeing something new this holiday season: She's shipping tamales all over the United States.

"We have a lot of people who have moved across the United States and there are sorts of people, all classes of people, who are finding out about tamales for Christmas," she said.

At a time when the U.S. Census Bureau reports a surging Hispanic population - one in six U.S. residents is Hispanic, a number that's expected to grow to nearly one in three by 2060 - is the tamale becoming the new fruitcake?

"I think that's true," says Margaret Zuniga-Healy of the Progresso Tamale Parlor in Hollister, California, which has been owned by her family since 1939. "As people become more familiar with Mexican American cuisine, they're willing to try more things."

The tamale - called a "tamal" in Spanish - takes its name from the Aztec word meaning "wrapped food." It is believed to be among the oldest continuously eaten foods in the Western Hemisphere, with roots dating back more than 2,500 years, according to Jeffrey Pilcher, a historian at the University of Minnesota and the author of "Planet Taco, a Global History of Mexican Food."

Tamales began to be associated with holidays in the Pre-Columbian era, Pilcher says, when several families would gather to make the labor-intensive food. The delicacy often features beef, chicken or pork and masa (corn dough) steamed in a corn husk, though there are many variations throughout Latin America.

Zuniga-Healy said Americans are embracing Mexican food the same way they embraced Italian food in the 1920s, and the tradition of Christmas tamales is part of that discovery of new food.

The tamale is like the fruitcake in another way, Pilcher said: It is easily given as a holiday gift.

Gonzalez says it's not surprising that tamales are becoming popular in parts of the United States where Christmastime is a lot colder than it is in the traditional Mexican American areas of the Southwest.

"Tamales keep you warm, the more tamales that you eat," she said. "Especially the ones with the jalapenos in them."

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christmastime-tamale-time-across-usa-014655969.html

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Monday, December 17, 2012

Dealing with Back Pain | Natural Holistic Health Blog

back painMany people experience back pain in one form or another ? long or short term. With around 90% of the population suffering with debilitating pain it is a relief to realise that other people are going through a similar experience to us. This high number of back pain sufferers also means that there are a number of treatment and pain relief options that can be successfully used.

Back pain can occur for many reasons and in varying degrees ? sudden onset back pain, after an accident for example, may need urgent medical treatment and should certainly be investigated in order to reduce the risk of long-term damage developing.

Many people are not aware of the onset of problems in their spinal area ? the pain may develop slowly over a long period or may only appear to be relatively minor. Minor back pain may develop because of bad posture whilst sitting or sleeping, it may be due to incorrect lifting or even referred pain due to another underlying medical problem. Persistent or worsening pain should be investigated by a professional medical practitioner.

Generalized back pain may be treated in a number of ways. It is possible to improve back health by making changes to posture, exercising, and implementing various simple lifestyle changes.

Sometimes back pain may require urgent medical attention ? if it is accompanied by any of the following symptoms the advice of your medical practitioner should be sought as soon as possible -

  • muscle weakness
  • sensory loss
  • numbness
  • loss of bladder or bowel control
  • severe radiating pain

Rest and relaxation

More and more of us lead extremely busy lives and find little time for proper rest and relaxation. However, niggling back pain needs to be rested in order to prevent the condition worsening ? a little rest when the pain is mild may well prevent compulsory bed rest later on.

Back pain sufferers should take care to rest their back several times during the day, if possible lying down and stretching ? this will alleviate the pressure from the spine and muscles as well as relieving the weight from the area. If possible, take at least four breaks of at least ten minutes each day. Of course at work it may be necessary to lie on the floor ? taking a yoga mat may be a good idea. Once you have rested your back do some slow stretches before going straight back to work. It is important not to sit or stand in the same position for long periods in order to avoid stiffening of joints and muscles.

It is essential to combine any rest periods with moderate exercise in order to avoid muscle atrophy. Gentle walking or swimming will contribute to overall general fitness as well as contribute to muscle strengthening.

When sitting make sure to choose a firm chair ? avoid sitting on soft sofas, if necessary choose the floor. Also ensure that your mattress is firm enough ? replacing if necessary.

Natural and alternative remedies

The body produces its own natural painkillers called endorphins. Exercise and treatments such as physiotherapy, manipulation, and acupuncture may all boost the levels of endorphins in your body.

Enjoy a guilt free massage

Therapeutic massage is an excellent therapy for back pain of all kinds ? done correctly a medically based massage may resolve the problem rather than simply masking the symptoms as so many painkillers do.

Therapeutic massages have a number of health benefits including improving circulation, increasing flexibility and strengthening of spinal muscles ? all f which will improve the alignment of the spine. Your medical practitioner will probably be able to recommend a therapist, it is important that your chosen therapist is qualified and accredited.

Use medication

Over the counter medications can help reduce inflammation and niggling back pain ? it is important not to over medicate, discuss any pain therapy with your medical practitioner.

Your doctor may prescribe medication to relax muscles and/or reduce inflammation ? it is essential to follow dosage instructions exactly and only use painkillers when necessary.

Hot and cold therapy

Immediately after any injury it is often useful to apply cold therapy ? this may reduce inflammation and ease any muscle spasm or pain. Cold therapy may be applied in a number of ways ?

  • Pre-packed cold packs
  • Ice cubes wrapped in a towel
  • An ice bath

Heat therapy is frequently used in order to relieve muscle tension, reduce spasm, and improve mobility. As with cold therapy, it is essential not to apply hot therapies directly to the skin but rather to wrap the therapy tool ?

  • Heating pads
  • Hot stone massage
  • Hot bath

Talk to your medical practitioner

Persistent pain that recurs despite treatment attempts should always be investigated by a qualified doctor. A number of serious underlying medical conditions involving vital organs such as the prostate or uterus can, on occasion, cause referred pain in the back ? it is essential that this type of illness is ruled out as soon as possible.

Pain that interferes with daily activity should also be investigated ? particularly if the home remedies suggested above do not appear to be improving or lessening the discomfort. Even severe pain can be successfully treated using physical therapy or chiropractic adjustment.

Don?t just live with it

No one has to just live with back pain ? for all but the most extreme cases there are a number of treatments that can provide relief and enable a normal routine to be maintained.

Related Natural Product

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About the author:

Natalia Z. is a one of the specialists on Webctor.com ? a new health center which is responsible for bringing free and accurate medical information to the Internet.

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Source: http://www.natural-holistic-health.com/dealing-with-back-pain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dealing-with-back-pain

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Gaiam TV: Streaming Health And Wellness 24/7 | Hip As I Wanna Be

I?ve quite accidentally stumbled across a gold mine of health, wellness, fitness and inspiration. It is called Gaiam TV.

GaiamTV.com is an online video streaming service which operates similarly to Netflix. Fitness and health junkies of the world, get ready to swoon?

For a $9.95 a month subscription, one can get ?unlimited access to thousands of streaming videos straight to your computer or mobile device.

Among the topics to chose from:

  • spirituality
  • personal development
  • health
  • fitness
  • nutrition
  • weight loss
  • stress reduction and much more?

?

I first came at this site from a purely fitness mentality (Yoga! Pilates! Jillian Michaels! The Firm!) but soon found out that it had so much more to offer me.?As a woman in transition, many of the shows speak to where I am in my own life journey. What a happy surprise! (Where has it been all of my life?)

As for the health and wellness portion of this site? I just can?t say enough about the selection. I don?t know about you, but I don?t connect with every instructor which (truth be told) has lead me to drop the pursuit of a discipline fairly quickly. I also am not a huge fan of group?exercise?in a fitness club. I have zero coordination and hate the humiliation. This service is a great tool for finding the perfect fit for your goals and personality in your own private environment. It literally gives you zero excuse for not working out. One less reason for not taking care of yourself, if you know what I mean.

If this seems like something you would be interested in trying out,?Gaiam TV offers a free 10-day trial to prospective subscribers. The ?subscription fee contains no contract commitment, allowing you to cancel at anytime. So very easy to try out for yourself!

Disclosure: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Source: http://www.hipasiwannabe.com/2012/16/fitness/gaiam-tv-streaming-health-and-wellness-247/

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Switched On: The roads to home automation

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Switched On The Roads to Home Automation

At a dinner event several years ago, a former editor-in-chief of a major computing trade magazine told attendees that his first published article was about home automation. That article ran back in 1979 -- just two years after the debut of the Apple II and two years before the introduction of the IBM PC.

Indeed, in its early days, home automation, like the PC, was confined to hobbyists more concerned with being able to do things rather than their practical value. However, the PC proved itself first in business and then with games, word processing and the consumer web as the internet grew. Meanwhile, home automation has largely remained the province of the very wealthy and corporations. Indeed, we're still likely many years away from all of us having smart homes, but there are signs of that future approaching and putting the squeeze on today's high-end installations both from above and below.

DIY

One reason why home automation has been so challenging for the non-technical has been the confusing array of different wired and wireless standards. Take lighting. At least three major wireless protocols -- INSTEON, ZigBee and Z-Wave -- vie for adoption in wall switches for lighting. And even if you pick one, it's not every consumer who is comfortable working behind the wall plate.

But recently we've seen encroachments from two of the most popular wireless networks: WiFi and Bluetooth. In lighting, for instance, we've seen the development of light bulbs that can not only be turned on and off (and dimmed) via WiFi, but also change color -- from companies as diverse as lighting giant Philips and Kickstarter campaigner LIFX. WiFi has been the first radio standard supported by connected thermostat startup Nest. And now door locks such as Lockitron and remote doorbells like DoorBot are planning to work together to enable unmanaged remote monitoring and unlocking of homes.

DNP Switched On The Roads to Home Automation

WiFi makes sense for products that have access to a permanent power source. For sensors expected to last months or a year on batteries, though, such as those used in security applications like window openings and motion detection, Bluetooth Smart is developing into a competitor to other low-power radios. It has the advantage of already being built into virtually every smartphone, a device that will invariably be used to control homes, particularly remotely.

Another way around the longstanding standards morass has been to simply support multiple ones. Home improvement chain Lowe's, for example, now offers two home automation sets under the Iris brand. The Safe and Secure kit focuses on security monitoring while the Comfort and Control Kit centers on energy management. Both cost $179 (or are bundled together in a Smart kit for $299) and both mix and match ZigBee and Z-Wave components.

Installed

First, home automation is rapidly becoming tied into wireless data and broadband.

But while the DIY model might be getting simpler, the real push in home automation in 2013 and beyond is coming from service providers looking past the "triple play" of voice, video and (mobile) broadband. Security companies such as Vivint and ADT have been pushing home automation as an outgrowth of their security businesses with the panels acting as hubs for Z-Wave components.

The market is also attracting the attention of service provider heavyweights such as Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and others. First, home automation is rapidly becoming tied into wireless data and broadband. Got an alert on your phone that someone is at the door? Perhaps you want to peek in via remote camera for a quick chat with whoever is there?

Second, it is one of an emerging breed of consumer subscription-based services like health monitoring and payments that may not be universal for some time, but which are supplementing today's slow-growth or declining markets such as pay TV and VoIP. These services may not be adopted as widely as, say, cellular service, but rather they represent a new tier of services built on top of broadband.

Beyond the House

"Home automation" has always been, at best, an incomplete description of what are sometimes now called smart buildings. Indeed, a lot of so-called home automation installations have taken place in small businesses and a lot of the actions are done manually and not really automatically. In addition, many people's homes are apartments -- too small to justify the kinds of elaborate, multi-room systems facilitated by advanced, low-power mesh networks.

One opportunity to increase the adoption of home automation is to offer more basic capabilities to people who live in smaller dwellings. An option on the market today comes from SimpliSafe, an inexpensive, but monitored system that costs only $15 per month. If companies with tens of millions of customers such as telcos or cable companies could tack even that small premium on to their monthly fees, it would represent a substantial revenue boost.



Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at @rossrubin.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/16/the-roads-to-home-automation/

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Friday, December 14, 2012

Car Loan Quote: Comparing Loan Quotes | Personal Business Ideas

December 14th, 2012 by admin Leave a reply ?

Car Loan Quote: Comparing Loan Quotes PhotoDon?t settle for the first auto loan quote that crosses your path. There are various methods now-a-days in which individuals can acquire an auto loan. Be sure to compare all the pros and cons of each method to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck. There are four main ways to acquire an auto loan quote: dealer loans, credit unions, home equity, or with online quotes.

Dealership Auto Loan

Dealership loans are fairly common. In the past, a dealership loan was the only way to finance a vehicle. Times have certainly changed! One thing is certain, dealership loans are convenient. While you sit and fill out papers for the vehicle you will purchase, you might as well fill out papers for a loan to finance that car. Yes, dealership loans are quite simple, however, sometimes they are not in your best interest. Convenience doesn?t come free. Many times, these loans have higher interest rates than if you were to find a loan by yourself.

Credit Unions

Credit unions are a great option for auto financing. They can quote much larger loan amounts for a lower interest rate that an auto dealership. Also, the extra time you will spend with a credit union is not overwhelming. Many times credit unions can approve you for a loan in mere minutes. Although one extra phone call needs to be made, there is not much effort on your end.

Home Equity

A home equity loan is another option for car financing. Using a home equity loan allows you to purchase your vehicle while using your home as collateral. On paper, home equity loans may appear to have a higher interest rate than standard car loans. However, the fact that the interest you will pay is tax deductible may present significant advantages.

Online quote

One of the quickest growing industries online is the financing industry. Now, you can simply go to a credit website and compare quotes and loan terms. There are even websites where banks and lenders will compete for your business. This is beneficial to you because it means lower interest rates and shorter auto loan terms.

The moral of the story is: be sure to check all options before signing an auto loan. There are many different methods to get auto financing quotes. Depending on your situation, each auto loan method can present certain advantages and disadvantages.

Posted in Credit and Loan

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Source: http://www.liquidelectric.org/2012/12/car-loan-quote-comparing-loan-quotes.html

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

How Much Marketing is Too Much for Your Small Business or ...

How Much Marketing is Too Much For Your Small Business or Nonprofit?

I was talking to a nonprofit client the other day about the end of the year rush for fundraising. Like most nonprofits, this organization has several specifically targeted year end campaigns, which in this case are closely tied to the holidays because of the nature of the organization. On top of that, they participated in a 24-hour online county wide fundraising competition called the Extraordinary Give. And then of course they had the chance to participate in the post-Black Friday, post-Small Business Saturday, post-Cyber Monday event called Giving Tuesday.

All of this in the final month and a half of the year. My client?s question was,

?How much is too much??

They didn?t participate in Giving Tuesday this year, and I think that was a wise idea. Donors are already overloaded with requests to give at this time of year, and too much from one source might be both confusing and counterproductive. Consumers are being sold to at an alarming rate. Buy, buy, buy; give, give, give, seems to be the mantra of many businesses and organizations these days.

It is possible to market too much. It is possible to ask for money too often. And it is possible for businesses to be a little (or a lot) ?too present.? By various accounts, the average American is confronted with upwards of 3,000 ad impressions a day. That includes those coming from small businesses and nonprofits as well.

If you?re using social media as part of your marketing plan, particularly Facebook or Twitter, you need to watch very carefully. The only way to know how much is too much is to pay attention. Paying attention is a matter of listening to what people are saying about you. And while some of what they are saying is ?loud and clear,? some of it might not be so obvious. You sometimes have to dig a little as you monitor your brand and find out what they are thinking about you, without actually telling you to your face.

Yes, some folks will call you out and tell you to your face. But they are the minority.

When it comes to how much is too much, there is really only one way to know: listen. Open your ears and eyes. (which I guess is two things: listening and watching, but on the Internet, they are the same thing.

You need to regularly take the pulse of what you?re doing and measure your efforts. When people feel they are getting too much, or are being sold to too much, they will let you know in any number of ways. Here are a few things you should be checking out, just to see if perhaps you?re doing a bit too much, but remember, these things, in and of themselves could be signs of other serious problems, not just over-marketing:

1) Decrease in traffic ? This can be across the board, from your website to Facebook. If you see the amount of traffic decreasing, particularly visiting your website from your social properties, that?s a red flag. If you see fewer people visiting your brick and mortar business, you know something is wrong. Same applies to the online world.

2) Decrease in activity ? Similar to a decrease in traffic is a decrease in activity or engagement. Has the number of people commenting, liking, sharing, retweeting, and pinning decreased over time? Has it decreased drastically over a short period of time?

3) Decrease in fans/followers/subscribers ? If you?re noticing an attrition of fans on Facebook, that?s a problem. You should always be seeming some sort of net growth. Expect some losses, but look for larger than normal spikes in people unliking your page and try to figure out what you did that day to elicit that kind of reaction. If the losses are greater than the gains, something needs to be fixed.

4) Negative Feedback ? This isn?t always vocal and readily apparent. My friend Liz Jostes wrote a great post on this in regard to Facebook and negative feedback the other day. When people see your posts in their newsfeed, they have the option of hiding your posts. Or, they can go further and actually report them as spam. These now get reported back to you in your Facebook insights. This is useful information, and most likely happens more often if you are paying to promote posts. So while you?ll get greater reach and exposure, you may actually get penalized.

By looking at your analytics and insights, and noticing patterns of negative behavior, you might be discovering that you?re doing something wrong. It?s not just a matter of bad content, but might also be that you?re selling too much or flooding your audience with too much information over too short a period of time.

Whether you?re a non-profit or small business, there are numerous programs, special days, and opportunities that you have available to you to reach your audience. Don?t feel that you have to take advantage of all of them. Pick and choose the ones that are right for you. Try to roll your regular programs and appeals into these special programs and appeals, rather than? duplicating or doubling up. Integrate your efforts across platforms, online and offline. Mix it up across channels, but in a coordinated way. Use online to reinforce offline, and vice versa.

Keep your eyes and ears open to discover what your audience is saying about you, even when they aren?t actually saying anything.

Have you ever discovered that you are marketing too much? How did you find out, and were their negative results?

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Source: http://inklingmedia.net/2012/12/11/how-much-marketing-is-too-much-for-your-small-business-or-nonprofit/

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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Ipeng for iPad Christmas version crashing


I'm sorry, but we seem to have a problem with the international version of this build. Will try to get it corrected as soon as possible.

As a workaround, it helps to set your iPad to English.
If you then open all the automatic help screens at least once (the ones under "Help->Quick Tutorials") you can then switch the iPad back to your native language as long as you don't open the Help screen.

I'll try to get an update to the store ASAP but this being a weekend it's probably going to be at least Tuesday for that.

Sorry!!!

Source: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?97500-Ipeng-for-iPad-Christmas-version-crashing&goto=newpost

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Friday, December 7, 2012

JournalStone Publishing Announces Forthcoming Publication of ...

JournalStone Publishing (JSP) President, Christopher C. Payne has announced the signing of a contract with award winning author, Weston Ochse (represented by literary agent Robert Fleck) for the publication of his new novel, Halfway House, tentatively set for release in Summer of 2014.

About the Book: Genre: Supernatural Thriller/Urban Fantasy. Sun and surf meets spirits , brujas and LA street gangs in an action-packed but thoughtful supernatural novel about family, history, legends, and the dangers of not letting go. For Bobby Dupree, an epileptic loner from a Memphis orphanage on a journey to find out if he really is the son of the King, Los Angeles holds more opportunities and more dangers than he imagines. Hooking up with an old surf bum nicknamed ?Kanga?, he finds himself embroiled in a 20 year long rivalry, a gang turf-war, and a spiritual mystery that only his ?handicap? can unravel.

About the Author: Weston Ochse (pronounced ?Oaks) lives in Southern Arizona. His work has won the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel in 2005, been a finalist in several categories for this same award, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for Short Fiction in 2003 and won the Buffalo Screams International Film Festival Original Screenplay Competition in 2010. His work has also appeared in anthologies, magazines and professional writing guides. He thinks it?s damn cool that he?s had stories in comic books. His novels include Empire of Salt and Blood Ocean (Abaddon Books/Rebellion Entertainment), and SEAL Team 666 (just released from St. Martin?s Press in Nov 2012). Weston holds Bachelor?s Degrees in American Literature and Chinese Studies from Excelsior College. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from National University. Weston is a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer.

JournalStone Publishing is a small press publishing company, focusing in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror genres in both the adult and young adult markets. JSP also owns and operates the Hellnotes website, offering daily news and reviews of interest to genre readers and fans, and Dark Discoveries Magazine, a slick, full color, distinguished and internationally distributed quarterly magazine. JournalStone publishes in multiple book formats and markets their authors on a global level. They are also active with major writer?s groups, including the Horror Writers Association (HWA), and produce a monthly newsletter with exposure to thousands of people.

Source: http://hellnotes.com/journalstone-publishing-announces-forthcoming-publication-of-halfway-house?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=journalstone-publishing-announces-forthcoming-publication-of-halfway-house

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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

7 'Jedi' Hacks To Improve Search Engine Rankings of Your Websites

Improve Search Engine Rankings

Discover How to Improve the Search Engine Rankings of your Websites even if you?re not a ?Jedi?.

Search Engine Optimization is important if you want to have a good source of leads coming from Google, Yahoo and Bing.

If you have a website for your small business, landscaping company or home improvement company, you can definitely benefit from a well-planned internet marketing strategy.

And a big part of that strategy is getting found in the search engines for your chosen terms and keywords.

These 7 ?Jedi? Tricks might be a bit technical for most people, but they are invaluable to your online success.

You can definitely start using some of the tricks I?ve mentioned but if you needed more professional help, all you need to do is ask.

1. Create Content that your target readers would love. (While focusing on Best SEO practices when writing content)

If you?re selling mulches or soil, talk about the benefits of using a specific type of soil or mulch.

Instead of writing about how many hours it took you to create the soil mix, tell them why this specific product would save them time and money.

But while writing content, you?ll also need to incorporate the ?most? common terms and phrases that are found in the Top 10 results.

This will help the search engines rank your website faster than most websites.

You can use tools like the Ultimate keyword tool to find these synonyms and sprinkle them when writing your article.

You can also use Google Keyword tool and it will show you related terms and phrases that you can use.

2. Use Video on your Website, Embed PDF files and Images

Youtube is currently the 2nd largest search engine. And there has been numerous case studies on how video improve site engagement.

You can also build embed PDF files using GoogleDocs or other sharing site like Slideshare.com and Docstoc.com

3. Build your Social Profiles

Google might be the 800lb Gorilla of traffic but it?s not the only source of traffic. ?And because of this, Google is starting to look at social signals for ranking websites.

Probably the most important social profile to start building right now would be your Google+ profile.

Connecting your Website and Google+ profile can increase the clicks to your site because a small profile image is shown in the search results.

It?s Google?s own social network. If you want to benefit from long-term, free search engine traffic, now?s the time to create your Personal Google+ profile.

Make sure you have also accounts created in the 3 biggest Social Networks:
http://www.twitter.com/
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/

If you are interested in registering your brand name/company name across all known social profiles you can visit knowem.com to check if your brand url is still available. (Highly recommended)

4. Spy on your Competitor?s SEO and PPC Strategy.

Do you want to know if a competitor is doing pretty well in SEO and PPC? Do you want to know what keywords they are ranking for? Do you want to know their most successful ads in PPC?

You can ?easily? spy on your competitor?s backlinks, keywords, ppc ads by using subscription tools like Keywordspy and Spyfu.

For checking backlinks and top 10 competitors, you can use Market Samurai.

5. Use Google Webmaster Tools.

If you?re not using Google webmaster tools, you should. It?s actually simple to implement and use.

All you need to do is have a working gmail (use the same gmail for analytics, adwords, etc), install Google analytics (asynchronous) tracking in your website, then verify your Google webmaster account by adding your site.

Here are some of the benefits of using it:

  • Detect Malware issues on your site
  • Set the Preferred URL (www or non www) for your website
  • Discover all the links being created (useful for your link building plan)
  • Find out which keywords are being found on your website?s content.

6. Promote your website.

After creating great content, you still need to promote it. The best way is to leverage your existing source of traffic.

  • If you have an email list, send an email to everyone on your list that you have a new blog post.
  • Usually, the best people to target when promoting your content are people who already know you or have expressed permission to receive information from you. Send them an email or tweet that you have new content that might be useful to their readers.
  • Send a Press Release if your article is news worthy.
  • Build a Viral Fanpage and offer incentives to share your content.
  • Start driving traffic through PPC. Don?t forget to use Bing Adcenter as well. They might have lower traffic, but they have higher conversions.
  • Identify the top referrals of traffic to your new blog post and simply thank them for sending traffic. This can become a great start of building stronger relationships with other leaders and webmasters in your niche.

7. Monitor your Website?s rankings.

You can?t improve what you can?t measure.

Fortunately, there are many ways to track if your rankings are improving or not. You can use the Rank tracker module of market samurai to track all the rankings for your websites.

Simply enter your domain and keywords then Market samurai will track the rankings in the ?cloud?.

Getting top rankings in the search results can provide you with a generous amount of leads ?just like what our client experienced in 2012.

Are you going to be our next Success story?

We?ll guide you step-by-step on how you can boost your business sales online. Simply click the button and download our ?Essential Guide? to start learning how you can capture better sales leads online.



?

(Photo credit Jedi by PhillipWest)

About Ryan

Ryan is an Internet marketing specialist for WSI Milton. Team WSI Milton has been providing Internet Marketing Solutions that generates more leads and sales for dozens of their clients.

Source: http://blog.yourwsiadvantage.com/improve-search-engine-rankings/

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Friday, November 30, 2012

Telehealth Network to be Built in New England

November 29, 2012

According to a recent survey from the New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute, 42 percent of voters want cuts in health IT. The survey, which was based on the thoughts of 1,202 consumer son their post-election thoughts on healthcare, found that 69 percent of respondents said President Barack Obama has to rein in healthcare costs.

November 29, 2012

A new report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has determined that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) faces obstacles in the Medicare EHR incentive program because it does not verify whether the self-reported information from providers is accurate and thus the integrity of the program is in question. The OIG charges CMS with not implementing ?strong prepayment safeguards,? in the 38-page report, released this week.

November 28, 2012

More than 400 healthcare facilities across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont will participate in a new telehealth network. The effort is buoyed by Ethernet services from the Portland, Maine-based FairPoint Communications, a broadband internet network provider. It will aim to strengthen the New England Telehealth Consortium?s (NETC), which is a three-state group that has been awarded a $24.6 million Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rural Health Care Pilot Program award to bring telemedicine to the region.

November 28, 2012

A group of researchers from Kansas State University are exploring the effect social media platforms could have on preventing infectious diseases from spreading. The researchers say that a tweet from an influential source could be just as effective as a flu shot.

November 28, 2012

According to a report from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), nearly half of doctors using an EHR are e-prescribing, a sharp increase from just four years ago. In June of this year, ONC said 48 percent of doctors using an EHR were e-prescribing. In December of 2008, this number was at only 7 percent.

November 27, 2012

Alere Home Monitoring, a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of patient home monitoring services, recently disclosed that a company-owned laptop containing protected health information including Social Security numbers and diagnosis codes, was recently stolen from a locked vehicle that belonged to one of the firm?s employees. The company says it has notified approximately 116,000 individuals of the incident.

November 27, 2012

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), a large academic medical center, recently announced a data breach that affected approximately 1,500 patients. UAMS says a former physician, who was fired in 2010, kept patient lists and notes after leaving the hospital in June of that year.

November 27, 2012

According to a recent report from the Mountain View, Calif.-based research company, Frost & Sullivan, the health information exchange market is set to grow significantly over the next 18-24 months thanks to various regulatory factors. The report, U.S. Health Information Exchange Market: A Comprehensive Guide to Market Dynamics, Technology Vendors, and Future Trends, looks at the specific opportunities in this space.

November 27, 2012

In addition to its recently announced patient engagement framework, the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) is releasing an affiliated online assessment tool that will help providers and payers evaluate where they stand in this area. NeHC, which worked with HealthCAWS on the platform, says its Consumer eHealth Readiness Tool (CeRT) can be used as a real-time progress evaluator for payers and providers looking to gauge their patient engagement activities. It also can give recommendations to providers on how they can improve.

November 26, 2012

Improving medication adherence remains one of the healthcare system?s greatest challenges. According to a recent study from the Oakland, Calif.-based integrated system, Kaiser Permanente, patients who receive automatic reminders are 1.6 times more likely to fill prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering statins than those who don?t get one.

November 26, 2012

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the first three participants in a new data sharing initiative aimed at getting more information to consumers to improve healthcare quality. The organizations in the Medicare Data Sharing for Performance Measurement program are Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium (serving the Greater Kansas City area in Missouri and Kansas), and Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation.

November 26, 2012

Intermountain Healthcare, a Salt Lake City-based healthcare system with 22 hospitals, recently announced it signed a multi-year contract with Siemens Healthcare (Malvern, Pa.) for $11.7 million to improve upon the system?s enterprise-wide imaging system. The agreement will allow Intermountain to deploy a vendor neutral archive from Siemens, which will allow images of multiple modalities to be stored in a Dell data center and managed with Dell?s clinical data management software.

November 26, 2012

A recent report from the Orem, Utah-based KLAS Research, indicates that as the market for picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) grows, providers are looking for vendors that can rapidly improve in the middle of a changing industry. The report, Radiology PACS Technology: The World Looks Under the Covers, looks at various PACS-related feedback from customers and finds the top vendors are those who can offer ?meaningful and timely upgrades with expanded usability.?

November 21, 2012

Pediatricians are not as up to par in the usage of EHRs as some of their fellow doctors, a recent survey led by researchers at Seattle Children's Hospital and East Carolina University with accompanying data from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), revealed. According to the researchers, pediatricians are up to two years behind the overall rate of EHR adoption, while those that have systems are without basic functionality.

November 21, 2012

Deloitte and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) recently conducted a study and found that for providers, life sciences companies, and payers there is clear correlation between return on investment (ROI) from clinical IT systems and high organizational support from health informatics. The organizations where respondents didn?t buy into the idea that health IT leads to significant ROI didn?t have as strong organizational support, alignment, and executive sponsorship as those that did.

Source: http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/news-item/telehealth-network-be-built-new-england

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Tom Coughlin comfortable in retail consultant role | Business ...

Once retail gets in the blood, it?s hard to shake, according to Tom Coughlin, former Wal-Mart board vice chairman and a longtime student of legendary merchant Sam Walton.

In his first media interview since his sudden departure from Wal-Mart, Coughlin recently talked with The City Wire about his consultant firm, the evolutionary business of retail he says is customer-centric regardless of the shopping channel, and what he is doing now more than seven years after retiring as one of the top officers of the world?s largest retailer.

Coughlin?s retirement from Wal-Mart in 2005 was followed by a grand jury investigation into fraudulent activity which occurred on the corporate clock. To avoid a lengthy trial, he pled guilty, made full restitution to the court, and served ?a 27-month sentence of home confinement. In August 2008, Wal-Mart settled with Coughlin over his retirement benefits for his 28 years of service during a time of exceptional company growth.??

WAL-MART BEST DAYS AHEAD
At 63, Coughlin appears comfortable in his own skin and he?s passionate about the ongoing and often rapid changes within the retail sector.??Coughlin says emphatically he remains a loyal shopper and ?Wal-Mart?s best days are still ahead.?

?I buy just about everything at the Walmart Store in Jane, (Mo.) and the ?big man?s shop? at Dillard?s,? Coughlin said candidly.

He?s also a fan of Sam?s Club and it?s major competitor Costco. He has a profound respect for Jim Sinegal, founder of Costco.???I truly believe Jim Sinegal is the second greatest retailer of all time. He never let his ego get in his way,? Coughlin said. ?He stuck to what made sense.???Nearly eight years removed from his last days as the No. 2 executive of Wal-Mart Stores, Coughlin is sought out regularly by suppliers and other retail enthusiasts for his ?insight and expertise.?

His firm, Tom Coughlin & Associates, offers a range of services that include everything from being a sounding board to in-depth scrutiny over products, brand expansion and operational efficiencies.

SUPPLIER RELATIONS
During his tenure at Wal-Mart, Coughlin worked closely with suppliers and said the relationship is about give and take ? in the yin and yang concept ? where both sides need each other for mutual success.

He said finding a balance requires open conversation and mutual understanding that the customer must come first.

?I often advise suppliers to keep their Wal-Mart business at a 25% maximum of the total gross revenues. It?s a major temptation for suppliers to want more given Wal-Mart?s size, but discipline is critical,? Coughlin said.

He said that is a lesson learned ?many moons ago from Sam himself.?

Coughlin said he was a young man, new to Bentonville at a time when there was one stop light in town, and he had a lot to learn about the retail business.

?Jack Shewmaker and Sam took me to lunch one day and asked me how I planned to save the company money. As the head of security I had been researching the cost of a security system in a new store planned for Little Rock, a large market for us at that time. I discovered the cost of a security system in a large city would be an expensive thing and I knew we had several other larger city stores planned,? Coughlin said.

The total security outlay of the one store was going to be something like 8% of the entire company costs, he added. Coughlin said he tossed out an idea that they might purchase a security alarm vendor outright, set up a wholesale division for ordering parts and then buy the services from themselves.

?We were using just one company primarily for those services at that time. Sam asked how much it would cost, and we told him the security company owner wanted about $98,000 for his business. I was shocked when Sam said, ?Let?s do it,? because I had never bought a business of any kind at that point in my career,? Coughlin recalled.

?GOOD DEAL FOR BOTH PARTIES?
Over the next few days Coughlin said he studied the business, looked for ways to depreciate assets and finally got the sales prices down to $45,000.

?I was excited to tell Sam how much money this would save our company. I couldn?t believe his response when I told him about the $45,000 deal. He looked at me and said that I had done a good job, and he wanted to buy the company, but he would pay the firm $100,000 for their business. I couldn?t understand why he would want to do that after I had negotiated a lower price,? Coughlin said.

Sam?s decision to go with the $100,000 price bothered Coughlin all weekend.

?On our way home from church on Sunday, I saw Sam?s truck at the office, so I asked my wife, then pregnant with our first child, to let me out so I could speak to Sam about this matter. I told Cynthia I would walk home as we lived in town at that time,? he said.

When Coughlin approached Sam about the sales price that Sunday afternoon he was amazed at the answer.

?Sam told me that Lewis (the security firm) had been with him since his first store. He said there were times early on when sales were down and he had to ask for a month?s extension and Lewis always gave it. Sam said when we asked for six months dating on new stores to allow time for them to get up and running before paying, Lewis was there. Sam told me offering a lower price at that time wouldn?t be a good deal for Lewis. And I will never forget what he said next,? Coughlin continued.

?If it?s not a good deal for both parties, then it?s not a good deal.?

Coughlin said the story illustrates the trusted relationship between supplier and retailer.

?This had a profound impact on me as I continued to work directly with suppliers throughout my career in retail and now as an advisor,? Coughlin said.

POST RETIREMENT
When Coughlin retired from Wal-Mart in early 2005, he came home to a 2,100-acre ranch near Centerton and a large herd of registered Angus cattle he amassed over several years.

?Cynthia had become so adept at managing the cattle business she didn?t need or necessarily want my help,? Coughlin joked. ?We call her the cattle baroness around here.?

He said the consultant business is a natural extension for him because of the relationships he has maintained inside retail circles and the outlying vendor community.

?I was fortunate to run the largest business in the world. I got tremendous satisfaction from my relationships both at Wal-Mart and the vendor community and though I have had opportunities to run other organizations since then, that?s not for me.? Coughlin said.

But he does serve as a board member for New York City-based Ken?s Krew, a nonprofit corporation that provides vocational training and job placement services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This organization was founded by Ken Langone, co-founded of Home Depot and a close friend to Coughlin.

Coughlin also serves on the board of directors for Geeknet.com, a web-based retail site catering to the tech-savvy demographic. This venture is also run by Langone. Fairfax, Va.-based Geeknet was acquired by Dice Holdings on Sept. 18. The company reported third-quarter revenue of $17.3 million, up from $14.7 million in the 2011 period. The company posted a $2 million loss from continuing operations in the quarter, but posted an $8.4 million accounting gain based on the $14 million sale of its media business.

When asked if he is comfortable at this place and time in his life, Coughlin, smiled and said: ?Retail provided me wonderful opportunities over the years and sharing that expertise today feels right.?

Source: http://www.thecitywire.com/node/25339

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Human-caused climate change signal emerges from the noise

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? By comparing simulations from 20 different computer models to satellite observations, Lawrence Livermore climate scientists and colleagues from 16 other organizations have found that tropospheric and stratospheric temperature changes are clearly related to human activities.?

The team looked at geographical patterns of atmospheric temperature change over the period of satellite observations. The team's goal of the study was to determine whether previous findings of a "discernible human influence" on tropospheric and stratospheric temperature were sensitive to current uncertainties in climate models and satellite data.

The troposphere is the lowest portion of earth's atmosphere. The stratosphere sits just above the troposphere, between 6 and 30 miles above earth's surface.

The satellite temperature data sets were produced by three different research groups, and rely on measurements of the microwave emissions of oxygen molecules. Each group made different choices in processing these raw measurements, and in accounting for such complex effects as drifts in satellite orbits and in instrument calibrations.

The new climate model simulations analyzed by the team will form the scientific backbone of the upcoming 5th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is due out in 2014.

In both satellite observations and the computer model simulations of historical climate change, the lower stratosphere cools markedly over the past 33 years. This cooling is primarily a response to the human-caused depletion of stratospheric ozone. The observations and model simulations also show a common pattern of large-scale warming of the lower troposphere, with largest warming over the Arctic, and muted warming (or even cooling) over Antarctica. Tropospheric warming is mainly driven by human-caused increases in well-mixed greenhouse gases.

"It's very unlikely that purely natural causes can explain these distinctive patterns of temperature change," said Laboratory atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer, who is lead author of the paper appearing in the Nov. 29 online edition of the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"No known mode of natural climate variability can cause sustained, global-scale warming of the troposphere and cooling of the lower stratosphere."

The team analyzed results from climate model simulations with specified historical changes in human and natural external factors, and from simulations with projected 21st century changes in greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols. They also looked at simulations with no changes in external influences on climate, which provide information on the year-to-year and decade-to-decade "noise" of internal climate variability, arising from such natural phenomena as the El Nino/Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

The team used a standard "climate fingerprint" method to search for the model signal pattern (in response to human influences, the sun and volcanoes) in the satellite observations. The method quantifies the strength of the signal in observations, relative to the strength of the signal in natural climate noise.

Other contributors include researchers from Remote Sensing Systems of Santa Rosa; the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Melbourne, Australia; the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis, Victoria, Canada; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton; the University of Colorado, Boulder; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; the U.K. Met. Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, U.K.; the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France; North Carolina State University; the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder; the University of Adelaide, South Australia; the University of Reading, U.K.; and the Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Camp Springs.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Benjamin D. Santer, Jeffrey F. Painter, Carl A. Mears, Charles Doutriaux, Peter Caldwell, Julie M. Arblaster, Philip J. Cameron-Smith, Nathan P. Gillett, Peter J. Gleckler, John Lanzante, Judith Perlwitz, Susan Solomon, Peter A. Stott, Karl E. Taylor, Laurent Terray, Peter W. Thorne, Michael F. Wehner, Frank J. Wentz, Tom M. L. Wigley, Laura J. Wilcox, and Cheng-Zhi Zou. Identifying human influences on atmospheric temperature. PNAS, November 29, 2012 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1210514109

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/nYJESfc2czQ/121129143504.htm

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Chinese Tea by Kidaubis Design

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Mike Holmgren leaving Browns uncertain of future

Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren gestures while answering questions during a news conference Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Berea, Ohio. Holmgren is leaving the team immediately rather than stay on as an adviser through the end of this season. His exit raises more questions about a possible return to coaching and what he truly accomplished during his time with Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren gestures while answering questions during a news conference Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Berea, Ohio. Holmgren is leaving the team immediately rather than stay on as an adviser through the end of this season. His exit raises more questions about a possible return to coaching and what he truly accomplished during his time with Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren answers questions during a news conference Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Berea, Ohio. Holmgren is leaving the team immediately rather than stay on as an adviser through the end of this season. His exit raises more questions about a possible return to coaching and what he truly accomplished during his time with Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren pauses as he answers questions during a news conference Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Berea, Ohio. Holmgren is leaving the team immediately rather than stay on as an adviser through the end of this season. His exit raises more questions about a possible return to coaching and what he truly accomplished during his time with Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren answers questions during a news conference Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Berea, Ohio. Holmgren is leaving the team immediately rather than stay on as an adviser through the end of this season. His exit raises more questions about a possible return to coaching and what he truly accomplished during his time with Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Former Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren answers questions during a news conference Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Berea, Ohio. Holmgren is leaving the team immediately rather than stay on as an adviser through the end of this season. His exit raises more questions about a possible return to coaching and what he truly accomplished during his time with Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

(AP) ? Mike Holmgren's run as a team president is over, ending prematurely and before he planned.

For weeks, he has hung around Cleveland's offices doing what he could to help new owner Jimmy Haslam. Holmgren attended meetings, practices and games. He talked with players, coaches and consulted with his replacement, CEO Joe Banner, now in charge of running the Browns.

Holmgren made his pitch for the team to keep coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert beyond this season.

And now, there's nothing left. It's time for Holmgren to move on to the next phase of his life, which may or may not include another foray as an NFL coach.

Last week, he knew his work was finished.

"I was done," he said. "I already passed the baton."

Less than three years after signing a five-year contract with former owner Randy Lerner to fix Cleveland's franchise, Holmgren is leaving. His final day with the Browns will be Friday, and after that he and his wife, Kathy, will return to their home in Arizona, where the 64-year-old will contemplate his future.

"We are going to fly to Phoenix on Saturday and catch my breath a little bit and take it easy and ride my motorcycle," Holmgren said. "I honestly don't know if I'm going to go back to work immediately or not and I don't know if it's going to be in football."

This was not the exit he envisioned.

Holmgren thought he would leave amid a playoff push or as Cleveland celebrated finally winning a Super Bowl title like the one he helped bring to Green Bay. But everything changed when Haslam bought the Browns for $1.05 billion and hired Banner, who built the Philadelphia Eagles into perennial contenders.

Holmgren was the odd-man out.

He stayed to assist Haslam and Banner with the transition, and while he got some things accomplished, it became obvious he was no longer needed.

The Browns went just 12-31 under Holmgren, but he's proud of restoring the business side of the Browns and an on-the-field turnaround that may not be evident for several more years.

As he walks away, Holmgren was asked if he feels somewhat unsatisfied.

"Any time you don't reach your goals in this business on one hand then, yeah," he said. "Having said that, though, I really can feel good, and the guys who have been here can feel good about what the future holds. But time will tell."

It wasn't until he left the sideline that Holmgren realized how much he missed coaching. He longed for the interaction with players, and the chance to teach. He still hasn't gotten comfortable watching games from the press box, and he's hinted that he might coach again ? in the right situation.

After reports surfaced that he would be interested in coaching in Dallas if Jason Garrett was fired, Holmgren said he did not know where those rumors started. However, they gained more traction when he recently met owner Jerry Jones on the field before the Cowboys hosted the Browns.

Holmgren said he called Jones beforehand and they agreed it was OK to be seen together publicly.

"I phoned him and said if this caused any problem for anyone I apologize for that," Holmgren said. "He said absolutely not. I said, 'Listen, every time we play against each other, and it's been a number of times, we've always said hello and been cordial.' I said maybe this time I shouldn't do that if you rather I'd not do that. And he said, 'If you don't come and see me' in typical fashion, if you know him. I said, 'OK.' I talked to Stephen (Jones' son) before then Jerry came out. We talked about the stuff we always talk about ? family and the Salvation Army."

Holmgren, who last coached for Seattle in 2008, insists he isn't close to making a decision on a return to coaching.

"As of right now, I really haven't given it much thought other than the fact there are no plans right now," he said.

Banner said if Holmgren decided to coach, the Browns don't have any agreement where they would be compensated.

"Mike's free to do what he wants next in this field or whatever he'd like to do," he said.

Banner has spent time over the past few weeks meeting with Holmgren and has gotten a better handle on where the Browns are as an organization.

"He was just incredibly helpful and professional and supportive," Banner said. "As you know, we were more than happy to have him stay. But as he said from the beginning that once he kind of made the difference he could, it would probably be time to leave. I'm really appreciative of the time we had together. I think it helped me. I learned a lot through it."

During what he called "brutally honest" conversations with Banner, Holmgren gave strong endorsements not only for Shurmur and Heckert, but others working for the Browns. Before leaving, he wanted to make sure some of the people he had hired were given a fair chance to keep their jobs.

"All I could do is be honest and tell him what I thought," he said. "We had to make a bunch of changes in our first year, too. And so, we talked about that. We talked about all that stuff and that was the transition period. And now all the talking is done and I said what I had to say and now we'll see happens at the end of the year."

Holmgren exits the Browns with one regret ? not winning enough.

He feels he did all he could, and although he thought he understood the city's passion for the Browns, it was only when he came here that he fully grasped it.

He's leaving, but some of him will stay in Cleveland. When he watches the Browns from now on, he'll do so with pride.

"When they do well, I'll feel good about that," he said. "I'll feel good for the players and I'll feel good for the coaches and the organization and the people because I was here. I am very thankful that I got this opportunity to do this."

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-11-26-Browns-Holmgren/id-4683ccea9f9440b589d5e73600cd3983

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