occupy integrity: May 2013

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Gene associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis identified

May 12, 2013 ? Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan have identified the first gene to be associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (also called AIS) across Asian and Caucasian populations. The gene is involved in the growth and development of the spine during childhood.

Their study is published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

AIS is the most common pediatric skeletal disease, affecting approximately 2% of school-age children. The causes of scoliosis remain largely unknown and brace treatment and surgery are the only treatment options. However, many clinical and genetic studies suggest a contribution of genetic factors.

To understand the causes and development of scoliosis, Dr Ikuyo Kou, Dr Shiro Ikegawa and their team have tried to identify genes that are associated with a susceptibility to develop the condition.

By studying the genome of 1,819 Japanese individuals suffering from scoliosis and comparing it to 25,939 Japanese individuals, the team identified a gene associated with a susceptibility to develop scoliosis on chromosome 6. The association was replicated in Han Chinese and Caucasian populations.

The researchers show that the susceptibility gene, GPR126, is highly expressed in cartilage and that suppression of this gene leads to delayed growth and bone tissue formation in the developing spine. GPR126 is also known to play a role in human height and trunk length.

"Our finding suggest the interesting possibility that GPR126 may affect both AIS susceptibility and height through abnormal spinal development and growth," explain the authors.

"Further functional studies are necessary to elucidate how alterations in GPR126 increase the risk of AIS in humans," they conclude.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/M5VGft2quH0/130512140943.htm

fantasy baseball jared sullinger jaleel white levi johnston 2013 srt viper scott walker recall fisker atlantic

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Birds of Burden: 7 Ways Humans Harness Avian Abilities [Slide Show]

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Manchester City 0 Wigan Athletic 1 - FA Cup final result at Wembley Stadium Scorer: Ben Watson 90 Red card: Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City 84th Halftime: 0-0; Att: 86,254 Lineups: Manchester City: 1-Joe Hart; 5-Pablo Zabaleta, 33-Matija Nastasic, 4-Vincent Kompany, 22-Gael Clichy; 21-David Silva, 42-Yaya Toure; 18-Gareth Barry (10-Edin Dzeko 90+1), 32-Carlos Tevez (17-Jack Rodwell 69), 8-Samir Nasri (7-James Milner 54), 16-Sergio Aguero Wigan Athletic: 1-Joel Robles; 17-Emmerson Boyce, 3-Antolin Alcaraz, 33-Paul Scharner, 18-Roger Espinoza; 16-James McArthur, ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/birds-burden-7-ways-humans-harness-avian-abilities-130000683.html

ncaa march madness cbs march madness bracket ncaa basketball scores brian urlacher Harry Reems ncaa basketball

Watch return of brilliant Venus to night sky this month

Magelllan Spacecraft, Arecibo Radio Telescope, NASA file

Magellan spacecraft radar data enabled scientists to penetrate Venus' thick clouds and create simulated views of the surface.

By?Joe Rao
Space.com

Enthusiastic skywatchers have perhaps been wondering what has happened lately to Venus, the most brilliant of all the planets.

Since the end of January, Venus has been on a sort of winter and early spring sabbatical. It passed superior conjunction (appearing to go behind the sun as seen from Earth) on March 28 and has been invisible ever since, mired deep in our star's brilliant glare.??

Nevertheless, with each passing day, Venus has been moving on a slow course toward the east and pulling slowly away from the sun?s general vicinity. [Skywatching Events for May 2013]

Finally, during early May, it has begun to emerge as an evening "star" very low in the western twilight. On Saturday evening, it sets 27 degrees north of due west (10 degrees is roughly equal to the width of your fist held at arm?s length) nearly an hour after sunset.

By June 1, Venus will set 80 minutes after sunset, giving even casual observers their first view of the famed "Evening Star." Venus is so bright that it can be spotted even through twilight very low in the west-northwest sky 45 minutes after sunset, so look early, preferably with binoculars.

Appearing as a brilliant white star-like object, Earth's "sister planet" will adorn the western evening sky through the remainder of this year.?

Starry Night Software

A look at the Saturday night sky after sunset. Venus has now moved into the evening sky, and on Saturday it and Jupiter frame the slender crescent moon.

Crummy summer viewing
Unfortunately, for most Northern Hemisphere observers, this is going to turn out to be a rather crummy evening apparition of Venus, especially during the summer months.?

The reason for this lies in Venus? placement in the sky relative to the sun. From June 19 through Dec. 10, Venus will appear to have a more southerly declination than the sun. As a consequence, it will appear unusually low over the horizon right after sunset, especially through most of this summer.?

On July 1, for example, observers living at or near 40 degrees north latitude will see Venus set just 1 1/2 hours after sunset.? At mid-twilight, the planet will appear to hover only about 6 degrees above the horizon.?

By Aug. 31, this situation will have improved only slightly, as Venus will still be setting only 1 1/2 hours after sundown and at mid-twilight will stand about 8 degrees above the horizon. At no time through July and August will Venus be visible against a completely dark sky, as it will set before the end of evening twilight. [The 10 Weirdest Facts About Venus]

The situation is better in the Southern Hemisphere, where viewers will see Venus pull well away from the sun and gradually soar progressively higher in the evening sky during July and August. For example, by the end of August, Australians will see Venus setting more than three hours after the sun, and the planet will appear more than 20 degrees above the horizon by the end of evening twilight.

An autumn improvement
During September and October, however, the view will begin to slowly improve for northern observers for three reasons:

1) Venus will be getting brighter as it rounds the sun and speeds toward Earth.

2) Twilight fades faster in the fall than in summer, leaving Venus to shine in a darker sky. By mid-September, Venus finally sets just after the sky has become completely dark.

3) Venus will shift over from the west to the southwest. Objects at a given altitude above the horizon in the southern part of the sky take longer to set than do objects at the same altitude in the west, so the difference between the setting times of the sun and Venus will increase, albeit slowly. On Oct. 1, Venus will set 1 3/4 hours after the sun, but this improves to nearly 2 1/2 hours by Halloween.??

Venus reaches its greatest angular distance from the sun on Nov. 1, when it will be 47 degrees east of our star. The planet will be brightest in early December as it heads back down toward the sun, reaching its pinnacle of brilliance for this apparition on Dec. 6 at a lantern-like magnitude of minus 4.9. (On the astronomical scale, lower magnitudes signify brighter objects.)

By this time, Venus will be an eye-catching sight in the southwest sky for at least a couple of hours after sunset right on through the Christmas season. Venus then quickly fades, vanishing from view in early January 2014, and passes inferior conjunction (coming between Earth and the sun) on Jan. 10. Within a week it will re-emerge as the "Morning Star" low in the southeast sky.?

Between now and early January, repeated observation of Venus with a small telescope will show the complete range of its phases and disk sizes.?

The planet is now virtually full (98 percent sunlit), and appears as a tiny, dazzling disk. It will become noticeably less gibbous by late summer. In early November, Venus reaches dichotomy (displaying a half-moon shape).?

Then, for the rest of the year the planet displays a large crescent as it swings near the Earth. Indeed, those using telescopes will note that while the Earth-Venus distance is lessening, the apparent size of Venus? disk will grow, doubling from its present size by Oct. 9. When it has doubled again in size on Dec. 4, its large crescent shape should be easily discernible even in steadily held 7-power binoculars.

Venus will be one of three bright planets involved in what we at Space.com are billing as "The Grand Conjunction" later this month. Stay tuned for more details!

Editor's note:?If you snap an amazing picture of Venus or any other celestial object that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send photos, comments and your name and location to Managing Editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, N.Y. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook?or Google+. Originally published on?Space.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2bc47905/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C10A0C181777440Ewatch0Ereturn0Eof0Ebrilliant0Evenus0Eto0Enight0Esky0Ethis0Emonth0Dlite/story01.htm

birdsong teresa giudice atlanta hawks 2012 white house correspondents dinner forrest gump bernard hopkins devils

NRL shatters endurance record for small electric UAV

Public release date: 10-May-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: NRL Public Affairs Office
202-767-2541
Naval Research Laboratory

WASHINGTON--Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory flew their fuel cell powered Ion Tiger unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for 48 hours and 1 minute, April 16 to 18, by using liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel in a new, NRL-developed, cryogenic fuel storage tank and delivery system. This flight shatters their previous record of 26 hours and 2 minutes set in 2009 using the same vehicle, but with gaseous hydrogen stored at 5,000 pounds per square inch (psi).

Liquid hydrogen is three times denser than compressed hydrogen. The cryogenic liquid is stored in a lightweight tank, allowing more hydrogen to be carried onboard to increase flight endurance. Success in flight requires developing a high quality, lightweight insulated flight Dewar for the cryogenic fuel, plus matching the boil off of the cryogenic hydrogen to the vehicle fuel consumption.

"Liquid hydrogen coupled with fuel-cell technology has the potential to expand the utility of small unmanned systems by greatly increasing endurance while still affording all the benefits of electric propulsion," said Dr. Karen Swider-Lyons, NRL principal investigator.

Although long endurance is possible with conventional, hydrocarbon-fueled systems, these are usually loud, inefficient, and unreliable in this aircraft class. Similarly, small, electric, battery-powered systems are limited to endurances of only several hours.

To address the logistics of in-theater supply of liquid or gaseous hydrogen, NRL proposes in-situ manufacture of LH2 for use as fuel. An electrolyzer-based system would require only water for feedstock and electricity, possibly from solar or wind, to electrolyze, compress and refrigerate the fuel.

The NRL LH2 flight capability is being developed by NRL's Tactical Electronic Warfare and Chemistry Divisions, and is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.

###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

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

NRL shatters endurance record for small electric UAV Public release date: 10-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: NRL Public Affairs Office
202-767-2541
Naval Research Laboratory

WASHINGTON--Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory flew their fuel cell powered Ion Tiger unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for 48 hours and 1 minute, April 16 to 18, by using liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel in a new, NRL-developed, cryogenic fuel storage tank and delivery system. This flight shatters their previous record of 26 hours and 2 minutes set in 2009 using the same vehicle, but with gaseous hydrogen stored at 5,000 pounds per square inch (psi).

Liquid hydrogen is three times denser than compressed hydrogen. The cryogenic liquid is stored in a lightweight tank, allowing more hydrogen to be carried onboard to increase flight endurance. Success in flight requires developing a high quality, lightweight insulated flight Dewar for the cryogenic fuel, plus matching the boil off of the cryogenic hydrogen to the vehicle fuel consumption.

"Liquid hydrogen coupled with fuel-cell technology has the potential to expand the utility of small unmanned systems by greatly increasing endurance while still affording all the benefits of electric propulsion," said Dr. Karen Swider-Lyons, NRL principal investigator.

Although long endurance is possible with conventional, hydrocarbon-fueled systems, these are usually loud, inefficient, and unreliable in this aircraft class. Similarly, small, electric, battery-powered systems are limited to endurances of only several hours.

To address the logistics of in-theater supply of liquid or gaseous hydrogen, NRL proposes in-situ manufacture of LH2 for use as fuel. An electrolyzer-based system would require only water for feedstock and electricity, possibly from solar or wind, to electrolyze, compress and refrigerate the fuel.

The NRL LH2 flight capability is being developed by NRL's Tactical Electronic Warfare and Chemistry Divisions, and is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.

###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/nrl-nse051013.php
Butch Jones Star Trek Into Darkness Heisman watch John McAfee Jenny Rivera Pacquiao vs Marquez 4 pacquiao

Worst Performance Ever By a White House Press Secretary (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends:

| Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/305081016?client_source=feed&format=rss

turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida egoraptor gisele bundchen

Friday, May 10, 2013

Dems: GOP fails to show scandal in Benghazi deaths

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Politicians love few things better than a scandal to trip up their opponents, and Republicans hope last year's fatal attack on U.S. diplomats in Libya will do exactly that to Hillary Rodham Clinton and other Democrats.

History suggests it might be a tough lift. The issue is complex, the next presidential election is more than three years away, and a number of reports and officials have disputed criticisms of Clinton's role when she was secretary of state.

Still, Republicans and conservative talk hosts are hammering away at Clinton's and the Obama administration's handling of the 8-month-old tragedy. A daylong House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday starred three State Department officials invited by Republicans. Security was poorly handled in Benghazi, Libya, they said, and administration officials later tried to obscure what happened.

But the three men offered little that has not been aired in previous congressional hearings. Afterward, Republicans all but acknowledged they're still seeking a knockout punch.

"This hearing is now over, but this investigation is not," said Darrell Issa of California, the hard-charging Republican chairman of the House committee. He urged "whistle-blowers" and "witnesses who have been afraid to come forward" to step up and "tell us your story, and we will make sure it gets public."

Aside from crippling Clinton in 2016, Republicans hope public anger over the Benghazi attacks and their aftermath will besmirch congressional Democrats in next year's midterm elections.

By late Wednesday, Democrats expressed confidence.

"The unsubstantiated Republican allegations about Benghazi disintegrated one by one," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the House committee's top Democrat. "There's no evidence of a conspiracy to withhold military assets for political reasons, no evidence of a cover-up."

Clinton, seen by many as the early Democratic favorite for president in 2016, generally drew strong reviews for her four-year stint as secretary of state. Her darkest moment was the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed. Top administration officials initially said the attackers were spontaneous protesters, angry about an anti-Islamic video. They later acknowledged the attackers were well-equipped terrorists acting under plans.

A major independent inquiry largely absolved Clinton of wrongdoing.

The findings incensed many GOP leaders and conservative news outlets, who portray Benghazi as a simmering scandal about to erupt.

"The people back home are standing with you to get to the truth of this, and they will not sit down until they get the answers," Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told relatives of the Benghazi victims.

Ethical lapses and even full-blown scandals have a mixed record of influencing U.S. elections. Watergate not only forced Richard Nixon from the White House in August 1974; it also triggered crushing losses for congressional Republicans in midterm elections three months later.

President Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon may have ended any hope he had of defeating Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Other scandals, however, did far less political damage. The Iran-Contra affair of Ronald Reagan's second term, and Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky did not prevent either man's vice president from winning the popular vote in the next presidential election.

More recently, Virginia Democrats were crowing about news that Gov. Bob McDonnell ? a potential presidential contender ? accepted large, unreported gifts from a businessman. A short time later, a Washington Post poll showed high approval ratings for McDonnell and scant public interest in the budding "scandal" that titillated the state's political elite.

Some Democratic campaign veterans say the Benghazi affair is too complex and too muddled to swing national elections next year and in 2016.

"The Republicans are pulling out the stops to manufacture a scandal, but it's not likely to stick on Hillary Clinton or Democrats in general," said veteran Clinton strategist Doug Hattaway.

Republican consultant Steve Lombardo said: "The impact on 2014 is likely to be minimal. However, there are a few 2016 Democrat White House aspirants who are feeling a little better about their chances today," especially Vice President Joe Biden.

GOP activists seem determined to push on. The Republican National Committee floods social media sites almost hourly with headlines such as "So many questions about Benghazi."

Soon after White House press secretary Jay Carney was forced again on Wednesday to defend the administration's record in the Benghazi attacks, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner issued a point-by-point rejoinder.

A Boehner aide said the speaker will call on the State Department to release internal emails from last September, regarding political fallout from the Benghazi attacks, that were described in part at Wednesday's hearing by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.

Gowdy said he will find the truth, "and I don't give a damn whose career is impacted."

Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin showed little concern. "I don't think there's a smoking gun today," he told the panel. "I don't think there's a lukewarm slingshot."

"It may not be a smoking gun or a warm slingshot," Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., said in the hearing's final hour. "But we have four dead Americans," and Georgians "are looking for the truth."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dems-gop-fails-show-scandal-benghazi-deaths-071505986.html

grapes of wrath silent house nfl mock draft project m colts colts big ten tournament 2012

Thursday, May 9, 2013

The more feathers a male sparrow carries to the nest, the more eggs the female will lay

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

An international team lead by the University of Granada has found that female sparrows will invest more energy into laying eggs according to the male's ability to fill the nest with feathers which serve to insulate the chicks from the cold and keep them alive.

Scientists from the University of Granada, in collaboration with the South African University of the Witwatersrand and the Percy FitzPatrick Institute at the University of Cape Town, have discovered that the female house sparrow (Passer domesticus) invests more energy into laying eggs when the male brings more feathers to the nest.

"We conducted an experiment with two types of treatments and a control group. In total, we observed the behaviour of 50 pairs of sparrows," said Lola Garc?a L?pez de Hierro, the study's main researcher.

According to their results, carrying feathers could be a result of sexual selection by the females as they put more energy into reproduction if they have more feathers in the nest. "They provide excellent insulation and the females know that less chicks will die if the male brings more feathers," the expert stated.

The experiment was conducted in the natural environment of Dassen Island (South Africa) and this is the first time this behaviour has been documented in the house sparrow.

Taking away and adding feathers

The researchers took away and added feathers to the nests of the fifty pairs of sparrows during these birds' different mating seasons.

A first stage in the treatment consisted of spending an hour observing the behaviour of the pairs with chicks less than five days old in order to register diverse variables and watch their behaviour if a series of feathers were taken away or if these feathers were left in the nest. The experiment was then repeated with chicks over ten days old.

"We had film recordings of the nest where we gathered information on sparrow behaviour and, using a table of variables, we were able to conclude that the more feathers in the nest, the more eggs the sparrows laid," Garc?a-L?pez de Hierro pointed out.

They also observed that when the females noticed there were feathers missing they animatedly called the males and the male sparrows responded by bringing more feathers and dancing around the female on his return to the nest.

Monogamous birds

Ninety per cent of sparrows mate for life and keep the same partner from one year to the next; however, numerous factors influence the choice of mating partner. For example, the size of the black patch on the males' chest, commonly known as the bib, indicates their biological quality. "The bigger the patch, the higher the quality, an aspect that females can easily select for," the scientist explained.

Other factors that demonstrate the male's biological capacity are the redness of the head, in other words, "the more carotene they invest in the colour of their feathers, the more reproductive success they will have," and the ratio between the size of the beak and the size of the tarsus.

###

Lola Garc?a L?pez de Hierro, Marcos Mole?n y Peter G. Ryan. "Is Carrying Feathers a Sexually Seleted Trait in House Sparrows?" International Journal of Behavioural Biology, 119: 199-211, 2013.

FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology: http://www.fecyt.es/fecyt/home.do

Thanks to FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology for this article.

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

This press release has been viewed 51 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128163/The_more_feathers_a_male_sparrow_carries_to_the_nest__the_more_eggs_the_female_will_lay

Ray Rice sodastream dan marino godaddy did the groundhog see his shadow Ray Lewis Murder UFC 156

Monday, May 6, 2013

Monica's Dollhouse On 'Friends' Was Awesome, But Not As Cool As Phoebe's (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Friends

FRIENDS -- Pictured: (clockwise from bottom left) Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

E364703 05: David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox Arquette star in Friends during year 6. (Courtesy of Warner Bros.)

Friends

1998 Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox in Year 4 of Friends

Friends

FRIENDS -- 'The One After 'I Do' -- Episode 1 -- Aired 09/27/2001 -- Pictured: (l-r) Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller-Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green-- Photo by: Danny Feld/NBCU Photo Bank

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/monicas-dollhouse-friends_n_3223986.html

Pigeon Forge Fire cyprus cyprus beyonce Bracketology Erin Go Bragh St Patrick

T-Mobile Targets Small Businesses With New Business Connect ...

T-Mobile, fresh from the completion of its merger with MetroPCS and new NYSE listing, is now sharpening its focus on new customers and new products, beginning with small businesses and cloud-based, software-as-a-service phone deals. We?ve been passed a letter that T-Mobile is sending out to a selection of small companies (copied below), targeting those with 20 or fewer employees and offering them free business phone service for the remainder of 2013, with half price on phone services in 2014. The plan, called Business Connect, also has a dedicated website.

This looks to be a direct competitor to other hosted services like those offered by?8?8 and RingCentral, which effectively offer small businesses a cloud-based solution that gives them telephony features like voicemail, CallerID, conference bridges and other features that have been hallmarks of services for larger companies.

From what we understand, this is being developed in conjunction with ChooChee, whose site, if you visit it, still indicates it is in stealth mode but also notes that it is working ?in close partnership with one of the world?s largest global telephony providers?. Our source tells us that ChooChee has in fact been quietly acquired by T-Mobile. (We have reached out to the company to confirm this, plus the news about Business Connect. In any case, someone last year created a profile on CrunchBase called Deutsche Telekom/ChooChee, which points to them at least working together.)

From what we understand, what?s going out to select users today is an early beta, and that there will be a soft launch later this year, with a bigger launch later in the year. This could be part of a bigger strategy targeting SMBs: just last week (prior to the MetroPCS announcement) T-Mobile also announced a new plan for small businesses called ?Simple Choice.? This is effectively the business equivalent of the ?un-carrier? deals that T-Mobile has been selling to consumers. In this case it?s low-cost mobile plans for unlimited talk, text and mobile?web access without an annual contract, along with offers for smartphones at discounted prices. On top of that, T-Mobile is also selling additional services like IT support and billing automation in a new ?Business Extras? plan.

The Business Connect service, however, appears to be separate from this and aimed at a converged fixed/mobile phone service.

T-Mobile, even with the added heft of MetroPCS, is still the U.S.?s smallest mobile carrier, with 43 million subscribers, compared to Verizon at 109.8 million subscribers, AT&T at 103.9 million subscribers and Sprint at 55.8 million subscribers.

T-Mobile has been slowly turning things around. In its last quarterly earnings, it reported its first customer growth since 2009, with numbers up 0.6%, and now it?s finally carrying the iPhone on its network, as well as building out its LTE network. Services like this show that it?s also looking to try to grow by being innovative and shifting the playing field ? it looks like this might be the first SaaS telephony offering of this kind from one of the major U.S. carriers.

Text of the email sent out to businesses below:

T-Mobile Business Connect

************************************************

SAY ?CHEERS? TO A BUSINESS PHONE SYSTEM
YOU WON?T REGRET IN THE MORNING

************************************************

[xxx],

Why do phone companies still make business phone
systems so complex?

************************************************

Good question. We?ve selected your company to be one of the first
to get a new business phone system built for a world that expects
even powerful technology to be easy to use. And you can try this
new system without paying one penny.

http://www.tmobilebiz.com

************************************************

That?s right, you?ll pay nothing for a brand-new phone system,
including service through 2013.

************************************************

T-Mobile Business Connect is what a phone system should be,
and it?s ready for your landlines, mobile phones, tablets,
computers and just about anything else. No special equipment
needed. No gotchas, no surprises, no kidding.

************************************************

We?re only offering this unique program to 200 specially
selected businesses, so grab your spot now.

***********************************************

? The T-Mobile Business Connect Team

***********************************************

GET A COMPLETE PHONE SYSTEM, ON US.

Space is limited. Claim your spot today and get complimentary
business phone service for the rest of 2013, 50% off for all
of 2014 and a desk phone, on us.

GET STARTED >>
http://www.tmobilebiz.com

t-mobile business connect 2

T-Mobile is a mobile telephone operator headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers making it the worlds sixth largest mobile phone service provider globally.

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/06/t-mobile-targets-small-businesses-with-new-business-connect-saas-phone-service-partnering-with-stealth-choochee/

NHL playoff schedule Queen of Versailles Nicole Eggert dwight howard ufc yvette prieto tebow

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Varsity Show delivers laughs, shows off array of student talent ...

From start to finish, the 119th Varsity Show, ?The Great Netscape,? is the most fun you?ll have in Lerner?or anywhere else on campus?this year. The talented principals and ensemble, the hilarious book, and the original score?all brought together under the direction of Chris Silverberg, CC ?13?make the show a testament to the talent found at the school and a hilarious skewering of its culture.

With lines like ?Go down on me like Courseworks? and a performance by a boy band formed in Wien called N?Sink In My Room, the jokes punctuate and move along the plot, without distracting from it.

The plot centers around Kat, a School of Engineering and Applied Science student played by Rebecca Farley, CC ?16. Kat built her own computer, which isolates her from her friends, Millie (Molly Heller, GS/JTS ?15), a Barnard student who is deathly scared of leaving the Morningside bubble, and Julian (Jonah Weinstein, CC ?16 and a Spectator arts and entertainment columnist), a cross country runner who spouts ?90s references and can?t figure out how to adequately express his attraction to Kat.

Mike Discenza/ Senior Staff Photographer

VEESH | Scott Bacon (l.), GS ?13, and Cole Hickman, CC ?16, perform at this year's Varsity Show, "The Great Netscape."

When the Internet goes out?a side effect of University President Lee Bollinger?s secret weather machine, which he uses to make it sunny for Days on Campus?Millie and Kat have to figure out how to fix it, lest they have to actually interact with people. Throwing a wrench into their plans is Kat?s RA, Vivica (Olivia Harris, CC ?14), who coerces people?s attendance at study breaks with the help of her rider, Dylan (Ethan Fudge, CC ?15).

The quest to find the weather machine and fix the Internet is almost stopped by Kat?s feelings of inadequacy, which she sings in ?Little Fish, Big SEAS,? and the Columbia bureaucracy, which prompts the most entertaining number of the show, ?The Administrative Runaround.? ?Little Fish, Big SEAS? is incredibly poignant, highlighting a common concern among Columbia students?not feeling as good as your peers?while still evoking laughter. ?The Administrative Runaround? tackles the absurdity of dealing with administrators with spot-on satire that?s hilarious only because it?s so accurate, from the difficulty in getting straight answers to the ennui that possesses many a Columbia desk clerk.

Other high points include Kat and Mollie?s run-in with Alice (of Go Ask Alice! fame), Solitaire-solving Public Safety officers, and the hilarious ways the characters deal with life offline. One student, played by Cole Hickman, CC ?16, takes to selling Nutella on the black market. Hickman is a standout member of the ensemble, stealing every scene he?s in, especially when he reveals his trenchcoat lined with Nutella wrappers. Another student, played by John Fisher, CC ?16, can?t figure out how people found pornography before the Internet, but Alice helps him. Fisher, like Hickman, is another bright spot in an already bright ensemble. Other standouts include Paulina Pinsky, BC ?15, and Ankeet Ball, CC ?16, who bring big laughs with every different character they play.

Farley and Heller both gave fine performances, though at times it sounded like they were shouting into their microphones and singing louder than necessary, which sometimes translated to missed notes. Harris gives probably the best performance of all the principal cast members, displaying an impressive vocal range and just enough villainous laughter to cement her character as opposed to Farley?s and Heller?s cheerful ones.

The plot sometimes got bogged down in places it didn?t need to, like the unnecessary and short-lived break between Kat and Millie in the second act. The writers, Eric Donahue, CC ?15, and Isabel Lopez, CC ?13, were smart not to dedicate too much time to the romantic subplot, focusing instead on packing the show with jokes, especially a greater-than-expected number of extra-timely ones (including a hilarious shoutout to columnist and former Spectator editorial page editor Lanbo Zhang?s column about merging Barnard and Columbia). These nicely balance out the more stale ones, specifically a reference to Robert, made infamous online for waiting by Alma Mater for a girl he met at 1020.

While many of the songs were excellent, ?the standouts were concentrated largely in the middle and end of the first act, with the first song, ?Columbia Let?s Connect,? trying to do too much exposition work to really take off. ?Or Else? would have similarly fallen flat if it weren?t for Harris? singing. And while some songs try to do too much with plot, the music, composed by Max Druz, CC ?15, and the lyrics, by Nick Parker, CC?14, never fall short.

?The Great Netscape? comes to a satisfying conclusion, with everyone but Vivica getting what they want. Though the show packs in the comedy, it doesn?t overwhelm the main thrust of the play: that nothing on the Internet can connect you with your peers quite as well as actually spending time with them.

Correction: An earlier version of this article listed the incorrect class year for Skylar Gottlieb, BC??16.?Spectator regrets the error.

david.salazar@columbiaspectator.com | @davidj_salazar

Source: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2013/05/03/varsity-show-delivers-laughs-shows-array-student-talent

Harry Reems ncaa basketball ncaa tournament schedule March Madness Live Google Keep ncaa scores Splash

Friday, May 3, 2013

daydaily ? Blog Archive ? Finance lease a No Risk Choice When ...

Written on May 2, 2013 ? 2:56 pm | by sachin |

Any type of company whether just about to start in a business or trying to boost the venture in order to give it more drive, should seriously consider a direct finance lease. You should be able to provide all the material and equipment your newly acquired clients requires, therefore you must stock up on a wide ranging inventory in order to meet their needs.

Financing leases are the most affordable choices when having to spend considerable amounts of money, providing a no risk option as opposed to other capital leases or expensive loan plans. So, why is finance leasing a better option?

forex_trading_signals

This type of leasing plan differs from the other above mentioned, as in you can purchase equipment through a leasing agent. This means that your company does not purchase the equipment directly, but it is leased from a third party who actually owns the equipment.

The great advantage is that, not only are you keeping your capital in the business, you are also profiting from equipment and reaping the profit without having to actually buy it directly. You will benefit from the income stream by leasing the equipment to your clients instead.

Another advantage is that the equipment you hold on lease will not be a load on your investment should you not find sufficient clientele prepared to lease it from you. Which company can afford to purchase equipment that simply lies about in storage for lack of clients able to lease it from you?

Now that the advantages are clear, let us take a closer look on some special aspects to consider when choosing this type of finance plan. In order to be able to conclude the agreement with a leasing agent, a company has to provide some type of assurance. Additional documents and personal collateral may be required from you to insure the payments can be met and on time.

As far as your company?s customers are concerned, these are not responsible to the leasing agent, only to you for the payment of any equipment they are going to use. Your company will have to generate enough income through the leasing of equipment to adequately pay back the finance lease and generate profit from the venture.

As far as maintenance of equipment is concerned, you can make a deal with the leasing agent and negotiate this clause, requiring them to carry out maintenance so that you are clear of added charges and expenses.

In conclusion, the obvious benefits of this leasing agreement, is that it is a no risk choice. No huge financing in order to purchase stock, no stagnant equipment lying in store without being leased by your customers, resulting in the best way to launch a new business without large cash expenditure up front. You may also benefit from tax deduction, allowing you to have deductions on your income calculated on the value of the equipment.

If you choose a finance leasing agreement and you carry it out properly, this plan is a winning choice with a minimum risk and effort involved, no doubt one of the best choices when launching a new business.

Source: http://daydaily.com/2013/05/02/finance-lease-a-no-risk-choice-when-launching-a-new-business/

Beasts of the Southern Wild 2013 Oscars

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Greek lawmaker accused of trying to punch mayor

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? A lawmaker from Greece's extreme-right Golden Dawn party allegedly tried to punch the mayor of Athens on Thursday, swinging at him but reportedly missing and hitting a 12-year-old girl instead.

The confrontation came hours after police used pepper spray to prevent the nationalist party from distributing free food to Greek citizens only in the city's main Syntagma Square in defiance of a municipal ban the mayor had vowed to uphold.

Once a marginal group, Golden Dawn saw a meteoric rise in the polls in recent years, becoming Greece's third most popular party as the country slid further into financial crisis and unemployment skyrocketed. Its members have been repeatedly accused of involvement in violent attacks against immigrants and others.

"The only thing these people know is the language of violence," Mayor Giorgos Kaminis said after the incident, in which he said lawmaker Giorgos Germenis also tried to pull out a gun before being restrained by the mayor's bodyguards.

Germenis showed up at a municipal charity event where Kaminis was handing out gifts to children of unemployed parents ahead of Sunday's Orthodox Easter.

"This man sneaked in, we didn't notice him ... and he tried to hit me," Kaminis told Vima FM radio. "At the last minute my personal guards stopped him." The mayor said Germenis had a gun tucked into the back of his waist band, and attempted to pull the weapon out.

Television footage showed the mayor's bodyguards struggling with Germenis as a woman carrying a baby scurried out of the room. The security guards pinned the lawmaker against a wall before marching him out of the building.

Greek media said the blow intended for Kaminis ended up hitting a girl, leaving her with a bruised forehead but no serious injuries.

"Extreme actions, especially when their victims are innocent 12-year-old children, do not befit our democracy," said government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou.

Golden Dawn issued a statement denying a girl had been hit and vowing to sue Kaminis and his security guards. For his part, Kaminis intends to sue Germenis for the attempted attack, the municipality's press office said. Police said they were investigating complaints against the lawmaker for threats and brandishing a weapon.

Golden Dawn had announced it would hand out free Easter food to Greeks only on Thursday. Kaminis had banned any such events in the city's main square, and vowed Wednesday not to allow the "soup kitchen of hate" to take place.

But party members with Golden Dawn logo emblazoned across the backs of their black T-shirts arrived more than two hours before the announced time with a truck carrying meat, potatoes and other goods and began handing out bags of food after checking recipients' identity cards.

Scuffles broke out with riot police, who used pepper spray to repel party members wielding Greek flags on thick wooden sticks.

Giving up on the idea of a charity handout in the capital's main square, the party moved the distribution to its own offices in downtown Athens ? not far from where Kaminis later attended the separate municipal charity event.

"Today in Syntagma Square, the law was implemented against the Golden Dawn neo-Nazis who once again displayed their wares: racist hatred, the use of violence and bullying," said Fofi Gennimata, spokeswoman of the Socialist PASOK party that is a junior member of the governing coalition.

Though Golden Dawn rejects the neo-Nazi label, its website shows great fondness for Nazi literature and symbols.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greek-lawmaker-accused-trying-punch-mayor-161816271.html

charlize theron barbra streisand barbra streisand hugh jackman Aly Raisman Oscar Results Jennifer Lawrence Fall