Record 100,000 entangled photons detected

A whopping 100,000 entangled photons have been detected for the first time, beating the previous record of just 12. The technique for spotting this delicate quantum link among so many photons could prove useful for safely sharing keys used in encrypted communications.

Entangled photons have linked quantum states, such that measuring the state of one photon determines the state of the others, no matter how far apart they are.

Detecting entanglement usually involves coincidence measurement ? the simultaneous detection of multiple photons in the same quantum state at different locations. This method has so far worked for up to 12 photons. Although it is possible more photons have been entangled in previous experiments, the detectors are not sensitive enough to sort out entangled from non-entangled particles when a large number of photons are involved.

"When you go to high numbers you need a completely different technique," says Maria Chekhova of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany.

Novel measurement

Another way to look for entanglement is to detect whether photons share polarisation under certain conditions. Chekhova's team exploited this by setting up an experiment that allowed them to make a novel type of measurement.

The researchers shot a laser through a device called a polarising beam splitter, which creates two beams of photons with different polarisations. The beams were sent through a pair of barium crystals to generate photons with the same polarisation but different wavelengths. These beams were then recombined to create pulses of light, each containing up to 100,000 photons.

The team split each pulse one more time into beams with two different polarisations, then used detectors to count the number of photons in each beam and calculate the difference. The values the team measured were consistent with entanglement.

Christoph Simon at the University of Calgary in Canada points out that the jump from 12 entangled photons to 100,000 is not as dramatic as it sounds. The 12 photons shared a superposition of two states, while Chekhova's photons shared about a million states, making the nature of the entanglement quite different.

"One has to be a little careful when comparing this experiment to the previous one," he says. However, working with a large number of states at the same time could prove useful for quantum key distribution, which uses entanglement to transmit the cryptographic key for quantum communication.

Journal reference: Physical Review Letters, doi.org/jm5

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Have your say

Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.

Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article

Subscribe now to comment.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/250b87bf/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn224440Erecord0E10A0A0A0A0A0Eentangled0Ephotons0Edetected0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

ncaa basketball oikos kentucky wildcats oakland school shooting nike nfl jerseys katie couric barista

Eye movements and the search for biomarkers for schizophrenia

ScienceDaily (Oct. 29, 2012) ? There is a long history of research on impaired eye movements associated with schizophrenia. Using a series of simple viewing tests, researchers of a new paper in Biological Psychiatry explored the ability of these eye movement tests to distinguish people with and without the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Using their complete dataset, they were able to develop a model that could discriminate all schizophrenia cases from healthy control subjects with an impressive 98.3% accuracy.

Drs. Philip Benson and David St. Clair, lead authors on the paper, agreed that their findings were remarkable: "It has been known for over a hundred years that individuals with psychotic illnesses have a variety of eye movement abnormalities, but until our study, using a novel battery of tests, no one thought the abnormalities were sensitive enough to be used as potential clinical diagnostic biomarkers."

Their battery of tests included smooth pursuit, free-viewing, and gaze fixation tasks. In smooth pursuit, people with schizophrenia have well-documented deficits in the ability to track slow-moving objects smoothly with their eyes. Their eye movements tend to fall behind the moving object and then catch-up with the moving object using a rapid eye movement, called a saccade.. A picture is displayed in the free-viewing test, and where most individuals follow a typical pattern with their gaze as they scan the picture, those with schizophrenia follow an abnormal pattern. In a fixation task, the instruction is to keep a steady gaze on a single unmoving target, which tends to be difficult for individuals with schizophrenia.

As expected, the researchers found that the performance of individuals with schizophrenia was abnormal compared to the healthy volunteer group on each of the eye tests. At right is an example of the differences, with the eye tracking of a schizophrenia case in red and a healthy control in blue.

The researchers then used several methods to model the data. The accuracy of each of the created algorithms was then tested by using eye test data from another group of cases and controls. Combining all the data, one of the models achieved 98.3% accuracy.

"It is encouraging to see the high sensitivity of this model for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. It will be interesting to see the extent to which this approach enables clinical investigators to distinguish people with schizophrenia from individuals with other psychiatric disorders," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.

Benson and St Clair have already started that work, stating, "We now have exciting unpublished data showing that patterns of eye movement abnormalities are specific to different psychiatric subgroups, another key requirement for diagnostic biomarkers. The next thing we want to know is when the abnormalities are first detectable and can they be used as disease markers for early intervention studies in major mental illness?"

"We are also keen to explore how best our findings can be developed for use in routine clinical practice," they added. Typical neuropsychological assessments are time-consuming, expensive, and require highly trained individuals to administer. In comparison, these eye tests are simple, cheap, and take only minutes to conduct. This means that a predictive model with such precision could potentially be incorporated in clinics and hospitals to aid physicians by augmenting traditional symptom-based diagnostic criteria.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier, via AlphaGalileo.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Philip J. Benson, Sara A. Beedie, Elizabeth Shephard, Ina Giegling, Dan Rujescu, David St. Clair. Simple Viewing Tests Can Detect Eye Movement Abnormalities That Distinguish Schizophrenia Cases from Controls with Exceptional Accuracy. Biological Psychiatry, 2012; 72 (9): 716 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.04.019

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/sVYh0WByyHY/121029081833.htm

vernal equinox mr rogers jamie lee curtis spring equinox audacious pollen count mexico city

2016 Copa America in US not done deal

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:27 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) - More negotiations are needed before Copa America, the championship tournament for South America, is staged in the United States in 2016.

An announcement that the tournament would take place in the United States was made Wednesday by CONMEBOL, the confederation overseeing South American soccer. But it was premature, according to CONCACAF, which runs the sport in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

"While the idea of a centennial tournament with some of the best teams in the hemisphere is certainly intriguing, it is not something we have agreed to host or participate in at this time," U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said Thursday. "As CONCACAF stated, there are still a number of discussions that need to take place with CONMEBOL. U.S. Soccer would also need to be involved in discussions about hosting the tournament. We're looking forward to those discussions in the near future."

In July, CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb met with executive committee members of CONMEBOL in Sao Paulo to discuss collaborative opportunities between the two confederations. Among the items explored was the staging of a special Copa America in 2016 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of CONMEBOL that would involve CONCACAF's partnership and participation.

"Even though playing the 2016 Copa America in the CONCACAF region with our teams and those from CONMEBOL would be a wonderful experience for all fans, we are still in the midst of talks and negotiations between all parties involved in this decision," said Enrique Sanz, CONCACAF's general secretary. "This is an idea we are hoping to materialize, but we are still evaluating and discussing before it becomes official, but the intention is definitely there."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49559143/ns/sports-soccer/

space shuttle enterprise ryan leaf ryan leaf luke kuechly brad miller chandler jones peyton hillis

U.K. Says Terror Suspects Posed as Charity Collectors ...

October 24, 2012, 9:40 am

Prosecutors told a British court Tuesday that three men charged with plotting a major suicide-bomb attack posed as solicitors for an Islamic charity to raise money for the plan, The Guardian writes.

Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid, and Ashik Ali collected more than $19,000 going door-to-door in the cities of Birmingham and Leicester during Ramadan last year, wearing T-shirts and other gear identifying them as volunteer fundraisers for humanitarian group Muslim Aid, authorities said.

The suspects allegedly gave about a fifth of the money to charity and kept the rest to pay for a planned series of bombings. Prosecutors said two of the men had recently returned from a training camp in Waziristan, an area of Pakistan where the Taliban and al-Qaida are strong.

The three men are standing trial on charges of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, which they deny.

This entry was posted in News-updates. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/u-k-says-terror-suspects-posed-as-charity-collectors/56276

ufc Amanda Todd washington nationals Gary Collins notre dame football bus driver uppercut peyton manning

Flipboard update welcomes audio into your newsfeeds

Flipboard has now released the latest update to their Android app. Sitting at v1.9.7, this release brings audio into the fold for those of you out there who like to listen while reading. The content itself is broken into sections that offers news, sports, books and more.

Plus, if music is your thing, there is integration with Sound Cloud added that allows you to discover, like and share music from your friends. In addition that, Flipboard has also addressed some unnoted various bugs in the app and worked on various performance enhancements.

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

victor martinez alcatraz cruise ship martin luther king jr. zappos john elway john elway

Fair housing group adds to its BofA discrimination complaint

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A nonprofit group has accused Bank of America Corp of maintaining foreclosed homes in white neighborhoods in the U.S. Midwest much better than those it owns in nearby black and Latino neighborhoods, and of marketing the homes in white neighborhoods more effectively.

The National Fair Housing Alliance filed the accusations with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday. They come on top of similar accusations against Bank of America filed by the NFHA last month, which alleged disparities in the maintenance and marketing of foreclosed homes in California, Michigan, and along the East Coast.

The new details potentially increase pressure on the second-largest U.S. bank as HUD investigates the charges.

In the complaint filed on Tuesday, the group said it investigated around 110 additional properties in Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis, and systematically found more damaged windows, overgrown lawns, and substantial amounts of trash on foreclosed properties in minority neighborhoods than in nearby white neighborhoods.

In September, the group filed its original complaint and said it had reviewed 373 properties owned, managed or serviced by Bank of America in neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates.

Earlier in October, it amended the allegations to include issues the group said it found with homes in Orlando, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina.

A Bank of America spokesman referred to the bank's statement from last month, saying it shares the group's concerns about neighborhoods but that it strongly denies the allegations and stands behind its property maintenance and marketing practices.

The new allegations add to a growing number of complaints filed against big banks over charges of discrimination. NFHA previously filed similar complaints against Wells Fargo & Co and U.S. Bancorp .

NFHA has said HUD opened up investigations as a result of its allegations. A HUD spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The group has previously said it held discussions with Wells and U.S. Bancorp, and has not filed new accusations against either bank.

The American Civil Liberties Union last week sued Morgan Stanley in federal court and said the bank encouraged a unit of now-bankrupt New Century Financial Corp to target black borrowers disproportionately with overpriced loans that had a strong possibility of going sour.

In July, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $175 million to settle allegations that it discriminated against African-American and Hispanic borrowers, though it denied the claims.

(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha in Washington with Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, N.C.; editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fair-housing-group-adds-bofa-discrimination-complaint-150027363--sector.html

post grad arpaio carol burnett neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson davy jones death born this way foundation

SOM's design for Denver Union Station Intermodal Hub is shortlisted for WAN 2012...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=442384932474129&id=296994582730

honor killings mary tyler moore x games pro bowl pro bowl 2012 rick santorum daughter gainesville

Midlife Behaviors Crucial to Healthy Aging | Psych Central News

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 23, 2012

New research reveals that?healthy behavior in midlife can significantly improve the well-being of individuals as they age.

Investigators observed that combining behaviors such as not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, exercise, and eating fruits and vegetables daily makes it significantly more likely people will stay healthy as they age.

The study is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

?Our study shows the cumulative impact of healthy behaviors on successful aging ? the greater the number of healthy behaviors, the greater the benefit,? writes?S?verine Sabia, Ph.D., with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London.

Successful aging was defined as maintaining the ability to function well with good mobility, cognitive skills, respiratory function, mental health and no chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke or disability at age 60 years or older.

Normal aging included people who were alive at the end of the 16-year study but who had chronic disease and/or lower scores on functioning and mental health.

?Among members of a large cohort of British men and women 42-63 years of age at baseline, all four healthy behaviors examined during midlife ? were associated with greater odds of successfully aging during a 16-year follow-up,? write the authors.

?Compared with participants who engaged in no healthy behaviors, those who engaged in all four healthy behaviors had greater odds of aging successfully.?

Researchers in the UK and France studied 5,100 men and women from the Whitehall II public health survey who did not have cancer, heart disease or stroke in the assessment phase from 1991 to 1994. They then followed this cohort from 2007 to 2009.

Of the total participants, 549 died during follow-up, and 953 were classified as successfully aging while the remaining people aged normally.

People in the successfully aging group were younger than the normally aging group (mean age 49.7?versus 51.3 years), and 81 percent were married compared with 78 percent in the second group and 71 percent in the deceased group.

Education appears to play a role in aging as successful agers were more likely to have higher education than the normally aging group (32 percent v. 24 percent ) and 18 percent in the deceased group.

In the study population, five percent of people did not engage in any of the four healthy behaviors.

?Although individual healthy behaviors are moderately associated with successful aging, their combined impact is quite substantial. Multiple healthy behaviors appear to increase the chance of reaching old age disease-free and fully functional in an additive manner,? concluded the authors.

The take-home message is a healthy lifestyle includes exercise, diet, moderate alcohol consumption and not smoking. The good news is that following this path of good behavior is linked to successful aging.

Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2012). Midlife Behaviors Crucial to Healthy Aging. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 23, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/10/23/midlife-behaviors-crucial-to-healthy-aging/46478.html

?

Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/10/23/midlife-behaviors-crucial-to-healthy-aging/46478.html

bastille day breaking bad breaking bad food network star British Open 2012 bane Aurora Colorado

Growth in Health Care Spending Will Force America to Become a Second-Rate Military Power

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaks to pilots during flight operations. (Photo credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery)

Last night, at the final Presidential debate, President Obama and Mitt Romney discussed many topics of relevance to America?s place in the world. But there?s one I want to highlight: how our government?s determination to increase its spending on health care will necessarily require draconian cuts to our defense budget. Whether you think that military spending is a good or a bad thing, you should be aware of the math.

(DISCLOSURE: I am an outside adviser to the Romney campaign on health care issues. The opinions contained herein are mine alone, and do not necessarily correspond to those of the campaign.)

Moderator Bob Schieffer?who did an excellent job?asked a very important question, when he said: ?Governor, you say you want a bigger military. You want a bigger navy. You don?t want to cut defense spending. What I want to ask you?we were talking about financial problems in this country. Where are you going to get the money??

More health spending equals less defense spending

Here?s what you need to know about our rapidly deteriorating fiscal situation. It?s entirely driven by health care spending. In 1972, the federal government spent 6.7 percent of gross domestic product on defense, 1.1 percent on health care, and 1.3 percent on net interest payments.

In 2012, the federal government will spend 4.2 percent of GDP on defense, 5.4 percent on health care, and 1.4 percent on interest. By 2042 according to the Congressional Budget Office?s alternative scenario, we will spend 11.2 percent of GDP on health care and 11.8 percent on interest: 3.4 times what we spend on those two categories today.

There is simply no way that we can maintain our military presence around the world under such circumstances. I?ve posted a chart above that illustrates what the CBO projects for health care and interest spending under its alternative scenario.

CBO doesn?t publish its projections for defense spending past 2022, so I assumed that defense spending remains constant at 3.6 percent of GDP until 2042, when the CBO stops forecasting interest payments. After 2042, I assume that we default on our debt, and that defense spending decreases to compensate for increased health care spending, until it can go no lower.

These are generous assumptions on my part. What?s more likely is that defense spending will continue to decrease in the near term, in order to pay for more and more health care.

Reform of health-care entitlements is vital to national security

At last night?s debate, Romney made exactly the right point: that we need to rein in health-care spending in order to maintain some semblance of a functioning military. ?You look at how we get to a balanced budget within eight to 10 years,? said Romney. ?We do it by reducing spending in a whole series of programs. By the way, number one I get rid of is Obamacare. There are a number of things that sound good, but frankly, we just can?t afford them. And that one doesn?t sound good and it?s not affordable. So I?d get rid of that one from day one.?

Now, it?s important to point out that the CBO projects that Obamacare is deficit neutral, because its 1.9 trillion in new spending over the next ten years is balanced out by 1.2 trillion in new taxes and $716 billion in Medicare cuts. But CBO?s projections for the law have worsened over time. The principal reason for this is that health care spending grows at a faster rate than the economy. Tax revenue, on the other hand, is utterly dependent on economic growth. Hence, so long as health spending grows at a faster rate than the economy, tax revenue will never keep up.

This is why Romney has laid out a thoughtful approach to Medicare and Medicaid reform. ?Number two,? he said last night, ?we take some programs that we are doing to keep, like Medicaid, which is a program for the poor; we?ll take that healthcare program for the poor and we give it to the states to run because states run these programs more efficiently. As a governor, I thought please, give me this program. I can run this more efficiently than the federal government and states, by the way, are proving it.?

Obama explicitly favors more entitlement and less defense spending

The choice between our military and our health-care entitlements is not hypothetical. As Bob Woodward documents in his new book, The Price of Politics, the Obama administration explicitly decided to spare health-care entitlements, and gash defense spending, as a political strategy.

?[White House budget chief Jack] Lew, [Legislative Affairs director Rob] Nabors, [National Economic Council director Gene] Sperling and Bruce Reed, Biden?s chief of staff, had finally decided to propose [requiring] a sequester with half the cuts from Defense, and the other half from [non-entitlement] domestic programs,? writes Woodward. ?There would be no chance the Republicans would want to pull the trigger and allow the sequester to force massive cuts to defense.?

The debt-limit agreement that came out of these negotiations reflected Democratic spending priorities, because Republicans focused on holding the line on tax increases. The Budget Control Act?s sequestration process bars any changes to Medicaid spending, and narrowly channels Medicare spending reductions into the Democrats? favorite gimmick?more reimbursement cuts?instead of allowing for the kinds of structural changes that would make Medicare more efficient without harming seniors? benefits.

Defense hawks of both parties need to support entitlement reform

Not all Democrats favor less military spending. Last week, President Obama?s Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, was in Virginia warning that the Budget Control Act?s automatic defense cuts would devastate the U.S. military. He testified last year that, under these cuts, ?we would have to formulate a new security strategy that accepted substantial risk of not meeting our needs.?

It?s worth pointing out, too, that not all Republicans favor giving the military a blank check. There is significant waste in the defense budget, and it will be important for Republicans to be fastidious about trimming the fat so that important military priorities can be preserved.

But Republicans have at least proposed a solution to our fiscal conundrum. Democratic hawks, by contrast, have aided and abetted an irresponsible expansion of our government?s health care commitments. As John F. Kennedy, a great Democrat, once put it, ?to govern is to choose.?

Follow Avik on Twitter at @aviksaroy.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/10/23/growth-in-health-care-spending-will-force-america-to-become-a-second-rate-military-power/

downton abbey new york knicks president day lin j.r. smith espn jeremy lin sleigh bells

Russian spacecraft with US-Russian crew blasts off to orbiting space station

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"84896083","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-112521103", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-112521103", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "84896083", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "84896083" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

Heritage Foundation List of Failing or At-Risk Taxpayer Energy ...

The Heritage Foundation (founded?1980) is a think-tank leader in the current debate over energy policy and related environmental issues. Heritage?s?energy worldview is stated?at their website:

Energy and environmental policy is a national priority. Lawmakers should implement a long-term plan that allows free markets to balance supply and demand, ensures reliable and competitively priced energy for the future, and creates incentives for responsible stewardship of the nation?s resources and environment.

A recent report, ?President Obama?s Taxpayer-Based Green Energy Failures,? lists 34 examples of ?faltering or bankrupt green-energy companies? (with * denoting companies that have filed for bankruptcy). The at-risk total is approximately $7.5 billion, of which $1.6? billion is in receivership.

The numbers will only get higher. Yesterday, it was reported that the Solyndra loss could be $849 million (not $535 million). And there might be a rush after the election with or without an extension of the Production Tax Credit.

Here is the Heritage Foundation list:

1. Evergreen Solar ($25 million)*
2. SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
3. Solyndra ($535 million)*
4. Beacon Power ($43 million)*
5. Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
6. SunPower ($1.2 billion)
7. First Solar ($1.46 billion)
8. Babcock and Brown ($178 million)
9. EnerDel?s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
10. Amonix ($5.9 million)
11. Fisker Automotive ($529 million)
12. Abound Solar ($400 million)*
13. A123 Systems ($279 million)*
14. Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($.7 million)
15. Johnson Controls ($299 million)
16. Schneider Electric ($86 million)
17. Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
18. ECOtality ($126.2 million)
19. Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
20. Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
21. Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
22. Olsen?s Crop Service and Olsen?s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
23. Range Fuels ($80 million)*
24. Thompson River Power ($6.5 million)*
25. Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
26. Azure Dynamics ($5.4 million)*
27. GreenVolts ($500,000)
28. Vestas ($50 million)
29. LG Chem?s subsidiary Compact Power ($151 million)
30. Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
31. Navistar ($39 million)
32. Satcon ($3 million)*
33. Konarka Technologies, Inc. ($20 million)
34. Mascoma Corp. ($100 million)

The report?s conclusion speaks to the above, but it also wise words for other government forays into for-profit areas where a vibrant market exists:

The government?s picking winners and losers in the energy market has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and the rate of failure, cronyism, and corruption at the companies receiving the subsidies is substantial. The fact that some companies are not under financial duress does not make the policy a success. It simply means that our taxpayer dollars subsidized companies that would?ve found the financial support in the private market.

Source: http://www.masterresource.org/2012/10/heritage-34-green-failings/

outback chaka khan taylor swift safe and sound delilah nevis 2012 sports illustrated swimsuit same day flower delivery

Re: Can I change the Base Font in FTM 2012? - Family Tree Maker ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/topics.software.famtreemaker/9083.1.1/mb.ashx

ferdinand porsche gregg williams theraflu masters leaderboard frozen four joe avezzano kanye west theraflu

Russia's Rosneft buys out TNK-BP

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft strengthened its hold on the country's lucrative oil industry when it sealed a $61 billion deal, buying TNK-BP, the joint venture between a group of Russian oil oligarchs and the British energy company.

BP, however, does not end its 15-year-involvement in Russia by selling its 50 percent stake in TNK-BP. As well as receiving $17.1 billion in cash from Rosneft, it's also getting a 12.84 percent stake in Russia's biggest oil company. The British company is also planning to use some of the money it's reaped from the sale to raise its stake in Rosneft to 19.75 percent.

In a parallel development, Rosneft said it had agreed to buy the other 50 percent in the joint venture from AAR, for $28 billion, and that the deal was "entirely independent of the transaction with BP." AAR confirmed that a memorandum of understanding has been signed, but added that it is still subject to other conditions.

Following the deal, Rosneft will leapfrog ExxonMobil Corp. to become the world's largest publicly traded producer of oil and gas, in terms of output ? ExxonMobil's latest earnings show its daily output at 4.2 million, below the expanded Rosneft's projected 4.6 million.

It said it would finance the deal with its own cash as well as new borrowings.

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin broke the news about the deal Monday afternoon to President Vladimir Putin, telling him that the deal would be worth about $61 billion.

"This is a good big deal which is important not only for Russia's energy sector but for the entire Russian economy," Putin said in remarks carried by Russian television.

Sechin told Russian news agencies following his meeting with Putin that Rosneft would probably use loans from foreign banks as well as funds raised from the sale of non-core assets to pay for TNK-BP. Rosneft should expect to take over TNK-BP entirely within the next six months, he said.

Rosneft shares jumped more than 3 percent on the announcement but rolled back to trade only 1.6 percent higher at 218 rubles per share.

BP shares were down 0.3 percent to 449 pence following the announcement.

Russia is an important part of BP's business, accounting for a quarter of its oil production. BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley has looked to the country's vast oil resources as a key ingredient to the company's recovery from the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP is set to have two seats on Rosneft's nine-member board.

Ildar Davletshin, an oil and gas analyst at Renaissance Capital, said the deal "strategically looks very positive for BP" which has replaced "a private partner for a strategic national company which has much bigger access to resources in Russia and has much bigger political support in this country."

Davletshin said the deal should help ease concerns that Rosneft's strategy is driven by political considerations.

Rosneft has been involved in an array of overseas projects largely viewed as unprofitable but designed to prop up the Kremlin's foreign policy.

Davletshin said Rosneft will more likely be run "in the interests of shareholders" rather than serving the Kremlin's political agenda since BP will have two board members.

The TNK-BP joint venture has been troublesome ? albeit lucrative ? for BP. Dudley served as TNK-BP's chief executive until summer 2008 when he was forced to leave Russia after being denied a visa. Dudley and TNK-BP's Russian billionaire shareholders had serious disagreements over the company's long-term strategy and Dudley subsequently complained that the Russian shareholders were behind a campaign of harassment.

In 2011, relations worsened when BP tried to strike a separate partnership with Rosneft to explore for oil beneath the Arctic Ocean. AAR subsequently sued and got the deal blocked, alarming BP investors.

Dudley said in the statement on Monday that "BP intends to be a long-term investor in Rosneft - an investment which I believe will deliver value for our shareholders over the next decade and beyond."

Sechin sounded optimistic about their tie-up with BP, saying that his company "would benefit from BP's experience and its track record of implementing best international practices in Russia."

Ratings agency Fitch last week warned Rosneft of a possible rating downgrade because of the TNK-BP deal. Fitch said the Russian company should have no problems raising the money to pay for 50 percent, but said the purchase of the other 50 percent could require so much borrowing that it could lead to a downgrade.

__

Barr reported from London; Laura Mills contributed to this report from Moscow.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russias-rosneft-buys-tnk-bp-113836261--finance.html

hilary duff michigan state michigan state city creek center andrew luck pro day josh johnson kim kardashian flour

Worldwide Wow: Online Marketing Ideas To Try Today | Eric Chua ...

As it is for most people utilizing Web marketing, the main goal is to earn more money. Of course you enjoy being self employed and feel a passion for providing excellent content, services and merchandise; however, your underlying motivation must be profit! Try some of these practical tips to make it happen.

When you carry a title in your business, respect is easier to come by. For example, if you own your business consider making yourself the CEO. If you are not the owner of the business, grant yourself a different title that signifies power and authority. Sign emails and articles with both your title and your name.

Finding your niche is key to your website and online business. You cannot sell items to people unless you know what it is that they want. People have specific interests, and if they are looking for baseball cards, there a limited number of places they are likely to look. So before you go rushing to advertise your business to whomever it may concern, make sure you narrow your focus in order to improve the end results.

TIP! When you are starting out your site and are trying to make the best site you can for marketing your product on the internet, start small. Having a reasonably large site is good, but search engines are more likely to rank your site well if it has around ten or twenty thousand pages.

High quality graphics are an important component in any marketing campaign. Customers will like the fact that they get to clearly see what they are ordering. Create an area on your web site where buyers can submit their photographs of your product. ?Before and after? photographs are very effective marketing tools.

If your affiliate marketing plan includes analytics, you should already be familiar with your top-performing products. Expand on the popularity of those products by bundling them with complementary products. For example, if you sell a lot of a certain mobile phone, try selling accessories like phone cases or applications that go with that type of phone. Each of these other products will get more attention because of their relation to your best sellers, and they won?t require the same amount of advertising as other, unrelated products.

Strategic placement of ads is the cornerstone of Web marketing. This can be done through companies like Google?s AdSense. You just need to do the work of creating the ad up front, and let them do the rest of the work for you with the sharing of your information with potential customers afterward.

TIP! Your emails are very important when you are Internet marketing. You need to ensure that your mail stays safe.

If a project doesn?t work, don?t consign it to the waste bin immediately. Your idea that failed to catch on in the past, may work now. The Internet is always changing and there are always new things happening on it. Save ideas that might not work today; instead, hold them in reserve for later on.

When you use Social Media Marketing it is essential that you update it often! Inactive profiles that are not updated regularly are useless.

Contrary to its name, you don?t need to technically market on the internet in order for it to be called internet promotion. For instance, you may want to host in-person gatherings or conferences for bloggers with whom you regularly interact. Knowing your market cannot be underestimated, so use your blog and the online community to get to know the other players and customers that are out there.

TIP! Get your site listed on Google and other search engines. Many people use Google each day to search, and it is very important you get your product and business front and center on the search rankings of Google.

Spin the positives when selling your goods. Inform customers about the benefits of the products, as well as what they can achieve with the said product. If you are encouraging and positive about your audience being able to accomplish their goals, then they will be too.

A great way to get people to click on ads is to create image links that describe the items you?re selling. Use engaging colors, graphics or text that can be placed in your signature when you post online. The result will not resemble an advertisement.

Make sure consumers see the word ?fast? in your advertisements. Time means more in business than money so make sure you do everything quickly.

TIP! While a flashy site looks great, try to make sure it is not too distracting. The idea is to capture your visitors interest and entice them to spend more time exploring your site.

This website marketing tip will help you out. Use certain strategies to ensure your customers are aware that your site is secure. Place a privacy policy on the upper right spot of the page. This can put your customers? minds at ease, letting them know their personal information will be securely handled. This demonstrates a commitment to protect their identities during the sale.

For writers, the Internet offers a myriad of ways to publish your work online and for profit. You can use your writing skills to promote your business or website by creating great copy and distributing it generally across the Internet, or to a more targeted audience, if preferred. Get the attention of the editors by offering affiliate commissions or freebies so that there is a good incentive for them to publish what you write.

As you can tell after having read the advice in this article, there are many ways to help make your Online marketing business more successful. You can still find enjoyment in giving value and being passionate about your product while making sure your hard work pays off.

TIP! Try using polls on your website to see how your readers feel about your content. This will aid in providing content that is relevant to users, and will help them feel that they are taking part in the site?s direction.

Join me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/maynaseric

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/worldwide-wow-online-marketing-ideas-to-try-today

benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks lifelock camp david

Why mobile computing is stumping even the tech savviest disruptors ...

Today?s leading tech, marketing and advertising firms ? built and led by the disruptors of our time ? still don?t know quite what to make of the mobile computing disruption sweeping the world.

That?s the observation of the Washington Post?s Craig Timberg, who points out that mobile computing is breaking down the online advertising model ? developed and finely honed and mined over the past decade by the globe?s leading disruptors.

Indeed, e-commerce was a huge disruptor, and is now accompanied by the multiplier effect of social media. The problem is that online advertising models are based on PC-based Web searches, in which users are situated in one spot and are likely to whip out their credit cards to make on-the-spot purchases.

But consumer behavior is different when browsing or searching from a smartphone ? which tend to be based on end-users? locations. Mobile computing is increasingly cutting into this dynamic ? comScore estimates that the percentage of Web pages viewed from mobile devices is now about 13%, up from 7% a year ago.

The challenge, then, is to appeal to users who may be searching the Web while in a store for the best deals or more information on a product. But, Timberg notes, ?advertisers potentially lose out, too, because that research does not always lead directly to a sale.? The user may leave the store and go to a competitor. In turn, this lack of a direct connection between advertising and direct sales mean smaller marketing budgets. Typically, as a result, rates for ads on mobile search queries run about one-third less than for queries made from PCs.

This, in turn, is making things difficult for tech companies that have built huge businesses on online advertising, Timberg writes. ?It?s the riddle many in the tech industry are desperate to solve.?

Even Google ? the unflappable wunderkind of the tech industry ? is feeling this pain, Timberg illustrates. ?The money advertisers had paid per click was off by 15% compared with a year earlier. Driving this shift was the increasing share of ads appearing on the tiny screens of mobile devices instead of personal computers.?? Only Apple, with its large iPhone franchise and developer ecosystem ? seems to have the most highly engaged strategy on this disruptive new trend.

Eventually, tech firms, marketers and advertisers will adapt, and learn how to more accurately measure and monetize the mobile Web. Or, the online advertising revenue model may splinter down and be based on a more granular collection of data on return by device types. By that time of course, if history is a guide, a new disruptive force may be in the making.

(Photo: Wikipedia.)

Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/why-mobile-computing-is-stumping-even-the-tech-savviest-disruptors/3258

Finding Nemo 2 Provigil denver post dez bryant Kitty Wells Marissa Mayer Jon Lord

Dad, 4-year-old killed in Calif. shooting; 3 hurt

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) ? A father and his 4-year-old son were killed and a woman and two other young children were wounded by a gunman wearing a painter's mask who set fire to their home near Los Angles, authorities said.

Inglewood Police Chief Mark Fronterotta told KABC-TV that a SWAT team set up a perimeter and was using dogs to search for the attacker, who may have lived in a rear house on the property. Investigators were trying to determine whether the suspect fled or remained in the house as it burned.

Fronterotta said the man wore a painter's mask, apparently to shield his identity.

Television footage showed a home gutted by flames and a plume of smoke rising over the residential neighborhood early Saturday.

Detectives determined the suspect set the house ablaze before opening fire with a weapon, Fronterotta said. Earlier the chief said the blaze was started after the gun attack.

Five neighboring houses were evacuated. Other nearby residents were told to remain inside with their doors locked. The suspect was described as armed and dangerous.

A 6-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl were in critical condition, Fronterotta said. The woman, said to be the children's mother, was being treated for gunshot wounds to the knee and pelvis. An 8-year-old boy was uninjured.

The father was shielding two of his children when he was shot, the chief said. After being shot, the mother carried the wounded 4-year-old to a neighbor's yard. The boy later died.

Police have no motive.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-20-Family%20Attacked/id-f54bacd3d2494a3d81e4b15bd8de5ff3

hunger games premiere the bachelor good morning america red meat bachelor ben jon hamm kim kardashian law school rankings

News Corp says reports of talks with LA Times, Tribune are false

(Reuters) - News Corp said on Saturday reports that it is in discussions with Tribune Co or the Los Angeles Times are "wholly inaccurate."

The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported on Friday that News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch is looking to buy the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, two of the country's largest newspapers, when owner Tribune Co emerges from bankruptcy.

The paper also reported that News Corp executives are in the early stages of talks with Tribune Co's debtholders including Oaktree Capital, with an eye toward securing footholds across the three top U.S. markets of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The Chicago Tribune and Oaktree have declined to comment.

News Corp declined to comment on whether there had been talks with debtholders, and would not say if it was asking the LA Times for a retraction.

Nancy Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the LA Times, said on Saturday the paper is standing by the report.

News Corp is preparing to split into two companies next year, one housing its entertainment assets including 20th Century Fox studios and its cable networks and the other housing its publishing assets such as the Wall Street Journal.

Murdoch has long eyed the LA Times, the paper reported. But any attempt by the media mogul to go after the two newspapers would have to get approval from regulators.

In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that Murdoch in an interview played down his interest in the LA Times, saying it would have to be looked at "closely," citing regulatory restrictions, among other things.

Murdoch controls the Wall Street Journal - the largest-circulation U.S. newspaper - and the New York Post. Federal Communications Commission rules prevent ownership of a newspaper and TV station in the same market. News Corp now owns two Fox stations in LA, and two in Chicago.

The commission however has considered eliminating the rule and has granted exceptions in the past, including a waiver that allowed the Tribune to operate both KTLA-TV Channel 5 and the Los Angeles Times.

(Reporting by Ron Grover, Jennifer Saba; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/murdoch-eyes-la-times-chicago-tribune-report-051548855--sector.html

pnc Honey Boo Boo yom kippur yom kippur dancing with the stars modern family george strait

For Mars rover Curiosity, at last, it's dinnertime. On the menu: dirt.

It's period of painstaking preparations over, the Mars rover Curiosity has at long last ingested a sample of soil for analysis by its on-board chemistry lab. That's what it came 352 million miles for.

By Pete Spotts / October 18, 2012

This photo taken Oct. 15, shows part of the small pit or bite created when Mars rover Curiosity collected its second scoop of Martian soil at a sandy patch called 'Rocknest.' The bright particle near the center of this image was assessed by the mission's science team to be native Martian material rather than spacecraft debris.

Courtesy of JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NASA/AP

Enlarge

After 70 days on Mars, NASA's rover Curiosity finally is doing what it's paid the big bucks to do: Eat dirt.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

In a mission where progress so far is being measured in an excruciating series of baby steps, the rover has for the first time moved a soil sample from the Martian surface to CheMin ? one of two mini laboratories inside Curiosity's chassis that are expected to reveal the minerals that comprise the red planet's ubiquitous dust.

Such a seemingly simple feat has been a long time coming, notes John Grotzinger, a planetary geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the Mars Science Laboratory's project scientist.

Researchers have measured soil properties beginning with the Viking landers in the mid 1970s and with each lander since ? each in different locations. This has yielded the observation that "there's something about the soil so far that's been very generic to Mars," he says.

"What's really exciting about this sample that just got dumped into CheMin" and later will be scrutinized by a second lab package on the rover "is that they are going to be able to analyze once and for all the mineral composition" of this material "that swirls around the planet," he says.

It's the first test of CheMin's ability to uncover the elements in the soil grains and identify minerals in them following the rover's 352-million-mile, nearly nine-month journey to Mars. The mission's goal is to determine if Gale Crater and its towering, central Mt. Sharp could have hosted microbial life early in the planet's history.

Central to that task is the ability to deliver samples to CheMin and the second internal lab package, SAM. SAM analyzes gases from the atmosphere and from heated samples of soil and rock to hunt for organics that would signal a hospitable ancient habitat.

To that end, engineers have spent the last two weeks gathering two scoops full of soil to scrub out the inside of the sample delivery system, removing any remaining contaminants from Earth.

The first scrubbing session went well. But engineers aborted the delivery system's second silty "bath" when images of the depression the scoop left in the soil revealed a small, shiny fleck that reminded the team of what it previously dubbed "shmutz" ? loose bits of plastic that came from the rover itself.

The sample-delivery system, known as CHIMRA, might not take kindly to ingesting a bit of rover detritus as part of the cleaning process. So, wary that the soil in the scoop itself might hide another piece of shmutz, the team dumped the soil and took a closer look at the shiny fleck in the depression.

After some scientific chin-scratching, a strong consensus emerged among the science team that the fleck actually originated on Mars, Grotzinger says. In a stroke, the fleck shifted from an object of concern to an object of scientific interest.

Sometime in the next few days, the science team will reposition the rover so it can use ChemCam, atop the rover's mast, to zap the fleck with its laser and figure out what it's made of, Dr. Grotzinger says.

The fleck is only about 1 millimeter across. Reseachers speculate that it could be a tiny chip of mineral cleaved by the wind-driven movement of pebbles at the site. Or it could represent a mineral that formed naturally in the space between larger grains of sand and soil.

"It probably represents a science opportunity rather than an engineering threat," Grotzinger said at a briefing Thursday.

Once the team put the fleck on its scientific agenda, it finished up the housekeeping chores with a third scoopful of soil that is now working its way through CheMin. SAM could see its first sample next week.

"The most important thing about our mobile laboratory is that it eats dirt; that's what we live on," Grotzinger says.

And with confirmation that the latest sample has been safely delivered to CheMin, Curiosity's engineers and scientist can now bid the rover bon appetit.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/xzdnPK0a9ro/For-Mars-rover-Curiosity-at-last-it-s-dinnertime.-On-the-menu-dirt

payroll tax payroll tax aisha khan alanis morissette adam lambert incendiary floyd mayweather

Celebrity Real Estate - Curbed National

Friday, October 19, 2012, by Amy Schellenbaum

British spokesmodel-actress Elizabeth Hurley has bought a countryside estate with her Australian cricket player fianc? Shane Warne. Donnington Hall, a 12-bedroom spread in Herefordshire, England, has all the trappings of a $9.684M historic home, including staff quarters, a library, and?obviously?a walk-in gun cupboard. The Real Estalker has more. [The Real Estalker]

Source: http://curbed.com/archives/2012/10/19/celebrity-real-estate-124.php

numerology the game new hampshire primary hue jackson coachella 2012 line up lsu crimson tide

Miesha Tate tweets it?s OK for a man to hit a woman if she hits first

When talking to fans on Twitter on Thursday night, former Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate said it is OK for men to hit women if women hit them.

My point is society needs to stop putting double standards that it's ok for a woman to challenge/hit a man & he can do or say NOTHING

? Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 19, 2012

that's what I believe "@tugboat101: @mieshatate If a female attacks someone doesn't she forfeit her right to being treated like a female?"

? Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 19, 2012

It's not surprising that Tate would take this stance. She has spent her career in what is often considered a man's job and has likely been the victim of several double standards. She sees how double standards can be damaging, and doesn't think women should expect to be the beneficiary of them.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/miesha-tate-tweets-ok-man-hit-woman-she-134312738--mma.html

heidi klum and seal divorce craigslist killer extremely loud and incredibly close south carolina primary squirrel appreciation day billy beane kathy griffin

Surge in homebuilding | Bankrate.com

The housing sector continued to surge forward in September with a 15 percent improvement in housing starts and the number of permits for new construction rising by 11.6 percent, according to data released by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The results come on the heels of the Federal Reserve's Sept. 13 announcement that it was undertaking a third round of quantitative easing to buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month, so attributing the surge to the Fed's effort is arguable.

In a reminder of how far the housing industry fell before it started to improve, the Census Bureau reports that September's housing starts are 34.8 percent above a year ago. They are still 60 percent below the peak of July 2006.

But the improvement is no doubt welcome, as the U.S. struggles toward economic recovery. New residential construction creates jobs at the rate of three new jobs for each home constructed, according to some analyst estimates. Coupled with recent news about rising home prices and soaring builder confidence, there may be hope yet that the housing industry is taking a role in boosting the economy.

Keep up with your wealth and mortgages and follow me on Twitter.

Get more news, money-saving tips and expert advice by signing up for a free Bankrate newsletter.

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/mortgages/surge-in-homebuilding/

screen actors guild royal rumble results sag awards 2012 kyra sedgwick honor killings mary tyler moore x games

Broker for FSBO? - The Belize Forums

Your best bet, IMHO, is to get to know the locals and find out what can be purchased through people that they know. Most often, ANY property is for sale if someone makes an offer. Most Belizeans know what is for sale amongst their friends, and what someone is willing to take for a property.

Agents frequently tell sellers that they can bring in the dumb Gringos for big $$. Plus, there is a big commission attached. Save the commission and buy direct.

I am sure that I will get flamed for this, but the fact is that real estate in Belize is generally a joke. Buy because you want it, not because you hope to make a killing, and buy because you love the property regardless of price. There are no "comps" in Belize, despite what brokers would have you believe. Brokers are out for themselves, pure and simple. That is not bad in and of itself, but they look out for themselves first.

There are two prices in Belize; the one a Belizean is happy to have and the one a broker tells them that they can get.

I recently went direct to a guy who owned an island. It was dirt--no home or anything. Was not listed. Heard about it from my Belizean attorney. He introduced us. A broker had told him he should take no less than $1.75M if it were an American buyer, which means that the broker assumed that an American would overpay for the privilege of living in paradise, and the broker was an American. I bought it for just over half of that. The owner had paid $150,000 for it and felt that he was being paid a reasonable rate of return. He and I are still friends.

This is not America. Brokers set a rate and expect everyone to fall in line because they are doing us a favor by introducing us to paradise.

Source: http://www.belizeforum.com/belize/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=222188

pro bowl 2012 rick santorum daughter gainesville 2012 royal rumble the grey machine gun kelly saul alinsky

Newsweek to cease print edition after 80 years

FILE- In this Monday, May 16, 2005, file photo, pedestrians walk past the Broadway entrance to the Newsweek. building in New York. Newsweek announced Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 that it will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013. Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

FILE- In this Monday, May 16, 2005, file photo, pedestrians walk past the Broadway entrance to the Newsweek. building in New York. Newsweek announced Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 that it will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013. Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

FILE - In this Nov. 1, 1976, file photo, covers of Newsweek magazine are photographed in New York. Newsweek announced Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 that it will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013. Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis)

FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 24, 1996 file photo, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., holds a copy of Newsweek Magazine and makes comments about President Clinton and the Democratic party in Jackson, Miss. Newsweek announced Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 that it will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013. Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online (AP Photo/Dan Loh, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 4, 1997, file photo, Cashier Mizan Rahman makes change for a customer from behind a display of the latest news weeklies at the Out of Town News stand in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. Newsweek announced Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 that it will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013. Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online. (AP Photo/Julia Malakie, File)

FILE - In this June 23, 1971, file photo, Daniel Ellsberg, holds a copy of Newsweek on CBS television program. Newsweek announced Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 that it will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013. Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online. (AP Photo/CBS, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Newsweek will end its print publication after 80 years and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013.

Its last U.S. print edition will be its Dec. 31 issue. The paper version of Newsweek is the latest casualty of a changing world where readers get more of their information from websites, tablets and smartphones. It's also an environment in which advertisers are looking for less expensive alternatives online.

Newsweeklies have been in an especially tough spot at a time when people don't want to wait a week to read commentary and news digests of big stories, given a flood of instant content available online.

The announcement of the change was made Thursday by Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of The Newsweek Daily Beast Co, and Baba Shetty, its CEO. Job cuts are expected.

"In our judgment, we have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format," Brown and Shetty said on The Daily Beast website.

Newsweek's decision does not come as a surprise. Barry Diller, the head of the company that owns Newsweek, announced in July that the publication was examining its future as a weekly print magazine. Diller said then that producing a weekly news magazine in print form wasn't easy.

Newsweek isn't the first to drop its print product. US News & World Report dropped its weekly print edition years ago and now focuses on the Web and special print editions, such as a guide to best graduate schools. SmartMoney announced in June that it was going all-digital. Dow Jones & Co., a unit of News Corp., said at the time that 25 positions at SmartMoney would be eliminated.

Brown said staff cuts at Newsweek are expected, but didn't give a specific figure. She also said that Newsweek's editorial and print operations would be streamlined in the U.S. and abroad.

Newsweek's print edition has been losing relevancy over the years as readers flocked to new, digital sources for news. It did become a conversation piece last month when a cover essay, "Muslim Rage: How I Survived It, How We Can End It," spawned a huge response on Twitter. Newsweek had invited Twitter users to write about the subject using the hashtag "MuslimRage." But most people, many of them Muslim, mocked the subject instead of adopting the article's serious tone. Newsweek, for its part, took the jabs in stride and said its covers and hashtags spark debate on big topics.

Newsweek hasn't been doing well for years. Mounting losses prompted The Washington Post Co. in 2010 to sell Newsweek for $1 to stereo equipment magnate Sidney Harman. Harman died the following year.

Before he died, he placed Newsweek into a joint venture with IAC/InterActiveCorp's The Daily Beast website in an effort to trim the magazine's losses and widen its online audience.

Brown and Shetty said the all-digital publication will be called Newsweek Global and will be a single, worldwide edition that requires a paid subscription. It will be available for tablets and website reading, with certain content available on The Daily Beast website.

"We are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it," they wrote.

__

AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-10-18-Newsweek-Print%20Demise/id-5859642ae4e545f8ab988a6224fbef29

eminem eminem Lane Goodwin Kyna Treacy American Horror Story Bb&t Herman Melville Books

Brendan Fraser to star in TNT pilot 'Legends'

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"7664811","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-1690734752", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-1690734752", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "7664811", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "7664811" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });