royals nicole richie lyme disease symptoms esperanza spalding jessica sanchez robert kennedy cardinals
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Search for Okla. survivors winding down
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/whole-neighborhoods-razed-oklahoma-tornado-killed-24-012924480.html
Watertown Boston npr Oblivion Hemlock Grove Boston Bomber Death Photo Fox Boston Bomber
Brain can be trained in compassion, study shows
May 22, 2013 ? Until now, little was scientifically known about the human potential to cultivate compassion -- the emotional state of caring for people who are suffering in a way that motivates altruistic behavior.
A new study by researchers at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that adults can be trained to be more compassionate. The report, published Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, investigates whether training adults in compassion can result in greater altruistic behavior and related changes in neural systems underlying compassion.
"Our fundamental question was, 'Can compassion be trained and learned in adults? Can we become more caring if we practice that mindset?'" says Helen Weng, lead author of the study and a graduate student in clinical psychology. "Our evidence points to yes."
In the study, the investigators trained young adults to engage in compassion meditation, an ancient Buddhist technique to increase caring feelings for people who are suffering. In the meditation, participants envisioned a time when someone has suffered and then practiced wishing that his or her suffering was relieved. They repeated phrases to help them focus on compassion such as, "May you be free from suffering. May you have joy and ease."
Participants practiced with different categories of people, first starting with a loved one, someone whom they easily felt compassion for, like a friend or family member. Then, they practiced compassion for themselves and, then, a stranger. Finally, they practiced compassion for someone they actively had conflict with called the "difficult person," such as a troublesome coworker or roommate.
"It's kind of like weight training," Weng says. "Using this systematic approach, we found that people can actually build up their compassion 'muscle' and respond to others' suffering with care and a desire to help."
Compassion training was compared to a control group that learned cognitive reappraisal, a technique where people learn to reframe their thoughts to feel less negative. Both groups listened to guided audio instructions over the Internet for 30 minutes per day for two weeks. "We wanted to investigate whether people could begin to change their emotional habits in a relatively short period of time," says Weng.
The real test of whether compassion could be trained was to see if people would be willing to be more altruistic -- even helping people they had never met. The research tested this by asking the participants to play a game in which they were given the opportunity to spend their own money to respond to someone in need (called the "Redistribution Game"). They played the game over the Internet with two anonymous players, the "Dictator" and the "Victim." They watched as the Dictator shared an unfair amount of money (only $1 out of $10) with the Victim. They then decided how much of their own money to spend (out of $5) in order to equalize the unfair split and redistribute funds from the Dictator to the Victim.
"We found that people trained in compassion were more likely to spend their own money altruistically to help someone who was treated unfairly than those who were trained in cognitive reappraisal," Weng says.
"We wanted to see what changed inside the brains of people who gave more to someone in need. How are they responding to suffering differently now?" asks Weng. The study measured changes in brain responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after training. In the MRI scanner, participants viewed images depicting human suffering, such as a crying child or a burn victim, and generated feelings of compassion towards the people using their practiced skills. The control group was exposed to the same images, and asked to recast them in a more positive light as in reappraisal.
The researchers measured how much brain activity had changed from the beginning to the end of the training, and found that the people who were the most altruistic after compassion training were the ones who showed the most brain changes when viewing human suffering. They found that activity was increased in the inferior parietal cortex, a region involved in empathy and understanding others. Compassion training also increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the extent to which it communicated with the nucleus accumbens, brain regions involved in emotion regulation and positive emotions.
"People seem to become more sensitive to other people's suffering, but this is challenging emotionally. They learn to regulate their emotions so that they approach people's suffering with caring and wanting to help rather than turning away," explains Weng.
Compassion, like physical and academic skills, appears to be something that is not fixed, but rather can be enhanced with training and practice. "The fact that alterations in brain function were observed after just a total of seven hours of training is remarkable," explains UW-Madison psychology and psychiatry professor Richard J. Davidson, founder and chair of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and senior author of the article.
"There are many possible applications of this type of training," Davidson says. "Compassion and kindness training in schools can help children learn to be attuned to their own emotions as well as those of others, which may decrease bullying. Compassion training also may benefit people who have social challenges such as social anxiety or antisocial behavior."
Weng is also excited about how compassion training can help the general population. "We studied the effects of this training with healthy participants, which demonstrated that this can help the average person. I would love for more people to access the training and try it for a week or two -- what changes do they see in their own lives?"
Both compassion and reappraisal trainings are available on the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds' website. "I think we are only scratching the surface of how compassion can transform people's lives," says Weng.
Other authors on the paper were Andrew S. Fox, Alexander J. Shackman, Diane E. Stodola, Jessica Z. K. Caldwell, Matthew C. Olson, and Gregory M. Rogers.
The work was supported by funds from the National Institutes of Health; a Hertz Award to the UW-Madison Department of Psychology; the Fetzer Institute; The John Templeton Foundation; the Impact Foundation; the J. W. Kluge Foundation; the Mental Insight Foundation; the Mind and Life Institute; and gifts from Bryant Wanguard, Ralph Robinson, and Keith and Arlene Bronstein.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/CY2vql1AGYE/130522160352.htm
Joey Kovar Expendables 2 Pussy Riot National Hurricane Center Zeek Rewards vanessa bryant vanessa bryant
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Kellie Pickler Wins 'Dancing with the Stars'!
The singer takes home the mirrorball trophy! Plus, check out more pics of your favorite stars on the scene!
brian dawkins emma roberts north korea news north korea news giuliana and bill giuliana and bill bill rancic
You Can Use Google Maps to Find Faces Hidden in the Earth
It's nearly impossible to gaze up during the day without spotting sort of cloudy, billowing face staring back at us. But rarely do we get the opportunity to see the faces we so casually trample right beneath our feet. Now, a new program by Onformative is giving us a bird's eye's view of every facial landform on Earth.
     |
Stuart Scott Holly Rowe Chief Keef FRANK ZAMBONI Tiffany Six aaliyah jodie foster
Study Drugs: Most Parents Unaware When Teens Take Stimulants Without Prescription
By: Rachael Rettner, LiveScience Senior Writer
Published: 05/20/2013 12:47 PM EDT on LiveScience
Many parents are not aware that their teenage children abuse "study drugs," a new poll suggests.
In the poll, just 1 percent of parents said their teenage children had taken drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin without a prescription.
That is much lower than the percentage of teens that surveys suggest are using the drugs. For example, a 2012 study of high schoolers found that about 10 percent of sophomores and 12 percent of seniors said they had used the drugs without a prescription.
The new finding highlights the growing issue of stimulant drug abuse, or when teens take stimulant medication (or "study drugs") to help them study for a test or stay awake to do homework. Such medications are prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teens without the condition may fake symptoms in order to get a prescription, or obtain the drugs from friends.
The new findings, from the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, examined parents' awareness of the issue, surveying parents of U.S. children ages 13 to 17. About 11 percent of parents said their teens had been prescribed stimulant medication for ADHD.
Among parents of children who were not prescribed ADHD medications, 1 percent said their teens had used these drugs for study purposes. About 4 percent said they didn't know if their teen had abused these drugs, and 95 percent said their teens had never abused the drugs.
This disconnect between teen drug abuse and parents' awareness of drug abuse may be in part due to the fact that study drugs have more subtle effects than drugs such as heroin and cocaine, allowing teens to more easily hide their drug use, the researchers said.
About half of parents polled said they were very concerned about teens in their communities abusing study drugs. And more than three-quarters supported school policies aimed at stopping this type of drug abuse, such as rules that would require children with prescription ADHD medications to keep the pills in a secure place like the school nurse's office.
The findings "underscore the need for greater communication among public health officials, schools, parents, and teens regarding this issue," the researchers said.
Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on LiveScience.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ]]>"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/study-drugs-parents-unaware_n_3314054.html
National Hurricane Center Zeek Rewards vanessa bryant vanessa bryant Prince Harry naked Prince Harry Vegas Melky Cabrera
Square Cash appears on invite-only site, lets you send money with an email
Square's been venturing beyond those tiny credit card swipers as of late. Last week, the company introduced its nifty $299 Stand POS system for iOS, and now it appears to be branching out to individuals, with a to-be-announced service called Square Cash. There's not much info to share at this point -- TechCrunch recently discovered a dedicated landing page for the new service, which looks to be invite only at this point. There does seem to be an option to request an invitation, but the button isn't properly linked, so we weren't able to make our way to the proper form in order to take a closer look.
A handful of help articles do shed some light on the service, though. To send money, you'll simply send an email to your recipient with the dollar amount in the subject line and "pay@square.com" in the cc field. Once your friend or associate receives the email, they'll type in the debit card account number of their choosing and Square will fund the associated checking account within 48 hours. Each payment costs just 50 cents to send, and there's no cost to receive -- it's not quite clear whether or not you can use a credit card to fund the transfer, but with fees of less than $1, we imagine you'll need to use a checking account. Square has yet to formally introduce the service, but we're guessing an announcement will be coming soon.
Filed under: Internet
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Square Cash, Sending Square Cash
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/yW9DzZoftIE/
Ada Lovelace 12/12/12 manny pacquiao Chopper Live jerry brown michael buble michael buble
Ireland rejects blame for Apple's low tax rate
By Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin
CORK/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland said on Tuesday it was not to blame for Apple Inc's low global tax payments and had no special rate deal with the company after the U.S. Senate said it paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits stashed in Irish subsidiaries.
The Irish government, which has seen the luring of U.S. multinationals with low taxes as a key part of its economic policy since the 1960s, said its system was transparent and other countries were responsible if the tax rate paid by Apple was too low.
"They are issues that arise from the taxation systems in other jurisdictions, and that is an issue that has to be addressed first of all in those jurisdictions," deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore told national broadcaster RTE on Tuesday.
In a 40-page memorandum released ahead of an appearance by Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook before Congress on Tuesday, a Senate subcommittee identified three subsidiaries that have no tax residency either in Ireland, where they are incorporated, or in the United States, where those companies are managed.
The main subsidiary, a holding company that includes Apple's retail stores throughout Europe, has not paid any corporate income tax in the last five years, the report said.
Apple's arrangement has allowed it to pay just 1.9 percent tax on its $37 billion in overseas profits in 2012, despite the fact that the average tax rate in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), its main markets, was 24 percent in 2012.
The report said "Ireland has essentially functioned as a tax haven for Apple".
Gilmore said Ireland was pursuing the issue of international tax avoidance "very strongly" at the European Union and the OECD, which is spearheading initiatives.
The issue will be discussed at a meeting of European Union officials on Tuesday, he said.
The Senate report said a subsidiary with a mailing address in Cork, Ireland's second-largest city, received $29.9 billion in dividends from lower-tiered offshore affiliates from 2009 to 2012, comprising 30 percent of Apple's global net profits.
It said it exploited a difference between Irish and U.S. tax residency rules.
"NO SPECIAL RATES"
Apple said in a comment posted online on Monday it did not use "tax gimmicks". It said the existence of its subsidiary Apple Operations International in Ireland did not reduce Apple's U.S. tax liability, and the company would pay more than $7 billion in U.S. taxes in fiscal 2013.
Apple shares were down 0.7 percent in early trading, underperforming the Nasdaq index.
A number of U.S. multinationals including web search leader Google, online retailer Amazon.com and coffee chain Starbucks have come under criticism for arranging their affairs in a way that leaves them liable to low rates of tax on billions of dollars of overseas sales.
Apple's auditor, Ernst & Young, which also audits Google and Amazon.com, declined immediate comment.
According to the congressional report, Apple's Tax Operations Head Phillip Bullock told the subcommittee that the company had obtained a special low tax rate through negotiations with the Irish government below the already low standard rate of 12.5 percent. Apple said this had been 2 percent or less for the last 10 years.
Ireland's European Affairs minister Lucinda Creighton denied any special rate agreement.
"There is no such deal. There is no deal for any company to pay 2 percent corporate tax in Ireland - that is erroneous," said Creighton, a barrister by profession.
A spokesman for Ireland's finance department said Ireland's tax system was statute based, so there was "no possibility of individual special tax rate deals for companies".
A spokeswoman for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners said she could not comment on individual cases as that would breach taxpayer confidentiality, but she also denied that the tax authority agreed special low tax rates with multinationals.
"All companies in Ireland pay the standard 12.5 percent rate on their trading profits arising in Ireland, and they pay a corporation tax rate of 25 percent on their Irish non-trading income," she said.
Unemployed Cork local Tom Falvey, 55, who got 10 weeks' work attaching cladding to the exterior of Apple's three-storey headquarters in the early 1990s, said Ireland's jobless would pay the price for any rise in taxes.
"The companies will just say 'take a jump' and move somewhere else more obliging. Our unemployment is high enough as it is," he said, as he walked his dog past the sprawling complex 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the city center.
A dozen or so casually dressed Apple workers, most in their 20s and 30s, who were smoking cigarettes outside the 1990s office building, said they could not talk to the press.
Alongside, builders are working on a sleek new glass and concrete extension. Michael Ambrose, a 58-year-old former construction worker walking by, said the government was powerless to get more tax out of Apple.
"We're a small country and feel we can't say no. We know they'll just go off to one of these Asian countries ... They're a law unto themselves."
FISCAL ATTRACTION
Apple said last year it would add 500 more people to its Cork workforce of 2,800.
Ireland's pro-business tax structures have attracted U.S. multinationals including Google, Microsoft and Facebook, big employers who have helped offset an unemployment rate stuck above 14 percent, but its low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent has drawn criticism elsewhere in Europe.
The government regularly touts its success in attracting international investment as one of its main achievements, and multinationals, which account for almost 10 percent of Ireland's workforce, have taken the sting out of austerity measures prescribed under an EU/IMF bailout by creating jobs.
U.S. firms invested $30 billion in Ireland last year, more than in China and the rest of emerging Asia combined, according to the American Chamber of Commerce.
In the 1960s Ireland turned around its economy by attracting foreign businesses with tax holidays. After joining what later became the European Union, it was no longer able to do this and instead shifted to a system of low tax rates - currently 12.5 percent - and a light touch approach to tax administration that allows companies to reduce their effective rate much lower.
A raft of mainly U.S. companies have taken advantage of Ireland's tax regime to minimize their tax bills.
Microsoft's Irish base, along with another operation in low-tax Singapore, helped the company pay tax of just 9.4 percent on $21 billion of non-U.S. earnings last year. Google channels most of its overseas profits through Ireland, a practice that allowed it to pay tax at a rate of just 2.6 percent on $6 billion of foreign profits in 2012.
Patrick Coveney, the chief executive of Greencore, one of Ireland largest companies, told RTE radio that it was politicians across the world who were responsible for these tax treaties and tax structures.
"I find it frankly a little frustrating that it is them who are piling in and criticizing international traded businesses who are merely availing of the tax environment that they have put in place," said Coveney, a former president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
(Additional reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Will Waterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ireland-says-not-blame-apples-low-tax-rate-124115687.html
don cornelius whitney houston i will always love you breaking news whitney houston carmen whitney houston last performance cpac straw poll i will always love you
Google+ app update for Android adds auto-backup and enhancement tools for photos
Google (and especially the Google+ team) are keeping very busy. While I/O 2013 may have wrapped up last week, the company's just unveiled a new update for its social network on Android devices. Packing some familiar new photo features (like auto-backup and auto-highlights), the refresh includes even more Snapseed filters and tools. Location sharing can now tap into your circle arrangements, and you'll be able to share geo-locations with specific sets of people. Related hashtags will now function within the app, like we've already seen on the web-based version, while (perhaps predictably) there's now one-tap access to Mountain View's Hangouts app too. Gotta keep 'em all connected, right?
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Plus
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/kDmAwbgsIX4/
Gabby Douglas John Orozco Garrett Reid shawn johnson Tony Sly Lauren Perdue tagged
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Here's Your First (Blurry) Look at the PS4
We didn't get to see the PS4 at Sony's big reveal event a few months ago
| |
what time is the super bowl world war z groundhog day Ed Koch Groundhog Day 2013 What Time Is The Superbowl Caleb Moore
Monday, May 20, 2013
AT&T Will Begin Enabling Pre-Loaded Video Chat Apps, Like Hangouts, For Those On Any Data Plan Later This Year
As AT&T comes under the gun for blocking Google's new video chat app Hangouts on its cellular network, the company is today hoping to put a better spin on the news by offering a new statement detailing its changing position on support for pre-loaded video chat apps. During the second half of 2013, AT&T says it will begin to enable pre-loaded video chat applications over cellular for all its customers, regardless of the customer's data plan.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9JLW9OlpjGk/
Penta-lingual dictionary--English-Norwegian-french-spanish-arabic ...
Tax Type Tax Rate Tax ID or Company no.
eg. VAT, GST ? Registration no.
Source: http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Copywriting-Translation/Penta-lingual-dictionary-English.html
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Bullish Picture for the USD and Stocks and Its Implications for Gold ...
Based on the May 17th, 2013 Premium Update. Visit our archives for more gold articles.
?
The latest World Gold Council Gold Demand Trends report shows that the gold market is driven by diverse global demand, and the appetite for owning gold jewelry, bars and coins continues to grow.
?The price drop in April, fuelled by non-physical moves in the market, proved to be the catalyst for a surge of buying that has left many retailers short of stock and refineries introducing waiting lists for deliveries,? said Marcus Grubb, Managing Director of Investment at the World Gold Council. ?What these figures show is that even before the events of April, the fundamentals of the gold market remain robust with; growing demand in India and China, central banks consistently adding gold to their reserves and strong buying of investment products such as gold bars and coins.?
?
The report, for the period between January-March 2013, shows that total jewelry demand was up 12% year-on-year in Q1 2013, driven mainly by Asian markets. For example, jewelry demand in China was up 19% on the same period last year and stood at a record 185 tons. Demand in both India and the Middle East was up 15% respectively and in the US, demand showed a significant increase, 6%, for the first time since 2005.
?
Demand for gold in China and India was also fuelled by an increase in bar and coin sales ? up 22% year-on-year in China and a whopping 52% in India. The US also saw a growing hunger for bars and coins? up 43% compared with the same quarter in 2012.
?
There?s significant investment demand for physical gold bullion at the current prices ? what does it mean for the market? That it?s going higher in the long run and that the current move down is just a correction. It doesn?t imply, however, that the bottom is already in or that it will form without additional temporary downswing.
?
To gain some insight into short- and medium-term picture of the market, let?s take a look at the charts. In today?s essay we will discuss the implications of the current situation in the USD Index and the general stock market for, gold, silver and mining stocks, and we will also provide a follow-up to our recent essay on gold stocks and gold. We will start with the very-long-term USD Index chart (charts courtesy by http://stockcharts.com.)
?
In this chart, we see that more moves to the upside took place this week. As we stated in our essay of two weeks ago:
?
The index has actually confirmed a breakout above the very long-term resistance line. It has closed above it now for three consecutive months (yes, months). While a correction to the 80 level is still possible in the short term, an?eventual move to the upside is now more likely than not.
?
This week?s price action was in tune with what we expected after the recent breakout and the situation remains bullish.
?
Let us move on to the general stock market.
The stock market (S&P Index in this case) continues to move higher this week as expected. The situation is overbought on a short-term basis, but we do not expect to see a move below 2007 high. If anything, we could see stocks move back to this level, which could further verify the breakout and allow them to gather strength in advance of the next rally. After all, the breakout above the 2007 high was confirmed.
?
To see how the situation in the USD and stocks may translate into the prices of gold and silver, we now turn to the intermarket correlations.
The Correlation Matrix is a tool which we have developed to analyze the impact of the currency markets and the general stock market upon the precious metals sector, (namely: gold correlations and silver correlations).
?
The short-term situation here is mixed and no real implications can be drawn at this time. The medium-term correlations are negative for the precious metals with both the USD Index and the general stock market. The precious metals are still pretty much anti-asset at this time. The medium-term odds, which favor a rally in the USD Index and the general stock market, have now painted a bearish picture for gold, silver and the precious metals mining stocks.
?
To finish off, let us have a look at the situation in gold stocks relative to the yellow metal itself.
On the above chart, the situation hasn?t changed much this week. Hence, comments made in last week?s essay remain up-to-date at this time and the bearish outlook continues to be supported by this chart:
?
The trading channel and the next horizontal support intersect at a point much lower than where this ratio is today. Of course, the existence of a target level by itself is no indication that it will be reached; the trend has to be in place as well. The point here is that the ratio has already broken below the previous late 2008 major low and is now a bit more than 5% beneath it. This is a major breakdown and it was confirmed. The implication is that the trend is still down.
?
With the trend being down and accelerating and the recent breakdown being confirmed, there is a good possibility that the miners will decline significantly once again. This makes the previously mentioned target level a very important one. At this time it seems likely that the ratio will move to its 2000 low ? close to the 0.135 level.
?
If gold stocks decline relative to gold as they did late in 2000, and gold declines to $1,300 or slightly higher, the target level for the HUI Index would be slightly above the low of 2008 ? around the 180 level.
?
Summing up, the long-term and medium-term outlook is bullish for the USD Index at this time. As for stocks, the situation remains bullish for the medium term, and although a short-term correction is likely not too far off, we don?t expect to see it immediately. Finally, gold stocks? performance relative to gold continues to provide us with bearish indications. Overall, it seems that the final bottom in the precious metals market is not yet in.
To make sure that you are notified once the new features are implemented, and get immediate access to our free thoughts on the market, including information not available publicly, we urge you to sign up for our free gold investment newsletter. Sign up today and you?ll also get free, 7-day access to the Premium Sections on our website, including valuable tools and charts dedicated to serious Precious Metals Investors and Traders along with our 14 best gold investment practices. It?s free and you may unsubscribe at any time.
?
Thank you for reading. Have a great and profitable week!
?
Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA
Founder, Editor-in-chief
Gold Trading & Gold Investment Website ? SunshineProfits.com
* * * * *
About Sunshine Profits
?
Sunshine Profits enables anyone to forecast market changes with a level of accuracy that was once only available to closed-door institutions. It provides free trial access to its best investment tools (including lists of best gold stocks and silver stocks), proprietary gold & silver indicators, buy & sell signals, weekly newsletter, and more. Seeing is believing.
Disclaimer
?
All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits? associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be a subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are believed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski?s, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits? employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.
?
Review: ?Krisit,? Clifton Players | Arts in Focus
What do you get when a bunch of folks from the neighborhood decide to put on a show ? and coincidentally they happen to be some of the best theater professionals in town?
You get ?Krisit,? which has the charm of being by a group of Clifton residents in the tiny storefront theater space of Clifton Players (of course Clifton, where did you think?) and the advantage of top-notch production values rarely achieved on the smaller, semi-pro theater scene.
They came together because they specifically wanted to do this play by Y York, who lives about three minutes drive further down Ludlow Avenue.
What is ?Krisit?? Actually, it?s a who, played by Dale Hodges, whose presence alone could probably sell-out the show?s run, given that there?s seating for maybe 60, evenly divided on either side of the stage.
A red carpet and red velvet rope connects a massive whirlpool tub at one end and a cocktail bar set up at the other.
Hodges has a ball playing a reclusive and peevish former movie star who hasn?t left her home in 25 years. When the show opens she?s lolling in her tub, wearing make-up and flashy jewels and being the sharp, brooks-no-argument grand dame?with her new maid Lulu (Landree Fleming).
Lulu is clearly role-playing. She?s entirely too knowledgeable about who?s who and who?s doing what to who in Hollywood. She reads the industry press a little too avidly and she?s awfully eager to lure Krisit out of retirement.
In no time Lulu is taking a meeting with director Peter (Kevin Crowley), who has a history with Krisit, and a stalled career that makes him desperate to have a project green-lighted.
York uses the set-up to have fun commenting with engaging (and occasionally brutal) honesty on many things, including the insults of aging. Krisit has a leakage issue; Peter trades in wives for younger models to convince himself he still has whatever it is he needs to tell himself he has.
The neat comedy doesn?t break new ground but York?s voice is distinct as she reminds us how myopically we see ourselves even as we are blind to key truths; and about our relentless pursuit of ambitions which are generally not worth relentless pursuit.
York also shows off a demented imagination with things like her solution for what to do with liposuctioned fat.
?Krisit? is dominated by Playhouse in the Park staffers, small wonder that it?s a couple of giant steps beyond what you normally see at a small theater. The program lists almost 100 people who donated to the project and their money went to good purpose.
Mark Lutwak (Playhouse Director of Education) expertly directs and Anna Goller (Playhouse props manager) is responsible for the polished scenic design.
The contribution of costumer Gordon DeVinney (Playhouse resident costume designer) is inestimable. What with Krisit being in a tub, it?s DeVinney who makes her so much better than naked, in an artful unitard that makes the reality of aging hilarious and sympathetic.
It?s a joke with real power that endears the show to its audience. In the second act it?s Lulu who?s in the tub, and of course the audience is hoping for a trifecta and gets it.
Fleming, a former Playhouse intern now based in Chicago, is very good as wannabe Hollywood player Lulu and Crowley, a member of Clifton Players, is funny and sad as Peter, who seems trapped in the ?70s with his guiding crystal and leisure suit and David Soul hair, despite the play?s time being set as ?a few years before the end of the last century.?
?Krisit,? 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday through June 1. Additional performances 7 p.m. May 19 and 3 p.m May 26. Clifton Performance Center, 404 Ludlow Ave., Clifton. Tickets $20. (513)861-7469.
?
Posted in: Updates
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/arts/2013/05/18/review-krisit-clifton-players/
Cancer, Grief, and Words | Angst in Anxiety - Psych Central Blogs
?I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.? ~ Carl Jung
I have been thinking a lot about cancer these days. Almost half my caseload has cancer or I see children who have lost a parent to cancer or spouses with a partner with cancer. It seems like cancer is everywhere. Cancer does affect everyone.
Grief is an intimate process of a uniquely individual design initiated for the purpose of transitioning loss.Loss is everywhere. Just like cancer.
When I work with cancer and those who bravely traverse the terrain of what this means to them I am in wonder of the courage it takes to make this emotional journey. Words help the process, yet words are difficult for people even though this is our main platform of communication. I hear people stumble with words, hold words back, bite their tongues, and express fear of saying too much or too little. I have some suggestions.
Words help us bridge to another. We want honest words well-honed to identify the emotion that is uppermost in our heart. So for the child with a dying father or the wife with a dying husband it is important to say things and to work on any unresolved piece that may exist. It is not that the world will fall apart if one doesn?t step up with truth, but the survivors of a death have years ahead to mull over what was and wasn?t said.
Children need help from the healthy parent (the one who does not have cancer) and the healthy parent needs help from friends, siblings, and other family members. Help that comes in the form of encouragement to go to the truth is important.
I work with so many people who are left with unfinished business following a death. It is as though the cancer that took mother carries on into her children or spouse. It is not cancer, but an emotional cancer.
Cancer that is not treatable or one that is aggressive and terminal produces a state of helplessness. Helplessness is an alarming state for mind, body, and spirit. Studies show a connection between depression and cancer, between stressors and cancer, and between sustained powerlessness and disease or illness.
Words of love, words of connection, words of gratitude and words that evoke hope are all good. Everyone leaves a legacy and even death is filled with a gift. People leave their spirit, their contributions, their love, their strength, their bonds, and hundreds of things behind for the use of others with their passing. These things that are left often come in the form of words. We are all pebbles thrown into a large or small pond with ripples that extend endlessly.
There is power in words. Words have the ability to soothe and mend or to wound and destroy.
Take each word and mold it to fit your most compassionate truth. Find the word that rolls easily from your heart before it is projected outward. Practice how gently you can convey even the most difficult feelings. Words are our creation. Words help us grieve. Words are an intimate part of the grief process.
Take Care and Be Well
Nanette Burton Mongelluzzo, PhD
????Last reviewed: 17 May 2013
APA Reference
Burton Mongelluzzo, N. (2013). Cancer, Grief, and Words. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 17, 2013, from http://blogs.psychcentral.com/angst-anxiety/2013/05/cancer-grief-and-words/
?
Source: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/angst-anxiety/2013/05/cancer-grief-and-words/
Saturday, May 18, 2013
New insights into how materials transfer heat could lead to improved electronics
Friday, May 17, 2013
U of T Engineering researchers, working with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, have published new insights into how materials transfer heat, which could lead eventually to smaller, more powerful electronic devices.
Integrated circuits and other electronic parts have been shrinking in size and growing in complexity and power for decades. But as circuits get smaller, it becomes more difficult to dissipate waste heat. For further advances to be made in electronics, researchers and industry need to find ways of tracking heat transfer in products ranging from smart phones to computers to solar cells.
Dan Sellan and Professor Cristina Amon, of U of T's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department, investigated a new tool to measure the thermal and vibrational properties of solids. Working with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, they studied materials in which heat is transferred by atomic vibrations in packets called phonons. Their results were recently published in Nature Communications.
"In an analogy to light, phonons come in a spectrum of colors, and we have developed a new tool to measure how different color phonons contribute to the thermal conductivity of solids," said Jonathan Malen, an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at CMU.
According to the researchers, the new tool will give both industry and academia a clearer picture of how an electronic device's ability to dissipate heat shrinks with its size, and how materials can be structured at the nanoscale to change their thermal conductivity.
For example, in the initial demonstration, the team showed that as silicon microprocessors continue to shrink, their operating temperatures will be further challenged by reduced thermal conductivity.
"Our modeling work provides an in-depth look at how individual phonons impact thermal conductivity," said Sellan, who undertook his research as a PhD Candidate in Professor Amon's lab. Currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, Sellan is developing experimental techniques for thermal measurements.
Professor Amon, who is also Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at U of T, said Sellan's insights will allow researchers to design nanostructured thermoelectric materials with increased efficiency in converting waste heat to electrical energy. This work has exciting implications for the future of nano-scale thermal conductivity research."
###
University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering: http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/home.htm
Thanks to University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering 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 48 time(s).
Apps of the Week: Sky Gamblers, Ticket to Ride, Tweetbot, and more
Every week, the editors and writers at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps. This week's selections include a war game, a videography app, a classic board game, and a popular twitter client for Mac.
Sky Gamblers - Storm Raiders - Peter Cohen
World War II air combat on the Mac - dogfighting in the skies above Pearl Harbor, Midway, France and more. Fly historic planes with cross-platform multiplayer, Game Center and iCloud support. If you've played the game on your iOS device, you know what to expect. But Atypical Games has reworked Sky Gamblers - Storm Raiders to work on the Mac, which makes it an even more fun game on a bigger screen.
The game costs a paltry 99 cents to download, but content like new planes and weapons come at a price - in-app purchases for a couple of bucks here and there. Still, lots of fun to play and not a lot of coin to make it happen.
- $0.99 - Download now
Luma Camera - Rene Ritchie
While I was at BlackBerry Live -- or was it iMore live? -- one of the developers in attendance came over and showed me Luma Camera for iPhone. It's a video shooting app that offers filters both real-time and for post-processing, as well as optional HD video storage space via their website. The most interesting feature, however, is the image stabilization. Real optical image stabilization requires hardware, but Luma does a respectable job using the iPhones built in sensors and it's powerful graphics processing capabilities.
I haven't had much of a chance to play around with it yet, but it looks like fun. If you try it, let me know what you think!
- Free - Download now
Ticket to Ride Online - Richard Devine
I must confess to being an avid fan of the Geek and Sundry YouTube Show, TableTop starring Wil Wheaton. It's via that show I first became aware of the board game Ticket to Ride, and now I've found and begun playing the Mac version -- Ticket to Ride Online
I've never played the board game, but the Mac version is a beautifully colourful recreation of the original, and follows the rules to the letter. You choose a series of routes, and the objective is to lay trains on as many of those routes as possible before the game is up. The longest routes get an extra reward at the end, and incomplete routes loses points. It's really simple to pick up and play, and there's a comprehensive tutorial game to help you get to grips with the gameplay.
In-App purchases are available to extend the game boards, with new ones available for Europe, another USA board and for Switzerland. And, the online play supports competing against other Mac, PC, and iPad players. I've not tried out the iPad version just yet, but you'll find a link for that too below.
- $9.99 (Mac Version) - Download Now
- $6.99 (iPad Version) - Download Now
Tweetbot for Mac - Ally Kazmucha
There are a wealth of amazing Twitter clients for iOS but when it comes to Mac, there are less to choose from. While I tend to use Twitterrific on my iPhone and iPad, I've never really liked the feel of it on Mac. Tweetbot is my second favorite for iOS and when they released a Mac client a while back, it definitely didn't disappoint.
The price point is quite a bit higher than other Twitter offerings in the Mac App Store but honestly, it's the best available, hands down. If you want the iOS Tweetbot experience on your Mac, there really is no other option.
- $19.99 - Download Now
Your choice?
Now that we've chosen our favorites for the week, we want to hear yours! Did you pick up a killer app, accessory, or game this week? Let us know in the comments below!
| |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/EE_-phpWjDQ/story01.htm