Perhaps you have heard about email marketing but do not know how it could benefit your business. If you want to reach out to a potentially limitless audience, you have come to the right place. Read on to find some simple tricks, tips, secrets, and general information that will help you make the most of your email marketing endeavors.
Consider sending out SMS messages along with your marketing emails. Pairing SMS with email is an excellent way to keep your readers informed. Text messages will assist you in increasing the awareness of your brand.
Avoid using a lot of graphics in your e-mails. Quite a few email reading programs available block graphics, making it possible that many of your intended readers can?t read the email properly. Additionally, your email is more likely to end up in a junk mail folder should graphics be overused.
Getting permission is of the utmost importance before you send someone an email. If a customer feels that your email is unsolicited, there is a greater chance that your customer will delete or unsubscribe. If your ISP gets many complaints, they could block you from sending emails because you can be viewed as a spammer.
Use a subject line that attracts your reader?s attention. Entice readers to open emails by mentioning promotions or incentives in the email?s subject. Try building a subject line that offers something for free, a big discount or some other incentive angle that will catch the reader?s eye. An awesome subject line is proven to get more reads, so don?t overlook it.
Your emails should contain calls to action. The people that receive your emails need to know what?s expected of them. If the customer needs to follow a link to complete the offer, clearly label the link and tell customers where it leads right in the email. You can use these sections in the top part and bottom part of your messages.
Keep in mind that the sole purpose of building an email list is to sell your wares. Your marketing emails should drive customers to purchasing your services or products. Announcing special offers, debuting new products, and revealing new information about existing products are just a few of the tactics you can use to build this momentum.
Every email marketing campaign should include an unsubscribe option. It?s costing you money to send those emails, and sending them to people who don?t want them is money poorly spent. Besides that, leaving users without an easy way to remove themselves from your list may cause them to label and report your messages as spam, which can be damaging to your reputation and can result in penalties or blacklisting of your domain.
People will appreciate you valuing their time and sending out interesting emails. Sending emails with valuable information instead of always sending sales pitches will build customer confidence and credibility for your product. Try to include a solution to a common problem, a clever new way to use a product, or a special promotion in every email.
Limit your email communications to once a week. Your customer base is likely made up of people who are busy and receive many messages each day. Sending more than one a week may make them skip or delete your messages without regarding your work.
Email layout is of great importance in email marketing. It is tempting to use graphics, but spam filters can block logos, pictures, and animation more now than ever. Relevant content should be provided in the text only. You can add links to your site so your customers can see your graphics.
Get names if possible in the initial stages. By having the recipients name, you can customize a message that is more personal in its tone. This gives your email communications a better appearance and will set them apart from all the other bulk emails they receive.
When you implement what you?ve just learned, an effective marketing campaign will be the result. Marketing through email is a fast and simple way to reach a wide customer base, so get started on employing your strategies immediately and watch how quickly you get results. Begin using these techniques on your next campaign.
Debbie Clark is an enthusiastic online entrepreneur dedicated to helping others achieve financial freedom and business success through social media, network marketing, and online networking. PS Click here to Sign up for Debbie?s ~ FREE~ Marketing Mastery E-Course Debbie works with a group of leaders in a united cause helping network marketers and aspiring new online entrepreneurs, regardless of their experience, to generate additional revenue and create more success in their home business. Click Here to Learn Step by Step how to get to $1000/day blogging Connect with Debbie on Facebook on Twitter@debbieclark15and onGoogle+
Want the shortest path to the good life? Try cynicismPublic release date: 22-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: M.B. Reilly reillymb@ucmail.uc.edu 513-556-1824 University of Cincinnati
Are cynics and happiness mutually exclusive? For modern cynics, perhaps. But for the ancient Cynics, not necessarily.
Research by the University of Cincinnati's Susan Prince shows that despite the historical perception of the ancient Cynics as harsh, street-corner prophets relentlessly condemning all passersby and decrying society's lack of virtue, these Greek philosophers, indirectly descended from Socratic teaching, weren't all doom and gloom. They actually might have espoused a shortcut to happiness.
"We don't have good scholarship on the Cynics. They're seen as misanthropes and as sloppy and dirty people who want to cut down the elite," says Prince, UC assistant professor of classics, adding, "But there's a positive strand that needs to be recovered, and I'm really going to punch that hard with my research."
Prince was invited to present her new research paper, "Antisthenes and the Short Route to Happiness," during the 13th annual Unisa Classics Colloquium hosted by the University of South Africa's Department of Classics and World Languages from Oct. 25-27 in Pretoria. More than a dozen presentations from international scholars will address the conference theme of "Ancient Routes to Happiness."
Much of Prince's work focuses on the individual believed to be the primary influence on the Cynic movement, Antisthenes.
Antisthenes was a pupil of Socrates and occasional rival of Plato. In fact, while history occasionally paints Plato as a philosopher of unequaled wisdom, UC's Prince says that through study of his texts, it's more plausible that he developed his ideas through tight intellectual debates with his contemporaries, and Antisthenes was among them.
ANCIENT CYNICS' RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS: AVOID AN EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL GOODS
Plato and Antisthenes shared many beliefs in common with all philosophers rejection of wealth and luxury, and embracing the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. But Antisthenes' methods set him apart from Plato. Whereas Plato founded his Academy for philosophical teaching and lengthy study, Antisthenes advocated a short but rigorous path toward virtue and happiness.
Antisthenes' way was short in that he endorsed an abbreviated curriculum when compared to those of other schools of philosophy, which contended that the quick route was a road to nowhere. Antisthenes' teachings skipped over the technical aspects of logic in order to concentrate on ethical literature, such as reading Homer.
And Antisthenes' way was rigorous in that it required a drastic attitude change. To follow the path of the Cynic was to abandon many societal conventions and to live in accord with nature no more fancy clothes, no more exquisite feasts and even no more roof over your head.
ANCIENT CYNICS' LACK OF EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL GOODS LED TO MORE LEISURE TIME
Through this shortcut, Prince says Cynics were able to gain leisure time which could be put toward living the good life or what Antisthenes called "seeing the things worth seeing and hearing the things worth hearing." And that's how an ancient Cynic could exist in ethical bliss until the end of his days.
"You get to your happiness quickly and then you practice your happiness for the rest of your life," Prince says.
In a modern context, there's some irony in the notion of a cynic devoted to the pursuit of happiness, and Prince hopes her research can clear the air on Antisthenes, et al. In addition to her paper for the Unisa conference, she has a 600-page manuscript on Antisthenes scheduled to be published through the University of Michigan Press in 2013 or 2014. She wants to show that the negative connotation associated with "cynic" might be historically inaccurate and to provide a little redemption for centuries of misjudgment.
"I'm resisting the modern sense of 'cynic,'" Prince says. "That just hits the mission on the head: To recover the ancient Cynics and show that you can't just project straight backward. There's a whole history there that has led us to our modern sense of the term 'cynic,' and that comes from the negative tradition."
MORE BACKGROUND ON ANTISTHENES AND ANCIENT CYNICS
"Plato didn't become great by himself," says UC's Prince. "Antisthenes was very important as one of the interlocutors who wasn't always Plato's enemy. Their relationship was more like a sibling rivalry."
Rivalry or not, when looking into history's rearview it seems as if Plato's shadow has grown larger than it appeared, diminishing the contributions of others. Peter van Minnen, head of the Department of Classics in UC's McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, thinks the Cynics have been under represented in the scope of Greek philosophers.
"Susan's revised Greek text is explained in more detail than ever before," van Minnen says. "Once it is published, all classicists will turn to it for Antisthenes. The Cynics are kind of neglected but 'good to think with' so we don't take Plato and Aristotle as the only gospel in Greek philosophy."
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Want the shortest path to the good life? Try cynicismPublic release date: 22-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: M.B. Reilly reillymb@ucmail.uc.edu 513-556-1824 University of Cincinnati
Are cynics and happiness mutually exclusive? For modern cynics, perhaps. But for the ancient Cynics, not necessarily.
Research by the University of Cincinnati's Susan Prince shows that despite the historical perception of the ancient Cynics as harsh, street-corner prophets relentlessly condemning all passersby and decrying society's lack of virtue, these Greek philosophers, indirectly descended from Socratic teaching, weren't all doom and gloom. They actually might have espoused a shortcut to happiness.
"We don't have good scholarship on the Cynics. They're seen as misanthropes and as sloppy and dirty people who want to cut down the elite," says Prince, UC assistant professor of classics, adding, "But there's a positive strand that needs to be recovered, and I'm really going to punch that hard with my research."
Prince was invited to present her new research paper, "Antisthenes and the Short Route to Happiness," during the 13th annual Unisa Classics Colloquium hosted by the University of South Africa's Department of Classics and World Languages from Oct. 25-27 in Pretoria. More than a dozen presentations from international scholars will address the conference theme of "Ancient Routes to Happiness."
Much of Prince's work focuses on the individual believed to be the primary influence on the Cynic movement, Antisthenes.
Antisthenes was a pupil of Socrates and occasional rival of Plato. In fact, while history occasionally paints Plato as a philosopher of unequaled wisdom, UC's Prince says that through study of his texts, it's more plausible that he developed his ideas through tight intellectual debates with his contemporaries, and Antisthenes was among them.
ANCIENT CYNICS' RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS: AVOID AN EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL GOODS
Plato and Antisthenes shared many beliefs in common with all philosophers rejection of wealth and luxury, and embracing the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. But Antisthenes' methods set him apart from Plato. Whereas Plato founded his Academy for philosophical teaching and lengthy study, Antisthenes advocated a short but rigorous path toward virtue and happiness.
Antisthenes' way was short in that he endorsed an abbreviated curriculum when compared to those of other schools of philosophy, which contended that the quick route was a road to nowhere. Antisthenes' teachings skipped over the technical aspects of logic in order to concentrate on ethical literature, such as reading Homer.
And Antisthenes' way was rigorous in that it required a drastic attitude change. To follow the path of the Cynic was to abandon many societal conventions and to live in accord with nature no more fancy clothes, no more exquisite feasts and even no more roof over your head.
ANCIENT CYNICS' LACK OF EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL GOODS LED TO MORE LEISURE TIME
Through this shortcut, Prince says Cynics were able to gain leisure time which could be put toward living the good life or what Antisthenes called "seeing the things worth seeing and hearing the things worth hearing." And that's how an ancient Cynic could exist in ethical bliss until the end of his days.
"You get to your happiness quickly and then you practice your happiness for the rest of your life," Prince says.
In a modern context, there's some irony in the notion of a cynic devoted to the pursuit of happiness, and Prince hopes her research can clear the air on Antisthenes, et al. In addition to her paper for the Unisa conference, she has a 600-page manuscript on Antisthenes scheduled to be published through the University of Michigan Press in 2013 or 2014. She wants to show that the negative connotation associated with "cynic" might be historically inaccurate and to provide a little redemption for centuries of misjudgment.
"I'm resisting the modern sense of 'cynic,'" Prince says. "That just hits the mission on the head: To recover the ancient Cynics and show that you can't just project straight backward. There's a whole history there that has led us to our modern sense of the term 'cynic,' and that comes from the negative tradition."
MORE BACKGROUND ON ANTISTHENES AND ANCIENT CYNICS
"Plato didn't become great by himself," says UC's Prince. "Antisthenes was very important as one of the interlocutors who wasn't always Plato's enemy. Their relationship was more like a sibling rivalry."
Rivalry or not, when looking into history's rearview it seems as if Plato's shadow has grown larger than it appeared, diminishing the contributions of others. Peter van Minnen, head of the Department of Classics in UC's McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, thinks the Cynics have been under represented in the scope of Greek philosophers.
"Susan's revised Greek text is explained in more detail than ever before," van Minnen says. "Once it is published, all classicists will turn to it for Antisthenes. The Cynics are kind of neglected but 'good to think with' so we don't take Plato and Aristotle as the only gospel in Greek philosophy."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Moorpark, CA --(Ammoland.com)- Full-Throttle Communications, Inc. of Moorpark, CA is pleased to announce its recent partnership with ProGrade Ammunition, manufacturers of high quality ammunition for shooters of every caliber.
Through this new partnership, Full-Throttle will be working with the ProGrade Ammunition team to develop a dynamic brand strategy from a creative new corporate identity to exciting and informative new marketing campaigns.
Whether you?re a gunslinger at cowboy action shoots or a force to be reckoned with in the field, ProGrade has the quality ammunition you?ll need to get the job done. And ProGrade Ammunition doesn?t just stop at an incredibly high quality product, the company prides itself on being intensely customer service focused, offering the best value solution for ammunition and components for all shooters domestically and abroad.
?We understand the importance of developing a dynamic look and feel for a company, and we?re thrilled to help take ProGrade Ammunition to the next level,? says Jason Bear, Full-Throttle President/CEO. ?Our team is moving ?full-throttle? on an exciting new branding concept for the company, and we can?t wait to reveal it during the upcoming show circuit,? he added.
The team at Full-Throttle Communications are industry-leading professionals who are masters at creating brand awareness by providing powerful marcom insights, savvy creative solutions and incredibly strong media outreach that gives companies that competitive edge needed to grow their business.
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??|?? October 21, 2012 ?? 08:36pm ??|Contributed by manoja
CHANDIGARH: Almost two months before his transfer, whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka had annoyed the Haryana government and shattered the dreams of land sharks who wanted to build houses with a view on Aravalli foothills.
In a move that irked the government and several realty dealers, the officer on August 21 had withdrawn the consolidation process of over 5,700 acres of land at Rozka-Gujar village on the foothills of Aravalli in Gurgaon district.
He cancelled the previous order on land consolidation of the village, observing that the process was adopted by vested interests ?to corner chunks of land?.
According to his observation, the Rozka-Gujar village was marked as uninhabited (be-chirag). Over 1,000 people owned the entire area of 5,744 acres in the village.
?Almost the entire village was purchased bypowerful business-politico-bureaucratic-police nexus with ostensibly no interest in agricultural activities. Some land transactions seemed benami on behalf of a few powerful politicians and bureaucrats,? Khemka, who was transferred from land consolidation department to Haryana Seed Development Corporation as managing director on October 11, had observed in his order.
The objective of land consolidation act is to help farmers pool together their fragmented agriculture plots and make maximum use of their resources. ?In this case, there was no land under agriculture activity and there was no fragmentation of land to consolidate. It was apparent that the scope of the consolidation act had been extended as a tool of partition,? Khemka said.
?The land in the village offered excellent potential for real estate sharks for constructing farm houses, resorts and residential zones after obtaining the change in land use permission from the department of town and country planning,? said Khemka.
According to the officer?s order, the maximum valuation ratio for consolidation in this village was fixed at 2:1 while in reality it could have been as high as 100:1.
?A 44-feet-wide road was proposed to be constructed from Gurgaon-Faridabad main road to Damdama lake in the village. Any non-forest land abutting this road would have huge market value as compared to the forest land and mining areas,? he added.
Cancelling the consolidation process, Khemka wrote, ?Some portion of this land was mined for stone, ordinary sand and silica sand prior to 2002. There were 50-60-feet-deep mining pits in certain pockets. Out of 5,744 acres, 4,798 acres were conserved as per different notifications under Punjab Land Preservation Act. In addition, some areas were also conserved as forest under the greening of Aravallis scheme. Thus, an estimated 85-90% of the total area under consolidation was conserved.?
You may know what you want to get out of life but have no idea how to get it. Often, getting what you want requires change and self improvement. There are tons of ways to jumpstart your personal growth, and below you?ll find some excellent ones with which to begin.
Make your goals specific; this way, they can lead to self improvement success. Having a specific goal keeps you focused on what?s really important. Having goals laid out will increase your likelihood of being able to overcome the challenges you encounter, and you will feel good about yourself once you do.
Self improvement starts with leadership. Leadership is generally approached as being influential. Consider your leadership background. Which past events have had major, formative effects on your life? What kind of skills have you acquired? How did your leadership skills come into play during those events? If you explore the possible answers to these inquiries, you will become more capable of functioning effectively in a team setting.
Having trouble meeting a significant other in your life? Try the world wide web. These days, forty percent of all relationships start on the Internet. Yours could be out there searching for you. There are both advantages and disadvantages to these sites.
Stress is one of the biggest enemies of happiness. While experiencing stress, our entire body is affected in both physical and mental ways. In order to achieve our goals, we must learn to calm our minds and rid our lives of unnecessary stress. Find some spare time during the day to be by yourself and to clear out your mind by relaxing. This mental break each day will improve your peace and clarity of mind, and help improve your self-image.
It takes a lot of discipline to achieve self improvement. You should have the proper amount of self-control over your desires. Avoid desires like greed, lust, drunkenness, and over-eating. By learning to control yourself, you can stop negative desires from impacting your body in an unhealthy way.
Leaders are humble, though powerful and strict too. When rebukes are necessary, be gentle yet firm, and keep in mind that you must be able to serve to be able to lead effectively. Being a great leader requires that you uphold a standard of integrity and values that others are proud to follow, no matter what the capacity is in which you lead.
The introduction makes it clear that you need to get educated in order to really develop yourself. You need to apply what you?ve learned to your life. There are perhaps limitless ways in which one can grow as a person. Once you have started to apply this knowledge, you will begin to feel more confident in yourself and your abilities.
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) have evolved to overcome the inherent limitations of the Internet in terms of user perceived Quality of Service (QoS) when accessing Web content. Content distribution on the Internet has received considerable research attention. It combines development of high-end computing technologies with high-performance networking infrastructure and distributed replica management techniques. The three components of the CDN architecture are: Content Provider, CDN Provider and End-Users. Solutions include core services such as aggregation, management, and distribution of content as well as a variety of value-added functionality. The market need for CDN solutions correlates directly with the explosion of broadband networks, smart mobile phones, and related applications, services and content. In particular, the convergence of cellular networks supported by 4G/LTE broadband wireless, and Cloud-based applications, facilitates the need for more intelligent content solutions.
A new research report on Content Delivery Networks Market exclusively addresses the latest trends, worldwide forecasts, driving forces and application segments. The report focuses on the latest trends and advancements in CDN solution that provide strategies, process models, and Information Technology (IT) to design, manage and optimize the quality of experience. The report also includes market analysis and forecasts across various CDN types, solutions, service providers, verticals, size of the organization and geographical regions.
MARKETS COVERED This report segments the Content Delivery Networks market by Type, Solutions, Service Providers, Organization Size, verticals and Geographies. These segments are further sub-segmented into:
On the basis of type: The market is segmented into two types: Video CDN and Non-video CDN.
On the basis of solutions: The market is classified on the basis of solutions such as CDN Delivery, CDN Analytics and Monitoring, Encoding & Digital Rights Management (DRM), Transparent Caching, and VMS Content Management System (CMS) & Online Video Providers (OVP).
These solutions are again segmented into:
????CDN Delivery: CDN Delivery Technology and CDN delivery Hardware
????CDN Analytics and Monitoring: CDN Analytics and CDN Monitoring
????Encoding & Digital Rights Management (DRM): Encoding and DRM
????VMS Content Management System (CMS) and Online Video Providers (OVP): Video CMS, Video Indexing and Online Video Providers
On the basis of service providers: The market is segmented on the basis of service providers such as Commercial P2P CDN, Free CDN, Telco CDN and Traditional Commercial CDN.
On the basis of organization size: The market is classified in Small and Medium Business (SMB) and Large Enterprises on the basis of organization size.
On the basis of verticals: The market is segmented on the basis of verticals such as Advertising, Media & Entertainment, Gaming, E-commerce, Internet Service Providers (ISP), Mobile Operators, Consumer Electronics, Online Music Retailers, Healthcare, Higher Education, Government and others.
On the basis of geographies: Geography is classified into North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Latin America.
Buy your copy of this report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/198343-global-content-delivery-networks-cdn-market-delivery-technologies-hardware-analytics-monitoring-encoding-transparent-caching-drm-cms-ovp-trends-geographical-analysis-worldwide-market-forecasts-2012-2017-.html.
Another report on the CDN Provides & Solutions Market evaluates the current state of the market for content, CDN providers, and solutions. This report provides a SWOT analysis for major vendors and view into the future of CDN solutions and marketplace. This report analyzes the competitive threats to pure-play CDN providers from Google and Amazon. The report also analyzes threats to network operators as well as opportunities for content, commerce, and application developers.
Target Audience:
????Content Delivery Network (CDN) vendors
????Telecom, ICT, and Internet infrastructure providers
????Content developers including applications, gaming and others
Forecast Data This research also includes the following forecast data:
????CDN Service Revenue by Region: 2011 ? 2017 ($ Million)
????CDN Video Service Revenue by Region: 2011 ? 2017 ($ Million)
????CDN Non-Video Service Revenue by Region: 2011 ? 2017 ($ Million)
????CDN Service Revenue by Service Category: 2011 ? 2017 ($ Million)
Buy your copy of this report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/195569-content-delivery-networks-cdn-analysis-of-key-vendors-state-of-the-market-and-outlook-2012-2016.html.
Browse more reports on the Information Technology & Telecommunication market @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/market-research/information-technology/.
Contact sales(at)reportsandreports(dot)com for further information.
About Us: ReportsnReports.com is an online market research reports library of 200,000+ in-depth studies of over 5000 micro markets. Our database includes reports by leading publishers from across the globe. We provide 24/7 online and offline support service to our customers.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/content-delivery-network/analysis-2017-forecasts/prweb10034242.htm
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israeli troops on Saturday commandeered a Gaza-bound ship that tried to break through Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled seaside strip, the military said. European lawmakers and other pro-Palestinian activists aboard did not resist, and the Finnish-flagged vessel was diverted to an Israeli port.
The trip by the ship, Estelle, marked the latest challenge to the air, land and sea embargo of Gaza that Israel imposed after the Islamic militant Hamas group seized the territory in 2007. Israeli officials say they need to enforce the blockade to prevent weapons smuggling.
Hamas called for more attempts to break the sea blockade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement praising the military for enforcing the blockade, said there "is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza" and accused the activists of trying to "to provoke and slander Israel's name."
"If human rights were really important to these activists they would have sailed for Syria. We will continue to protect our borders," he said.
Six Israeli naval vessels stopped the Estelle when it was about 30 nautical miles from Gaza, and masked soldiers boarder the ship and ordered it to sail to Israel's Ashdod port, said Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for the activists.
The Swedish-owned Estelle left Naples, Italy, on Oct. 7 with about 30 people from eight countries, including lawmakers from Norway, Sweden, Greece and Spain, as well as Israeli activists and a 79-year-old former legislator from Canada.
Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Avital Leibovich accused the activists of staging a provocation.
"We have this blockade because there are constant smuggling attempts of weapons, munitions that eventually reach the hands of terror organizations inside Gaza," she said.
Over the past decade, Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortar rounds toward Israeli border towns.
Although Hamas and Israel have maintained an unwritten truce for more than two years, violence occasionally flares in the area. Most recently, an Israeli strike on a prominent al-Qaida-inspired jihadi prompted two days of tit-for-tat rocket fire and strikes last week.
Strand, a spokeswoman for the activists, said the takeover of the Estelle by Israeli forces was a "demonstration of ruthlessness."
The ship was carrying cement, basketballs and musical instruments, Strand said. It was emblazoned with "Ship to Gaza" on one side, and also flew the colorful red, green, black and white Palestinian flag.
Israel, aided by Egypt, closed Gaza's borders after Hamas seized control and drove out forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas more than five years ago. Israel eased its restrictions after its raid of a Turkish-led blockade-busting flotilla in 2010 left nine activists dead and sparked international condemnation.
Still, Israel continues to block sea access to Gaza and severely restricts its ability to export goods and import raw materials.
Activists say the blockade amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's 1.6 million residents, denying them the chance to trade and travel freely. Neighboring Egypt continues to impose restrictions at its passenger crossing with Gaza.
The blockade has deepened the hardships in Gaza, where three in four residents rely on U.N. food aid to get by, according to U.N. figures.
"It's hard to imagine what threat one sailboat, loaded with humanitarian supplies and a small number of people, could do to" Israel's mighty military, said Eva Manly, the wife of former Canadian parliamentarian James Manly. She said she lost contact with her 79-year-old husband early Saturday.
Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Joshua Hantman said the goods onboard would be checked before entering Gaza through the Israeli-controlled land crossing, Kerem Shalom. He said Israel allows some 50,000 tons of goods into Gaza every week. Gaza residents also use dozens of smuggling tunnels linked to neighboring Egypt to bring in contraband goods, particularly construction materials.
Hantman said militants have tried in the past to smuggle weapons into Gaza by sea. In 2011, a vessel carrying 50 tons of weaponry sought to reach Gaza, while in 2009, a boat tried to bring in some 500 tons of weapons, he said.
A Hamas spokesman condemned Israel's actions as "piracy."
"This confirms that the (Israeli) occupation is maintaining its control and isolation of Gaza. There must be more flotillas of solidarity activists to Gaza," said Fawzi Barhoum.
___
Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City and Karl Ritter in Stockholm contributed to this report.
You may have noticed I have flunked out of veganmofo 2012. I am hereby sending in my resignation with a heavy heart. It?s not that I haven?t been cooking, it?s that I have been so exhausted every night that I literally pass out on the couch. Seriously ? I feel like I?m being knocked out by some unseen force or that I?m possessed or something. I have never napped so helplessly before!
But I will definitely continue to post?at my normal, more relaxed schedule. There have been a lot of goings on. The nursery now has a glider, bookshelf, dresser and crib fully assembled ? I plan to do a video Youtube tour when all of the accessories and finishing touches have been completed. I always feel like room tours are more helpful on video since you can get a real sense of the space. Also, we had a lovely baby shower/birthday party on Sunday (not to mention with DELICIOUS food) and I received a lot of very generous gifts ? our nursery is much more well stocked now, so that is exciting.
I?ve been enjoying this?stage of my pregnancy as I connect more and more with the baby ? I am now feeling bigger movements and actual?appendages at times (a foot? a bum?) which is really exciting for me, even when it?s?uncomfortable. I?ve also discovered that the babe has a preference for certain songs that I play for her, which is hilarious and I know which song to play to really get her kicking. I think she?ll be a music lover, very unlike her father.
Anyway, thank you for your patience and I?m sorry for slacking ? hopefully next year I can give it a better go! Posts soon to come.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Ann Romney will take part in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K. ?? ? The walk begins Saturday morning in Orlando. ?? ? Romney, the wife of Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, is a breast cancer survivor. ?? ? A Florida spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee told the Orlando Sentinel (http://thesent.nl/S03oFF ) that Ann Romney chose to walk in Orlando because fighting the illness is important to her and Florida is an important swing state for her husband. ?? ? The fundraising walk will take place at Orlando's Lake Eola Park. ?? ? ___ ?? ? Information from: Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
If a lifetime achievement award for best cry-face existed, Claire Danes would definitely be in the running.
The actress has tackled few roles that didn't require her to go into crying mode, where there's full-face contortion and serious water works. From "My So Called Life" to "Little Women," to her current role as Carrie Mathison on "Homeland" and roles in between, there are countless crying scenes from which to choose, which is where the above video comes in.
The editing geniuses at Slacktory cobbled together the ultimate Claire Danes "Cry Face Supercut" and it's just perfect. Someone get this girl a tissue.
Just in case you missed out on some of the Android news today, now is the time to go ahead and get yourself fully caught up. Here on the blogs and in the Android Central Forums there is plenty to talk about. Have some questions? Need some help or just looking to chat Android? You know where to go, check out some of the threads below to get started.
Until recently, my formal education in statistics was largely Darryl Huff?s ?How to Lie with Statistics? and, more recently, Marya Zilberberg?s ?Between the Lines? (reviewed here). I find that stats, with difficult concepts to retain, requires repetition. The difficulty is compounded by the overwhelming amount of information and difficulty keeping up with medical literature, let alone critically analyzing it.
That?s why, too often we rely on peer reviewers and journal editors to digest materials for us, and give us findings in a short abstract, rather than immersing ourselves in all the time-consuming and painful details.
So this week, I was excited to receive a late acceptance and be able to attend the Medicine in the Media course (aka #NIHMiM12), aptly subtitled ?The Challenge of Reporting on Medical Research.? This intense course is sponsored by the NIH,? The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is very wise investment by NIH, as it helps train media to review findings critically and to report medical findings correctly, which is no easy feat.
Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin
The main instructors of the course were Drs. Steve Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz, from Dartmouth, where they teach and write about their ?healthy skepticism? initiative. This program includes documenting exaggeration, overdiagnosis, and studies of effective risk communication.
While it will take me some time to absorb all the material presented in this intense immersion course, they have on-line aids outlining their approach to understanding studies, available online via the Journal of the National Cancer Institute?s web site and Dartmouth?s Healthy Skepticism program site.
I particularly like their systematic, standardized approach, illustrated by their summary of the value of CAT scans for lung cancer screening. It would be extraordinarily helpful to have this sort of uniform reporting of results. Of course, that would lead to a more literate, skeptical public, which is why it will probably never be adopted?way too costly to industries. (Their common sense, pragmatic approach reminds me of Elizabeth Warren?s plain speaking and efforts to have a strong Consumer Protection Agency). For example, they provide a clear glossary of numbers with examples of how to calculate risk, and much of the course had us go through worksheets using these calculations. They similarly provide guidance as to how to report the findings.
Similarly, critically analyzing reports was stressed by Gary Schwitzer. I like his systematic approach as well, though was a bit surprised at the extent of his negativity about cancer screening tests. More for me to review?His HealthNewsReview.org provides handy questions to ask and tips for understanding studies from the fine ?Covering Medical Research.?
In addition to these sessions about understanding the numbers and interpreting what the results mean, a couple of the other sessions particularly stood out for me. Hilda Bastian, editor of PubMed Health, provided an important overview of systematic reviews of literature.
Scott Hensley, of NPR?s health blog, Shots, presented valuable suggestions on writing and blogging. He was kind enough to post many of his recommendations here.
Dr. Barry Kramer, originator of this course and now Director of the?Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), gave an important talk on the hazards of cancer screening, well summarized by Hilda Bastian on Scientific American guest blogs.
A panel discussion, ?Inside the kitchen with medical journal editors,? gave an enlightening perspective about what editors are looking for in submissions for publication and how they communicate with journalists.
Panelists were Drs. Barry Kramer, Trish Groves, deputy editor of the BMJ and editor-in-chief of BMJ-Open, and Phil Fontanarosa, of JAMA. It was amusing and impressive watching Scott Hensley both moderate and tweet the panel discussion.
To my surprise, the course was not only quite informative but was often entertaining. We were regaled with tales of travel by T.R. Reid, anecdotes from USA Today?s Liz Szabo, and dramatic readings from participants.
I hope to enlighten you further as I incorporate this week?s messages into my writing.
Credits:
Molecules to Medicine banner ? Michelle Banks
Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin/The Dartmouth Institute
Top flight five-star golf resorts usually become well known over time. A listing of some of the best golf resorts on the continent will often include Pinehurst, The Greenbrier, the Disney golf complex near Orlando, The Broadmoor, The Boulders, Kiawah Island, and the American Club, including Whistling Straits, and Blackwolf Run. Virtually all of these top flight resorts have hosted either national tournaments or PGA tour events. Shipping golf clubs and luggage via Shipsticks or Fed Ex to any of these great golf resorts will prove worthwhile. Here are some other resorts that you may not have heard of:
The Grand Del Mar Resort ? San Diego
The Grand Del Mar is the only five-star rated resort in the San Diego area and one of the golf resorts to ship your golf clubs to. The Tom Fazio-designed course is championship caliber. Luxuriate at the spa and indulge in magnificent accommodations at this Mediterranean estate in northern San Diego County. The resort includes multiple swimming pools and tennis courts as well as a five-star restaurant. Ship your golf clubs directly to The Grand Del Mar for a more carefree trip.
The resort offers packages that include a round of golf at the famed Torrey Pines South course, which has hosted the U.S. Open. Luxury transportation is included in to and from Torrey Pines in La Jolla. If superb golf instruction is on your list of priorities, note that Stockton Golf has expanded to include corporate events and private lessons at The Grand Del Mar.
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge ? Jasper, Alberta, Canada
This five-star rated resort nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies opened in 1922 and was remodeled in 2001. Some rankings have put Jasper Park at the very top of the list of best golf resorts in Canada. Play a round in the morning and head south on the Icefields Parkway to experience dramatic vistas that include jagged peaks and glaciers. Then retire to the rustic elegance of the main lodge in the evening. Simplify your trip across the border by shipping sports equipment and even luggage right to Jasper Park Lodge.
Diamant? Resort ? Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Ship your golf clubs to this newer resort in Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Golf Digest named Diamant? the number one new international golf course in 2010. It a lesser known destination mainly because it is part of a 1500 acre oceanfront complex that has been more recently developed.
by Kathrine Kreger on October 18, 2012
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Kathrine Kreger enjoys freelance writing for travel and food blogs. She frequently travels throughout the country with her husband for his work, and both are avid golfers.
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Tagged as: America, Canada, Golf Resorts, Hotel & Resort, Mexico, Orlando, Outdoor Activities, San Diego
KCET, the Los Angeles public TV station that split from PBS nearly two years ago, is merging with Link TV, the noncommercial national satellite broadcaster that specializes in international news and documentary programming.
The boards of KCET and San Francisco-based Link TV approved the Jan. 1, 2013, merger on Tuesday morning. No money was involved in the deal.
Jerome (Photo: KCET)
The new nonprofit, KCETLink, will have one board and management team but continue to distribute programming under their established brands. KCET President Al Jerome will be chief executive officer of KCETLink, with Link TV President Paul Mason serving as chief strategy officer. Both will be based at KCET headquarters in Los Angeles.
Staff and operations will be consolidated, Jerome said, with KCET taking on ?a significant number? of Link?s 40 employees, for a total of around 150 staffers. ?As with any merger situation, we?ll be taking a look? at possible restructuring or layoffs, he said. Employees will work for both entities.
As KCETLink, both media outlets gain new distribution platforms for their programs. Link TV, now available in 33 million households nationwide via the DirecTV and Dish satellite networks, will pick up some KCET programs and take over one of KCET?s three multicast channels in Los Angeles, gaining access to broadcast audiences in the nation?s second-largest market. KCET will air some Link TV news programs on its main channel.
Some episodes of SoCal Connected, KCET?s weeknightly newsmagazine, will be among the shows to run on Link TV?s schedule; those programs will be chosen based on their appeal to national audiences. KCET has yet to decide which of its three multicast channels will be dropped to make way for Link TV; it currently offers Kids & Family channel, V-me and MHz Worldview.
Paul Mason (Photo: Link TV)
Merger talks began ?serendipitously? about six months ago, Mason said, when leaders of the two organizations ?started to notice complementary factors? between them.
Public media needs to find more efficient and intelligent ways of operating, Jerome told Current, and that often means collaboration. ?By consolidating our workforces we came up with operating and financial efficiencies, at the same time taking advantage of our complementary strengths,? he said. ?As we walked down that road, we said, ?We have to be the architects of our own future.? The merger idea was the best solution.?
Jerome and Mason also have similar backgrounds: Jerome came to KCET in 1996 from a career in commercial broadcasting that included 17 years in NBC management; before Mason took over in September 2011 at Link TV, he was a senior v.p. of ABC News.
After selling its historic studios on Hollywood?s Sunset Boulevard to the Church of Scientology for $42 million, KCET moved into a new headquarters in Burbank in April.
With its new production facilities, Jerome said, KCET?s leadership ?felt we had real, significant production expertise to bring to bear to assist Link. And Link is doing a tremendous job in digital technology, so that?s complementary to us.?
Link carries global and national news, documentaries and international cultural programming. ?We came to see KCET?s relationship with the BBC, and the international programming they?ve been sharing both in news and entertainment, as having the same values that are important to our audience,? Mason said.
Today?s announcement is the latest of several program initiatives unveiled by KCET since its split from PBS in January 2011. The station retooled its lineup to feature international news programming, paired with popular British dramas offered by other distributors, such as Doc Martin. Deals aimed at expanding its own production output ? such as a $50 million partnership with a former Disney executive ? have been slow to bear fruit.
Link TV premiered on Direct TV nearly 13 years ago after the FCC required satellite broadcasters to set aside part of their spectrum for public-service purposes (Current, Dec. 13, 1999). Its parent organization, Link Media, was co-founded by the Independent Television Service, the Internews Network, and Internews Interactive; it operates Link TV as well as websites LinkTV.org, LinkNews and ViewChange.org, an advocacy storytelling site funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Link Media is largely funded by a variety of philanthropic organizations including the Knight Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation.
KCET?s operating budget for 2011-12 is $33.7 million; Link TV?s is about $8 million.
We are currently hiring for a nonprofit accountant who is seeking a better work-life balance.
Do you work longer hours than you?d like? Do you want more time with to honor personal commitments, such as family and friends? Do you seek a more family focused work environment?
At Foster Results, we understand the pressure of working in a public accounting firm, putting in long hours, and missing out on family and personal time; we?ve been there. Therefore, we have created a unique work environment that offers a mix of flexibility, balance, and professionalism.
You would have the opportunity to: ? work remotely (after initial introductory period) ? manage finances, not just taxes and audits ? engage in controllership responsibilities ? interact with clients on a regular basis ? aide clients in growing and cultivating their organizations
We are looking for talented accountants who have: ? Bachelors in accounting ? Nonprofit accounting software experience (QuickBooks, Peachtree, Sage/MIP Nonprofit, MAS 90, etc.) ? Background in private and public accounting ? Experience with ? Non-profit organizations ? Fund accounting ? Restricted funds ? Grant reporting ? Multiple companies while in one position ? General ledger ? Accounts payable ? Accounts receivable ? Bank/account reconciliation ? Payroll and payroll taxes ? Month end closing and financial reporting ? On-line banking ? Flexibility ? Ability to multitask ? Strong organizational skills ? Ability to work in sometimes chaotic environment ? Communication skills (training experience is a plus) ? Ability to work with various types of people
We understand that even though it?s accounting, it?s not always black and white. A positive attitude, desire to grow and develop and a sense of humor are crucial. Interested? Send your resume with a cover letter explaining what you are seeking most in your next position. We?re looking forward to helping you find the balance you seek most!
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In a stunning move Citigroup (C) announced this morning that CEO Vikram Pandit and COO John Havens were resigning effective immediately. The departures come just one day after the big bank reported what was generally regarded as a strong quarter, sending the stock higher by 5% in Monday trading. Pandit also stepped down from Citi's Board of Directors.
This departure marks the end of a controversial and often troubled tenure. Pandit first came on the scene at Citigroup in July of 2007 when his hedge fund, Old Lane Partners LP, was bought for $800 million. Pandit reportedly pocketed $165 million for his portion of the company. Named CEO in December of 2007, Pandit steered Citi through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The company's stock has fallen some 90% since he took the corner office, underperforming most of the industry.
The circumstances surrounding the abrupt exit are murky, at best. Pandit was far from beloved in the industry or by investors, but he was hardly seen as someone who's job was on the line. In his mid-50s, Pandit isn't considered a dinosaur and if this was a planned departure it was an utterly inept succession execution by the Board of Directors. If Pandit's performance was the issue it would have been exposed in the quarterly report yesterday. (See related: Citigroup Touts Core Business Momentum in Otherwise Baffling Quarter)
That leaves speculation as to what the real story may be. The most oft repeated guess is that Pandit and Havens are leaving over issues of compensation. Pandit was earning a $1 salary for years, both by way of a savvy PR move and as something akin to a gesture of "give back" to shareholders after Citi closed Old Lane less than a year after paying Pandit the better part of $1 billion for it.
Did Pandit demand to get paid after leading Citi to a 2012 gain of over 35%? Did he grow weary of the still-mounting headaches associated with running a massive bank with the Volcker Rule looming? Was this just a horribly botched succession plan, in which case the Board of Citi has some serious questions to answer?
No one knows yet, but the real story will emerge, most likely in the next few days. All that is known for sure is that Vikram Pandit is gone from Citi, expunged from the website already. A man named Michael Corbat is Citi's new CEO. Corbat's first job as the new boss is explaining to Wall Street what, exactly, happened to the old guy.
Do you think Pandit's abrupt resignation is good or bad for Citigroup shareholders? Please answer our poll question below and visit us on Facebook!
ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2012) ? When it comes to physics, glass lacks transparency. No one has been able to see what's happening at the molecular level as a super-cooled liquid approaches the glass state -- until now. Emory University physicists have made a movie of particle motion during this mysterious transition.
Their findings, showing how the rotation of the particles becomes decoupled from their movement through space, are being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences.
"Cooling a glass from a liquid into a highly viscous state fundamentally changes the nature of particle diffusion," says Emory physicist Eric Weeks, whose lab conducted the research. "We have provided the first direct observation of how the particles move and tumble through space during this transition, a key piece to a major puzzle in condensed matter physics."
Weeks specializes in "soft condensed materials," substances that cannot be pinned down on the molecular level as a solid or liquid, including everyday substances such as toothpaste, peanut butter, shaving cream, plastic and glass.
Scientists fully understand the process of water turning to ice. As the temperature cools, the movement of the water molecules slows. At 32 F, the molecules lock into crystal lattices, solidifying into ice. In contrast, the molecules of glasses do not crystallize.The movement of the glass molecules slows as the temperature cools, but they never lock into crystal patterns. Instead, they jumble up and gradually become glassier, or more viscous. No one understands exactly why.
The phenomenon leaves physicists to ponder the molecular question of whether glass is a solid, or merely an extremely slow-moving liquid.
This purely technical physics question has stoked a popular misconception: That the glass in the windowpanes of some centuries-old buildings is thicker at the bottom because the glass flowed downward over time.
"The real reason the bottom is thicker is because they hadn't yet learned how to make perfectly flat panes of glass," Weeks says. "For practical purposes, glass is a solid and it will not flow, even over centuries. But there is a kernel of truth in this urban legend: Glasses are different than other solid materials."
To explore what makes glasses different, the Weeks lab uses mixtures of water and tiny plastic balls, each about the size of the nucleus of a cell. This model system acts like a glass when the particle concentration is increased.
A major drawback to this model system is that actual glass molecules are not spherical, but irregularly shaped.
"When the hot molten liquid that forms a glass cools down, it's not just that the viscosity becomes enormous, growing by a factor of a billion, there is something different about how the molecules are moving," Weeks says. "We wanted to set up an experiment that would allow us to see that movement, but spheres move differently than irregular shapes."
In 2011, however, the physics lab of David Pine, at New York University, developed a way to join clusters of these tiny plastic balls together to form tetrahedrons.
Kazem Edmond, while a graduate student at Emory, added these tetrahedral particles to the glass model system and led the experiments. Using a confocal microscope, he digitally scanned the samples as the viscosity increased, creating up to 100 images per second.
The result was three-dimensional movies that showed the movement and the behavior of the tetrahedrons as the system reached a glassy state.
The movie and data from the experiment provide the first clear picture of the particle dynamics for glass formation. As the liquid grows slightly more viscous, both rotational and directional particle motion slows. The amount of rotation and the directional movements of the particles remain correlated.
"Normally, these two types of motion are highly coupled," Weeks says. "This remains true until the system reaches a viscosity on the verge of being glass. Then the rotation and directional movements become decoupled: The rotation starts slowing down more."
He uses a gridlocked parking lot as an analogy for how the particles are behaving. "You can't turn your car around, because it's not a sphere shape and you would bump into your neighbors. You have to wait until a car in front of you moves, and then you can drive a bit in that direction. This is directional movement, and if you can make a bunch of these, you may eventually be able to turn your car. But turning in a crowded parking lot is still much harder than moving in a straight line."
Previous research has inferred this decoupling of movement by experimenting with actual molecular glasses. The Weeks lab used a simple model system to scale up glassy material so that you can actually watch the decoupling process happening.
"Glass is important in everyday life," Weeks says. "The more we understand its fundamental nature, the more we may be able to improve it and use it in different ways. One reason that smart phones are getting smaller and better, for example, is that stronger and thinner glass is being developed."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Emory University. The original article was written by Carol Clark.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
K. V. Edmond, M. T. Elsesser, G. L. Hunter, D. J. Pine, E. R. Weeks. Decoupling of rotational and translational diffusion in supercooled colloidal fluids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1203328109
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Public release date: 22-Oct-2012
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Until recently, my formal education in statistics was largely Darryl Huff?s ?How to Lie with Statistics? and, more recently, Marya Zilberberg?s ?Between the Lines? (reviewed here). I find that stats, with difficult concepts to retain, requires repetition. The difficulty is compounded by the overwhelming amount of information and difficulty keeping up with medical literature, let alone critically analyzing it.
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