Kendall Paciorek was born three months ago, but she didn't come home until this week, just days before Christmas. The premature girl was one of the tiniest victims of a deadly outbreak of listeria in contaminated cantaloupe.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45743183#45743183
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Vancouver is a world class city that deserves an NBA team....really hoping they get one back....and soon! Source: http://twitter.com/Dmarsh42/statuses/147180089895956480
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Here 'tis, folks. The final day of Google's 10-cent app promotion, celebrating (more than) 10 billion downloads from the Android Market. The final day sadly has a couple more repeat apps, but we're not about to turn down a 10-cent app. Here you go:
Also: Day 1 apps, Day 2 apps, Day 3 apps, Day 4 apps,
Day 5 apps, Day 6 apps, Day 7 apps, Day 8 apps, Day 9 apps
 |  |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/RK4TGKK5E6s/story01.htm
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Paul Prince for Sugar
Race car driver and $10,000 table holder Seth Rose and his girlfriend Jennifer recently hung out with Ice-T and Coco at Sugar.
By Randee Dawn
Care to party with your favorite reality stars? Got a spare $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket?
Then step right over to Long Island, New York's Sugar Social Lounge and Dining Den, and bring your cash with you. The nightspot has recently started up a $10K per night "Table 50," which creates -- according to the lounge's press materials, an "It-Spot-Within-a Spot" for "high-end customers looking for an extra-special evening on the town together with their favorite celebrities."
That is, so long as your definition of "favorite" equals stars of the caliber of Ronnie Ortiz-Magro from "Jersey Shore" (who is slated for this Thursday, Dec. 15) and Ice-T and Coco. And you may even get a bonus for your payment: When Ice and his wife hung out with 10K table guests on Dec. 10, Ice gave an impromptu performance.
Club reps have said that in coming weeks the "celebs-du-jour" will also include stars from "Real Housewives" ("New Jersey's" Teresa and Joe Giudice have already dropped by), "Mob Wives" and "The Apprentice," but what could actually put this gimmick over the top is if they're able to follow through on bringing in "the cast of the film series 'Twilight,'" as a club rep indicated, though he wouldn't name specific actors.
So, don't go putting your bets on Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson or Kristen Stewart, but even without them, there's bound to be a high sparkle quotient.
Are you going to start saving your pennies? Let us know on our Facebook page.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) ? An auction of actress Elizabeth Taylor's world-renowned jewels took in $116 million, more than double the record for a single collection, and set new marks for pearls, colorless diamonds and Indian jewels.
Christie's sale of 80 items from Taylor's collection on Tuesday had been estimated to raise about $20 million. But everything from her famous 33-carat diamond ring, a gift from Richard Burton, to her charm bracelets sold for many times their estimates.
Just halfway into the four-hour sale, the Taylor items broke the record for a single-owner jewelry collection set in 1987 when the Duchess of Windsor's jewels sold for just over $50 million.
The pattern was set early on, when one of the most historic pieces, a 203-grain (equivalent to 55 carat) pear-shaped 16th-century pearl, once owned by England's Mary Tudor and later by Spanish queens Margarita and Isabel, sold for $11.8 million including commission, setting an auction record for a pearl.
Burton, who married Taylor twice, had bought the pearl in 1969 at auction for $37,000, and Taylor, who died in March at age 79, commissioned Cartier to design a ruby-and-diamond necklace mount. It had been estimated to sell for $2 million to $3 million.
But from the very first item, a charm bracelet estimated at about $30,000, it was clear the Taylor cachet was delivering beyond expectations. The bracelet fetched $326,500.
Minutes later an ivory and gold necklace featuring theater medallions soared to more than 100 times its $1,500 to $2,000 estimate, selling for $314,500.
The trend continued unabated, right up until the final offering -- Taylor's famed 33.19-carat diamond, which Burton had bought for $300,000 in 1968.
Selling for $8.8 million, or about three times the estimate, it set a per-carat record for a colorless diamond.
SOUTH KOREAN BUYER
The colossal rock, which has been renamed The Elizabeth Taylor diamond, was bought by South Korean businessman Daniel Pang, who was bidding on behalf of Eland World, a South Korean concern.
Pang said the conglomerate owns several hotels and plans to exhibit the diamond, as it has done in the past with historic memorabilia from the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
In a statement on Wednesday, the actress' son Chris Wilding said his mother would have been pleased with the auction.
"She would be happy to know that her wish for her jewelry to be owned and enjoyed by others was fulfilled," Wilding said.
Christie's officials also were ecstatic with the results, which followed a monumental 10-day exhibition of Taylor's jewelry, couture, art and memorabilia that sold 25,000 tickets at $30 each.
Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry for Christie's Americas, said the auctioneers knew the sale was going to do very well, given Taylor's lavish tastes and worldwide fame as one of the last great Hollywood stars.
"This truly is one of the greatest jewelry collections in the world," he told Reuters. "But in my wildest dreams, I did not think we would outsell the estimate by five times."
Marc Porter, Christie's Americas president and chairman, said the auction was "one of the most extraordinary sales Christie's has ever had." He called it "a testament to the love of Elizabeth Taylor worldwide" as well as to her collecting ability.
Other highlights included the Taj Mahal diamond, another gift from Burton, marking Taylor's 40th birthday. It sold for $8.8 million, a record for an Indian jewel.
The per-carat record for a ruby was also broken, by Burton's Van Cleef & Arpels ruby-and-diamond ring, a 1968 Christmas gift. Another record, for a tiara, fell when third husband Mike Todd's 1957 gift to Taylor sold for $4.2 million, about six times the estimate.
The Taylor auctions continue on Wednesday when the actress' haute couture, including the dresses she wore from her two weddings to Burton, will be sold.
Online auctions of some 1,000 lower-priced items from Taylor's estate are running concurrently.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Doina Chiacu)
Crapgadget: holidon't edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign event Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Paradise Valley, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign event Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Paradise Valley, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) ? Mitt Romney is ramping up his presidential campaign in a big way ? just as Newt Gingrich emerges as a serious threat for the Republican nomination.
Over the next week, Romney's cross-country fundraising trips will cease, replaced by a more rapid-fire campaign schedule in early voting states. That means more TV ads, more media interviews and more hand-to-hand politicking in early-voting Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and, Romney says, "a couple other states."
"We're just starting," the former Massachusetts governor said Tuesday before jetting off to court donors. "We're making our closing argument. ... You'll see me campaigning aggressively."
That would be a stark contrast to the cautious, calculated approach that Romney has taken all year as he focused on stockpiling campaign contributions for a drawn-out nomination fight.
The more intense focus is born out of timing ? and necessity.
Voting for the GOP nomination begins in Iowa on Jan. 3 and Gingrich, a former House speaker and nationally known figure, has shot to the top of public opinion polls in Iowa and South Carolina while making gains elsewhere. Much to Romney's chagrin, Gingrich has benefited from the struggles of other rivals also considered more conservative than Romney, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and Georgia businessman Herman Cain, who has dropped out of the race.
The primary has essentially become a two-way fight between Romney and Gingrich.
Romney's message will stay largely the same: He argues he has a business background that makes him the best candidate to create jobs and improve the economy ? and the best candidate to beat President Barack Obama. Still, it's been fine-tuned in recent days, as Obama traveled to Kansas to invoke Teddy Roosevelt's pitch for a "square deal" for middle-class Americans.
"This election will be the choice between entitlement and merit, appeasement and resolve," Romney plans to say in speech Wednesday in Washington, echoing words he used in Arizona on Tuesday.
Behind the scenes, Romney aides are planning to start aggressively dipping into his mound of campaign cash to ramp up his presence on the TV airwaves.
He's already running ads in both Iowa and New Hampshire ? positive spots that highlight his economic record ? but he's not yet on the air with the heavy levels that usually come at this point in the campaign, as voters start paying attention.
He's also starting to increase his appearances on Fox News Channel, watched by many GOP primary voters, and has agreed to appear on "Fox News Sunday" on Dec. 18, his first appearance on a Sunday news show in more than a year and a half. Aides say it's a calculated effort that will help Romney across the map over the course of the nomination fight.
"I'll be on the air a good deal more than in the past," Romney said.
He's likely to get some help on that front in the coming weeks, when a super PAC aligned with Romney starts to engage by running ads, probably against Gingrich, in early voting states.
Aides refuse to say just how aggressively the campaign itself will go after Gingrich as the first caucus nears. The former House speaker is vulnerable to attacks on his record in Washington and his rocky personal life.
Romney offered hints of a more aggressive strategy toward Gingrich.
"We're going to make sure that the differences in our experience and perspective are well-aired. You can be sure I will not be quiet," Romney said during a Fox News interview Tuesday. "I am going to make sure my message is heard loud and clear. Gingrich is a friend, I respect him, but we have very different life experiences."
Romney campaign aides are counting on a long, drawn-out fight that will allow them to take advantage of their strengths compared with Gingrich's. Romney can afford to shift focus to retail politicking now because of how much money he's already sitting on ? by the end of September, he had raised more than $32 million. Gingrich, by contrast, was still more than $1 million in debt and had raised just $2.9 million.
Romney has spent the past year building and maintaining organizations in states that don't hold early primaries. Under new rules for the Republican National Convention, candidates can collect delegates even from states where they don't win, as they will be awarded proportionally.
That means a longer fight ? especially against Gingrich, who had to recover from his campaign's near-implosion in June ? leaves Romney in a stronger position.
Romney's campaign is also relying increasingly on key campaign surrogates, particularly in Iowa. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who considered running for president himself, will campaign there for Romney on Wednesday. Romney's son Josh campaigned for him there recently as well. Romney's wife, Ann, met with activists in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
Romney will spend the rest of the week continuing his usual mix of fundraising and limited public appearances. He'll make a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington on Wednesday and hold a fundraiser in Richmond, Va., on Thursday. On Friday, he has one campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ahead of Saturday's debate in Des Moines.
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For a long period of time, Bluetooth speakers, regardless of size or price, offered poor audio performance on par with low bitrate MP3s from the early days of file sharing. Logitech's Mini Boombox shows us how far not only Bluetooth, but portable audio, has come. At $99.99 (direct), this speaker is among the most compact, portable designs we've seen. The size alone sets you up for disappointment before hearing it, but the dual drivers of the Mini Boombox pack quite a punch. Obviously, a speaker this size is susceptible to distortion at high volumes, but the system still performs quite well, and pumps out more volume than you'd expect upon first glance. At half the price of the Aliph Jawbone Jambox ($199.99, 3.5 stars), it easily outperforms on the value front alone, earning it our Editors' Choice award for budget portable speakers.
Design
Measuring 2.3 by 2.8 by 4.6-inches, the black plastic Logitech Mini Bombox is unassuming to say the least. Its size makes it ideal for throwing in a carry-on bag, and at 8 ounces, it's not going to weigh things down much. It's surprising that the small front panel hides two speaker drivers for stereo audio behind its grille. The drivers are so close together, you're more or less hearing things in mono, but with the presence of two drivers you at least maintain the integrity of the stereo mix. The top panel has red, underlit capacitive touch controls for Track Forward and Backward, Play/Pause, Volume Up and Down, and Bluetooth and Phone Answering. There is also a tiny microphone pinhole on the left side of the panel. Durable black rubber material covers the side panels and the back panel houses the micro USB connection (for charging), a 3.5mm aux input, and the power switch. An included USB cable connects either to a computer or the included charger, but it is quite short, making charging from a low-to-the-floor wall outlet a bit of a pain. Another minor annoyance is, when charging, the red controls on the top panel light up regardless of whether the speaker is on or off. The only accurate indicator is the blue underlit Logitech logo on the front panel.
Performance
It's almost shocking to hold the Mini Boombox as it plays rock music at moderate to high volumes. It sounds great for such a small device, and you can feel the drivers vibrating. Though there is no deep bass to be had from such a tiny system, the speakers do a great job of providing a strong sense of low-end. The general frequency response sounds full, without the harshness or treble-heavy sound you might expect from something this size. Of course, at top volume, on both your sound source and the Mini Boombox, distortion starts to rear its ugly head. The difference between the Mini Boombox and, say, the Aliph Jawbone Jambox, is that the former costs $100 less, but they both suffer the same distortion issues at top volume. At reasonable volumes, both offer enjoyable audio.
Classical music, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," loses a bit of its low-end resonance on percussion hits and larger stringed instruments, but the sound is still engaging and never gets tinny or harsh. Rock music and hip hop, at reasonable levels, sound more robust than a speaker this size should be capable of. Only five years ago, audio performance this strong from such a tiny, portable unit was unheard of. Add in the fact that the audio quality is this strong when it's coming from a Bluetooth stream, and the Mini Boombox is quite impressive.
If you receive a call while listening to music, the audio indicator for an incoming call will sound through the Boombox's speakers. Pressing the Bluetooth/Phone button on the top panel answers and ends calls, and the mic, almost unnoticeable on the top panel, does a reasonable job with audio quality. Call clarity with mobile devices, especially iPhones, is rarely excellent to begin with, but the Mini Boombox does a good enough job that you'll be able to have a clear conversation, wireless and headset-free.
Logitech claims the Mini Boombox gets up to ten hours of audio playback on a single charge. This is a decent number, but it depends entirely on how loud the volume during use is. At moderate levels you will obviously get more battery life out of the speaker than if you're blasting it at maximum volume nonstop.
If you're looking for something in the wireless Bluetooth realm that's more powerful than the Mini Boombox or the Jambox, and are willing to move up in price?and size?the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker ($299.95, 4 stars) is our Editors' Choice for high-end portable speakers. You'll hear significantly more bass from it than you will with the Mini Boombox, but paying three times the price might seem too much. For $50 more than the Mini Boombox, the Logitech Wireless Boombox ($149.99, 3.5 stars) is a much larger portable system that also uses Bluetooth, but offers a little less overall value for the price. For its size, it's really a marvel that the Mini Boombox sounds as good as it does. At $100 you get wireless audio, a speaker for mobile phone calls, and a portable sound system for travel, and it does all of these things quite well.
More Speaker reviews:
??? Samsung HW-D450
??? Logitech Mini Boombox
??? Audioengine 5+
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Continue reading Dual-core Meizu MX fully unveiled, launching on January 1st with HSPA+
Dual-core Meizu MX fully unveiled, launching on January 1st with HSPA+ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Parent-sibling matings and sibling-sibling matings are rare in the animal kingdom. So this study reveals an exception to the anti-inbreeding rule. But I?m drawn to the report for a pettier reason. As far as I?m concerned, DNA evidence has trumped the words of my landlord and a New York City housing inspector.
A few months ago, my fear that I?d soon be dealing with a bedbug problem materialized when I learned that three units in my apartment building were infested with the pests. When I asked my landlord for assurance that the infestation would be dealt with swiftly, he told me not to worry. He had hired an exterminator. But moreover, he said, the building is clean and the tenants are to blame for visiting dirty places like the new lofts nearby where college kids live. When I later relayed my concern to an inspector from New York City?s housing department, he told me that bedbugs were rampant in my area because people purchased used mattresses.
But if what these entomologists found in the multi-unit apartment buildings they visited in Jersey City, New Jersey and Raleigh, North Carolina hold true where I live in Bushwick, Brooklyn, it means that inadequate measures to exterminate bedbugs are more to blame than tenants who pick up the bugs at their friends? houses and at the used mattress market (if such a thing even exists). The team analyzed regions of DNA from bedbugs they collected in the apartments. To their surprise, they found that bedbugs in different apartments within the same or neighboring buildings arose from a single mother in the recent past. In other words, multiple infestations resulted from one person who brought the bedbugs home, rather than from independent introductions by different tenants.
?Our tentative conclusion is that bedbug introductions into a building are a fairly rare event. It seems more likely that bedbugs spread throughout a building when a tenant drags their infested mattress or other belongings down the stairs,? says Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh who presented the study today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
If I weren?t living in what may be bedbug ground zero, I might appreciate the extraordinary ability of bedbugs to overcome the problems associated with inbreeding. Normally, the practice comes with unhappy consequences because it gives bad, recessive mutations an opportunity to combine in single individual. Humans realized that inbreeding can be dangerous centuries ago, and made the practice taboo. ?Inbreeding avoidance? strategies exist in the animal kingdom as well. Male ants and termites sprout wings to fly far from their mothers and sisters. And male baboons, snub-nosed monkeys, and other primates often disperse from their group around puberty, perhaps to avoid mating with their kin.
Schal says he and his team, including entomologists Edward Vargo, Warren Booth, and Virna Saenz, have submitted the study for publication. He says one caveat of the study is that it included only three sites, which weren?t in highly infested neighborhoods. Perhaps my photos in the slideshow below, taken this summer on strolls around Brooklyn, will entice him to repeat the investigation here:
Related at Scientific American:
Bedbug Revival 2011: What You Need to Know
Flee, Dry and Die: Is a New Weapon in the Bedbug Battle Ready for Action?
Bedbug Treatments Sicken More Than Bites Do
What Are Bedbugs? Are They Dangerous?
Of lice and men: An itchy history
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d69fe63c92e86fff20b9cd0963e14aca
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Festive red velvet cookies add a colorful touch to holiday cookie plates.
Red Velvet Cake is a real childhood memory for me. I have an aunt who makes a great one. But it was definitely not trendy or cool or in. Red Velvet was seriously down-home, real country food. It wasn?t even a standard on diner menus. But that all seems to have changed.
Skip to next paragraph Perre Coleman MagnessPerre Magness has studied food and cooking around the world, mostly by eating, but also through serious study. Coursework at Le Cordon Bleu London and intensive courses in Morocco, Thailand and France has broadened her own culinary skill and palate. The kitchen of choice is at home, cooking like most people, experimenting with unique but practical ideas.
I am dubious about this hipsterfied version. I have had some really, really bad red velvet made by places that charge huge amounts for small cupcakes, and advertise that it?s the best-selling flavor. I even had a red velvet cupcake in London, but it was an abomination. In fact, it seems that anything with a little red food coloring in it is now called ?red velvet? and earns a premium and a lot of attention. No, I don?t like this trend at all.
But Christmas is different. We all love fun and whimsical at Christmas, and bright red sweets just fit the bill perfectly. These cookies with their chocolate-y richness, ruby color and festive white snowdrops will delight kids, but they will also make an impression at a cookie swap.
Red Velvet Polka Dot Cookies
Makes 30 cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring
1 (11-ounce) white chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light-colored.? Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy and light.
In a small bowl, use a fork to mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Use the fork to break up lumps of cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients to the butter in the mixer a little at a time, mixing well after each addition and occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, add the food coloring, beating until the dough is a dark red color. If you have some place important to be or just had a manicure, I?d recommend wearing gloves. That red food coloring will show up in the oddest places. When the dough is evenly colored, stir in all but about 1/2 cup of the white chocolate chips until mixed in.
Scoop the dough onto the lined baking sheets using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon. Place the cookies apart from each other to allow room for spreading. You will have enough dough to use on a third pan of cookies after these have cooked. Wet your fingers and lightly press down the top of each cookie mound, then press the remaining white chips into each cookie to create the polka dots. The cookies spread, so press a lot of chips into the cookies.
Bake the cookies for 10?12 minutes until firm in the center. Cool on the pans for a few minutes until firm, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.? When one pan has cooled, repeat with the rest of the cookie dough. Stored in an airtight container, the cookies will keep for several days.
Related post: Caramel Apple Cookies
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of food bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs and their recipes. All readers are free to make ingredient substitutions to satisfy their dietary preferences, including not using wine (or substituting cooking wine) when a recipe calls for it. To contact us about a blogger, click here.
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APThe 13th Sunday of the NFL season brought bad luck for plenty of teams.? But good luck for others.
And that?s the extent to which I?ll force a triskaidekaphobia-inspired introduction onto this week?s edition of the Monday 10-pack.
Actually, I could also expand the normal list of 10 takes to 13.? Luckily enough, I know not to take on the extra work.
1.? Packers close in on 16-0.
Many believed that, if the Packers could get past the giant-killing Giants in Week 13, the defending Super Bowl champs would be virtually guaranteed a perfect regular season.
Given the current state of the four remaining opponents, that outcome is looking more and more likely.
For starters, the Raiders looked ragged in Miami; they next come to Lambeau Field on Sunday.? Then, the Packers head to Kansas City.? Though the Chiefs possibly will avoid being blown out, it?s a stretch to imagine them beating the Packers.
Then come the back-to-back season-ending home games, which suddenly look a lot easier, given the injury-fueled implosion of the Bears and the penalty-driven collapse of the Lions.
The broader question becomes whether the Packers can win the following three games ? the ones that really count.? The added pressure of becoming the first 19-0 team in league history won?t help.? The larger challenge could come, ironically, from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.? If it?s cold, wet, windy, etc. on a January day when a team like the 49ers come to town, the Packers? home-field advantage could be neutralized, since the Niners excel at running the ball and stopping the run.
2.? Silver lining for the Giants.
In 2007, the Giants hosted the 15-0 Patriots.? In a game with no playoff implications for either team, New York stayed within three points, losing late by a score of 38-35.? The near miss gave the Giants a surge of confidence that propelled them through the playoffs and into a rematch with the Patriots.
And if you don?t know what happened when they played again, the sport is called football.? We hope you become a fan of the game.
This time, another 38-35 home loss to another unbeaten juggernaut could provide similar confidence to a Giants team that sits one game behind the Cowboys, with two games to play against them.? Though there are many differences, the Giants could use the fact that they gave the Packers everything they could handle as the bucket of ice water to snap the Giants from yet another late-season funk.
If it doesn?t happen, it could be the last late-season funk over which coach Tom Coughlin ever presides.
3.? Bears ready to break glass in event of emergency.
When Sunday began, the always-accurate Jay Glazer reported that the Bears are ?absolutely not interested? in free-agent quarterback (and Chicago native) Donovan McNabb.
When Sunday ended, our colleague John Mullin of CSNChicago.com was reporting that the Bears would now consider adding McNabb.
The change of heart demonstrated the degree of desperation that the Bears already are feeling.? Quarterback Caleb Hanie has been dreadful (three more picks on Sunday), rookie Nathan Enderle isn?t ready, and Josh McCown is, well, Josh McCown.? Although serious questions remain regarding the fitness, work ethic, and skills of the 13-year veteran, McNabb remains a better option than any of the three healthy quarterbacks currently on the roster, combined.
But even McNabb may not be enough to make a difference, especially if running back Matt Forte misses more than a game or two with a partially torn MCL.
With offensive coordinator Mike Martz already reportedly set to be dumped, coach Lovie Smith could be on the hot seat (again) in 2012, if the Bears don?t make it to the postseason in 2011.? That?s why they?re now inclined to consider giving McNabb a chance, even if there?s not much of a chance he?ll make them any better.
4.? Chargers aren?t dead yet.
It?s easy to assume that the San Diego Chargers will end up on the outside looking in when the season ends.? At 4-7 and with six straight losses, there?s no reason to believe that Chargers can turn it around.
But there?s one curious fact, based on something the Chargers accomplished three years ago.
In 2008, the Chargers lost eight of the first 13 games, and they trailed the 8-5 Broncos with three weeks remaining in the regular season.? But San Diego won the final three games.? Just as importantly, the Broncos lost the final three games.
When the dust settled, the Chargers made it to the postseason as the AFC West champs, they beat the Colts in the wild-card round, they gave the Steelers more of a fight than expected the following week, and the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan.
It?s not likely that the Chargers will pull it off again, but that one slice of history means that, for now, we can?t rule anything out.? Especially with the Raiders suddenly looking worse-than-ordinary and the Cinderella Broncos a shattered slipper away from falling apart.
5.? Team Tebow will be tough to beat in January.
It would be dangerous, however, to assume that the clock will strike midnight for Tim Tebow before the postseason.? With each passing week, the Broncos gain more and more confidence, knowing that as long as they can stay within a score of the opponent, Team Tebow can ultimately prevail.
And that attitude will serve them well in January, when confidence becomes nearly as important as talent.? Adversity eventually strikes every playoff team (except for the 1985 Bears), and the Broncos know how to overcome it because they?re doing it on a weekly basis.
Then there?s the fact that, as the media attention increases, Tebow will continue to be the focal point of it, he?ll be ready for it based on all the attention he has absorbed throughout his career, and it?ll allow his teammates to go about their business without being caught up in the distractions.
Some thought Michael Irvin was crazy to suggest Tebow can take the Broncos to the Super Bowl.? It arguably would be crazier to presume that he can?t.
And it?s even crazier to continue to assume that he?s a gimmick quarterback.? On Sunday, Tebow ran the ball only four times.? In contrast, he completed 10 of 15 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, good for a passer rating on 149.3.
Though his mechanics remain flawed and his accuracy remains at times coincidental, Tebow?s passing numbers compare favorably to those of his predecessor, Kyle Orton.? As Football Night In America editorial consultant Elliott Kalb pointed out after Sunday?s game, Tebow has now thrown 158 passes; Orton threw 155.? While Orton has more completions and a higher completion percentage, Tebow has more yards, a higher per-attempt average, more touchdowns (10 for Tebow, eight for Orton), far fewer interceptions (one for Tebow, seven for Orton), and a passer rating more than 12 points higher.
Most importantly, Tebow has six wins in seven starts.? Even if John Elway?s body language suggests that he doesn?t like the way it?s happening, it?s impossible to argue with the results.
It?ll be even harder to do that if (when) the Broncos start knocking off some of the supposedly elite AFC teams in the playoffs.
6.? Ravens may no longer need Ray Lewis.
After Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis injured a foot three weeks ago in Seattle, rumors swirled that Lewis would not play again this season.? Coach John Harbaugh dismissed the notion that Lewis won?t be back, but he already has missed three of the final seven games.? Jason La Canfora of NFL Network suggested on Sunday that Lewis could be back in Week 15, if Baltimore needs to win the game.
Given that the Ravens, Steelers, Patriots, and Texans are each 9-3, the Ravens will need to win the game.? But here?s the thing.? They?ve shown they don?t need Ray Lewis.
And this could be the best way for the post-Ray Ravens to realize that they?ll be fine after he inevitably retires.? The training wheels came off on the fly, the Ravens kept peddling, and they?re 3-0 without him.
More importantly, they?ve found a way to win against an inferior foe on the road the week after a huge victory.? That?s something Lewis couldn?t will them to do in three prior chances this season.
Though the Ravens will find a place for Lewis as long as he wants one, the team?s success without him suggest that, if the foot keeps Lewis from playing again this year and if the Ravens can continue to thrive, it could be the right time for him to realize that it?s the right time to move on.
7.? Peyton?s place may no longer be in Indy.
Another face-of-the-franchise-type player could be leaving his team under far different circumstances.? The Colts and quarterback Peyton Manning continue to careen toward an inevitable No. 1 pick in the draft and a $28 million option bonus that comes due to Manning in early March.
In a lengthy interview on the CBS pregame show, which somehow seemed even longer than it was, Manning disputed the recent suggestion from Vice Chairman Bill Polian that the two men discussed the possibility of the team picking a quarterback, explaining that the conversation occurred two years ago.? That discrepancy suggests a deeper disconnect that could drive the two sides apart.
Then there?s the ominous explanation from Manning that the eventual decisions regarding his future will become apparent in March.? That?s a far cry from Manning?s past proclamations that he?ll never play for another team.
Don?t be surprised, then, if Manning decides to move on.? The bigger question is whether he?ll play elsewhere in 2012 or whether, like former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison, Manning won?t find an alternative destination that will pay him top-of-the-market money and that will give him the ingredients for the success that Peyton craves.
8.? Raheem is nervous, and he should be.
Bucs coach Raheem Morris has become increasingly skittish this season, most recently dropping an ?F? bomb while discussing his decision to take a page from the Mike Singletary coaching playbook.? Morris is nervous for a very good reason.
Morris has a contract that runs through 2012.? While G.M. Mark Dominik received earlier this year a four-year extension, Morris hasn?t.
And so after the 2011 season, the Bucs need to decide whether to extend Raheem?s deal, to let him coach as a lame duck, or to move on.
Though there?s currently no obvious reason to believe that the Bucs will fire Morris, Morris knows that plenty of stuff can be happening behind the scenes.? He knows this because, in early 2009, he and Dominik were the guys who secretly were being lined up behind the scenes to replace former head coach Jon Gruden and former G.M. Bruce Allen.
So what?s happening behind Raheem?s back now?? He?s surely wondering about that, and that?s surely making him even more anxious than he should be.
Some would say that, by taking the job held by his former boss while his former boss didn?t know he?d be the former boss, Morris deserves a similar fate.? Regardless, his own experiences are now making him wonder what ownership may be cooking up without his knowledge.? And if ownership isn?t up to something, they need to extend Raheem?s contract sooner rather than later, in order to put the coach?s mind at ease regarding a dynamic that ownership utilized when hiring him in the first place.
9.? Chris Johnson moves closer to being Chris Johnson again.
Last week, Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed for 190 yards.? It created the impression that Johnson has finally rediscovered the magic that fueled a holdout that caused him to lose said magic.? But the tape showed a guy who still couldn?t explode like he did earlier in his career.
This week, Johnson added another 153.? And there were hints that he?s getting closer to rediscovering his ability to hit a hole and explode vertically, untouchable even by men who think they have an easy angle on him.
If Johnson can get it back this year, the Titans could be a major factor.? The No. 6 seed remains up for grabs, with a total of five five-loss teams, each of whom hold a two-game lead over the next cut of contenders.? The Titans are among that quintet, and they?re likely the most overlooked.? With Johnson churning up the yardage and getting closer to playing like his old self, maybe they shouldn?t be.
10.? Schwartz needs to get his team under control.
Much has been said about the stomping incident committed on Thanksgiving by Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.? More should have been said about the role of coach Jim Schwartz in nudging his players toward the line over which Suh leapt, and then pretending to have no responsibility when it happened.
Schwartz wants his defensive players to be salty, nasty.? It makes them more aggressive, which makes them more intimidating and thus more effective.? The mindset traces directly to Schwartz?s time in Tennessee where, despite having an influential position on the Competition Committee, Titans coach Jeff Fisher cultivated a chippy defense that wasn?t above a periodic punch or kick or, as the case may be, cleat stomp on a bare forehead.
With Schwartz enabling and/or creating Suh, other players have followed suit ? on offense.? Last night, receiver Titus Young drew a drive-killing penalty for an open-handed blow to the head worse than the one that got Richard Seymour ejected in Miami.? Then, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, during a late-game drive even more deliberate than Donovan McNabb?s punt-pass-and-puke effort in Super Bowl XXXIX, actually shoved an official.? Amazingly, Pettigrew wasn?t ejected.
At some point, Schwartz needs to be held responsible for the conduct of his players.? The NFL decided this year to implement a procedure for fining teams based on certain player misconduct; the program needs to be expanded to take money out of the coaches? pockets, too.
Then again, if enough dumb penalties contribute to enough losses, coaches like Schwartz ultimately will be held accountable, since they?ll be fired.
Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/05/week-13-monday-10-pack-2/related/
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ROME (Reuters) ? Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti met party leaders Saturday to drum up support for new measures designed to shore up public finances, helping growth and calming the debt crisis in the euro zone's third-largest economy.
His cabinet is scheduled to approve the package of reforms Monday, a step widely seen as vital for re-establishing Italy's shattered credibility with financial markets after a series of unfulfilled promises by the previous government.
The plan will then be outlined during two news conferences -- one with foreign reporters -- and presented in both houses of parliament.
Italy has been at the center of Europe's debt crisis since yields on its 10-year bonds shot up to around 7 percent, similar to levels seen when countries like Greece and Ireland were forced to seek a bailout.
Government sources familiar with the planned reforms say the mix of cuts and tax rises will total about 20-25 billion euros ($31.2-38.9 billion) over the next two years, about half of which will be used to reduce the budget deficit and help balance the budget by 2013 despite the economic downturn and rising borrowing costs.
The rest will free up resources to try to regenerate Italy's recession-bound economy.
Pier Ferdinando Casini, head of the centrist UDC party, said after meeting Monti that the measures would be severe but hopefully also fair.
"When the doctor arrives, it's difficult to prescribe nice medicine. Medicine is always bitter, but sometimes inevitable to prevent the patient dying," he told a news conference.
Angelino Alfano, secretary of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's PDL party, urged Monti to ensure the cuts did not fall heavily on people who have always shouldered the burden, and to show special consideration for families.
The plan is expected to include an increase in the retirement age for many workers, liberalize professional services, increase income tax in higher income brackets and introduce new taxes on private assets and luxury goods.
But it has not yet fully convinced the center-left Democratic Party's leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who said groups like low earners and pensioners needed greater protection and that measures to fight tax evasion were insufficient.
FAIRNESS
Monti will meet unions and local authorities Sunday to try to reach a broad consensus on the plan. He has said fairness is one of the key priorities of his reforms, but unions are grumbling about possible pension and labor market changes.
Susanna Camusso, secretary of Italy's biggest union CGIL, said she was struggling to see signs of equity in the plan, based on what she knew so far from reports, but would wait until after speaking to Monti Sunday to make her judgment.
"We are ready to support the right decisions but also determined to oppose those we consider wrong," she said at a union meeting Saturday.
Monti will have to balance the competing needs of showing budget rigor while not choking off growth, without which it will be impossible to reduce a debt mountain equivalent to 120 percent of gross domestic product.
Changes to pensions will be key in the new reform plan, with eligibility requirements toughened up for so-called seniority pensions which are based on a combination of workers' age and the years for which they have paid contributions.
Programmed cuts to the national health service budget are expected to be accelerated by one year, to reduce spending by 2.5 billion euros in 2012 and 5 billion euros from 2013, a local government source said.
A local housing tax (ICI) may also be reintroduced, bringing in estimated revenue of at least 3.5 billion euros per year.
Other expected measures include further increases in value added tax rates and a ban on cash transactions above 500 euros in an effort to tackle tax evasion.
(Editing by David Cowell and Ralph Gowling)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/bs_nm/us_italy
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NEW YORK ? Real estate mogul Donald Trump will moderate a Republican presidential debate in Iowa a week before the state holds the first in the nation caucuses.
The conservative website Newsmax will host the debate, scheduled for December 27 in Des Moines. All the GOP contenders have been invited to participate.
Trump announced he would not seek the Republican nomination himself after toying with a bid last spring. The host of "Celebrity Apprentice" has remained visible in the GOP contest, hosting many of the candidates for meetings at Trump Tower in New York City. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is set to visit Trump Monday.
Trump has also been a strong critic of President Barack Obama and drew considerable publicity when he questioned the validity of Obama's birth certificate.
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Sometimes I come across a game that makes me feel really dumb really challenges the ol' noggin of mine, and I know I just have to share it with you all, the Android faithful (because Android users are inherently smart). Apparatus is one such game, and by the time you're done with it, you'll deserve either a pat on the back or a tasty cold one (or both).
If the name didn't completely give it away, Apparatus is about just that: building apparatuses. To do what, you may ask? To make sure a dark blue ball makes it's way safely into a sky blue box. That's it.
Now if you're wondering what makes Apparatus so difficult, it's because the game uses physics and all, so if any of your parts aren't stable and attached to something, they'll fall away into the nothingness pit that makes up the bottom of the screen.
Fortunately there's no penalty for completely botching the job (sometimes it's the only way to learn what's going on), and a simple tap of the pause button will get all of your objects reset on the screen.
For the first couple of levels there are hints that'll show you the ropes on apparatus-building (like how batteries work, how to tell which way your plank of wood will spin, and how to attach pieces of material together), so you're not totally out in the cold, but once you've been taught the basics, it's up to your own ingenuity to get the job done.
Perhaps even more amazing than the levels the game has you work through are the community-designed levels and the sandbox. From within the sandbox, you can build either an apparatus or a building challenge. When you're done designing your masterpiece, you can upload it to the community levels to people can try and beat it or just watch it unfold.
It's absolutely amazing to see someone construct a rudimentary gun using only these simple tools, or an impressive fireworks show with the only trigger being a wheel rolling over them, and more than makes this app worth its price.
Apparatus feel like one of those "must have" games on Android. It's cheap, forces you to be creative, and is filled with levels. Even if you never touch the main game, the sandbox and community sections can easily take hours out of your otherwise productive day, as you build and see what others have built. In a word, it's stellar.
Apparatus is $2.45 in the Android Market. We've got download links after the break.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/kro8_teYzdg/story01.htm
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Image: AP |
They're accused of violating the Federal Wiretap Act for allegedly gathering private information without anyone's consent.
The penalty for being found guilty? $100 per day per violation. And with Carrier IQ bragging that its software keeps tabs on 140 million phones, it could get expensive quickly.
Despite many manufacturers' insistence that it's the carriers who are responsible for installing Carrier IQ, none have been named in the suit yet.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/carrier-iq-class-action-lawsuit-2011-12
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Livermorium and flerovium could soon occupy the 114 and 116 spots on the periodic table of the elements. The names for the elements, which were synthesized a decade ago, were announced Thursday by?the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Chemistry's periodic table can now welcome livermorium and flerovium, two newly named elements, which were announced Thursday (Dec. 1) by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The new names will undergo a five-month public comment period before the official paperwork gets processed and they show up on the table.
Skip to next paragraphThree other new elements?just recently finished this process, filling in the 110, 111 and 112 spots.
All five of these?elements are so large and unstable?they can be made only in the lab, and they fall apart into other elements very quickly. Not much is known about these elements, since they aren't stable enough to do experiments on and are not found in nature. They are called "super heavy," or Transuranium, elements.
The newly named elements fit in the 114 and 116 spots, down in the lower-right corner of the periodic table, and were officially?accepted to the periodic table?back in June. They originally were synthesized more than 10 years ago, after which repeat experiments led to their confirmation.
Elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have also been synthesized at Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, located in Dubna, Russia (about two hours drive from Moscow), but their creation hasn't been confirmed by the International Union yet. Once they have been confirmed, they will also have to go through the naming and public-commenting periods.
Both livermorium and flerovium were also synthesized at the same Russian lab, where Russian researchers were working with American researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. ?
Element 114, previously known as ununquadium, has been named flerovium (Fl), after the Russian institute's Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions founder, which similarly is named in honor of Georgiy Flerov (1913-1990), a Russian physicist. Flerov's work and his writings to Joseph Stalin led to the development of the USSR's atomic bomb project.
The researchers got their first glimpse at flerovium after firing calcium ions at a plutonium target.
Element 116, which was temporarily named ununhexium, almost ended up with the name moscovium in honor of the region (called an oblast, similar to a province or state) of Moscow, where the research labs are located. In the end, it seems the American researchers won out and the team settled on the name livermorium (Lv), after the national labs and the city of Livermore in which they are located. Livermorium was first observed in 2000, when the?scientists created it by mashing together?calcium and curium.
"Proposing these names for the elements honors not only the individual contributions of scientists from these laboratories to the fields of nuclear science, heavy-element research, and super-heavy-element research, but also the phenomenal cooperation and collaboration that has occurred between scientists at these two locations," Bill Goldstein, associate director of Lawrence Livermore National Labs' Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, said in a statement.
The names for the next batch of super-heavy atoms is still up for grabs, perhaps moscovium will make a comeback.?
You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter?@livescience?and on?Facebook.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3TIFJmdoWjw/Periodic-table-to-welcome-two-new-elements
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