Monday, January 30, 2012

Twitter, Democracy, and Internet Freedom

1620349_pic_1299261234Twitter has taken fire in recent days from activists and bloggers who fear that the company?s new censorship policies will muffle online freedom. News reports recall the ways in which protestors have had made use of Twitter to oppose dictatorships, and dissidents express concern that their ability to communicate will be harmed. The more immediate issue, however, may lie elsewhere. Twitter?s new policies demonstrate vividly the complicated relationship between Internet freedom and democratic government.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/l24os-CX6KM/

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Economic tales from the Southern Hemisphere

South Africa and Australia are booming, but the gap between rich and poor is vast.

The Southern Hemisphere is not a bad place to be in the wintertime. That is, when it is wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere. By the time the chilly winds from Baltimore reach the southern tip of Africa they have been warmed by the South Atlantic. Flowers bloom. The sun shines. Gentle breezes glide over the fields and parking lots.

Skip to next paragraph Bill Bonner

Bill has written two New York Times best-selling books, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. With political journalist Lila Rajiva, he wrote his third New York Times best-selling book, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, which offers concrete advice on how to avoid the public spectacle of modern finance. Since 1999, Bill has been a daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning (dailyreckoning.com).

Recent posts

As near as we can tell, South Africa is booming. Driving along the freeways, you?d scarcely know you weren?t in Southern California?or Texas. Except that it seems newer and more modern in Johannesburg than it does in LA. Most of the roads?shops?and offices you see in Jo?burg were put up only in the last couple of years. Those in LA date back decades.

But there are a lot of poor people in Africa, more than in California. And some of them are not very good neighbors. At intersections that are particularly favored by hijackers, for example, signs warn motorists to watch out. Razor wire, stretched generously and lazily on the top of walls, reminds the visitor that this is no paradise.

Melbourne, Australia, is equally sun-washed this time of year. But it seems cleaner, safer, and more urban. People ride bicycles up and down the Yarro River. Couples stroll hand in hand in front of the old train station or through the narrow alleys, now filled with tables and outdoor dining.

Jo?burg is much cheaper than Melbourne. We paid $44 for a buffet breakfast at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Then again, Melbourne has become one of the world?s most expensive and desirable cities. Each year, it and Vancouver vie for the top position in The Economist?s list of the world?s most livable cities.

To summarize Australia?s economic situation: the Aussies sell dirt to the Chinese. Since the Chinese have such a strong appetite for antipodal dirt, the Aussies are making money. Prices are rising. Investors are confident. The boom goes on.

Australian property prices seem way out of line, at least compared to Baltimore. An office building that might sell for $1 or $2 million in the heart of Baltimore is on offer in the St. Kilda area of Melbourne for $7 million. Then again, St. Kilda is lively, hip, and attractive, with an exciting nightlife and a beach next door. Baltimore, on the other hand?oh, never mind.

Regards,

Bill Bonner
?for The Daily Reckoning

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on dailyreckoning.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/JX5lf89O4Xg/Economic-tales-from-the-Southern-Hemisphere

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Let Freedom Rain: Rogers Communications wants to change ...


I love when the right and big corporations use the 'free speech' (or in this case, 'freedom of expression') argument from everything to excusing defamation and libel to putting out false claims about products.
The legal battle with Rogers began in November 2010, when the bureau went to court to levy a $10-million penalty for a "misleading advertising" campaign involving the company's Chatr discount cellphone service. The bureau is also asking the court to order Rogers to pay restitution to affected customers and refrain from engaging in similar campaigns for the next decade.?
The national advertising campaign, launched with the entry of upstart competitors like Wind Mobile in the market, claimed that Chatr had "fewer dropped calls than new wireless carriers" and its customers have "no worries about dropped calls."?
The bureau says it conducted an investigation, which involved an extensive review of technical data obtained from a number of sources, and concluded there was "no discernible differences in dropped call rates between Rogers' discount service and new entrants.
I bet those Charter or Rights haters are just fine with Rogers using it to achieve dubious ends. And who is Rogers' lawyer anyway? Ezra Levant?

Source: http://letfreedomrain.blogspot.com/2012/01/rogers-communications-wants-to-change.html

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Twitter to restrict user content in some countries

Twitter announced Thursday that it would begin restricting Tweets in certain countries, marking a policy shift for the social media platform that helped propel the popular uprisings recently sweeping across the Middle East.

"As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," Twitter wrote in a blog post published Thursday.

It said even with the possibility of such restrictions, Twitter would not be able to coexist with some countries. "Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there," it said.

Twitter gave as examples of restrictions it might cooperate with "certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content."

A Twitter spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the blog.

"Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country while keeping it available in the rest of the world," the Twitter blog said.

Twitter's decision to begin censoring content represents a significant departure from its policy just one year ago, when anti-government protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries coordinated mass demonstrations through on the social network and, in the process, thrust Twitter's disruptive potential into the global spotlight.

As the revolutions brewed last January, Twitter signaled that it would take a hands-off approach to censoring content in a blog post entitled "The Tweets Must Flow."

"We do not remove Tweets on the basis of their content," the blog post read. "Our position on freedom of expression carries with it a mandate to protect our users' right to speak freely and preserve their ability to contest having their private information revealed."

And last year, Twitter General Counsel Alex Macgillivray declared that the company was "from the free speech wing of the free speech party."

In the interest of transparency, Twitter said Thursday, it has built a mechanism to inform users in the event that a Tweet is being blocked.

Twitter's move comes at a time when Internet companies such as Google and Facebook have wrestled with foreign governments over freedom of speech and privacy issues as they expand rapidly overseas.

In 2010 Google relocated its Web search engine to Hong Kong, following a very public spat with the Chinese government over its refusal to bow to Beijing's Web censorship requirements and a hacking episode that Google said it had traced to China.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46155148/ns/technology_and_science-security/

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Pac-Man Is NP-Hard

Assuming that this method of measuring complexity is actually useful, is there an ideal level of theoretical complexity in a computer game?

(This is not necessarily the same as the complexity of play - Doom is, after all, very easy to play but PSPACE-hard problems are extremely difficult problems to solve.)

Any retro-gamers here want to determine the theoretical complexity of Wizardry, Atic Atac, Knightlore, Citadel or Cholo?

Is there any correlation between the complexity and how long the game stuck in people

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/3nfltwimYbE/pac-man-is-np-hard

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Video: GOP claims Obama?s trying to divide the nation



>>> president obama had some harsh words for congress during his state of the union address last night while he promised -- he promised to power through any republican efforts to block progress on the hill.

>> as long as i'm president, i will working with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. but i intend to fight obstruction with action. and i will oppose any effort to the return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.

>> president obama because he was helping --

>> republicans argue back that the president is talking the talk, but not walking the walk. joining me now is republican congresswoman nan hayworth of new york. congresswoman, good afternoon to you.

>> hi, craig .

>> what do you make of the president's speech last night?

>> well, the president expressed some inspiring ideas and thoughts that we share. these are the broad principles to have every citizen in the united states have a fair opportunity to thrive and to have the dignity of work and to be able to participate in our communities. we all support that. and i do want to emphasize that in the house of representatives , republicans and democrats have been working together.

>> really, congresswoman?

>> really, craig . we've sent 30 bills to the senate.

>> you realize that's not the perception in this country.

>> well, i do. and i'm doing all i can to counter it because the news does need to get out. we have with republican and democratic votes sent 30 bills to the senate. 30. 27 of them have not gone any further.

>> but what about all of those bills and all of the gridlock that we have all watched play out, sometimes for weeks on end whether it's the debt ceiling debate, whether it's the payroll tax cut discussion, as well? what about all of those those big things that you guys haven't gotten done?

>> you know, craig , i am on the conference committee working with colleagues again across the aisle and from the senate to make sure that we get the kind of payroll tax cut extension that republicans and democrats all support. and the issue, as you know, becomes how do we responsibly manage these great goals. that's what this contest throughout the year, if you will, has been about. how do we get consensus on moving forward? and president obama plays a leadership role in that, as well. on the house republican side , it's very true. we have emphasized that we have to think about the next generation and the generations beyond. we're borrowing 40 cents as of this moment, 40 to 41 cents of every dollar the federal government spends. that's all going to be put on the backs of our younger generations. it's not fair to them.

>> i want to specifically about the payroll tax cut. i want to follow up on that because the president called on congress last night to extend it. there was a great deal of applause from both sides i noted. especially from majority leader kantor. is this the something that you can say right now definitively will happen in the next two months? will we see a permanent extension of the payroll tax cut.

>> i'm speaking only for myself, craig , but i believe that is the will of the conference committee and the will of the house of representatives of which i'm a member to extend that payroll tax relief. we have to bear in mind when we do that, we still have to fund the social security trust fund . it's not like taking funds from the general revenues which we want to lower taxes for everybody. but we do have to fund that social security trust fund because those payroll tax contributions go directly to that. and those social security benefits will be paid out eventually. so we have to have the compensatory offsets from other parts of the federal budget . but weigh have lots of opportunity to do that, and i do think that there is a strong will to get that done.

>> last tight, congresswoman, the president called on millionaires in this country and he was slightly more specific than he has been in the past but he basically said if you make more than a million bucks, you should have a tax rate of at least 30%. is that something you could sign off on as well?

>> craig , the other big element that we need so desperate lit is growth. we need jobs. and we're not going to get nearly the growth that we need.

>> yes or no on the 30% rate.

>> the no on a 30% rate, craig . no on a rate hike. let's put it that way.

>> okay.

>> we need to lower taxes for everyone. everyone. we need to lower those burdens. we need to bring the federal government to the right size to serve us and not to suffocate the economy. we can do it. president obama is a very smart and inspiring leader. we can work together on this. let's not raise taxes on anyone. let's lower those burdens. the president has expressed a desire to consolidate departments of the federal government . let's work on that. we can do that and give dollars back to the american taxpayers who are so hard working and so hard pressed.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46136034/

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Oral cancer virus affects 7 percent of Americans

CHICAGO (AP) ? About 16 million Americans have oral HPV, a sexually transmitted virus more commonly linked with cervical cancer that also can cause mouth cancer, according to the first nationwide estimate.

HPV ? human papilloma virus ? is increasingly recognized as a major cause of oral cancers affecting the back of the tongue and tonsil area. Smoking and heavy drinking are also key causes.

Until now, it was not known how many people have oral HPV infections.

Overall, 7 percent of Americans aged 14 to 69 are infected, the study found.

But the results are not cause for alarm. While mouth cancers are on the rise ? probably from oral sex ? most people with oral HPV will never develop cancer. And most don't have the kind most strongly linked to cancer. Also, tests for oral HPV are costly and mainly used in research.

Still, experts say the study provides important information for future research that could increase knowledge about who is most at risk for oral cancer and ways to prevent the disease.

The nationally representative study is based on 30-second gargle tests given to about 5,500 people in a 2009-10 government health survey. Their mouthwash samples were tested for HPV.

The results were published online Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There are many types of HPV, but one in particular, known as HPV-16, is most strongly linked with oral cancer and also is a common cause of cervical cancer. That form was found in about 1 percent of people studied, translating to about 2 million Americans.

Dr. Maura Gillison, the lead author and a researcher at Ohio State University, said the study "provides us some reassurance" that most people with oral HPV will not get oral cancer. Millions may have oral HPV, but fewer than 15,000 Americans get HPV-linked oral cancer each year.

She said the study should prompt research into whether the existing vaccines for cervical cancer protect against oral HPV, too.

Gillison has consulted with Merck & Co., and GlaxoSmithKline, makers of HPV vaccines. Ohio State, Merck and the National Cancer Institute helped pay for the study.

Dr. Ezra Cohen, a head and neck cancer specialist at the University of Chicago, said the study provides important information confirming similarities in risk factors for HPV oral infections and oral cancer.

For example, oral HPV was more common in men than women ? 10 percent versus almost 4 percent; in smokers; and in people who had many sexual partners. People aged 55 to 59 were most at risk.

Sexual activity was a strong risk factor, including oral sex.

Oral HPV infection rates were much lower than previous estimates for HPV affecting the cervix and other genital areas, suggesting that the mouth might somehow be more resistant to infection, according to a journal editorial.

Dr. Hans Schlecht, the editorial author and an infectious disease specialist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said the study provides fodder for researching how some infections lead to cancer and identifying ways to detect and treat HPV-related oral lesions before they turn into cancer.

Unlike non-HPV cancers easily seen in the front of the mouth, HPV-linked tumors in the rear tongue and tonsil area are often hard to detect.

Schlecht emphasized the importance of knowing symptoms of these cancers, which can include a sore throat, difficulty swallowing, ear pain and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

___

Online:

JAMA: http://www.jama.ama-assn.org

Oral cancer: http://1.usa.gov/nryAUh

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-01-26-Oral%20Cancer%20Virus/id-95aec6431b8c4377bd06434ae7c0a008

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Android May Have Consumer Market Share, But iOS Is Tops In Enterprise

Top 10 Device Q4 v3According to a new report from managed enterprise mobility provider Good Technology, iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) hold the top three spots in the list of the top 10 enterprise activations by device type. The report includes data gathered by Good for Q4 2011 and includes half of the Fortune 100, providing insight into enterprise activation trends among some of the world's biggest businesses. The company found that despite Android's overall market share growth and steady absolute growth among Good's customers, only 35% of all smartphone activations were on Android, compared with iPhone's 65%.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/usaLie7dHoA/

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Report: iPhone 5 Will Have 4-Inch Display, Arrive This Summer

Take it with a big, fat grain of salt, but an unconfirmed report says Apple might release the iPhone 5 as early as this summer, and the phone will have a longer, wider chassis.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/SGmTOzkbsFI/

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Q&A: Gaming performance drastically lowered after install of Win7 ...

Wompai,

The system you describe above will never run either Windows 7 or WOW "perfectly". Not sure where you did your research, but it amuses me a great deal that WOW will run at all with any AGP card. Most games these days will not.

The differences between the AGP and PCI-E bus are landmark leaps in technology where the video gaming experience is concerned. This says nothing of the poor performance of the Intel P4 chip in this arena. Case in point; AMDs rise to the top of performance-minded consumers for the short while that Intels' P4 was their best and the astronomical decline of AMD since the advent of the multi-core Intel processors. A decline so profound that AMD has even announced their intention to no longer aspire to be competitive in that market.

Your client needs to weigh their pleasure in playing that game against their pain of lightening their pocketbook. Honestly, I believe one would likely enjoy a more satisfactory experience with a low-end $300.00 tower from just about any major manufacturer coupled with a low-end PCI-E Graphics card than that which one would get from the system in this post.

Make no mistake about it, Windows 7 is an exponentially better choice of OS for gaming than XP. It does however require technology that is newer than 8 or 9 years old.

"The user of the computer told me that it's performance seemed to have lowered since the crash." ----- I would point out the "seemed to have" qualifier in this statement and submit to you that this users experience is measured in terms of least painful rather than most pleasurable. Further, until someone relates the hard facts to him regarding the money necessary for an "adequately pain free" gaming experience with this particular game that his will always be one measured in least misery.

In my minds eye of what I desire to deliver to my clients in value, were this machine brought into my shop with this clients expectations, he would have been instructed to begin in purchasing another machine as opposed to me wasting his money in trying to meet those desires with his present technology.

Source: http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/questions/101-372246

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

American Idol: Jim Carrey's Daughter Jane Earns Ticket to Hollywood Week! (omg!)

American Idol: Jim Carrey's Daughter Jane Earns Ticket to Hollywood Week!

Way to make dad proud!

When American Idol's season 11 audition tour made its way to San Diego, Calif., on Sunday's episode, there was an unassuming contestant who proved she just might be one to watch this season: Jim Carrey's 24-year-old daughter, Jane.

PHOTOS: Celebrity families

Belting out Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About," Jane Carrey said she wanted to prove her worth as a vocalist on her own, without receiving special treatment because of her last name.

PHOTOS: Idol judges then and now

"The last name definitely helps and hurts. There's this pressure to be better because if I make it somewhere, I run the risk of people saying 'you only got there because of [your name.'" Jane reasoned before her performance. "I'm here to make my place in the world."

Heading into the judges' room to sing for Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez, Jane was bashful when Lopez recalled meeting her as a child on set when she worked on In Living Color with her dad.

VIDEO: Steven Tyler botches the National Anthem

"You remember me? I was one of the Fly Girls?!" Lopez said, referring to her stint as a dancer on the 90s series that had a hand in launching Jim Carrey's comedy career.

Though the trio of judges advised Jane to find a better way to connect with her audience, they praised her potential and unanimously voted her through to Hollywood Week.

PHOTOS: Idol's most shocking eliminations ever

A thrilled Jane -- mom to nearly 2-year-old Jackson with ex Alex Santana -- couldn't wait to call her dad to tell him the good news.

"She's so wonderful and amazing to me," Jim, 49, told Ryan Seacrest via speakerphone after his daughter auditioned. "I can't wait for the world to understand what she has inside of her. This is going to be a fantastic year."

Tell Us: Which San Diego singer was your favorite?

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_american_idol_jim_carreys_daughter_jane_earns_ticket150957208/44273320/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/american-idol-jim-carreys-daughter-jane-earns-ticket-150957208.html

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That's a reason?

AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng is injured again ? on the bench for up to a month due to a thigh injury during Saturday?s 1-0 loss to Inter. And his ever-so-helpful girlfriend, Melissa Satta, thinks she knows why Boateng is on the injury list so often.

?The reason why he is always injured is because we have sex 7-10 times a week,? the 25-year-old told Vanity Fair.

Wait, in Italy, isn?t 7-10 times a week considered too little sex?

AC Milan have not commented on the matter, but they did issue a statement to validate his injury.

A statement from the Rossoneri read: ?Boateng has sustained a muscular lesion in his left thigh and the estimated time of recovery is around four weeks, unless there are complications.?

Boateng, of German and Ghanaian descent, played for Ghana in the 2010 World Cup, but retired from international soccer last year due to ?the physical demands.?

***
Sex and the Prince ? Boateng knocked out [SuperSport]
AC Milan?s Kevin-Prince Boateng is always injured because we have sex 10 times a week, claims Melissa Satta [Goal.com]

Source: http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2012/01/23/ac-milan-players-girlfriend-claims-hes-on-injury-list-due-to-too-much-sex/related/

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Wambach, Dempsey voted top US soccer players

updated 5:20 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2012

CHICAGO - Abby Wambach has been voted the U.S. Soccer Federation's female athlete of the year for the fifth time, matching Mia Hamm's record. Clint Dempsey has been voted top male athlete for the first time since 2007.

The USSF also said Friday that Brek Shea and Sydney Leroux were the top young athletes.

Wambach won previously in 2003, 2004, 2007 and last year. Hamm won from 1994 to 1998. Wambach scored four goals at the Women's World Cup, including one in the 122nd minute in the semifinals that forced penalty kicks and enabled the Americans to reach the final, where they lost to Germany.

Dempsey scored three goals at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Playing for Fulham, he passed Brian McBride to become the highest-scoring American in the Premier League.

Online votes counted for half the total, with the rest from media and USSF representatives.

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


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More news
Man City, Man United win

Manchester City scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, leaving Manchester United its only likely rival for the Premier League title.

Getty Images
Hat trick

Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick in England's Premier League, helping Fulham rally from a halftime deficit to rout Newcastle 5-2 Saturday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46076706/ns/sports-soccer/

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Rescued kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart engaged (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY ? A Utah woman kidnapped at knifepoint at age 14 and held captive for nine months is getting married.

A spokesman for 24-year-old Elizabeth Smart says she got engaged last weekend and will likely marry in the summer.

No details about the groom-to-be were disclosed. The spokesman says Smart plans to keep her personal life private.

Smart's father, Ed Smart, tells The Associated Press his future son-in-law is a "fine young man." Ed Smart says he's pleased for his daughter and hopes she has a happy life.

Onetime itinerant street preacher Brian David Mitchell was convicted in 2010 of Smart's 2002 kidnapping and sexual assault. He's serving a life prison sentence.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_elizabeth_smart_engaged

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Building a business with unwanted customers - Fortune Management

FORTUNE -- Diego Cobo was trying hard not to cry when he returned to his family in the waiting area at the dentist's office. The three-year-old just had just had a cavity filled, and it hurt. "Maybe you shouldn't eat so many candies," his mom said to him. Diego thought for a minute, then pointed to the teeth on the side of his mouth that wasn't numb with Novocaine, and said, "Maybe I can eat candies with these teeth?"

If Diego is like the majority of patients at Newark, N.J.-based Dental Kidz, he will be back soon enough with more cavities. Dental Kidz targets patients on Medicaid and other subsidized health care. The practice is jointly owned by husband-and-wife team Chris and Lezli Harvell -- he handles everything outside of the clinic, and she's a dentist.

Most dentists don't want to touch kids on Medicaid with a 10-foot pole, much less a dental scraper. But Chris Harvell believes that treating the underserved can make for good business. And in New Jersey, which has one of the worst records for pediatric dental care in the U.S., kids have so few options that a good provider, even to those with little income, can make a profit.

"I used to be deathly afraid of the dentist. I used to have tons of cavities," says Harvell, a former Booz Allen consultant turned business student turned entrepreneur.

Harvell tries to keep Dental Kidz's office inviting.? It's brightly lit, with an open floor plan, Crayola-colored seats for small patients, high ceilings, and mock hardwood floors. Mariah Carey's power pop version of "All I want for Christmas" is playing. Kids in the back squirm into their examination chairs, some are crying.

Despite his early fear of dentists, Harvell married one, and recognized a serious shortage of quality care in the Newark area. In 2008, before launching Dental Kidz, he crunched numbers that he requested from the state dental board and department of human services and found that there were about 210,000 children within a five-mile radius of the city, 40% of which receive Medicaid benefits, and only 15 pediatric dentists.

Medicaid's ups and downs

Nationally, dentists shy away from treating Medicaid patients. Many complain that this patient population has a far higher no-show rate than patients with private insurance, according to a May 2011 report called "The State of Children's Dental Health" from the Pew Center on the States. Those empty chairs eat at profits.

Medicaid compensation often falls woefully short of the cost of care: 33 states reimbursed under 60.5 cents for every dollar a dentist charged, according to the Pew study. The study also graded individual states' progress providing adequate pediatric dental care. New Jersey was one of five states to receive an F.

There is money in treating these patients, Harvell says, but getting it is a hassle. Dentists must wade through red tape for Medicaid reimbursement, says Richard Green, the managing director of public affairs for the American Dental Association. Many dentists, including American Dental Association president William Calnon, will treat Medicaid patients pro bono to avoid the inconvenience. "It's just not worth the headache," Green says, and many dentists figure that"it's better to get 100% of nothing, rather than working really hard to get 15 to 80% of something."

But 75% of Dental Kidz clients receive some kind of state subsidized dental care. This is not charity work; it's the foundation of the company's business. "In terms of having a practice like that," Green says, "the more you do, the easier it is."

Volume is the answer. Harvell sees opportunity in the same facts that deter so many dentists. He sees a group of patients who need care but aren't getting it. What's more, these patients tend to have more and more expensive problems than what is typical. The average age of the kids is four," Harvell says, "and the average number of cavities is eight. They only have 20 teeth!"

Dental Kidz patients have their first dentist visit much later than they should -- the American Dental Association recommends a child visit a dentist before the age of one. Because of this, along with poor education about proper nutrition and eating habits, patients often have advanced dental problems that require expensive procedures, which Medicaid does reimburse.

The key to profiting with patients who receive Medicaid or other subsidized care is getting enough of them in the door, then making sure those patients come back. Since Dental Kidz opened its doors in 2009, its patient population has grown from zero to roughly 6,600.

The limitations of the 'volume business'

While volume might be the key to financial success, this model has sunk other dental practices. In 2010, company Forba Holdings LLC, which owned a nationwide dental practice called Small Smiles, agreed to pay $24 million over five years to settle charges that it had advocated unnecessary procedures. Families of patients filed lawsuits claiming that dentists in Small Smiles offices were pulling healthy teeth and performing unneeded root canals for the sake of Medicaid money.

Many Medicaid patients have received sub-par treatment at clinics, Harvell says. Diego Cobo's grandmother, who was in the waiting room with Diego's mother and two siblings, told a couple of horror stories about other family members who had traumatic dental experiences. "This place is better," she says.

The office has a room to educate parents on oral care and nutrition. But does that kind of educational effort actually work? "After about the fourth or fifth visit, they get it," Harvell says. This gives enough lead-time to pull a substantial profit, while the information absorbs and before the patients' permanent teeth come in.

Harvell's business model is not for the faint of heart. "The first year, I called it 'Obama's ground game,'" Harvell says. "I Googled every competing office in the region. I visited 60% of them."

The pace is more manageable now, but business is booming. The clinic sees between 180 and 200 new patients per month. The company made $1.6 million in revenue for 2011, up from $500,000 at the end of 2009. Profit margins have also increased, up from 24% in 2009 to 47% this past year.

The most expensive part of the business is actually its staff, which accounts for 40% of Dental Kidz's overall expenditure, Harvell says. To attract talent to work so hard in a demanding environment, Harvell has set up a student loan forgiveness plan for his staff, the only one in the state for a private practice, he says. The state will pay $120,000 towards staff members' dental school loans over four years. Hiring can be a challenge, Harvell says. You can't be a tough guy with a heart of gold. You have to be outgoing, to love kids ? you have to be able to handle noise.

Source: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/20/behind-a-newark-business-success-find-unwanted-customers/

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Woman with Italian ship captain defends his effort (AP)

ROME ? A young Moldovan woman who says she was called to the bridge of the stricken Costa Concordia to help evacuate Russian passengers defended the embattled captain on Thursday, saying he worked tirelessly and "saved over 3,000 lives."

Domnica Cemortan, who says she was translating Capt. Francesco Schettino's orders during the frenzied evacuation, has emerged as a potential new witness in the investigation into the officer's actions the night the ship ran aground.

Schettino is under house arrest, facing possible charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck after he made an unauthorized detour from the programmed route that caused the vessel to slam into a reef and capsize off the Tuscan island of Giglio. At least 11 people were killed and 21 are missing.

Meanwhile, a new audiotape of the doomed vessel's first communications with maritime authorities showed the ship's officers continued to report only an electrical problem for more than 30 minutes after hitting the reef.

Attention has focused on Cemortan amid reports by crew and passengers that Schettino was seen eating dinner with a Russian-speaking woman at the time of the impact. The 25-year-old Cemortan speaks Russian and had worked as a hostess for the Italian cruise operator, although her contract had expired and she was vacationing with friends when she boarded the luxury liner hours before the Jan. 13 disaster.

"I saw him at the restaurant. He was with a blonde woman. He did not look drunk. They were just eating," a Filipino cocktail waitress, Gladly Balderama, said of Schettino.

Another Filipino crew member, Roger Barsita, said he served Schettino and a woman dinner.

"I have no idea who she is," he told The Associated Press in Manila. "Some of the waiters said she's Russian."

In interviews with Moldovan media, Cemortan said she was dining with "colleagues, so to speak" in the ship's restaurant when the ship struck the reef. She said she was summoned to the bridge to translate instructions for passengers, particularly Russians, since she speaks several languages. Moldova is a former Soviet republic.

"All our colleagues made announcements in different languages because there was a problem with the electricity. It was very dark on the ship," she told the Moldovan daily Adevarul. "I stayed on the bridge in case the captain needed me to make an announcement. There were about 20 more officers, cruise directors and the captain."

She defended Schettino and crew members against criticism of a chaotic evacuation, saying they saved thousands of lives.

"He did a great thing. He saved over 3,000 lives," she told Moldova's Jurnal TV.

Prosecutor Francesco Verusio declined to comment on Italian media reports that Cemortan was being sought as a witness, citing the ongoing investigation.

Divers, meanwhile, were focusing on an evacuation route on the ship's fourth level, now about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface, where five bodies were found earlier this week, Navy spokesman Alessandro Busonero told Sky TG 24. Crews set off small explosions to blow holes into hard-to-reach areas for easier access by divers.

Seven of the dead were identified Thursday by authorities ? four French passengers, one Spanish and one Italian passenger and one Peruvian crew member. Italian passenger Giovanni Masia, who would have turned 86 next week, was buried in Sardinia.

Italian authorities have identified 32 people who have either died or are missing: two Americans, 12 Germans, seven Italians, six French, two Peruvians and one person each from Hungary, India and Spain.

Meanwhile, a new audiotape of the Concordia's first contact with maritime authorities appeared to support allegations that the captain and other senior officers were slow to recognize the seriousness of the accident.

In the tape, which begins at 10:12 p.m., the port authority asks if everything is OK. A Concordia officer replies that the ship had experienced a blackout, even though it had hit the reef more than half an hour earlier.

Italian media reported the officer on the call was Schettino, but that could not be independently confirmed.

The port official tells the officer that a relative of a crew member had reported to police on the mainland that "during the dinner everything fell on his head" ? a reference to flying plates and glasses in the ship's restaurant after the impact.

"No, negative, we have a blackout and we are verifying the conditions on board," the response came. The port official then asked if passengers had suited up in life vests.

"I repeat, we are verifying the conditions of the blackout," the officer said.

Passengers and crew members have faulted Schettino and other senior officers for failing to act quickly, delaying evacuation until the ship was listing too severely to lower many of the lifeboats.

"They asked us to make announcements to say that it was electrical problems and that our technicians were working on it and not to panic," a French steward, Thibault Francois, told France-2 television. "I told myself, 'This doesn't sound good.'"

He said he eventually started escorting passengers to lifeboats on orders from his boss, not the captain. "No, there were no orders from the management," he said.

An Indian waiter agreed.

"The emergency alarm was sounded very late," only after the ship "started tilting and water started seeping in," said Mukesh Kumar, who arrived home in New Delhi on Thursday.

Cemortan, however, defended the captain and crew.

"How dare they accuse us that we were incompetent when we saved 3,000 lives," she wrote on her Facebook page. "Incompetent are the ones who have a poisonous tongue."

Cemortan described heroic efforts by crew members to help passengers in a dark and listing ship.

"We were looking for them, searching for them," she told Jurnal. "We heard them all crying, shouting in all languages."

"I couldn't see a thing, I could just hear how the ship was creaking and how heavy things were coming from above down to where the ship was leaning," she wrote on Facebook.

She said Schettino stayed on deck at least until 11:50 p.m., when he ordered her into a lifeboat.

Late Thursday, Carnival Corp., which owns Italian operator Costa Crociere SpA, announced it was conducting a comprehensive audit of all 10 of its cruise lines to review safety and emergency response procedures in the wake of the Costa disaster.

In addition, the Miami-based company, the world's largest cruise line, said it was conducting an outside review of the Concordia grounding itself.

___

Mutler reported from Bucharest, Romania. Colleen Barry in Milan contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground

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Vanessa Bryant Scores Three Homes & $75 Million In Divorce Settlement

Vanessa Bryant Scores Three Homes & $75 Million In Divorce Settlement

We bet Kobe Bryant is kicking himself for not signing a prenuptial agreement now! Kobe’s estranged wife scored big time in her divorce settlement with [...]

Vanessa Bryant Scores Three Homes & $75 Million In Divorce Settlement Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/01/20/vanessa-bryant-scores-three-homes-75-million-in-divorce-settlement/

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Perry ends presidential run, backs Gingrich (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Texas Governor Rick Perry dropped out of the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination on Thursday after a series of gaffes and controversies undercut the campaign of the one-time frontrunner. He endorsed former rival Newt Gingrich.

"I've always believed the mission is greater than the man. As I have contemplated the future of this campaign, I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign," Perry, 61, told supporters in South Carolina, the conservative southern state where he had hoped to revive his campaign in Saturday's Republican presidential primary.

"Therefore today I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president of the United States," Perry added. "I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country."

Perry entered the race in August cheered by conservative activists and evangelical Christians dissatisfied with former Massachusetts Governor Romney, a more moderate politician who touted his business background.

The Texas governor briefly was at the front of the pack of Republican candidates seeking the party's nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama on November 6. But a series of gaffes, poor debate performances and controversial statements during the campaign undermined his standing in polls.

Speaking of Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Perry said: "We've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have. And Newt is not perfect. But who among us is?"

"The fact is there is forgiveness for those who seek God. And I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my Christian faith," Perry added.

Perry's poll numbers remained low in South Carolina, with little prospect for improving there or in other state contests ahead. Perry and Gingrich in recent days had both been criticizing frontrunner Romney over his conduct as head of private equity firm Bain Capital and had called for him to release his federal income tax returns.

Speaking to reporters in Beaufort, South Carolina, Gingrich said he had spoken with Perry earlier in the day and called the Texas governor "a great patriot." Gingrich also said Perry had agreed to work with other state governors and legislators to develop a detailed conservative agenda for the future.

'A STRATEGIC RETREAT'

Perry contemplated getting out of the race after a fifth place showing in the January 3 Iowa caucuses - the first contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination - but then decided to stay in. His campaign, however, never got more traction.

He announced his candidacy in the coastal South Carolina city of Charleston last year and ended it there on Thursday.

"I know when it's time to make a strategic retreat," Perry said with his wife joining him.

Perry had roared past Romney and other rivals in August to take the lead in polls after entering the race. His conservative views and support from the grassroots Tea Party movement had positioned him as a top contender in the Republican race.

But Perry foundered after several poor debate performances in which he was hammered by his rivals over his immigration policies and for ordering that young girls in Texas be vaccinated for a sexually transmitted virus.

He was ridiculed after a major debate stumble in November when he could not remember one of the three government agencies that he had repeatedly said he would eliminate if elected president. He also alienated some conservative voters with his stance on immigration.

On Sunday, Perry accused the Obama administration of overreacting to a videotape that shows four U.S. Marines appearing to urinate on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

The next day, the Texas governor said that U.S. ally Turkey is ruled by Islamic terrorists and questioned whether it should remain in NATO, prompting the Turkish government to condemn his comments as "unfounded and inappropriate."

Perry had been known for controversial remarks even before running for president. In 2009, he pondered his state's secession from the United States. At a Tea Party event in Austin, supporters shouted "secede," and Perry said Texas might want to "if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people."

Perry becomes the latest casualty in the presidential campaign. Last August, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty withdrew after failing to make headway in the race.

Former pizza executive Herman Cain dropped out in December amid allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity. And U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann dropped out earlier this month after a weak showing in Iowa.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Karen Brooks and Patricia Zengerle, Editing by Vicki Allen and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign_perry_report

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Copper, silver rise on confidence about growth (AP)

Copper and silver prices closed higher Tuesday on confidence that the U.S. economy will continue growing.

Copper is used as a raw material to make everything from housing materials to televisions. Copper often jumps when traders think global demand is rising. Silver is also used as a raw material to make consumer goods like electronic devices.

Optimism about the economy also sent stocks higher Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 1 percent in late afternoon trading when commodities trading ended.

Traders were encouraged by news that debt auctions by Spain and Greece drew solid interest from investors. That eased worries that Europe's debt woes would slow global growth. Commodities had fallen last week on worries that the financial crisis in Europe would escalate over the weekend. Late Friday, the ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit score of nine of the 17 countries that use the euro.

Spain, one of the countries downgraded, successfully auctioned off $6.21 billion in short-term debt at sharply reduced interest rates Tuesday, an indication that investor's weren't scared off by the downgrade.

Silver for March delivery rose 61.3 cents to $30.135 an ounce and March copper gained 9.25 cents to $3.7295 per pound.

Gold for February delivery gained $24.80 to end at $1,655.60 an ounce. In March palladium rose $20.45 to $655.50 per ounce. April platinum closed up $39.90 at $1,528.70 an ounce.

Benchmark oil rose $2.01 to $100.71 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil increased a penny to $3.0372 per gallon, gasoline futures rose 3.71 cents to $2.7713 per gallon and natural gas fell 18.5 cents to $2.528 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In March agriculture contracts, crops were higher.

Wheat rose 2.5 cents to end at $6.0475 per bushel, corn gained 4.5 cents to $6.04 per bushel and soybeans closed up 25.25 cents to $11.835 per bushel.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_commodities_review

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Arab-Chinese business meet kicks off in Sharjah

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Source: www.chinanationalnews.com --- Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sharjah ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi and visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao inaugurated the fourth Arab-Chinese Business Conference here Wednesday. ...

Source: http://story.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/9366300fc9319e9b/id/202757343/cs/1/

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XL Group appoints new CEO of Mexico insurance operations

IBR Staff Writer Published 18 January 2012

XL Group, a global insurance and reinsurance company, has appointed Alvaro Salamanca as the new CEO of its operation in Mexico, effective immediately to seek further profitable growth in the Latin American region.

Based in Mexico, Salamanca will report to Bruno Laval, regional manager for Iberia and Latin America at XL's insurance segments.

Prior to XL, Salamanca served as the CEO of a Mexican management consultancy and provided advice to local as well as multinational insurance groups on expansion in Latin America. He also led Chubb's Colombian and Mexican subsidiaries for more than 11 years.

Bruno Laval added that Alvaro had experience in underwriting that will allow him to be a partner for the firm's clients and brokers in Mexico.

XL Insurance segment offers property, casualty, professional and specialty insurance products to industrial, commercial and professional firms, insurance companies and other enterprises worldwide.

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Source: http://insurer.insurance-business-review.com/news/xl-group-appoints-new-ceo-of-its-mexico-insurance-operations-180112

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Majandra Delfino & David Walton Expecting First Child

"We couldn't be more excited - or wildly unprepared," say Walton, 33, and former Roswell star Delfino. "It's going to be fantastic!"

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/In_b4Kz-eaU/

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Funding Drought Jeopardizes Future NASA Astronomy Missions (SPACE.com)

AUSTIN, Texas ? With NASA operating on an increasingly tight budget, the agency's ability to launch future large astronomy missions is at risk, scientists said. And this quandary has no simple solution.

Astronomy missions that fall under NASA's flagship program are big, expensive endeavors that aim to answer sophisticated questions about the solar system, galaxy and universe we live in. Flagship missions currently operating include the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and NASA's next big space telescope ? the $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope launching in 2018 ? narrowly avoided escaped losing funding last year.

But, with funding becoming increasingly scarce, the ability to do these types of missions is severely hindered, said Chris Martin, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology.

Martin is the chair of the Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group, one of three committees created by NASA to act as forums for members of the scientific community to have input into the scientific and technological issues surrounding the development of programs under the agency's astrophysics division.

"We have reached a point where flagship missions can only occur once per 20 to 30 years," Martin said Tuesday (Jan. 10) here at the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

In addition to the cosmic origins committee, program analysis groups exist to discuss the development and execution of projects that examine the physics of the cosmos and exoplanet exploration. Over the past year, the committee members have been focused on devising ways to continue cutting-edge science at lower costs.

"It's not just astronomy," James Kasting, an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University and the chair of the Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group, told SPACE.com. "If the government doesn't balance its books and impose some fiscal discipline, we won't have any money for any big projects, including those in astronomy."

One of the proposed flagship missions for exoplanet exploration is the Terrestrial Planet Finder, which aims to search for Earth-like planets that might harbor life.

"We're right on the border of finding Earth-like planets," Kasting said. "We just need some technology money, and then we could fly this mission. If money weren't an issue, there are such obvious reasons, scientifically, to go do it." [The Strangest Alien Planets]

The successes of the existing flagship missions are a testament to how much valuable science can be accomplished with these big undertakings.

"NASA invested very wisely ? the information that we're getting back is fantastic," Steven Ritz, an astronomer at the University of California Santa Cruz and chair of the Physics of the Cosmos Program Analysis Group, told SPACE.com. "But, missions have finite lifetimes. We need to be responsive and find opportunities that are possible."

The committees have discussed ways to effectively partner multiple scientific objectives on missions to keep costs manageable. The groups are also concerned with how to avoid stalling the development of technology in the intervening years between flagship missions, when funding will likely be an issue.

For the 2012 fiscal year, NASA is slated to receive $5.1 billion for its science programs, of which $672 million is earmarked for astrophysics. This minibus package was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Nov. 18, 2011.

"We have to push forward technology in an aggressive way," Martin said. "The big question is: How do we really make a cost-effective mission at this intermediate scale? We need to figure out how to do flagship-style missions at the $1 billion cost scale."

But with economic issues plaguing the world over, the battle for funding extends far beyond science and astronomy.

"The budget is terrible," Ritz said. "There really isn't a sense of entitlement, because it's far beyond astronomy. We're all world citizens, so we can understand that. We just want to have a vision of how the pace of science should continue."

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120117/sc_space/fundingdroughtjeopardizesfuturenasaastronomymissions

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Pantech next to sign Android patent deal with Microsoft

Microsoft may have already signed patent licensing agreements with 70 percent of the US Android manufacturers, including some of the biggest names in the market, but that doesn't mean Redmond's about ready to hit the brakes anytime soon. Next up on the block is Pantech, according to a company spokesperson talking with Yonhap News. No specific details have been decided yet, so we'll have to wait for the official word and see what happens.

Pantech next to sign Android patent deal with Microsoft originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/2SjLvth6ZLc/

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