Photography exhibits at the Asia Society challenge self-perception ...

Tell us about yourself!

That's the invitation for those who make it into the current exhibition at the Asia Society Texas Center, and hundreds of visitors have taken the offer to heart. You can view their self-impressions along with their photos at the Grand Hall of the Texas?Center's new home in the Museum District. Even more responses can be found on the Center's website?and social media platforms.?

The actual question is "What Are You?" and, since it's tied to a photo exhibition by the gifted photographer and filmmaker Kip Fulbeck and built on the concept of the book by the same name,?part?asian, 100% hapa (HOP-ah, a Hawaiian word meaning of mixed racial heritage with partial roots in?Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry), one might think it's drawing those Americans who are part Asian. But it welcomes and has attracted all "kinds" of Houstonians who might answer the question with "German-English," "Bankruptcy Attorney" or "Mother," or something entirely different, sentimental or funny.

?"It has been a great interactive project and very educational in teaching about diversity."?

"It has been a great interactive project and very educational in teaching about diversity," says Jordan Dupuis, development coordinator at the Center. He took the show for a preview outing in October at an interactive booth at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair ? and it was a hit. "People were very engaged by the project. It draws people in and gets them thinking about how they define themselves."

You can't tell how people will respond based on age or looks, Dupuis says ? sometimes you get very thoughtful responses and sometimes more whimsical ones. "Some were very intense and very interesting in their answers; some were comical."

A few of our favorites among the current shots at the Center include the rather proper-looking lady who writes, no surprise: "British." The happy-looking man who writes: "I am making cancer history!" with a line drawn through "cancer." The young woman who wrote: "I'm 25% Chinese, 75% Viet. 100% Sunshine!" And the dapper gentleman who wrote: "I am 100% Chinese born living the American dream to the fullest with the most beautiful Mexican American woman by my side."

"The interactive component of the exhibition provides a forum for the exploration of Houston's cultural landscape, and truly reinforces the diversity and multiculturalism that have made Houston a microcosm of the entire country," says Patsy Brown, the Center's communication director. "Perhaps someone's statement will spark something of commonality elsewhere."?

Kip Fulbeck?will be at the Center on Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. for an artist talk?and to take photographs of Houstonians himself. For a glimpse of what you can expect to experience, you can view him?on YouTube delivering a commentary both witty and serious on race and identity.

Additional programs complementing the exhibition will also be presented at the Asia Society Texas Center in 2013. To name a few: The screening of experimental shorts from the Dallas Film Festival Experimental on Jan. 25; a Family Day with storytelling and portraiture activities on Feb. 24; and a talk with Yul Kwon, PBS host and winner of Survivor: Cook Islands, on April 4. ?

The Fulbeck portrait exhibition is free, as is visitor participation.?Those who wish to see a second exhibition also tied to the concept should see the groundbreaking exhibition Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter, which originated as the first Asian in America exhibition by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. It includes the work of seven artists and an invigorating collection of paintings, drawings, videos and more that give a preview into the not-so-demure direction of modern Asian artists.

Both shows will run through April 14, 2013. Visit the Asia Society Texas Center Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closed Mondays and all major holidays). Admission to the building is free, with a $5 exhibition entry fee for all non-members.

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Source: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/12-27-12-photography-exhibits-at-the-asia-society-challenge-self-perception-upset-stereotypes/

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Malloy Nominates Andrew McDonald To State Supreme Court ...

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has nominated Andrew McDonald, his chief legal counsel, to the state Supreme Court.

?McDonald will replace Justice Lubbie Harper, Jr., who reached the mandatory age of retirement for state judges last month.? When confirmed, he will serve as the first openly gay appellate jurist in Connecticut?s history,? the governor?s office said in a release Thursday morning.

?

The statement also said:

McDonald has more than two decades of experience as an attorney in Connecticut.? For most of his legal career, McDonald served as a litigation partner for Pullman & Comley, LLC, where he chaired the firm?s appellate practice.? Additionally, he served as the director of legal affairs and corporation counsel for the City of Stamford from 1999 to 2002, when Governor Malloy served as mayor of the city.? He currently serves as general counsel to the Office of the Governor for the State of Connecticut.

?Having had the opportunity to work alongside Andrew McDonald in several capacities over the years, including both as a lawyer and as a public servant, I am convinced that he will be an excellent addition to our state?s highest court and will serve the people of Connecticut well when he is confirmed to the bench,? Governor Malloy said.? ?In each of the roles he has served, Andrew has proven to have an exceptional ability to understand, analyze, research and evaluate legal issues.? He has undertaken his legal work with a focus on giving back extensively to his community and a commitment to the equal rights of all residents.? He will be an exceptional justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court.?

?I?m immensely grateful to the governor for the honor he has shown me through this nomination,? McDonald said.? ?Honoring the law and serving the people of this state have been the focus of my professional life, and I will be humbled by the opportunity to continue to do both on the Supreme Court if confirmed by the General Assembly.?

In addition to his experience as an attorney, McDonald held several elected positions in the state, including as state senator of the 27^th district from 2003 to 2011, where he served as deputy majority leader and senate chairman of the Judiciary Committee for eight years.? He served on the Stamford Board of Finance from 1995 to 1999, including two years as chairman, and as a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.?McDonald graduated from Cornell University in 1988 and received his law degree, with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1991, where he was the managing editor of the Connecticut Journal of International Law.? He lives in Stamford with his husband Charles Gray.

Source: http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-malloy-nominates-andrew-mcdonald-to-state-supreme-court-20121227,0,5937608.story?track=rss

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Warm glow of Berlin's gas streetlights set to fade

Most of Berlin's gaslights, those distinctive street jewels that have spread a gentle golden glow for more than a century-and-a-half, are set to be removed. NBC's Andy Eckardt reports

By Peter Jeary, NBC News

BERLIN - As a capital city, Berlin has endured more than its fair share of division over the years.?Now new battle lines are being drawn over what some see as a fight for the city's character.

The conflict began when City Hall announced?its intention to phase out the vast majority of Berlin's historic gas lamps?as?part of an ambitious project to make the city carbon-neutral by 2050.

With nearly 43,000 gas-powered streetlights, Berlin has more than any other city in the world. In fact, more than one in six in the city are gas.

Some date back to the 19th century; others were erected immediately after World War II as the occupying Soviet forces made restoring light to the devastated city a priority.

In recent years, guided tours have been run to picturesque areas, with sightseers attracted by the?distinctive warm, yellowish glow of gas lamps.

Pete Jeary/NBC News

With nearly 43,000 gas-powered street lamps, Berlin has more than any other town or city in the world.

Pollution, expense
Think Beacon Hill in Boston or San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter - but on a much larger scale - and cue the outrage.

But with annual running costs for fuel and maintenance as much as $700 for some lamp models, and carbon dioxide emissions almost ten times that of an equivalent electric light, there are now strong financial and environmental incentives to replace gas with electric alternatives.

The city's current modernization program?(link in German) will see 8,000 highway lamps, mostly dating from the early 1950s, replaced with new electric lights.

City authorities say the figures speak for themselves.

?The energy used by those 8,000 gas lamps could power 100,000 electric lights.?And replacing them would cut energy costs by 90 percent, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 9,200 tons per year and save a chunk of the $1.6 million spent each year just on replacement gas mantles.

Pete Jeary/NBC News

Annual running costs for a gas-powered lamp can be as much as $700, and CO2 emissions almost ten times that of an equivalent electric light.

Read more about Germany from NBC News

Petra Rohland, spokeswoman for Berlin's Department of Urban Development, said the current refit would be complete by end of 2016 - and would recoup the cost within nine years.

All but a few of the city's gas-powered lamps will eventually go.

"Five percent of the historic gas lights, especially the candelabra, will be kept as originals in the future," Rohland said.

'Knock down the Brandenburg Gate'
It's a future that fills some Berliners like Paul Harrison with dread.

Harrison is a member of a growing band of preservation societies?who oppose the wholesale replacement of gas lights.

He challenges the environmental and financial arguments put forward by the city to justify the changes.

Futuristic highway glows in the dark, reports the weather?

"If we're just talking about saving money, we could knock down the Brandenburg Gate," he said ironically. "After all, that costs a lot to keep going, to keep clean."

Harrison's group, Gaslight Culture, is calling for the dismantling to be suspended - and for talks between all interested parties.

New bulb ushers in 100-watt-like LED light

"We haven't started to explore the possibilities, such as different forms of financing or even sponsorship of streets or districts," he said.

Harrison deplored what he described as ?the rejection of a working system.??And the replacement LEDs would be ?prohibitively expensive? and ?far from convincing? as alternatives.

'A living light'
Such rejection of new technology would be a disappointment to Andre Braun, who has spent years developing LED illumination that?mimics the color of gas light?(in German).

For Braun, whose workshop is on the same site as the former Berlin gas plant where his father once worked, the search for the perfect replacement is nothing short of a crusade.

Glowing plastic lets you make light bulbs in any shape

The way he talks about working with gas is reminiscent of how a fisherman might talk of the sea.

"It's so very difficult to work with," Braun said. "The extremes of temperature make it a constant battle ... unlike electricity, which is a dead light, gas gives a living light. But that's tough to recreate in an LED."

"Some people think I'm crazy to spend all this time trying to replicate the look of the gas lamp," he said. "But they are beautiful; gas lights have no glare, you can look right into them."

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

?

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16017872-warm-glow-of-berlins-beautiful-gas-streetlights-set-to-fade?lite

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Online Dating Traffic Surges Between Boxing Day And New Year's ...

HUFFINGTON POST - Dec 26 - Mark Brooks, a dating analyst and consultant to the Internet dating industry, said it was the endless stream of awkward questions from family members that prompted many to search for love online this time of year. ?The effect becomes more pronounced over the Xmas vacations and party season," he said. ?Questions such as 'have you been dating anyone recently' and 'do you think you?ll ever marry? become 'On your own, are you?'." Kate Taylor, a relationship expert at Match.com, said people look back at their achievements over the past twelve months, and think about their New Year's resolutions. On Match.com ~4M unique connections are expected to be made; with 3M email messages written; 2.5M 'winks' sent; and 500K IM conversations taking place. Brett Harding, managing director for Lovestruck, said registrations increase by 48% during this period. For eHarmony, the number of registrations was 3.5 times higher than the week immediately before Christmas. Cupid.com's Sean Wood also suggested that the pressure on couples in the Christmas period could also lead to more break ups ? resulting in more singles on the scene by Boxing Day. AshleyMadison.com biggest spike came immediately after New Year's Eve. The first working day after New Year's there was a 413% increase in member sign-ups with a total of 9,857 new members. What's really interesting is that for many sites, the traffic then falls again drastically in the spring. ?Internet daters tend to stick around for about three months," said analyst Brooks. "Then they bail, then they come back, or go to another site, or multiple internet dating sites."

by Charlie Thomas
See full article at Huffington Post

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Source: http://www.onlinepersonalswatch.com/news/2012/12/online-dating-traffic-surges-between-boxing-day-and-new-years-eve-.html

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PHP Web Development Beneficial For Online Business | Web ...

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Source: http://www.bitarray.info/48-php-web-development-beneficial-for-online-business.html

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Indian land program shows tech's limits

BANGALORE, India (AP) ? For years, Karnataka's land records were a quagmire of disputed, forged documents maintained by thousands of tyrannical bureaucrats who demanded bribes to do their jobs. In 2002, hopes emerged that this was about to change.

The southern state, home to India's technology hub in Bangalore, unveiled Bhoomi, a program that digitized Karnataka's 20 million handwritten land records. At the time, it was hailed as a landmark use of computers to cut through bureaucracy and corruption.

But a decade later, Karnataka remains plagued by land disputes that merely migrated from paper to the database, and even the program's creator says it could take 30 more years to sort it all out.

As the Indian government puts increasing faith in technology to help solve the nation's thorniest problems ? including a complete tech-based overhaul of its welfare system ? Bhoomi presents a cautionary tale: that technology, even at its most successful, can only be a part of the solution.

"(Officials) kind of look at technology to be a panacea for everything, which cannot be. The political will is the most important thing," said Rajeev Chawla, the government administrator who created Bhoomi.

For Yashoda Puttappa, Bhoomi merely marked another setback in her family's six-decade struggle to recover a plot of 1.6 hectares (four acres) she said was illegally taken from her grandfather in the 1940s as supposed repayment of a loan from a wealthy upper-caste neighbor. She feels that Bhoomi cemented the competing claim.

"In the computer, the name is of that man, the dominant caste, which is only going to make this harder," said Puttappa, a land rights activist.

Bhoomi is good, she said, for preventing future land disputes, by making it more difficult to forge documents, but it also gives a patina of legitimacy to old land grabs.

"Whatever we lost, we can't get back," she said.

In this country, a third the size of the U.S. and four times as populous, land supports hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers and is often the only inheritance they pass to their children.

It has also become a hugely profitable investment, as India's expanding cities grow desperate for new space for office complexes and housing developments.

But land ownership has long been controlled by corrupt bureaucrats beholden to powerful land mafias that dispossessed the downtrodden and spawned millions of disputes.

In Karnataka, 10,000 village accountants presided over piles of stapled, crossed-out, erased and rewritten documents that had been revised so often it was nearly impossible to trace back how land was transferred ? or stolen.

Wealthy families routinely took land documents as collateral for usurious loans to the poor, Puttappa said. Upon default, they took the land, often illegally. Even if the loan was repaid, many would trick illiterate debtors into putting their thumbprints on sale documents they couldn't read, she said.

"You couldn't even fight in the courts, because you didn't have the records," Puttappa said.

Bhoomi, which means "land" in the local Kannada language, changed that. The land records were transferred to a database and the tattered paper documents declared invalid.

Farmers who used to wait days and pay bribes to village accountants to get a copy of their land records, crucial for bank loans, can now get an instant printout at 200 government kiosks across the state for 10 rupees, less than two U.S. cents. When they want to sell their land, they register at the kiosks, which put their requests in a first-come, first-serve queue that makes it far harder for officials to drag their feet in hopes of soliciting a bribe.

But even as the World Bank and others praised Bhoomi as a pioneer in e-governance, the project faced criticism.

In presenting Bhoomi with a U.N. public service award, Cabinet minister Jairam Ramesh criticized the program as "garbage in, garbage out," saying it should have cleaned up the records before digitizing them.

"We all knew it was garbage," Chawla said. "But if I tried to clean this garbage, it may take donkey's years for me, and by the time I cleaned it, more garbage would come into the system."

Instead, by putting safeguards in place to ensure the same piece of land is not sold to multiple buyers and by making the system of land sales more transparent, he hoped the garbage would slowly be squeezed out of the system as land was sold over the years.

But that could take decades, he acknowledges.

The land fight in Karadigere Kaval, a tiny village 85 kilometers (53 miles) from Bangalore, has raged since 1952, when the government gave a little under a hectare (two acres) apiece to hundreds of dalits ? so downtrodden they have no caste.

It was rich earth ? what they called "golden land" ? where almost anything could grow. But repeated droughts forced many to move away. In the late 1970s, the government redistributed the land, giving the 90 remaining families 1.6 hectares (four acres) each, according to residents and a local land rights group.

Upper-caste families insisted they had bought some of the land from migrating farmers and it was rightfully theirs. The two sides fought in the fields and in the courts.

Three dalits were killed in a battle over the land in 1980. Six years later, the upper castes won eviction notices against some dalits. The dalits convinced local officials not to serve the notices, and got a court to agree to preserve the status quo and leave them on the land. An upper caste farmer fenced off about 18 hectares (44 acres). The dalits rounded up hundreds of allies, ripped down the fence and sold off the barbed wire. Finally, in 2002, a court ruled in favor of the dalit villagers, the residents said.

Yet when Gangarangamma, a 65-year-old widow who uses one name, went to the Bhoomi office to check her land record, it showed the four acres she and her husband had farmed for decades were registered to the government, a sign the land remained in dispute. She has repeatedly complained, she said.

"(Officials) all the time say this will be fixed, but we haven't got it," she said in exasperation. "All of my generation is dead, only three of us are left, I can't say with any confidence this will be resolved before I die."

G.N. Nagaraj, a state Communist Party leader, hailed Bhoomi as "wonderful software," but it was only of "very, very small, limited help." The land mafia can still pressure the officials entering the records into the computer to help them steal land, he said.

Chawla said Bhoomi was designed to prevent new disputes from entering the system, but he acknowledged it wasn't foolproof. Officials were still required to process land sales. They could be bribed and so could witnesses identifying sellers, he said.

Bhoomi's transparency did help Goutham Venki in his fight to get back land that had been taken long ago from his great grandfather by a powerful landlord.

He and about a dozen from his community of migrant stoneworkers looked up their dispossessed land at the Bhoomi office in 2004 and found it had been registered to a real estate developer, who had just bought it from the landlord.

Venki sued ? and won. But he still had to borrow 120,000 rupees (about $220) at 60 percent interest from a loan shark to bribe bureaucrats to change the Bhoomi record back into his name.

A month later, the real estate developer appealed. And the decades' old land dispute drags on, like so many of Karnataka's land battles.

___

Follow Ravi Nessman at twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ravinessman

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-25-India-Tech's%20Limits/id-385667e8e826444cbb7f9d50422aaa52

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Rafael Nadal's comeback delayed by stomach bug

Foto de archivo del 26 de junio de 2012 del tenista espa?ol Rafael Nadal en Wimbledon. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

Foto de archivo del 26 de junio de 2012 del tenista espa?ol Rafael Nadal en Wimbledon. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

Foto de archivo del 31 de diciembre de 2011 del tenista espa?ol Rafael Nadal en un partido contra Roger Federer en el torneo de Abu Dhabi. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

MADRID (AP) ? Rafael Nadal's return to competition has been delayed by a stomach virus.

The Spaniard was scheduled to play in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Thursday after missing seven months because of tendinitis in his left knee. But he said on his Facebook page Tuesday that his doctors ordered him to pull out when he was running a fever, telling him his body needed rest.

"My rehab has gone well, my knee feels good and I was looking forward to competing," he said.

The 11-time Grand Slam champion hasn't played since June, when he lost to 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon.

The injury prevented Nadal from defending his Olympic singles gold at the Olympics in London, where he was supposed to be Spain's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He also had to pull out of the U.S. Open and Spain's Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic, which his teammates lost without him.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Andy Murray were also scheduled to play at Abu Dhabi.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-25-TEN-Nadal-Virus/id-6d9cb66273ba4803befbe7dac4604c44

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ALPS Debuts Four New ETFs - Zacks Investment Research

Many smaller ETF issuers have dominated the new fund growth picture here in 2012, putting out a variety of fresh products. Among these firms, ALPS has been extremely quiet, debuting just one fund, the Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG), in the first 11 months of the year.

However, the company now appears to be back on the product development track having just released four new ETFs. The move doubles the company?s total ETF offering and suggests that after a period of uncertainty for the firm, it is on track once again (read Three Biggest Mistakes of ETF Investing).

It is also worth noting that the group stretches across a variety of segments and goes beyond the firm?s traditional strengthen in the MLP and equal weight markets, giving the company access to several new segments. Additionally, a partnership with Goldman Sachs to develop the underlying indexes could add some extra star power to this group and make them a series of successful launches for the upstart firm.

?ALPS is excited to introduce ETFs based on the Goldman Sachs indices to our suite of ETFs? said Tom Carter, Executive Vice President of ALPS Holdings in a recent press release.

?This collaboration helps us achieve our shared goal of providing ETF investors with thoughtful index-based investment alternatives with various types of market exposures? said Federico Gilly, managing director and head of the Equity Sales Strats and Structuring Group at Goldman Sachs.

Potentially, this collaboration could be a big step for the company and attract a new series of investors to the firm who are looking for a different way to target the market. For those curious on how this will work, we have highlighted some of the key points for each of the four new ETFs below:

Three of the funds, the Multi-Asset Index ETF (GSMA), the Growth Markets Equities and US Treasuries Index ETF (GSGO), and the Asia ex-Japan Equities and US Treasuries Index ETF (GSAX) utilize the Goldman Sachs momentum builder technique to find top securities. This means that they take a fund-of-funds approach and target ETFs that have the highest six-month historical return subject to limits on weighting and volatility (See The Truth about Low Volume ETFs).

Additionally, on a daily basis, the three months realized volatility of the current index is computed. If it exceeds the cap, part of the portfolio is shifted to cash in order to reduce volatility until realized volatility levels get back in line.

The products are then rebalanced on a monthly basis in order to find the top momentum stocks at a regular interval for the given volatility target.

At time of writing, GSMA was focused in on EFA, ELD, and EMB giving it an emerging market focus. Meanwhile, GSGO had heavy exposure to FXI, EWW, and TUR, as these three account for about 90% of assets. Lastly, GSAX had an Asian stock ETF focus with THD, EWA, and EWH making up about 90% of assets for the new fund.

The last product in the new offering doesn?t take a fund of funds approach and instead zeroes in on American stocks. This ETF, the Risk-Adjusted Return US Large Cap Index ETF (GSRA), looks to target the highest risk-adjusted returns available using 12 month price targets for stocks in the Russell 1000.

The selection process includes having coverage of at least five analysts, ranking in the top 90% of market cap, along with liquidity and corporate action filters. Risk-adjusted returns are then calculated while sector risk parity is also computed to determine the number of stocks to pick in each sector (read 4 Best New ETFs of 2012).

Once that has been accomplished, securities are ranked within sectors and a resulting target basket of about 50 stocks is produced. This results in a well spread out portfolio across sectors, with, at time of writing, no single stock taking up more than 2.5% of assets.

Bottom Line

It is hard to say how well these products will do in accumulating assets. Goldman certainly has plenty of star power in the investing world, but marketing?at least with their other products?hasn?t exactly been their strong suit.

Investors haven?t really embraced momentum or trend following ETFs by and large either. Instead, the focus has been on low volatility ETFs or those with high dividends, although this could change if the Fiscal Cliff is resolved and if investors take a more bullish look at the market again (see Invest like Warren Buffett with These ETFs).

Given this, these funds could be well positioned to benefit, save for one issue; their expense ratios. GSRA isn?t too bad, charging investors 55 basis points a year, but the rest are a tad pricier. The rest of the group all cost at least 1.14% a year with GSGO and GSAX coming in at, respectively, 1.29% and 1.22%.

Due to this, there is a significant alpha hurdle which will have to be cleared in order to justify these products to many investors. However, if the intense momentum focused strategies can deliver and make the costs worthwhile, any of the group could make for interesting bullish plays heading into 2013.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>

Follow @Eric Dutram on Twitter

Source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/89129/alps-debuts-four-new-etfs

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Claysville consulting company links to the world | TribLIVE

By Kim Leonard

Published: Monday, December 24, 2012, 7:47?p.m.
Updated 6 hours ago

Rick Newton thought about moving his consulting company to Southpointe or Pittsburgh as it outgrew a carriage house at his home in Washington County.

But he decided that Newton Consulting LLC could deliver information technology and other services for corporations, with better-than-typical attention to their needs, just as well from a base in the small, rural town of Claysville.

And owning a building ? rather than renting a prestige address for up to $5,000 a month ? would help to keep prices low that Newton charged for his services.

The company that the former Black Box Corp. group IT manager started in 2003 is ?really about what we can do for customers, not where our headquarters are,? said Newton, who grew up in nearby West Alexander.

?I?ve never known anyone to discount Newton Consulting because we have a Claysville address.?

Last month, eight staff members moved to a circa 1980s warehouse that Newton?s founder bought and renovated to suit the 1880s style of many of the buildings along historic Route 40, Claysville?s main street. Most of the company?s 73 employees work mainly from home, or at customers? offices or plants. Total employment is up from 33 three years ago.

Newton consultants install and fine-tune business software, including large enterprise resource planning, or ERP, systems that tie together information across large organizations.

They also find talented job candidates, streamline supply and distribution chains, plan investments, analyze finances and, increasingly, make it possible for workers to find the internal information they need ? think of a chain store manager, researching job applicants on file ? on their mobile smartphones.

Engineering simulation software developer Ansys Inc. has hired Newton Consulting for several tasks, including implementing Oracle business software two years ago that connects locations in 23 countries.

?I?ve never been on a project with Rick that wasn?t successful, and we?ve done some multimillion-dollar projects,? said Steve Dick, director of business applications for Cecil-based Ansys.

Dick said he and Newton met in 1999 when Newton worked for Solutions Consulting Inc., a Washington-based company that was acquired by Ross Perot?s company, Perot Systems.

After Newton went off on his own, ?We gave him a shot, and we?ve used him for multiple projects since then,? Dick said, and work consistently is on-time and on-budget.

Newton?s own, often frustrating experiences when he employed business consultants, or worked as one, shaped the vision for his company.

Most of those companies are so profit-focused, always looking for the next big contract, that they give little attention to ongoing customer service, he said.

?I had multiple run-ins with consultants I would bring in at Black Box,? where he worked for seven years, Newton said. ?I wanted to prove that a customer-focused consulting company could survive. That hadn?t been my experience up to that point.?

Newton also gave in to a longtime urge to build his own company because he wanted to travel less, and spend more time with his family. He cashed in 401(k) accounts to cover living expenses, and started a small video production business while he waited out a year-long non-compete period.

Eventually, some former customers called. His big break came when GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, based in Moon, asked him to take over IT support for a computer system that runs its inventory and orders.

?They were running the same software we used at Black Box, and in 2005 they hired me,? Newton said, adding he quickly brought in three subcontractors for help.

That successful project led to other work. Just since 2009, Newton Consulting?s revenue has grown from $8.5 million to a projected $20.2 million for 2012.

Newton Consulting was named to Inc. magazine?s 5000 list of the nation?s fastest growing companies because of its 77 percent revenue growth rate from 2008 to 2011. The company also placed on the list in 2010 and 2011.

Newton said he likes to hire employees with 15 to 20 years of experience, and takes on few people straight out of college.

That practice allows teams of four or five professionals to work closely with customers on projects. Other consulting companies often put a few seasoned workers in charge of a dozen or more other recruits.

In the end, with his approach, ?They get just as much work done, the quality will be higher and the cost will be dramatically lower,? he said.

Newton Consulting has a London office, has incorporated and does business in Canada, although no office is there yet, and will continue to expand globally, he said.

A Chicago office may be needed at some point, and perhaps a satellite office closer to Pittsburgh.

As for its customer base, ?Our goal is to get into at least three to five more Fortune 1000 companies, and grow a footprint like we have with some existing clients,? he said.

?Once we get into a company it?s very rare that we go away. We continue to work for them.?

Kim Leonard is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-380-5606 or kleonard@tribweb.com.

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Source: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/3151720-74/newton-consulting-company

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LaPierre refuses to back new gun curbs

By Tom Curry, NBC News national affairs writer

On NBC?s Meet the Press, National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre on Sunday refused to support new gun control legislation and maintained his support for putting armed guards and police in schools in response to the Dec. 14 school shootings in Newtown, Conn.

See the Meet The Press page

?If it?s crazy to call for putting police in and securing our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,? LaPierre told NBC?s David Gregory.

The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann has an inside look at the organization that made big news this week.

He added that the United States is now spending $2 billion?to train police officers in Iraq and asked why federal funds could not be spent to train school guards to protect school in the United States.

?I know there?s a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens,? he said, but he insisted that an armed guard might have been able to stop Adam Lanza, the killer in Connecticut.

LaPierre said, ?We have no national database of these lunatics? and complained that de-institutionalization of the mentally ill had put too many dangerous people on the American streets. ?These monsters walk the streets,? LaPierre said.

He opposed further curbs on private gun sales and contended that the advocates of stringent restrictions on private gun sales want to put ?every gun sale under the thumb of the federal government.?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the author of the 1994 ban on certain types of semiautomatic firearms which expired in 2004, has announced that she will introduce new legislation early next year. Semiautomatic firearms, including semiautomatic weapons sometimes called ?assault weapons,? fire one round per pull of the trigger.

But LaPierre called Feinstein?s bill ?a phony piece of legislation? which he predicted would not become law.

After a week of silence following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School the NRA responded, saying armed guns in schools is the answer. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said Wayne LaPierre, NRA's executive vice president. NBC's John Harwood reports.

LaPierre?s appearance on Meet the Press followed the strong reaction over his defiant stand during a Friday press briefing about the NRA?s response to the Dec. 14 school shootings in Newtown, Conn.

Amid a national debate over what security measures school administrators should take to ensure the safety of students, gun-control advocates reacted with disbelief Friday to LaPierre?s call for armed guards in every school and his blaming of Hollywood films, video games, and music for school shootings such as the one in Connecticut.

In an impassioned statement in Washington Friday, LaPierre, the organization's CEO and executive vice president, ridiculed the idea that ?one more gun ban or one more law imposed on peaceful, lawful people will protect us where 20,000 other laws have failed.?

LaPierre said America has left its schoolchildren ?utterly defenseless -- and the monsters and the predators of the world know it and exploit it.?

The NRA is confronting its greatest legislative test in 20 years in the aftermath of the Connecticut shootings, as President Barack Obama and some members of Congress are moving to enact further measures to restrict gun sales and possession, most likely as part of a larger bill that would include increased funding for mental illness detection and treatment.

Obama has tasked Vice President Joe Biden with the job of consulting with members of the Cabinet and outside organizations to come up with legislative proposals by next month.

Her bill would outlaw more than 100 specifically-named firearms as well as certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.

After a week of calls for tighter gun restrictions, the National Rifle Association called for putting more armed security officers in the nation's schools and expressed concerns about violence portrayed in video games, movies and music. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

How firmly the NRA?s allies in Congress will oppose any new legislative initiatives from Obama, Feinstein or others remains an open question.

In a test of the NRA?s legislative influence, the House of Representatives late last year passed the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, which has not yet been acted on by the Senate.

In the House vote, 229 Republicans and 43 Democrats voted for the NRA-backed bill.

The House bill allows a person with a photo identification card and a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state to carry a concealed handgun in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that second state.

Senate Democrats who have worked with the NRA in the past and who are up for re-election in 2014, such as Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska, will be pivotal in the outcome of any legislative battle in the Senate.

?I get that some want to talk about (regulating guns), but we have a broader issue and we live in a violent society and we need to look at mental health and how to make our schools safer,? Begich said Friday in an interview with the Fairbank Daily News-Miner.

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Source: http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/23/16101856-after-reaction-to-its-defiant-stance-nra-prepares-for-2013-battles?lite

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Exclusive With The Impossible Director Juan Bayona | Just Nekia ...

By Nekia Nichelle, today at 9:50 am

Having the chance to see the movie The Impossible first hand during the Chicago Film Festival, I felt honored to have the chance to speak to ?Juan Bayona, the director of the newly released film?starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.

The film tells a?heartfelt?account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. My enjoyment of the film stemmed from the extraordinary effects to the hidden deeper meaning the film left the audience. Juan spoke to me about??why it was important for him to tell this story, how he recreated some of the scenes, and what he wants the audience to take from the film.

Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/just-nekia-nichelle/2012/12/the-impossible/

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How Twitter Learned to Compete with Email Marketing | Social ...

When it comes to?measurable?digital marketing, nothing beats email.

For every post that goes to Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, a single email newsletter is more ?valuable,? because it?s more trackable. For all of the engagement opportunity that social sites present, they are all notoriously difficult to measure outside of network growth.

By contrast, email marketing lets us see when an a message has been:

• received
• bounced
• opened
• clicked (+ what was clicked)
• unsubscribed
• socially shared
• and forwarded

This is why you hear the expression ?build your list.? ?In short, it?s extremely trackable. ?As an email list grows, marketers can begin inserting ads, for additional revenue. ?Based upon what people click, a marketer can segment its audience. ?Most social sites can?t compete with that?

Here?s how Twitter will learn to compete head on with email marketing.

Changes in incoming messages: The Follow -vs- The List

Twitter has essentially two forms of messages: public and private. ?It?s one of the things that makes the network so appealing to so many: simplicity.

Direct Messages (Private messages) can only be initiated from the followed, to the follower. ?Said differently, you can only send private messages to people that are following you. ?To a certain extent this equates to an email opt-in, or at least that?s how it could be?

At one point in time, the ?follow? made sense. ?That time was years ago, and well before following more than 100 people. ?Since then, the follow has lost some of its luster and the Home Feed quickly became a noisy playground of randomness. The only way to clearly follow multiple topics or interests is to create lists.?With the advent of lists, the ?follow? has become less about who?s content you want to receive, so much as it is opening up the opportunity to receive direct messages from the entity you follow.

Lists are currently capped at 20. ?But Twitter is smart, and following in the footsteps of Google+ circles, will remove the limit to the number of lists you can have.

Twitter will begin treating the follow as an opt-in and will begin marketing it as such, while simultaneously encouraging the creation of lists to curate content.

How Twitter takes on Email Marketing

To take on email marketing Twitter needs to be able to offer targeted, trackable messaging at scale. ?This means that it?s not enough to make it trackable, it has to be easy and scalable. ?That means sending to multiple people simultaneously. ?Can you imagine if email marketing made you send newsletters one-by-one? ?The way Twitter will take on email is to enable mass direct messaging with tracking. ?Remember, the follow is now treated as an opt-in.

To illustrate how it works, I?ll use an example.

I?m a Knicks fan, so I choose to follow the Knicks on Twitter.

The Knicks decide to put me on one of their lists called ?Out of Town Fans.? ?One weekend the Knicks are set to play a home game at Madison Square Garden, and notice that ticket sales have slumped a little. ?They decide to offer a weekend getaway package in conjunction with the Holiday Inn. ?They populate a direct message and send it out to the list called ?Out of Town Fans.? ?Only the people on the list that are following the Knicks will receive the message.

I wake up, look at my direct messages and since I follow the Knicks, I notice the message. I open it up, click the link, hit the landing page and decide to take advantage of it.

On the backend, the Knicks drop into a Twitter dashboard, which they pay a yearly fee to access (#revenue). In that dashboard, they are able to see the results of that particular tweet campaign. ?They can see clickthrough rates, who unfollowed (unsubscribed) and if someone deleted it. ?Much like an email marketing campaign, these individuals would all be tracked. ?The Knicks would know exactly who opened, clicked, unsubscribed, etc. ?Twitter will also build this dashboard to easily integrate or export to various CRM systems. ?Smart, eh?

Furthermore, the dashboard lets the Knicks see through a Twitter search, if anyone reshared it publicly. ?They can combine all of this data with their website analytics data and get a pretty clear picture of how things are working using Twitter.

Oh, the Spam

So maybe you are wondering, what about all those spammers? ?Well, simple enough?unfollow. ?It?s just like an unsubscribe.

If you really want to see what Nicki Minaj has to say but are sick of getting her ridiculous Direct Messages trying to sell you pink wigs, glitter and fake butts, just unfollow. You can still follow her public insanity by putting her in a list.

What do you think, does this give Twitter a shot?

If you like this idea, send this post to Twitter by clicking the button below.

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=?//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js?;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,?script?,?twitter-wjs?);

Go any other suggestions for this idea? ?Sound off in the comments.

?

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Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/jgibbard/1105416/how-twitter-learned-compete-head-email-marketing

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Xunlei CEO - Web 2.0 Asia Blog

Recalling the past ten years, Zou Shenglong, founder and CEO of Xunlei, concluded that premium subscription is the best consumer-facing business model for internet services, citing advantages it brings on cash flows, pricing power and building the overall platform (source in Chinese).

Founded in January 2003 and becoming?one of the leading download and video streaming services in China, Xunlei introduced the subscription model in 2009.?Till today, it has four million subscribers ? 1% of the user base, paying?RMB9.8 ($1.5) or RMB15 ($2.4) per month, to contribute approaching half of its total revenues.?The company expects to have 10 million subscribers in two to three years.

The revenues generated by subscriptions as a percentage increased from 2.4% in 2009 to 16.9% in 2010 and to 26.4% in the three months ended March?31, 2011, according to its?F-1 filing with SEC?in July 2011.

img:vip.xunlei.com

Different from premium services offered by western products, the package a Chinese service would offer must range way more widely than its core business.?Xunlei?s?includes 30 plus privileges, from premium download offerings to online gaming. Tencent is widely recognized as the creator of the subscription model for monetizing an internet service. From 2000 to now, Tencent?s QQ Membership, with 20-plus combinations of offerings,?has over 20 million subscribers. Contributing the first revenues to the company, the model still generates about 20% of the internet giant?s total revenues.

Xunlei acknowledged it modeled Tencent?s both in?gaming business and the subscription service. Zou Shenglong pointed out that it took six years for Tencent to get one million subscribers, thinking that must be a turning point for such a business. So he didn?t think it?s a coincidence when Xunlei?s subscriber growth accelerated after having gained one million sign-ups.

Zou also counts the membership model as the base for developing other transaction-based paid services, such as gaming his company started operating in 2008. He thinks two preconditions can have more users pay for more services: a powerful platform that can?have impact on?user behaviors and a paying user base.

?Unrealistic to make big money through video advertising?

Besides subscriptions and gaming, the third revenue source of Xunlei?s is online video advertising. But that? s not a good business, according to Zou, given the content costs. The company has spent hundreds of millions yuan each year on licensing copyrighted video content since 2007, trying to scale up an advertising-based business and promising to share revenues with content providers. Unexpectedly, video content prices skyrocketed in the next years when online video streaming services crowded the market. Though prices declined to be comparatively reasonable in this year, Mr. Zou said ?currently it?s unrealistic to make big money through video advertising?.

Its online advertising revenues as a percentage declined from 70.7% in 2008 to 51% as of March 31, 2011, as disclosed by its F-1.

Although most Chinese web services with large user bases, including?Sina Weibo?and?Youku, adopted the subscription model, Xunlei is one of the few that succeeds in making a considerable income there. While it?s proven that users would like to pay several yuan a month to speed up downloading or video streaming, it seems online video sites like Youku have difficulty in charging for accessing premium content ? or there is little to offer since fierce competitions make it really hard not to offer any video for free. As to?Sina Weibo?s subscription offerings, I really think they are just trifle features that should have been for free anyway. It may be too early to judge. Maybe that premium subscription model will still be workable for any web service when premium offerings and timing are right, as Zou Shenglong believes in.

Related posts:

1. Kuwo Launches YY-style Music Service, for Its Business Model.
2. The Unique Business Model of YY Music
3. Sohu's online video business gain market share

Link to full article

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Source: http://web2asia.blognhanh.com/2012/12/xunlei-ceo-premium-subscription-still_22.html

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Falcons top Lions 31-18 for home-field advantage

Atlanta Falcons tight end Michael Palmer, center right, celebrates his touchdown with tight end Tony Gonzalezduring the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Atlanta Falcons tight end Michael Palmer, center right, celebrates his touchdown with tight end Tony Gonzalezduring the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson (81) is congratulated by quarterback Matthew Stafford in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, after breaking Jerry Rice's single-season record for receiving yards, in Detroit on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan prepares to throw during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Harry Douglas (83) during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White runs for a 39-yard touchdown during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

DETROIT (AP) ? Matt Ryan got what he wanted.

Calvin Johnson was forced to settle for what he could get.

Ryan matched a career high with four touchdown passes, two to Roddy White, to help the Atlanta Falcons beat the Detroit Lions 31-18 Saturday night and earn home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

"It's great," Ryan said. "Our confidence is high and our experience ? good and bad ? has helped us. The key is to keep the focus where it's been."

In yet another loss, Johnson had a record-breaking night.

Johnson broke Jerry Rice's NFL single-season yards receiving mark of 1,848. After making the record-breaking catch in the fourth quarter, Johnson jogged over to the sideline and handed the football to his father.

"That was a very special moment," he said.

Johnson also became the only player with 100 yards receiving in eight straight games and the first with 10 receptions in four games in a row in league history. He had 11 receptions for 225 yards, giving him 1,892 this season.

"I've been an NFL fan my whole life, dating back to watching Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry as a kid, and I've coached in this league for 19 years," Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. "I've seen a lot of Hall of Famers, but I've never seen a better player than Calvin Johnson.

"He just broke a record set by Jerry Rice, who is arguably the best player in this history of this league."

The Falcons (13-2) pulled away with Ryan's fourth TD pass to wide-open tight end Michael Palmer in the fourth quarter and Matt Bryant's 20-yard field goal with 3:05 left that gave them a 15-point lead.

Ryan was 25 of 32 for 279 yards without a turnover.

The Falcons hope playing at home, potentially throughout the conference playoffs, helps them more than it did after the 2010 and 1980 seasons. The Falcons failed to win a game in either postseason, getting routed by Green Bay two years ago and blowing a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead to Dallas three decades ago.

Atlanta advanced to its only Super Bowl with a win at Minnesota after winning a franchise-record 14 games during the 1998 season.

The Falcons won't have much incentive to match that mark next week at home against Tampa Bay, when they'll have nothing to gain and something to lose if a key player or more gets hurt.

Detroit (4-11) has been relegated to playing for pride this month and that hasn't been going very well.

The Lions, whose seven-game losing streak is the longest skid in the league, haven't struggled this much since the laughingstock of a franchise became the league's first to go 0-16 in 2008.

The Falcons led 21-3 at halftime before letting the Lions pull within five points early in the fourth quarter.

Ryan dashed Detroit's comeback hopes.

Facing intense pressure, he converted a third down in Atlanta territory with a pass to White, picked on rookie cornerback Jonte Green by throwing to Jones to pick up more first downs and found Tony Gonzalez open to convert another third down to set up his fourth TD pass.

"We didn't play well in the third quarter," Atlanta coach Mike Smith said. "Matt made some big throws on that drive."

Stafford was clearly trying to get the ball to Johnson on the next drive and cornerback Asante Samuel figured that out, stepping in front of the receiver for an interception to set up Bryant's field goal.

Atlanta running back Michael Turner was tackled in the end zone, after Detroit turned the ball over on downs, to give the Lions two meaningless points.

Ryan went deep to White for the first score, connecting with him on a 44-yard TD strike with 5:50 left in the first quarter. Ryan threw a short pass to him early in the second quarter and the standout receiver did the rest on a 39-yard sprint down the sideline.

Ryan put his third TD pass where only Julio Jones could catch it a corner of the end zone, and he did on a 16-yard reception that put Atlanta up 21-3.

Detroit didn't give up, a game after being accused of doing just that in a 38-10 loss at Arizona.

Jason Hanson kicked a second field goal late in the first half to make it 21-6.

After Atlanta opened the second half with a three-and-out drive, Mikel Leshoure scored on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter to pull the Lions with eight points.

Hanson's third field goal made it 21-16.

Stafford finished 37 of 56 for 443 yards with an interception and the Lions say he set an NFL record for the most yards passing in a game without throwing a TD pass.

Detroit dug a big hole because the Falcons scored two TDs off turnovers in the first half.

Defensive end Kroy Biermann forced running Leshoure to fumble, giving the Falcons the ball at their 31 and they took advantage. Ryan's perfectly lofted pass to White's fingertips converted a third-and-1 in a big way, putting the Falcons ahead.

The Lions responded with another drive into Atlanta territory, but stalled and had to settle for Hanson's 34-yard field goal in the final minute of the opening quarter to pull within four points.

Atlanta earned a double-digit lead on the ensuing drive.

Ryan threw a screen pass to his left to White, who got a great block from tight end Gonzalez, and the receiver raced untouched for a score that put the Falcons ahead 14-3.

White finished with eight receptions for 153 yards and two TDs. Jones had seven receptions for 71 yards and a score.

Ryan completed his first 12 attempts and, after his first incomplete pass, he converted a third-and-10 with an 11-yard toss to Jacquizz Rodgers. Two plays later, Ryan matched a season high with a third TD pass on the connection with Jones. Prior to the game, Ryan hadn't started a game with more than 10 consecutive completions, according to STATS LLC. He started 10 for 10 last month against Tampa Bay.

Johnson had three receptions for 70 yards in the first quarter, breaking Herman Moore's single-season franchise record for yards receiving.

By halftime, Johnson had 117 yards receiving. He had 100 yards receiving for an eighth straight game, breaking a record set by Charley Hennigan in 1961 and matched by Michael Irvin in 1995. It was Johnson's 11th game with 100 yards receiving this season, tying Irvin's NFL mark.

"Calvin is one of the best players in the game and I think everybody is a big fan of his," Ryan said. "He's one of the most genuinely nice people you could meet."

Stafford connected with Johnson on a short crossing route and the receiver did the rest, outrunning Falcons on a 49-yard gain. Fittingly, the Lions turned the ball over on the next snap in the latest lowlight in a season full of them.

The Lions, Falcons and fans at Ford Field in Detroit honored the victims of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School before the game. Players had memorial decals on their helmets that read "S.H.E.S." in white on a black background, and Detroit's coaches wore pins with a similar design. There was also a moment of silence before the national anthem while the names and ages of each victim were shown on the videoboards. Twenty children and six adults were killed in the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza killed his mother, shot students and staff, then killed himself.

NOTES: Stafford, in his fourth season, has 1,090 career completions to surpass Bobby Layne's franchise record of 1,074. Stafford is seven attempts away from surpassing the NFL's single-season mark of 691 set by Drew Bledsoe with New England in 1994. ... Backup Falcons CB Christopher Owens had a hamstring injury.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-23-FBN-Falcons-Lions/id-b69cc1c8f75a414e9510c3c35e5294c3

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The Most Comprehensive Account Of How Fiscal ... - Business Insider

The Wall Street Journal's Patrick O'Connor and Peter Nicholas?are out today with?a detailed breakdown of how negotiations to avert the year-end fiscal cliff broke down this week.

AP

The Journal's account paints a picture of President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner being fairly close to a comprehensive deal last weekend. That's when Boehner conceded for the first time on income tax rate increases and a lift on the debt ceiling, and Obama blinked on entitlements by being open to a tweak in Social Security CPI.

But neither side was willing to blink further. The WSJ details one meeting early in the week:

Mr. Obama repeatedly lost patience with the speaker as negotiations faltered. In an Oval Office meeting last week, he told Mr. Boehner that if the sides didn't reach agreement, he would use his inaugural address and his State of the Union speech to tell the country the Republicans were at fault.

At one point, according to notes taken by a participant, Mr. Boehner told the president, "I put $800 billion [in tax revenue] on the table. What do I get for that?"

"You get nothing," the president said. "I get that for free."

Politico's Mike Allen provided more context to Obama's quote ? since Rep. Tom Cole and other Republicans had been open to rate increases, so Obama didn't feel like he had to give up anything in return.

Boehner also became frustrated earlier in negotiations at the White House's request to permanently lift the debt ceiling and demanded reform to Medicare and other programs.

"You're asking me to accept Mitt Romney's tax plan. Why would I do that?" Obama said.

But a comprehensive deal finally fell apart in a meeting Monday, spurring Boehner to move to "Plan B," which he ultimately failed to bring to a vote. Obama insisted on $1.2 trillion in new tax revenue and would not commit to an additional $100 billion in spending cuts. Boehner held a meeting with other Republican leaders.

His lieutenants made clear they preferred Plan B to the one Mr. Boehner was trying to broker.

The speaker called the president with news the House would move ahead with the backup bill, which would preserve Bush-era rates for all income below $1 million. The president was incensed.

On Thursday, Boehner failed to earn enough broad Republican support to bring the bill for a vote. On Friday evening before flying to Hawaii,?Obama said he was still optimistic about a comprehensive deal, but he urged Congress to pass at least a scaled-back deal that held off planned tax increases and some spending cuts while extending unemployment benefits.

Read the full WSJ story here >

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/fiscal-cliff-deal-talks-negotiations-obama-boehner-taxes-cuts-2012-12

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New Interstate 17 'flyover' bridge opens to traffic, to improve traffic flow

Prescott AZ (December 22, 2012) ? Just in time for the Christmas and New Year?s holidays, the Arizona Department of Transportation has completed the new Cordes Junction ?flyover? bridge, which opened to traffic Thursday night. The overpass will lift northbound traffic headed to the Prescott area over Interstate 17 and connect directly to northbound State Route 69.

About an hour?s drive north of downtown Phoenix, ADOT is remaking the I-17/SR 69 traffic interchange (milepost 262). When completed, the updated, modern interchange will make it easier for drivers to connect to other northern communities including Prescott, while improving traffic flow and safety.

A major component of the $50 million project was the completion of the new flyover bridge. Due to the outdated design of the previous interchange, slower local traffic destined for the businesses and residences in the Cordes Lakes area, were forced to mix with the high speed traffic at this busy interchange, which serves more than 40,000 vehicles per day.

?Completing the new flyover bridge is a major milestone on this Cordes Junction traffic interchange reconstruction project,? said Prescott District Engineer Alvin Stump. ?The interchange was built almost 50 years ago when traffic volumes were much lower and it mixes local and through traffic, resulting in congestion and delays. This updated interchange will not only be able to handle the future growth in this area, but also make it safer for all drivers.?

After beginning construction in August 2011, ADOT is entering the final stages after having completed more than 80 percent of the project. ADOT is on target to complete the project as scheduled by June 2013. The remaining major work yet to be completed includes opening the new southbound Big Bug Creek Bridge and east roundabout near the McDonald?s restaurant, and repaving I-17 and SR 69.

Improvements to the interchange will increase accessibility to local businesses, provide more efficient traffic movements for those traveling through the area, and prepare for future traffic demands. The project includes seven new bridges, three local roads (Copper Star Road, Arcosanti Road, Stagecoach Trail), installation of two roundabouts, as well as improvements to local stormwater drainage.

Since the start of the project, ADOT has worked closely with the community during construction to ensure that impacts to residents and businesses are minimized. Local businesses have remained open during the construction, including the local McDonald?s restaurant on Cordes Lakes Road, which is adjacent to the I-17/SR 69 interchange.

?ADOT has worked with the local businesses and the community to make sure drivers have access at all times despite the construction,? said Eric Coleman, McDonald?s district supervisor for northern Arizona. ?While no one ever wants to have to deal with construction impacts, this project will improve safety and provide better access to some of the local businesses and residences in the area for many years to come.?

For more information on the project, including photos and video, please visit the ADOT Blog.

Source: http://www.sedona.biz/arizona/arizona-department-of-transportation/new-interstate-17-flyover-bridge-opens-to-traffic-to-improve-traffic-flow/

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Reeve Carney Ready To Capture Jeff Buckley's 'True Essence'

Reeve Carney might sling some Spidey web your way night after night as the star of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,? but soon he?s about to take on another larger-than-life character. He?s set to play Jeff Buckley in a big-screen adaptation of the legendary musician?s life. Carney, a real-life musician himself, recently chatted with MTV [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/12/21/reeve-carney-jeff-buckley/

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Amazon Instant Video app now available on (some) Google TV devices

Hot on the heels of making it available on the iPhone and iPod touch, Amazon's now bringing a native app for its Instant Video service to Mountain View's TV platform. It's always been accessible via the web browser, although navigating the site via remote was painful and the Flash video quality suffered. Granted, the on-demand application doesn't appear to be compatible with some devices at the moment, with a few folks pointing out that they are not seeing it be friendly with their particular Google TV-powered set-top box -- including ones such as the Logitech Revue and the (much) newer Vizio Co-Star. Here's to hoping the giant e-tailer makes Instant Video friendly with more Google TVs pretty soon -- according to Google, it's only available on LG TVs so far, since they've received the latest v3 updates already.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, HD, Google, Amazon

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Source: Google Play, Google+

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/21/amazon-instant-video-google-tv/

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