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Thursday, December 20, 2012
Internet Explorer Says the Mayans Were Right Because IE10 Is Actually Good Now
Astronauts to control robots on Earth
Next year, a set of sophisticated experiments are planned to utilize the talents of astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) to control robotic hardware on Earth.
The tests would spotlight the feasibility of telerobotic deployment of science experiments, critical equipment and structures at distant spots in the solar system, be it on the moon, at asteroids or on Mars.
The moon's farside is a possible early goal for missions beyond low-Earth orbit using NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle in tandem with teleoperated robots. The lunar L2 Lagrange Point is a location where the combined gravity of the Earth and moon allows a spacecraft to be synchronized with the moon in its orbit around the Earth, so that the spacecraft is relatively stationary over the farside of the moon.
One idea being appraised is teleoperating a rover capable of deploying a low radio frequency array on the moon's farside. That idea is spearheaded by Jack Burns, director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute's Lunar University Network for Astrophysics Research, a NASA-funded center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. [5 Reasons to Fear Robots]
Such an L2-Farside crewed mission could have astronauts remotely deploy a unique polyimide film low radio frequency antenna or array in the proven radio-quiet and ionosphere-free zone of the farside, said Burns, science gear that can track down the "cosmic dawn" of the universe shortly after the Big Bang.
Real-time commanding
To help shake out the telerobotics concept here on Earth, preparations are in full-swing to perform research in the summer of next year, said Terry Fong, director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
"Our testing is going to have real-time commanding back and forth," Fong told Space.com. "We have a fairly significant amount of testing time ? about 11 hours of operational time with an astronaut on ISS."
Fong said that these tests are essential to hone human-robotic interactions. "We don't know what we don't know," and next year's experiment is just a starting point.
"I'm excited that we're breaking new ground here," Fong said.
K10 robot
At the Ames center, a football field-size test area is being prepared, dotted with some craters and rocks, and features hilly terrain and a small mesa, Fong said. The K10 robot has already undergone extensive testing, he said, such as field trials in the Canadian arctic and desert locales.
The K10 is a speedy beast, contrasted to an earlier rover design. It also hauls more payload and is a more flexible research platform, Fong said, and is fully equipped with cameras and laser scanning gear.
Next year's experiment will include three crew sessions, each three and a half hours long and carved up in phases: survey the site, deploy the array, and inspect the completed work.
"We are trying to carry this out as a simulation of different phases of deploying a lunar telescope," Fong said, using a small deployer on the back of the K10 to roll out the plastic film array.
On-the-job training
There will be some on-the-job training for the astronauts engaged in the telerobotics work.
But Fong said the objective is to minimize the amount of astronaut training time involved. "The robot interface is being set up to be highly usable," needing only perhaps an hour's worth of prep time.
"Our philosophy here for the past several years is robots for human exploration. There are a lot of features of both that are very complimentary. It's not human versus robot. It's more how do you best use humans and robots together," Fong said.
The ultimate goal of the experiment is to get more human capability for exploring Mars, Fong said. "One of those things on the table is the idea of having humans in Mars orbit, controlling robots on the surface."
Rehearse and research
Also on tap to start next year is telerobotics work using the European Space Agency's (ESA) Multi-Purpose End-To-End Robotic Operation Network ? Meteron, for short ? designed to validate future human-robotic mission operations concepts from space, using the International Space Station, and tied to technologists in Europe.
All this is prelude to permit humans from orbit to execute complex tasks remotely, such as setting up engineering structures on faraway celestial surfaces via teleoperated robots.
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Space news from NBCNews.com
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Holiday treats from Saturn and beyond
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: The holiday season is bringing beautiful baubles from outer space, including an unconventional view of Saturn from the Cassini orbiter, a gaudy nebula from the Hubble Space Telescope and a loopy picture of a supernova's leftovers.
- Gaze into the Great Blue Hole from space
- Astronaut study holds promise for elderly
- An expert's views on buying a telescope
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Holiday treats from Saturn and beyond
"The ISS is the best-suited platform that there is for our work on Meteron. It is a unique opportunity for us to reuse an existing orbiter station around Earth to rehearse and research what we'd need for future orbiting stations around other celestial bodies," said Andre Schiele, Meteron Robotics principal investigator. He also heads the ESA/European Space Research and Technology Center's (ESTEC) Telerobotics and Haptics Laboratory in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Tactile feedback
Schiele said the Meteron research in an "endless" microgravity environment offers new insights about the perception of "haptic" (relating to the sense of touch) and "tactile" feedback within that environment. "Moreover, little is known how other human perception relevant to telerobotic activities is influenced," he said.
While the procedural requirements for using the ISS for such experimentation are heavy, it would be significantly more difficult to perform such testing elsewhere," Schiele told Space.com.
The ESA/ESTEC effort is set to look into such issues as time delay, communications bandwidth, as well as how best to allow intuitive and dexterous control of robotic systems, be they touch interfaces, force reflective joysticks and arm exoskeletons, Schiele said.
Meteron will investigate the close collaboration feasible between humans and robots, Schiele said, not only in the technology required, but also in terms of cost, access and risk in exploring other worlds beyond Earth. "Data obtained from Meteron will allow us to design the system for optimum shared human/robotic presence," he said, "to make telepresence better and more efficient."
Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of last year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for Space.com since 1999.
? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50250514/
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Great Breakthru in Breast Cancer Detection? 3D Mammography
My niece, Ruthie Gray, is a breast cancer survivor. Her doctors say she had several factors in her favor. One of those factors was early detection. Her amazing spirit and incredible family support network were also key factors in her recovery.
Doctors agree that early detection is key in treating this disease which touches about 12% of women here in the U.S. in their lifetimes.
Now, medical science has an amazing new way of looking for this killer; It?s 3D mammography
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Every year, there are roughly 40 million mammograms performed in the U.S. alone. Of those 40 million, about 1/10 are called back for invasive biopsies. the mammograms detect about 300,000 cases of breast cancer each year. Just in the U.S., about 40,000 women a year die of breast cancer. Now, medical science says new technology, could drastically reduce that number.
From breastcancer.org
Digital tomosynthesis is a new kind of test that?s trying to overcome these three big issues. It takes multiple x-ray pictures of each breast from many angles. The breast is positioned the same way it is in a conventional mammogram, but only a little pressure is applied ? just enough to keep the breast in a stable position during the procedure. The x-ray tube moves in an arc around the breast while 11 images are taken during a 7-second examination. Then the information is sent to a computer, where it is assembled to produce clear, highly focused 3-dimensional images throughout the breast.
Early results with digital tomosynthesis are promising. Researchers believe that this new breast imaging technique will make breast cancers easier to see in dense breast tissue and will make breast screening more comfortable.
Digital tomosynthesis (pronounced toh-moh-SIN-thah-sis) creates a 3-dimensional picture of the breast using x-rays.
Digital tomosynthesis is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but is not yet considered the standard of care for breast cancer screening. Because it is relatively new, it is available at a limited number of hospitals.
Digital tomosynthesis of the breast is different from a standard mammogram in the same way a CT scan of the chest is different from a standard chest x-ray. Or think of the difference between a ball and a circle. One is 3-dimensional, the other is flat.
to learn more about 3D mammography and breast cancer in general, just follow this LINK.
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Source: http://929thelake.com/great-breakthru-in-breast-cancer-detection-3d-mammography/
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Internet ayatollah - Iran's supreme leader "likes" Facebook
DUBAI (Reuters) - Facebook - banned in Iran due to its use by activists to rally government opponents in 2009 - has an unlikely new member: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Launched a few days ago, the Facebook page "Khamenei.ir" displays photographs of the 73-year-old cleric alongside speeches and pronouncements by the man who wields ultimate power in the Islamic Republic.
While there are several other Facebook pages already devoted to Khamenei, the new one - whose number of "likes" quadrupled on Monday to over 1,000 - appeared to be officially authorised, rather than merely the work of admirers.
The page has been publicised by a Twitter account of the same name that Iran experts believe is run by Khamenei's office.
Both U.S-based social media sites are blocked in Iran by a wide-reaching government censor but they are still commonly used by millions of Iranians who use special software to get around the ban.
In 2009, social media were a vital tool for those Iranians who believed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged. Facebook was used to help organise street protests of a scale not seen since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The protests - which the government said were fuelled by Iran's foreign enemies - were eventually stamped out by the security forces and their political figureheads remain under house arrest.
Khamenei's Facebook page has so far shared a picture of a young Khamenei alongside the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in the early 1960s.
It shares a similar tone, style and content with accounts devoted to disseminating Khamenei's message on Twitter and Instagram and to the website www.khamenei.ir, a sophisticated official website published in 13 languages.
Experts said the social media accounts showed that Iran, despite restricting access to such sites inside the country, was keen to use them to spread its world view to a global audience.
"Social media gives the regime leadership another medium of communication, one that can share their message with a younger and far more international demographic," said Afshon Ostovar, a Middle East analyst at CNA, a U.S.-based research organisation.
Iran is locked in a decade-long dispute with the West over its nuclear programme, which the U.S. and its allies suspect is aimed at developing a bomb, something Iran has repeatedly denied. Iran, the West and regional states are also often opposed on issues such as the violence raging in Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Iranian authorities have said they are trying to build a national intranet, something sceptics say is a way to further control Iranians' access to the global web. Tehran tried to block Google Inc.'s email service this year but soon reopened access.
(Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/internet-ayatollah-irans-supreme-leader-likes-facebook-150026437--sector.html
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Barack Obama is 'Time' Magazine's Person of the Year
Barack Obama has been named Time's Person of the Year for the second time in his life, and for good reason: Any president who can get reelected, personally hold a reddit AMA and admit to dancing "Gangnam Style" needs to be recognized for how awesome he is.
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Sunday, December 16, 2012
Domestic Short Hair - Nica - Medium - Young - Female - Cat | New ...
Domestic Short Hair - Nica - Medium - Young - Female - Cat
Hi I?m Nica!
Sweet and perky, affectionate and spunky. After being rescued from New Haven, I have quickly proven that I am just looking for a family to love and that will love me back. I am just over a year old, and while I don?t absolutely love other cats, I am adaptable and would certainly do well in many different home environments. With my beautiful eyes and unique coloring, I am a real catch?maybe yours!
Please contact The Greater New Haven Cat Project, Inc. at (203) 782-2287 or email: [email removed]
If you are interested in adopting me, please fill out this form: http://www.gnhcp.org/adoptascreeningform.html
CHARACTERISTICS:
Breed: Domestic Short Hair
Size: Medium
Petfinder ID: 24863239
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Pet has been spayed/neutered
CONTACT:
The Greater New Haven Cat Project, Inc. | New Haven, CT | 203-782-2287
For additional information, reply to this ad or see: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=24863239
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Friday, December 14, 2012
Fed ties rates to jobs recovery, adds to stimulus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve, announcing a new round of monetary stimulus, took the unprecedented step on Wednesday of indicating interest rates would remain near zero until unemployment falls to at least 6.5 percent.
It was the latest in a series of unorthodox measures taken by central banks around the world to battle erratic, sub-par recoveries from the financial crisis and recession of 2007-2009.
The Fed expects to hold rates steady until its new threshold on unemployment was reached as long as inflation does not threaten to break above 2.5 percent and inflation expectations are contained. It also replaced an expiring stimulus program with a fresh round of Treasury debt purchases.
The central bank previously said it expected to hold rates near zero through at least mid-2015, but policymakers were uncomfortable making a pledge based on the calendar rather than the economic goals they hope to achieve.
"By tying future monetary policy more explicitly to economic conditions, this formulation of our policy guidance should ... make monetary policy more transparent and predictable to the public," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a news conference.
Importantly, in the eyes of Fed officials, the new framework should help financial markets assess incoming data in a way that helps them better guess were monetary policy is heading.
Right now, the Fed is engaged in an open-ended program of asset purchases, which it bolstered on Wednesday.
Officials committed to buy $45 billion in longer-term Treasuries each month on top of the $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds they started purchasing in September. They repeated a pledge to keep pumping money into the economy until the outlook for the labor market improves "substantially."
"The committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Fed's policy-setting panel said after a two-day meeting.
BALANCE SHEET ACTION
The Fed will fund the new Treasury purchases with an expansion of its $2.8 trillion balance sheet. Under the expiring "Operation Twist" program, the Fed bought an identical amount, but paid for them with proceeds from sales and redemptions of short-term debt.
Some policymakers view actions that expand the Fed's balance sheet as economically more potent than actions that do not. However, Bernanke said the dose of stimulus would remain about the same, given that the central bank is still purchasing a combined $85 billion per month in longer-term securities.
"They see an anemic economy, and they're doing all they can to get any economic progress," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates in Toledo, Ohio.
The Fed's decision initially gave a small lift to U.S. stock prices, but the major indexes closed mostly unchanged, while government bond prices fell. Oil prices rose and the dollar weakened against the euro.
Fed policymakers voted 11-1 to back the new plan. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, dissented, as he has at every meeting this year, expressing opposition both to the bond buying and the new economic thresholds.
SWEATING A WEAK RECOVERY
The newly unveiled numerical policy guidelines offered the most specific suggestion yet that the Fed is willing to tolerate slightly higher inflation as it tries to juice up a moribund economy and spur stronger job growth.
A drop in the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent in November from 7.9 percent in October was driven by workers exiting the labor force, and therefore did not come close to satisfying the condition the Fed has set for trimming its stimulus.
In response to the financial crisis and recession, the Fed slashed overnight rates to zero almost exactly four years ago and bought some $2.4 trillion in mortgage and Treasury securities to keep long-term rates down.
Despite its unconventional and aggressive efforts, U.S. economic growth remains tepid. Gross domestic product grew at a 2.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter, but a Reuters poll published on Wednesday showed economists expect it to expand at just a 1.2 percent pace in the current quarter.
Businesses have hunkered down, fearful of a tightening of fiscal policy as politicians in Washington wrangle over ways to avoid a $600 billion mix of spending reductions and expiring tax cuts set to take hold at the start of 2013.
Bernanke has warned that running over this "fiscal cliff" would lead to a new recession. He told reporters the Fed could ramp up its bond buying "a bit," but emphasized that monetary policy has limits and could not fully offset the impact.
NEW TACK ON RATES
He said the central bank would look at a range of indicators, not just the rates of unemployment and inflation, in determining when to finally push overnight borrowing costs higher, adding that the Fed was not on "auto pilot."
"Reaching the thresholds will not immediately trigger a reduction in policy accommodation," Bernanke said. "No single indicator provides a complete assessment of the state of the labor market."
Bernanke said the new framework was consistent with the earlier calendar guidance, because officials do not expect the jobless rate to reach 6.5 percent until sometime in 2015.
Indeed, a fresh set of economic projections from the Fed put the rate in a 6 percent to 6.6 percent range in the fourth quarter of 2015. At the same time, the projections showed that at no point over that forecast horizon does the central bank see inflation topping its 2 percent target.
Officials held to their assessment that they could eventually push the unemployment rate down to a 5.2 percent to 6 percent range without sparking inflation, although Bernanke cautioned that policy would have to start tightening before it fell so low. In its statement, the Fed said its long-term asset purchase program would end well before any rate increase.
Fed policymakers see GDP expanding between 2.3 percent and 3.0 percent next year. That is down from the 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent they forecast in September, but is still a bit more optimistic than most private forecasters. The Reuters poll of economists found a median U.S. growth estimate of 2.1 percent for next year.
(Writing by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Tim Ahmann, Leslie Adler and Andre Grenon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fed-ties-rate-pledge-threshold-stimulus-set-001338283--business.html
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Thursday, December 13, 2012
Afghan suicide bomber kills 2 in Kandahar attack
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ? A suicide car bomber killed two Afghan civilians and wounded 14 others on Thursday near the main U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan, Afghan and American officials said. The attack took place after the visiting U.S. Defense Secretary had left the facility.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the attacker targeted another vehicle that was driving near the gate that provides access to the military side of the city's airport. He said all 14 wounded were civilians but had no other details.
Taliban spokesman Qari Jusuf Ahmedi claimed responsibility for the attack in an email, saying a suicide car bomber had targeted foreign military vehicles that were stopped near the gate of Kandahar Airfield.
It was unclear if the attack had anything to do with Panetta's unannounced visit to Kandahar Airfield. Kandahar is a huge and sprawling facility that houses more than 20,000 service members from 20 countries and has more than 11,000 civilian contract workers.
Afghan officials had earlier said that three NATO troops were among the 14 wounded. The U.S.-led NATO coalition, or ISAF, said it could not immediately comment on any casualties.
The attack occurred after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had left Kandahar, Airfield his press secretary said. Panetta is on a visit to Afghanistan and was to meet later in Kabul with President Hamid Karzai.
Panetta was at Kandahar Airfield for about three hours, receiving an update briefing on the region by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams, the region's top coalition commander. Panetta also spoke to about 350 U.S. troops and took a few questions from them before flying back to Kabul.
"I can confirm that insurgents detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in the vicinity of Kandahar Airfield. Currently ISAF officials are on the scene collecting facts and assessing the situation, and as information becomes available we will release it as appropriate. I have no information at this time that this incident was associated with the visit of the Secretary of Defense. The attack occurred after the Secretary returned to Kabul," Panetta's press secretary George Little said.
A U.S. official said early indications were that the attacker did not breach the base's perimeter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is in the early stages of investigation.
Earlier, Javeed Faisal, who is a spokesman for the provincial governor, earlier had said the attack took place just after nightfall and had been carried out by a bomber on a motorcycle. There are often conflicting reports in the wake of suicide attacks.
Suicide bombings and other attacks are not uncommon in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban.
___
Associated Press Writers Robert Burns and Amir Shah contributed to this report from Kabul.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-suicide-bomber-kills-2-kandahar-attack-150818301.html
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A new tool for secret agents -- and the rest of us
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
A secret agent is racing against time. He knows a bomb is nearby. He rounds a corner, spots a pile of suspicious boxes in the alleyway, and pulls out his cell phone. As he scans it over the packages, their contents appear onscreen. In the nick of time, his handy smartphone application reveals an explosive device, and the agent saves the day.
Sound far-fetched? In fact it is a real possibility, thanks to tiny inexpensive silicon microchips developed by a pair of electrical engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The chips generate and radiate high-frequency electromagnetic waves, called terahertz (THz) waves, that fall into a largely untapped region of the electromagnetic spectrum?between microwaves and far-infrared radiation?and that can penetrate a host of materials without the ionizing damage of X-rays.
When incorporated into handheld devices, the new microchips could enable a broad range of applications in fields ranging from homeland security to wireless communications to health care, and even touchless gaming. In the future, the technology may lead to noninvasive cancer diagnosis, among other applications.
"Using the same low-cost, integrated-circuit technology that's used to make the microchips found in our cell phones and notepads today, we have made a silicon chip that can operate at nearly 300 times their speed," says Ali Hajimiri, the Thomas G. Myers Professor of Electrical Engineering at Caltech. "These chips will enable a new generation of extremely versatile sensors."
Hajimiri and postdoctoral scholar Kaushik Sengupta describe the work in the December issue of IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.
Researchers have long touted the potential of the terahertz frequency range, from 0.3 to 3 THz, for scanning and imaging. Such electromagnetic waves can easily penetrate packaging materials and render image details in high resolution, and can also detect the chemical fingerprints of pharmaceutical drugs, biological weapons, or illegal drugs or explosives. However, most existing terahertz systems involve bulky and expensive laser setups that sometimes require exceptionally low temperatures. The potential of terahertz imaging and scanning has gone untapped because of the lack of compact, low-cost technology that can operate in the frequency range.
To finally realize the promise of terahertz waves, Hajimiri and Sengupta used complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, technology, which is commonly used to make the microchips in everyday electronic devices, to design silicon chips with fully integrated functionalities and that operate at terahertz frequencies?but fit on a fingertip.
"This extraordinary level of creativity, which has enabled imaging in the terahertz frequency range, is very much in line with Caltech's long tradition of innovation in the area of CMOS technology," says Ares Rosakis, chair of Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science. "Caltech engineers, like Ali Hajimiri, truly work in an interdisciplinary way to push the boundaries of what is possible."
The new chips boast signals more than a thousand times stronger than existing approaches, and emanate terahertz signals that can be dynamically programmed to point in a specified direction, making them the world's first integrated terahertz scanning arrays.
Using the scanner, the researchers can reveal a razor blade hidden within a piece of plastic, for example, or determine the fat content of chicken tissue. "We are not just talking about a potential. We have actually demonstrated that this works," says Hajimiri. "The first time we saw the actual images, it took our breath away."
Hajimiri and Sengupta had to overcome multiple hurdles to translate CMOS technology into workable terahertz chips?including the fact that silicon chips are simply not designed to operate at terahertz frequencies. In fact, every transistor has a frequency, known as the cut-off frequency, above which it fails to amplify a signal?and no standard transistors can amplify signals in the terahertz range.
To work around the cut-off-frequency problem, the researchers harnessed the collective strength of many transistors operating in unison. If multiple elements are operated at the right times at the right frequencies, their power can be combined, boosting the strength of the collective signal.
"We came up with a way of operating transistors above their cut-off frequencies," explains Sengupta. "We are about 40 or 50 percent above the cut-off frequencies, and yet we are able to generate a lot of power and detect it because of our novel methodologies."
"Traditionally, people have tried to make these technologies work at very high frequencies, with large elements producing the power. Think of these as elephants," says Hajimiri. "Nowadays we can make a very large number of transistors that individually are not very powerful, but when combined and working in unison, can do a lot more. If these elements are synchronized?like an army of ants?they can do everything that the elephant does and then some."
The researchers also figured out how to radiate, or transmit, the terahertz signal once it has been produced. At such high frequencies, a wire cannot be used, and traditional antennas at the microchip scale are inefficient. What they came up with instead was a way to turn the whole silicon chip into an antenna. Again, they went with a distributed approach, incorporating many small metal segments onto the chip that can all be operated at a certain time and strength to radiate the signal en masse.
"We had to take a step back and ask, 'Can we do this in a different way?'" says Sengupta. "Our chips are an example of the kind of innovations that can be unearthed if we blur the partitions between traditional ways of thinking about integrated circuits, electromagnetics, antennae, and the applied sciences. It is a holistic solution."
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California Institute of Technology: http://www.caltech.edu
Thanks to California Institute of Technology for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125851/A_new_tool_for_secret_agents____and_the_rest_of_us
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Jackie Jenkins-Scott: Why We Should Put Children and Families ...
In November, Massachusetts voters delivered a strong message to Washington on the importance of maintaining vital social service programs with the "Budget for All" ballot question passing by a three to one margin. Ninety-one cities and towns across the state supported the referendum, initiated by over eighty groups including community, peace, labor and faith organizations. Support for this ballot question came at a critical time with the looming federal "fiscal cliff" in discussion. Budget cuts covering a range of programs and initiatives from: Social Security; Medicare; investments in useful jobs; ending corporate tax loopholes and the Bush tax cuts on high incomes; redirection of military spending to domestic needs; job creation; and withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan threaten to upend our U.S. economy sending the country back into downturn.
Other states also faced ballot questions that would impact education and health care on a state level. Californians voted to avert deep school cuts and to provide billions in new education funding by passing tax increases on earnings over $250,000 through Proposition 38. Additionally, five states allowed voters the opportunity to show their disapproval of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with acts to limit health care reform; these largely symbolic ballot measures were approved in four states.
Without a compromise from Congress on spending cuts and tax increases, there will be an immediate impact on much-needed programs through slashes in the "discretionary spending" budget. Beginning in January, sequestration cuts will be automatically implemented, with billions a year in "discretionary spending" reductions lasting from 2013 to 2022. Defense will also be cut by an equal margin. Likely exempt from sequestration are mandatory programs for low-income people, such as Medicaid and SNAP/Food Stamps and Social Security benefits. However, discretionary programs such as Head Start, child care, and women's health services could be drastically diminished.
The unintended consequences of these sweeping cuts will be apparent in the near future as states are forced to dismantle the safety nets created to support the neediest residents. An already fragile education system that remains in grave need of reform, particularly in large urban areas, will deteriorate further, thereby making the recent investments via Race to the Top and The Stimulus package obsolete.
The impact of these cuts on higher education will be felt on students and families throughout the country; without federal financial aid many students will not be able to afford to attend college. The Pell Grant program may be subject to sequestration starting in FY2014. More than 8 million Americans a year currently depend on Pell Grant scholarships to help afford college. Virtually all other federally funded financial aid programs could see budget cuts of more than 8 percent in 2013. The Office of Federal Student Aid will lose $140 million in funding, likely resulting in a reduction in the number of students who benefit from programs such as Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Federal Work Study, LEAP, TEACH Grants and the Perkins Loan.
While Washington remains in negotiations, with Republicans insisting on spending cuts and Democrats advocating for income tax increases on the wealthiest 2 percent of taxpayers, I urge the higher education community and policy makers to consider the impact of these budget cuts on those who most benefit from the programs on the chopping block -- there will be a real impact on the lives of women and children.
Reductions are expected to disproportionally affect the most under-served populations. Discretionary spending programs serving children, youth, and families -- including early childhood education, housing, child health, child welfare, and nutrition -- stand to lose an estimated $6.4 billion in 2013 alone. This is of significant concern as it would put the non-defense discretionary spending level at the lowest share of the GDP on record.
The continued rise in poverty for women and children in the country indicates that the official end of the recession did not represent recovery for millions of women and their families. In fact, poverty for women and children remains near historically high levels despite signs of stabilization in the rate in 2011. We have yet to reverse the downward poverty rate trend for women and children since it reached a 17-year high in 2010. In 2011, the child poverty rate was 21.9, compared to 22.0 percent in 2010. More than half (58 percent) of poor children lived in female-headed families in 2011. Reductions in social programs for the next nine years would likely thrust vulnerable women and children back below the poverty line. Now is the time to advocate for the government to prioritize women and children and break the historical trend of cutting funding for these groups during tough fiscal times.
At the federal level, I advise against significant reductions to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as it would disproportionately hurt women and their children by increasing the inequality gap. U.S. Census data from the 2011 Supplemental Poverty Measure indicates that 8.7 million people were lifted out of out of poverty in 2011 due to the refundable tax credits; without them, the child poverty rate would have been raised by 6.3 percent.
Sequestration cuts will be devastating -- not just today but in the future. Some of these effects include:
- Services will be cut or eliminated for more than 9 million students, including 1.8 million students living in poverty and receiving Title 1 services.
- Nearly 80,000 education jobs will be lost at early childhood, elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels.
- 69,000 students in our neediest schools will suffer with cuts to School Improvement Grants.
- 75,000 fewer children will receive Head Start services.
- 25,000 child care slots that currently enable parents to work while children are in a safe environment will be lost.
- 734,000 households will no longer get help paying their utility bills through the low-income home energy assistance program.
In order to preserve critical programs and services, the Obama Administration and Congress must put the partisanship aside and act to "first do no harm to children." If children and vulnerable populations are kept at the center of arguments, the conversation on cuts will change in tone.
This past election, American voters charged President Obama and Congress to find solutions. Now is the time for us to unite to speak up on behalf children, youth and their families. Instead of sequestration, we must demand that policy makers develop a well-balanced plan, making critical decisions on revenue and spending that put children first!
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-jenkinsscott/children-and-families-first_b_2277372.html
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A$AP Rocky Gets A Surprise Visit From 'Jersey Shore' Star Vinny: Watch!
During Wednesday's 'Big & Best,' Vinny invites A$AP to join him on MTV's 'The Show With Vinny.'
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway
Vinny Guadagnino and A$AP Rocky on "RapFix Live"
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698812/jersey-shore-vinny-asap-rocky-rapfix-live.jhtml
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Samsung Galaxy Note II (Verizon Wireless)
The Galaxy Note II for Verizon Wireless ($299.99 direct) is many things, but above all, it's the most?phone there is. It gives you more screen, more processor, and more OS than almost any other phone out there. If you think other phones are too small, and prefer something big enough to double as a miniature tablet that (barely) fits in your pocket, the Galaxy Note II could be exactly what you want. Even so, the HTC Droid DNA, features a sharper screen, nicer build quality, and a significantly lower price. Those differences are enough to keep the Droid DNA as our Editors' Choice for phablets on Verizon?if just barely.
Editors' Note: The Verizon Wireless, Sprint?, AT&T, U.S. Cellular, and T-Mobile versions of the Samsung Galaxy Note II are all very similar, so we're sharing a lot of material between our reviews. That said, we're testing each device separately, so read the review for your carrier of choice. The slideshow below is for the T-Mobile version, which is visually identical aside from the carrier name in the notification bar, and the logo on the plastic back panel.
Design and Screen
Visually, there's almost no difference between the various Samsung Galaxy Note II versions, aside from a Verizon logo on the Home button and on the back panel.?The Galaxy Note II measures 5.95 by 3.17 by 0.37 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.34 ounces. That's roughly an inch taller and half an inch wider than even big smartphones with 4.5-inch and greater screens. It's just as thin as those, though, which helps a lot. It's significantly wider and heavier than the Droid DNA, though, which measures 5.58 by 2.78 by 0.38 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.01 ounces.
Unlike the soft-touch, beautifully crafted Droid DNA, the Galaxy Note II is made entirely of plastic, with the exception of the glass screen. But unlike some other Samsung handsets, the Galaxy Note II still looks and feels refined, thanks to the classy, faux-anodized silver finish and a smoked chrome accent ring around the sides. You can get one in either gray or white.
The star of the show is the 5.5-inch, 1,280-by-720-pixel, Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen. The aspect ratio is 16:9 this time, instead of 16:10 like the first Galaxy Note, which had a slightly higher 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution. Either way, the new display is stunning. It's super-bright, with vivid colors and deep blacks, and viewing angles are uniformly excellent. I suppose you could argue that at 267ppi, pixel depth isn't quite as impressive as it is on smaller phones with the same 720p resolution. But rest assured: This screen looks fantastic. Even so, the Droid DNA's 1,920-by-1,080-pixel, 5-inch panel is even sharper.
As you can imagine, the Galaxy Note II's screen is large enough for easy typing in both portrait and landscape modes. You even get an extra row of number keys, so you don't have to switch the keyboard mode to enter in digits.?There's a hardware Home button below the screen, flanked by Menu and Back capacitive touch buttons. A Wacom-designed stylus is tucked into a slot under the bottom right edge. The stylus supports 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity?four times what the stylus in the Galaxy Note supports.
Given its gargantuan size, the Galaxy Note II is difficult to use one-handed?except that, fortunately, Samsung has already thought of this. To that end, it provides a series of toggles in Settings > One-Handed Operation.?You can move the dial buttons to the left or right, for example, and position the keyboard and unlock pattern for easier access.
Connectivity and Voice Calls
The Galaxy Note II on Verizon Wireless is a dual-band EV-DO Rev. A (850/1900 MHz) and 4G LTE device with 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi support on both 2.4 and 5GHz bands. I had no problem connecting to a 5GHz, WPA2-encrypted hotspot in the PCMag Lab. LTE speeds were on the low side, at 3-4Mbps down and 2-3Mbps up here in Manhattan, although lower scores have been typical on Verizon lately as the network gets saturated with users. My own iPhone 5 on Verizon scored just 0.5 to 1Mbps down at the same time, which was horrendous, and yet I've seen the iPhone 5 hit 10Mbps on good days in the same spot. The Galaxy Note II also works as a mobile hotspot with the appropriate data plan.
Voice calls sound as good as I've ever heard on a cell phone?full, warm, and loud, with no background hiss. I could move my ear quite a bit against the handset and still hear the other party easily, which wasn't possible with the?LG Intuition. Transmissions through the microphone were clear. As usual, I tested the phone on an extremely noisy street, which the noise cancelling algorithms reduced to a low, steady drone the other party could still hear, albeit lightly, and it was entirely absent in quieter environments.
Calls also sounded clear through a?Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset. The rear-mounted mono speakerphone sounds clear and loud, and should be fine for use outdoors. The massive 3,100mAh battery lasted for a stellar 19 hours 57 minutes of talk time on a single charge, and we've seen other Galaxy Note IIs exceed 11 hours of video playback, which is also excellent.
Voice dialing deserves special mention. Samsung's S Voice lets you control the Note by voice. You can wake it up by saying Hi Galaxy, double-tapping the Home button, or by choosing your own phrase. You can also enable or disable handwriting mode, which activates when you pull the pen from the device. In addition to voice dialing?which worked fine over Bluetooth in my tests?you can also text, search contacts, navigate, schedule something on your calendar, add a task, start a music playlist, and update Twitter, all with your voice.
Hardware, OS, and Apps
Under the hood is a 1.6GHz quad-core A9 Samsung Exynos processor and 2GB of RAM. Android fans can rejoice, as the Galaxy Note II ships with Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" out of the box. Benchmark results were at the top of the class almost entirely across the board; combine Jelly Bean with a quad-core processor and you get one fast phone. The exception was some gaming frame rate tests, the results of which lagged next to the Qualcomm-powered HTC Droid DNA.
(Next page: Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions)
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Pua0YBMeP2c/0,2817,2412779,00.asp
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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Liar vs. Jerk
Emily Yoffe
Photograph by Teresa Castracane.
Emily Yoffe, aka Dear Prudence, is on Washingtonpost.com weekly to chat live with readers. An edited?transcript of the chat is below. (Sign up here?to get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week. Read Prudie?s?Slate columns?here. Send questions to Prudence at prudence@slate.com.)
Q. Should I Intervene?: My best friend is going through a nasty, messy divorce. Recently she accused her husband of molesting their 4-year-old daughter. This may sound awful, but I am hesitant to believe her. It's not anything I can pinpoint, but I have known her for 20 years and there's something about the way she talks that makes me wonder?is she telling the truth? Her husband contacted me to ask if I could write a character reference for him to dispute my best friend's claims. I personally detest this man and he is not a nice person. He has very few friends and I think he is getting desperate to ask me. But I've always known him to be a good dad?in fact, before the accusations surfaced I was encouraging my friend to tolerate her jerk husband and share custody. I am worried that if I say nothing, an innocent man might face legal consequences and have his daughter taken away. I am also worried I might unwittingly defend a child molester and ruin a treasured friendship. What should I do?
A: One of the most malicious redoubts of the bitter spouse is the false accusation of child abuse. It is a potential life-ruiner, not just for the accused, but for the child who has to suffer all the consequences that result. But it sounds as if you would not be much of a character reference in any case. You doubt the accusation, but you aren't sure. Otherwise, you detest this guy. Tell him that you don't feel comfortable getting legally involved in his divorce. But perhaps you can talk with your friend. Tell her you understand she's in extremis and she has nothing but contempt for her ex. Explain you don't like him yourself. But then ask if he really is a child molester, because if he's not making such an accusation to help her divorce case will only hurt her child in the long run. If she stand by the story you can say if that's the case, he deserves the maximum punishment. But if it's not, she herself could be prosecuted for making false charges. And the damage of all this to their child will be incalculable. They sound like quite a pair. That poor little girl.
Dear Prudence: Mother and Daughter Hitting the Bottle
Q. Addicted Fianc?: I found out several months ago that my fianc? of four years was addicted to synthetic marijuana and had been for nearly one year. He gets it illegally from the corner store using his credit card and has racked up hundreds and hundreds in debt. I called his parents and they took him home for two weeks to get clean and be in a supportive environment away from the drug. He has also been seeing an addictions counselor. He came back to me and all appeared to be fine until this weekend when I found him high again. I asked to see his credit statement and found that he had been doing it since he returned on a daily basis. Last night he asked me to drive him to a halfway house and I guess that is where he will live for a while in order to finally kick the habit. The thing is, we have been planning our wedding in May. We've already spent thousands on deposits and a honeymoon. I love him with all of my heart and want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life him. However, I am not the co-dependent type and do not want a life of hurt and regret that seems to be associated with family addiction. He's always been so good to me, and I want to believe that he can beat this, but I can't be sure. Would I be doing myself a huge disservice by staying? If so, how do you leave someone you love?
A: Your first step is to see how much of your deposits you can get back. Then you notify everyone that sadly the wedding is off, and you will be returning the gifts you have received. If you are going to stay with the guy, he needs a long period of being clean before you can trust that he's kicked his addiction. That May deadline is too soon. Now that he's in treatment, you should talk to his counselor and get some understanding of his situation and how you can support his recovery. It could be that the best thing for both of you is to break it off. But if you decide to stay, it has to be with the clear understanding that he's got a long way to go and he's seriously violated your trust. If you decide to spend your life with someone you don't do it because you hate to eat a catering check.
Q. Weight Loss: I am a 26-year-old woman and I have been overweight all of my life. In 2009, at my highest weight on record, I weighed well over 300 pounds and had a BMI in the 50s. I come from a large family and had resigned myself to being overweight because I am "a clone" of my mother. This year, however, I broke myself of that mentality with the help of a counselor and a wonderful gym and I made a change. I have lost 70 pounds in the last eight months for a total weight loss of 117 pounds. That kind of change is, obviously, bound to be noticed and commented on. At work I get people I don't even know mentioning how good I look and wanting to know "my secret." (It's diet and exercise by the way.) People are calling me "Skinny Minnie" and "Thin Mints" (I enjoy that one for its irony) and encourage me to keep up the good work. At home, it's another story; especially with my mother. She thinks I should take a break and that I'm too skinny. (I'm still over 200 pounds and obese.) She accuses me of being anorexic (I'm not. I eat 1300-1600 calories a day) and of overexercising. Both camps are really starting to wear on me. How can I tell everyone, especially those encouraging me, to stop? I am really tired of the comments about my weight loss, no matter how positive it is. It's getting old. Thank you.
A: Congratulations! We all come into this world with certain less than ideal genes and propensities, but how wonderful for you to decide to take control of those things you can modify. With the well-wishers if you can stand it just say, "Thanks" and change the subject. Your new weight will eventually become old news. If you really don't want to hear "Thin Mint" etc. anymore, just say, "I appreciate your good wishes, but I'd rather not be called by that nickname. I'd like to spend as little time as possible thinking about my weight, even if the trend is good." As for your mother, what a classic case of feeling threatened. She liked your being her "clone" because that way if you were both morbidly obese, it was proof it was beyond your control and just bad genetic luck. But here you are demonstrating that she could do something, too. It's not clear whether you live with her. If so, you need to send sound serious boundaries around your weight?that is, you don't talk with her about your food and exercise, and if she starts nagging you, you leave the room (or move out). It you're talking about visits, you tell her that you are getting good medical care, you feel great, and if she tells you to get off your diet and exercise plan, you will be cutting your visits short.
Q. My Heart Is Not a Zero-Sum Game: I was married for 25 years to an amazing woman who came to a sudden and untimely end. I am now dating another amazing woman. After dating for a year, we moved in together six months ago and love each other like crazy. We have our differences, but nothing that I wouldn't expect for any two people trying to make their separate lives into one. Except one thing: I want to keep my late wife as a part of my life in the form of a few pictures, a couple of specific mementos, and the occasional topic of conversation. Sometimes my girlfriend is supportive of this but sometimes she is not and it causes her pain. I've read how you dealt with your husband's first wife and was hoping you could help me learn what topics are more likely to hurt my girlfriend so I can handle them more adroitly, or alternately give me some words I can use to explain better to my girl that I love her completely too. I've tried but sometimes she ends up feeling second best, like some kind of leftover, but she is not second best she is amazing. I don't think this is a long-term deal-breaker, I just want to make things easier for my girl.
A: It sounds as if you've done plenty to explain to your new partner that you love her completely. It also sounds as if the place of your late wife in your conversation and home is appropriate and not intrusive. Perhaps your girlfriend is trying to express to you that any reminders of your first wife are painful to her and that at best she indulges this, but editing your first wife out completely would be preferred. So it's up to you to explain that at this point in your lives you each have complicated histories that are part of who you are, and you are not comfortable if you have to catch yourself before you say things such as, "I love Florence. Rachel and I went there for our 10th anniversary." You two should have sorted this out better before moving in. But maybe a counselor will help you each understand the other's perspective.
Q. Smoking and In-Laws: Every time we visit my husband's family, I spend the entire trip miserable with terrible allergies. Their small house has poor ventilation, old wall-to-wall carpeting, and a heavy smoker (my mother-in-law). Since her smoking doesn't bother anyone else, I've always tried to be polite and downplay my allergies. But it's reached a point where I don't want to spend any time in their house and I worry about what will happen when we have kids. We only get to visit a few times a year, and I know she would be hurt if we suddenly started staying at a hotel instead. What do I do?
Like Emily Yoffe's Dear Prudence Column on Facebook:
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=7191e66bcf04111f42516a432d5e02b7
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Travel Insurance Direct 10% Discount Code. TIDSURFS - OzBargain
Pretty good as it includes all the extreme sport stuff and car hire extras for a lower price than average, however it doesn't look like they cover lost cash or personal items without adding quite a significant premium for each individual item.
I think Medicare is a better choice if you're not doing the extreme sports, they include lost items and cash as part of the package.
Source: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/87559
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Educational Technology & Reference Librarian: Bryn Mawr College ...
Through active outreach and participation with the campus community, the Educational Technology & Reference Librarian shares responsibility for coordinating and supporting campus educational technology planning, pedagogical applications, support of instructional technology, library reference services and bibliographic instruction to students, faculty and staff. The Educational Technology and Reference librarian interacts directly with faculty and students to serve their library and educational technology needs, partners with academic departments and programs to advance research and learning and plays a major role in Tri-College (Bryn Mawr, Haverford & Swarthmore) library and IT development.
Responsibilities
- Plays a major role in Tri-College library information technology development, particularly regarding educational technologies used inside and outside the classroom.
- Stays informed of new instructional technology and other library IT developments.
- Partners with individual faculty and students, academic departments and other campus groups to advance educational technology use and learning. Supports curriculum, pedagogy, research and grant projects.
- Provides research consultation, instruction, and workshops designed to foster the use of library information resources and the effective application of library technologies in scholarship and teaching. Engages in information literacy initiatives with faculty, administrators and library colleagues.
- Performs general reference and access services duties, including staffing the Reference Desk and responding to reference requests via phone and email.
- Contributes to development, design and maintenance of the library website and social media accounts.
- Prepares annual and special reports.
- Plays a major role in the professional activities of the Department.
- May hire, train, direct and review the work of student assistants.
- Performs other job-related duties as assigned or directed.
Skills and Abilities
- Advanced knowledge of instructional technology support in a multi-platform, network intensive environment.
- Ability to stay abreast of emerging educational technologies, pedagogical developments in higher education and creative strategies for engaging learners through technology.
- Demonstrated ability to teach bibliographic skills and provide reference services to library patrons.
- Advanced experience with bibliographic databases in a variety of electronic formats. Advanced knowledge of emerging information technologies, including major social media platforms
- Advanced knowledge of HTML and/or other Web editing languages and applications.
- Strong organizational and analytical skills, with an emphasis on details and follow through. * Superior interpersonal skills and a customer-service orientation.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Ability to work independently and to initiate necessary work procedures according to guidelines set by the supervisor.
Additional requirements include knowledge of emerging information and instructional technologies, reference services experience and experience providing technology support in a multi-platform, network intensive environment are required. Some of the educational technology tools include: Moodle, Tegrity, clickers, LibGuides, WordPress, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Zotero, EndNote, iOS, and others. Detailed knowledge and experience with any or all of these is highly desired.
Minimum Education and Experience
Master?s of Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited institution, a Master?s degree in Instructional/Educational Technology, similarly accredited or other advanced degree with relevant work experience; minimum of three years of professional experience in instructional technology or library public services. Knowledge of educational technology and other emerging information technologies required.
Experience providing support in a multi-platform, network intensive environment required. MA or Ph.D. in an appropriate subject field is highly desirable. Experience in or aptitude for Web design highly desirable. Relevant experience, continuing education credits, or training which provides the necessary scope in skills, abilities, and knowledge considered pertinent.
Bryn Mawr College is a private liberal arts institution that serves a population of 1,800 students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Located approximately 12 miles west of Philadelphia, PA, the College has a long tradition of educational excellence offering a dynamic and challenging workplace conducive to professional growth. The College offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits package including 22 paid vacation days, and a generous pension contribution.
Review of applications will begin January 7, 2013 and continue until the position is filled. For a complete job description, visit the Information Services website at http://www.brynmawr.edu/is/employment.html.
For immediate consideration please send cover letter, resume, and list of three professional references to isjobs@brynmawr.edu.
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Monday, December 10, 2012
School Franchise Opportunities in India | SHEMBLOG
Franchising is the system of expanding a business and an opportunity to work under an established brand name. Franchising is the process wherein a franchisor offers the franchisee to use its business model. There are plenty of business franchise opportunities present in India i.e. almost all industries offer franchise opportunities like fitness, food and beverages, IT etc. However, it has been witnessed that more individuals and group of persons are inclined towards investment in the education sector. Being a recession-free sector, it is very evident that more and more aspiring entrepreneurs wish to invest in the education sector. Furthermore, to meet the ever-growing demand for standard education, investment in a school is an intelligent and a wise decision. Therefore, to reap maximum benefits with minimum investment, it is advisable to take up a school franchise.
Further, business franchising is a win-win situation for the franchisor, franchisee and the prospective customers. In India, franchising in the education sector is always at its boom. There are various subsectors, investment in which will turn out to be fruitful. They are:
- Playschool
- Preschool
- Kindergarten
- Montessori school
- Day care centre
- Formal 10+2 school
- Learning centre
- Training centre
- Educational institution
School franchising is the best option to choose from as it offers the following benefits:
- Apart from the franchise fee, a school franchisee does not have to incur a huge investment cost. This is because there is less promotional and administrative cost involved on the part of the franchisee.
- Further, after getting associated with an established brand, the franchisee enjoys a good reputation in the education sector. This means that the franchisee enjoys easy acceptability in the market.
- It is the franchisor?s responsibility to help the franchisee at every step. For instance, the school franchisor helps the franchisee in completing all the legal formalities including acquiring the land for the school building, arranging funds etc.
- Also, to boost the working operations of the franchisee, the franchisor offers support in the form of trained professionals and technical expertise. The franchisor provides training with respect to administration, staff recruitment process etc.
- Last but not the least; the franchisee reaps the benefit of ensured returns on investment. Apart from serving the society, it is a profitable venture that benefits both the franchisor (in terms of royalty) and the franchisee (in terms of long-term profits).
?
Business franchising is a legally accepted model and it is the best way to expand the existing business structure. Moreover, business franchising in the education sector is a win-win situation for both the parties involved i.e. the franchisor and the franchisee. SHEMFORD Futuristic Schools is a well-established name in the formal education sector. With over 50+ branches across India and Abroad, the chain of schools provides a 7-star support system to its franchisees. So, complete a few formalities andclick here to fill this Franchise Application Form to start a school with ease and comfort.
Click Here for :
Nursery Admissions
Information on Shemford Schools, an upcoming chain of 10+2 Schools
Delhi Public School Hostel admissions
If you enjoyed this post, then you might consider subscribing to our feed via RSS or E-Mail. Visit www.shemford.com for more details. Thanks for visiting!
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Source: http://www.shemford.com/blog/school-franchise-opportunities-in-india
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US job gains defy Sandy and fears of fiscal cliff
In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, a person fills out an application at the Fort Lauderdale Career Fair, in Dania Beach, Fla. The U.S. economy added a solid 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, the Labor Department announced Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, a person fills out an application at the Fort Lauderdale Career Fair, in Dania Beach, Fla. The U.S. economy added a solid 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, the Labor Department announced Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo, a couple shops for groceries by flashlight in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York, following a loss of power due to Superstorm Sandy. The U.S. economy added a solid 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, the Labor Department announced Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? It takes more than a superstorm to derail the U.S. job market.
Employers added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate dipped to 7.7 percent, a four-year low, the government said Friday.
Though modest, the job growth was encouraging because it defied disruptions from Superstorm Sandy and employers' concerns about impending tax increases from the year-end "fiscal cliff."
Analysts said the job market's underlying strength suggests that if the White House and Congress can reach a budget deal to avoid the cliff, hiring and economic growth could accelerate next year.
A budget agreement would coincide with gains in key sectors of the economy.
Builders are breaking ground on more homes, which should increase construction hiring. U.S. automakers just enjoyed their best sales month in nearly five years. And a resolution of the fiscal cliff could lead businesses to buy more industrial machinery and other heavy equipment. That would generate more manufacturing jobs.
"The ground is being prepared for faster growth," said Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight.
House GOP leader John Boehner said Friday that the two sides had made little progress in talks seeking a deal to steer clear of the cliff.
The White House used Friday's mixed jobs report as an argument to push President Barack Obama's proposed tax-rate increases for top earners, public works spending and refinancing help for struggling homeowners.
Superstorm Sandy, contrary to expectations, dampened job growth only minimally in November, the government said. Job gains were roughly the same as this year's 150,000 monthly average, and the unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to its lowest level since December 2008.
That suggests that fears about the cliff haven't led employers to cut staff, though they aren't hiring aggressively, either. The economy must produce roughly twice November's job gain to quickly lower the unemployment rate.
Friday's report included some discouraging signs. Employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September combined than the government had initially estimated. Monthly job totals come from a survey of 140,000 companies and government agencies, which together employ about 1 in 3 nonfarm workers in the United States.
The unemployment rate, derived from a separate survey of households, fell because 229,000 people without jobs stopped looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.
The household survey asks about 60,000 households whether the adults have jobs and whether those who don't are looking for one. Those without a job who are seeking one are counted as unemployed. Those who aren't looking aren't counted as unemployed.
All told, 12 million people were unemployed in November, about 230,000 fewer than the previous month. That's still many more than the 7.6 million who were out of work when the recession officially began in December 2007.
A broader gauge counts the unemployed, plus part-time workers who want full-time work and people who have given up looking for a job. That total added up to 22.7 million people in November, down from 23 million in October.
Investors appeared pleased with the report. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 81 points.
For now, worries about the cliff have led some companies to cut back on purchases of heavy equipment. Consumers are also signaling concern. A survey of consumer sentiment fell sharply in December, economists noted, partly over worries that taxes could rise next year.
But a resolution of the cliff could accelerate job growth in the construction and manufacturing industries. Those sectors, on average, pay more than the retail and restaurant jobs that have helped drive hiring in recent months and tend to contribute more to economic growth.
Construction workers earned an average of $26 an hour in November. Factory workers averaged $24 an hour. Both far exceed the hourly average of $16.40 for retail employees and about $13.40 for hotel, restaurant and other hospitality workers.
"The good news is not that the labor market is improving rapidly ? it isn't ? but that employment growth is holding up despite all the fears over the fiscal cliff," Gault said.
He estimates that a budget deal would boost the economy's average monthly job gains to about 200,000 next year.
One company that could step up hiring in 2013 is Ahaus Tool & Engineering in Richmond, Ind., which makes assembly machines for the automotive and power-generation industries.
Kevin Ahaus, president of the 90-person company and the fourth generation of his family to run it, says the company had its best year ever in the 12 months that ended in September. But since October, sales have leveled off. Many customers are asking for bids but not closing deals, Ahaus said, because of the uncertain economic outlook.
That, in turn, is causing him to delay hiring.
"I probably won't hire anybody until the first of the year because of all the unknowns out there," he said.
Many analysts thought Sandy would hold back job growth significantly in November because the storm forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November.
It didn't. In part, that's because the storm struck Oct. 29, but as long as employees had returned to work by Thanksgiving week, the survey counted them as employed.
Yet there were signs that the storm disrupted some areas of the economy in November. Construction employment dropped 20,000, for example.
Retailers added 53,000 positions last month, a sharp gain that likely reflected holiday hiring. Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs. But overall manufacturing jobs fell by 7,000, partly a result of 12,000 jobs lost in food manufacturing that likely reflected layoffs at Hostess Brands Inc.
The rebound in housing is leading Georgia Pacific, a paper and wood products company, to hire. It is opening a new plant in South Carolina next year and is filling 140 jobs. So far, it's received 2,400 applications.
"It's a little overwhelming from an HR perspective," said Julie Brehm, vice president of human resources.
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