Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Xbox One Instant Switching Turns The Console Into A Voice ...

Now leading the pack in gaming consoles, Microsoft?s future growth lies outside the gaming sphere. We?ll surely see tons of games at E3 in a few weeks, but at the big reveal of the Xbox One, the company chose to focus on non-gaming features, such as media streaming and Skype conversations.

But what makes streaming and entertainment a true upgrade on the Xbox One, which already has access to almost all streaming platforms? Instant Switching. It allows you to switch between inputs, games, menus, internet explorer, and almost anything else almost instantly. And what?s more, it lets you layer the power of Microsoft partnerships and information across live TV.

The Xbox responds to the voice; saying ?Xbox On? turns on the console to the homescreen. The UI is familiar, and lets you see what you were doing last, along with trending content from friends, and other panels like games, tv, etc. But then you say ?Xbox watch TV?, and live TV pops on. ?Xbox show Guide?, and the guide pops up letting you see what?s available on Live TV. ?Xbox watch ESPN?, and bloop, ESPN is on. Instant Switching at its best.

And here?s where it gets interesting:

?Xbox show Fantasy,? and instantly, along the right side of the screen showing a Knicks vs Celtics game you?ll see a run-down on your fantasy league, letting you access further information and even make alterations in real-time, right alongside the game itself.

The company also announced a new partnership with NFL which will offer exclusive content and access to Fantasy leagues in Snapmode in real-time.

This is thanks to a feature called Snapmode, which will offer new interactive experiences for Live TV. This includes social, applications, and more.

Because Xbox is now tapping into your live TV, it offers a more targeted and complete entertainment UI, with favorites showing all of your favorite content in a single destination.

And it?s all powered by your voice, should you like. What?s that? Is that the voice of Microsoft telling the hundreds of thousands of Xbox 360 owners out there, who proudly revel in their ownership of what?s considered the most popular gaming console out there, that they should maybe think about upgrading?

Of course, Microsoft wouldn?t upgrade software without hardware (which you can read more about here), and that includes the addition of a Blu-ray player.

Alongside announcing the Xbox One, Microsoft also announced a partnership with 343 Industries and Steven Spielberg to develop a live action TV show about Halo. They didn?t go into much detail, but how much you want to bet there?s some awesome Snapmode features and Xbox SmartGlass features?


April 4, 1974

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Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. Starting in 1980 Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM allowing Microsoft to sell its software package with the computers IBM manufactured. Microsoft is widely used by professionals worldwide and largely dominates the American corporate market. Additionally, the company has ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and...

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The Xbox 360 is Microsoft?s 2nd generation game console.

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-instant-switching-turns-the-console-into-a-voice-powered-set-top-box-with-live-tv-integration/

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Lafarge rejects watchdog criticism of UK market

PARIS (Reuters) - French cement group Lafarge rejected criticism of the level of competition among peers in the UK by the local watchdog on Tuesday, saying there was already "effective competition in the sector".

The UK Competition Commission said it was considering measures such as requiring one or more of the top three producers to dispose of some plants or reduce their cement production capacity to boost competition.

"We strongly disagree with the Commission's provisional findings and proposed remedies and will be making strong representations to the Commission during the next phase of the process," a Lafarge spokeswoman said.

She added that Lafarge would continue to assist the Commission.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Astrid Wendlandt)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lafarge-rejects-watchdog-criticism-uk-market-094358002.html

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'Scandal's' Kerry Washington on Olivia's Shocking Family Affairs

ABC

"Scandal's" Kerry Washington

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Thursday's season two finale, "White Hats Back On," episode of Scandal.]

Holy Scandal reveals, Batman!

During Thursday's season two finale of ABC's breakout hit Scandal, the Defiance team welcomed a shocking new member as Olivia was forced to make a heartbreaking decision about her relationship with Fitz. But welcoming the president into the scheming illuminati wasn't Olivia's biggest reveal. At the end of the hour, D.C.'s top fixer was revealed to be the president's mistress, and was rudely escorted into a nearby limo to meet Rowan, the head of B613 and her father.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Scandal star Kerry Washington to discuss the nature of Olivia's relationship with her father, playing that scene opposite Joe Morton -- an actor she's been a fan of for years -- and more.

PHOTOS: The Couples of Shondaland: 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Private Practice,' 'Scandal'

The Hollywood Reporter: Olivia gets a very Star Wars reveal: Rowan is her father!
Kerry Washington: Looking back, Joe and Shonda were so excited to see me so excited because they knew where [the story] was going. I'm really excited to see how it unfolds.

THR: We don't know much about Olivia's upbringing. How did you play the scene considering that the nature of their relationship is so unclear?
Washington: When we were playing the scene, we kept asking [director] Tom Verica and Shonda what their dynamic was and even they didn't know. It was like a crazy game in acting class where every time I'd get into the car, we would each make a bold choice about the relationship, but we didn't tell each other what it was. When they were editing the episode, they had 20 different ways to play that scene -- if not more -- just based on the intonation of how we said those words to each other. We played it a lot of different ways. It was really fascinating to see which of those acting choices they went with because I do think it says something about the relationship between the two of them, but not with any clarity or definitive specificity.

THR: What were some of the ways you played it?
Washington: There were some ways that I did it that were much more "Oh, thank God, I'm happy to see you" or "Oh, I love you so much; I thought you were dead." The one that aired has some anger to it that's really interesting. I wonder what Shonda sees in it and what audiences will see in it. It's a really layered response, and it's not a simple one; it's a really complicated exchange.

STORY: 'Scandal' Case Study: Shonda Rhimes on Season 3, Olivia and Fitz's Future

THR: Olivia's identity as Fitz's "mistress" has been revealed, but we don't know who leaked it. Theories?
Washington: We were theorizing the other day at work about who could have done that. People have such vastly different theories about it. Every time we think of somebody who it could be -- "Oh, well maybe it was Mellie" -- there are reasons why it wouldn't be Mellie. Or maybe it was Billy before he gets sent away. But there are two reasons why that isn't right, either. It's really tricky. Even when you think you know, there's always this one-two punch where you thought you saw something coming but then they one-up your expectation.

THR: Might the fact that her identity as the president's mistress went public change her decision about Olivia and Fitz's romantic future?
Washington: That's part of what makes her relationship so complex is that she's always felt torn, she's always felt complicated feelings of both "I wish this never happened" and "Thank God I met someone that I love this much." That will continue to have the complexity that it has. Maybe the stakes are higher in terms of how that plays out because everybody knows now. Internally, it's not all that different. Externally, how that's navigated is different. It's an enormous cliffhanger right up there with "Who Is Quinn Perkins?"

THR: Mellie takes Fitz back and avoids the race issue coming up when Olivia's identity as Fitz's mistress is revealed. How might she use this to her advantage?
Washington: One of the things that upset me so much when we did the table read and even watching the finale was that Olivia has worked so hard on this plan and how it's all going to unfold, and because she gets caught up in the moment of wanting to prove to the first lady that there's a plan, Fitz shows her my hand. The thing about your strategy that makes it work is that it's your strategy and other people don't know about it. But in that hospital room, Fitz shows her Olivia's hand completely so she can now build a counter-strategy, whereas if she didn't have that information, she wouldn't have been able to.

PHOTOS: Broadcast TV's Returning Shows 2013-14

THR: Fitz is welcomed into the Defiance fold. How will Olivia work to protect him now that she's aware that he killed Verna?
Washington: I have no idea (laughs). She has a pretty big crisis of her own on her hands now, so I don't know. I feel like her world just got turned upside down, but it's hard to imagine her extricating herself from it completely.

THR: Gov. Reston (Tom Amandes) is back and was working with Billy to prove Fitz rigged the election that cost him the presidency. How much of the election rigging is he aware of?
Washington: I think he's been fully briefed [about the election rigging], but I don't know. I'm sure that Billy held on to some information for leverage, so we'll have to see.

THR: David proves that he does indeed wear the white hat -- getting his job back when he gives the Cytron card to Cyrus and giving Olivia the smoking gun to have Billy arrested. Can we expect him to continue working with OPA now or could we see him return to being a foe?
Washington: There are no simple relationships on this show, so I can't imagine that their relationship will be lovey-dovey and easygoing now. They've always had history and they now have more history than ever before. It's not going to be simple.

THR: Rowan tosses Jake into the hole where Huck was held. Will Olivia seek him out again?
Washington:?Isn't that crazy? When I read that, half of my heart was really broken because I didn't want that to happen to Jake, and the other half was so excited because he's not dead and may not go away. We all love Jake so much, and Scott Foley is such a great member of our cast. It's definitely nice to leave things open-ended. I specifically said to Shonda at the end of season one, "That elevator door closed and we never saw anything happen," and she just smiled. It was because we all love working with Matty so much, and we were looking for hope and, yeah, that's where they were going all along.

THR: Looking at season three, would you like to see a focus on Fitz's re-election? It's one thing that we've only seen thus far in flashbacks.
Washington: It would be really exciting because I feel like we've had some elections where there's been record-breaking numbers of voter turnout in this country, and it would be really fun for people to feel more invested in and familiar with the process than ever before. It would be really exciting, not only for us, but for audiences to go there. If not season three, then hopefully eventually.

What do you want to see in season three? Hit the comments with your thoughts. Scandal returns in the fall on ABC.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/scandal-season-3-spoilers-kerry-washington-olivia-fitz-525600

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Monday, May 20, 2013

96% Stories We Tell

All Critics (49) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (2)

Sarah Polley's documentary is a startling mixture of private memoir, public inquiry, and conjuring trick.

Polley was right to follow her instincts, though, in not attempting to tie everything up. She recognizes that family histories are necessarily contradictory, crazymaking, and essentially unfathomable.

What unfolds is a riveting drama that grows even more so as it plays out.

Don't be fooled by its deceptively simple title or the hesitant, unassuming way it begins. Writer-director Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell" ends up an invigorating powerhouse of a personal documentary, adventurous and absolutely fascinating.

A brilliant, thought-provoking documentary.

A fascinating variant on the documentary form that examines what we see, and how we see it.

Polley imaginatively fills in the past through a hybrid of documentary and fiction [for] knowing relevance to oral history, testimonial evidence, and what makes a family.

What I can say is that the movie is dramatically compelling, journalistically fascinating, cinematically profound, and intellectually challenging.

Sheds fascinating light on Polley's art.

Polley mines her own life to strip naked the essence of storytelling, and what it is about folklore that makes it so essential in shaping our perceptions about who we are and where we come from.

Stories We Tell starts out as a simple investigation into the life of a mother that director Sarah Polley barely knew and slowly turns into a documentary that is as good as any movie you will see this year.

Where Polley's work goes from mere family movie to something much greater is in how she uses her own quest for answers to illuminate why & how we tell stories in the first place, especially in the form of film.

Polley's compassion and curiosity again mark her as both a heartfelt and unforgiving filmmaker.

Suspenseful, unpredictable, mature, tender and funny. A triumph.

The movie is convincingly built around the essential truth that we are ultimately defined by our loved ones' memories and perceptions.

A genre-twisting documentary with a fictional vibe that playfully bares the elusive truths about a family of storytellers.

Sarah Polley has blossomed as an actress and, more recently, as a daring and original filmmaker with an Oscar nomination to her credit.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stories_we_tell/

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Obama exhorts good deeds by Morehouse graduates

President Barack Obama receives an honorary degree during the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Morehouse is the historically black, all-male institution that counts Martin Luther King Jr. among its alumni. It is Obama's second graduation speech of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama receives an honorary degree during the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Morehouse is the historically black, all-male institution that counts Martin Luther King Jr. among its alumni. It is Obama's second graduation speech of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Morehouse is the historically black, all-male institution that counts Martin Luther King Jr. among its alumni. It is Obama's second graduation speech of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama smiles during prayer at the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama waves to a crowd gathered at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on his way to give the commencement speech at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

(AP) ? President Barack Obama, in a soaring commencement address on work, sacrifice and opportunity, on Sunday told graduates of historically black Morehouse College to seize the power of their example as black men graduating from college and use it to improve people's lives.

The president said his success was due to "the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn't have the opportunities that I had ? because there but for the grace of God, go I. I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me."

Noting the Atlanta school's mission to cultivate, not just educate, good men, Obama said graduates should not be so eager to join the chase for wealth and material things, but instead should remember where they came from and not "take your degree and get a fancy job and nice house and nice car and never look back."

"So yes, go get that law degree. But if you do, ask yourself if the only option is to defend the rich and powerful, or if you can also find time to defend the powerless," Obama said. "Sure, go get your MBA, or start that business, we need black businesses out there. But ask yourself what broader purpose your business might serve, in putting people to work, or transforming a neighborhood."

"The most successful CEOs I know didn't start out intent on making money. Rather, they had a vision of how their product or service would change things, and the money followed," he said.

For those headed to medical school, Obama said, "Make sure you heal folks in underserved communities who really need it, too."

Before Obama arrived in Atlanta, thunderstorms drenched hundreds of people who gathered on the campus lawn for the outdoor ceremony, forcing many guests to wear clear plastic ponchos over what amounted to their Sunday-best clothes. Rain began falling again, accompanied by more thunder and lightning, minutes after Obama began to speak.

"I also have to say you all are going to get wet," he said. "I would be out there with you if I could. But Secret Service gets nervous, so I'm going to have to stay here, dry. But know that I'm with you in spirit."

Obama urged graduates to "inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves."

Obama used the speech to once again share his personal story of growing up without a father, confessing that along the way he made unspecified bad personal choices "like too many men in our community."

"Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down," he said. "I had a tendency to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is, there's no longer any room for excuses."

Speaking in personal terms as he often does when addressing predominantly black audiences, particularly of black males, the nation's first black president also spoke intimately of his desire to be a better father to daughters Malia and Sasha than his absent father was to him, and to be a better husband to his wife, Michelle.

He told the graduates to pay attention to their families, saying success in every other aspect of life means nothing without success at home.

"I was raised by a heroic single mother and wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here today who did the same thing for all of you," he said. "But I still wish I had a father who was not only present, but involved. And so my whole life, I've tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father wasn't for my mother and me. I've tried to be a better husband, a better father, and a better man.

"It's hard work that demands your constant attention, and frequent sacrifice. And Michelle will be the first to tell you that I'm not perfect," he continued. "Even now, I'm still learning how to be the best husband and father I can be. Because success in everything else is unfulfilling if we fail at family.

"I know that when I'm on my deathbed someday, I won't be thinking about any particular legislation I passed, or policy I promoted. I won't be thinking about the speech I gave, or the Nobel Prize I received," said Obama, 51. "I'll be thinking about a walk I took with my daughters, a lazy afternoon with my wife, whether I did right by all of them."

The speech was Obama's second commencement address of the season, following remarks last Sunday at Ohio State University in Columbus. His third and final graduation address will come Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

About 500 students received undergraduate degrees on Sunday and became "Morehouse Men."

After the speech, Obama joined about 100 people at a fundraiser at the office of the foundation of Arthur M. Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. It was the first of six money events that officials say he will headline for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is recruiting candidates and strategizing to keep control of the Senate in next year's midterm elections. Democrats will be defending more Senate seats than Republicans, including six held by long-serving Democratic senators who have decided not to seek re-election.

After briefly discussing the economy, early childhood education, energy independence, climate change and infrastructure, Obama said "the good news is we've got good, common-sense solutions that we can implement right now," on those issues. "The bad news is there's a shortage of common sense in Washington."

He told the donors, who paid anywhere from $10,000 per couple to $32,400 per couple to attend the fundraiser, that their support is important because it will help elect more non-ideological senators like Michael Bennet, D-Colo., "who don't come at this thinking there's just one way of doing things." Bennet chairs the campaign arm for Senate Democrats and introduced Obama at the event.

"That kind of approach, if we get a critical mass in the Senate, and we can potentially get a critical mass of folks like that in the House, means that the sky's the limit," Obama said. "Nothing can stop us."

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-19-Obama/id-78c991a3f1f4412386a15f5ead6de0c6

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Powerball jackpot lures last-minute players

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? It's all about the odds.

With the majority of possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, someone is almost sure to win the game's highest jackpot during Saturday night's drawing, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars ? and that's after taxes.

The problem, of course, is those same odds just about guarantee the lucky person won't be you.

The chances of winning the estimated $600 million prize remain astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That's how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimate about 80 percent of those possible combinations have been purchased, so now's the time to buy.

"This would be the roll to get in on," said Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich. "Of course there's no guarantee, and that's the randomness of it, and the fun of it."

That hasn't deterred people across Powerball-playing states ? 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands ? from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday for their chance at striking it filthy rich.

At a mini market in the heart of Los Angeles' Chinatown, employees broke the steady stream of customers into two lines: One for Powerball ticket buyers and one for everybody else. Some people appeared to be looking for a little karma.

"We've had two winners over $10 million here over the years, so people in the neighborhood think this is the lucky store," employee Gordon Chan said as he replenished a stack of lottery tickets on a counter.

Workers at one suburban Columbia, S.C., convenience store were so busy with ticket buyers that they hadn't updated their sign with the current jackpot figure, which was released Friday. Customer Armous Peterson was reluctant to share his system for playing the Powerball. The 56-year-old was well aware of the long odds, but he also knows the mantra of just about every person buying tickets.

"Somebody is going to win," he said. "Lots of people are going to lose, too. But if you buy a ticket, that winner might be you."

The latest jackpot is the world's second largest overall, just behind a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012. The $600 million jackpot, which could grow before the numbers are drawn at 10:59 EDT Saturday, currently includes a $376.9 million cash option.

Charles Hill of Dallas says he buys lottery tickets every day. And he knows exactly what he'd do if he wins.

"What would I do with my money? I'd run and hide," he said. "I wouldn't want none of my kinfolks to find me."

Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot ? people are interested in the easy investment.

"Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small," he said. "Two dollars gets you a chance."

That may be why Ed McCuen has a Powerball habit that's as regular as clockwork. The 57-year-old electrical contractor from Savannah, Ga., buys one ticket a week, regardless of the possible loot. It's a habit he didn't alter Saturday.

"You've got one shot in a gazillion or whatever," McCuen said, tucking his ticket in his pocket as he left a local convenience store. "You can't win unless you buy a ticket. But whether you buy one or 10 or 20, it's insignificant."

Seema Sharma doesn't seem to think so. The newsstand employee in Manhattan's Penn Station has purchased $80 worth of tickets for herself. She also was selling tickets all morning at a steady pace, instructing buyers where to stand if they wanted machine-picked tickets or to choose their own numbers.

"I work very hard ? too hard ? and I want to get the money so I can finally relax," she said. "You never know."

Officials will conduct the drawing live Saturday night from Tallahassee, Fla.

___

Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C., Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Texas, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., John Rogers in Los Angeles and Verena Dobnick in New York contributed to this report.

___

Follow Barbara Rodriguez at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/last-minute-fortune-seekers-buy-powerball-tickets-185535895.html

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Looking for realistic roleplay partner

I don't have any real demands of you per say. I'd like you to be able to write a paragraph minimum as a response and not have a gender preference when it comes to role playing, although if your a guy who prefers playing guys or vice versa thats ok.

I've set up a role play and would just like a partner to join me. It's a realistic one and I'd require you to play 2 characters one of each gender. If your interested pm me :)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/kLv_mDkaxrI/viewtopic.php

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Edwards grabs poll for Sprint All-Star race ? Artesia News

Danica Patrick climbs into her race car before practice for the NASCAR Sprint Showdown auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Bob Jordan)

Danica Patrick climbs into her race car before practice for the NASCAR Sprint Showdown auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Bob Jordan)

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) ? Carl Edwards captured the pole for the Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Edwards, the 2011 winner in the exhibition event, completed three laps and a four-tire pit stop Friday night in 1 minute, 51.297 seconds.

Kurt Busch will start alongside Edwards on the front row Saturday night. Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch and Joe Logano round out the top five.

For the first time since 2000, NASCAR waived the pit-road speed limit, allowing drivers to enter and leave the pits at high rates of speed.

That caused problems for several drivers.

Defending All-Star race champion Jimmie Johnson was among a handful of drivers who skidded past his pit stop when his breaks locked up. He was forced to back up, losing valuable time.

Johnson will start 18th.

Tags: Automobile racing, By STEVE REED, NASCAR, North America, North Carolina, Sports, United States

Source: http://www.artesianews.com/2013/05/17/ap-news/sports-ap-news/edwards-grabs-poll-for-sprint-all-star-race/

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The Legend of Soria: The Sacred Swords

@Eli: Definitely, I'll be sure to let people know as soon as more spots open up.

@Keen: Absolutely, your character is awesome!

@Dylan: Your character is great as well, but I will have to pm you tomorrow about some editing I might have to get you to do, due to some conflicting plot details.

@Light: I'll for sure send you a pm back tomorrow, it's getting late and I'm gonna hit the sack.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/7a1lkqf1oHk/viewtopic.php

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Small Talk: Retiring boomers driving sales of small businesses | The ...

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Roberta Bonoff, owner of Creative Kidstuff, a toy store chain, poses at the store in St. Paul, Minn. The toy retailer based in Minneapolis, just expanded by buying a 26-year-old online and catalog toy retailer, Sensational Beginningsa . Bonoff said the owner was tired and ready to sell. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Baby boomers preparing for retirement are driving a surge in small business sales, as they find more and more buyers confident enough in the improving economy to expand their own businesses through acquisitions.

In the first three months of this year, the number of sales that closed jumped 56 percent from the same time in 2012, according to BizBuySell.com, an online marketplace for small businesses. Retirement was the No. 1 contributor to business sales in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2013, according to a survey by Pepperdine University and two trade groups, the International Business Brokers Association and M&A Source.

"It was almost like a light switch went on in January," says Michael Schuster, a broker with World Business Brokers in Miami. "We started getting a lot of activity with sellers who said, ?I don?t want to go through another downturn or tough time. I want to see if I could sell my business.?"

Sales are so strong in Florida that Schuster?s brokerage is opening two more offices in the state. Three-quarters of the sellers or potential sellers that his company sees are baby boomers, most of whom don?t have family members willing to take over their businesses. Some of these owners want to sell just part of their firms, essentially taking on a partner, because they don?t want to keep carrying all the risk themselves.

Honey Rand fits the category. After 17 years of running her Tampa, Fla., public relations firm Environmental PR Group, she?s starting to think about selling. The 55-year-old wants to get away from the administrative work that goes into running a business, and focus on working with clients.

"Like most people who end up starting a business, I?m really good at the work I do and I?d love the opportunity to wallow around in it," says Rand. She?s optimistic that she?d be able to sell, because she was approached twice by prospective buyers in the last 10 years. And Rand expects that she would remain with the company for a period following a sale to help with the transition to new management ? something that many business owners do.

While she hasn?t definitely decided to sell just yet, she plans to talk to a broker soon.

"I like to think ahead, to understand the process and the things that could affect a sale or sale price. When the time comes, or if it comes, I want to be ready. I don?t want to feel like it?s a fire sale," she says.

In California, the pace of sales is more of a "slow pickup, not a huge spike," says Dave Richards, owner of Keystone Business Advisors, a brokerage in Westlake Village, Calif.

"Baby boomers are where we?re really seeing the growth. It?s pent-up demand," Richards says.

story continues below

One of those boomers is Walt Pocock. In late 2011, Pocock met with a broker to discuss possibly selling his Chino, Calif., business, Palo Verde Landscape Management Co. But he and his wife Dee, who also worked with the company, weren?t quite ready to let it go. However, selling became "something we were thinking about from then on," Pocock said.

Within a year, the 70-year-old decided he was ready to retire and Dee, 78, agreed. The difficult business climate was a factor in their decision.

"The economy had not been good and it had been a struggle and we got tired of the struggle," he said.

The put the company on the market in January, and quickly had several bidders. Pocock got his full asking price, and the deal closed April 1. Now he and his wife are looking forward to traveling around the country in their motor home.

Sellers like Pocock are going to keep the market for small businesses thriving for years to come.

"Trillions of dollars of business value are going to change hands in the next 10 to 20 years," says Bob Balaban, managing director at Headwaters MB, an investment bank based in Denver. He believes so-called ?strategic acquisitions? ? purchases by companies looking to expand ? will be a key factor in that trend. In a tight economy, companies looking to grow feel that it would take years to build up their businesses.

"They have to do acquisitions to continue to grow and grow quickly," Balaban says.

Buyers appear to be ready to step up and are looking for companies that will be good fit with their existing operations. Health-care related businesses like medical billing firms, pharmacies and even medical and dental practices are particularly in demand, says Keystone?s Richards. He?s seeing less interest in restaurants and retailers, industries where profit margins are thinner and where many companies are still struggling. Schuster, the Miami broker, says he sees people who were waiting for the economy to pick up, and they?ve decided that business is good enough for them to take the plunge.

"There?s a lot of people who were sitting the sidelines and could not do that anymore ? the election?s over and things are getting better," he says.

Sellers are benefiting from this trend because buyers are willing to pay more money if a deal will quickly get them into the markets they want to serve, says Mike Carter, CEO of BizEquity, a company that helps businesses calculate their sales price.

"For a growth company, we?re seeing them getting almost 15 percent more than what they were getting four years ago (during the recession)," he says.

Next Page >

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56321348-79/business-says-businesses-sales.html.csp

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Climate change may have little impact on tropical lizards

Friday, May 17, 2013

A new Dartmouth College study finds human-caused climate change may have little impact on many species of tropical lizards, contradicting a host of recent studies that predict their widespread extinction in a rapidly warming planet.

The findings, which appear in the journal Global Change Biology, offer new hope for survival of a creature thought to be doomed

Most predictions that tropical cold-blooded animals, especially forest lizards, will be hard hit by climate change are based on global-scale measurements of environmental temperatures, which miss much of the fine-scale variation in temperature that individual animals experience on the ground, said the article's lead author, Michael Logan, a Ph.D. student in ecology and evolutionary biology.

To address this disconnect, the Dartmouth researchers measured environmental temperatures at extremely high resolution and used those measurements to project the effects of climate change on the running abilities of four populations of lizard from the Bay Islands of Honduras. Field tests on the captured lizards, which were released unharmed, were conducted between 2008 and 2012.

Previous studies have suggested that open-habitat tropical lizard species are likely to invade forest habitat and drive forest species to extinction, but the Dartmouth research suggests that the open-habitat populations will not invade forest habitat and may actually benefit from predicted warming for many decades. Conversely, one of the forest species studied should experience reduced activity time as a result of warming, while two others are unlikely to experience a significant decline in performance.

The overall results suggest that global-scale predictions generated using low-resolution temperature data may overestimate the vulnerability of many tropical lizards to climate change.

"Whereas studies conducted to date have made uniformly bleak predictions for the survival of tropical forest lizards around the globe, our data show that four similar species, occurring in the same geographic region, differ markedly in their vulnerabilities to climate warming," the authors wrote. "Moreover, none appear to be on the brink of extinction. Considering that these populations occur over extremely small geographic ranges, it is possible that many tropical forest lizards, which range over much wider areas, may have even greater opportunity to escape warming."

###

Article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12253/abstract

Dartmouth College: http://www.dartmouth.edu

Thanks to Dartmouth College for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128301/Climate_change_may_have_little_impact_on_tropical_lizards

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

David Beckham Retires From Soccer!

If you want to see David Beckhman do his thing on the soccer field your days are numbered. The soccer stud announced today that he will be retiring from the sport he loves at the end of the current season, sigh. That means only two more games for fans to check him out in action. He is one of the most recognizable athlete in the world and he is about to end his career. Beckhman,along with his killer good looks and amazing soccer skills have become an international brand and star. The 38-year old will be hanging up his cleats ending an awesome career that has consisted of winning league titles in four countries. He released this statement regarding his retirement news earlier today. “I am thankful to PSG [Paris St. Germain, his current club] for giving [him] the opportunity to continue” competing. “But I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level.” This news means that he will be turning down an extended contract offered to? him by PSG ending a almost two decade career, wowza. As I am sure you are all well aware, the hunky soccer play also played for [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/D8qI3bnBBPE/

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EyePaint, WWF Together, and More

It's been a long week, and you deserve a break. Fortunately, this week's set of apps for iPad are full of fun and relaxation, and there's even app ready to do the work for you. Lucky you.

Read more...

    

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/CXuKAZlNFb8/eyepaint-wwf-together-and-more-508321187

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Ja Rule 'Ain't Lose A Step' Since Prison, N.O.R.E. Brags

Noreaga tells MTV News about his visit, upcoming remix and how he might be converting to Ja's workout plan.
By Rob Markman

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707576/ja-rule-aint-lose-step-since-prison-nore-brags.jhtml

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Obama vows to end 'scourge' of military sex abuse

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens as President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting to discuss sexual assault in the military in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens as President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting to discuss sexual assault in the military in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, left, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and the service secretaries, service chiefs, and senior enlisted advisers to discuss sexual assault in the military in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, meets with President Barack Obama and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, as well as the service secretaries, service chiefs, and senior enlisted advisers to discuss sexual assault in the military in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff speaks during his lecture at Joint Staff College in Tokyo, Friday, April 26, 2013. Dempsey, who is wrapping up weeklong visit to Asia that included South Korea and China, reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

(AP) ? President Barack Obama is pledging to eliminate the "scourge" of sexual assault in the military while cautioning that it will take a long and sustained effort by all military members.

"There is no silver bullet to solving this problem," Obama said Thursday after meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the top brass from all the military services.

"We will not stop until we've seen this scourge, from what is the greatest military in the world, eliminated," he told reporters.

Senior military officers are speaking about the problem with increasing bluntness and expressions of regret. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday called it a "crisis" in the ranks, and on Thursday the Army chief of staff, Gen. Ray Odierno, publicly acknowledged his service's efforts are "failing."

"They care about this and they are angry about it," Obama said.

"Not only is it a crime, not only is it shameful and disgraceful, but it also is going to make and has made the military less effective than it can be," the president said.

Those summoned to the White House by Obama included not just Hagel, Dempsey and the chiefs of each military service but also the civilian heads of each service and senior enlisted advisers.

"I heard directly from all of them that they are ashamed by some of what's happened," Obama said.

The president added that because assault victims may be more likely now to come forward with complaints, the number of reported assaults may increase in the short run.

"I then want those trend lines to start going down because that indicates that we're also starting to fix the problem and we've highlighted it, and people who are engaged in despicable behavior, they get fully punished for it," Obama said.

The problem, which has plagued the military for decades, has been thrust to the fore by recent cases, including that of an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office but was himself arrested for sexual battery.

On Thursday, Army officials said the manager of the sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., had been relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife. The program he managed was meant to prevent sexual harassment and assault and encourage equal opportunity.

Hagel has said resolving the problem of sexual assault in the military is one of his top priorities, as did his predecessor, Leon Panetta. Hagel is expected to make public in coming days a written directive that spells out steps the Pentagon will take to retrain, rescreen and recertify those who lead the military's sexual assault prevention and response programs.

Earlier Thursday, Odierno, the Army chief, issued a public message to all soldiers in which he said the "bedrock of trust" between soldiers and their leaders has been violated by a recent string of misconduct cases.

He said the Army demonstrated competence and courage through nearly 12 years of war. "Today, however, the Army is failing in its efforts to combat sexual assault and sexual harassment," he wrote.

"It is time we take on the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment as our primary mission," Odierno said.

Allegations of sexual assault in the military have triggered outrage from local commanders to Capitol Hill and the Oval Office. Yet there seem to be few clear solutions beyond improved training and possible adjustments in how the military prosecutes such crimes.

The Pentagon had scheduled a briefing for journalists Thursday with Hagel and Dempsey, but after the White House meeting was announced, the Pentagon news conference was postponed until Friday.

A Pentagon report last week estimated that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, based on survey results, out of 1.4 million in the services.

That report, and a recent series of arrests and other sexual assault problems across the military, have triggered a rush of initiatives from the Pentagon and proposed legislation on Capitol Hill.

___

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

___

Follow Robert Burns on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Follow Lolita C. Baldor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbaldor

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-17-Military%20Sexual%20Assault/id-d7797e083ebe4835b52ecc135d586e96

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Note Found in Boat: "When You Attack One Muslim, You Attack All Muslims"

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-note-found-in-boat-when-you-attack-one-muslim/

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Google announces new Checkout button, one-click purchases on the go

Google announces new Checkout button, oneclick purchases onthego

Google has just made shopping on your Android phone much easier. The folks in Mountain View have outed a new Checkout button that enables one-click purchases. Instead of having to shuffle through the gamut of steps to pick up that next birthday gift, you'll only need to tap once, then confirm the payment info via Google Wallet and shipping details in order to complete a shopping session on your mobile device. Of course, this will also allow users to avoid the headache of having to input payment info in each site they want to make a purchase from.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dehkQH5X-t8/

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At least 6 confirmed dead in Texas tornadoes

Derrek Grisham, left, points out neighborhood damage to storm chaser Travis Schafer after a tornado damaged his mother's house on Hyde Park Lane at Country Club Rd. in Cleburne, Texas,Wednesday night, May 15, 2013. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain early Thursday declared a local disaster as schools canceled classes amid the destruction. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

Derrek Grisham, left, points out neighborhood damage to storm chaser Travis Schafer after a tornado damaged his mother's house on Hyde Park Lane at Country Club Rd. in Cleburne, Texas,Wednesday night, May 15, 2013. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain early Thursday declared a local disaster as schools canceled classes amid the destruction. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

An unidentified injured young girl is wheeled to an awaiting ambulance in Granbury, Texas, on Wednesday May 15, 2013. Granby was the worst hit city as a rash of tornadoes slammed into several small communities in North Texas overnight, leaving at least six people dead, dozens more injured and hundreds homeless. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

Lightning strikes from a storm illuminates the sky where damage is strewn about the street and light pole near Hyde Park Lane at Country Club Rd. after a tornado in Cleburne, Texas, Wednesday night, May 15, 2013. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain early Thursday declared a local disaster as schools canceled classes amid the destruction. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

A trucking company trailer landed on a car that was parked in front of a Lindsey Ln. home in Cleburne Texas after a powerful storm went through Wednesday night, May 15, 2013. Neighbors say the trailer was parked on the street and was rolled over onto the car. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox)

A large hole was blown out of the roof of a home on Lakeshore Dr. outside of Cleburne, after a tornado Wednesday night, May 15, 2013. The top of the roof was still intact leaving a large hole through the roof of Lake Pat Cleburne home. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain early Thursday declared a local disaster as schools canceled classes amid the destruction. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

GRANBURY, Texas (AP) ? A rash of tornadoes slammed into several small communities in North Texas overnight, leaving at least six people dead, dozens more injured and hundreds homeless. The violent spring storm scattered bodies, flattened homes and threw trailers onto cars.

In Granbury, the worst-hit city, a tornado tore through two neighborhoods around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Resident Elizabeth Tovar said fist-sized hail heralded the tornado's arrival and prompted her and her family to hide in their bathroom.

"We were all, like, hugging in the bathtub and that's when it started happening. I heard glass shattering and I knew my house was going," Tovar said, shaking her head. "We looked up and ... the whole ceiling was gone."

The powerful storm crushed buildings as it tore through the area, leaving some as just piles of planks and rubble. Trees and debris were scattered across yards, fences flattened.

Behind one house, a detached garage was stripped of most of its aluminum siding, the door caved in and the roof torn off. A tree behind the house was stripped of its branches and a vacant doublewide mobile home on an adjoining lot was torn apart.

Daniel and Amanda Layne initially thought they were safe sheltering under their carport. But then "it started getting worse and worse," and the couple took shelter in their bathroom, Daniel Layne said.

"The windows and the cars are gone. Both our cars are messed up. I had a big shop. Ain't a piece of it left now," Layne said with a shrug.

Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds described the devastating aftermath and the hunt for bodies in Granbury, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

"Some were found in houses. Some were found around houses," Deeds said. "There was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we're going to have to search the area out there."

Seven people remain unaccounted and authorities hope they are all staying with family or friends, Deeds said at a Thursday morning news conference. Emergency responders were combing the area and worked to identify the six adults whose remains were found, he said.

He said 37 injured people were treated at hospitals.

Harold Brooks, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's severe storm lab in Norman, Okla., said May 15 is the latest into the month that the U.S. has had to wait for its first significant tornadoes of the year. Brooks said he would expect 2013 to be one of the least lethal tornado years since the agency started keeping records in 1954. Officials have yet to determine the exact strength of the tornado in Granbury.

Utilities said about 20,000 homes and businesses were without power early Thursday.

Another tornado that storm spotters told the National Weather Service was a mile wide tore through Cleburne, a courthouse city of about 30,000 about 25 miles southeast of Granbury.

Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain said early Thursday that no one was killed or seriously hurt, although seven people suffered minor injuries. He estimated that dozens of homes were damaged and declared a local disaster.

In one neighborhood, a trucking company trailer that had been parked on the street was picked up and dropped onto a nearby car and garage.

Another tornado hit the small town of Millsap, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth. Parker County Judge Mark Kelley said roof damage was reported to several houses and a barn was destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

Hail as large as grapefruit also pelted the area around Mineral Wells on Wednesday evening. A police dispatcher reported only minor damage.

___

Associated Press writers Terry Wallace and Jamie Stengle in Dallas and freelance photographer Mike Fuentes contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-16-Texas%20Storms/id-3fc4e5e475054f848e81f2210704f0c1

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Nepal plane crash injures 21, including 9 Japanese

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) ? A plane crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in northern Nepal early Thursday, injuring all 21 people on board.

Four of the injured are in critical condition, police officer Bhim Bahadur Chand said. No one was killed.

Nine passengers are Japanese tourists, and the three crew members and the other passengers are all Nepali.

The plane belonging to state-owned Nepal Airlines was trying to land at Jomsom airport, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Katmandu, when it crashed on the banks of Kaligandaki river.

The injured were rushed to the local hospital, and those with serious injuries are being airlifted to nearby Pokhara town for treatment.

The area is popular with foreign trekkers visiting the Mount Annapurna area and Hindu pilgrims visiting the revered Muktinath temple.

Fifteen people were killed last May when a plane crashed while attempting to land at the same airport.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nepal-plane-crash-injures-21-including-9-japanese-041411175.html

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Mihaylo Business forum outlines five-year strategic plan - Daily Titan

The College of Business and Economics hosted an All College Forum at the Scott and Deanna O?Brian Family Innovation Center on Monday to speak about the coming changes and advances within the college.

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jos? Cruz, Ph.D., spoke about the difficulties that America is facing in higher education and how Cal State Fullerton is enacting a five-year plan in order to increase graduation rates and make more individuals ready in terms of global competitiveness in the job market.

?Gatherings such as (the All College Forum) ? are very important,? said Cruz, ?because it?s about seeing about how we can align all of our energies.?

Cruz said that even with mounting tensions through federal and state budget cuts, CSUF is looking to make a major impact even in a difficult economy.

?We don?t have a lot of money. We have time, we have energy and we have talent,? said Cruz. ?So how do we invest those in the next five years to make sure that we do make Cal State Fullerton a national model comprehensive university??

Anil Puri, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business and Economics, outlined the overall five-year plan of CSUF and how the changes will lead to higher graduation rates and a better and more diverse environment for faculty and staff.

Puri mentioned that the expectations of raising graduation rates for freshman and transfer students is a realistic expectation.

He said he hopes CSUF exceeds its expectations, but was careful not to create an unrealistic level of achievement for such a short period of time.

?The hope is, and expectation is, that you?ll exceed (the guidelines of the five-year plan),? said Puri. ?These percentages are thoroughly reachable ? we don?t want to set a target that we cannot meet, both the University level and college level.?

A ceremony was also held to announce various awards, given by Chiranjeev Kohli, Ph.D., a professor of business marketing.

Overall, 45 individuals were awarded for their service to the college in such categories as staff excellence, faculty excellence and a continued excellence in published work.

After the awards ceremony, Puri announced the arrival of 10 new staff members and appointed Kohli as the new Brand Manager for the College of Business and Economics.

Kohli said that with his new position, he could create more awareness for the outreach of the college of business and economics and increase the reputation of the College of Business and Economics.

?The outlook is going, we?re doing a lot of good things,? said Kohli. ?A lot of entrepreneurial activities we?re pursuing and these are things which will get us noticed.?

Shaun Pichler, Ph.D., an associate professor of management, was the recipient of awards for faculty fellows and continued excellence in publications?a feat meaning that Pichler must maintain a specific level of research productivity which results in being published in quality publications over his time at CSUF.

Since Pichler joined CSUF in 2009, he has published 15 articles in various publications.

Pichler said he thinks the direction of the university?s five-year plan is solid, especially with the efforts of President Mildred Garc?a and the College of Business and Economics making similar goals with its own plans.

?Of course, the exciting part for me is that the goals and objectives are, I think, very closely aligned with the CSUF strategy,? said Pichler. ?So it really gives us a cohesive way to think about things.?

Source: http://www.dailytitan.com/2013/05/mihaylo-business-forum-outlines-five-year-strategic-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mihaylo-business-forum-outlines-five-year-strategic-plan

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Four people found dead in home - WLFI.com

WAYNESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - The Bartholomew County Coroner says the autopsies of the four victims of Saturday's Waynesville shooting will be completed Monday evening. However, the report likely won't be ready until Tuesday morning.

Four people were found dead inside a home in Waynesville according to the Bartholomew County Sheriff?s Department. Sheriff Mark Gorbett said the victims were shot to death. No suspects have been taken into custody and police are not considered to be involved in a manhunt.

"We still have crime scene techs and criminal investigators at the scene and anticipate them being there for quite a length of time," Gorbett said. "We are following up on all leads at this point and we have no one in custody at this time."

The person who called 911 after discovering the bodies is a son who lived with his mother and stepfather in the home, Gorbett said. That person told police he found the victims when he returned home from work.

Three male victims were found in the living room, and a woman was found in a bedroom.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff said the dead include homeowner Katheryn Burton of Waynesville. She was 53 years old.

The three men found dead in her home were Aaron Cross, 41, Thomas Smith, 39, and Shawn L. Burton, 41.

Dispatchers were alerted to the scene, which is about seven miles south of Columbus at 10:39 p.m. Saturday.

A WISH-TV source was on the scene shortly after police arrived and provided photos anonymously. The source told 24-Hour News 8 that "police were everywhere."

Indiana State Police and Columbus Police joined the Sheriff?s Department in setting up a staging area at a church off State Road 11 which is near the crime scene.

In a press conference Sunday afternoon, Sheriff Mark Gorbett addressed the investigation.

"We have investigators from several agencies following up all leads at this time. We?ve been working around the clock and will continue to do so, until we can bring those responsible to justice," Gorbett said.

Friends and family react to homicides

Family and friends say all four of these victims leave behind children.

Rennie Haeseley says her nephew Thomas Smith was a Marine, and had dated victim Katheryn Burton for nine years. Haeseley says she had to call her sister to tell her about her son?s death.

?Unbelievable. Unreal. I?ve never had to call a mom, especially my sister, to say that, 'Your son was just murdered.' That was the hardest thing I?ve ever had to do,? she said.

Haeseley says Smith?s parents and sisters live in North Carolina, and are coming to Indiana.

On Monday, Smith's sisters spoke to 24-Hour News 8 about their brother.

"Tommy is right there with us and he will always be with us. We have a lot of good memories to look back on, a lot of good memories. That will keep us strong. It will," said sister Cindy Rickman.

"I can swallow the hurt down a little bit and when the funeral comes that is when we will all lose it. And that's when we will lean on the rest of the family," said sister Tracy Smith.

Stevie Furkin lives next door to the couple, and says his brother is victim Shawn Burton. Family says Burton has three children.

?He had good intentions,? said Furkin. ?He would also pull the shirt off his back and give it to you anytime.?

?I?m just in shock. They have to have an idea who did this. They have to have an idea who did this. I do hope they find out who it is,? said Haeseley.

Relatives and neighbors say they believe there may have been potential illegal activity going on at the house.? Smith's sisters did not want to comment on the allegations.

Throughout the day on Monday, family and friends of the four victims visited the scene. Flowers were left next to a telephone pole wrapped with crime scene tape. Friends are hoping for a quick arrest.

"I don't know what to think about it at all. I just would love to know the insight onto who done this to my friends and my family. They were like family to me," said Brian Titara, who was a friend of the four victims.

Although 24-Hour News 8 initially reported none of the victims had a criminal history, further research indicated Burton pleaded guilty for possessing and transporting? anhydrous, which stemmed from 2006 charges.

Source: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/video/four-people-found-dead-in-home1368538739646

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Gov't obtains wide AP phone records in probe

The screen on the phone console at the reception desk at The Associated Press Washington bureau, Monday, My 13, 2013. The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

The screen on the phone console at the reception desk at The Associated Press Washington bureau, Monday, My 13, 2013. The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Justice Department has secretly obtained two months of telephone records of journalists for The Associated Press in what AP's top executive says is an unprecedented intrusion into newsgathering. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

(AP) ? The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, for general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or the duration of the calls.

In all, the government seized the records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown, but more than 100 journalists work in the offices where phone records were targeted, on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.

In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and destruction of all copies.

"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations and disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know," Pruitt said.

The government would not say why it sought the records. Officials have previously said in public testimony that the U.S. attorney in Washington is conducting a criminal investigation into who may have provided information contained in a May 7, 2012, AP story about a foiled terror plot. The story disclosed details of a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al-Qaida plot in the spring of 2012 to detonate a bomb on an airplane bound for the United States.

In testimony in February, CIA Director John Brennan noted that the FBI had questioned him about whether he was AP's source, which he denied. He called the release of the information to the media about the terror plot an "unauthorized and dangerous disclosure of classified information."

Prosecutors have sought phone records from reporters before, but the seizure of records from such a wide array of AP offices, including general AP switchboards numbers and an office-wide shared fax line, is unusual.

In the letter notifying the AP, which was received Friday, the Justice Department offered no explanation for the seizure, according to Pruitt's letter and attorneys for the AP. The records were presumably obtained from phone companies earlier this year although the government letter did not explain that. None of the information provided by the government to the AP suggested the actual phone conversations were monitored.

Among those whose phone numbers were obtained were five reporters and an editor who were involved in the May 7, 2012, story.

The Obama administration has aggressively investigated disclosures of classified information to the media and has brought six cases against people suspected of providing classified information, more than under all previous presidents combined.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the investigative House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said on CNN, "They had an obligation to look for every other way to get it before they intruded on the freedom of the press."

The American Civil Liberties Union said the use of subpoenas for a broad swath of records has a chilling effect both on journalists and whistleblowers who want to reveal government wrongdoing. "The attorney general must explain the Justice Department's actions to the public so that we can make sure this kind of press intimidation does not happen again," said Laura Murphy, the director of ACLU's Washington legislative office.

Rules published by the Justice Department require that subpoenas of records of news organizations must be personally approved by the attorney general, but it was not known if that happened in this case. The letter notifying AP that its phone records had been obtained through subpoenas was sent Friday by Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney in Washington.

William Miller, a spokesman for Machen, said Monday that in general the U.S. attorney follows "all applicable laws, federal regulations and Department of Justice policies when issuing subpoenas for phone records of media organizations." But he would not address questions about the specifics of the AP records. "We do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations," Miller said in an email.

The Justice Department lays out strict rules for efforts to get phone records from news organizations. A subpoena can be considered only after "all reasonable attempts" have been made to get the same information from other sources, the rules say. It was unclear what other steps, in total, the Justice Department might have taken to get information in the case.

A subpoena to the media must be "as narrowly drawn as possible" and "should be directed at relevant information regarding a limited subject matter and should cover a reasonably limited time period," according to the rules.

The reason for these constraints, the department says, is to avoid actions that "might impair the news gathering function" because the government recognizes that "freedom of the press can be no broader than the freedom of reporters to investigate and report the news."

News organizations normally are notified in advance that the government wants phone records and then they enter into negotiations over the desired information. In this case, however, the government, in its letter to the AP, cited an exemption to those rules that holds that prior notification can be waived if such notice, in the exemption's wording, might "pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation."

It is unknown whether a judge or a grand jury signed off on the subpoenas.

The May 7, 2012, AP story that disclosed details of the CIA operation in Yemen to stop an airliner bomb plot occurred around the one-year anniversary of the May 2, 2011, killing of Osama bin Laden.

The plot was significant both because of its seriousness and also because the White House previously had told the public it had "no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the (May 2) anniversary of bin Laden's death."

The AP delayed reporting the story at the request of government officials who said it would jeopardize national security. Once officials said those concerns were allayed, the AP disclosed the plot, though the Obama administration continued to request that the story be held until the administration could make an official announcement.

The May 7 story was written by reporters Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman with contributions from reporters Kimberly Dozier, Eileen Sullivan and Alan Fram. They and their editor, Ted Bridis, were among the journalists whose April-May 2012 phone records were seized by the government.

Brennan talked about the AP story and investigation in written testimony to the Senate. "The irresponsible and damaging leak of classified information was made ... when someone informed the Associated Press that the U.S. Government had intercepted an IED (improvised explosive device) that was supposed to be used in an attack and that the U.S. Government currently had that IED in its possession and was analyzing it," he wrote.

He also defended the White House decision to discuss the plot afterward. "Once someone leaked information about interdiction of the IED and that the IED was actually in our possession, it was imperative to inform the American people consistent with Government policy that there was never any danger to the American people associated with this al-Qa'ida plot," Brennan told senators.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-13-US-AP-Phone-Records-Subpoena/id-ff917e76514b4b60b660aa6460bef98a

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