(Please visit our articles about furniture direct, writing desk, and glass desk)
Life insurance happens with the type of a authorized agreement between coverage owners and insurance coverage organizations. From the process, policy proprietors shell out fixed quantities of money for the insurance policies providers. In return, the companies ensure to spend a specific amount of cash on the policy owners? behalf just after loss of life. Even though such coverage may cover various components including expenditures which might be correlated into the beneficiary?s cure and funeral, the standard reason powering acquiring life insurance is providing economic assist to their loved ones immediately after they die.
Both the terms as well as conditions of the life insurance coverage frequently incorporate the exclusion of statements in case of suicides, frauds and riots, amongst many others. Most of these exclusions are integrated to be sure the policy?s authenticity and also to optimize the insurers? authorized tasks. Normally, authorized contracts that happen to be associated to life insurance incorporate safety together with investment insurance policies. Protection policies consist of fixed quantity payments mixed with rewards for policy proprietors all through selected events although investment policies improve funds amounts by way of standard or simple time rates.
(Please visit our articles about second hand office furniture, glass desks, and l shaped desks)
Many people today with the state look at gaining a life insurance policy as anything of the necessity. The commonest kind of the coverage involves whole life insurance policy, insurance coverage and variable life insurance coverage. An proprietor of total life insurance has to fork out a top quality each and every year though for the universal lifestyle coverage, dollars values maximize every thirty day period with a sure proportion in relation to interest. This coverage may very well be debited every thirty day period about the insurance policies amount?s foundation along with other charges that were withdrawn from your funds values, in case no top quality payment is completed by coverage proprietors in the specified month.
For the variable life policy, money values could be invested in different accounts based on the coverage owners? respective decisions. The varied life insurance policy terms and ailments could possibly be simply just discovered when one particular seeks assists from any insurance coverage agent. You will find certain insurance policies companies that offer help for their clientele in relation to insurance plan policies along with offer free estimates in terms of insurance coverage normally.
In looking for a trustworthy insurance policies organization in the region, one particular could take into account beginning their glance over the internet. This is certainly likely to help them get each of the information and facts they have to have about any life insurance policy at any time and from any place. Getting a life insurance policy can and can guide relations later on.
Want to find out more about life insurance policy, then visit Alice Taylor?s site on how to choose the best life insurance for your needs.
(Please visit our articles about l desk, furniture house, and medical office furniture)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Euro zone states may ditch plans to impose losses on private bondholders should countries need to restructure their debt under a new bailout fund due to launch in mid-2013, four EU officials told Reuters on Friday.
Discussions are taking place against a backdrop of flagging market confidence in the region's debt and as part of wider negotiations over introducing stricter fiscal rules to the EU treaty.
Euro zone powerhouse Germany is insisting on tighter budgets
and private sector involvement (PSI) in bailouts as a precondition for deeper economic integration among euro zone countries.
Commercial banks and insurance companies are still expected to take a hit on their holdings of Greek sovereign bonds as part of the second bailout package being finalized for Athens.
But clauses relating to PSI in the statutes of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - the permanent facility scheduled to start operating from July 2013 - could be withdrawn, with the majority of euro zone states now opposed to them.
The concern is that forcing the private sector bondholders to take losses if a country restructures its debt is undermining confidence in euro zone sovereign bonds. If those stipulations are removed, most countries in the euro zone argue, market sentiment might improve.
"France, Italy, Spain and all the peripherals" are in favor of removing the clauses, one EU official told Reuters. "Against it are Germany, Finland and the Netherlands." Austria is also opposed, another source said.
A third official said that while German insistence on retaining private sector involvement in the ESM was fading, collective action clauses would only be removed as part of broader negotiations under way over changes to the EU treaty.
Berlin wants all 27 EU countries, or at least the 17 in the euro zone, to provide full backing for alterations to the treaty before it will consider giving ground on other issues member states want it to shift on, officials say.
Germany is under pressure to soften its opposition to the European Central Bank playing a more direct role in combating the crisis, and member states also want Berlin to give its backing to the idea of jointly issued euro zone bonds.
German officials dismiss any suggestion of a 'grand bargain' being put together, but officials in other euro zone capitals, including Brussels, say such a deal is taking shape and suggest Berlin will move when it has the commitments it is seeking, although it's unclear when that will be.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Strasbourg on Thursday that there was no quid pro quo being set up.
"This is not about give and take," she said.
Euro zone finance ministers will discuss the ESM at a meeting in Brussels on November 29-30, including the implications of dropping collective action clauses from its statutes.
COMPLICATIONS
While most euro zone countries just want to forget about enforced private sector involvement, some are adamant that there must be a way to ensure banks and not just taxpayers shoulder some of the costs of bailing countries out.
Austria's opposition Green Party, whose support the government needs to secure backing for the ESM in the Vienna parliament, insists collective action clauses must remain a part of the ESM. It's also far from unclear whether the finance committee of the German lower house Bundestag would agree to such changes being made to the ESM.
Any changes to the mechanism would have to be approved by all member states and ratified by national parliaments before they can take effect, meaning fixed Austrian and German opposition could derail the push for changes.
Germany and some other member states were hoping to bring the ESM, which will have a lending capacity of 500 billion euros, into force as early as July next year, but disagreement over its structure could delay that.
(Reporting by Julien Toyer, John O'Donnell and Luke Baker in Brussels, Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Mike Shields in Vienna; writing by Luke Baker; editing by Rex Merrifield, John Stonestreet)
Let's face it, while we may tolerate dropped calls from time to time as a circumstance of traveling or other obstacles, heaven forbid there be no Wi-Fi at your destination, or en route. It's something we've grown to expect since we can get it at the airport, coffee shops and certainly on visits to family during holiday weeks like this.?
Live Poll
Do you expect Wi-Fi to be nearly everywhere you go?
169104
YES. And it should be a given nowadays instead of a paid perk.
74%
169105
YES. And it's ok if I have to pay to get it.
10%
169106
NO. I don't think it's that ubiquitous. Besides, I still connect through Ethernet.
16%
VoteTotal Votes: 687
A recent study projects a four-fold increase in global, public Wi-Fi hotspots to 5.8 million by 2015, mostly due to consumers who want it for their smartphones and tablets.
Devicescape, a company that has more than 4 million hotspots around the world in its Virtual Wi-Fi Network, summed it up this way in a study of 1,040 users:
While carriers promote Wi-Fi as a cost-saving measure for their users, the reality is that Wi-Fi is everywhere, and in most cases, it is free.?Wi-Fi?offers unlimited bandwidth, and can?be accessed for free in many public places like?parks, schools, caf?s and retail stores. It is also becoming easier to use, thanks to evolving Wi-Fi applications and smartphone hardware that makes?the process of locating and logging onto Wi-Fi networks?a seamless and often passive activity done automatically by the network operator.
All these points contribute to an overwhelming majority of respondents (83.1 percent) who expect their service provider to offer a Wi-Fi network through a bundled package.
And, if given a choice, mobile consumers would rather transmit data via Wi-Fi than use cellular networks, such as 3G: "86 percent of respondents believe that data runs better on Wi-Fi, and an even larger percentage ? 88 percent ? perceive it to be a less-expensive alternative to 3G."
Meraki, a company focused on cloud networking, released a study in June that found:
The average iPad consumes over 400% more Wi-Fi data than the average Android, iPod, and iPhone.
Between 2010 and 2011, mobile platforms overtook desktop platforms in percentage of Wi-Fi devices.
iOS and Android together now account for 58% of Wi-Fi devices, compared to 33% just one year ago.
With those kinds of numbers, it's no wonder Wi-Fi seems to be all the rage. Take our poll and tell us if you think Wi-Fi is a privilege, or a right.
More stories:
Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.
BEIJING (Reuters) ? Growth in China's factory output is likely to fall slightly to 12-13 percent in 2012 due to weakening global demand, the industry ministry said on Thursday, but that level probably still implies a comfortable GDP growth rate of 8-9 percent next year.
Annual industrial output in the world's second-largest economy is expected to grow 14 percent this year but activity at home and abroad is cooling as tight domestic monetary conditions and weak U.S. and European economies weigh on orders.
Many economists believe that if China's factory output grows by between 11-13 percent a year, it would be enough to avoid a "hard landing" and keep the economy growing at around 8-9 percent, the level at which China will be creating enough jobs to stem any public unrest.
Fears that China may be set for a sharp slowdown flared again on Wednesday after HSBC's flash PMI survey showed the factory sector shrank the most in 32 months in November on signs of domestic economic weakness. The results amplified concerns that the global economy may tip into recession.
"The industrial production growth rate will show some moderation next year, judging from the domestic and external environment," Huang Libin, a senior official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at an online briefing.
He predicted factory output growth in 2012 would be 1-2 percentage points lower than this year, but did not elaborate.
The official Xinhua news agency later cited Huang as predicting industrial production would grow 14 percent this year.
In October, the ministry forecast factory growth of 11 percent for this year and 2012 -- a long-standing outlook.
Growth in factory output hit its weakest pace in a year in October, even though expansion in the first 10 months of 2011 averaged 14.1 percent.
The purchasing managers' (PMI) survey implied annual industrial output growth in China will moderate in coming months to an annual rate of 11-12 percent, a pace not seen since 2009 when China was pulling out of the global financial crisis.
In addition to weakness in its key Western export markets and worries about the deepening euro zone debt crisis, China is also seeing a slowdown in its once red-hot real estate sector, with falling home prices and sales.
"The economy faces relatively big downside risks but we haven't seen any signs of a hard landing. So conditions for an across-the-board policy easing are not ripe yet," said Qiao Yongyuan, an economist at CEBM in Shanghai.
He expects annual growth in factory output to ease to 12.5 percent in 2012 from this year's 13.7 percent.
The government would continue to rein in sectors with outdated technology and those that consume too much energy, Huang said.
The ministry expects China's economy to grow an annual 9.2 percent this year, and the pace could slow modestly in 2012.
China's economy grew 10.4 percent in 2010.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Jacqueline Wong & Kim Coghill)
N-key rollover (NKRO) is the gaming equivalent of musical polyphony, except it's less about creating beautiful harmonies and more about meleeing that camper in the corner while taking evasive maneuvers, reloading your AK, barking orders at your unit, checking the map, calling in a chopper and emailing the office -- all at precisely the same time. If that sounds beautiful to you, then you might consider picking up QPAD's new MK-85 mechanical gaming keyboard, which delivers full NKRO, USB and audio hub functionality and individual blood-red LED backlights over a single USB cable. It also has non-tactile, non-audible Cherry MX Red switches and, of course, plenty of programmable keys. The MK-85 will be available from December priced at €149 ($200). Alternatively, you can opt for a stripped-down MK-50 for €80 ($106), which plays the same core melody but without some of the trills.
SINGAPORE ? Oil prices rose slightly to near $97 a barrel Thursday in Asia amid light trading volume ahead of a U.S. holiday.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 43 cents at $96.60 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.84 to settle at $96.17 in New York on Wednesday.
Brent crude for January delivery rose 50 cents to $107.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.
Markets in the U.S. are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Crude has fallen from above $103 last week amid investor concern that Europe's debt crisis will undermine global economic growth and oil demand.
However, crude inventories have dropped in recent months in the U.S. and Europe. Crude supplies fell by 6.2 million barrels last week and are about 8 percent below year-earlier levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.
"The low inventory situation has prevented oil prices from falling sharply," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report. "But eventually, deteriorating financial conditions could start to impact economic activity and bring oil prices somewhat lower."
Bank of America said it expects Brent crude to average $104 in the first quarter of next year.
Some analysts predict robust growth in demand for commodities from developing countries will outstrip production capacity increases and push prices higher.
"We believe that the oil market has been too focused on the downside risks to prices and not focused enough on the upside risk should the economy avoid recession," Goldman Sachs said in a report.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1 cent to $2.98 per gallon and gasoline futures gained 2.4 cents to $2.54 per gallon. Natural gas was steady at $3.61 per 1,000 cubic feet.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Israeli archaeologists Wednesday said they had found ancient coins that overturned widely-held beliefs about the origins of Jerusalem's Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites.
For centuries, many thought the wall was built by King Herod - also infamous, in the Christian tradition, for his efforts to hunt down the baby Jesus in the original Christmas story.
But archaeologists said they had found coins buried under the wall's foundations minted 20 years after King Herod's death in 4 B.C., showing the structure was completed by his successors.
The find will mean a re-think for the city's army of tour guides.
"Every tour guide ... grounded in the history of Jerusalem" had replied "Herod" when asked who built the wall, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.
"This bit of archaeological information illustrates the fact that the construction of the Temple Mount walls and (the adjacent) Robinson's Arch was an enormous project that lasted decades and was not completed during Herod's lifetime," the Authority added.
The authority said academic historians were already aware of an account by the Jewish historian Josephus that the wall was completed by Herod's great grandson.
But that report had done nothing to dispel the popular story that Herod completed the wall and the coins were the first hard evidence to back up Josephus's version.
The Western Wall was a perimeter wall of the Second Jewish Temple destroyed by Jerusalem's Roman conquerors in 70 AD.
Herod still keeps the credit for driving the expansion of the compound of the Biblical Jewish Temple, beginning what Josephus described as "the largest project the world has ever heard of."
The temple compound is now home to the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine and is revered by Muslims as the "Noble Sanctuary."
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Andrew Heavens)
TOKYO ? The former chief executive of Olympus Corp. spoke with Japanese investigators Thursday, reiterating his determination to get to the bottom of one of Japan's biggest financial scandals involving a cover-up of massive investment losses.
Michael Woodford, 51, plans to confront the board of the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker at a meeting Friday ? a day after speaking with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission.
Woodford, who was fired last month after questioning dubious accounting at Olympus, remains on the board and can only be removed by shareholders. He declined comment on what he was going to tell prosecutors. He returned to Japan on Wednesday.
Under intense pressure, the embattled company has admitted that a $687 million payment to an obscure Wall Street firm for financial advice and expensive acquisitions were used to cover up investment losses dating to the 1990s.
The board abruptly ousted Woodford last month for questioning the deals and payment. At the time, Olympus said Woodford was sacked because his management style was incompatible with the company's culture.
The scandal has cast a harsh light on corporate governance in Japan, which has been repeatedly criticized as falling behind global standards. Recent media reports have also pointed to possible ties between Tokyo-based Olympus and organized crime.
A third-party panel created by Olympus to investigate its accounting has said it has so far found no evidence of any ties with the underworld.
Woodford told the throngs of media gathered at Narita International on Wednesday that he is not afraid to be back in Japan and would press for answers during his stay.
"This isn't going to go away, the truth will come out," he said. "Please now have the dignity, at least the dignity, to accept that the game is up."
Woodford went public with his concerns after his sacking, and has become a hero among circles hopeful for better corporate governance in Japan.
Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned as president on Oct. 26 and was replaced by Shuichi Takayama. The company blamed the accounting scheme on Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and ex-auditor Hideo Yamada.
Prosecutors are questioning the executives, according to Kyodo news agency.
Olympus now risks being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange unless it can rectify past filings with regulators by reporting revised earnings by Dec. 14.
The company's shares lost four-fifths of their value after the scandal erupted in mid-October, but have since recovered on optimism that Olympus will avoid removal from the stock exchange.
The issue gained 17 percent Thursday, its maximum gain allowed for a single day, to finish at 1,019 yen.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed Wednesday for a national holiday. Olympus shares surged 20 percent Tuesday after the panel said it had found no evidence of links to organized crime.
The practice of hiding investment losses through funny bookkeeping and paper companies has surfaced before in Japan, especially in the 1990s, when mergers and acquisitions became a way for companies to survive in the depressed economy that followed the bursting of Japan's real estate bubble.
Such scandals have previously ensnared other major names in Japan Inc., such as Yamaichi Securities Co., which went bankrupt in 1997, and cosmetics maker Kanebo, which was forced to undergo a government-backed bailout in 2005.
Woodford is speaking on a panel and with reporters Thursday evening, and has a press conference Friday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo.
___
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Microsoft founder Bill Gates arrives at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Gates was scheduled to testify in a one billion dollar antitrust lawsuit brought by Novell Inc. Gates, wearing a gray suit and a yellow tie, was the first witness to testify as Microsoft lawyers presented their case in the trial that's been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month.(AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates arrives at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Gates was scheduled to testify in a one billion dollar antitrust lawsuit brought by Novell Inc. Gates, wearing a gray suit and a yellow tie, was the first witness to testify as Microsoft lawyers presented their case in the trial that's been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month.(AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Microsoft's Windows 95 rollout presented the most challenges in the company's history, leading to several last-minute changes to technical features that would no longer support a rival software maker's word processor, Bill Gates testified Monday in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit filed by the creator of WordPerfect.
"We worked super hard," the Microsoft co-founder said. "It was the most challenging, trying project we had ever done."
Gates was the first witness to testify Monday as Microsoft lawyers presented their case in the trial that's been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month. He is set to resume testimony Tuesday morning.
Utah-based Novell Inc. sued Microsoft in 2004, claiming the Redmond, Washington, company violated U.S. antitrust laws through its arrangements with other software makers when it launched Windows 95. Novell says it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss. Novell is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group, the result of a merger that was completed earlier this year.
Gates said Novell just couldn't deliver a Windows 95 compatible WordPerfect program in time for its rollout, and its own Word program was actually better. He said that by 1994, Microsoft's Word writing program was ranked No. 1 in the market above WordPerfect.
Gates called it an "important win."
He testified later that Microsoft had to dump a technical feature that would have supported WordPerfect because he feared it would crash the operating system.
"We were making trade-offs," he said.
Novell argues that Gates ordered Microsoft engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 word processing application because he feared it was too good.
WordPerfect once had nearly 50 percent of the market for computer writing programs, but its share quickly plummeted to less than 10 percent as Microsoft's own office programs took hold.
Microsoft lawyers say Novell's loss of market share was its own doing because the company didn't develop a Windows compatible WordPerfect program until months after the operating system's rollout.
Novell attorney Jeff Johnson has conceded that Microsoft was under no legal obligation to provide advance access to Windows 95 so Novell could prepare a compatible version. Microsoft, however, enticed Novell to work on a version, only to withdraw support months before Windows 95 hit the market, he said.
Microsoft lawyer David Tulchin said Gates decided against installing WordPerfect because it couldn't be made compatible in time for the rollout. He argued that Novell's missed opportunity was its own fault, and that Microsoft had no obligation to give a competitor a leg up.
"Novell never complained to Microsoft," Tulchin said during arguments Friday. "There's nothing in the evidence, no documents."
Johnson maintains Novell was tricked in violation of federal antitrust laws so Microsoft could monopolize the market.
"We got stabbed in the back," he said.
Microsoft's arguments for a dismissal of the case resumed Monday afternoon.
Throughout arguments Friday, U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz openly expressed doubts that Novell's claims had merit.
"I don't see why I have to give a product to a competitor so he can beat me," Motz told Novell attorneys.
Gates, a billionaire, began by testifying about Microsoft's history. He was just 19 when he helped found the company. Today, Microsoft is one of the world's largest software makers, with a market value of more than $210 billion.
"We thought everybody would have a personal computer on every desk and in every home," Gates said. "We wanted to be there and be the first."
___
AP writer Jennifer Dobner contributed to this report.
Here we go again. Two years almost to the day after it first happened ? and six days before this year's UN climate talks kick off in Durban, South Africa ?- a second batch of private emails between climate scientists has been posted online.
Several dozen excerpts have been gathered into a single "read me" file, and are being widely circulated by climate sceptic bloggers.
An initial examination by New Scientist found that the content of the emails is similar to the 2009 release, and features climate scientists debating the merits of different studies and discussing the text to be used in major reports.
No evidence of impropriety
A series of inquiries into the 2009 release found no evidence of scientific impropriety, but criticised some of the scientists for their unwillingness to share their data.
As in 2009, the emails have been uploaded to a Russian server. Included in the release are roughly 5000 files, each containing multiple emails.
The emails are exchanges between some familiar names, such as Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia. Jones, director of research for the University's Climatic Research Unit, was at the centre of the controversy over the 2009 release.
Michael Mann of Penn State University in University Park, the author of the original "hockey stick" graph showing a steep rise in global temperatures over the last century, also features, as do a host of other top climate scientists.
Confuse the public
Mann called the new batch of emails "truly pathetic" and said they reflect desperation among climate deniers, who have failed to pick holes in the science. "They have instead turned to smear, innuendo, criminal hacking of websites, and leaking out-of-context snippets of personal emails in their effort to try to confuse the public about the science and thereby forestall any action to combat this critical threat."
Regarding the content of the emails, he said: "I hardly see anything damning at all, despite these snippets all being taken out of context. I guess they had very little left to work with, having culled, in the first round, the emails that could most easily be taken out of context to try to make me look bad."
In a statement, the University of East Anglia said: "This appears to be a carefully timed attempt to reignite controversy over the science behind climate change when that science has been vindicated by three separate independent inquiries and number of studies ? including, most recently, the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature group."
The BEST group consists of scientists well-known for their sceptical views. Last month, it published an independent analysis of global temperatures showing strong evidence that they are warming.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
MOSCOW (AP) ? A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts returning from the International Space Station has touched down safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa of Japan's JAXA space agency landed north of the town of Arkalyk at 8.27 a.m. (0227 GMT) after spending 165 days in space.
NASA's Dan Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin remain onboard the International Space Station and are due to return to Earth in March. They arrived at the station on Wednesday. A launch next month will take the station back to its normal six-person crew.
THE CAPTAIN GADGET 5-PARAGRAPH REVIEW OF:
The HTC Radar 4G From T-Mobile
(1.) Too many new smartphones try to mimic that elongated black-box look of the iPhone; the HTC Radar 4G, mercifully, does not. Available exclusively on T-Mobile (and what a shame it is that customers on other networks don't have the option to try it), the Radar is a sleek, silver-on-white eye-catcher of a phone. A small part of its visual appeal is Windows Mango, the beautiful operating system still unfamiliar to most everyone who doesn't work for Microsoft. The Radar doesn't look like all the other chocolate bar smartphones, which means more attention for the person who pulls it out of his or her pocket. Let us hold up the Radar as proof that handset manufacturers can still draw up a smartphone that is not a flattened black brick. Let us also hold it up as proof that it is possible to get a nice, attractive, functional smartphone for $99.
(2.) The Radar is light in the hand -- it almost feels fragile or empty-ish on the insides, to its minor detriment -- and rounded-smooth on the corners. It is a palpably well-built phone, front and back. The only physical buttons are a lock-screen button on top of the phone (same positioning as the iPhone's), a long volume bar on the right side and a Microsoft-mandated camera button below that. The screen never really showed the smudge of my fingerprints, though the white face-plate did catch mysterious small black smudges, probably from the dyes of my clothes, on occasion. One minor point of hardware annoyance: The lock-screen button, on the top right of the phone like the iPhone's lock-screen button, was recessed too far inwards, making it more difficult than it should have been to lock/unlock/power off. Pop it out on the second-gen, HTC.
(3.) Performance-wise, the Radar is zippy-quick. Perhaps it is due to the physical weight of the phone, but the Radar emits an illusion of sprightliness and instantaneous reaction-time. Of all the Windows phones I've used, the Radar feels fastest (specs comparisons of processors would indicate otherwise, but I trust my eye). Mango is still Mango (review here): an attractive mobile operating system that is comparatively lacking in apps but is cutting-edge in design, terrific for communication across several platforms (Facebook, SMS, Twitter and more) and an early-adopter's dream (get this hipster OS before it goes mainstream!). The Radar 4G comes with Slacker Radio, T-Mobile TV and a few other "entertainment apps" that you will most likely replace, ignore and/or abandon.
(4.) Camera-loading time is solid, if not great; camera quality is also solid, if not just okay. There's a front-facing camera, too, a nice add-on for a cheap phone. No complaints about call quality, SMS delivery or data downloads or uploads; T-Mobile's "4G," though not the faster of the two HSPA+ networks the carrier offers, offered quick speeds throughout New York City. Battery life was somewhere approaching excellent -- I was often able to go two days of heavy use and constant push email without plugging in.
(5.) The main draw of the HTC Radar, however, is its outward design. It's one of my favorites of the year, and I was relieved to find that the design was not let down by the smartphone's actual performance. Function follows form here; both are noteworthy and commendable, especially at $100. For a smartphone shopper on a budget (and -- sigh -- on T-Mobile) the Radar is one of your best choices. If HTC can free it from the T-Mo trap, it could have a cross-network superstar. I suppose the Radar retains some of its beauty in its scarcity or unavailability, however; perhaps it's better that it remains exclusively on T-Mobile.
-----
HTC RADAR 4G SPECS
Cost: $99 with two-year contract Carriers: T-Mobile Operating System: Windows 7.5 ("Mango") Network: T-Mobile 4G (HSPA+ 14.4) Display: 3.7-inch Weight: 4.8 ounces CPU: 1 GHz single-core Memory: 512MB RAM Storage: 8GB internal; no card slot Camera: 5MP rear-facing with flash; front-facing VGA (less than 1MP) Charger: Micro USB Battery Life (stated): 10 hour talk time on 2G; 8 hour talk time on 3G
Contact: Christian Borg christian.borg@chalmers.se 46-317-723-395 Swedish Research Council
Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in creating light from vacuum
Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in creating light from vacuum observing an effect first predicted over 40 years ago. The results is published tomorrow (Wednesday) in the journal Nature. In an innovative experiment, the scientists have managed to capture some of the photons that are constantly appearing and disappearing in the vacuum.
The experiment is based on one of the most counterintuitive, yet, one of the most important principles in quantum mechanics: that vacuum is by no means empty nothingness. In fact, the vacuum is full of various particles that are continuously fluctuating in and out of existence. They appear, exist for a brief moment and then disappear again. Since their existence is so fleeting, they are usually referred to as virtual particles.
Chalmers scientist, Christopher Wilson and his co-workers have succeeded in getting photons to leave their virtual state and become real photons, i.e. measurable light. The physicist Moore predicted way back in 1970 that this should happen if the virtual photons are allowed to bounce off a mirror that is moving at a speed that is almost as high as the speed of light. The phenomenon, known as the dynamical Casimir effect, has now been observed for the first time in a brilliant experiment conducted by the Chalmers scientists.
"Since it's not possible to get a mirror to move fast enough, we've developed another method for achieving the same effect," explains Per Delsing, Professor of Experimental Physics at Chalmers. "Instead of varying the physical distance to a mirror, we've varied the electrical distance to an electrical short circuit that acts as a mirror for microwaves.
The "mirror" consists of a quantum electronic component referred to as a SQUID (Superconducting quantum interference device), which is extremely sensitive to magnetic fields. By changing the direction of the magnetic field several billions of times a second the scientists were able to make the "mirror" vibrate at a speed of up to 25 percent of the speed of light.
"The result was that photons appeared in pairs from the vacuum, which we were able to measure in the form of microwave radiation," says Per Delsing. "We were also able to establish that the radiation had precisely the same properties that quantum theory says it should have when photons appear in pairs in this way."
What happens during the experiment is that the "mirror" transfers some of its kinetic energy to virtual photons, which helps them to materialise. According to quantum mechanics, there are many different types of virtual particles in vacuum, as mentioned earlier. Gran Johansson, Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics, explains that the reason why photons appear in the experiment is that they lack mass.
"Relatively little energy is therefore required in order to excite them out of their virtual state. In principle, one could also create other particles from vacuum, such as electrons or protons, but that would require a lot more energy."
The scientists find the photons that appear in pairs in the experiment interesting to study in closer detail. They can perhaps be of use in the research field of quantum information, which includes the development of quantum computers.
However, the main value of the experiment is that it increases our understanding of basic physical concepts, such as vacuum fluctuations the constant appearance and disappearance of virtual particles in vacuum. It is believed that vacuum fluctuations may have a connection with "dark energy" which drives the accelerated expansion of the universe. The discovery of this acceleration was recognised this year with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
###
Full bibliographic information: "Observation of the dynamical Casimir effect in a superconducting circuit", C. M. Wilson, G. Johansson, A. Pourkabirian, M. Simoen, J. R. Johansson, T. Duty, F. Nori, & P. Delsing, Nature 479, 376 (17 November 2011), doi:10.1038/nature10561
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Christian Borg christian.borg@chalmers.se 46-317-723-395 Swedish Research Council
Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in creating light from vacuum
Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology have succeeded in creating light from vacuum observing an effect first predicted over 40 years ago. The results is published tomorrow (Wednesday) in the journal Nature. In an innovative experiment, the scientists have managed to capture some of the photons that are constantly appearing and disappearing in the vacuum.
The experiment is based on one of the most counterintuitive, yet, one of the most important principles in quantum mechanics: that vacuum is by no means empty nothingness. In fact, the vacuum is full of various particles that are continuously fluctuating in and out of existence. They appear, exist for a brief moment and then disappear again. Since their existence is so fleeting, they are usually referred to as virtual particles.
Chalmers scientist, Christopher Wilson and his co-workers have succeeded in getting photons to leave their virtual state and become real photons, i.e. measurable light. The physicist Moore predicted way back in 1970 that this should happen if the virtual photons are allowed to bounce off a mirror that is moving at a speed that is almost as high as the speed of light. The phenomenon, known as the dynamical Casimir effect, has now been observed for the first time in a brilliant experiment conducted by the Chalmers scientists.
"Since it's not possible to get a mirror to move fast enough, we've developed another method for achieving the same effect," explains Per Delsing, Professor of Experimental Physics at Chalmers. "Instead of varying the physical distance to a mirror, we've varied the electrical distance to an electrical short circuit that acts as a mirror for microwaves.
The "mirror" consists of a quantum electronic component referred to as a SQUID (Superconducting quantum interference device), which is extremely sensitive to magnetic fields. By changing the direction of the magnetic field several billions of times a second the scientists were able to make the "mirror" vibrate at a speed of up to 25 percent of the speed of light.
"The result was that photons appeared in pairs from the vacuum, which we were able to measure in the form of microwave radiation," says Per Delsing. "We were also able to establish that the radiation had precisely the same properties that quantum theory says it should have when photons appear in pairs in this way."
What happens during the experiment is that the "mirror" transfers some of its kinetic energy to virtual photons, which helps them to materialise. According to quantum mechanics, there are many different types of virtual particles in vacuum, as mentioned earlier. Gran Johansson, Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics, explains that the reason why photons appear in the experiment is that they lack mass.
"Relatively little energy is therefore required in order to excite them out of their virtual state. In principle, one could also create other particles from vacuum, such as electrons or protons, but that would require a lot more energy."
The scientists find the photons that appear in pairs in the experiment interesting to study in closer detail. They can perhaps be of use in the research field of quantum information, which includes the development of quantum computers.
However, the main value of the experiment is that it increases our understanding of basic physical concepts, such as vacuum fluctuations the constant appearance and disappearance of virtual particles in vacuum. It is believed that vacuum fluctuations may have a connection with "dark energy" which drives the accelerated expansion of the universe. The discovery of this acceleration was recognised this year with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
###
Full bibliographic information: "Observation of the dynamical Casimir effect in a superconducting circuit", C. M. Wilson, G. Johansson, A. Pourkabirian, M. Simoen, J. R. Johansson, T. Duty, F. Nori, & P. Delsing, Nature 479, 376 (17 November 2011), doi:10.1038/nature10561
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
One of Delaware's most troubled environmental sites, the abandoned Metachem site, is being considered by state and federal officials for its potential to produce clean energy.
The 65-acre site near Delaware City is being paved over to keep chemicals spilled at the plant from continuing to leach into groundwater. That has limited possible reuses for the property, which was the site of several large chemical spills and was placed on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's list of most hazardous waste sites in 1987.
Originally owned by Standard Chlorine of Delaware, and later Metachem, the plant manufactured chlorinated benzene compounds from 1966 to 2002. Several large spills have occurred at the site, including a 1986 spill of 569,000 gallons of volatile organic compounds. Chemicals from the spill have been found in groundwater, soil, creek sediments, surface water and nearby wetlands, leading to a fish consumption advisory for the Red Lion Creek.
Now, with the help of a new EPA program, solar panels could one day cover the site, providing an environmental benefit from a property that has been an environmental concern for decades, said Collin O'Mara, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado announced earlier this month that they plan to assess 26 sites over the next 12 to 18 months. Other sites include an open-pit copper mine in southwestern New Mexico; a former lead smelter in Montana; and landfills in Arizona, Louisiana and New Jersey.
Gail Mosey, an NREL senior energy analyst, said at the unveiling in New Mexico that the project has the potential to use re-use contaminated sites instead of developing farmlands, forested areas or other currently undeveloped lands. The EPA is spending $1 million on the assessment in hopes of transforming the sites from eyesores to assets, federal officials say.
O'Mara said state officials hope to have a system operating in the next few years at the former plant, where capping is expected to be completed about 2016.
The site's industrial history works to its advantage because a strong infrastructure already is in place, the environmental secretary said.
The property is surrounded by manufacturing sites that could use the power as well as utility lines that could accept power from the site for use throughout the region.
"So, there are a lot of options for where the electrons could flow," O'Mara said.
Environmentalists were cautiously optimistic.
Members of the Delaware Nature Society, which has tracked the remediation effort for years, said the idea has promise as long as it doesn't negatively affect efforts to contain contaminants on the property.
Seth Ross, a retired DuPont engineer who has been one of the Delaware Nature Society's leaders in following the remediation, said the contaminants are not expected to break down in the soil for 50 to 100 years. Knowing that, Ross said he wanted to ensure that the contamination underground is not forgotten. He said it's essential to closely monitor the cap over the years.
"Any cap is going to crack, develop cracks, and there has to be a program to follow that and keep it repaired," Ross said.
O'Mara said the state was looking into if the panels could be placed on the site without disturbing the cap. The fact that the site's neighbors are also industrial means the "not-in-my-backyard" complaints often associated with running power lines to alternate energy sites are not likely.
Brenna Goggin, the Delaware Nature Society's environmental advocate, said she was hopeful the site could serve as a model for cleanup spots elsewhere.
"Just because you have these severely contaminated sites that you don't know what to do with, perhaps there are ways to put renewable energy sources on them so that at least something beneficial comes out of this," Goggin said.
"Laughable" probably isn't the word the makers of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1" were aiming for, but there it is; laughter, at all the wrong places.
The fourth movie in the freakishly popular girl-vamp-wolf love triangle series is so self-serious, it's hard not to cackle at it. The dialogue is, of course, ridiculous and the acting ranges from stiff to mopey. But moments that should be pulsating with tension are usually hilarious because the special effects are still just so distractingly cheesy.
This latest installment has yet another new director ? Bill Condon, a man capable of both panache ("Dreamgirls") and serious artistry ("Gods and Monsters"), little of which you'll see here ? and yet again, the werewolves look jarringly out of place with their surroundings. In a technological age in which Gollum from the "Lord of the Rings" movies blends in seamlessly with everyone and everything around him, how are such sloppy visual effects still possible? Adam Sandler played opposite himself more convincingly in "Jack and Jill."
But we digress, because other movies are more fun to discuss. "Breaking Dawn ? Part 1," the first of two films adapted from the final book in Stephenie Meyer's series (with part two coming next year), serves as a placeholder for the ultimate finale but is jam-packed with developments in its own right. (Melissa Rosenberg once again wrote the adapted screenplay.) So much happens that you wonder, how can there be another entire film after this? Alas, there will be.
Part one begins with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire beau, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), marrying in a lavish, romantic outdoor ceremony. Bella's childhood best friend and the other man in the equation, werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner, barely recognizable with his shirt on), stops by as a gesture of goodwill. Guests mingle and dance and you have to wonder, do they realize that the groom and his entire family are the living dead? Do their eerie, porcelain complexions and glowing amber eyes betray them? The mind wanders.
Anyway, finally ? finally! ? Bella and Edward can have sex, the thing she has wanted all along but he has been reluctant to do for fear that deflowering her will, you know, kill her. Yes, the "Twilight" movies (and the books that inspired them) may be filled with swoony vampires and hunky werewolves, but they are firmly pro-abstinence ? and, later, firmly anti-abortion.
This should be the happiest day of Bella's life but she is, of course, nervous and miserable in general. Because she's Bella; Stewart maintains her usual sullen look for most of the picture. After the ceremony, Edward whisks her away to a private island off the Brazilian coast to make sweet, sweet vampire love to her. It's the moment we've all been waiting for ? and we get to see none of it. All that's left the next morning is a broken bed frame, fluffs of down floating in the air and a baby growing inside the new bride. That's how good Edward is.
From here, "Breaking Dawn" devolves into a debate about what to do with this potentially dangerous hybrid spawn. Whether to keep it is never really in question, even though it's developing at an alarming rate, eating Bella up from the inside and threatening her very life. She waits for the baby to arrive and everyone else sits around discussing while Jacob's werewolf pals hover outside the Cullen clan's door, prepared to pounce. And talking ? which, again, is meant to be ominous but instead comes off as just plain silly.
The score from Carter Burwell, the veteran composer and longtime Coen brothers collaborator, is surprisingly tinkly and intrusive and it further undermines the film's tone. The Twi-hards flooding theaters this weekend probably won't care, though. This is what they've been longing for, and it will be music to their ears.
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1," a Summit Entertainment release, is rated PG-13 for disturbing images, violence, sexuality/partial nudity and some thematic elements. Running time: 117 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
___
Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:
G ? General audiences. All ages admitted.
PG ? Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG-13 ? Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
R ? Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
In this photo made available by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, a Hula Painted Frog, a species believed to be extinct is seen in a nature reserve in northern Israel. Omri Gal of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said Thursday that the Hula Painted Frog was seen for the first time in 50 years this week. In the 1940s, a specimen ate a second frog, leading to speculation the species is cannabilistic.(AP Photo/Dror Galili) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
In this photo made available by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, a Hula Painted Frog, a species believed to be extinct is seen in a nature reserve in northern Israel. Omri Gal of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said Thursday that the Hula Painted Frog was seen for the first time in 50 years this week. In the 1940s, a specimen ate a second frog, leading to speculation the species is cannabilistic.(AP Photo/Dror Galili) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
In this photo made available by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, a Hula Painted Frog, a species believed to be extinct is seen in a nature reserve in northern Israel. Omri Gal of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said Thursday that the Hula Painted Frog was seen for the first time in 50 years this week. In the 1940s, a specimen ate a second frog, leading to speculation the species is cannabilistic.(AP Photo/Dror Galili) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
JERUSALEM (AP) ? A frog species believed to be extinct has hopped back into sight in northern Israel.
Omri Gal of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said Thursday the Hula Painted Frog was seen for the first time in 50 years this week. He said it was declared extinct.
Gal said, "It's an amazing find, now we have a second chance to preserve the species."
The frog is native to the Hula Valley, a swamp drained in the 1950s to stop malaria.
Aquatic ecologist Dana Milstein says the frog was rare even before, and little is known about it. In the 1940s, a specimen ate a second frog, leading to speculation the species is cannibalistic.
She credited rehydration of the area for the frog sighting and said more are likely in the reserve.
Forum rules This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Death Gods Only Eat Apples?. Anything posted here will also show up there.
Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup. Available canon characters: Light Yagami L/Ryuuzaki Misa Amane Ryuk Chief Yagami Shuichi Aizawa Touta Matsuda Kanzo Mogi Hideki Ide Hitoshi Demegawa
It sounds stupid, but make sure you check the Characters tab before making your form, in case someone has taken the character you want.
FeedMoarCookies
Member for 0 years
Return to Out of Character
Post a reply
RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.
If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.
.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 18-Nov-2011
Share ] 