latest in technology news: March 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

Pincam (for iPhone)

When Twitter's video sharing app Vine launched last month to great fanfare, what you often heard was that it was "like Instagram for video." (Around the same time, Twitter actually stopped allowing Instagram photos to show up on users' streams.) But the comparison doesn't flesh out very well, since a big part of Instagram is its ability to enhance your mobile photos with effect filters and retro looks.

Pincam, a recent free iPhone app from the South Korean firm SK Planet, steps in to give us a closer video analog for Instagram, complete with filters and direct uploading to YouTube and Facebook. This is in spite of the app's frequent use of the term "pin," which would suggest a tie-in with Pinterest. Even the app's logo resembles that social network's, but I found no real tie-ins or resemblances. In any case, the video pinning you do with Pincam, though initially somewhat perplexing, can definitely provide moments of enjoyment with your iPhone's video camera.

Interface
Pincam's initial interface is pretty spare. Its most prominent element is a big, universally understood, red Record button. Other controls grace the corners of the screen: At the top you see Settings and Flash on the left, and switch camera on the right.? The most interesting button is at lower-right?Filters. This lets you see effects like Blue Vintage, Vanilla Sky, Dotty, Mozaic, Tooner, and Sketchbook. The last two are pretty impressive, letting you see and record drawing-like versions of your scene in real time. In all, there are a baker's dozen of effects to choose from.

Recording Video
When you hit that big Record button, a progress bar starts running along the bottom and large Pinterest-like button appears in the right side of the screen. Pressing the latter starts an on-screen timer counting down from three seconds, with the word "Highlight!" superimposed on the recording video.

In some ways, I prefer Vine's ability to let you press the screen to choose when recording should happen. That way, you can easily create clever stop-motion effects. But then there's Vine's stingy six-second limit?.Pincam has you start recording, and then pick the best three-second intervals. You can keep the camera rolling as long as you like, but when you stop it by hitting Record again, you'll see an Encoding message and progress bar. When you then watch the final product, you'll see that Pincam has edited your footage to just the Highlighted sections, with one second added to the start, since it's likely that you missed the very beginning of the interesting bits before hitting the button.

You can't do trimming at specific points in the video, but the Highlight button handles that for you. You can open previously recorded video from your Camera Roll, but only to select and edit down to Hightlights in the clip?you can't add one of Pincam's effects.

My results were more impressive if less pithy than what I'd been able to do with Vine. The filters are a definite plus, and it will be interesting to see whether the app can do for mobile video what Instagram did for mobile photos.

Sharing
After signing into a YouTube account and giving permission for Pincam to access it, you'll be able to add a text caption, which by default just says "via Pincam." I didn't appreciate that you can't choose whether the viddy should be public or private, or choose a category before uploading. After a few minutes, a message informed me that my five-second test upload was Successful! The category was set to Entertainment, and the privacy to Public. Again, I wish I'd been able to choose those before uploading. Facebook uploading is even more streamlined, and my video showed up with an HD viewing option.

A Pincam representative told me that SK Planet would be adding its own online sharing service, so the app will become an even more accurate analog to Instagram. The new service will allow private sharing and have a Facebook tie-in.

Stick a Pin in It
Pincam solved the problem of recording video with monotonous sections you want to ditch. And its cool live filter effects go beyond what you get in Vine, as does its longer time limit. But using Pincam is a bit trickier than shooting with Vine or Lightt, and for that reason, I'd be less likely to use it often. I'd probably prefer a post-shooting video editor such as Apple iMovie for iOS, but video editing on phones remains problematic. Pincam's sharing abilities are reasonable, but I look forward to seeing the app's own upcoming online service. For its superior image capabilities, I give Pincam a higher rating than Vine, but for now the PCMag Editors' Choice is still up for grabs in this still emerging category.

Interface

Pincam's initial interface is pretty spare. Its most prominent element is a big, universally understood, red Record button. Other controls grace the corners of the screen: At the top you see Settings and Flash on the left, and switch camera on the right.? The most interesting button is at lower-right?Filters. This lets you see effects like Blue Vintage, Vanilla Sky, Dotty, Mozaic, Tooner, and Sketchbook. The last two are pretty impressive, letting you see and record drawing-like versions of your scene in real time. In all, there are a baker's dozen of effects to choose from.

Hit the Record button again and? another progress bar with the text Encoding

?superimposed on the recording video.

Stick a Pin in it

Pincam solved the problem of recording video with monotonous sections you want to ditch. And its cool live filter effects go beyond what you get in Vine, as does its longer time limit. But using Pincam is a bit trickier than shooting with Vine or Lightt, and for that reason, I'd be less likely to use it often. I'd probably prefer a post-shooting video editor such as Apple iMovie for iOS, but video editing on phones remains problematic. Pincam's sharing abilities are reasonable, but I look forward to seeing the app's own upcoming online service. For its superior image capabilities, I give Pincam a higher rating than Vine, but for now the PCMag Editors' Choice is still up for grabs in this still emerging category.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/8rF7PaHV-1A/0,2817,2417201,00.asp

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Former Pennsylvania state trooper kills wife then himself

By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) - A former Pennsylvania state trooper killed his estranged wife on Thursday before taking his own life in a Decatur Township grocery store, according to state police and local media.

Investigators said Mark Miscavish, 51, went to the County Market, where his wife Traci worked, found her in an upstairs office and shot her with a shotgun before shooting himself at about 10 a.m.

Traci Miscavish, 49, filed for divorce on Friday, according to Centredaily.com. Her husband was a state policeman for 15 years, the Web site said.

Mark Miscavish was arrested on January 23 after he allegedly assaulted his wife and threatened to kill her, according to Centredaily.com.

Traci Miscavish was granted a protection-from-abuse order while her husband faced charges stemming from the incident, the site said.

Decatur Township is about 130 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-pennsylvania-state-trooper-kills-wife-then-himself-235714651.html

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AP NewsBreak: China jails Nobel winner's relative

BEIJING (AP) ? Police have arrested the brother-in-law of China's jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo on fraud charges in what the family said is the latest act of official retaliation.

Beijing police detained Liu Hui on Jan. 31, just before the Lunar New Year and a planned family reunion, and formally charged him two weeks ago over a real estate dispute, lawyer Mo Shaoping said Thursday. He said the criminal charges were unwarranted in a business dispute that has since been resolved.

Liu Hui's arrest is the latest blow to the family and, Mo said, is particularly painful for his sister, Liu Xia, the wife of democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo. He was imprisoned in late 2008, and ever since he was awarded the Nobel prize two-and-a-half years ago, Liu Xia has been under house arrest. Isolated in an apartment with no phone or Internet, she appears emotionally fragile, allowed only weekly visits with family members and a monthly visit to her husband in prison.

The latest arrest "affected the whole family, especially Liu Xia, who is worried about her brother," said Mo.

Calls to the prosecutor's office in the suburban Beijing district of Huairou where Liu Hui is to be tried rang unanswered. Family members publicly declined comment, but privately one said the stress on the family is taking its toll. They are under close surveillance and have been warned not to talk to the media about Liu Xiaobo or Liu Xia, said the family member, who asked not to be identified.

An associate of Mo's, who declined to be named, said Liu Xia skipped her February visit to Liu Xiaobo in Jinzhou Prison 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Beijing out of anger at the arrest of her brother.

Chinese authorities commonly put pressure on relatives and friends of government critics and political and religious dissidents as a way to try to keep them in line. Even by those standards, the treatment of the Liu family is severe and underscores how the Nobel award embarrassed the Chinese government, which bridles at criticisms of its human rights record and its authoritarian political system.

"We used to interact with both Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia's brothers and sisters, but now we have been completely cut off from them," said Pu Zhiqiang, an activist lawyer and family friend. "I think there is only one explanation about this: that the family has been the victim of repressive measures, which are cruel and cowardly."

Liu Xiaobo, once a literary critic and university lecturer, had campaigned for peaceful democratic change for 20 years and been imprisoned three times before his current stint, an 11-year sentence for drafting a programmatic call for political reform called Charter '08.

The recent arrest of the brother, Liu Hui, may be particular retaliation for two incidents that broke the security cordon around Liu Xia and her isolation in her fifth-floor apartment in central Beijing. Reporters from The Associated Press visited her briefly in December, getting into the building while the guards were apparently away at lunch. A few weeks later, five Chinese activist friends did the same thing. In both cases, Liu Xia appeared agitated and shaken.

Pu, the lawyer and Liu family friend, said arresting and prosecuting Liu Hui in an ordinary business dispute fits a pattern of selectively using the law to harass activists and their families. The artist and prominent government critic Ai Weiwei has faced tax charges, for example, rather than a direct attack against his activism. "State security is increasingly using selective enforcement of the law," Pu said.

Police previously arrested Liu Hui, in April last year for the same real estate dispute but then released him on bail in September, Mo said. According to the recent indictment, Liu represented a company from the southern city of Shenzhen in real estate development deals in Beijing, and he and a partner pocketed 3 million yuan ($500,000) that was claimed by another party to the transaction.

He is scheduled to go on trial in May, Mo said, even though the disputed funds have already been returned, and there's insufficient evidence of a crime. "This is irregular," Mo said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-newsbreak-china-jails-nobel-winners-relative-115319919.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

New Dolphins Logo: Leaked! Sleek!

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Why you need a woman to run your website | Internet Psychologist ...

Women should run your website Yesterday I was on a panel of speakers discussing online banking. There were five men on the panel and one woman. As I travelled to the event I read a magazine for web designers where several leading web companies gave advice on how best to produce websites these days considering the vast uptake in mobile. All of the people quoted in the article were men. On the way home I picked up a newspaper and read the business section ? only one woman was mentioned. The world of business and online seems to be dominated by men.

And today we discover that this male dominated industry is in trouble. The Internet has been suffering a major international slow-down thanks to a concerted cyberattack.

But it is not just the web that is wobbling. The world?s financial systems are in turmoil as the Eurozone has been split into two thanks to the Cyprus issue. And what do you see in all those discussions in Brussels about the banking crisis ? loads of middle-aged men. And then you turn to look at the pictures of Wall Street or the City to see who is trying to repair the damage and what do you see? That?s right ? loads more men.

The Internet is prone to attack, the world is still suffering from the financial crisis of five years ago, the retail sector is in the doldrums ? and who is running businesses supposed to get us out of this mess? Men. Who got us into this mess? Men. Only 9% of company directors worldwide are women. But things could be about to change.

New research confirms that women make better decisions than men and that this has a significant advantage for business. And this is not for the reason you might think, that they are soft and fluffy and help people work together. In fact, one of the reasons behind the advantage of having women run businesses is that they are much more prepared to rock the boat than men. It turns out that men want to stick to rules and to do things ?the right way?, while women want to get the right results, even if that means adapting and changing.

The way online business is going you need to have skills which allow you to adapt and change rapidly as the technology shifts. Similarly, you also need to be able to co-operate because web development often requires a range of different professions. The new research shows that women are simply better than men at producing effective collaboration and encouraging change.

Which can only mean one thing ? if you want a successful online business, get a woman to run it. Goodness me ? that?s what Yahoo have just done?! And since appointing Marissa Mayer as their CEO, Yahoo?s stock price has gone up in value by 50%. Not bad for less than a year?s work.

Source: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/2013/blog/web-business/why-you-need-a-woman-to-run-your-website.html

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Study shows medical claims cost increasing in Del.

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/study-shows-medical-claims-cost-133908179.html

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

What you 'like' on Facebook can be revealing

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2011 file photo, a sign with Facebook's "Like" logo is posted at Facebook headquarters near the office for the company's User Operations Safety Team in Menlo Park, Calif. A study by researchers at Cambridge, published Monday, March 11, 2013 in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, has found that clicking the social network's friendly blue "like" buttons may reveal more about people than they realize. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

LONDON (AP) ? Clicking those friendly blue "like" buttons strewn across the Web may be doing more than marking you as a fan of Coca-Cola or Lady Gaga.

It could out you as gay.

It might reveal how you vote.

It might even suggest that you're an unmarried introvert with a high IQ and a weakness for nicotine.

That's the conclusion of a study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers reported analyzing the likes of more than 58,000 American Facebook users to make guesses about their personalities and behavior, and even whether they drank, smoked, or did drugs.

Cambridge University researcher David Stillwell, one of the study's authors, said the results may come as a surprise.

"Your likes may be saying more about you than you realize," he said.

Facebook launched its like button in 2009, and the small thumbs-up symbol has since become ubiquitous on the social network and common across the rest of the Web as well. Facebook said last year that roughly 2.7 billion new likes pour out onto the Internet every day - endorsing everything from pop stars to soda pop. That means an ever-expanding pool of data available to marketers, managers, and just about anyone else interested in users' inner lives, especially those who aren't careful about their privacy settings.

Stillwell and his colleagues scooped up a bucketful of that data in the way that many advertisers do - through apps. Millions of Facebook users have surveyed their own personal traits using applications including a program called myPersonality. Stillwell, as owner of the app, has received revenue from it, but declined to say how much.

His study zeroed in on the 58,466 U.S. test takers who had also volunteered access to their likes.

When researchers crunched the "like" data and compared their results to answers given in the personality test, patterns emerged in nearly every direction. Since the study involved people who volunteered access to their data, it's unclear if the trends would apply to all Facebook users.

The study found that Facebook likes were linked to sexual orientation, gender, age, ethnicity, IQ, religion, politics and cigarette, drug, or alcohol use. The likes also mapped to relationship status, number of Facebook friends, as well as half a dozen different personality traits.

Some likes were more revealing than others. Researchers could correctly distinguish between users who identified themselves as black or white 95 percent of the time. That success rate dropped to a still impressive 88 percent when trying to guess whether a male user was homosexual, and to 85 percent when telling Democrats from Republicans. Identifying drug users was far trickier - researchers got that right only 65 percent of the time, a result scientists generally describe as poor. Predicting whether a user was respectively a child of divorce was even dicier. With a 60 percent success rate, researchers were doing just slightly better than random guesses.

The linkages ranged from the self-evident to the surreal.

Men who liked TV song-and-dance sensation "Glee" were more likely to be gay. Men who liked professional wrestling were more likely to be straight. Drinking game aficionados were generally more outgoing than, say, fans of fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett. People who preferred pop diva Jennifer Lopez usually gathered more Facebook friends than those who favored the heavy metal sound of Iron Maiden.

Among the more poignant insights was the apparent preoccupation of children of divorce with relationship issues. For example, those who expressed support for statements such as "Never Apologize For What You Feel It's Like Saying Sorry For Being Real" or "I'm The Type Of Girl Who Can Be So Hurt But Still Look At You & Smile" were slightly more likely to have seen their parents split before their 21st birthday.

Some of the patterns were difficult to understand: The link between curly fries and high IQ scores was particularly baffling.

Jennifer Golbeck, a University of Maryland computer scientist who wasn't involved in the study but has done similar work, endorsed its methodology, calling it smart and straightforward and describing its results as "awesome."

But she warned of what the work showed about privacy on Facebook.

"You may not want people to know your sexual orientation or may not want people to know about your drug use," she said. "Even if you think you're keeping your information private, we can learn a lot about you."

Facebook said the study fell in line with years of research and was not particularly surprising.

"The prediction of personal attributes based on publicly accessible information, such as ZIP codes, choice of profession, or even preferred music, has been explored in the past," Facebook's Frederic Wolens said in a written statement.

Wolens said that Facebook users could change the privacy settings on their likes to put them beyond the reach of researchers, advertisers or nearly anyone else. But he declined to say how many users did so.

For the unknown number of users whose preferences are public, Stillwell had this advice: Look before you like.

The like button is "quite a seductive thing," he said. "It's all around the Web, it's all around Facebook. And it's so easy."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-11-Britain-Facebook%20Likes/id-ac618b4dc2e644b9ba3d3761c9c44f85

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Monday, March 11, 2013

Celebrity endorsement encourages children to eat junk food

Monday, March 11, 2013

A study by the University of Liverpool has found that celebrity endorsement of a food product encourages children to eat more of the endorsed product. It also found that children were prompted to eat more of the endorsed product when they saw the celebrity on TV in a different context.

Celebrity endorsement is an effective method of creating value, recognition and credibility for a brand, and celebrities are frequently used in television advertising to induce children to try foods. An example of this is former England international soccer player Gary Lineker, now principally a TV sports presenter, who has been endorsing Walker's Crisps since 1995.

The study involved 181 children, aged between 8 and 11 years old, who were asked to watch one of three different adverts or general TV footage (Match of the Day featuring Gary Lineker as the main presenter) embedded within a 20-minute cartoon. The adverts were for Walkers crisps (featuring Gary Lineker as a celebrity endorser), a different snack food or a toy product.

The children were offered two bowls of crisps to eat, one labelled `Walkers' and one labelled `Supermarket' although both bowls actually contained Walkers crisps. The amount of crisps consumed from each bowl by each child was then measured.

The study found that although both bowls contained Walkers crisps, after watching the Gary Lineker advert or the general TV footage of Gary Lineker, the children ate considerably more of the Walkers crisps than the children who watched the other snack food advert or the toy advert.

Dr Emma Boyland, from the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society who led the research, said: "This is the first study to show the powerful effects of celebrity endorsement - in both a TV advertising and a non-food context - on the choice and intake of the endorsed snack product over the same product offered as a non-branded snack item.

"The study demonstrated, for the first time, that the influence of the celebrity extended even further than expected and prompted the children to eat the endorsed product even when they saw the celebrity outside of any actual promotion for the brand. It quantifies the significant influence that the celebrity has over children's brand preferences and actual consumption.

"This research has consequences for the use of celebrities, and in particular sports stars, in advertising unhealthy or High Fat Salt and Sugar (HFSS) products. If celebrity endorsement of HFSS products continues and their appearance in other contexts prompts unhealthy food intake then this would mean that the more prominent the celebrity the more detrimental the effects on children's diets."

The research is published in The Journal of Pediatrics

###

University of Liverpool: http://www.liv.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Liverpool 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.

This press release has been viewed 32 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127219/Celebrity_endorsement_encourages_children_to_eat_junk_food

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Ultrasound Certification in Northern Virginia

The sole imaging facility in Nothern Virginia is the Ultrasound Associates. Their accreditation includes various ultrasound services which include those in obstetrics, gynecology, breast and in the abdomen. It is a comprehensive inspection of the the practice which also includes the certifications of the personnel, doctors and sonographers, in the field as well as their education, procedures in examination and others.

ultrasound certification

Enrolling oneself in an accredited school with accredited programs puts one in the right place. Establishing a career as an ultrasound technologist is no laughing matter as it tackles almost all science subjects as well as subjects that one thought would deem to be too unnecessary yet prove to be of high importance; examples of which include computer science, information technology, physics, allied health, healthcare and ethics. Organizations like the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) are accredited and give out certifications to those willing participants to go through their application process.

When it comes to any kind of tests, preparation is always the key; without preparation, one wouldn?t be able to focus, especially it the test just so happens to be the test that greatly resembles a ?make it or break it? situation. The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography or ARDMS is the top organization that provides those looking for a career in the field of sonography a chance to jump start their careers. Other organizations would include the American Registry for Radiologic Technologists, the CCI or the Cardiovascular Credentialing International and teh JCAHPO or the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology.

Patients seeking the best health care facility want to be sure that beyond the licensing requirements of the state they are receiving accurate readings by the technologists or sonographers. After all, the correct readings of the exams and the proper handling of the procedures will ensure that your doctors get the proper information needed for your care. Any facility, therefore, that performs diagnostic ultrasound would give their patients piece of mind by having their accreditations by such bodies as the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), the American College of Radiology (ACR) or from the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) which are the gold standard in ultrasound and gives patients the assurance that they will be receiving the best quality examination for the technicians there.

Source: http://www.cdbmd.com/ultrasound-certification-in-northern-virginia/

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Step-By-Step Tips You Can Use For Home Improvement ? Yahoodiary

Your home maintenance will involve home improvements which can be tackled by effectively determining the time and money you'll need for a project. You need to know about tools, materials, techniques, safety procedures and regulations before you get started. Here's some tips to be sure your home improvement project is done safely and correctly.

padding:10px; If you are doing any home improvements in your kitchen, ensure you shut off the gas in your home before you begin. You must be very careful with these types of projects. A fire could damage you and your efforts in any project.

Put down an asphalt sealer if you see any damages or cracks in your driveway. Sunny and wet weather conditions can damage your driveway, particularly when water gets into cracks, freezes, and then thaws. Sealants provide a protective layer that extends the life of your driveway by preventing damage from the elements.

One of the most basic ways to update or freshen up your house is with a few coats of new paint, especially in a new color. Exterior paint can greatly improve the look and value of your home. Select a new and unique color, and it will look like an entirely new house!

You don't have to spend lots of money to brighten up your kitchen and bath. Just invest a few dollars in good light fixtures. Tired track lighting can be replaced with modern lights for less than a thousand bucks. Think about putting in pendant lights; these are very modern and appealing.

A bathroom can be redecorated easily and cheaply. Just replacing the towels and shower curtain can quickly improve how your bathroom looks. An instant lift can be achieved using this method. Your bathroom can be a great place to incorporate plants; however, be judicious in your choice of plants to make sure they thrive.

Ready For Upgrading Your Home? Read This First! You should receive copies of everything as part of a file containing inspection reports and permit applications, as well as the permits themselves. This should be a question you ask before you hire a contractor.

Give the bubble in your old vinyl floor covering a shot! You can easily slice into the vinyl floor and let out the air. Cutting it will make the bubble go down. In order to permanently repair this part of the floor though, you are going to need to put an amount of fresh glue in. Use glue that comes in syringes to get the job done.

You can easily make a window screen, if you cannot locate one that goes into your window. Frame kits can be cut to any window size, and then it's just a matter of attaching the screen with the cording and an inexpensive tool. Some windows may require a particular screen, but an external screen can be added to nearly any window with the use of adapters.

If you want to change the look of your home for cheap, try painting it. Paint can give your home a new look without a high cost. A fresh color of paint can change a room's entire look. And the best part about a paint job is that it's very easy to change if you don't like the results after a while.

Source: http://yahoodiary.com/blog/64323/step-by-step-tips-you-can-use-for-home-improvement/

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Friday, March 1, 2013

Video: Dennis Rodman meets with Kim Jong Un

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/50998284/

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Donors step up ties with Somalia; praise rebuilding efforts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major Western donors have stepped up efforts in recent weeks to reengage with Somalia, opening the way for increased development assistance to a country trying to shake off years of conflict.

A senior British official said in Washington that London will host a conference with the new Somali government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on May 7. The meeting will focus on rebuilding the security forces, police, and justice system and discuss how to reengage with agencies like the World Bank.

Somalia has been mired in civil strife for more than two decades, leaving the African nation in grinding poverty, militancy and maritime piracy, without a functioning central government.

"Part of the challenge of mine is to communicate really the degree of opportunity and success that has happened so far in Somalia - mixed with a fairly hard-nosed realism about some of the old challenges that still exist there," said Nick Kay, Africa Director at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Kay said Somalia was the top priority in Africa for Britain, which planned to reopen its embassy in Mogadishu in coming months.

Rajiv Shah, the head of USAID, visited the capital Mogadishu for talks with the government last week, the first visit by a senior U.S. official in more than two decades and first since the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident which saw militia fighters shoot down two U.S. military helicopters over the capital.

Shah told reporters on a conference call his talks with senior Somali officials focused on more transparency of government finances, corruption and restoring basic services.

"As long as the government continues to emphasize and make the right choices to fight corruption and graft, to make its public finances extremely transparent, and to focus on providing the kinds of basic services that the people and economy will need to be effective over time, we think there is a very bright future and I saw some very real tangible signs of that," he said.

Shah said the United States would work with the World Bank to help Somalia clear its $250 million in arrears, which is preventing the bank from providing loans to the government.

"Now is the unique moment to help the Somali government," Shah said.

While the United States never formally severed diplomatic ties with Somalia, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton signaled a significant shift in relations when she officially recognized Mohamud's government in January.

Mohamud, elected last year in the first vote of its kind since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, has since toured major Western centers to normalize relations and show he is serious about rebuilding.

"It is an important moment for Somalia," said Bella Bird, World Bank country director for Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, who traveled with foreign ambassadors and donors to Mogadishu for talks with Mohamud in January.

"As an increasing number of countries are recognizing the government in Mogadishu, we are seeking to help it build its institutions and will support Somalia in the process of returning to the fold of the international community."

Mohamud will need to show in coming months he has the support of major Western donors and has the power to effect change. But security remains a major obstacle to rebuilding.

An African Union force has had some success in driving al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents, who seized control of much of central and southern Somalia, out of Mogadishu. While security in the capital has improved dramatically it remains a dangerous place.

Mohamud has outlined his priorities, which include cracking down on corruption and building an effective government that can use its resources well, Bird said.

"They have already just in the last couple of months, since the finance minister was appointed, undertaken a budget process which has been open and transparent, and no one can remember the last time that happened," Bird said. "The priority setting is now happening for this first phase," she added.

Bird said the government had requested World Bank technical assistance to help with strengthening financial management and rebuilding government systems.

She said the government was focused on "quick wins" to demonstrate a peace dividend.

"Development is a long game in Somalia and at the moment the president's concern is how can I do things that people will be able to see, feel, touch, which shows that the situation is changing," Bird said.

(Reporting By Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/donors-step-ties-somalia-praise-rebuilding-efforts-233833703.html

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Homebuying tips: Budget and nip credit issues

Alex Veiga , The Associated Press ? ? ? 2 hrs.

After years in the doldrums, the housing market appears back on track. Home sales and prices are up, and mortgage rates remain near historic lows, reinvigorating the appeal of homeownership.

But qualifying for a home loan remains a hurdle for anyone without a solid personal balance sheet.

"Now the requirements are much stricter," says Erin Baehr, a certified financial planner in Stroudsburg, Penn. "You have to have the right income, you have to have the right credit score and you have to have the right down payment to get the best rates out there."

In addition, a tight supply of homes for sale in many markets means sellers often have the leverage that comes with receiving competing offers. That means buyers with the financial flexibility to raise their offer stand a better chance of winning out ? another reason to bolster one's finances before entering the home-buying fray.

Here are six tips to get financially prepared to purchase a home:

1. Assess your financial picture and how much house you can afford
Before you get too involved in looking at listings, take some time to evaluate your finances thoroughly. If you're a first-time buyer and haven't been saving money or have been living paycheck-to-paycheck while dealing with college loans and other debt, you'll likely have to make major lifestyle changes to get in the best position to buy a home.

Ultimately, you want to get an idea of how much of your monthly income you can reasonably afford to spend on a home.

Stew Larsen, head of Bank of the West's mortgage banking division, suggests using a rough formula that lenders use: Add up the monthly house payment ? principal, interest, taxes and insurance ? and subtract it from your gross monthly income. The house payment shouldn't be more than 28 percent to 30 percent of the monthly income.

Bankrate Inc. has online calculators that can help estimate how much you can afford based on your income and expenses .

2. Budget like you're already a homeowner
You've figured out roughly how much money you should devote to housing. But can you actually live on that amount, especially when you consider other costs, such as repairs, utilities, which often run higher than in apartments, and if you live in a condominium, homeowner association fees?

Baehr recommends renters calculate the extra monthly costs that come with homeownership and start setting aside that amount. This accomplishes two goals: Saving money for a down payment and getting them accustomed to the financial constraints of homeownership.

"Start to put that money away and see if you can live without it," Baehr says. "If you can't do it now, you're not going to be able to do it later."

3. Shoot for 20 percent down
While some loan programs allow homebuyers to make a down payment of as little as 3.5 percent of the purchase price, experts say you'll need to save enough for at least a 20 percent down payment in order to get the lowest interest rate and avoid having to pay private mortgage insurance, or PMI.

If you're a military veteran, you can qualify for a loan program that enables veterans to obtain a mortgage without a down payment.

Even if you end up getting a loan that requires private mortgage insurance, once you've made enough payments to build your stake in the home to 20 percent, you can apply to have PMI waived. And until then, PMI is tax-deductible.

In addition to a down payment, you'll also have to set money aside for closing costs, which can run into the hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars.

4. Tackle any credit score problems early
A person's credit score is a critical element of how lenders determine how much money homebuyers can borrow and at what interest rate.

Baehr says buyers seeking a shot at the most favorable interest rate on a home loan must generally have a FICO score of at least 720 out of 850. Loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration require a FICO score of at least 580, but you'll pay a higher interest rate.

Prospective homebuyers should check their credit report for any errors that may be weighing down their credit score. Disputing errors can take months, so it's best to get this process going well before you'd like to buy a home. Baehr recommends getting started six months in advance.

A major component of one's credit score is the ratio between how much credit you have available versus how much debt you're carrying. You can improve your credit score by paying down debt over time, another reason to get started well before you apply for a mortgage.

Consumers are entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. You can get copies at www.annualcreditreport.com .

In addition, avoid taking on new debt in the months before you set out to buy a home, as new loans or credit cards can ding your credit score temporarily.

Even borrowers who like to use their credit cards often and pay down the balance every month should refrain or ease back on using credit cards for a couple of months before applying for a home loan, Baehr says.

5. Get financial documents in order
When it comes time to formally apply for the loan, lenders will probe deep into your financial records.

Get ahead of the requests by pulling together at least three months of bank statements, pay stubs, and at least two years of income tax filings.

If you're going to be receiving financial help from family on the down payment, the bank will want to know the source. That might mean that your benefactor may also need to show bank statements related to their financial gift to you as well, Baehr said.

6. Get pre-approved for a loan
Before you begin your home search, ask a lender to assess how much you can borrow. Once the lender issues you a pre-approval letter, it's a solid indication of what you can spend.

"It's not like having cash in hand, but it's almost as close," Larsen says.

One caveat: Understand the difference between a preapproval letter and being prequalified for a loan.

Being prequalified for a loan doesn't commit the lender. It's basically an opinion drawn from a cursory assessment of your financial profile. A preapproval letter is preceded by a thorough credit and income review, though the loan won't go through until all of the borrower's financial information is verified.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/buying-home-budget-tackle-credit-score-problems-1C8601730

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