LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a humiliating defeat in parliament on Wednesday after Conservatives rebelled over Europe, an issue that has divided his party for decades and helped bring down previous leaders.
Although the result carried no legal weight, the setback raised questions about Cameron's authority after months of missteps by his coalition government and it revived painful memories of Conservative infighting over Europe.
Cameron wants the European Union's long-term budget to rise only in line with inflation, while opponents said it should be cut in real terms to reflect the bleak economic landscape at home and across Europe.
The rebels won the vote by 307 to 294 votes, a majority of 13, after they received support from the Labour Party, a generally pro-European group accused by Cameron of "rank opportunism".
"This is a time for Brussels to listen to the British people and do what we are all doing, and that is cutting our cloth," Conservative lawmaker Mark Pritchard, one of the revolt's leaders, told Sky News.
Rebels said the vote - Cameron's first significant defeat in parliament since taking power in 2010 - could strengthen his position at budget talks in Brussels next month because he will be able to say his hands are tied by the British parliament.
Other Conservatives said it would weaken his position.
Many Britons regard the EU as an incompetent and spendthrift bureaucracy. Britain's ties with the 27-member bloc are likely to be a big theme in a national election due in 2015.
Cameron wants Britain to remain an EU member but to renegotiate its role within the bloc, focusing more on trade links and less on areas like regulation.
VETO THREAT
Addressing parliament before the vote, Cameron said he was prepared to use his veto to block an EU budget deal if he thought it was bad for Britain. France also threatened on Wednesday to use its veto if the proposals imply farm spending cuts.
"This government is taking the toughest line in these budget negotiations of any government since we joined the European Union," Cameron said before the vote.
"At best we would like it cut, at worst frozen, and I'm quite prepared to use the veto if we don't get a deal that's good for Britain."
Accused of siding with the rebels to score cheap points against Cameron, Labour said it was right to ask Europe to cut its budget in real terms at a time of economic hardship.
"This is a humiliating defeat for David Cameron which shows how weak and out of touch he has become," said Labour finance spokesman Ed Balls.
In a bad-tempered clash in parliament, Labour leader Ed Miliband compared Cameron to John Major, the former Conservative prime minister whose time in office in the 1990s was dogged by infighting over Europe.
Bitter arguments over Britain's role in Europe were central to the downfall of another former leader, Margaret Thatcher.
Trailing in popularity polls, Cameron faces an uncomfortable balancing act on Europe. He does not want to alienate a majority of voters - and a powerful Conservative minority - who might vote to leave the EU after nearly 40 years.
The Conservative leader must also see off a threat from the fiercely anti-EU UK Independence Party, which polls suggest has around 10 percent of the vote, about the same as the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats, the junior coalition partner.
However, Cameron must also keep the Lib Dems on side and avoid wrecking relations with the EU, Britain's biggest trading partner, as the country emerges from recession.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Heinrich)
When the US government held a contest aimed at creating the future of lightbulbs, Philips won with their L-Prize series. ?These bulbs are rated to last 22.8 years, which is so long you?ll probably lose them before they have a chance to burn out. ?But if you manage to keep them throughout their lifetime, each bulb can save you hundreds in energy costs.
Samsung and Google recently introduced the simply named Chromebook, a $249 computer with an 11.6-inch screen and around 6.5 hours of battery life in a slim and svelte 2.5 lb, 0.8-inch thick shell. It's a barebones approach to the concept of a Chrome OS notebook, and it's probably what Google should have done with this type of hardware from the very beginning. But does that mean it's good?
Apple stores are getting new shipments of iPhone 5s almost every day. And there's a way you can get one without waiting in line.
When the iPhone 5 first came out, I decided to skip it and stick with my perfectly useful iPhone 4S. But when a family crisis made putting my sister on my family plan, I decided to give her the 4S and upgrade to the 5. Just one problem: every store in town was sold out, and an iPhone 5 that?I ordered online from Apple wouldn't ship for a projected three-?to four weeks.
Because I wanted to have my iPhone 5 in hand before traveling home to Kansas City in early November to help my sister get her farm readied for winter, I couldn't wait that long. After calling nearly every Radio Shack, Best Buy, AT&T store, and Apple store in the NYC metro area for days, I stumbled on a?way that let me buy online and waltz into an Apple store less than 24 hours later and walk out, iPhone 5 in hand.
High sales of the iPhone 5 (not to mention production problems?have yet to catch up demand. It's still taking Apple about a month to produce and ship an iPhone from China directly to a customer in the United States.
But Apple is also shipping out iPhone 5 units to Apple stores almost every day, most of which are snapped up by people waiting in line or picking up online orders.
That's right: picking up online orders.
The problem, of course, is that if you go to Apple.com right now and put an iPhone 5 in your cart, then select "In-Store Pick up" ??or "Personal Pickup," as Apple calls it?you'll see all the stores in area showing "Out of Stock."
But Apple updates their in-stock information each evening at 10. And if you time it right???and you're lucky and a little flexible about how far you're willing to travel to pick up your phone???you can snap up that stock in just a couple of minutes, leaving you with an email by the morning saying your phone is ready to be picked up.
Here's what you do:
1. ?Before 10 p.m., go through the process at Apple's online store?to add a new iPhone 5 to your account. Select your model, carrier, and plan, then make sure it's actually in your online shopping cart. (But don't check out yet.)
2. ?A few minutes before 10 p.m., open up your cart and switch the shipping toggle to "In-Store Pick-Up." A pop-up window will appear, allowing you to input your ZIP code. Go ahead and do that to see which Apple stores are in your area ??and which ones you consider too far away for travel.
3. ?Right at 10 p.m., start hitting the "Update" button in the pop-up window next to the form field where you put in your ZIP code. It might not update as quickly as it did before 10 p.m. (You're not the only one trying to snag an iPhone 5.) Keep hitting update periodically to refresh the stock information. Be sure to page through all the stores listed each time to check all the local stores; it won't automatically push a store that has iPhones in stock to the top. Obviously, the more stores you have in your area, the more chances you have of snagging a phone.
4. ?Once ??if???you've found a local store with the model you want in stock, select it and pay. Be patient. I started refreshing my search at 10 p.m., and had a unit show up around 10:07 p.m..
Congratulations. You should have an email from Apple in the morning telling you when your iPhone is ready for pickup.
A little flexibility in travel helps. (I rode my motorcycle 25 miles out of New York City to a New Jersey mall to get mine.) And there's no guarantee this will work, since you're competing with anyone else trying to do the same thing online. In fact, it took me two nights to figure out the best procedure. The first night Apple's website keep giving me errors, causing me to accidentally put more than one iPhone 5 in my shopping cart, which then caused *more* errors. I didn't realize my mistake until it was too late.
Even if you don't get one, you can always try again the next evening when new stock arrives. Even if it takes a day or three for luck to fall your way, it still beats waiting in line???or waiting three to four weeks.
Joel Johnson is a technology reporter in Brooklyn. He has decided he is okay with all mayonnaise, artisinal or otherwise.
Mind conditioning has been known to control and overcome addictions. However if your mind does not have enough power to control your addiction, you will probably end up in a rehabilitation center. The usual things that can be addictive are alcohol, drugs andcigarettes. If you are ready to stop the habits that will shorten the span of your life, then you will need strong will and mind power. You can achieve your goal when you engage in subliminal mind control audio.
Subliminal audio is a tool where you listen to its subliminal messages beneath instrumental music. You may not hear any words because only your subconscious mind can decipher the messages.
Here are the steps on how mind control can cure your addiction.
1. Identify the case of your addiction.
When you want to stop your addiction, you must identify your case first. What is the thing you are addicted to? Can you still control the amount of your consumption of the thing you are addicted to? If you are having difficulty identifying the cause of your addiction then a good subliminal resource can help. The subliminal messages will sweep your negative thoughts away to clear your mind and make room for some reflections about your addiction.
2. Feed your subconscious with subliminal messages.
In case your conscious mind is telling your body to take the thing that you are addicted to, then your subconscious mind should be ready to resist. So you need to feed your subconscious mind with subliminal messages containing positive affirmations and motivations to pursue the plan to stop your addiction. You have to secure subliminal audio loaded with enough messages that can help you re-condition your subconscious. Listen to the subliminal audio consistently so you can be motivated more to stop bring the habit again. There are subliminal messages that are particularly for stopping addiction, so you may want use that as your mind won't be confused on what you want to do.
3. Follow specific instruction contained in the subliminal audio.
When you use the subliminal mind control you must follow specific instructions contained in the subliminal resource. Remember, when you feed your subconscious mind with subliminal messages, it should be consistent as it will always work and guarantees long term stopping of addiction.
Basically, subliminal messages are focused to influence your subconscious mind and when you want to stop your addiction, this is perfect to use while not being disturbed on your daily routine.
----------------------------------------------------
Find out how (http://clearawaystressnow.com) subliminal messaging can assist you in finding harmony in your life, be more alert and develop a strong sense of self belief will help you in so many other areas of your life at Clear Away Stress Now (http://clearawaystressnow.com/?p=163 )
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=293383
Sequoia, currently?the world's most powerful supercomputer, was built for upkeep of?nuclear weaponry. But researchers have put it to work on a groundbreaking simulation of?something a bit more salutary: the human heart.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, already well-known for work in high-performance computing, has commandeered the Sequoia supercomputer during what is known as its "shakedown period," when it's being set up and tested but isn't quite ready to for its intended purpose. LLNL and other organizations were given time-share access to the computer to do approved non-classified research.
Supercomputing is a competitive field, but for the moment Sequoia is the fastest on Earth: with more than 1.5 million computing cores producing 20 quintillion operations per second, it allows the researchers to simulate the heart at a far greater fidelity than ever before.
LLNL computational scientist Art Mirin describes the project: "Our heart code work has been a great opportunity to demonstrate Sequoia?s power with an application that most people consider important to society, in this case, cardiac modeling." So it's not just about digitizing the heart, but also about humanizing the computer.
The simulations divide the heart into thousands of little digital pieces, each composed of mathematical models that take input from and send data to other pieces. Their interactions require an enormous amount of calculations, even though the model only simulates electrical activity, not physical.
The best that could be done before was to simulate pieces about 0.2mm across, and it could take 45 minutes or so to simulate a single beat. With new software called Cardioid running on the Sequoia supercomputer, not only can they simulate more accurately (the pieces are 0.1mm across, about the size of an actual heart cell), but also hundreds of times faster: now a virtual heartbeat only takes 10 seconds to create.
This huge increase in performance makes many things practical: virtually testing arrhythmia drugs, for instance, or establishing baseline patterns against which real hearts can be compared.?And since heart disease is such a major health risk, especially in the U.S., an accurate electromechanical model of the heart is essential for future research in many other fields.
LLNL researcher David Richards described the potential benefits to Popular Mechanics:
At a very coarse level of resolution, everyone?s heart looks the same.?The details that differentiate individual hearts can be very fine, and our ability to model at extraordinarily high resolution, currently a factor of eight greater than previously, that allows us to capture very fine differences.
The time at Sequoia is running out, and the supercomputer will be running programs for the Stockpile Stewardship program, intended to ensure the country's nuclear warheads remain "safe, secure, and reliable well into the future." The researchers will have to fall back on less-powerful machines ? still far faster than even the fastest desktop, but not quite world-class ? to continue their research. But the powerful Cardioid simulation code will still allow for faster and more accurate simulation than before.
Further developments in the heart-simulation department at LLNL, as well as other applications of supercomputing power, should?appear in their internal Science & Technology publication.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC?News Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? A new collaborative project among researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Cincinnati has, for the first time, demonstrated experimentally the evolutionary force behind the rapid evolution of male genitals, focusing on a species of seed beetle.
This mechanism is revealed in a study published October 25 in the scientific journal Current Biology. The experiments leading to this paper involved a species of seed beetle known as Callosobruchus maculatus. Mating among these beetles involves several males engaging in copulation with individual females.
"When a female mates with several males, the males compete over the fertilization of her eggs," said Michal Polak, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Cincinnati, one of the co-authors. "Because females mate with multiple males, the function of the male copulatory organ may determine which of the males will fertilize most of her eggs. Our results show that the morphology of the male genitalia affects his fertilization success in these beetles."
The competition to produce offspring is the driving force of evolution. Competition among males occurring after insemination may be an important evolutionary force that has led to the evolution of a diversity of shapes and sizes of male sexual organs, the co-authors assert. This competition among males has generated a great biological diversity that they believe can directly contribute to the formation of new species.
"The reproductive organs of animals with internal fertilization change more rapidly than all other morphological features during evolution," Polak said. "In virtually all groups of animals, from roundworms and molluscs to reptiles and mammals, the male sex organs differ markedly among even closely related species, with female genital traits remaining relatively unchanged."
To experimentally investigate the role of genital shape in reproductive success, the Swedish researchers -- Cosima Hotzy, Goran Arnqvist and Johanna L. Ronn -- bred male beetles with extraordinarily long genital spines. They simultaneously bred male beetles with extremely small spines. Experiments demonstrated that the males with long spines produced substantially more offspring.
"It is possible, however, that breeding for long spines introduced a secondary trait that affects fertility," Polak said. Unintended consequences, he said, are well known to animal breeders.
To prove that it was the spines and not some other trait, some beetles had their genital spines surgically modified using micro-scale laser surgery. Polak's laboratory has gained an international reputation for using a precision laser system to make microscopic changes to insect bodies.
Insects modified through both methods were then observed throughout the competitive mating process. The international team found that the longer genital spines directly contributed to successful fertilization. Seminal fluid from the males was also tracked through high-resolution radioisotope labels, and shown to enter the female body more quickly after mating with long-spined males than short-spined males.
"This provides experimental evidence that male genital morphology influences success in postcopulatory reproductive competition," Polak said.
There is more work to be done, Polak said, to understand the mechanism at work here. It is possible that these longer spines help introduce bio-active molecules from seminal fluid into the female circulatory system. These added proteins and peptides, which have yet to be characterized, may create effects within the female that contribute to male reproductive success. It is also possible that genital spines exert mechanical effects within the female by stimulating her reproductive tract during copulation, thereby inducing the female to uptake and use more of her current mate's sperm.
The study was funded by the European Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, and the National Science Foundation.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati. The original article was written by Greg Hand.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Cosima Hotzy, Michal Polak, Johanna?L. R?nn, G?ran Arnqvist. Phenotypic Engineering Unveils the Function of Genital Morphology. Current Biology, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.009
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
U of A medical researchers use simple intervention to improve osteoporosis treatment rates Public release date: 24-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Raquel Maurier raquel.maurier@ualberta.ca 780-492-5986 University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Patients with 'incidentally' detected spinal fractures more apt to receive osteoporosis treatment when physicians and patients targeted with educational intervention
Older patients who visited local ERs for chest pain or breathing problems and had chest x-rays reveal unknown spinal fractures, were more apt to receive osteoporosis treatment afterward if a simple intervention was used, recently published medical research from the University of Alberta has found.
Treatment rates for the bone-thinning condition substantially improved when patients and their family doctors received follow-up information about the warning signs and risk factors. It is the first and only trial in the world that looked at spinal osteoporosis.
Of those patients who weren't targeted with the intervention, only six per cent received follow-up treatment or testing for osteoporosis. When physicians were given educational material, the treatment or testing rate rocketed to 49 per cent. And when both the physicians and patients were informed, the rate climbed to 65 per cent of patients being treated or tested.
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Sumit Majumdar was the principal investigator who led the study that was published in the peer-reviewed journal The American Journal of Medicine. It looked at patients over the age of 60 who visited two Edmonton emergency departments for various complaints and needed a chest x-ray, which incidentally revealed spinal fractures. One group of patients wasn't contacted for an intervention, only physicians were contacted in another group, and both physicians and their patients were contacted in a third group.
Family physicians targeted in the intervention received a one-page email, letter or fax from local doctors and nurses that explained osteoporosis treatment guidelines and recommendations. The same nurse phoned some patients to share the same information and answered patients' questions. These patients also received a pamphlet explaining the link between spinal fractures and osteoporosis.
"The information we provided was not new. But the fact it was linked to a specific patient and had specific advice, it acted as a reminder about what actions family doctors could take when they next saw that patient," says Majumdar.
"These fractures identified in chest x-rays are associated with a 20-fold increase of future fractures in people with osteoporosis and these can be devastating fractures like fractures of the hip that can lead to nursing home admission or death," he says. "What was also concerning is that two-thirds of the patients in the study had a previously documented wrist or hip fracture before the x-ray was done, but they never received osteoporosis treatment."
Majumdar estimates the health-care system could save $1,000 per patient, if high-risk patients like the ones in this study received proper follow-up testing and treatment for osteoporosis. Hip fractures alone cost about $50,000 each to treat, and osteoporosis costs the Canadian health-care system about $1 billion a year.
When compared to the costs of the education intervention $34 per physician and $42 per patient "it's the equivalent of one month's supply of osteoporosis medication," says Majumdar.
One concerning revelation he noted in the study was that 25 per cent of the patients were men and none of them received followed-up treatment or testing as part of usual care.
Majumdar attributes this to the fallacy that "osteoporosis is considered a disease of older women." In fact, men have worse fractures and are more likely to die of hip fractures than women, said the researcher.
The research was funded by Knowledge Translation Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.
"This is both a research and a knowledge translation success story and CIHR would like to congratulate Dr. Majumdar on this important work," says Phillip Gardiner of the CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. "The health care costs associated with osteoporosis can be reduced and treatments improved when creative approaches like this are developed and implemented."
Majumdar hopes this educational intervention program could be a model for other conditions that could be identified in the ER, with follow-up care being co-ordinated by nurses or pharmacists.
Osteoporosis is a chronic and progressive condition that leads to fractures (typically of the upper extremity, spine or hip), acute and chronic pain, deformity, diminished quality of life, disability and loss of independence, nursing home admission and even death. It affects two million Canadians about 25 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men over the age of 50.
A woman's lifetime risk of osteoporotic fracture is 40 to 50 per cent, while a man's risk is 12 to 20 per cent. In Canada, the annual cost of managing osteoporosis is estimated at $1 billion versus $750 million for heart failure or $600 million for asthma. Unless effective prevention strategies are implemented, the rates and costs of osteoporotic fractures are expected to double by 2025.
###
Majumdar is a professor in the Department of Medicine and an adjunct professor with the School of Public Health. He holds an endowed chair jointly supported by the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and is a health scholar supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.
World Osteoporosis Day is October 20th, while Osteoporosis Month is November.
[ | 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.
U of A medical researchers use simple intervention to improve osteoporosis treatment rates Public release date: 24-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Raquel Maurier raquel.maurier@ualberta.ca 780-492-5986 University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Patients with 'incidentally' detected spinal fractures more apt to receive osteoporosis treatment when physicians and patients targeted with educational intervention
Older patients who visited local ERs for chest pain or breathing problems and had chest x-rays reveal unknown spinal fractures, were more apt to receive osteoporosis treatment afterward if a simple intervention was used, recently published medical research from the University of Alberta has found.
Treatment rates for the bone-thinning condition substantially improved when patients and their family doctors received follow-up information about the warning signs and risk factors. It is the first and only trial in the world that looked at spinal osteoporosis.
Of those patients who weren't targeted with the intervention, only six per cent received follow-up treatment or testing for osteoporosis. When physicians were given educational material, the treatment or testing rate rocketed to 49 per cent. And when both the physicians and patients were informed, the rate climbed to 65 per cent of patients being treated or tested.
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Sumit Majumdar was the principal investigator who led the study that was published in the peer-reviewed journal The American Journal of Medicine. It looked at patients over the age of 60 who visited two Edmonton emergency departments for various complaints and needed a chest x-ray, which incidentally revealed spinal fractures. One group of patients wasn't contacted for an intervention, only physicians were contacted in another group, and both physicians and their patients were contacted in a third group.
Family physicians targeted in the intervention received a one-page email, letter or fax from local doctors and nurses that explained osteoporosis treatment guidelines and recommendations. The same nurse phoned some patients to share the same information and answered patients' questions. These patients also received a pamphlet explaining the link between spinal fractures and osteoporosis.
"The information we provided was not new. But the fact it was linked to a specific patient and had specific advice, it acted as a reminder about what actions family doctors could take when they next saw that patient," says Majumdar.
"These fractures identified in chest x-rays are associated with a 20-fold increase of future fractures in people with osteoporosis and these can be devastating fractures like fractures of the hip that can lead to nursing home admission or death," he says. "What was also concerning is that two-thirds of the patients in the study had a previously documented wrist or hip fracture before the x-ray was done, but they never received osteoporosis treatment."
Majumdar estimates the health-care system could save $1,000 per patient, if high-risk patients like the ones in this study received proper follow-up testing and treatment for osteoporosis. Hip fractures alone cost about $50,000 each to treat, and osteoporosis costs the Canadian health-care system about $1 billion a year.
When compared to the costs of the education intervention $34 per physician and $42 per patient "it's the equivalent of one month's supply of osteoporosis medication," says Majumdar.
One concerning revelation he noted in the study was that 25 per cent of the patients were men and none of them received followed-up treatment or testing as part of usual care.
Majumdar attributes this to the fallacy that "osteoporosis is considered a disease of older women." In fact, men have worse fractures and are more likely to die of hip fractures than women, said the researcher.
The research was funded by Knowledge Translation Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.
"This is both a research and a knowledge translation success story and CIHR would like to congratulate Dr. Majumdar on this important work," says Phillip Gardiner of the CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. "The health care costs associated with osteoporosis can be reduced and treatments improved when creative approaches like this are developed and implemented."
Majumdar hopes this educational intervention program could be a model for other conditions that could be identified in the ER, with follow-up care being co-ordinated by nurses or pharmacists.
Osteoporosis is a chronic and progressive condition that leads to fractures (typically of the upper extremity, spine or hip), acute and chronic pain, deformity, diminished quality of life, disability and loss of independence, nursing home admission and even death. It affects two million Canadians about 25 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men over the age of 50.
A woman's lifetime risk of osteoporotic fracture is 40 to 50 per cent, while a man's risk is 12 to 20 per cent. In Canada, the annual cost of managing osteoporosis is estimated at $1 billion versus $750 million for heart failure or $600 million for asthma. Unless effective prevention strategies are implemented, the rates and costs of osteoporotic fractures are expected to double by 2025.
###
Majumdar is a professor in the Department of Medicine and an adjunct professor with the School of Public Health. He holds an endowed chair jointly supported by the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and is a health scholar supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.
World Osteoporosis Day is October 20th, while Osteoporosis Month is November.
[ | 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.
If you are installing an updated heating or air conditioning system in your house, the most essential choices to make are selecting high quality materials and professional service. There are many types of furnaces which all have various parts and functions. Depending on your home and location, your utility bill and home temperature can improve greatly if you buy the right furnace. Air conditioning systems are also quite unique and it is essential to install a system that operates effectively. When you meet with a heating and cooling specialist, they can evaluate your situation and help choose the tools that best meets your needs. They can also handle all varieties of repairs on these systems. Notice a large difference in your year-round comfort with experienced heating and cooling specialists on your side. AC Contractors
SMS is a straightforward way of communicate, that is utilized in all around the world. Free SMS online is a word that removed from mobile phone technology and it is used global through mobile phone on sending text messages. But with the continuing development of technology and web, number of free sms websites is arriving with their unique features along with facilities. You will find amount of other facilities as well as services along with free sms services like horoscope part, finding your zodiac, upcoming events and festivals and lots much more that will bring you along with new generation of 2011. In these days variety of free text messages websites are launched with quantity of facilities and providers including send sms gratis in large quantities to any mobile range anywhere in the world. These free sms via website software can save significant time and money when compared with making a phone call. Through events or celebration time one can send out bulk sms at any location in the world to be able to family members, friends and to near ones from free of cost.
These kinds of free sms hub are usually employed to stay in touch with family members, close friends and near versions. Apart from relatives and also friend circle, these kinds of sms websites have got his or her way towards corporate circle where diverse business houses uses these free sms text messaging services mass text messaging to promote his or her business around the world. In you assessed world leading organizations and business houses have got registered themselves together with any of the well reputed free sms services websites that offer different types business promotion providers. Through these bulk text messaging softwares one can mail thousand of business messages on their clients at an quick around the world. Sending Free SMS providers using PC software program is a more convenient and straightforward as compared to sending through cell phones.
Numerous send free sms service companies supply numerous extra services to senders, including delivery confirmations or response. Accordingly, you can monitor the messages an individual sent and check when it?s received. Moreover, just in case you opt for replies, the recipients may even answer back to you. This two-way sms communication without spending a dime is achievable entirely through a free SMS service provider on the net.
In view of the fact that you usually must pay to send out SMS, delivering free of cost, globally SMS through online sms service providers is a great, quick way to be in touch with friends and family. Moreover, typing a text message through your cell phone just takes too long in the event that compared to using your keyboard. Even on rather innovative cellular phones using innovative predictive text messaging, it may be pretty challenging and also time-consuming to write a message. Due to the fact that they are free, some texting services are good, a few do not work at all, and others are really sluggish. Moreover, many services will add and advert on the bottom of your information, although this does not develop much problem, since, it really does not reduce the number of accepted heroes.
For more information about send text from computer visit our website.
Few have worked as closely with Cam Newton as Warren Moon, and the Hall of Fame quarterback is still defending last year?s pupil, even while acknowledging his need to improve.
Moon thinks placing too much of the blame for the Panthers? 1-5 start (and the firing of general manager Marty Hurney) at the second-year quarterback?s feet is wrong, and any suggestion he?s a bust is ridiculous.
?I think a lot of this is because so many people want to say ?I told you so? about him, but couldn?t because he was so good last year,? Moon told Yahoo?s Mike Silver in a wide-ranging interview. ?I think people are overreacting. How can he be a bust? He just had one of the great years a rookie has ever had, and now he can?t play? Come on.?
Moon acknowledged he?d like to see Newton adopt a more even-keeled approach, something he?s done more of in recent weeks. But as he did prior to the draft?last year, Moon thinks there?s an undertone of racism to some of the criticism.
?I don?t understand it,? Moon said. ?I heard somebody compare him to Vince Young. It?s the same old crap ? it?s always a comparison of one black to another black. I get tired of it. I get tired of defending it.
?If you want to compare him to someone because of his demeanor, compare him to Jay Cutler. There are a lot of guys who whine and moan. Cam?s not biting anybody?s head off or pushing his linemen. He?s just disgruntled, and not handling losing well, because, think about it, he basically didn?t lose in college.
?I don?t think Cam?s as bad as Cutler, because Cutler looks like he doesn?t give a damn sometimes, or he?s yelling and cussing at someone. Cam, he just looks down when they?re losing.?
Moon also doesn?t think the Panthers coaches are putting Newton in good positions to succeed by ignoring the run game with the talent they have, and leaning too heavily on the read-option principles he ran in college.
?I don?t know why they got away from what they were doing last year,? Moon said. ?They were running more of a pro-style offense, and now they?re going more to the read-option, the stuff he did in college. I think some of it is coaching. I think some of it is they don?t have enough good players yet. And there?s no question he?s not playing as well as last year.
?That offense doesn?t allow you to be an NFL-type quarterback. It?s a lot of tricks, sticking the ball into a running back?s stomach, trying to freeze the defense. Even though he can do that and had success with it in college, I don?t think it serves him well in the long run. You can?t keep going back and forth. I think he?s a little bit confused with the footwork, and I think that?s one of the problems with his accuracy ? his feet are crossed up. Why this change? I think it?s backfiring. I think they?re out-thinking themselves.?
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Julie Garcia handed Apple Inc. iPads to students in her seventh-grade pre-algebra class on a recent morning before showing the pupils how to use the tablet to graph data, hunt for correlations and record how-to videos.
A math instructor at Innovation Middle School, Garcia is one of the first to use some of the more than 25,000 iPads the San Diego Unified School District bought from Apple this year.
?It?s the cool factor,? Garcia said as she looks over the room of students tapping energetically on tablets. ?They are super motivated.?
For districts around the country, though, it?s the price as much as the cool quotient that could draw them to a new, smaller version of the iPad that Apple will unveil tomorrow at an event in San Jose, California. Apple has long been a leader in education, and schools began embracing the iPad soon after its 2010 debut. Yet as fiscal budget shortfalls crimp spending all the more, schools in growing numbers are warming to the handheld devices as an alternative to more expensive laptops.
Now schools, as well as consumers, are about to get another big price break: The smaller iPad may cost as little as $249, according to Barclays Plc. That compares with $499 to $829 for the current iPad.
Beyond the school market of course, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will use the device to try to widen Apple?s lead over Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. and fend off a more recent threat from Microsoft Corp. in the market for tablets, which NPD DisplaySearch predicts will more than double to $162 billion by 2017. Cook will unveil an iPad with a 7.85-inch screen diagonally, people familiar with its development said in August. The current iPad has a 9.7-inch screen.
iPad Shift
Yet Apple executives plan to make a point of highlighting the iPad?s educational capabilities at tomorrow?s event, according to a person with knowledge of the planning. Little wonder. Education spending on information technology, including hardware, was about $19.7 billion in the 2010-2011 period, according to the Center for Digital Education.
Educators? bet on tablets mirrors a trend in the broader consumer-electronics market, where consumers are buying iPads instead of traditional personal computers. PC sales in K-12 fell 8 percent in the U.S. last quarter, the third straight decline, Gartner said.
?We?re moving away from desktops and laptops,? said James Ponce, the superintendent of the McAllen Independent School District in Texas. ?Ninety percent of the work is now being done on mobile devices.?
School Sales
The education push is part of a strategy put in place under co-Founder Steve Jobs, before the iPad was introduced in 2010. While Apple has a history of selling Mac computers to schools, the company realigned its education sales force to emphasize iPads, a person familiar with the changes said.
Innovation Middle School has traditionally used Lenovo Group Ltd. computers because Macs are too expensive, said Harlan Klein, the school?s principal.
?They were cost prohibitive,? Klein said. ?With the iPad, they are competitive.?
The new iPad comes at a critical time for Apple. Its shares have dropped 13 percent since reaching a record on Sept. 19, two days before the company released the iPhone 5. Sales of the smartphone have been constrained by supply constraints. Apple is also facing fresh competition in tablets from Microsoft, which on Oct. 26 will release the Surface, its first foray into hardware. Apple had about 70 percent of the market in the second quarter, compared with Samsung Electronics Co., which had 9.2 percent, and Amazon?s 4.2 percent, according to IHS ISuppli.
Courting Educators
To woo educators, Apple?s sales staff meets regularly with school administrators and procurement officers across the U.S. The company has sales staff assigned to work with schools in particular regions of the U.S., and pays for district officials to visit Apple?s headquarters in Cupertino, California, to learn about new products.
?Apple has got the world?s biggest education sales force, they have a great device and they have a long history in education,? said Tyler Bosmeny, the CEO of Clever Inc., an education software company. ?This is absolutely something that they would be crazy to ignore.?
The company will need to set the new iPad?s price right to woo cash-strapped districts.
?Once these tablets get in to the $200 to $300 range we are going to see a real aggressive uptake in the K-12 market,? said Vineet Madan, a senior vice president at McGraw-Hill Cos. education unit.
To save money, San Diego?s school district bought iPad 2s after Apple dropped the price of that model when the newest version was introduced earlier this year.
Training Teachers
Drawing on funds raised through a voter-approved bond measure, the district spent about $370 on each iPad, which comes pre-loaded with various educational applications, Browne said.
Besides budgetary constraints, a major challenge for schools is training teachers and managing all the new equipment and software. If a teacher wants to use an iPad math application, synchronizing a classroom of devices and monitoring all the students? work can be time consuming. In San Diego, a team of eight employees helps train teachers and manage new technology.
?A lot of the time we see people putting technology in the classroom to be innovative, but it ends up being more work for teachers, not less,? said Bosmeny, whose San Francisco-based company is designed to help schools manage the data from iPad applications. ?Everyone becomes a part-time data shuffler.??
Touch Screens
In southern Texas, Ponce of the McAllen Independent School District reached out to Apple soon after the district decided to get away from buying laptops and desktops, which he said were expensive to maintain and unappealing for many students. Apple was at the table helping craft the district?s strategy for integrating technology in classrooms, he said.
?We included them because they have revolutionized the world,? Ponce said. ?We had people in the room who were thinking bigger than we could.?
The work resulted in McAllen buying about 25,000 iPads, paying Apple about $3.5 million a year as part of a financing deal the district worked out with Apple. About half the district?s technology budget is now going to Apple, Ponce said. Students are using iPad applications to test for vocabulary, make presentations and compile class notes.
While some teachers have resisted the new technology, many are adapting because they see students are increasingly fluent with touch-screen-based technology, said Courtney Browne, a technology resource teacher at San Diego Unified School District.
?Education is changing and it can?t just be the teacher up there talking,? she said. ?It?s not just about the stuff; it takes the teacher to be able to use them.?
--Editors: Tom Giles, Rick Schine, Reed Stevenson
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net?
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
New Delhi, Oct 23 : Amid the festering eurozone recession, Spain's King Juan Carlos I will be coming to India on a four-day visit Wednesday, a trip that will see Madrid focusing new business opportunities offered by the growing Indian economy.
"The visit of His Majesty is expected to carry forward the process of high-level interaction and deepen the relations between the two countries," Syed Akbaruddin, the external affairs ministry's spokesperson, told reporters here Tuesday.
Accompanied by senior ministers and a large business delegation, comprising CEOs of leading Spanish companies, Spain's monarch, who is somewhat of an Indophile with an abiding interest in Indian art and culture, will begin his visit from India's commercial hub Mumbai.
He comes to New Delhi Friday to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his senior ministers. He will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan before sitting down for talks, which will focus on a wide array of bilateral issues.
Expanding business ties will top the agenda, but other important strategic issues like counter-terrorism and defence cooperation will also figure in the discussions.
Ahead of the visit, India has pitched for Spanish investments in sectors like infrastructure, transport and energy.
Bucking the eurozone downturn, bilateral trade burgeoned to $5 billion in 2011, which represents a growth of almost 18 percent over 2010.
Spanish investment in India is over $1.3 billion. India's total investment in Spain is valued around 605 million euros.
Reeling from the eurozone recession, the Spanish economy has been shrinking for the past year. Against this backdrop, Spanish businesses are looking at emerging markets like India for fresh opportunities.
Robb Akey knew his Idaho coaching staff needed a pick-me-up after a 70-28 loss to Louisiana Tech on Saturday. So he called a staff meeting for Sunday afternoon to suggest some changes, find some bright spots and go over recruiting plans heading into the final four games of the season.
Before he got to meet with his staff, however, Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear fired Akey.
"I didn't expect it in the middle of the season. I knew we needed to win more games. We needed to win more ? and that was an ugly game on top of it," Akey told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday evening. "I expected to be able to finish the season."
Akey went 20-50 in five-plus seasons with the Vandals. Idaho is 1-7 this season and 3-17 in the last two years.
Akey said Idaho saved $105,000 by firing him before the end of the season. According to his contract, Akey was to be paid $200,000 in media payments for the 2012 football season.
He said his message to the team has always been to finish.
"Don't quit. Finish what you've started. It's hard knowing I'm not going to be able to," Akey said, the pain evident in his voice. "I love those kids and the coaching staff."
Akey said he and Spear had a "professional" relationship. "We communicated what needed to be communicated and that was about it." Spear earlier described their relationship as "fine."
Akey said the past few days have been hard.
"It's been miserable. I've never been fired before," he said. "That's been hard."
Calls, texts and visits from players and coaches have made it better, he said.
"I was happy to see they weren't throwing a party I was leaving," Akey said. "I told each one of them that they've made a hard situation a heck of a lot better. It meant the world to see and hear from those kids."
Akey and his wife Molly have two sons at Moscow High. Jack is a sophomore starting wide receiver for the playoff-bound Moscow Bears. He and Daniel will play basketball this fall. Akey suggested that the family might stick around Moscow for a few years ? he has two more years left on his contract with Idaho that pays him $165,796.80 per year ? and allow the boys to finish high school with dad in the stands.
"They looked and me and said, 'What? Dad, you're not going to be any fun to be around,' " Akey said. "I'll see what I might be able to get into. By noon yesterday, I was going crazy."
Akey, known for his enthusiastic personality and outgoing style, joked that maybe he could get a job at ESPN.
But he couldn't hide his sadness at not being able to finish out the season.
"I love those kids," he said. "That's my biggest disappointment."
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney answers a question as President Barack Obama listens during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney answers a question as President Barack Obama listens during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
FILE - In this Oct.18, 2012 file photo, a man carries a sign reading "No to the destructive soldiers of ECOWAS" as Malians opposed to a military intervention to retake Mali's Islamist-controlled north march in the streets of the capital, Bamako, Mali. France is moving surveillance drones to western Africa amid rising concerns that an al-Qaida offshoot and its allies who control northeast Mali represent a major threat to French interests abroad and possibly at home. With six French hostages held by Islamic militants in the region, France is facing a delicate task, but has garnered support from other Western powers including the United States to keep Mali from becoming a new launchpad for global terrorism. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore, File)
FILE - This July 23, 2000 file photo shows Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong riding down the Champs Elysees with an American flag after the 21st and final stage of the cycling race in Paris, France, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by cycling's governing body Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams. UCI President Pat McQuaid announced that the federation accepted the USADA's report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)
Entertainer Ellen DeGeneres, left, with her wife Portia de Rossi, pose for photographers on the red carpet before DeGeneres receives the 15th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about on Tuesday:
1. AMID CLASH, CANDIDATES FIND COMMON GROUND
In final debate, Obama and Romney both stress support for Israel, and both oppose sending U.S. forces to topple Assad.
2. YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?
The AP's Calvin Woodward examines Obama and Romney's claims, separating fact from fiction.
3. HOW THE SPA SHOOTING SUSPECT GOT HIS GUN ? DESPITE PRIOR VIOLENCE
Police say Radcliffe Haughton didn't have to wait for a background check, because he bought his weapon from a private individual.
4. WHAT APPLE HASN'T TOLD US ABOUT ITS NEW MINI IPAD
With the public getting its first look at the device Tuesday, many details are already known ? except what it will cost.
5. ACCUSED USS COLE BOMBER SEEKS TO HALT GUANTANAMO TRIAL
Lawyers for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri say that since the U.S. wasn't at war at the time of the bombing in Yemen, the 47-year-old shouldn't be tried at the U.S. base.
6. LANCE ARMSTRONG: HEROICS THAT NEVER HAPPENED
The Texan is no longer a seven-time Tour de France winner. His name has been erased from the record books.
7. WHY GREEN BUILDINGS ARE ON THE RISE IN PERSIAN GULF STATES
Oil-rich countries are realizing their fossil fuel supplies will someday run out and they should chart a more sustainable path.
8. SYRIAN REGIME AND REBELS CONSTANTLY ADAPT THEIR ARSENALS
As the civil war heats up, the opposition is getting more advanced gear while government troops resort to low-tech weapons for urban warfare.
9. AN AWARD TO GET ELLEN DEGENERES DANCING
She receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, joining the ranks of Bill Cosby and Tina Fey.
10. GIANTS RETURN TO WORLD SERIES AFTER COMBACK AGAINST CARDINALS
San Francisco won its record-tying sixth elimination game of the postseason, beating St. Louis 9-0 in Game 7 of the NLCS.
If you truly don?t use your car for much more than ferrying kids to the bus stop and/or to and from the store, ask your insurer about a discount for reduced mileage. Most insurance companies base their quotes on an average of 12,000 miles per year. If your mileage is half that, and you can maintain good records showing that this is the case, you should qualify for a lower rate.
If you already have or are thinking about getting another car, call your auto insurance provider. This is because many people do not know that you can put more than one car on one plan. By having all of your cars insured under the same plan, you could potentially save thousands of dollars.
Try to car pool to work. This will keep the number of miles that you put on your personal vehicle down. If you can keep the mileage that you drive each year low, you will likely qualify for the low-mileage discount that many insurers offer. It will save you bundles over the years.
Take some time to think about the location where your vehicle will be parked before you purchase auto insurance. For example, if you live in an area prone to floods, it may be worthwhile to purchase comprehensive coverage in case your vehicle is damaged by flood waters. At the same time, if you live in an area with few natural disasters and you drive an older vehicle, you may be able to skip comprehensive coverage.
If your car is worth less than you owe, consider purchasing inexpensive GAP (Guaranteed Auto Protection) insurance to protect yourself. Insurance companies pay you only what your car is worth at the time of your claim. If your car is worth is less than what you owe, you may not receive enough compensation to cover the cost of your loan or lease without GAP coverage.
One important thing to do when concerned with auto insurance and elderly drivers is to make sure that you report the accurate amount of miles that are driven on a yearly basis. This is significant because you may be eligible for a reduction in the premium costs if the mileage is below a certain number.
Get between 3-5 car insurance quotes before deciding on a company. This will allow you to see what the acceptable range is for the type of policy that you want. You can easily identify if one company is charging too much for their services and also if another is offering you a good deal.
These tips have given you a lot to think about. If you drive, you have to have insurance. Your insurance policy can give you a sense of secure coverage. Also, as these tips have shown, a little research can give you this security at a good price, perhaps enabling you to save hundreds of dollars every year.
Anytime many people tresses issues, they might constantly decide on hair-care goods. But it must be recalled as an alternative to focused on external curly hair merchandise for example shampoos, conditioners, and tresses products it is crucial to consider your overall health. The meals along with health supplements that you consume day-to-day is actually straight associated with the high quality and growth of your hair.
Eating the best volume of foodstuff giving up cigarettes intending to improve your frizzy hair will not make it grow naturally but in addition much longer and also more healthy. So it?s very crucial that we need to a new well balanced diet along with rich in supplements, protein, carbs, flat iron, and other essential supplements to really make the hair increase faster. So always market your hair progress along with organic or perhaps organic and natural food items.
Carrots, offers vitamin-A that is very best nutrients for the scalp. Pumpkin may also be great for eyesight as well as hair growth. These greens may help hair follicles to boost their own development. The particular healthy diet plan associated with trim necessary protein, greens, whole grains, beans, fresh fruits, and sea food just like trout along with low-fat milk great supply intended for healthful hair.
Environmentally friendly peas is really a probably the most naturally healthy leguminous vegetable, that contains some sort of well-balanced amount of phyto-nutrients, vitamins, nutritional vitamins and also anti-oxidants for instance flat iron, zinc and also W class vitamin supplements. These are most critical for maintaining healthy hair.
Coffee beans and also Lentils: There are numerous ordinary beans as well as lentils that you have to include your diet program such as me llaman chili, kidney espresso beans, dark chili, darkish lentils, divide african american lentils, pinkish lentils etc. The main health and fitness benefit of these kinds of typical chili along with lentils is usually their particular great cause of cholesterol-lowering dietary fiber.
Oats are a state-of-the-art way to obtain both sencillo along with insoluble fiber and so make sure that your morning meal features a plate of oat meal every single week inside the few days.
Walnuts, walnuts include a lot more omega-6 fatty acids when compared with any foods, but they?re additionally obtaining filled with zinc, metal, W vitamin supplements like vitamin-B1, viatamin-B6 along with B9, and many associated with necessary protein. On the other hand ingesting nut products is actually a section of nutritious diet, this may increase the cardiovascular well being it?s the same often some sort of king involving almonds intended for health advantages.
Egg cell, Egg cell could very well be one among your best solutions with regard to healthful hair. It includes essential nutrients for instance healthy proteins, Supplement B 12, straightener, zinc and Tissot a few fatty acids throughout huge amounts. Egg is yet a great source regarding biotin the fantastic in order to battle hairloss.
Water Take in enough water keep the body hydrated this means you will assist manage unhealthy calories and that is directs to be able to healthy body reduction prepare.
Homeland Season 2 Episode 4 streaming | Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 6
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's quarterly earnings beat expectations, but Wall Street remains keen to hear new CEO Marissa Mayer outline her plan for reviving the struggling Web company's revenue growth.
Mayer, a former Google Inc executive who took charge at Yahoo in July, is expected to make her first public remarks about her vision for Yahoo during the company's conference call with analysts later on Monday.
Yahoo shares were up about 3 percent at $16.23 in after hours trading on Monday.
"We know they've done a bunch of house cleaning," said Pivotal Research analystBrian Wieser. "Everyone's focused on what's in the call; what's the orientation of the management team for the long term. The company has reset and any colour they give on the call is paramount."
Excluding a $2.8 billion gain related to the sale of Alibaba Group shares, Yahoo said it earned $177 million in income from operations and adjusted net earnings of 35 cents per share in the third quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were looking for adjusted EPS of 25 cents.
Net revenue, which excludes fees paid to partner websites, was $1.09 billion compared with $1.07 billion in the year ago period.
Roughly 700 million users visit a Yahoo website every month - putting it in the top ranks globally. But the amount of activity people engage in on many sites is steadily declining and its smartphone offerings are deemed lacklustre.
Mayer is expected to focus on revamping Yahoo's technology and products, shifting course from the media-centric approach embraced by her immediate predecessor Ross Levinsohn.
Yahoo ended the quarter with 12,000 employees, down more than 12 percent from 13,700 a year earlier.
(Additional reporting by Gerry Shih, Editing by Andre Grenon)
The rumors surrounding Apple's press event, scheduled for Oct. 23, are deafening. Will the Cupertino-based company announce a smaller iPad? (It had better.) Will the company offer up a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display? (Very likely!)?How about an?Apple-branded coffee maker? (No.)
We'll find out for certain which rumors are true?at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET on Tuesday,?when NBC News' tech/sci editor?Wilson Rothman will be inside the event, covering it live here (and tweeting at @wjrothman).?For now, let's?sort?through the latest gossip and making our best guesses. Here's what Apple might announce:
iPad Mini (or is that "iPad Air"?) We suspect that the smaller iPad will be a 7.85-inch device. This particular size has been floating around for over half a year, since a report in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Apple is testing a device about eight inches in size. Since that time, we've heard various other outlets cite their own anonymous sources in order to back up these measurements and narrow them down to the?7.85-inch point.
Odds are high that the smaller iPad will not have a high-resolution Retina display like the iPhone 5 or the third-generation iPad. A Bloomberg?report suggests?it will use a slightly lower resolution display and be priced to compete with Google's Nexus 7 tablet (and other lower-cost tablets such as those made by Amazon or Barnes & Noble).
According to Apple watcher John Gruber, the smaller iPad may look a lot like a large iPod Touch, rather than any other current Apple device, and have a somewhat smaller bezel. Simple logic suggests that the device will have a Lightning connector, just like the iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch devices. Rumors regarding the guts of the so-called "iPad Mini"???or "iPad Air,"?as some rumors suggest it will be called???have been scattered and leave us hesitant to hazard many guesses about that aspect of the device.?(Most of the noise is around an A5 processor and 512MB of RAM, for what it's worth ? about the same specs as an iPad 2.)
As far as the price goes though, it's all about educated guesswork.?As our own Wilson Rothman pointed out, $249 would be the magic price tag for this tablet.?"I think that $249 is the 'all other tablets are dead' price, and $299 is the 'Apple keeps its market share?while making a comfortable profit' price. Anywhere over $300 is a "not good" price," Rothman concludes. "Not in today's market, not with a full-sized iPad 2 selling for $400 and a Retina-display iPad selling for $500."
That pricing logic may not win out, however. As 9to5Mac reported, Apple's smaller iPad may be priced at $329, in order to sit somewhere between the $299 iPod Touch and the $399 iPad 2.
13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display According to multiple reports, both from?purportedly?"reliable sources" cited by 9to5 Mac's Mark Gurman and analysts cited by CNET's Brooke Crothers,?Apple will show off a 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro with Retina display.?This laptop will supposedly be "sold in two configurations, with differing processors and storage, and will be available for purchase soon after introduction," Gurman explains.
A report by the 9to5 Mac staff additionally suggests that the new laptops will start at around $1699. This price tag would belong to the base-model, according to the report, and a higher end version of the laptop would cost about $200 or $300 more.
This new laptop is expected to co-exist with its larger siblings, so don't worry that the current MacBook Pro with Retina display models will disappear from shelves.
A new?new?iPad The folks at 9to5 Mac call attention to a photo allegedly showing a device which appears identical to the third-generation iPad, except for one small change: It has a Lightning connector instead of a 30-pin connector. One could speculate that the device will see a minor refresh, though it's questionable what sort of other changes might be made, beyond the connector.
Would Apple be crazy enough to refresh the third-generation iPad after just seven months? It would be unprecedented, but not totally outside the realm of possibility.
The other little things It wouldn't be surprising if Apple were to announce some minor refreshes to its iMac and Mac Mini lines.?According to MacRumor's handy-dandy buyer's guide, both of the product lines are certainly due for some changes.?While the New York Times' David Pogue, citing an Apple exec, did peg a Mac Pro refresh for 2013, there seems to be wiggle room on the?arrival date of a new iMac.
As a French Apple blogger discovered, there's also?a chance that we'll also see some news related to ibooks, Apple's ebook software. After all, there appear to be apps referencing iBooks 3.0 already.
Oh, and let's not forget about the obligatory iTunes update. What would an Apple event be without one of those?
Want more?tech news or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.