Ringling circus agrees to $270K fine by USDA

VIENNA, Va. (AP) ? VIENNA, Virginia (AP) ? The owner of the Ringling Bros. circus has agreed to pay a $270,000 fine to settle allegations that it violated federal animal-welfare laws in its handling of elephants, tigers, zebras and other exotic animals.

?????The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the civil penalty announced Monday is the largest ever assessed against an animal exhibitor under the Animal Welfare Act.

?????Vienna-based Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus and other well-known acts such as Disney on Ice, said it does not admit to violating the law and agreed to the settlement as a cost of doing business to resolve its differences with the USDA.

?????"We look forward to working with the USDA in a cooperative and transparent manner that meets our shared goal of ensuring that our animals are healthy and receive the highest quality care," said a statement released by Kenneth Feld, chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment.

?????In inspection reports from 2007 through this year, inspectors said circus handlers made elephants perform when they were ill and used the same wheelbarrows to feed meat to tigers and haul away their waste, among other allegations.

?????An inspection report from August alleged that a 35-year-old female Asian elephant, Banko, was forced to perform at a show in Los Angeles despite a diagnosis of sand colic and observations that she appeared to be suffering abdominal discomfort. Circus officials told the inspectors that separating Banko from the performing elephants would have been even more distressing to her.

?????The inspection reports also cited splintered floors and rusted cages used to contain big cats such as tigers, and an incident in March 2008 where two zebras briefly got loose from their enclosure at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. In 2010, another zebra escaped its enclosures in Atlanta and had to be captured by area law enforcement, according to the reports.

?????Feld spokesman Steve Payne said that, generally, the circus has seen an increase in recent years in inspections not only by the USDA but also by state and local regulators. He said that from June to September, one of the circus' traveling units was inspected 82 times by 18 different agencies.

?????"We're highly regulated. We accept that regulation. We embrace it," Payne said.

?????Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has filed numerous complaints with USDA against the circus, especially for its handling of elephants, said the fine is a good first step. But it called on the government to confiscate the elephants.

?????"What remains to be done is for the public to be made aware of this history of abuse so that people will know to keep their children away from the circus," PETA said.

?????As part of the settlement, Ringling also agreed to hire a compliance officer who will ensure that all employees follow the rules outlined in the Animal Welfare Act. All employees who handle animals will also have to undergo compliance training.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-28-Ringling-Fine/id-08c5421473f045788edcbee355e371d7

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Computers as furnaces?

Some ecological economists are proposing putting large, heat-generating supercomputers, which normally require cooling,? into residential basements as heating sources. Is this a clever new way to recycle energy, or too far-fetched to work?

Neo-classical environmental economists have a strange relationship with our ecological economics brethren. ? The ecological economists seem to believe that natural capital is the ultimate limit to sustainable growth while neo-classical economists posit that new ideas and innovation can continuously allow us to avoid "limits to growth". ?We believe that through endogenous innovation that capitalism helps to accelerate the discovery of new ways to produce basic things we need such as food and energy services. ?In a salute to Paul Romer and other growth thinkers, we believe that new ideas can and will arrive that will save the day so that we do not starve and do not suffer in a changing world.

Skip to next paragraph Matthew Kahn

Mathew is an economics professor at UCLA and has written three books: Green Cities (Brookings Institution Press); Heroes and Cowards (Princeton University Press, jointly with Dora L. Costa); and in fall 2010, Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter World (Basic Books).

Recent posts

Today's NY Times has an example of ecological economics that I understand. ?The ecological economists are eager to turn waste (an output) into a productive input. ?Such general equilibrium flows would lead to a more efficient capitalism. ?As this article highlights, ?computers are major producers of heat. ?We all know that computers get hot and that big firms must run air conditioners to keep them cool. This NY Times article posits that a "win-win" would be to lock such computers in people's basements so that their furnace would no longer be needed. Instead, people would get their heat from the electric furnace (the computers). ?This is a groovy idea but it raises a couple of issues.

1. ?How would the home's electricity consumption be disaggregated into that which is consumed in the basement versus that which is consumed by the occupants of the home?

2. What do you do to minimize the probability that the basement floods? ?How do you minimize the probability of vandalism by outsiders?

3. What happens to the family ping pong table?

4. How does the family who lives in the home guarantee that no teenagers will break in and play around with the computers? ?How will two sided liability work?

5. Is there fire risk from all of these computers? How often would nerd technicians be entering the home to tinker around to make sure that the data centers are safe and clean? ?

But, I do like that the nerds are thinking outside the box of how to turn waste into a productive input. If energy prices rise, this would be even more attractive for households who want some heat coming up from the floor boards. ?Perhaps the ecological economists and the NBER economists can make the peace!

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on greeneconomics.blogspot.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/cyShvQoaWso/Computers-as-furnaces

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ECB joins central banks to bolster global finance - The Local

The European Central Bank joined monetary authorities around the world on Wednesday in a concerted effort to reduce strains on the financial markets and boost lending to businesses and consumers.

The central banks of the eurozone, Canada, Britain, Japan, United States and Switzerland said in a joint statement they were lowering the cost of providing dollars to banks, pushing stocks in Europe and the euro sharply higher.

The central banks said they were engaging in "coordinated actions to enhance their capacity to provide liquidity support to the global financial system."

"The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity," they added.

The arrangement allows the central banks to lend dollars to commercial banks that might be finding it hard to borrow them directly from other banks and is aimed at easing tensions in the crucial interbank lending market.

The banks said they were not only reducing the cost of this operation, but also extending it until February 1, 2013. They also agreed to allow cash swap arrangements in any of the participating countries' currencies if market conditions require them.

"At present, there is no need to offer liquidity in non-domestic currencies other than the US dollar, but the central banks judge it prudent to make the necessary arrangements so that liquidity support operations could be put into place quickly should the need arise," it said.

Such dollar operations were used to ease a credit crunch during the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and resumed in September in response to a dollar shortage among eurozone banks hit by the debt crisis.

European stocks surged on the news, with the German equity market up more than four percent, Spain and Italy more than three percent and France over four percent.

This "will probably help banks to get necessary liquidity to run their domestic operations in a smooth way," an Italian trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

The euro also bounced sharply on the foreign exchange markets.

AFP/mry

Source: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20111130-39211.html

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11.11.29 10:00 COMMUNITY EVENT - Story Time - Tuesday November 29, 2011 starting at 10:00 am @ Woodruff Memorial Library

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.calendarwiz.com/calendars/popup.php?op=view&id=42844610&crd=ljevents

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Bunny's Blog: Pet Owners Use GPS Devices to Find Lost Pets

Via The Seattle Times - Houdini the dog lived up to his name.

The lab-shepherd mix, known as a crafty escape artist, was placed in a foster home by Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. Despite his new owner's best efforts to keep him close, the dog pushed an air conditioner out of a window and made his getaway.

Fortunately the staff at Best Friends anticipated Houdini's wandering ways and had outfitted his collar with a GPS tracking device. The device worked as promised, and Best Friends adoption manager Kristi Littrell found the errant dog in an overgrown lot in Kanab.

About half of the pets that enter animal shelters each year are strays or lost animals, but the growing use of GPS technology may offer owners a new option for trying to track down roaming cats, missing dogs and other runaway pets.

Several GPS devices are now being marketed that attach to collars and can be monitored by handsets, cellphones or computers with relative ease. Kristi Littrell, adoption manager at Best Friends, said Houdini was "the same color as the weeds" in the lot where she found him.

"I would never have found him without the GPS device on his collar," she added. Best Friends is still hoping to find a home for Houdini, and plans to give the GPS device to the new owners to help make sure that if he ever does get out again, he'll be easily tracked down.

"It's great these devices are available to us now," Littrell said. "They will undoubtedly help in a lot of cases where pets would otherwise not be found and returned home."

Read more: http://bit.ly/vjwK9I

Written by Sue Manning
Image via Seattle Times

Source: http://bunnyjeancook.blogspot.com/2011/11/pet-owners-use-gps-devices-to-find-lost.html

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Egypt's post-Mubarak poll peaceful, high turnout (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egyptians voted Monday in the first election since a popular revolt toppled Hosni Mubarak's one-man rule, showing new-found faith in the ballot box that may sweep long-banned Islamists into parliament even as army generals cling to power.

Voters swarmed to the polls in a generally peaceful atmosphere despite the unrest that marred the election run-up, when 42 people were killed in protests demanding an immediate transition from military to civilian rule.

"We want to make a difference, although we are depressed by what the country has come to," said Maha Amin, a 46-year-old pharmacy lecturer, before she voted in an upscale Cairo suburb.

The ruling army council, which has already extended polling to a second day, kept voting stations open an extra two hours until 9 p.m. "to accommodate the high voter turnout."

The Muslim Brotherhood's party and other Islamists expect to do well in the parliamentary election staggered over the next six weeks, but much remains uncertain in Egypt's complex and unfamiliar voting system of party lists and individuals.

Political transformation in Egypt, traditional leader of the Arab world, will reverberate across the Middle East, where a new generation demanding democratic change has already toppled or challenged the leaders of Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Parliament's lower house will be Egypt's first nationally elected body since Mubarak's fall and those credentials alone may enable it to dilute the military's monopoly of power.

A high turnout throughout the election would give it legitimacy. Despite a host of reported electoral violations and lax supervision exploited by some groups, election monitors reported no systematic Mubarak-style campaign to rig the polls.

"We are very happy to be part of the election," said first-time Cairo voter Wafa Zaklama, 55. "What was the point before?"

In the northern city of Alexandria, 34-year-old engineer Walid Atta rejoiced in the occasion. "This is the first real election in 30 years. Egyptians are making history," he said.

ISLAMISTS SCENT POWER

Oppressed under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties have stood aloof from those challenging army rule in Cairo's Tahrir Square and elsewhere, unwilling to let anything obstruct a vote that may bring them closer to power.

In the Nile Delta city of Damietta, some voters said they would punish the Brotherhood for its perceived opportunism.

Nevertheless, the Brotherhood has formidable advantages that include a disciplined organization, name recognition among a welter of little-known parties and years of opposing Mubarak.

Brotherhood organizers stood near many voting stations with laptops, offering to guide confused voters, printing out a paper identifying the correct polling booth and showing their Freedom and Justice Party candidate's name and symbol on the back.

"At least they are not giving people fruit inside the polling station," said Mouna Zuffakar, of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, noting widespread breaches of a ban on campaigning near polling stations.

Many voters engaged in lively political debate as they waited patiently in long queues.

"Aren't the army officers the ones who protected us during the revolution?" one woman asked loudly at a polling station in Cairo's Nasr City, referring to the army's role in easing Mubarak from power. "What do those slumdogs in Tahrir want?"

One man replied: "Those in Tahrir are young men and women who are the reason why a 61-year-old man like me voted in a parliamentary election for the first time in his life today."

The world is closely watching the election, keen for stability in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel, owns the Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia, and which in Mubarak's time was an ally in countering Islamist militants in the region.

Washington and its European allies have urged the generals to step aside swiftly and make way for civilian rule.

The U.S. ambassador to Cairo, Anne Patterson, congratulated Egyptians "on what appeared to be a very large turnout on this very historic occasion." British ambassador James Watt told Reuters the election was "an important milestone in Egypt's democratic transition" that seemed to have gone smoothly so far.

SEGREGATED VOTING

In Alexandria and elsewhere, men and women voted in separate queues, a reminder of the conservative religious fabric of Egypt's mainly Muslim society, where Coptic Christians comprise 10 percent of a population of more than 80 million.

Myriad parties have emerged since the fall of Mubarak, who fixed elections to ensure his now-defunct National Democratic Party dominated parliament. The NDP's headquarters, torched in the popular revolt, still stands like a tombstone by the Nile.

Individual winners are to be announced Wednesday, but many contests will go to a run-off vote on December 5. List results will not be declared until after the election ends on January 11.

About 17 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in the first two-day phase of three rounds of polling for the lower house.

Egyptians seemed enthused by the novelty of a vote where the outcome was, for a change, not a foregone conclusion.

"It's easy to predict this will be a higher turnout than any recent election in Egypt," said Les Campbell, of the Washington-based National Democratic Institute. "We are seeing clear signs of voter excitement and participation."

The army council has promised civilian rule by July after the parliamentary vote and a presidential poll, now expected in June -- much sooner than previously envisaged.

But one of its members said Sunday the new parliament could not remove a cabinet appointed by the army.

Kamal Ganzouri, named by the army Friday to form a new government, said he had met the ruling army council Monday to discuss setting up a "civilian advisory committee" to work with his new cabinet, which he said could be unveiled by Thursday.

Polling day calm was reflected on financial markets battered by this month's unrest. The cost of insuring Egyptian debt edged lower, with five-year credit default swaps slipping 10 basis points to 539. The Egyptian pound, which last week hit its lowest point since January 2005, held steady.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair, Maha El Dahan and Tom Perry in Cairo, Marwa Awad in Alexandria, Shaimaa Fayed in Damietta, Yusri Mohamed in Port Said and Jonathan Wright in Fayoum; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Peter Millership)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/wl_nm/us_egypt_election

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12 Little Daily Tricks To Find Your Healthy Weight

"Buy natural varieties of peanut butter and pour off the oil sitting on top. Each serving will have 20 fewer calories and 2 to 3 fewer grams of fat. It's a small difference that'll add up to a couple of pounds per year."
--Amelia Winslow, personal chef in Los Angeles and founder of the healthy food blog Eating Made Easy More from Health.com: 7 Gadgets for Perfect Portion Sizes Which Foods Burn the Most Fat? 25 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/27/little-weight-loss-tips_n_1110917.html

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Did You Know?

WWE IS Making Networks

WWE broadcasts to approximately 12 million fans per week in the U.S.

*Nielsen Media Research

WWE?s audience is approximately 65% male and 35% female.

*Nielsen Media Research

Nearly 74% of WWE?s audience is 21 and over.

*Nielsen Media Research

WWE programming can be seen in more than half a billion television households worldwide.

*WWE International?

Monday Night Raw on USA Network is among the most-watched regularly scheduled programs on primetime cable television and helps make USA a top-rated network.

*Nielsen Media Research???

Raw is the longest running, weekly episodic television program in the U.S. with more than 900 original episodes; more than Lassie and GunsmokeFriday Night SmackDown is regularly Syfy?s most-watched program every week and was the most-watched regularly scheduled program on primetime cable Friday nights among males under 65 in the third quarter of 2011.

*Nielsen Media Research?

SmackDown has become the second longest running weekly episodic program in primetime TV history, behind only WWE?s ?Monday Night Raw.?

*Nielsen Media Research?

WWE IS Global

WWE has offices in London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.

In October 2011, WWE broadcast Monday Night Raw and SmackDown from Mexico for the first time, making it one of only four countries outside of North America to have ever hosted WWE?s weekly flagship TV shows.

Within the past year, WWE has performed for audiences in cities like London, Mexico City, Rome, Cape Town, Munich and Shanghai.

In 2011, WWE programming began airing in Brazil and Russia and continues to reach television audiences across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

WWE IS Live and Local

In the third quarter of 2011, WWE held 64 live events domestically and 15 internationally, entertaining approximately 425,000 fans.

*WWE Live Events?

WrestleMania XXVII, held on April 3, 2011, grossed more than $6.6 million in ticket sales, becoming the highest grossing and attended entertainment event ever held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. 71,617 fans from all 50 states and 30 countries attended the sold out event.

SummerSlam, held on August 14, 2011, attracted a sold out crowd of 17,404 and grossed more than $1 million, making it the highest-grossing SummerSlam ever held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

WWE IS the Pay-Per-View Leader

Since 2000, WWE pay-per-views have generated an average of approximately $95 million in revenue and 5+ million buys annually.

*WWE Finance

WrestleMania XXVII generated more than 1 million pay-per-view buys.

WWE IS a Digital Powerhouse

WWE.com averaged 13 million monthly unique visitors worldwide over the past 12 months.

* comScore Media Metrix/ *OmnitureSite Catalyst

?WrestleMania? was the #1 non sponsored worldwide trend on Twitter the Sunday WrestleMania XXVII took place.

*Twitter.com

WWE Superstar Slingshot became the #1 Kids Game App in the U.S., Egypt, Belgium, Jordan, Turkey and India after its debut in April 2011.

More than 130 million videos per month are watched on WWE.com, YouTube.com/WWE and Hulu.com/WWE combined.

*Omniture

WWE Superstar John Cena is the No. 7 most-followed athlete in the world on Facebook with more than ninth million fans.

*Facebook.com

WWE ?s Facebook network has more than 42 million total followers across 110+ pages, making it the #3 most-followed sports brand on Facebook.

*Facebook.com

WWE IS Hollywood

That?s What I Am, starring Ed Harris, Chase Ellison, Amy Madigan and WWE Superstar Randy Orton, was selected as the Centerpiece Gala by the 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

WWE has always been a force in pop culture where celebrities like Hugh Jackman, The Muppets, Kellan Lutz, Ryan Phillippe, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Piven, Shaquille O?Neal, Kristen Wiig, Snoop Dogg, Floyd ?Money? Mayweather, Donald Trump, Ashton Kutcher, Jewel and Maria Menounos enjoy WWE entertainment.

WWE Music Group has worked with Cee Lo Green, Sean ?Diddy? Combs and Diddy-Dirty Money, Trace Adkins, Kid Rock, Aretha Franklin, John Legend, Nicole Scherzinger, Keri Hilson and Ozzy Osbourne.

WWE Superstars and Divas appear in non-WWE programming including:

• Saturday Night Live- Triple H, John Cena
• Tonight Show- Big Show, John Cena, The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, Sheamus
• CONAN- The Miz, Sheamus
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon- Triple H, John Cena, Big Show, The Miz
• Jimmy Kimmel Live- CM Punk, Santino Marella, The Miz, Randy Orton, John Cena, Triple H
• Bloomberg Enterprise- ?Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H
• The Price Is Right- Kelly Kelly, The Bella Twins
• The Talk- John Cena
• Family BrainSurge- The Miz, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Eve
• Project Runway- Layla
• Dinner: Impossible- Stephanie McMahon, Big Show, The Miz, Santino Marella
• Cake Boss- Santino Marella, WWE Divas
• Royal Pains- Big Show
• Warehouse 13- Cody Rhodes
• PSYCH- John Cena, The Miz
• Burn Notice- Big Show
• Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred- John Cena

?

WWE IS the Publishing Master

WWE Magazine is a global publication that reaches more than 5.1 million monthly readers in the United States and has local editions in the UK, Mexico, Greece and Turkey.

*MRI Research

WWE Kids reaches more than 1.3 million readers per issue and has licensed editions in the U.K., Mexico and Turkey.

WWE has published more than 40 books, with 23 hitting The New York Times Best Sellers list, and three at number one.

WWE IS Award Winning

WWE was named one of America?s hottest brands by Advertising Age.

WWE has won many industry and philanthropic awards including:

• Forbes 200 Best Small Companies
• Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award
• USO Legacy of Hope Award

?

WWE IS Giving Back

In April 2011, The Creative Coalition and WWE cofounded a new nationwide anti-bullying alliance, ?be a STAR? ? which stands for ?Show Tolerance And Respect,? ? to promote positive methods of social interaction and encourage people to treat others as equals and with respect.

John Cena, who serves as a Wish Ambassador, is rapidly approaching his 300th wish granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which will make him the only celebrity to have ever accomplished this achievement.

Since 2002, WWE has produced its annual ?Tribute to the Troops? holiday special, with WWE Superstars and Divas performing before troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the United States.

Triple H is a spokesperson for the Muscular Dystrophy Association?s ?Make A Muscle, Make A Difference? awareness campaign.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/standupforwwe/didyouknow

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Obama, Bush, Clinton to participate in AIDS talk (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama and two former presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, are joining top anti-AIDS advocates for a panel discussion to observe World AIDS Day.

The discussion will take place Thursday at George Washington University and will be streamed live on YouTube. Bush and Clinton will participate via satellite.

Organizers say they hope to build on progress already made in the fight against the devastating virus. The event is sponsored by two organizations, ONE and (RED), that combat global poverty and AIDS. Among the panelists will be Bono, the lead singer of the band U2 and co-founder of ONE and (RED).

Other participants include Tanzania's President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee of California.

___

Online:

http://www.ONE.org .

http://www.joinred.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_re_us/us_presidents_aids

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Ben Whishaw Is Bond's New Q

One character that has yet to pop up in the rebooted James Bond universe (first established in Casino Royale)?is ?Q,? MI6?s resident tinkerer who creates all the wonderful spy?gadgets?that Bond uses in his perennial quest to thwart evil and save the world.

Q?s four decades? worth of onscreen appearances have largely been monopolized by actor Desmond Llewelyn (who passed away in 1999), with the last onscreen iteration of the character having been inhabited by John Cleese in the 2002 Bond film, Die Another Day.?However, as with many aspects of the rebooted Bond, the character of Q is getting an injection of some new (read: young) blood in the upcoming Bond flick, Skyfall.

BBC News?recently reported that actor Ben Whishaw will be taking on the role of Q in Skyfall. If the name is not familiar to you, it?s probably because the actor has been featured in projects that are more popular across the pond than here in the states, namely TV series like Nathan Barley and Criminal Justice -?though he has also had parts in big-screen fare like I?m Not There, Brideshead Revisited, The International, and Julie Taymor?s adaptation of Shakespeare?s The Tempest. Still, as far as the majority of American audiences are concerned, Whishaw is largely a mystery.

Modern Bond movies have been bold in their updates to some of the franchise staples ? most notably changing Bond?s boss M from male to female (played wonderfully by Judi Dench). Those changes will continue in Skyfall, as Q will ? for the first time ? actually be younger than Bond (Whishaw is 31 while Daniel Craig is in his early forties). While it?s a miniscule alteration to some (like myself), those ?Bond purists? who always seem to be waiting in the woodwork will likely be upset that a change is once again being made to Ian Fleming?s sacred material.

The many faces of Q

Since I have little knowledge of Whishaw as an actor, or what the script for Skyfall?entails, it?s hard to say what the latest take on Q is going to be: will he be the dry-wit character we?re familiar with? Or will this younger Q be less confident than his previous counterparts? Does Whishaw have the timing and talent for sharp banter? Will the gadgets that Q invents be more grounded and fitting with this rebooted Bond that Craig plays? Or will we see a return to the more over-the-top futuristic technology we saw in Die Another Day??(Please, no more invisible cars, that?s all we ask!)

We?ll find out for sure when Skyfall?hits UK theaters on October 26th, 2012. It will open in the U.S. a few weeks later on November 9th.

Source: BBC News

?

Please recommend Screen Rant on Facebook

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924022/news/1924022/

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Same Sex Romance Comes to a Galaxy Far, Far Away (Newsarama.com)

Same-sex relationships are coming to the "Star Wars" universe, courtesy of video game developer BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts' new massively multiplayer online role- playing game (or "MMORPGs" or "MMOs" for short), "Star Wars: The Old Republic," and the decision is getting people talking.

MMOs are games that create immersive virtual environments in which millions of players can interact with computer-generated characters as well as characters created by fellow gamers. While this is BioWare's first MMO, the developer is known among fans for the emphasis they place on romantic relationships between characters in their single-player role-playing games. In the past, BioWare games have featured same-sex relationships between men and women, and in the case of the immensely popular sci-fi game "Mass Effect," relationships between men and women with an asexual alien.

BioWare originally announced that players and their companions in "Star Wars: The Old Republic" would only be able to experience mixed-gender romantic relationships. After many inquiries from fans asking the developer to explain the decision, earlier this week a new forum post by Stephen Reid, the senior online community manager for the game, showed up on the company's official website announcing that those fans had been heard and same-sex romance will be added to the game.

BioWare's statement explained that while the game will still launch with only male/female relationships, they will be adding same gender romance options in future updates.

"Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in 'Star Wars: The Old Republic' will be a post-launch feature. Because 'The Old Republic' is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options."

"Companion characters" are computer-controlled characters that follow player-created characters around the virtual world, aiding them as gamers maneuver through the story.

The response to BioWare's announcement has been massive. There are 326 pages of comments as of Friday afternoon on the official "Star Wars: The Old Republic" forum alone. They range from "thank you for listening to our requests" to "how dare you expose my children to this."

The game has no firm release date, only a release window of "holiday 2011." It has also already received an ESRB rating of "T for Teen," meaning the game is recommended for players 13 and older. Neither facts have stopped detractors from crying foul, such as John Nolte on the blog "Big Hollywood," who starts his post on the subject with "Say goodbye to your child's innocence," and ends with the inaccurate proclamation, "Announcing the gay relationships AFTER the game has been sold is pure bait and switch."

The game already has reportedly broken preorder records for publisher Electronic Arts.

Got a comment? There's lots of conversation on Newsarama's FACEBOOK and TWITTER!

Related Stories:

Newsarama.com is the go-to source for the latest comic book and genre entertainment news, reviews and commentary. Newsarama's passionate audience contributes to lively discussions ranging from classic and new comics to movies, TV, manga, anime and more. Watch previews, interviews and more on our video player, sneak peeks of new comics on our Comic Book Viewer and sign up for our RSS feeds. And be sure to join our community so you can voice your opinion on our articles and in our lively forums.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/newsarama/20111128/en_newsarama/samesexromancecomestoagalaxyfarfaraway

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DroidGamers: Playstation Network Store app tweaked and running in limited fashion on the Xperia Play. http://t.co/F8qxbXq2 #android #gaming

Playstation Network Store app tweaked and running in limited fashion on the Xperia Play. Il y a environ 3 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/DroidGamers/statuses/140907351162093570

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JK Rowling says press left her feeling under siege (omg!)

LONDON (AP) ? Author J.K. Rowling has told a U.K. media ethics inquiry she felt under siege from intrusive journalists who staked out her house and went as far as to slip a letter into her 5-year-old daughter's school bag.

The creator of boy wizard Harry Potter says Thursday that media interest began shortly after the publication of her first novel in 1997, and soon escalated, with photographers and reporters frequently stationed outside her home.

Once, her daughter came home from primary school and Rowling found a letter from a journalist in her backpack. Rowling says she felt a huge sense of invasion at the move.

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Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LONDON (AP) ? Actress Sienna Miller told a media ethics inquiry Thursday that she was left paranoid and scared by years of relentless tabloid pursuit that ranged from paparazzi outside her house to the hacking of her mobile phone.

Miller said the surveillance, and a stream of personal stories about her in the tabloids, led her to accuse friends and family of leaking information to the media. In fact, her cell phone voice mails had been hacked at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid.

Miller, 29, became a tabloid staple when she dated fellow actor Jude Law. She said the constant scrutiny left her feeling "very violated and very paranoid and anxious, constantly."

"I felt like I was living in some sort of video game," she said.

She called the paparazzi focus on her terrifying.

"For a number of years I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily," she said. "Spat at, verbally abused.

"I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal."

Miller, the star of "Layer Cake" and "Alfie," was one of the first celebrities to take the News of the World to court over illegal eavesdropping. In May, the newspaper agreed to pay her 100,000 pounds ($160,000) to settle claims her phone had been hacked.

The newspaper's parent company now faces dozens of lawsuits from alleged hacking victims.

Miller, who looked confident as she gave evidence at London's Royal Courts of Justice, said challenging Murdoch's media conglomerate had been a difficult decision.

"I was very nervous about taking on an empire that was richer and far more powerful than I will ever be," she said. "It was very daunting."

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who has campaigned to keep her children out of the media glare, is due to give evidence later Thursday about media intrusion.

Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry amid a still-unfolding scandal over illegal eavesdropping by the Murdoch-owned tabloid. Murdoch closed down the News of the World in July after evidence emerged that it had illegally accessed the mobile phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims in its search of scoops.

More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested over allegations of illegal eavesdropping, and the scandal has also claimed the jobs of two top London police officers, Cameron's media adviser and several senior Murdoch executives.

The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to media regulation in Britain.

Miller took the stand after another witness was allowed to give evidence in private. The courtroom was cleared of the press as the witness, identified only as HJK, testified about suffering intrusions while in a relationship with a well-known figure, whose identity was also kept secret.

Former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who has campaigned for a privacy law since his interest in sadomasochistic sex was exposed in the News of the World, broadened the focus in testimony Thursday, discussing the difficulty of squashing malicious stories in the Internet age.

Mosley successfully sued the News of the World over a 2008 story headlined "Formula One boss has sick Nazi orgy with five hookers." Mosley has acknowledged the orgy, but argued that the story ? obtained with a hidden camera ? was an "outrageous" invasion of privacy. He said the Nazi allegation was damaging and "completely untrue."

Mosley said he has had stories about the incident removed from 193 websites around the world, and is currently taking legal action "in 22 or 23 different countries," including proceedings against search engine Google in France and Germany.

"The fundamental thing is that Google could stop this appearing but they don't or won't as a matter of principle," he said. "The really dangerous things are the search engines."

"You work all your life to try and achieve something or do something useful," Mosley added. "And suddenly something like this happens and that's what you're remembered for."

High-profile witnesses still to come include CNN celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan, who has denied using phone hacking while he was editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper.

The hearings have heard allegations of media malpractice and intrusion that extend far beyond the News of the World.

Witnesses have included celebrities like actor Hugh Grant and ordinary people pursued in times of grief, including the parents of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler, whose voice mails were accessed by the News of the World after she disappeared in 2002.

Her parents said the hacking gave them false hope their daughter was still alive during the investigation into her disappearance.

On Wednesday, the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann said they were left distraught by false stories and the publication of private information by the tabloid press.

Kate and Gerry McCann told the inquiry they felt powerless in the face of stories, based on concocted evidence, suggesting they had killed their daughter. Madeleine had vanished when she was three during the British family's 2007 vacation in Portugal.

___

Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_jk_rowling_says_press_left_her_feeling_under154711988/43705257/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/jk-rowling-says-press-left-her-feeling-under-154711988.html

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Newsmaker: Technocrat "oil man" takes charge of Libya lifeline (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) ? Libya's new oil minister is seen as the right kind of technocrat, deeply experienced yet not too closely tied to the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi, to help restore the OPEC member's economic lifeline after eight months of war.

Abdulrahman Ben Yazza is in his mid-50s and brings experience from both Libya's oil industry and Italian firm Eni, the largest foreign oil producer in Libya before the war.

He worked at Libya's Waha Oil company and at the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), culminating in a seat on the management committee. He then headed a joint venture between NOC and Eni.

"He's an excellent oil man," NOC Chairman Nuri Berruien told Reuters. "He's a first-class professional ... The most important (thing) is that he's from the oil patch. It is very important, it is good to work with people who speak your tongue."

A source close to Ben Yazza said the married father of four from Tripoli had been living in Milan for the last few years and traveling frequently to Libya.

"Ben Yazza is an old guy, well known and well liked. He knows Eni very well but that doesn't mean he will be pro-Eni ... he will be pro-Libyan," one Libyan oil industry source said.

"He's more a technocrat politician. Remember this is a transitory government, a bit like the Monti government in Italy ...It doesn't represent the power equilibrium and none of the big shots are in it."

Of all the new appointments in Prime Minister Abdurrahim El Keib's government, set to lead the country to elections next year, analysts and industry sources said Ben Yazza is seen as the most technocratic and least colored by the country's regional politics.

"In meetings he would listen to everyone's opinion," a person who worked with him at the NOC said, describing Ben Yazza as "very respectable."

NEW FACES

Before the February revolt, Libya's oil policy was run by the NOC headed by Shokri Ghanem, who defected in June and is believed to be living in Europe.

Officials have since indicated there will be changes, with plans to split commercial arrangements from policy.

Ben Yazza himself is seen as somewhat independent despite his NOC history, as a man who reportedly clashed at one point with Ghanem and who carries no strong affiliation with the ousted regime.

He is "very competent with a strong personality," one diplomatic source said.

"There were other candidates in the sector who had good international pedigrees, but they were often very closely associated with Col. Gaddafi - or they amplified their connections with Gaddafi in order to increase their prestige," said Geoff Porter, a U.S. independent expert on Libya.

"In the new post-Gaddafi Libya, they are tainted and would have been rejected by the Libyan population and by the hydrocarbon sector workers in particular."

The new set of faces will have to sustain the revival of the industry, which is returning to the international market faster than expected.

Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves and was pumping 1.6 million barrels per day before the revolt.

Questions remain about the future, with a potential shake-up that would give more power to the oil ministry and carve up the NOC's responsibilities.

Berruien said the oil ministry and NOC would "complement each other."

Ben Yazza's appointment could see a number of former Libyan state oil company executives return to the public sector, according to political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

"Highly experienced and extremely well-connected, we expect Ben Yazza to announce the recruitment of a number of his former NOC colleagues and friends to the NOC and the ministry," it said.

"The implications for the sector are good. Separating the regulatory and oversight functions from operations will remove some conflicts of interest," it said.

"Ben Yazza (will have) the opportunity to root out some of the more entrenched examples of corruption."

Still, he could encounter opposition from some workers still wary of former NOC officials. Waha Oil workers just recently ended a strike after their demands for a new chairman were met.

"Lack of experienced personnel has long been a retarding factor in the Libyan oil and gas sector and Ben Yazza will see the return of senior officials currently with IOCs (independent oil companies) as important if the sector is to reach its full potential," Eurasia said.

(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun and Christian Lowe in Tripoli, Stephen Jewkes in Milan, Jessica Donati in London; editing by Jason Neely)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/ts_nm/us_libya_oil_minister

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Video: James Murdoch quits news publishers board

Amid the investigation into phone hacking, James Murdoch has given up his role in running the British Murdoch newspapers including the Sun, the Times and Sunday Times. ITV?s Geraint Vincent looks at what it means for Mr. Murdoch and perhaps the long-term ownership of the papers.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45422518/

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New find sheds light on ancient site in Jerusalem (AP)

JERUSALEM ? Israeli archaeologists say newly discovered coins could change the accepted belief about the construction in Jerusalem two millennia ago of one of the world's most sacred sites.

It was long thought that the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary was built in its entirety by Herod, a Jewish ruler who died in 4 B.C.

But archaeologist Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Wednesday that diggers have found coins underneath the foundations of the compound's western wall that date to 20 years after Herod's death.

That indicates Herod could not have built that wall.

Instead, Shukron believes construction must have taken longer than was thought and was likely completed by one of Herod's descendants.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/fossils/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_holy_compound

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Holiday gift guide: What to get your favorite traveler

The holidays are upon us. Starting with Thanksgiving this week (in the U.S. anyway) and continuing through the rest of the year, chances are you'll be headed out somewhere. But you don't want to go empty-handed. And with the inevitable delays, it's important to be prepared

Head on past the break for our top gift suggestions for travelers, be they road warriors or first-timers.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/8Nl5dctbnko/story01.htm

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Truce quiets Cairo streets, army says no delay to vote (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? A truce between Egyptian riot police and protesters succeeded on Thursday in calming violence that has killed 39 people in five days, and the army said there would be no delay to a parliamentary vote scheduled for next week.

Demonstrations by thousands of Egyptians furious at the slow transfer of power by military leadership to civilian rule have led to violent clashes with police, in scenes similar to the popular uprising that toppled leader Hosni Mubarak in February.

The demonstrators have vowed not to leave Cairo's central Tahrir Square, which once again has become the cradle of public protest in the most populous Arab country.

Egypt's ruling military council, which has promised to start parliamentary elections as scheduled on Monday, said it was doing all it could to prevent the repetition of violence.

In a statement, it apologised, offered condolences and compensation to families of the dead, and promised a swift investigation into who was behind the unrest.

A ruling council member, General Mamdouh Shaheen, told a news conference there would be no delay to the parliamentary vote, scheduled for Monday.

"We will not delay elections. This is the final word," he said.

Another member of the ruling council, General Mokhtar al-Mullah, took a swipe at the demonstrators.

"If we look at those in Tahrir, regardless of their number, they do not represent the Egyptian people, but we must respect their opinion," he told a news conference about the election.

He said the army hoped to form a new government before Monday to replace Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's cabinet, which resigned during this week's violence without giving a reason.

Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the parliamentary election committee, told the news conference: "As for the circumstances we are ready to conduct the election under any conditions."

TRUCE HOLDS

Demonstrators in Tahrir said the truce had taken hold from midnight. At midday, tear gas still lingered in the air, but there were no clashes. A crane was hauling a huge concrete barrier across the main street leading from the square to the Interior Ministry, flashpoint for much of the recent violence.

"Since about midnight or 1 a.m. there were no more clashes. We are standing here to ensure no one goes inside the cordon," said Mohamed Mustafa, 50, among a group barring a street nearby.

They were guarding a barricade made of a broken metal fence, a telephone booth laid on its side and part of a lamp post.

At the other end of the street, littered with shattered glass, lumps of concrete and heaps of rubbish, at least two army armoured personnel carriers blocked the route. Mustafa's group said police were on the front line, and behind them the army.

Lines of Tahrir protesters manned similar barriers to block access to Mohamed Mahmoud Street, scene of repeated fighting.

"We have created a space separating us from the police. We are standing here to make sure no one violates it," said Mahmoud Adly, 42, part of a human cordon four ranks deep.

The sustained protests in Cairo and some other cities pose the gravest challenge to Egypt's army rulers since the council led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi took over from Mubarak, overthrown on Feb. 11.

The demonstrations appear to have polarised Egyptians, many of whom worry that unrest will prolong economic stagnation that has deepened the poverty of millions.

In a new blow to confidence, Standard & Poor's cut Egypt's long-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings to B+ from BB-, with a negative outlook. It said Egypt's "weak political and economic profile" had deteriorated further.

The thousands who thronged Tahrir Square were undeterred in their determination to rid Egypt of army rule. "He goes, we won't," declared a banner referring to Tantawi.

The United States and European nations, alarmed at the violence of the past few days, have urged Egypt to proceed with what has been billed as its first free vote in decades.

LACK OF TRUST

The army and the Muslim Brotherhood, which expects to do well in the polls, say it must go ahead, but many protesters do not trust the military to oversee a clean vote. Some scorn the Brotherhood for its focus on gaining seats in parliament.

The military council originally promised to return to barracks within six months, but then set a timetable for elections and drawing up a new constitution that would have left it in power until late next year or early 2013.

Tantawi pledged this week to hold a presidential vote in June that could pave the way for a transfer to civilian rule, but the demonstrators, angered by army attempts to shield itself legally from future civilian control, are unconvinced.

"The military council must leave and hand power to civilians. They don't want to leave so that their corruption isn't exposed," said 23-year-old student Ahmed Essam.

For now, the front lines near the Interior Ministry, a symbol of Mubarak's hated security police, have fallen quiet.

"We want to stop these clashes, people are dying," said 30-year-old protester Osama Abu Seree.

Before the truce took hold, riot police fired barrages of tear gas at hardcore protesters, amid bursts of gunfire. Scores of young men, coughing and gasping for air, stumbled into dark side streets off Tahrir Square to escape the acrid smoke.

At a makeshift clinic near Tahrir, doctor Tareq Salem said four people had died there on Wednesday, two from bullet wounds and two from asphyxiation. He said three volunteer doctors had been killed since the violence began.

"They were fresh graduates," he said, splashing his face with saline fluid to counter the effects of the latest barrage of gas. One died of suffocation, the other two of bullet wounds sustained while assessing injuries outside, he said.

Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy told state television that security forces had only fired tear gas, but said unidentified people had been shooting from rooftops near Tahrir.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair, Tom Perry and Tamim Elyan; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/india/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/india_nm/india607068

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: 6 Audio/Video Gifts That Will Light Up The Holidays

There may be no greater gift than a quality piece of home entertainment equipment. I mean that, too. Forget train sets, diamonds and puppies. Everyone wants entertainment this holiday season and we've rounded up six solid bets ranging in price from $40 to $600. There's something here for everyone including your great aunt or boyfriend that already has everything.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/K6duUF5nnG0/

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Aung San Suu Kyi: Pro-Democracy Leader Plans To Run For Myanmar Parliament

YANGON, Myanmar -- Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi intends to run for parliament in upcoming by-elections, a decision that was expected after her party decided last week to rejoin mainstream politics in long-isolated Myanmar.

Nyan Win, the spokesman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said Monday she has not yet decided which district she will seek to represent. But she "has the intention to stand for the elections," he told The Associated Press.

In a landmark development, the NLD decided on Friday to rejoin politics and register for future elections, signaling its confidence in recent reforms by the nominally civilian government that took power earlier this year.

The military-aligned ruling party won the November 2010 parliamentary elections held by the junta as part of its promise to introduce democracy and relinquish power after nearly five decades of military rule.

The NLD boycotted the elections because of a law that had prevented Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi from running. The new government, however, later scrapped the law, allowing the NLD to take part in the political reforms now under way.

According to the new election law, a registered party is required to run for at least three seats in the legislature, made up of 224 members in the upper house and 440 members in the lower house. Of these, 48 seats are vacant for which special elections will be held, although no date has been set.

Suu Kyi had hinted on Friday that she would run for a parliamentary seat in the special elections, saying: "If one is engaged in politics, one has to do what is necessary. If I feel that I should take part in elections, I will participate."

She, however, cautioned that "the road ahead is full of difficulties and the road to democracy is endless."

Bringing Suu Kyi's party back into the fold would give the government greater legitimacy at home and abroad. It has already won cautious praise from international observers and critics, including the United States, for introducing reforms.

President Thein Sein, a former army officer, has shown a willingness to talk to Suu Kyi, lifted some restrictions on the media and the Internet, legalized unions and scrapped an unpopular dam project. Still, hundreds of political prisoners remain in jails.

Thein Sein has welcomed the NLD's decision to rejoin politics, saying it was "a positive signal."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/aung-san-suu-kyi-myanmar-parliament_n_1104619.html

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Nuance Plays Its Cards Right With Swype (The Motley Fool)

The technology segment has never been this exciting. With the launch of upgraded tablets and Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL - News) much-awaited iPhone -- despite the fact that users got the 4S version instead of the promised 5 -- the market has been thrown wide open for newer, better technologies.

One company that has jumped onto the bandwagon is Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: NUAN - News). Nuance, a speech recognition and digital imaging software company, last month acquired its competitor, mobile-tech firm Swype, for $102.5 million. Swype's patented technology, which makes typing on screens of mobile devices, tablets, televisions, and game consoles easier, is expected to boost Nuance's growth.

Profitable nuances
Nuance has been looking to expand aggressively in order to tap into the fast-moving smartphone and tablets market. In the past year, the company has acquired three more businesses, all of which were related to mobile device technologies. In addition to a business partnership with Apple -- iPhone 4S' Siri technology is based on its speech-recognition technology -- Nuance also supports Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG - News) Android-based mobile devices. In fact, Nuance's acquisition has sparked speculation about Google's interest in buying out the company for its speech-recognition technology. According to one analyst, Swype had 15 manufacturing partners and 50 million devices shipped in the last 18 months. The acquisition means that Nuance gets Swype's current business partnerships and much more.

Swype's acquisition is seen as a big move for Nuance, as core speech-recognition technology allows the company to provide raw materials to big players. Potential customers for its latest technology include leading mobile device manufacturers such as Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM - News), Nokia (NYSE: NOK - News), or Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI - News).

Tracing an aggressive growth path
Nuance is leaving no stone unturned in its effort to capture market share in the mobile devices and tablet segment. In line with its expansion plans, Nuance recently partnered with distributor Mindware for the promotion of its products in the Middle East. Investors have been happy with the moves. Since the iPhone 4S was launched, Nuance's stock has risen nearly 15%, recently hitting a 52-week high.

Foolish opinion
Speech technology in mobile and tablet devices promises to be the next big thing in the technology segment. With smart acquisitions, expansion strategies, the right product mix, and big partnerships, Nuance seems to be playing its cards right. In addition, its growth is tied to the progress made in the mobile devices and tablet market, which is only expected to move northward.

Vibhuti Shah does not own any shares in the companies mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Google.

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Adele leads nominees at rainy AMAs

Audrina Patridge arrives at the 39th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Audrina Patridge arrives at the 39th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Lance Bass arrives at the 39th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Mario arrives at the 39th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Phoebe Price arrives at the 39th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? It's raining music artists ? and just raining ? outside the American Music Awards.

Taio Cruz, Joe Jonas, Jenny McCarthy and Smokey Robinson were among the celebrities who braved the tented red carpet outside the Nokia Theatre in unusually dreary Los Angeles for the 39th annual performance-packed show.

Alanis Morissette didn't let the drippy weather stop her from wearing a dreamy black chiffon dress and fishtail braid.

"It was planned way before," confessed the singer, who will introduce Mary J. Blige and her tribute to the late rapper Heavy D.

Adele is the leading nominee at this year's AMAs, but the British singer won't be attending Sunday's ceremony because she is recovering from recent throat surgery.

The 23-year-old singer is up for four awards: Female artist, adult contemporary artist, artist of the year and favorite album for "21," the country's best-selling album this year.

Other top nominees include Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and The Band Perry, who have three bids apiece. Fans chose the winners by voting online.

Nicki Minaj and David Guetta are set to open the show, which will air live on ABC.

___

Online:

http://abc.go.com/shows/american-music-awards

Associated Press

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Bruce Springsteen announces 2012 world tour (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Bruce Springsteen will go on tour next year for the first time in three years, starting with European dates in May and the United States and others to follow, according to the rock star's website.

Springsteen's E Street Band tour will be his first since the June death of saxophone player Clarence Clemons, who suffered a stroke and died six days later at age 69.

"A lot of you have been hearing that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be on tour in 2012. That is absolutely correct," the website said.

The European dates for Springsteen's first tour since 2009 run from mid-May through late July. Sunderland, Manchester and the Isle of Wight were confirmed for June 21, 22 and 24.

He is also set to appear on July 14 at the Hard Rock Calling music festival in Hyde Park in central London.

The dates for the U.S. leg and locations will be announced soon.

Springsteen played a pair of concerts in Pittsburgh earlier this month with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, as well as several benefits, including one last month at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park in his home state New Jersey.

"It's great to welcome Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band back to the UK," Toby Leighton-Pope, vice president of promotions for concert and live-event company Live Nation, said in a statement.

"They always put on a fantastic show," he added.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/music_nm/us_brucespringsteen

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Kenya finds cleaner government is just a keystroke away

Kenya is promoting cleaner government by computerizing many of the tasks that used to be handled by bureaucrats ? who might seek bribes to expedite requests.

Kenya is an economic engine for East Africa, but its rise on the global stage has long been stunted by corruption.

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Now, though, it's making progress against the old-fashioned scourge through new-fangled IT. The solution is simple, but powerful: Remove bureaucrats through "e-government."

"We started asking, How can we reduce the human interaction between businessmen and state workers, so we can reduce corruption?" says Jane Joram, senior deputy registrar general at the Company Registrar Office. "Now you can file your application online and you can pay online. That means no more bribes."

Just a few years ago, business owners who wanted to start a company in Kenya would have to line up for hours just to get into the building at the Company Registrar Office in the capital, Nairobi.

A relic of British colonial rule, the registrar seemed designed to cow a citizen into submission, with 10 windows manned by surly civil servants up front, and behind them a second line of senior clerks, processing stacks of registration applications at a pace of their own choosing.

Delay tactics ? demanding extra documents, or claiming the office lost a person's application ? were usually a ruse for bribe money, and they meant that it could take a staggering 21 days just to register a company's name.

Today, a computerization project has cut that process to just five days, making Kenya more attractive to foreign investors.

Kenya has its work cut out for it. And there are other African countries, such as Rwanda and Mauritius, that are well ahead of Kenya in making themselves ready for business. But at a time when sub-Saharan Africa is one of the few bright spots on the global economy ? growing at an overall 5.7 percent rate by June 2011, with countries such as Angola and Nigeria growing at 8 percent ? Kenya is making economic reforms at a time when the world's investors are increasingly looking for better places to invest.

"Part of the reason people pay bribes is because it took forever to register a company or do any of the other bureaucratic processes," says Samuel Kimeu, executive director for Transparency International in Kenya. "But when we make government processes automated, such as [getting] birth certificates, licenses, company registrations, IDs, I'm sure the impact will be immense in reducing corruption."

Kenya is just one of 24 African countries turning to e-governance. Rwanda, judged the least corrupt country in Africa and one of the best places to do business, is a pioneer in e-government. This year, Rwanda won its third Technology in Government in Africa award, for its efforts to give rural citizens access to information on health care, food prices, and crop prices.

Despite improvements on Transparency International's bribe-payer's index this year, Kenya's overall ranking in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index of 183 nations fell this year to No. 109, from 106 just a year ago.

Old rules governing who can own property, time-wasting applications from stodgy government offices, and yes, corruption, make Kenya a much more difficult place to do business than even Kenyan officials want it to be. And the agency that should help keep people obeying the laws, Kenya's police, appear to be the country's most corrupt institution of all, according to Transparency International.

But experts say that when it comes to e-government, Kenya is moving ahead. In an agency like the Company Registrar Office, corruption was a logical symptom of a paper-filing system that had simply ceased to function.

"Everything was in a mess," says Ms. Joram, the deputy registrar. "We had accumulated thousands of files, and we had so many cases of lost files, and the staff would just say, 'Yes, come back tomorrow.' And some people would say, 'Wait.' And they would give money for a bribe."

But starting in July 2010, Joram's agency has digitized more than 750,000 case files, more than 25 million pages. With a few keystrokes, clerks can find files in minutes, instead of hours. By the beginning of November, Joram hopes her office will be nearly paperless.

"We have to deal with corruption, we have to deal with fraud, and we want to stay ahead of the problem as much as we can," she says. "I think we are on the right track, because we cannot do otherwise."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QzB_zyHZNW0/Kenya-finds-cleaner-government-is-just-a-keystroke-away

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The Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET with special guest!

It seems just like last week that we inducted a new member into the mobcast tribe, but this time we're putting a fourth musketeer on the hot seat for the week -- our special guest, Aaron Baker from PhoneDog.com, aka "the best hair in mobile." He'll be adding his own two or twenty cents about the week's wireless news, and perhaps we can talk him into doing his own rant -- Aaron's Agitation, anyone? Regardless, we hope you'll join us at 5PM ET!

November 18, 2011 5:00 PM EST

Continue reading The Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET with special guest!

The Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET with special guest! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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