Sunday 30 September 2012

Sampson Sports 2013

Sampson Sports is a small manufacturer of bike frames, components, and accessories, based in Denver, CO. You may not have heard of them, but they stand as one of the very few companies making derailleurs and shifters outside of the Big Three (Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM). They were founded by none other than Eric Sampson, a former professional ski racer-turned-ski-binding-manufacturer. He got the cycling bug back in the 1980?s, started his own company, and still runs strong today ? albeit with a much expanded product line.

What does Sampson sell on? What are their key features and benefits? their ?mission statement?, if you will? According to Sampson, he aims to model his company after Honda, selling on extreme value (which he says is not the same thing as a unilaterally cheap price). He clearly has a passion for his business, and is known throughout the industry as a likable and driven guy.

Sampson offers nearly every part for bicycles, except tires and wheels. You can get frames, handlebars, cassettes, brakes, cranks, shifters, bottle cages, and even handlebar tape. The majority of his products are manufactured in Asia by a handful of factories, which he visits several times a year. Paint for the bike frames is done in-house, as is all complete bike assembly.

I took a tour through their Denver office and showroom, to meet the man and take a look at their products. I?ll have a handful of these products in my hands for testing shortly, and look forward to giving them a fair shake (keep your eyes peeled for a review). For now, enjoy this photo preview of their 2013 product line.

Sampson has a large showroom in Denver, Colorado.

This is a complete bike example of Sampson?s 745 TT model. Frame production is done in Asia, but most are painted in Colorado. Check out this custom silver and purple flame scheme: Sampson?s rear derailleurs feature a 2:1 cable pull, and are compatible with either Sampson?s own shifters, or Shimano 10-speed (105, Ultegra, Dura Ace). The Stratics SL Race cassette is made from a solid block of aluminum. According to Sampson, it is for racing-only and lasts about 1,500 miles. That?s not many, but he?s up-front about what you?re buying. And ? it weighs in at a measly ~90 grams, depending on which size you pick. Compare that to ~135g for the 2012 SRAM Red, or ~150g for Shimano Dura Ace 7900. Who says you can?t buy speed? The cassette receives a unique treatment process to prolong life as much as possible, and it results in a beautiful golden hue. The entire inside is machined out: Sampson is also getting in to a lower price point steel cassette. It features unique textured areas in very specific shift points. Sampson says that these aid in fast an accurate shifting. These are the new 2013 Stratics Carbon pedals: They are cross-compatible with LOOK Keo cleats. The key innovation, according to Sampson, is the fact that the middle of the pedal platform is concave. He mentions that many other similar-style pedals are actually slightly convex, which causes instability and power loss. I can?t personally vouch for this yet, but plan to test a pair of these pedals over the winter.

Note the carved-out platform area:

Sampson calls these EZ Grip Cages. They?re made of a polymer composite material and weigh in at 46 grams each. The design is said to be made for easy bottle entry and exit by the rider, but retain bottles well over potholes and rough pavement. This new brake lever is quite possibly my favorite Sampson product. At first glance, it looks like any old TT-style lever: If you squeeze it, however, you notice an important detail: The cable hole is above the compression plug bolt. Most other internally-routed TT levers feature a hollow bolt through which the cable runs. This presents two problems: 1) Limited leverage, because the cable runs relatively close to the lever?s fulcrum, and 2) Inability to tighten the compression bolt without first removing the cable. The first problem really shows itself on some frames with proprietary hidden TT brakes, which are not always very strong or confidence inspiring. Giving more horsepower can help solve the problem (his levers also feature robust return springs).

The second problem of cable routing can be a hazard when traveling. On more than one occasion, I?ve seen folks open up that bike box at their race, and find out that their TT levers got pushed off to the side during the flight and baggage handling. If your cable runs through the bolt, you must remove the cable, adjust the lever, and reinstall a new cable. On some of the more complicated bike frames, this procedure could require an hour or more of your time (or an emergency trip to the nearest bike shop).

This lever, however, features a simple cutout in the compression plug through which the cable runs. If your lever happens to get mashed off to the side during flight, it is a 15-second fix. Just loosen the bolt, move the lever, and re-tighten it. Bravo!

Sampson has a unique take on the ?bento box?: He intends these to be primarily used for endurance mountain bike racing, where reaching to a back pocket is not always safe or possible while riding on rocky terrain. Sampson makes super light brakes? ?and several models of nice-looking cranks. The man behind the company.

Source: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Sampson_Sports_2013_3110.html

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Saturday 29 September 2012

Are You Sure Your Home is Safe from All Kinds of Danger? | Home ...

A home is considered to be one of the most precious components of ones life. Without it a person would have nowhere to return to after a hard days work. So it is very important that ones home is always kept protected from both internal as well as external threats.

Today home security is becoming a rising concern for individuals because crime rate is rapidly increasing. Criminals are on the loose and they spend their time checking out the neighborhood for potential targets to break and enter into. The number of break-ins and robberies that have been reported has steadily been increasing.

People today are scared that their homes can be broken into and valuables stolen at any time. What is even worse is that since their home is not secured from danger, their family members are in a vulnerable position at all times.

Home security 300x199 Are You Sure Your Home is Safe from All Kinds of Danger?

Once an individual avails of a good home security system, he will be able to enjoy peace of mind at all times as his family members and valuables will be safe at all times. ADT home security system provide homes with multi-layered protection. The home security system consists of a security surveillance camera that monitors the perimeters of the house at all times. Motion sensors are installed at all entry points of the house as well as throughout the house.

Most burglars think of entering homes through the windows. Merely shutting the windows tight or locking them is not going to be enough to repel these intruders. However, when individuals avail of ADT home security systems, intruders will get caught as soon as they enter the house due to the presence of motion sensors present all throughout the house.

However, as soon as an intrusion is sensed an ear piercing alarm will be let out that immediately alert the individuals at home as well as the neighbors. In addition the police will also be immediately alerted about the intrusion and help will be dispatched right away.

ADT home security systems are made in such a way that they do not only protect individuals homes from external danger but from internal danger as well. ADT home security system safeguard homes from fire, carbon monoxide emissions and they monitor changes in temperature as well as floods.

In this way they help to ensure that the house is not destroyed due to internal factors. While one is away or busy fire could easily break out and spread all throughout the house and in the process destroy life and property. Carbon monoxide emissions could lead to death of members inside the home if undetected and ADT home security systems ensure that these emissions never go undetected.

Damage to property and household valuables could also occur due to floods but ADT home security systems provide 24/7 monitoring of home and immediately notify household members as well as the fire department as soon as any such changes are detected.

Once a person avails of ADT home security systems, they can rest assured that their home is safe from both internal as well as external dangers.

Authors Bio:

Dorothy Woodson is an outreach consultant for My Home Security Solutions Pvt Ltd, which is a leading security solutions provider. She has extensive knowledge about how one can protect their homes from external and internal dangers with home security equipments and she loves to share this information with her readers.

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The NPD Group: TVs Overtake PCs as the Primary Screen for Home ...

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, September 26, 2012 ?
According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, over the past year, the number of consumers reporting that the TV is their primary screen for viewing paid and free video streamed from the Web has risen from 33 percent to 45 percent. During the same period, consumers who used a PC as the primary screen for viewing over-the-top (OTT) streamed-video content declined from 48 percent to 31 percent. This shift not only reflects a strong consumer preference for watching TV and movies on big screen TVs, but also coincides with the rapid adoption of Internet-connectible TVs.

NPD?s recent ?Digital Video Outlook? report reveals that home installation of millions of Internet-connected TVs is changing the way that consumers access and view streaming video. As of the second quarter (Q2) of 2012, 12 percent of the installed base of consumer TVs in the U.S. were connected TVs, totaling more than 29 million devices. Approximately 10 percent of U.S. consumer households currently own at least one connected TV. NPD research conducted over the past year has found that 43 percent of connected TV users accessed online entertainment directly from their TVs, including online video, music, and cloud services.

?The growth in connected TVs is another sign that online video is maturing,? said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis for The NPD Group. ?Streaming video has moved from the dorm room to the living room; and, as more households obtain and connect TVs to the Web, we predict increased trial and engagement for video distribution services.?

Netflix Watch Instantly is the dominant application for Web-to-TV video. Of those viewing online video on the TV, 40 percent use their connected TVs to stream video via Netflix, 12 percent access HuluPlus, and 4 percent connect to Vudu. Connected TVs, which offer direct access to these and other popular online video services via TV apps, represent a convenient alternative to PCs, or the use of other Internet-connected peripheral devices.

NPD?s study also found that nearly one in five connected-TV installations resulted in consumers no longer using peripheral devices, such as streaming media players, video game consoles, and Blu-ray Disc players, to access streaming video on the TV. This decline in usage could impact the usage models and utility of peripheral devices.

Data note: NPD?s ?Digital Video Outlook? report is based on data collected from multiple sources, including two electronic surveys. The quarterly survey includes approximately 1,200 U.S. broadband households. Survey data was weighted to represent U.S. population (age 13 and older) and tested for statistical significance at the 95 percent confidence level. The semi-annual survey includes approximately 10,000 respondents. Data from this survey has a 97% level of confidence, with a +/- 0.7% margin of error.

Source: http://digidev.com/blog/2012/09/28/tvsovertakepcs/

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Sidelined

All-male sideline An all-male sideline

Photograph by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

Go see a special live performance of Slate?s sports podcast "Hang Up and Listen" in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Oct. 1. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

Near the end of the trailer for Wildcats, a 1986 sports comedy with a 13 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, a voice-over actor informs prospective moviegoers that during the film, ?Goldie Hawn tackles the impossible.? The movie is about a woman who coaches a men?s football team, and the implication is that such an endeavor equates to doing that which is undoable.

Sadly, that disembodied voice from the mid-?80s was on to something. Huge numbers of otherwise reasonable people, in 2012, simply take it as a given that women couldn?t possibly coach a men?s sports teams. And so, regardless of ability, talent, or potential outcomes, a woman who aspires to lead a high-level men?s team is actually reaching for the near impossible.

There are exactly zero women working as coaches for the 122 teams playing in the NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL. Zero head coaches, zero assistant coaches, zero assistant to the assistant coaches. The average NFL team employs 18 coaches. Major League Baseball teams have six coaches and a manager. Most NHL teams carry at least four coaches, and a typical NBA squad has one head coach and four to six assistants. All together, that?s more than 1,000 jobs ... all held by men. To state it another way: 50.8 percent of the U.S. population has virtually no shot of becoming men?s football, baseball, basketball, or hockey coaches at any level that would involve payment for services due.

OK, fine, they have a tiny shot: At the college level, women coach fewer than 3 percent of men?s teams. And three people?Bernadette Maddox, Jennifer Johnston, and Stephanie Ready?represent the entire universe of women who have served as coaches for Division I men?s basketball teams. They were all assistants.

There are, to be sure, some women coaching men?s teams at the more than 36,000 high schools in the United States?in fact, more women than ever before. But if one of these individuals resides in your town, you are in the tiniest minority. Case in point: Natalie Randolph, a teacher at Washington, D.C.?s Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, appears to be one of only two women serving as head coach of a high school football team in the United States.

Women coach women?s teams at all levels. But so do men. In fact, the percentage of women?s college teams coached by women, for instance, has shrunk considerably since the passage and implementation of Title IX. (In 1972, 90 percent of women?s college teams were coached by women?that number is now down to 42.9 percent. And according to this ESPN story, men have been hired for 68.5 percent of the college women?s team coaching openings filled since 2000.) This is by no means meant to suggest that coaching men?s teams should be valued more highly than coaching women?s teams or represent the ultimate goal for a coach. The point here is simply that choosing a coach from an inherently flawed and unnecessarily narrow universe of candidates is probably not the best way to proceed. Not to mention that coaching women generally pays far less than coaching men.

There are all sorts of reasons why women almost never coach men?s teams, most of which fall under the category of Catch-22s: the lack of women actively seeking these jobs due to existing norms that are reinforced at every athletic level, the dearth of female candidates with the type of experience that is valued by those filling positions to coach men?s teams, the lack of female role models who have successfully coached men, the persistence of discrimination and stereotypes that die slowly, etc. Basically: Women never coach men?s teams because they?ve never coached men?s teams. Then there are these loopy justifications that you?ve surely heard, or maybe even uttered yourself: Women don?t play some men?s sports competitively, so they couldn?t possibly be good at coaching those sports; men won?t take orders from, or sufficiently respect, women; women have no place in men?s locker rooms; and, of course, women are way too [insert your stereotype of choice here regarding emotional fragility] to successfully coach men?s teams.

Here is the point in this article at which I would love to combat all of the above with numerous examples of women coaches killing it in men?s sports. Only there?s not much of a well from which to draw. So let?s look at the rationales when applied to men.

The claim that is perhaps trotted out most often is the one about how women couldn?t effectively coach sports such as football and baseball that they don?t play competitively, and how they wouldn?t be successful coaching men in the sports women do play, because they haven?t competed in them against men or at the highest of levels. (Remember: This is not about women playing against men, where, in some instances, strength and muscular advantages are unmistakable factors.)

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=bf2fa75be004776139487153dc97c1c2

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Friday 28 September 2012

Video: More on September 27:? Self-delusion syndrome

Move over kids, this camp is only for grown women

?Do the Warrior!? someone shouts at Barbara Teusink as she paddles out into the lake. Teusink has led our class in trying new things on the stand-up paddleboards on a sunny Saturday morning. Teusink obliges, running through a series of yoga poses. We are all clapping and cheering as each new participant wobbles and then stands up on the boards. No trash talking here ? it?s all about support at the South Carolina Wildlife Federation?s annual women?s retreat.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49202034#49202034

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Chavez gets Russian oil investment _ and a puppy

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Russia agreed to deepen its investments in Venezuela to tap new oilfields, while President Hugo Chavez thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for a personal gift ? a puppy.

Venezuelan and Russian officials signed eight agreements to boost cooperation in energy projects Thursday. Igor Sechin, the CEO of Russia's state-controlled Rosneft oil company, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying he also gave Chavez a 3-month-old black terrier puppy as a present from Putin.

"There I have the dog he sent. We're training him, a good dog and beautiful. I'm going to call him 'Russian,'" Chavez said during a meeting with the Russian delegation at the presidential palace.

"Thanks for that gift," he added, joking that he would give Putin an animal from Venezuela, perhaps a capybara.

Chavez has built close ties with Russia during the past decade, and on Thursday a joint venture involving state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA and a consortium of Russian oil companies began to tap a rich deposit of heavy oil in eastern Venezuela.

"They're projects with approximate investments of $19 billion, $20 billion," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said as he oversaw a ceremony where oil began to be extracted in the eastern state of Anzoategui.

Russian companies are involved in two projects in the region known as the Orinoco Oil Belt, and are increasing their involvement.

"For the first time, the Russian (oil) industry began joint production of crude in Latin America," Sechin said. "Today we're showing the entire world that Russia and Venezuela are capable of carrying out big projects that make a significant contribution to the global economy."

The deals signed Thursday include agreements to form new joint companies to carry out oil production, oil services and construction and to build a power plant. They also include a $1.5 billion loan from Russia to cover part of Venezuela's initial share of investment in the Carabobo 2 oil project.

The Russian company Gazprom was granted a license to explore for natural gas off western Venezuela.

"We truly have to give thanks to the Russian government, the Russian people for everything that we've been building together," Chavez said. "Our relations are growing more solid every day."

According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves. Investments such as the joint projects with Russia are aimed at developing the country's vast reserves of heavy crude.

During the televised meeting, Chavez held up a cylinder filled with the black crude, saying it's a step toward increasing Venezuela's oil production.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavez-gets-russian-oil-investment-puppy-191815371--finance.html

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Thursday 27 September 2012

10 Things to Know for Friday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel shows an illustration as he describes his concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions during his address to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel shows an illustration as he describes his concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions during his address to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012, file photo, people photograph a driveway in Roseville, Mich. that a tipster said could be the final resting place of missing Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa. Authorities plan to take soil samples from under the driveway. Hoffa?s mysterious disappearance, assumed death and myriad searches for his body have been the stuff of urban legends for more than three decades. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

FILE - This Sept. 14, 2011 file photo shows actor Johnny Lewis posing for a portrait during the 36th Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. Authorities say Lewis fell to his death after killing an elderly Los Angeles woman. Lewis appeared in the FX television show "Sons of Anarchy," for two seasons. The woman killed is identified as 81-year-old Catherine Davis. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, file)

This image provided by NASA shows shows a Martian rock outcrop near the landing site of the rover Curiosity thought to be the site of an ancient streambed. Curiosity landed in a crater near Mars' equator on Aug. 5, 2012, on a two-year mission to study whether the environment could have been favorable for microbial life. (AP Photo/NASA)

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. CLINTON, NETANYAHU DISAGREE ON IRAN STRATEGY

The U.S. secretary of state hopes diplomacy can avoid the military action the Israeli leader urges.

2. FOR ONCE, IT'S HAIL TO THE REFS

A cheering crowd welcomes back NFL's men in black and white for the Browns-Ravens game in Baltimore.

3. CANDIDATES BEWARE: THE DEBATES CAN DEFINE YOU

Obama and Romney face off Wednesday, aware of what tripped up Nixon, Gore and the first President Bush.

4. PRODUCER OF ANTI-ISLAMIC VIDEO ARRESTED ON PROBATION VIOLATION

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was barred from using computers or the Internet for five years without approval.

5. VATICAN SCHOLARS INSIST JESUS WASN'T MARRIED

The Holy See's newspaper says a Coptic papyrus fragment referring to a wife is fake.

6. WHY POLICE ARE SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE LATEST HOFFA SEARCH

The Detroit probe follows decades of unfounded reports that the Teamster boss's body was entombed under Giants Stadium, discarded in a Florida swamp or buried at several Motor City locations.

7. MARS ROVER FINDS SIGNS OF AN ANCIENT STREAM

The discovery confirms that the dry and dusty red planet was once warmer and wetter.

8. VICTIMS MAY BE ABLE TO VISIT SITE OF COLORADO SHOOTING

Some want to go back to the movie house as part of the healing process.

9. LADY LIBERTY MAY HAVE A TALLER NEIGHBOR BY 2015

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils plans to build the world's tallest Ferris wheel on Staten Island.

10. THE DESPAIR OVER 'SONS OF ANARCHY' ACTOR'S FINAL ACTS

The show's creator says Johnny Lewis, found dead in Los Angeles, "had lost his way" when he took the life of the landlady "thrown into his destructive path."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-27-10%20Things%20to%20Know-Friday/id-d4b16cf7b5bd4113ab41ffee68ab37d9

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Section 481 Tax Relief; the future of film relief

Posted on 27th September 2012

The Section 481 tax relief, more commonly known as ?film relief?, is one of Ireland?s longest running sector-specific tax reliefs and has been in place under various formats since 1984.

Created to help promote Ireland as a location for film production, the relief enables production companies to raise finance in Ireland and incentivises individual taxpayers to invest by offering an attractive return on a relatively low risk investment.

The relief has become steadily more and more popular in recent years as production companies and taxpayers alike begin to realise and appreciate the attractiveness of the relief. In 2005, for example, just 19 projects availed of the Section 481 relief compared with 57 in 2011.

There is no doubt that the film industry exists in a competitive international environment. Ireland competes with other countries and locations for productions and although other countries may also support their film industry by way of tax reliefs we must always look objectively at the cost versus benefit of any tax relief that is legislated for.

The estimated amount of tax foregone by the exchequer in respect of film relief in the 2011 tax year was ?49 million. According to the Revenue Commissioners the 57 projects that were approved for Section 481 funding in 2011 had an eligible Irish spend of ?114 million and supported employment for a crew, cast and extras of over 15,000 individuals.

In a welcome move, Finance Act 2011 provided for an extension of film relief to the end of 2015, however, given the current pressures on the exchequer the Government has deemed it necessary to carry out a formal consultation on the economic merits of continuing the relief after 2015. Among the questions that will be asked in regard to the relief are:

a) Is the exchequer?s support to the film and TV sector in Ireland through Section 481 tax relief an efficient use of scarce resources?

b) Is the current scheme maximising the potential economic benefits to Ireland in terms of stimulating activity in the film and TV sector?

c) Does the scheme provide value for money to the economy overall?

There are arguments aplenty for and against each of the questions. However, something which supports a significant number of jobs and boosts the tourism sector, can only be a good thing in our eyes. Whether or not it will last beyond 2015, however, remains to be seen.

Source: http://blog.taxback.com/government-zooms-film-relief

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Wednesday 26 September 2012

Tornadoes, golf ball-sized hail hit Ill. towns

The National Weather Service confirms that at least three tornadoes touched down in Illinois Tuesday. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

By NBCChicago.com

Tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail hit several small towns in far southern Illinois on Tuesday.

Dash cam video from a police squad car caught one funnel cloud as it rolled through Washington County.

The National Weather Service confirmed that at least three tornadoes touched down but the damage was not severe.

Read more stories from NBCChicago.com

A tractor-trailer reportedly overturned and some roofs were damaged, but there were no injuries.

Five or six other funnel clouds were spotted but those never reached the ground.

Check out weather.com's tornado risk index

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/26/14108760-tornadoes-golf-ball-sized-hail-hit-southern-illinois-towns?lite

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S.African mine labour strife halts slide in chrome

LONDON (Reuters) - The impact of South African mine labour unrest has spread beyond precious metals to UG2 chrome ore, a by product of platinum and key ingredient in stainless steel, with output cuts putting a floor under prices after four months of decline.

In recent months, violent labour unrest over pay has disrupted production at some of the largest South African platinum mines, including those owned by Anglo American Platinum, Lonmin and Aquarius Platinum.

South Africa accounts for more than 80 percent of global platinum supply, but it also produces over half of the world's chrome. Both markets are in global surplus, but uncertainty created by production cuts has induced fresh buying.

Although disputes at some south African shafts have been resolved, strikes are in full force at others and continuing to spread, raising worries that prolonged disruptions might hit production further.

So far strikes have cut output of UG2 chrome ore by about 150,000-250,000 tonnes, market players said, a significant enough amount to have an effect on prices, even in an over supplied market.

"The strikes in Lonmin have removed about 100,000 tonnes a month of UG2 which is no small amount," said a European ferrochrome trader, adding an additional 50,000-80,000 tonnes have been cut due to strikes at other mines.

PRICE FLOOR

The reduced output has stemmed a 4-month price decline in ferrochrome - the processed product of chrome, with projections now looking at rising values even though economic slowdown has depressed demand from stainless steel makers, industry players said.

Prices of high carbon ferrochrome in Europe stand at around $1.02-1.10 per lb in Europe, with low carbon material selling at between $2.05 and 2.10 per lb.

Prices have fallen by around 10 percent in the last four months.

"There is an output reduction although it is difficult to assess how much; this has already been priced in platinum but not in the chrome and ferrochrome yet," an industry source said.

"Producers can still rely on stocks for now but these stocks are not been replenished and when the Chinese come back to the market after the National Day holiday next week prices will likely rise especially if the problems in South Africa continue."

He estimated that ferrochrome spot prices will move up, pushing the European benchmark price up $0.05-0.10/lb to about $1.20-1.30/lb in the first quarter next year.

Adding to supply concerns, works at some chrome mines, including the Xstrata's Kroondal mine and the Samancor Western chrome mine were also briefly suspended earlier this month due to increased protests in the area.

In the meantime, South African ANC renegade Julius Malema, who has backed wildcat miners' strikes, said he would visit a platinum mine run by Impala, a large platinum and UG2 chrome ore producer, on Thursday, to press for a wage strike there.

BRIEF RESPITE

While the loss of output is expected to be significant, its effect is likely to be only temporary as platinum miners should quickly make up for the lost supply once operations restart, market players said.

UG2 chrome ore, which has a lower chrome content compared to chrome ore, was considered waste by platinum miners until a few years ago.

More recently however, technological developments have made it possible to use this by-product as a raw material for stainless steel ingredient ferrochrome and UG2 chrome now makes up for about 50-70 percent of South Africa total chrome ore export, an industry analyst said.

Although it is difficult to estimate South Africa's UG2 chrome ore production as stocks figures are not available, domestic consumption and exports stood at 2-3 million tonnes per annum in the last three years.

Traders said longer-term plans by firms to process more UG2 chrome from South Africa are likely to put pressure on prices from next year when new capacity is expected to come on stream.

"That's one of the sources where we could see more material coming from next year and it can have a negative impact on chrome (prices) considering the stainless steel market is still pretty awful at the moment," a second European trader said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-mine-labour-strife-halts-slide-chrome-153406061--sector.html

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Tuesday 25 September 2012

Nepal avalanche hit climbers as they were sleeping

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) ? Mountaineers who survived a predawn avalanche high on the world's eighth-tallest peak say they waited an hour for the sun to rise and then saw pieces of tents and bodies of victims strewn around them on the snow.

Italian climber Silvio Mondinelli said he and a fellow mountaineer were asleep when they heard a violent sound and felt their tent start to slide.

"It was only a few seconds and we did not know what happened, but we had slid more than 200 meters (650 feet)," Mondinelli told The Associated Press on Monday. "All we wanted was for it to stop."

The avalanche hit at about 4 a.m. Sunday while more than two dozen climbers were sleeping in tents at Camp 3 on Mount Manaslu in northern Nepal.

At least nine climbers were killed and six are believed still missing. Many of the 10 survivors were injured and were flown to hospitals by rescue helicopters.

Helicopters flew over the slopes on Monday to search for the missing mountaineers as climbers and guides searched on foot. Rescuers brought down eight bodies ? four French, one each from Germany, Italy and Spain and a Nepali guide ? and were trying to retrieve the ninth from the 7,000-meter (22,960-foot) area where the avalanche struck, police Chief Basanta Bahadur Kuwar said.

Three French climbers and two Germans were transported to hospitals in Katmandu on Sunday. Two Italians were flown there on Monday ? Mondinelli, who has climbed the world's 14 highest peaks, and fellow mountaineer Christian Gobbi.

Mondinelli said a third Italian climber and their Sherpa guide were sleeping in another tent and both were buried by the avalanche and died.

Gobbi said they could not see at first when they looked out of their torn tent because it was pitch dark and they had no light.

"We found someone's boots and put them on," he said.

When the sun rose an hour later, they saw parts of tents scattered across the snow, along with people who had been killed or injured.

They said they were able to assist the injured with the help of Sherpa guides who came up from lower mountain camps. Those who could walk made their way down to the base camp while those who were injured were picked up by helicopters.

At least three of the victims were from the French Alps town of Chamonix, a hub for climbers on Mont Blanc and nearby peaks. An avalanche on a route to the summit of Mont Blanc in July killed nine experienced climbers.

Two French climbers were still unaccounted for as of Monday afternoon, the French Foreign Ministry said. The rescue effort was called off "at least for today, probably definitively," Christian Trommsdorff, president of the French Mountain Guides Syndicate, said on BFM television.

A total of 231 climbers and guides were on the mountain, but not all were at the higher camps hit by the avalanche.

Nepal Mountaineering Department chief Balkrishan Ghimire identified the eight recovered bodies as Fabrice Priez, Philippe Lucien Bos, Catherine Marie Andree Richard and Ludovic Paul Nicolas Challeat of France; German Christian Mittermeyer; Italian Alberto Magliano; Spaniard Marti Roirg Gasull; and Nepali Dawa Dorji.

Sunday's avalanche came at the start of Nepal's autumn climbing season, when the end of the monsoon rains makes weather in the high Himalayas unpredictable. Spring is a more popular mountaineering season, when hundreds of climbers crowd the peaks.

Mount Manaslu, which is 8,156 meters (26,760 feet) high, has attracted more climbers recently because it is considered one of the easier peaks to climb among the world's tallest mountains.

Nepal has eight of the 14 highest peaks in the world. Climbers have said in recent years that conditions on the mountains have deteriorated and risks of accidents have increased, with some blaming global warming.

Avalanches are not very frequent on Mount Manaslu, but in 1972 one struck a team of climbers and killed six Koreans and 10 Nepalese guides.

Ang Tshering of the Asian Trekking agency in Katmandu, who has equipped hundreds of expeditions, said low snow levels and the increased number of climbers on Manaslu have made climbing conditions difficult.

"It used to be a low-risk mountain in the past but now that has all changed," Tshering said, adding that conditions have become more unpredictable.

___

Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nepal-avalanche-hit-climbers-were-sleeping-161114461.html

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Articles on health care reform - HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS

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Seaport delay highlights shaky Vietnam economy

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? All that remains of a plan by Vietnam to build a major deep-water port is 114 exposed pilings trailing into the South China Sea and a barge full of rusty machinery.

Foreign investors stayed away from the $3.6 billion project and the indebted state-owned company overseeing it bungled the job. Earlier this month, the government accused the company of "financial incompetence" and suspended the project. The prospects for ever reviving it are dim.

The abandoned port in Southern Vietnam stands as a symbol of the inefficiency of the country's Communist rulers, and the need to reform a massive web of state-owned enterprises weighing down a once-booming economy.

Critics say it also shows how provincial governments and state-owned companies are allowed to pursue expensive, misguided and often corruption-laced infrastructure projects that result in riches for the few, but not economic growth that would benefit the country of 87 million people.

The government is asking foreign and domestic investors to bankroll its flagship Van Phong port now that the Vietnam National Shipping Lines, or Vinalines, is out of the picture. But analysts say that's unlikely because the project, which was slated to have 37 wharves, isn't near any important manufacturing bases in the region and was impractical from the start.

A better option, they said, would be developing road and rail around ports in greater Ho Chi Minh City and also developing a deep-water port near the northern city of Hai Phong. A proposed large port near Hai Phong has spurred controversy lately over escalating costs and potential dredging problems.

Vu Tu Thanh, Vietnam representative for the Washington-based US-ASEAN Business Council, said Vietnam has lost the reputation it enjoyed a few years ago for being among the most attractive destinations for investment in Asia. Would-be investors, he said, want the government to push through large-scale economic reforms that will weed out the most inefficient state businesses.

"There's nothing inherently wrong about having state-owned enterprises involved in big, capital-intensive projects like ports," said Thanh, whose advocacy group represents American companies in Southeast Asia. "The problem is: Do you have the right SOE there?"

"The typical answer in Vietnam is: You don't."

Vietnam has a coastline of 3,200 kilometers (1,988 miles) ? longer than American's west coast ? and a prime location on the South China Sea, which includes some of the world's biggest shipping channels. But its lack of linked-up infrastructure puts its ports at a competitive disadvantage compared with long established global trade hubs such as Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

As a result, manufacturers here are often forced to first send containers to those larger ports from where they are then shipped to Europe and North America.

Businessmen and observers say the port sector is a good example of how political patronage and entrenched corruption are undermining the country's development.

Vietnam has about three dozen seaports and several high-quality terminals that welcome international shipping lines, but no major port with swift connections to efficient roads and rail.

"All the coastal provinces want a deep-sea port," said Nguyen Xuan Thanh, director of public policy programs at the U.S.-funded Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City. "The central government needs political support from these provinces, so they don't say no to these proposals."

"Everybody wants a piece of the action," he said.

In 2010, state-owned ship builder Vinashin came close to collapse with debts of $4.5 billion, leading to a sovereign credit rating downgrade and sounding the alarm on a major pressure point in Vietnam's economy. Last month, police arrested two former senior executives at one of the country's largest banks. The banking industry has run up massive bad debts in recent years, many of them made to state-owned companies.

Vinalines has also come under scrutiny. In March, police arrested several of its executives and accused them of mismanagement in the purchase of a floating dock that resulted in losses of about $5 million. In May, government inspectors issued a report saying the company had five defaulted loans worth $1.1 billion and had bought 73 foreign vessels, many of which had run up millions of dollars in losses. Earlier this month, Vinalines' former head, Duong Chi Dung, was arrested in a neighboring country after an international manhunt.

The problems at the banks and the state-owned enterprises have played a major role in Vietnam's economy slowing from 7 percent growth in 2010 to just over 4 percent in the first half of this year. Foreign investment is also down amid inflation and the inability of the country to build the roads, electrical grid and bridges businesses need to prosper.

"It's very important that the government continues to put infrastructure very high on the agenda," said Peter Smidt-Nielsen, general director for Vietnam and Cambodia at global shipping company Maersk Line.

"If you have growing trade and you don't do anything about the infrastructure, you'll have more and more delays and congestion, and that all leads to added costs for exporters and importers," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seaport-delay-highlights-shaky-vietnam-economy-090123855--finance.html

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FOOTBALL FRIDAY | Spartan rewind - Bainbridge versus Black Hills Wolves

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.

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Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/birsports/~3/uvbInMxJ1Xs/170717646.html

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Monday 24 September 2012

Video of the GOP convention: Take a peek behind the curtain

The Monitor's Warren Richey was in Tampa, Fla., last week, cameras in hand, to capture the wacky theater that is a political convention. The GOP convention you saw on TV was the scripted version. There's oh so much more.

By Warren Richey,?Staff writer / September 1, 2012

A short history of the 2012 Republican National Convention

Republicans from across the nation descended on Tampa, Fla., last week for their national political convention. The mission: nominate GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

Skip to next paragraph Warren Richey

Staff writer

Warren Richey is a staff writer for the Monitor based in Washington, DC, and south Florida.

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The gathering began under a threat from tropical storm Isaac and ended in the blazing Tampa heat. Expected massive protests by anarchists and the Occupy Movement never materialized ? perhaps in part because of an overwhelming contingent of police and security officials.

Security around the Tampa Bay Times Forum often resembled a military outpost with an eight-foot-high steel fence and concrete barriers patrolled by Florida National Guard troops armed with assault rifles. Reporters lugging their gear the half-mile through the security zone in the intense heat and humidity were funneled into two checkpoints with TSA specialists, medal detectors, and X-ray machines. ??

Even well within the convention site, reporters were continually asked to show their convention credentials.

The real action took place inside the forum on the convention floor. That?s where Monitor correspondent Warren Richey spent most of his time ? with cameras at the ready.

What unfolded represented a new level of political wackiness. Any item of clothing that could possibly support an American flag or elephant theme was on full display among the delegates and other convention participants. Lady Liberty made an appearance all the way from Long Beach, Calif., in a Colonial gown with a flag theme. A Kansas Jayhawk patrolled the floor, as did an Abe Lincoln look-alike who doubled as a delegate from Missouri.

Here is Warren Richey?s six-minute take on the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/politicsblog/~3/rJL6e061xeg/Video-of-the-GOP-convention-Take-a-peek-behind-the-curtain

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Sunday 23 September 2012

Engen continues to show its support for a green South Africa

?Engen is a funding partner of not-for-profit social enterprise Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA), as well as an active supporter of its EduPlant programme ? a food garden and skills transfer programme benefiting many schools and communities nationally,? says Khanyisa Balfour, Group Corporate Social Investment manager for Engen. FTFA has been planting trees and greening communities across South Africa for 22 years. ?We traditionally focus on Arbor Month as part of our greening efforts across all regions in which we operate to promote the role trees play in enriching the environment and improving lives.?

In addition to distributing trees, schools receive garden resources and equipment, and booklets guiding their tree-planting activities that enrich their understanding of environmental matters.

?In many instances, Engen personally selects beneficiaries, which also include other NGOs and children?s homes,? says Balfour. ?Our employees also get involved, helping with planting when needed, or simply because they love giving back and connecting with communities.?

Balfour says the green legacy of a tree works on multiple levels. ?We don?t just plant indigenous and fruit trees on school premises ? we?re also planting a seed of knowledge in learners. Trees play a fundamental role in improving environments, sequestering carbon, cleaning the air and acting as a wind-break. Over and above this, fruit trees also contribute to food security, making them socially, economically and environmentally important.?

FTFA ecopreneur, Sipho Mathe, think there is no better gift to give than a tree. ?It fundamentally improves all aspects of the area it is planted in, making it a wonderful asset for everyone?.

Source: http://www.publicityupdate.co.za/?IDStory=49409&utm_source=Publicity%20Update%20RSS%20Feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

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Friday 21 September 2012

Video mash-ups give you personalised memories

ONE limitation of video footage is that it tends to reflect the singular interests of the person who shot it. What if the viewer wants to see a public event - a children's play, say, or a political protest - from a different perspective?

Pablo Cesar at the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands has a solution. He and his colleagues have developed a system for creating mash-ups of crowd-sourced video clips that can be personalised for you on the fly.

Cesar starts with raw video footage recorded at a specific event by different people, at different moments and from different perspectives. Next, software called a "narrative engine" uses what it knows of the relationships between people to create dynamic stories. These are tailored to an individual's preferences, interests and social connections by automatically stitching together parts of clips into a seamless video stream. "The stories are highly personal depending on the recipient of the story," says Cesar.

The system works by synchronising all the video clips with a master audio track that is recorded at the event. The audio of each clip gives it a digital fingerprint allowing similar footage in different clips to be matched up. The software analyses the video content - applying facial recognition techniques, for example - and contextual information added by the film-maker. It then puts together clips or partial clips, producing a bespoke video edit for every user.

The system was tested at a school concert that was filmed with 12 cameras - some fixed, some belonging to parents in the audience - generating more than 300 raw video clips. These clips were pooled and annotated with personal details, including who was in the clip, or which musical instrument was shown. Most parents agreed that the tailored films made the viewing experience more personal. The team presented the work at the 2012 Symposium on Document Engineering in Paris, earlier this month.

"We're living in a world of abundant content," says Mor Naaman of Mahaya, a start-up that is developing software to find and organise social media shared from real-world events. "The real technical challenge is to do this at scale."

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/23a8ed59/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg215288350B80A0A0Evideo0Emashups0Egive0Eyou0Epersonalised0Ememories0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Fall Overseeding Grasses - Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch

Fall Overseeding Grasses

cow in pasture 300x193 Fall Overseeding GrassesEstablishing winter pastures is must for young growing animals and fall is the time for overseeding!? Eagle Hardware has Rye Grass, Winter Wheat, and Oats.

Your seeding rate should be as follows:

Rye Grass Seed Only ? 30-50lbs./acre
Winter Wheat Only ? 50-100lbs./acre
Oats Only ? 50-100lbs./acre
Rye Grass and Grain Mix (Winter Wheat & Oats) ? overseeded at 25% rye seed and 75% grain mix/acre

Don?t forget to fertilize!? Just because winter is approaching, it doesn?t mean that the plants stop growing.

For more information on establishing winter pastures, please click here.

Source: http://www.eaglehardwarefarmandranch.com/news-updates/fall-overseeding-grasses-2012-09-2524

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Worldwide: United fall fare sale | Vacation Deals | Travel + Leisure

Why Go:

Fall is an ideal time to travel, an in-between period less crowded than both the summer just past and the holiday season to come. Save on flights from United to destinations from Boston to San Francisco, to Tokyo and Buenos Aires, and beat the traffic.

What You Get:

  • Roundtrip economy airfare

Source: http://www.travelandleisure.com/vacation-deals/worldwide-united-fall-fare-sale

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YouTube Is Testing Out an Interactive Quiz Feature [YouTube]

A new feature being tested out by Youtube could add infinitely many new uses to the video-hosting service. TechCrunch reports that a user-customized quiz feature called "Video Questions Editor Beta" (first spotted by a Dutch tech site). More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8tlkk0l1aTw/youtube-is-testing-out-an-interactive-quiz-feature

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Thursday 20 September 2012

The Colored Pencil Society of America - Lines and Colors

The Colored Pencil Society of America: Linda Lucas Hardy, Gregory Joy, Deborah Friedman, Jaclyn Wukela, Cecile Baird, Marge Dreher, Catherine Gauldin, Ester Roi, David Billingsley, Pat Averill, Kare Williams, Linda Koffenberger, Shawn Falchetti
Like pastel, gouache and various drawing media, colored pencil is an artist?s medium that doesn?t receive the level of recognition its adherents would like.

In part it shares the relative fragility and light exposure issues of works on paper (though materials are now being subjected to lightfastness tests), but largely colored pencil in particular suffers from an image problem, the impression that it?s not a ?serious? medium.

The Colored Pencil Society of America is an organization founded in 1990 to promote the use of colored pencil, provide exhibition opportunities for its membership and in general elevate the perception of colored pencil as a medium.

To these ends, the society organizes two shows each year, the International Exhibition, in which the medium for accepted works must be only colored pencil, and the Explore This! Exhibition, in which the primary medium for works must be colored pencil, but allows for the incorporation of other media, surfaces and techniques not allowed in the International Exhibition.

The society hosts galleries of the award winners in both exhibitions, going back several years. Unfortunately, the website is not well organized (you must drill down into the Galleries page, then to the individual listings and then to the individual year before seeing images, and from there navigation disappears except for a Home link).

Here are the gallery lists for the International Exhibitions and the Explore This! exhibitions.

Once into the galleries, you will find examples of colored pencil being used in ways you may not have expected if you haven?t been keeping up with the medium. Like work in pastel, much of it is more like painting than drawing, and furthers the notion that both could be thought of as dry painting mediums.

The society?s website provides a list of links to member websites.

There is an article on The Artist?s Magazine blog about the recent CPSA awards dinner, which prompted this post.

There is also a smaller, UK Colored Pencil Society, and Katherine Tyrrell, herself a proponent of the medium, lists other colored pencil societies and exhibitions on her Squidoo lens for colored pencil resources.

(Images above: Linda Lucas Hardy, Gregory Joy, Deborah Friedman, Jaclyn Wukela, Cecile Baird, Marge Dreher, Catherine Gauldin, Ester Roi, David Billingsley, Pat Averill, Kare Williams, Linda Koffenberger, Shawn Falchetti)

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Source: http://www.linesandcolors.com/2012/09/19/the-colored-pencil-society-of-america/

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Wednesday 19 September 2012

Trulia prices IPO of 6 million shares at $17 each

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