Saturday, June 30, 2012

D-backs' Hill hits for second cycle of season

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/d-backs-hill-hits-second-cycle-season-022156576--mlb.html

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8 Wheatherstone, Lake Oswego OR, 97035 - Lake Oswego Real ...

Property Photo

Mls Icon

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 1,692 sq ft
Lot Size: 2,178 sq ft
Property Type: ATTACHD
MLS Number: 12656521

Very popular home in Wheatherstone. Very quiet private community. Front private courtyard liv rm looks on private back yard. Large bdrm can be put back to 3rd bedroom. Use of all Mountain Park amenities: pool & exercise rooms. Private, quiet, all in a comfortable home nestled in Mountain Park. Use of all Mountain Park amenities including pool and exercise rooms etc.

Listed with Whittle Family Realty LLC


Brought to you by Chris Larsson, Coldwell Banker Seal. Call me today at 503-683-2897!

The content relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the IDX program of the RMLS? of Portland, Oregon. All real estate listings are marked with the RMLS? logo, and detailed information about these properties includes the names of the listing brokers. Listing content is ? 2009 RMLS?, Portland, Oregon.


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Friday, June 29, 2012

2012 NBA Draft Grades: Chad Ford Gives 'C' To Atlanta Hawks

There wasn't a need the Hawks couldn't address in the NBA Draft on Thursday night, so whoever they picked was going to be considered a necessary addition to the team regardless. So the Hawks picked up John Jenkins in the first round and Mike Scott in the second.

Chad Ford gave the Hawks a "C" for the night, and his analysis is here:

With just six players under contract for next season, the Hawks needed depth at every position. While they landed arguably the draft's best shooter and a power forward who put up big numbers in the ACC, I think they passed on players with much more upside than Jenkins.

In other words, they took the player ranked 36th on our Big Board at the 23rd pick. They reached for a need instead of the best player available. While I think both Jenkins and Scott will be solid NBA players, playing it safe only gets you a C.

Read more about the Hawks at Peachtree Hoops.

Source: http://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-hawks/2012/6/29/3126844/2012-nba-draft-grades-chad-ford-atlanta-hawks

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How to Boost Your Website Traffic and Profits with Content! ? SMB ...

by: Hans Hasselfors

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your

online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and

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People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your

results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part

email training courses with related website or affiliate links

?sprinkled? throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to

automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training

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Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your

prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not

JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers? It?s

about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie,

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When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just

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?Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost website

traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to

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With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising

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About the author:

This Article Was Published By Hans Hasselfors, from The Business

Professional. Get the net working for you. Join a community of

like-minded entrepreneurs and make your living online. Become a member of

The Business Professional network:

http://www.internet-marketing-experts-online.com

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This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Relative Terms: website | Profits | Traffic | content | Boost

Related tips

Source: http://smallbusiness.howtoadvicetips.com/how-to-boost-your-website-traffic-and-profits-with-content/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-boost-your-website-traffic-and-profits-with-content

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PocketGamer: Rebellion and Fuse Powered bring top-down undead shooter Zombie HQ to iPhone and iPad: Publisher Fuse Powered a... http://t.co/xMYjtgGw

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

Source: http://twitter.com/PocketGamer/statuses/218662448893399040

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Day & Night

Day & Night

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Day & Night?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Day & Night"

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Different Options To Become Physically Fit - Health and Fitness Labs

by fit4life on June 27, 2012

If you play tennis, you can dramatically improve your game by training yourself to focus your eyes faster. You can practice this by approaching the net more closely than you do in ordinary play. Attempting to return shots from this close distance will force you to focus on the ball more quickly. This helps to improve reaction times.

The benefits of fitness are not only physical. If you start a new workout routine, your mental health will improve as well. Working out releases endorphins creating a sense of euphoria. You can be much more confident in yourself after you look and feel good. In some ways, therefore, a few workouts may be all that stands between you and happiness.

Drink milk after your workout. It is filled with protein, and it tastes good, too. Milks contains essential fats and proteins, which is why it?s what newborn humans and animals typically drink. Your body mass index will also improve from the consumption of these nutrients.

Fitness begins with a healthy heart. Some things, like being overweight, can really put pressure on your heart. Keeping fit and exercising can not only improve your heart health, but keep your weight healthy. However, it is also necessary for your to change your diet. Reduce your caloric intake by decreasing your consumption of foods high in saturated fats, while increasing your intake of fiber and vegetables.

Many people think whole grain foods are mainly breakfast foods, such as cereals and bread. It?s perfectly find to eat healthy grains for breakfast that you may typically eat at meals later in the day. Bran, polenta, wild rice and quinoa are all great to to add to omelets, muffins or other morning meals. Use them in a wide variety of meal choices, from stir-fry dishes to soups to crock pot recipes. These ingredients make it far easier to consume plenty of whole grains.

We said before there are a lot of ways to stay healthy and look great when you getting fit. As the advice in this article shows, making the first steps towards physical fitness can be easy and fun. Then, you?ll see your fitness will improve quicker than you may imagine.

If you are having a hard time to get started on your diet plan, there are specific actions that you can take to turn it into a habit! You can learn how to get fit and be happier.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Daily Kos: Why are teachers afraid to use their &#39;teacher&#39; voice?

On his Education Rethink blog John Spencer asks some important questions about why there wasn't more push back from educators at #ISTE12 (International Society for Technology Education). His questions and commentary are specific to one speech, one conference, one group. ?But I find that his questions about 'teacher voice' are part of a larger issue in education.

Find the full piece here, What Didn't Happen at #ISTE12

Why are educators afraid to use their 'teacher' voice? Teachers have always been on the forefront of advocating for their kids, their classrooms, and their rights. ?What has changed?

Spencer thought for sure that the ISTE crowd would react negatively to a video by Arne Duncan. ?Afterall, he has championed many of the policies that have stripped teachers of their 'voice.' Duncan's video was sure to promote a reaction from this highly motivated group of education leaders. Where were the boos, the tweets, the outrage?

Where is the teacher voice?

Where is the voice of democratic education? ?Why do I keep hearing "digital citizenship" defined through the notion of ?"don't put up stuff that will piss off employers" rather than "use these tools to advocate for social change?" Want transformation? How about members of the Arab Spring who used social media to topple dictatorships?

His commentary continues:
We Stayed Silent
Then it hits me. We let it die. The teachers politely and silently sat on their heads when Arne Duncan spoke. The professional organizations that we are a part of have nodded politely to merit pay arguments while our unions who should work like pit bulls to save public education have contributed to a president who applauded the mass firing of a teacher and remained silent when the LA Times published value-added scores. Even "progressive" organizations are pushing for policies that demonize teachers and strip away local civic institutions.
Why is it that they stayed silent?

Perhaps Nancy Flanagan's piece last week can help us answer that question?

Are Compliant Teachers Exhibiting Stockholm Syndrome?

Nancy shared a piece by an Indiana teacher who goes by the name "Horace Mann" on twitter and other social media outlets.

Here's her introduction:
"Horace" suggested that both male and female teachers were subject to a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, eager to please their bosses and maintain personal safety. I invited Horace to expand on that thinking. Here's his take on women, teachers, compliance and self-preservation.

Could it be the same reason why John Spencer's peers stayed silent at ISTE?

In reference to Stanley Milgram's studies, "Horace" states:

Obedience may have prevailed not because idealistically, mutually cooperative societies succeeded, but because submission was necessary to preserve the self.
Perhaps we are witnessing a collective Stockholm Syndrome as some teachers unwittingly defend those institutions that are destroying public education.
Indeed, the fact that teachers readily put their heads down, close their doors, and block out the constant barrage of negative media attention is a lesson on its own merit. ?But further, is our reluctance to speak out a reaction to the "status quo" dialogue that has been thrown at the profession?

"Horace" concludes:

No outside rescue force is coming to save public schools.

Teachers and parents need to comprehend that they know better about what works for children than legislators who see children as nothing more than test scores to manipulate and private corporations which see students as nothing more than dollars. They must demand that edu-crats making unwise decisions adversely affecting students see the damages first hand.

Is it "status quo" to speak out against dangerous policies?

A better question was posed by Kevin Welner, How Many Decades Before 'Reform' Becomes 'Status Quo'?

When approaches have been tried unsuccessfully over a couple of decades with less-than-stellar outcomes, we might expect the next policy, or at the very least the next ?change,? to lean in a new direction. But the seemingly permanent wave of test-based accountability, privatization, and choice has managed to soar past its silver anniversary almost entirely unscathed by the depredations of time and evidence.
Is it "status quo" to speak out against dangerous policies? When will today's "reform" become the "status quo"? ?When will people stand up and call for courageous changes to our schools?

Welner continues:

Until then, we will apprehensively await the next reform policymaker?s fevered announcement of the next groundbreaking, yet eerily familiar, policy that attaches A-to-F grades to schools; or lifts caps on the number of charter schools; or looks to private-sector business ideas and infuses our schools with competition; or evaluates districts, schools, teachers, or students based on standardized tests.
Why is it that teachers stayed silent?

Why is it that teachers are afraid to use their 'teacher' voice to call out shoddy research, unproven approaches, and corporate welfare driven reforms?

Diane Ravitch offered this, ?Do This Or We Will Punish You?in a recent piece on her blog.

Ravitch shares a letter from a reader who responded to another piece about the pressure to pass students for fear of being fired in a turnaround school. ?A practice that Duncan himself has called out.

Her reader's comments fit nicely into the debate about why teachers are afraid to speak out.

Instead of focusing on reform efforts that eliminate the outdated structures in K-12 education, including the mountains of useless federal and state regulations that perpetuate a dead system, we?re too focused on taking people to the dungeon and torturing them into improvement or else. ?What, you failed 5th grade? On the rack with you! The pain will continue until you start learning!?

We are truly a sick people.

Have teachers become complacent? ?How can we get teachers to rally against the current wave of "reforms" threatening our schools?

How do we get teachers to use their 'teacher' voice and speak out?

7:58 AM PT: References:
John Spencer's blog:
http://www.educationrethink.com/...
Nancy Flanagan's blog:
http://blogs.edweek.org/...
Kevin Welner's piece in Education Week:
http://www.edweek.org/...
Diane Ravitch's blog:
http://dianeravitch.net/...

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Introducing: Kate Yandell

This is a series of Q&As with young and up-and-coming science, health and environmental writers and reporters. They ? at least some of them ? have recently hatched in the Incubators (science writing programs at schools of journalism), have even more recently fledged (graduated), and are now making their mark as wonderful new voices explaining science to the public.

Today we introduce you to Kate Yandell (Scienceline blog, Twitter).

Hello, welcome to The SA Incubator. Let?s start from the beginning: where are you originally from?

I?m from Pasadena, California (part of the Los Angeles area) and lived there all my life until I went to college in a very different place: Williamstown, Massachusetts. Williamstown has a population of around 8,000 and is in the northern Berkshires. In California, I spent a lot of time going to movies, running in canyons and exploring the city?s public transit. In Williamstown, activities included snowshoe racing, learning to make cheese and occasionally daydreaming about hopping freight trains to go on adventures outside the town?s limits. One thing the places share: beautiful mountains.

How did you get into science and how did you get into writing? And how did these two trajectories fuse into becoming a science writer?

My line for the last year has been that I first decided to be a science writer after graduating from college with degrees in biology and English. I recently discovered proof to the contrary. In an old journal from freshman year of college, under the heading ?Possible Future Ambitions,? I apparently wrote, ?Science writing would be really fun.?

Around that time, I was starting to realize that biology was more than cut-and-dried facts, and that people around the country were experimenting and floundering about trying to figure it out. Writing and reading have always been most important to me, but I found myself taking biology class after biology class. In retrospect, I figured out pretty early on that what I loved most was stories, but it took me a little longer to figure out the kinds of stories I wanted to tell.

How do you find suitable stories to write about? What are your criteria?

I?ve gotten a few story ideas from current press releases, journal articles and events, but I?ve also found stories just by thinking of an interesting question and trying to answer it or by trying to researching one story idea and coming up with another. Good signs along the way: 1) When my questions get a rise out of my sources. 2) When I find myself enthusiastically relaying facts from my story to people I barely know.

Why did you decide to attend a specialized science/health/environmental writing program instead of a generalized journalism or writing program, or just starting a blog and hoping to break into the science writing business?

If I had been able to fool anyone (including myself) into thinking I actually wanted to be a biologist, I may have enjoyed working in a lab and doing some science writing on the side following graduation. Unfortunately, I became aware of my non-scientific ambitions a little too early. The thing to do seemed to be to pursue science journalism wholeheartedly, and school was a first step. I chose a science journalism program as opposed to a general journalism program because I thought I?d meet people with interests closer to my own and get some specific insights into the market for what I wanted to do.

Which science writing program did you attend? Why did you choose that one? What are your best experiences there?

I am still in the midst of the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) at New York University. I chose SHERP because it was in New York City and because of program head Dan Fagin?s insidious methods of luring people in. He encouraged me to go to SHERP classes for three days, and I met amazing guest speakers, sat through an editorial crisis related to our online news site Scienceline and ate Jamaican food. By the end of that, I was already a SHERPie.

What professional experience you have had so far ??publications, internships, jobs? Feel free to include a bunch of links here! What is your current job?

I?m interning this summer for the New York Times science desk. I get to write and do multimedia projects on health and the environment. The most fun piece I?ve done so far was a video for the Green Blog on the opening of the Wild Bird Fund, a wildlife rehabilitation center on the Upper West Side. My fellow intern and I spent three hours interviewing people and hanging out while blue jays and grackles landed on our heads and an endless stream of baby pigeons came through the door.

Apart from writing, do you also do other aspects of science communication, e.g., podcasts, video, art/illustration, photography, infographics, or do you do any coding, web design and programming?

I never expected I would like making videos, but I?ve done two of them in the last month and loved it. I?ve contributed to WNYU?s science radio show, The Doppler Effect. And finally, my whole class is taking a class this summer on making infographics.

How do you see the current and future science media ecosystem, how it differs from the past, and what role will new, young science communicators like yourself play in building it and making it the best it can be?

I find it exciting and terrifying that the job I?m pursuing is so different than it was 20 years ago when people first started asking what I wanted to be when I grew up. I see people making such fun and creative things, like animations about beer, mesmerizing maps and (in Amy Harmon?s case) epic articles about autism featuring images and sounds that pop out of words. I also am a fan of journalism being a job that people can get paid for, and I want that to continue to be the case. I think it?s our job to be relentlessly optimistic and open-minded about how to do journalism.

Thank you!

Thank you, Bora!

====================

Previously in this series:

Kristina Ashley Bjoran
Emily Eggleston
Erin Podolak
Rachel Nuwer
Hannah Krakauer
Rose Eveleth
Nadia Drake
Kelly Izlar
Jack Scanlan
Francie Diep
Maggie Pingolt
Jessica Gross
Abby McBride
Natalie Wolchover
Jordan Gaines
Audrey Quinn
Douglas Main
Smitha Mundasad
Mary Beth Griggs
Shara Yurkiewicz
Casey Rentz
Akshat Rathi
Kathleen Raven
Penny Sarchet
Amy Shira Teitel
Victoria Charlton
Noby Leong and Tristan O?Brien
Taylor Kubota
Benjamin Plackett
Laura Geggel
Daisy Yuhas
Miriam Kramer
Ashley Taylor

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What Silicon Valley can learn from Mother Russia

Imperial tax records mined for ingredients of successful start-ups

Web edition : 1:11 pm

EVANSTON, Ill. ? Venture capitalists deciding whether to fund a new start-up could learn a thing or two from imperialist Russia. A new analysis of relationships among Russian entrepreneurs during the economic boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s reveals that the most successful teams were a mix of outgoing, gregarious networkers and cohesive, insular types.

Those ventures may have been trading in beets, barley and burlap, but they still hold lessons for doing business in the digital era. When investigating a potential start-up, investors should consider the mix of founding members in addition to each individual?s credentials, Brandy Aven, an expert in organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, reported June 20 at the International Conference on Network Science.

Entrepreneurship research tends to focus on the characteristics of individuals when examining winning ventures; there?s little research on teams and even less consensus on what makes for success, Aven noted. Members of tight-knit, cohesive teams tend to have a lot of trust and share knowledge and information well. But these dense little groups may have fewer outside contacts and miss opportunities. Teams of brokers ? people with wide and varied contacts ? have a lot of access to new information and opportunities, but may lack trust and solidarity.

To get at whether all-broker or nonbroker teams fare better, Aven turned to data from late imperialist Russia, when both railroads and population were expanding and there was explosive growth in private enterprise and industrial output. To best tax this burgeoning economy, the czarist state began gathering data on all partnerships and joint-stock companies. Those contracts were later digitized by legal historian Thomas Owen, an independent scholar affiliated with Harvard University. These data included information on industry sector, including mining, manufacturing, finance, railroads, textiles, beets and malt. Contracts also revealed team size and membership, where the firm was located and how much capital it had raised.

Aven and Henning Hillmann of the University of Mannheim in Germany used this data gold mine to trace the relationships among team members for 2,053 Russian firms founded between 1869 and 1913. The teams that raised the most capital turned out to be functionally diverse ? some members had connections with a lot of outside people, and some members were from networks that were cohesive and tight-knit.

?All things being equal, if I have two firms to choose between, I should go with the one with more diversity,? said Aven.

People tend to think that brokers have all the advantages: They are very good at finding and using new stuff ? and at making money, said Ron Burt, an expert in networks and behavioral science at the University of Chicago. ?But once you are trying to get an operation running, closed can be better.?
Found in: Humans and Science & Society

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Microsoft buying Internet startup Yammer for $1.2B - KansasCity.com

Microsoft is buying Internet startup Yammer for $1.2 billion in an attempt to bring Facebook-like sharing features to its widely used suite of business software applications.

Yammer specializes in creating private social networks so employees within the same company can keep tabs on what colleagues are working on. That's similar to how Facebook's online social network allows friends and families to track what's happening in each other's personal lives.The deal, announced Monday, comes nearly two weeks after word of Microsoft's negotiations with Yammer first leaked out in published reports.The acquisition represents Microsoft's latest attempt to adapt to a major shift in the technology industry, one that is fueling demand for more Internet-connected services and social-networking tools.The upheaval is threatening to marginalize Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, and ultimately diminish the amount of money coming in from sales of its Windows operating system and a wide range of applications designed primarily for personal computers.As part of its effort to remain relevant, Microsoft paid $8.5 billion last year for Internet video chat service Skype in the largest acquisition in its history.In another bold move, Microsoft last week unveiled its own tablet computer, Surface, to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPad. Microsoft has designed Surface to run on the upcoming Windows 8, the biggest change to the company's operating system in nearly two decades.Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is counting on Yammer's sharing tools to ensure that long-established Microsoft applications, including its word processing and spreadsheet programs, remain vital components for getting work done. Google Inc. has emerged as a threat with a toolbox of similar programs that run primarily over the Internet rather than on individual machines."Think of Yammer as a fundamental part of our Office family," Ballmer said on a Monday conference call.Microsoft will have much of the same autonomy given to Skype since that deal closed eight months ago. Yammer will continue to be run from its San Francisco headquarters by its co-founder and CEO, David Sacks. It will also continue to provide its services separately from Microsoft's offerings.Microsoft did not give a time frame for when the deal should close.Gartner Inc. analyst Larry Cannell said Microsoft's latest acquisition was smart and reflected "a recognition that the social capabilities in Microsoft's products have been deficient."Investors couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the deal on another somber day for the stock market. Microsoft's stock fell 82 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $29.88.Although other companies such as Jive Software Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. are building social networks for businesses, Yammer shares the most DNA with Facebook Inc.When it started in 2008, Yammer raised its initial funding from Peter Thiel - Facebook's first major investor. Thiel formerly worked with Sacks while they were both executives at PayPal, an online payment service that eBay Inc. bought for $1.5 billion in 2002.Sean Parker, the former Facebook president depicted by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie "The Social Network," also sits on Yammer's board of directors. Parker still owns a 4.6 percent stake in Facebook currently worth about $2.2 billion.Microsoft has its own financial ties to Facebook, having invested $240 million in the social network in 2007. After selling $250 million in stock in Facebook's initial public offering last month, Microsoft still retains a 1.7 percent stake worth about $840 million.Yammer has relied largely on word of mouth to attract more than 5 million registered users at more than 200,000 companies worldwide.The service depends on employees to use its free tools to set up a private network within their company. Once the network is getting wide usage, Yammer then tries to sell more sophisticated features to the companies.As a privately held company, Yammer hasn't disclosed its revenue. In a Monday note about the Microsoft deal, Nomura Securites analyst Rick Sherlund estimated Yammer's revenue at $15 million to $20 million last year.The company has been expanding so rapidly that it had been considered a prime candidate to pursue an IPO by next year.The stock of Yammer rival Jive Software has gained 65 percent since it went public six months ago, though it fell 74 cents Monday to close at $19.75.The IPO market has gone into a deep freeze since Facebook flopped in its closely watching stock market debut last month. Instead of soaring as had been widely anticipated, Facebook shares plummeted during the first few weeks of trading. Although the stock has rallied recently, it remains 16 percent below the IPO price of $38, which had minted Facebook Inc. with a market value of $104 billion. Facebook shares dropped 99 cents, or 3 percent, Monday to close at $32.06.Sacks said the frosty conditions in the IPO market didn't influence Yammer's decision to sell to Microsoft. The negotiations between the two companies began before Facebook's IPO, according to Saks and Ballmer."Our thinking was based on the fit with Microsoft and the fact that we think Microsoft is a great partner for us in expanding the service and taking it to the next level," Sacks said.The sale will provide a hefty return for Yammer's early backers. The startup has raised about $142 million in venture capital.

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Big Bang didn't need God to start universe, researchers say

Our universe could have popped into existence 13.7 billion years ago without any divine help whatsoever, researchers say.

That may run counter to our instincts, which recoil at the thought of something coming from nothing. But we shouldn't necessarily trust our instincts, for they were honed to help us survive on the African savannah 150,000 years ago, not understand the inner workings of the universe.

Instead, scientists say, we should trust the laws of physics.

"The Big Bang could've occurred as a result of just the laws of physics being there," said astrophysicist Alex Filippenko of the University of California, Berkeley. "With the laws of physics, you can get universes."

Filippenko spoke here Saturday (June 23) at the SETICon 2 conference, during a panel discussion called "Did the Big Bang Require a Divine Spark?" [Images: Peering Back to the Big Bang]

Quantum fluctuations
In the very weird world of quantum mechanics, which describes action on a subatomic scale, random fluctuations can produce matter and energy out of nothingness. And this can lead to very big things indeed, researchers say.

"Quantum mechanical fluctuations can produce the cosmos," said panelist Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the non-profit Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute. "If you would just, in this room, just twist time and space the right way, you might create an entirely new universe. It's not clear you could get into that universe, but you would create it."

"So it could be that this universe is merely the science fair project of a kid in another universe," Shostak added. "I don't know how that affects your theological leanings, but it is something to consider."

  1. More space news from msnbc.com

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      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: NASA astronaut Ron Garan has built his outer-space experience into a social-media success story. So what's his secret?

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    4. Asteroid disaster movies are doomed!

Filippenko stressed that such statements are not attacks on the existence of God. Saying the Big Bang ? a massive expansion 13.7 billion years ago that blew space up like a gigantic balloon ? could have occurred without God is a far cry from saying that God doesn't exist, he said.

"I don't think you can use science to either prove or disprove the existence of God," Filippenko said.

The origin of the laws of physics
If we're after the ultimate origin of everything, however, invoking the laws of physics doesn't quite do the trick. It may get us one step closer, but it doesn't take us all the way, Filippenko said.

"The question, then, is, 'Why are there laws of physics?'" he said. "And you could say, 'Well, that required a divine creator, who created these laws of physics and the spark that led from the laws of physics to these universes, maybe more than one.'"

But that answer just continues to kick the can down the road, because you still need to explain where the divine creator came from. The process leads to a never-ending chain that always leaves you short of the ultimate answer, Filippenko said.

The origin of the laws of physics remains a mystery for now, he added, one that we may never be able to solve.

"The 'divine spark' was whatever produced the laws of physics," Filippenko said. "And I don't know what produced that divine spark. So let's just leave it at the laws of physics."

The History & Structure of the Universe (Infographic)The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy StepsThe Top 10 Intelligent Designs (or Creation Myths)Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.The interior of Mars holds vast reservoirs of water, with some spots apparently as wet as Earth's innards, scientists say.

The finding upends previous studies, which had estimated that the Red Planet's internal water stores were scanty at best ? something of a surprise, given that liquid water apparently flowed on the Martian surface long ago.

"It's been puzzling why previous estimates for the planet's interior have been so dry," co-author Erik Hauri of the Carnegie Institution of Washington said in a statement. "This new research makes sense and suggests that volcanoes may have been the primary vehicle for getting water to the surface."

The scientists examined two Martian meteorites that formed in the planet's mantle, the layer under the crust. These rocks landed on Earth about 2.5 million years ago, after being blasted off the Red Planet by a violent impact.

Using a technique called secondary ion mass spectrometry, the team determined that the mantle from which the meteorites derived contained between 70 and 300 parts per million (ppm) of water. Earth's mantle, for comparison, holds roughly 50 to 300 ppm water, researchers said.

"The results suggest that water was incorporated during the formation of Mars and that the planet was able to store water in its interior during the planet's differentiation," Hauri said.

Some of this water apparently made its made to the surface in the ancient past. NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, have found plenty of evidence that Mars was far warmer and wetter billions of years ago than it is today.

The two golf-cart-size robots have even spotted signs of ancient hydrothermal systems, suggesting that some places on the Red Planet once had both water and an energy source ? two key ingredients for the existence of life as we know it.

While the new results should help scientists better understand Mars and its history, they could also shed light on the evolution of large, rocky bodies in a more general sense, researchers said.

"Not only does this study explain how Mars got its water, it provides a mechanism for hydrogen storage in all the terrestrial planets at the time of their formation," lead author Francis McCubbin of the University of New Mexico said in a statement.

The study was published in the journal Geology on June 15.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallor SPACE.com@Spacedotcom. We're also onFacebookandGoogle+.

? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

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Alex Trebek Heart Attack: Jeopardy! Host 'Up And About' After Mild Scare

NEW YORK -- A spokeswoman says "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek is "up and about" in a Los Angeles hospital as he recovers from a mild heart attack.

Sony Pictures Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Monday that Trebek is "in good spirits" while doctors complete their tests. She says he has been moved to a regular room.

The 71-year-old Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday. He's expected to fully recover and be back at work when "Jeopardy!" resumes production for a new season in July.

Trebek was hospitalized for a heart attack in 2007. He has been hosting the popular quiz show for 28 years.

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Best Way To Trade The Finance Markets And Come Up With A ...

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Poll: Most Americans do not identify Obama as Christian (Los Angeles Times)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Naked valkyries? Nudes open German opera season

Luca Teuchmann / Getty Images Contributor

Naked volunteers painted in red and gold pose for American photographer Spencer Tunick in scenes meant to illustrate the opera "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner at Max-Joseph Platz in Munich, Germany, Saturday.

By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

Naked volunteers painted in red and gold on Saturday recreated American photographer Spencer Tunick's interpretation of scenes from the Richard Wagner opera "Der Ring des Nibelungen."

The art installation, in Max-Joseph Platz, Munich, Germany, was held to mark the opening of the 2012 Munich summer opera season, according to information supplied with these photographs by Luca Teuchmann of Getty Images.


Tunick was invited to create the work by the Bavarian State Opera.

According to his website, Tunick has been documenting the "live nude figure in public" since 1992.

Luca Teuchmann / Getty Images Contributor

The Bavarian State Opera invited American photographer Spencer Tunick to create the photographs as part of the opening of the 2012 Munich summer opera season Saturday.

"Tunick's installations encompass dozens, hundreds or thousands of volunteers; and his photographs are record of these events," the website says.

"The individuals en masse, without their clothing, grouped together metamorphose into a new shape. The bodies extend into and upon the landscape, like a substance," it adds. "These grouped masses, which do no underscore sexuality, become abstractions that challenge or reconfigure one's views of nudity and privacy."

Luca Teuchmann / Getty Images Contributor

Naked volunteers form up in red and gold columns in Max-Joseph Platz Munich, Germany.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

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?

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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Jerry Sandusky convicted of child sex abuse

By Kimberly Kaplan, NBC News, and M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com

Handout / Reuters

Jerry Sandusky is seen in a booking photo from the Centre County Correctional Facility in Bellefonte, Pa., on June 22, 2012.

Updated at 11:37 p.m. ET: BELLEFONTE, Pa. ? Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse Friday night and faces spending the rest of his life in state prison. His attorney said he would appeal the verdict.

Sandusky's attorney, Joseph Amendola, asked Judge John Cleland to allow Sandusky to be released on house arrest, but Cleland summarily rejected the request, saying: "Bail is revoked. Mr. Sandusky is remanded to the custody of the sheriff."

Michael Isikoff, John Yang, Ron Allen, Marianne Haggerty and Hannah Rapplye of NBC News and Jim Gold of msnbc.com contributed to this report by Kimberly Kaplan of NBC News and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

Sandusky was immediately led out of the courthouse in handcuffs as a large crowd of onlookers cheered. Sentencing was set for late September.

Sandusky, 68, the former longtime defensive coordinator for the Penn State University football team, had denied all 48 counts alleging that he abused 10 boys over 15 years. Two grand jury reports accused him of having used his connection to one of the nation's premier college football programs to "groom" the boys, whom he met through his Second Mile charity for troubled children, for sexual relationships.


Several of the counts are so-called mandated felonies, meaning Cleland has no discretion in sentencing. NBC News reported that he faces a minimum of 60 years in prison.

NBC News

Jerry Sandusky is led from the Centre County Courthouse in handcuffs Friday night.

Cleland, who is a senior judge in McKean County, was brought to Centre County to oversee the trial after local judges recused themselves.

Reaction to the Sandusky verdict

Amendola, who was interrupted by hecklers outside the courthouse?several times, said he had expected the outcome and respected the verdict of the jurors, who didn?t speak to reporters afterward.

Amendola said he believed Sandusky had legitimate grounds for appeal, saying his client had "an uphill battle" because of the extensive pretrial publicity.

"We said we were attempting to climb Mount Everest from the bottom of the mountain. Obviously, we didn't make it," he said.

Defense attorney Joseph Amendola speaks outside the courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., after his client, Jerry Sandusky, was found guilty of sexually abusing children.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly, whose office prosecuted Sandusky, said, "A serious child predator ... has been held accountable for his crimes."

Kelly thanked the victims, who she said "came forward to bravely testify in this trial and to finally put a stop to the crimes that were committed."

"We hope that our search for justice will help them and perhaps others looking on nearby and afar," she said.

Grace Gordon, 49, of Bellefonte, also welcomed the verdict but lamented the damage the trial had done to Bellefonte and Centre County.

"It's hard. It really is, to see a small town torn apart like this," said Gordon, who was outside the courthouse with her 23-year-old son and his girlfriend.

Gordon said her father, wrho worked with Sandusky at Penn State, "would have just been devastated to know about this."

"You'd never, ever have dreamed that he'd be that kind of person," Gordon said. "What he did to those kids is just horrendous."

The university that Sandusky served for decades said in a statement late Friday that "we have tremendous respect for the men who came forward to tell their stories publicly. No verdict can undo the pain and suffering caused by Mr. Sandusky, but we do hope this judgment helps the victims and their families along their path to healing."

The university said it would seek to "fairly ... compensate" the victims and invited them to participate in a program to "facilitate the resolution of claims against the University arising out of Mr. Sandusky's conduct."

It said it intended to get in contact with lawyers for the victims "in the near future."

A trial that riveted the nation
The trial, which opened June 11, culminated months of intense attention that led to the firing of head coach Joe Paterno, who won more games than any other major college football coach in history, many of them with Sandusky at his side.

Paterno died exactly five months ago, a few weeks after the Penn State Board of Trustees dismissed him for not having done enough to stop Sandusky's abuse.

Jurors heard often-graphic testimony from eight of the 10 victims whose accounts were included in two grand jury reports. They told how Sandusky would first win their trust by giving them gifts and taking them on trips with the football team before progressing to hugging, kissing, increasingly sexual touching and, in some cases, oral and anal sex.

In a rare occurrence in an abuse trial, prosecutors also presented the testimony of a corroborating eyewitness ? Sandusky's former Penn State coaching colleague Michael McQueary, who said that he saw a young boy, identified in the first grand jury report as "Victim 2," in a Penn State shower with Sandusky.

McQueary said the boy had his hands against the wall and that Sandusky was standing up against him from behind. He said he heard a "skin-on-skin smacking sound" and that he had "no doubt" that Sandusky was engaging in anal sex with the boy.

Because they were sequestered, without access to computers, phones or any other way to hear news coverage, the jury of seven women and five men wouldn't have heard newer, potentially damaging information from two other accusers that emerged after they began deliberations.

Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial

Ghosts of Sandusky's dreams haunt home where charity was born

Legal analysis by Wes Oliver

Sandusky's adopted son Matt said he had been prepared to testify that he, too, was a victim of abuse by his father, according to a statement issued Thursday by attorneys who said they are representing the younger Sandusky.

(NBC News and msnbc.com generally do not identify victims of sexual assaults, but Matt Sandusky chose to identify himself in a public statement released through his attorneys.)

Matt Sandusky: From staunch defender to possibly his father's most damning accuser

Amendola said Friday night that Jerry Sandusky abandoned plans to testify in his own defense because of the prospect of damaging rebuttal testimony by his son.

Nor would they have heard the account of Travis Weaver, 30, of Ohio, who attended Second Mile camps as a youth. Weaver told NBC News in an interview that aired Thursday night that Sandusky performed oral sex on him in the upstairs bedroom of the Sanduskys' home.

Weaver testified to one of the two grand juries but wasn't mentioned in the grand jury reports or called as a witness during the trial.

The end of the trial doesn't mean the case is over.

Two former top Penn State officials, former Athletic Director Timothy Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz, face perjury charges in connection with their grand jury testimony in December, in which prosecutors alleged that concealed what they knew about Sandusky's conduct.

Law enforcement sources have told NBC News that former Penn State President Graham Spanier, who was fired in November, was under investigation for possible similar charges.

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Oman Oil, IPIC to ink pact for Duqm Refinery development

By Conrad Prabhu ? MUSCAT ? The wholly government owned investment entity Oman Oil Company (OOC) will shortly sign an agreement with Abu Dhabi?s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) formalising their partnership in the joint development of the Sultanate?s third refinery at Duqm. The pact will pave the way for the establishment of a joint venture company to invest in, develop and implement the greenfield refinery project within the Special Economic Zone at Duqm. It will also enable the promoters to secure debt finance for the project, which is estimated to cost $6 billion.
?In this upcoming agreement, both sides will commit themselves to the joint implementation of the Duqm Refinery project. This would represent a significant ramp-up of their initial partnership arrangement to jointly evaluate the feasibility of the refinery venture, to a firm pledge to see the project through to fruition,? a government official told the Observer. In conjunction with the signing of a formal agreement, the joint developers are also expected to reveal their choice of a Project Management Consultant to oversee the construction of the massive venture. Oman Oil Company has also appointed a Project Director to liaise with the Project Management Consultancy firm during the implementation phase of the project.
Significantly, the impending agreement will add to a flurry of developments designed to pave the way for the expeditious development of the 11.5 million tonnes per annum (230,000 barrels per day) capacity grass roots refinery. The project also anchors an ambitious petrochemicals cluster envisaged in later phases of Duqm?s development as an industrial hub. Last month, Oman Oil Company and the Port of Duqm Company, which operates a giant multipurpose port adjoining the Duqm SEZ, announced plans for the formation of a joint venture named Duqm Petroleum Terminal Company (DPTC) to operate and manage a new Liquid Jetty at Duqm. While Oman Oil will hold a 90 per cent stake in the JV, the balance will be offered to Port of Duqm Company.

The jetty will handle the massive liquid volumes in crude feedstock and refined products that will flow through the port when the refinery is operational tentatively in 2017. Designed to accommodate ships of around 150,000 deadweight tonne (DWT) capacity, the Liquid Jetty will be connected to the refinery via a network of pipelines. Earlier this month, Oman Oil subsidiary Oman Gas Company (OGC), which operates the country?s 2,500-kilometre gas transportation grid, firmed up plans for the construction of a pipeline to supply Duqm with its requirements of natural gas as energy and feedstock.

The 230-kilometre pipeline, which will channel gas from Saih Nihayda in central Oman to Duqm, will supply gas to a proposed power and water project and cement plant, as well as the refinery and petrochemical complex. At the same time, a number of international engineering consultants are preparing to bid for a contract to undertake the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the refinery project. Around eight companies are understood to have been prequalified to participate in the FEED tender.

The Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (SEZAD), for its part, has pledged to facilitate the rapid implementation of the refinery and associated petrochemical complex. An initial 900-hectare site has earmarked for the venture in area of the SEZ earmarked for heavy industries. The Duqm refinery is slated to come into operation in the fourth quarter of 2017.

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