Storms raking Southeast blamed for 2 deaths

In this image made from video and released by WSB TV in Atlanta, a tornado moves through the town of Adairsville, Ga. on Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013. A fire chief says a storm that roared across northwest Georgia has left overturned vehicles on Interstate 75 northwest of Atlanta, and crews are responding to reports of people trapped in storm-damaged residential and commercial buildings. (AP Photo/WSB TV) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this image made from video and released by WSB TV in Atlanta, a tornado moves through the town of Adairsville, Ga. on Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013. A fire chief says a storm that roared across northwest Georgia has left overturned vehicles on Interstate 75 northwest of Atlanta, and crews are responding to reports of people trapped in storm-damaged residential and commercial buildings. (AP Photo/WSB TV) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this image made from video and released by WSB TV in Atlanta, a tornado moves through the town of Adairsville, Ga. on Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013. A fire chief says a storm that roared across northwest Georgia has left overturned vehicles on Interstate 75 northwest of Atlanta, and crews are responding to reports of people trapped in storm-damaged residential and commercial buildings. (AP Photo/WSB TV) MANDATORY CREDIT

Jean Fogus, left, and her daughter Pamela Luna stand on there porch after tornado touched down damaging the siding, uprooted a tree and knocked out power to there home along Batson Drive Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Ashland City, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Thomas Ivey carries section of a tree he cut up after it was blown over by tornado that hit the corner of his friend's house Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Ashland City, Tenn. Around 25 homes in Ashland City had minor damage. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Harold Grant tries to repair his front door awning before cutting up a tree that broke in his front yard after a tornado touched down, damaging 25 homes and knocking out power Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Ashland City, Tenn. Around 25 homes in Ashland City had minor damage. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. (AP) ? A massive storm system raking the Southeast hammered a Georgia town on Wednesday, overturning cars on an interstate and killing at least one person there, authorities said.

Bartow County Fire Chief Craig Millsap said the body was found in the storm damage but did not have further details on how the person died. The same system also was blamed for a death in Tennessee. Most dangerous were powerful wind gusts that in several places were powerful enough to overturn tractor-trailers.

There were reports that people were trapped in homes and businesses, and television footage showed large sections of a sprawling manufacturing plant had been destroyed.

Footage also showed a funnel cloud roaring through the downtown area of Adairsville, about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta, flipping cars and demolishing a home. Interstate 75 was closed in both directions after the storm flipped cars onto their roofs and tossed them onto the grassy shoulder.

At least two tornadoes were confirmed and several more suspected, and conditions remained ripe for more. Since Tuesday, the system had caused damage across a swath from Missouri to Georgia.

In recent days, people in the South and Midwest had enjoyed unseasonably balmy temperatures in the 60s and 70s. A system pulling warm weather from the Gulf of Mexico was colliding with a cold front moving in from the west, creating volatility.

Police said high winds toppled a tree onto a shed in Nashville, Tenn., where a man had taken shelter, killing him.

Across the region, downed power lines, trees and tree limbs were making it difficult to reach people who needed help.

Another person was reported injured by lightning in Arkansas during the storm's eastward trek. Two people suffered minor injuries when a mobile home was blown off its foundation in Kentucky.

In Tennessee, officials confirmed that a tornado with peak wind speeds of 115 mph touched down in Mount Juliet. No serious injuries were reported there, though the path of damage was about 150 yards wide, including homes, a warehouse and an automotive business.

Hail ranging up to nearly golf-ball size was also reported in some areas.

Thousands were reported without power in Tennessee, where tornado warnings and flash flood warnings were issued for several counties and a tractor-trailer was blown over by high winds.

The nation has had its longest break between tornado fatalities since detailed tornado records began being kept in 1950, according to the Storm Prediction Center and National Climatic Data Center. The last one was June 24, when a person was killed in a home in Highlands County, Fla. That was 220 days ago as of Tuesday.

The last day with multiple fatalities was June 4, when three people were killed in a mobile home in Scott County, Mo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-30-Winter%20Weather/id-9996e96880d74fb0ae792f5c758adf90

johnny depp hayden panettiere raul ibanez completely wrong mila kunis stacey dash christopher columbus

ARGUS Software Hosts Fourth Annual University Challenge

Top Universities to Gain Real-World Experience Using the Most Advanced Real Estate Analysis Tools

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 30, 2013) - Altus Group Limited (??Altus??) (TSX:AIF) and ARGUS Software ("ARGUS") are pleased to announce the fourth annual ARGUS Software University Challenge. This unique challenge provides students with the opportunity to gain valuable experience by solving real-world investment analysis scenarios. As the next generation of real estate professionals prepare to enter the marketplace, ARGUS Software is making ARGUS Enterprise the system of choice for universities. This year the challenge will incorporate ARGUS Enterprise, the next step in the evolution of CRE analysis and asset management. Introduction of this software reflects our commitment to universities to help prepare their students for a successful career in today's commercial real estate industry.

"ARGUS is pleased to be an integral part of the real estate industry education process with our powerful software platform being taught in over 130 universities worldwide," said Lynn Clarke, Director of Education and Training, ARGUS. "Through the University Challenge, we aim to support future industry professionals; enhancing their practical knowledge and teamwork skills as we continue to develop and invest in our commitment to education."

Each university can enter one team of three to five currently registered students to participate in the challenge. Teams will simulate a real-life investment analysis of a real estate property using ARGUS DCF to model different scenarios based on the assumptions provided.

Teams will compete for a series of cash prizes. A panel of judges, including leaders from the academic community, industry professionals and ARGUS team members, will review the models submitted by the student teams and select the winners. Winners will be announced April 2013.

About ARGUS Software

ARGUS Software is the leading provider of software and solutions for analyzing and managing the value of real estate investments worldwide. ARGUS Software has a world-class user base, consisting of over 90,000 users, and has been focused solely on the commercial real estate segment for over 20 years. The ARGUS Software portfolio includes industry-standard products, including ARGUS Enterprise 9, the most robust asset management solution in a single, integrated platform.

About Altus Group Limited

Altus leads the global real estate industry in offering professional real estate advisory services, data solutions and intelligence about an organization's assets, generating a wealth of knowledge and insight. With a staff of over 1,700, Altus has a network of over 50 offices in a number of countries worldwide, including Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and China. We operate five interrelated Business Units, bringing years of experience and a broad range of expertise together into one comprehensive platform: Research, Valuation and Advisory; Cost Consulting and Project Management; Realty Tax Consulting; Geomatics, and ARGUS Software. Altus' clients include banks, financial institutions, governments, pension funds, asset and fund managers, developers and landlords and companies engaged in the oil and gas industry.

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=1751198&sourceType=3

taylor momsen xbox live update joan rivers gary carter dies oolong tea survivor one world lil kim

Zimmerman wants to delay trial for Martin shooting

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Attorneys for the former neighborhood watch volunteer charged with shooting Trayvon Martin to death on Wednesday asked for more time to prepare his case, saying prosecutors had been slow to turn over evidence.

At the same time, Zimmerman's lead attorney, Mark O'Mara, renewed his request for donations to George Zimmerman's legal defense, which he said could cost up to $1 million.

"The state has virtually unlimited resources to prosecute George," O'Mara said on Zimmerman's defense fund website. "To finance his defense, however, George relies on the generosity of individuals who believe he is innocent."

Spokesman Shawn Vincent said Zimmerman's attorneys want his second-degree murder trial to be moved from June to November. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty.

A hearing in which Zimmerman will argue he was acting in self-defense is scheduled for April. The judge has said that hearing will be at least 45 days before the trial.

Prosecutors did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls about the defense request.

O'Mara said prosecutors had been slow to turn over evidence. As an example, he said someone from State Attorney's Office had removed Martin's cell phone from an evidence locker to have it sent to California for analysis, but the state has refused to give him any information about the agency and the type of tests being run on the phone. He also said prosecutors had made it difficult for O'Mara to get answers to administrative questions from a chief investigative agent and had refused to forward them other information on Martin and a witness.

O'Mara also asked the public to donate more money for his defense, saying on the web site that Zimmerman's defense fund has raised more than $314,000 since he was charged. Of that amount, $95,000 was spent on bail, almost $62,000 was spent on Zimmerman's living expenses during the past eight months and $56,100 was spent on security. The pricey living expenses were the result of Zimmerman having to stay at extended-stay hotels until he could find a place to rent after his bail conditions were changed to restrict him to Seminole County, Fla., according to the statement on the website said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zimmerman-wants-delay-trial-martin-shooting-222949259.html

instagram mark sanchez christina aguilera Mayan End Of The World Olivia Black the voice World Ending 2012

Job growth likely modest but steady in January

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hiring by employers likely held steady in January, pointing to modest growth in the economy despite worries that budget battles in Washington could derail the recovery.

Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have risen 160,000, a marginal step up from December's 155,000 job gain, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 7.8 percent.

Many economists think companies would create more jobs if Washington could resolve a seemingly intractable fight over how to tame the federal budget deficit.

Politicians reached a deal this month to soften the blow from a so-called "fiscal cliff" of austerity measures, but the government is still on track to hurt the economy by slashing spending in March.

A deadlock over spending plans that could lead most government operations to shut down in March also looms, as does the possibility the government might default later this later year and trigger another recession.

"The removal of the uncertainty posed by the fiscal cliff is unlikely to prompt a surge in hiring when there remains so much political uncertainty," said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics in London.

The Labor Department will release the January jobs data on Friday at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).

The recent pace of hiring has been too slow to quickly bring down the country's jobless rate or convince the Federal Reserve, which meets on Wednesday, to abandon its easy money policies.

If economists are on the mark, January would mark another month of slow but steady gains in the long recovery from the 2007-09 recession, reinforcing expectations the Fed will continue buying assets into next year in a bid to lower interest rates and boost the economy. A report due on Wednesday is expected to show economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter.

Still, the expected payroll reading would match the average gains posted over the six months through December, suggesting some of the economy's underlying momentum carried over into the New Year.

Indeed, many economic indicators have pointed to growing economic strength. Retail sales were buoyant in December, and the number of new jobless claims has recently fallen to the lowest in five years.

In addition, a mild winter could be helping to boost employment at construction sites.

"Unseasonably mild weather and improving jobless claims point to an above-trend result," economists at Morgan Stanley, who forecast 185,000 new jobs in January, said in a research note.

Manufacturing employment likely grew by 10,000 jobs in January, according to the Reuters poll. Average hourly earnings are seen edging higher and the length of the average workweek is seen steady.

As part of the employment report, the government will release revisions to recent payroll estimates based on analysis of tax receipts from March 2012. This data could help explain why the U.S. jobless rate fell more than many expected in 2012 given lackluster growth in payrolls, said Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York.

On average, payrolls added 153,000 jobs a month last year, a level many economists consider just enough to keep up with population growth and not enough to explain the 0.5 percentage point fall in the jobless rate during the year.

In a preliminary estimate given in September, the Labor Department said the economy likely created 386,000 more jobs than initially thought in the 12 months through March last year.

With the data on Friday, the government will provide a firmer reading on the employment level for March 2012 and use its new understanding on the health of the labor market to revise its figures for other months as well.

A big upward revision of payroll gains, especially in the second half of 2012, would point to a stronger trend in job creation, helping to explain why the jobless rate tumbled last year and perhaps making future declines more plausible.

"If the trend in employment is 180,000 or 185,000 a month instead of 160,000 a month, it's certainly easier to get the unemployment rate down," said O'Sullivan.

(Editing by Tim Ahmann and James Dalgleish)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-job-growth-likely-modest-steady-january-210132504--business.html

Sarah Jones chicago marathon barcelona vs real madrid Johnny Depp Dead college football rankings Steel Magnolias Niels Bohr

Super Bowl ad brawl has already begun for automakers

13 hrs.

Marty Bernstein , The Detroit Bureau

The hype has begun. Super Bowl XLVII is less than a week away, but the mega-million-buck auto ad brawl is already underway as three of the eight deep-pocket car?advertisers pre-launch their new commercials to NFL fans. The reason? Economics. And a numbers game.

At between $2.4 million?and $4 million per 30-second commercial, ?this amounts to a huge?expenditure for just one airing. But there?s an even bigger number, with more than 115 million Americans predicted to watch?the game Feb. 3.

Until recently, Super Bowl advertising?has been nothing more than putting up the game-day spot and hoping, maybe, that it will trigger some Monday-morning quarterbacking around the water cooler ? with polls and research adding some arguable, additional value. That was then.?

What?s become apparent is that a fairly large percentage of viewers are more interested in the commercials than the game itself. So, how to take advantage of that and extend the payback beyond just a game-day airing that is over in 30 seconds, whether a viewer was sitting in front of the TV or off grabbing something from the refrigerator?

Now, with the various social media,?like Facebook and Twitter as well as YouTube, along with special contests, promotions and PR hype, the shelf life for a good commercial can be dramatically extended to weeks, even months, resulting in additional views extending well into the millions ? even among consumers who ? gasp ? might not have tuned in on Super Bowl Sunday.

Result? The return on investment is as measurable as any ad investment might be. ?And, of course, makers get to battle it out all over for bragging rights as to who was number one.

?(An) early release extends the life of the commercial, builds consumer interest, and most importantly brings early customers into our dealers," said?Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing at Hyundai Motor America.

The?latter reason, arguably, is the most important for buying the commercial in the first place. With that in mind, here are the early commercial entries into this year?s auto ad brawl:?

Mercedes-Benz
During the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Bernie Glaser, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz, said the company has an enviable role in XLVII.?The game will be played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The ad plan was to pre-release a teaser, but in fact two advance spots were released earlier this week. One sexy little tease spotlighted actress Kate Upton and has already received over 3.4 million hits on YouTube ? but also generated a fury of??negative comments from critics for being overly sexy.?The other is a cinematic mystery tease of what is coming Feb. 3, shot in the Big Easy with some great music.

Hyundai
Like every NFL game, it all begins with the coin toss, and in Super?Bowl?XLVII, Hyundai has the primo commercial position ? a 60-second spot for the new seven-passenger?Santa Fe prior to the heads-or-tails call. Check out the not-so-sneak preview.

There are two in game spots, including another for Santa Fe and one for the turbo Sonata. Hyundai also has bought a couple pre-game ads ? featuring the Genesis R-Spec and Santa Fe. Obviously, the new family-size SUV?is getting the most play. The six commercials pre-game and during the game makes Hyundai the biggest car-vertiser in the big show.?

Audi
More than a tease, the rising luxury car marquee is asking consumers to vote for the favorite end of their sixth Super Bowl commercial. Viewers of the commercial on YouTube were?given?24?hours?to?pick their favorite from three possibilities. The most popular will be added in post-production and will air in advance of the game --?and?in?the enviable commercial position of the first break after kick-off.?

Lincoln Motor Company?and Chevrolet
The newest entry in the auto ad brawl in Super Bowl XLVII is the reborn, revitalized, redesigned, re-engineered Lincoln brand from the renamed Lincoln Motor Company. All previous car companies except Chevrolet have re-upped. Chevy is instead?involved in?the half-time show with Beyonce. As TheDetroitBureau.com previously reported, the pop phenom is expected to receive a new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, a special version of the C7 built just for her.?

Copyright 2013 The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/automakers-super-bowl-ad-brawl-has-already-begun-1C8120706

Kaepernick kelly clarkson julio jones j crew san francisco 49ers san francisco 49ers stan musial

Could the timing of when you eat, be just as important as what you eat?

Jan. 29, 2013 ? Most weight-loss plans center around a balance between caloric intake and energy expenditure. However, new research has shed light on a new factor that is necessary to shed pounds: timing. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), in collaboration with the University of Murcia and Tufts University, have found that it's not simply what you eat, but also when you eat, that may help with weight-loss regulation.

The study will be published on January 29, 2013 in the International Journal of Obesity.

"This is the first large-scale prospective study to demonstrate that the timing of meals predicts weight-loss effectiveness," said Frank Scheer, PhD, MSc, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program and associate neuroscientist at BWH, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and senior author on this study. "Our results indicate that late eaters displayed a slower weight-loss rate and lost significantly less weight than early eaters, suggesting that the timing of large meals could be an important factor in a weight loss program."

To evaluate the role of food timing in weight-loss effectiveness, the researchers studied 420 overweight study participants who followed a 20-week weight-loss treatment program in Spain. The participants were divided into two groups: early-eaters and late-eaters, according to the self-selected timing of the main meal, which in this Mediterranean population was lunch. During this meal, 40 percent of the total daily calories are consumed. Early-eaters ate lunch anytime before 3 p.m. and late-eaters, after 3 p.m. They found that late-eaters lost significantly less weight than early-eaters, and displayed a much slower rate of weight-loss. Late-eaters also had a lower estimated insulin sensitivity, a risk factor for diabetes.

Researchers found that timing of the other (smaller) meals did not play a role in the success of weight loss. However, the late eaters -- who lost less weight -- also consumed fewer calories during breakfast and were more likely to skip breakfast altogether. Late-eaters also had a lower estimated insulin sensitivity, a risk factor for diabetes.

The researchers also examined other traditional factors that play a role in weight loss such as total calorie intake and expenditure, appetite hormones leptin and ghrelin, and sleep duration. Among these factors, researchers found no differences between both groups, suggesting that the timing of the meal was an important and independent factor in weight loss success.

"This study emphasizes that the timing of food intake itself may play a significant role in weight regulation" explains Marta Garaulet, PhD, professor of Physiology at the University of Murcia Spain, and lead author of the study. "Novel therapeutic strategies should incorporate not only the caloric intake and macronutrient distribution, as it is classically done, but also the timing of food."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Brigham and Women's Hospital, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. M Garaulet, P G?mez-Abell?n, J J Alburquerque-B?jar, Y-C Lee, J M Ordov?s, F A J L Scheer. Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness. International Journal of Obesity, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2012.229

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/hTJkXjihjJI/130129080620.htm

arsenic and old lace leslie varez ward solar storms uganda the parent trap invisible children kony 2012

In-brain monitoring shows memory network

Jan. 29, 2013 ? Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place.

"Previous work has focused on one region of the brain at a time," said Arne Ekstrom, assistant professor at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. "Our results show that memory recall involves simultaneous activity across brain regions." Ekstrom is senior author of a paper describing the work published Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Ekstrom and UC Davis graduate student Andrew Watrous worked with patients being treated for a severe seizure condition by neurosurgeon Dr. Nitin Tandon and his UTHealth colleagues.

To pinpoint the origin of the seizures in these patients, Tandon and his team place electrodes on the patient's brain inside the skull. The electrodes remain in place for one to two weeks for monitoring.

Six such patients volunteered for Ekstrom and Watrous' study while the electrodes were in place. Using a laptop computer, the patients learned to navigate a route through a virtual streetscape, picking up passengers and taking them to specific places. Later, they were asked to recall the routes from memory.

Correct memory recall was associated with increased activity across multiple connected brain regions at the same time, Ekstrom said, rather than activity in one region followed by another.

However, the analysis did show that the medial temporal lobe is an important hub of the memory network, confirming earlier studies, he said.

Intriguingly, memories of time and of place were associated with different frequencies of brain activity across the network. For example, recalling, "What shop is next to the donut shop?" set off a different frequency of activity from recalling "Where was I at 11 a.m.?"

Using different frequencies could explain how the brain codes and recalls elements of past events such as time and location at the same time, Ekstrom said.

"Just as cell phones and wireless devices work at different radio frequencies for different information, the brain resonates at different frequencies for spatial and temporal information," he said.

The researchers hope to explore further how the brain codes information in future work.

The neuroscientists analyzed their results with graph theory, a new technique that is being used for studying networks, ranging from social media connections to airline schedules.

"Previously, we didn't have enough data from different brain regions to use graph theory. This combination of multiple readings during memory retrieval and graph theory is unique," Ekstrom said.

Placing electrodes inside the skull provides clearer resolution of electrical signals than external electrodes, making the data invaluable for the study of cognitive functions, Tandon said. "This work has yielded important insights into the normal mechanisms underpinning recall, and provides us with a framework for the study of memory dysfunction in the future."

Additional authors of the study are Chris Connor and Thomas Pieters at the UTHealth Medical School. The work was supported by the Sloan Foundation, the Hellman Foundation and the NIH.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Davis.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Andrew J Watrous, Nitin Tandon, Chris R Conner, Thomas Pieters, Arne D Ekstrom. Frequency-specific network connectivity increases underlie accurate spatiotemporal memory retrieval. Nature Neuroscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nn.3315

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/-ao3Knadd_w/130129144817.htm

twas the night before christmas santa Capital STEEZ George Bush weather.com After Christmas Sales 2012 Charles Durning

Insight: Irish banks at mercy of international paymasters

LONDON/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's banking recovery could yet be derailed by its international creditors.

The European Central Bank's refusal so far to give Dublin any relief on the 30-billion euro cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank is a major setback for government ambitions to exit an EU-IMF bailout this year and give the euro zone its first post-crisis success story.

The failure to agree a deal on Anglo Irish also overshadows the country's banks.

Nearly all nationalized in the wake of a property crash and with their liabilities guaranteed by taxpayers, the fortunes of Ireland's lenders are tied to the state and they need Dublin to strike a deal with the ECB to ensure they too can make a return to full market funding.

"The country is crying out for progress on a deal," said Jeremy Masding, CEO of rescued mortgage lender permanent tsb. "That would give a huge boost to the country's confidence."

As reported by Reuters, the ECB rejected Ireland's preferred solution for restructuring the cost of propping up Anglo Irish because it amounted to "monetary financing" of the government.

Under the current arrangement, Dublin must pay 3.1 billion euros a year until 2023 to service a promissory note it issued to underwrite Anglo Irish. Finance Minister Michael Noonan had proposed converting the note into long-term government bonds that would be taken up by the Irish Central Bank.

Ireland's creditors at the EU, the ECB and the IMF have also shelved a parallel plan to rid the Irish banks of loss-making mortgages that track the ECB borrowing rate, three sources close to the talks have told Reuters.

A deal on these tracker loans, which was meant to be part of the overall deal on Anglo Irish, would have given a huge boost to the local banking sector. Tracker mortgages typically charge an interest rate of about 1.8 percent - below the 3-4 percent banks pay to fund themselves in the market.

The proposal to remove about 36 billion euros of such tracker loans from Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and permanent tsb and put them in to a separate vehicle has been abandoned, amid disagreement over how to value the mortgages and fund their removal.

"The technical paper is dead, and it's not coming back," said one source.

Neither AIB nor permanent tsb would say how much their tracker books were costing them. Goodbody's Stockbrokers in Dublin has estimated that AIB was losing about 400 million euros annually on its 17.7 billion euros portfolio of trackers. Permanent tsb has a 22.5 billion euros book of trackers, suggesting a higher annual cost.

Irish officials are scrambling to come up with a fresh proposal on the Anglo bill that will be palatable to the ECB.

But a deal on the tracker mortgages looks more remote, with officials aiming to resolve them as part of efforts to have Europe's permanent bailout fund, the ESM, take over its equity stakes in bailed-out banks.

The possibility of the ESM taking over Irish bank stakes looks slim, however, as European states start to back away from a June 2012 pledge to deal with bank legacy costs.

For permanent tsb, a return to profitability will only be possible once its tracker mortgages, which account for 68 percent of its overall lending book, are removed.

"Certainly until that happens we're looking at significant losses as a result of legacy lending issues for some years to come," said Masding, who took over as CEO last year after more than two decades with Britain's Barclays.

LIFE AFTER CRISIS

Just as Ireland is the posterboy for sovereign austerity, so its banks have started showing that there is life after crisis.

Bank of Ireland, 15 percent state-owned, has been leading the charge, issuing an 1 billion euro covered bond late last year, and then getting new investors to buy a 1 billion euro contingent convertible bond from the state in January.

The more challenged AIB, which is 99.8 percent state-owned, followed up with a 500 million euro covered bond sold this week that was more than four times oversubscribed.

Banks are also upping their lending targets with KBC Ireland planning to roll out a branch network in Ireland, despite having to cough up 400 million euro to cover losses for 2008 to 2012.

The latest data from the Central Bank on mortgage arrears shows that while one in nine are still more than three months in arrears, the pace of deterioration is abating with a 6.3 percent increase in the third quarter compared to a 7.1 percent rise in the second quarter.

And while property prices outside the capital are still falling, sellers of Dublin real estate and loans say the market, already down 60 percent since the boom, has improved.

One vendor said he turned down an offer of 24 million euros for a property in Dublin's financial district late last year and got an offer of 28 million five weeks later.

"People who waved goodbye to Ireland in 2010 are now getting back in, they're afraid they're missing it," he said.

But a failure to get a reduction on the cost of bailing out Anglo Irish, currently equivalent to nearly a fifth of Ireland's annual economic output, could sap momentum.

Irish voters, fed up at having to swallow higher taxes and spending cuts to help pay for the banks, had been assured of a deal and if none materializes, the government could struggle to survive long enough to push through further austerity this year.

"If it doesn't happen, the oxygen would be sucked out of some of the buoyancy," said John Reynolds, head of KBC Ireland and president of the Irish Banking Federation. "Doggedness and stamina do need periodic injections of oxygen."

STRESS TESTS

Another potential problem looming for Irish banks is the next round of stress tests, set for this autumn.

With the domestic economy still shrinking and mortgage arrears much higher than anyone expected, the banks may require additional capital.

The central bank will consider an array of factors before deciding if the three active Irish banks, which have so far swallowed 28 billion euros in state cash, need more.

On the negative side, are the tracker mortgages, weak loan demand and a high cost of funding.

On the plus side, the banks have largely managed to sell off assets at better prices than those envisaged in the 2011 stress tests and Finance Minister Noonan has said he will start winding down the state guarantee of bank liabilities from March.

As fears of a banking Armageddon abate, the state guarantee has become an expensive add-on for Irish banks, costing them a total of 2.6 billion euros as of the middle of last year.

Crucially, this year's stress tests will also use a less severe model for mortgage losses, a central bank source said.

U.S. consultants Blackrock, which oversaw the 2011 stress tests, controversially assumed all borrowers in negative equity defaulted and repossessions ensued.

"We're looking at a different way of doing the modeling," said the source, adding that the central bank may focus more on unemployment as an indicator of likely losses.

There is a reluctance however to say the worst is over.

"When it comes to the broader economic environment, mortgage portfolios, other portfolios - none of us know how that's going to play out," said Nigel Greenwood, Standard & Poor's financial services director.

"This is a journey that started way back in 2008 and unfortunately it's a long journey."

(Editing by Carmel Crimmins/Alastair Macdonald/Janet McBride)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-irish-banks-mercy-international-paymasters-155628884--finance.html

alex o loughlin the godfather cape breton bowling green marysville tornados dr. seuss

230 Die in Nightclub Fire, Brazil President Reacts to "Tragedy"

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/230-die-in-nightclub-fire-brazil-president-reacts-to-tragedy/

modern family george strait how i met your mother Jordan Pruitt real housewives of new jersey Kanye West sex tape emmys

Ashton Kutcher Was Hospitalized After Trying Steve Jobs? Fruitarian Diet

Method actors are known to go to extreme lengths to understand the character they're portraying. Natalie Portman dropped a whopping 20 lbs off of her already rockin' body to play a ballerina in Black Swan. Ashton Kutcher's preparation for playing Steve Jobs in the biopic jOBS was so extreme it left him in the hospital. According to USA Today, he spent two days in the hospital after trying to stick to Steve Jobs' frutarian diet, which consists of eating fruits, nuts and seeds.

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

george strait how i met your mother Jordan Pruitt real housewives of new jersey Kanye West sex tape emmys emmys

Amy Koch: Affair gave GOP foes an opportunity (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279793662?client_source=feed&format=rss

K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis falling skies rodney king Webb Simpson Fathers Day Quotes

Obama: Gun-control advocates should listen more

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says gun-control advocates have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes in the debate over firearms in America.

Obama tells The New Republic that he has a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that date back for generations.

He also says that moving forward on the topic means understanding that the realities of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas.

The president says it's understandable that people are protective of their family traditions when it comes to hunting.

Has Obama himself ever fired a gun? Yes, he says, he and others shoot skeet frequently at the president's Maryland retreat, Camp David.

The interview appears in the Feb. 11 issue of The New Republic.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-gun-control-advocates-listen-more-060214484--politics.html

whitney houston death the vow the voice season 2 ron paul maine safe house jay z and beyonce baby cpac

White House, senators launching immigration push

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama will launch a campaign next week aimed at overhauling the nation's flawed immigration system and creating legal status for millions, as a bipartisan Senate group nears agreement on achieving the same goals.

The proposals from Obama and lawmakers will mark the start of what is expected to be a contentious and emotional process with deep political implications. Latino voters overwhelmingly backed Obama in the 2012 election, leaving Republicans grappling for a way to regain their standing with an increasingly powerful pool of voters.

The president will press his case for immigration changes during a trip to Las Vegas Tuesday. The Senate working group is also aiming to outline its proposals next week, according to a Senate aide.

Administration officials say Obama's second-term immigration push will be a continuation of the principles he outlined during his first four years in office but failed to act on. He is expected to revive his little-noticed 2011 immigration "blueprint," which calls for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants that includes paying fines and back taxes; increased border security; mandatory penalties for businesses that employ unauthorized immigrants; and improvements to the legal immigration system, including giving green cards to high-skilled workers and lifting caps on legal immigration for the immediate family members of U.S. citizens.

"What has been absent in the time since he put those principles forward has been a willingness by Republicans, generally speaking, to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. "What he hopes is that that dynamic has changed."

The political dynamic does appear to have shifted following the November election. Despite making little progress on immigration in his first term, Obama won more than 70 percent of the Latino vote, in part because of the conservative positions on immigration that Republican nominee Mitt Romney staked out during the GOP primary. Latino voters accounted for 10 percent of the electorate in November.

The president met privately Friday morning with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss his next steps on immigration. Among those in the meeting was Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who said Obama told lawmakers "immigration reform is his number one legislative priority."

That could bump back the president's efforts to seek legislation enacting stricter gun laws, another issue he has vowed to make a top second term priority.

The Senate immigration group is also pressing for quick action, aiming to draft a bill by March and pass legislation in their chamber by August, said the aide, who requested anonymity in order to discuss private deliberations. The Republican-controlled House would also need to pass the legislation before it went to the White House for the president's signature.

Senate lawmakers working on the immigration effort include Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Robert Menendez of New Jersey; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, according to Senate aides.

Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Mike Lee of Utah have also been involved. It's not clear whether all those involved will sign on to the principles the group hopes to roll out next week.

Those principles are expected to include a process toward legalizing the status of unauthorized immigrants already in the country; border security; verification measures for employers hiring workers and ways for more temporary workers to be admitted into the country.

It's unclear whether the group will back the pathway to full citizenship that the president is seeking. Schumer and Graham have previously supported requiring illegal immigrants to admit they broke the law, perform community service, pay fines and back taxes, pass background checks and learn English before going to the back of the line of immigrants already in the system in order to legalize their immigration status.

Several of the senators negotiating the immigration principles are veterans of the failed comprehensive immigration reform effort under then-President George W. Bush. That process collapsed in 2007 when it came up well-short of the needed votes in the Senate, a bitter outcome for Bush and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Democrats' leader on the legislation.

Some Republicans still lament that result as a missed opportunity for the party that could have set the GOP on a different path to reach more Latino voters.

Rubio is a relative newcomer to Senate negotiations on the issue, but he's seen as a rising star in his party and a potential 2016 presidential candidate. As a charismatic young Hispanic leader his proposals on immigration have attracted wide notice in recent weeks. And as a conservative favorite, unlike McCain or Graham, his stamp of approval could be critical to drawing in other conservative lawmakers.

A Republican aide said that Rubio has made clear in his interactions with the Senate group that he couldn't sign on to proposals that deviated from the principles he himself has been laying out in recent media interviews, including border security first, a guest-worker program, more visas for high-tech workers and enforcement in the workplace.

As for the illegal immigrants already in the country, Rubio would have them pay a fine and back taxes, show they have not committed crimes, prove they've been in the country for some time and speak some English and apply for permanent residency. Ultimately citizenship too could be in reach but only after a process that doesn't nudge aside immigrants already in line, and Rubio hasn't provided details on how long it all might take.

___

Associated Press writer Luis Alonso Lugo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-senators-launching-immigration-push-222950612--politics.html

roman holiday belize adele lyrics best new artist 2012 grammys foo fighters nikki minaj

Movie Review: The Troubled and Talented Life of Mr. Ginger Backer ...

If you know the name Ginger Baker, you know him as the incredible drummer in the pioneering 1960s super group Cream. You know Baker?s name is often listed among a small handful of other drummers of that era (along with Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon, and, a little later, John Bonham) who invented big rock drumming and whose talent and personalities made the guys behind the set unforgettable members of the bands they played in. Beware of Mr. Baker, the first feature-length documentary by Jay Bulger, aims to prove Baker is so much more than that. Baker was not merely a influential rock drummer, he was one of the most accomplished jazz drummers of his generation, he was also an eccentric, a tyrant, and a muddled and confused man.

Bulger?s movie opens with the filmmaker?s starkest encounter with the temper that helped make Baker?s career such an erratic mess. As the film crew pulls away from the drummer?s South African home, he swats his cane at the young men screaming about not wanting ?those people in my film.? ?Those people? are the musical legends he played with over the years. Jumping back in time, we review the chronology of his career, beginning as a young dope addict playing in English jazz bands in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Early on he rubs shoulders with Mick Jagger, then goes on to enjoy modest success with the Graham Bond Orchestra, where he meets bassist Jack Bruce. Despite Bruce and Ginger?s deeply confrontational relationship, the two form Cream with Eric Clapton. The band represents the height of Baker?s commercial success. After just two years, the group breaks up, but Baker keeps on drumming, for Blind Faith, Ginger Baker?s Air Force, and eventual Feli Kuti. All his gigs?rarely?last long, and the other band mates consistently point their finger at the tempestuous Baker as the reason for his projects? short shelf life.

The constants in Baker?s life are drugs, women, eccentric behavior, and talent. In his life?s wake, Baker has left many lovers and wives, a broken family, heaps of debt, and plenty of blown chances. Butler uses a map motif with a little animated Viking ship to make the places Baker?s life took him, only to leave once all the bridges were burned: England, Italy, Los Angeles, Nigeria, and finally South Africa. The Viking is an interesting image for Baker. A torrid talent, Baker did change the music world as he wreaked havoc on his adventures. In the film, he comes across as one of those individuals whose peculiar makeup forbids his existence on earth to be anything but a chaotic and explosive mess of success and failure. Johnny Rotten, one of the many musicians interviewed in the film, warns us that we are watching a film about a man those of us who live conventional lives won?t understand. But perhaps it is Baker?s old band mate Eric Clapton who puts it best: ?Ginger Baker is the best Ginger Baker in the world.?

Source: http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2013/01/movie-review-the-troubled-and-talented-life-of-mr-ginger-backer/

Jimmy Hoffa Ed Hochuli Opie modern family george strait how i met your mother Jordan Pruitt

Assistant Accountant-Tralee | Chase Resourcing

Job Title

Assistant Accountant- Tralee

Salary

Depending on Experience

Location

Tralee, Co. Kerry

Remuneration

This is a fantastic opportunity to progress in your accounting career Salary is dependent on experience

Start Date

ASAP but will wait for the right candidate

Job Description

Do you want to become part of the diverse and dynamic team in one of the world?s leading Financial Institutions?

Chase Resourcing are delighted to announce on behalf of our Tralee based client a position for Assistant Accountant

This is an amazing opportunity to progress in your career and gain invaluable experience in an internationally based and world renowned company

Job Description:

As an assistant accountant you will be required to assist in and complete the following duties

• Work in Conjunction with our chartered accountant to ensure such tasks as payroll and reports are completed accurately and effectively for our New York based control team
• Invoice processing and payment
• Manage cost incurred by the company including Pension Schemes, Payroll, Benefits and Travel Expenses
• Prepare Bi monthly Vat Returns/Monthly Financial Reports
• Contract and vendor management
• Research accounting issues and report presentations for management
• Maintain central repository of all payments, contracts, and other important business documents.
• Understand and assist with Tax Reporting and Issues.
• Special Projects accounting management as business requires.
• Complete other tasks and administrative duties as requested

Skills Required

• Be able to work on one?s own initiative as well as being a team player
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• High competency excel skills? ( Pivot tables, ?if statements?, V-table look ups)
• Public accounting or industry experience a plus

Are you a recently qualified accountant who is looking to work in a challenging environment who accepts the dynamics and challenges of an internationally based company? If so please contact Trish immediately on 066 9762007 for more information or email a copy of your CV to trish@chase.ie for immediate review

Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with the latest news and jobs!

Source: http://www.chase.ie/assistant-accountant-tralee/

nick cannon lindsay lohan saturday night live snl lindsay lohan valley fever project x the lorax lorax

Wis. sheriff: 'Safety is no longer a spectator sport,' get gun training

A Wisconsin sheriff says he released an ad calling on residents to defend themselves because the old model of having a citizen call 911 and wait for help isn't always the best option.

In the ad, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. tells residents that when it comes to personal safety: "I need you in the game." He urges citizens to learn to use firearms so they can "fight back" until authorities arrive.

The ad has drawn sharp criticism from other area officials. The president of the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs' Association, Roy Felber, says it sounds like a call to vigilantism.

But Clarke says he can either whine about budget cuts that have reduced the number of deputies or call on citizens to work with officers in some situations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wis-sheriff-urges-citizens-gun-training-213646100.html

kansas ohio state wrestlemania results womens final four josh hutcherson google april fools office space shell houston open

Coal decline hits fuel's Western stronghold

SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) ? Hundreds of millions of tons of coal, packed into seams up to 60 feet thick, are still to be had beneath the rock-strewn hillsides speckled with snow that rise up along the remote Montana-Wyoming border.

Yet for Mike Cooley, the days of drilling explosives into the ground to blast the fuel from the earth are over, long before he ever expected. The 41-year-old thought his job as a "powderman" at the Decker strip mine would take him into retirement.

Then, just weeks ago, he became one of several hundred mine workers to lose their jobs in the past year in the region, as a dispute over West Coast ports hobbles the industry's ability to reach booming markets in Asia.

That's left people like Cooley searching for new work amid declining U.S. coal demand caused by a rise in natural gas production ? and puts some of the small towns in coal country in economic peril.

Wringing his calloused, idle hands and staring into the winter sun through the kitchen window of his trailer house in Sheridan, not far from the mine, Cooley said he's reluctant to leave with the eldest of his three children poised to graduate high school this spring.

"But I don't want to go back to pounding nails either, not at $13 an hour," the former construction worker said as his youngest child, two-year-old Mason, hovered nearby sucking on a lollipop.

For decades, the 25,000-square-mile Powder River Basin that surrounds Sheridan has been the stronghold of the U.S. coal industry. Massive strip-mines, carved from a landscape dominated by sage brush and cattle ranches, churn out close to a half-million tons of the fuel annually, dwarfing production from mines in the Appalachians and Midwest.

Now the depressed domestic coal market is finally catching up to mines such as Decker. At least 300 jobs have been lost from mines in Montana and Wyoming since early 2012, according to preliminary data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Paradoxically, out-of-work miners in Montana and Wyoming are scrambling for new employment even as global coal markets enjoy a heyday. Driven by Asian demand, experts say, coal is projected to challenge oil as the world's top energy source within the next four years. The sole exception will be in the U.S.

The Decker lay-offs cut the mine's workforce roughly in half ? and came as a shock to Cooley and fellow miners who earned almost $30 an hour and for years sat comfortably near the top of the region's resource-based economy.

Just last year, Decker's co-owner, Ambre Energy of Australia, was promising to ramp up mining and start shipping millions of tons annually to countries such as South Korea ? part of an industry-wide trend as companies battered by the domestic market looked to foreign buyers.

But Ambre's plans to build and expand West Coast ports to load the fuel onto ships have become entangled in political opposition and bureaucratic red tape, forcing the company to push back its timeline to begin operating. Mining industry heavyweights, including Arch Coal, Inc., and Peabody Energy face the same problems.

It's been several years since coal mining peaked in the Powder River Basin, which accounts for the bulk of production from Montana and Wyoming. Only in recent months has the number of workers started to drop.

Despite the logistical hurdles, some of the basin's coal is making it to overseas markets by squeezing through the limited West Coast port capacity already available. But analysts and industry observers say those routes have essentially maxed out.

"Unless you can send (coal) by Federal Express, the export market can't take off," said Montana's former governor, Brian Schweitzer.

The Democrat spent two terms seeking to bolster the state's coal industry before leaving office this month. He predicted it will take up to five years for ports in Washington state and Oregon to come to fruition, and just as long for U.S. coal demand to rebound.

That leaves Cooley and others like him stuck between tomorrow's promise and yesterday's boom, in a region with few comparable employment prospects.

"I've never been laid off. Always had a job, since I was 14," said Cooley, whose family will rely on his wife's income as a grocery store cashier until he finds a new job.

As with other laid-off Decker miners interviewed, Cooley hopes Decker rebounds but is looking beyond coal as he searches for new work. He's got applications in at a zinc mine in Alaska, a gold mine in Nevada and to work as a roustabout for an oil company in North Dakota's Bakken oil patch.

Others already have moved on to such places after finding it impossible to match their former wages in Sheridan, a town of 18,000 a short drive across the Montana line from the Decker mine and where most of its workers live.

Hard times have visited before in this part of Wyoming, where coal was euphemistically dubbed "the black diamond" after a boom early last century.

North of Sheridan along the Tongue River can be seen the ruins of now-defunct company-owned coal mining towns such as Monarch, Kleenburn and Acme. Those communities and their underground mines peaked in the 1920s. Their decline left a gap in the economy that wasn't replaced until Decker and other strip mines came along decades later.

After opening in 1972, Decker quickly ramped up to several hundred workers digging up 10 million tons of coal a year, a volume that it produced for its first two decades "like clockwork," said Hal Kansala, who has been working at the mine since 1979. Coal production this year will be less than a third that amount.

Ambre spokeswoman Liz Fuller said the mine remains viable and the company is seeking buyers for its coal. She would not comment on long-term employment prospects except to say the company would look to rehire laid off workers if mining rebounds.

Regardless of whether the company's export aspirations come to pass, the short-term outlook looks grim.

The five to ten years it could take to surmount environmental opposition to West Coast coal ports is simply too long for miners and their families to wait, Sheridan Mayor Dave Kinskey said.

"It reminds me of that old saw: The first economist says, 'Well, in the long run these things all work themselves out.' And the other economist says, 'In the short term, we're dead."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/coal-decline-hits-fuels-western-stronghold-175547451--finance.html

comedy central philadelphia eagles obamacare Todd Akin Register To Vote Fox News Live Obama 2016

Sheriff O'Flynn is new leader of state association (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279372300?client_source=feed&format=rss

nsx chad ochocinco roman numerals superbowl halftime madonna madonna papa johns

Neo Geo X still in production, Tommo plans to add 'more games, peripherals and software updates'

Despite reports claiming that Tommo Inc's portable re-launch of the Neo Geo had ceased production, that is apparently not the case. "There has been a recent rumor about the end of the production of the NEOGEO X System. This rumor is incorrect," Tommo told us in a statement. The reports apparently stem from ending production of the Limited Edition Neo Geo X Gold System, which Tommo says, "was always planned to be a limited edition product." Beyond just continued production of the standard model, Tommo adds that it'll be supporting the device with, "more games, peripherals, and software updates." The Limited Edition, however, will likely start to disappear by some point in April, when the company expects final stock to begin shipping. "Given the popularity of the NEOGEO X format, we don't expect this stock to last long," the company notes. Head past the break for the full statement.

Show full PR text

There has been a recent rumor about the end of the production of the NEOGEO X System. This rumor is incorrect. Tommo will be continuing to support the NEOGEO X format going forward with more games, peripherals and software updates, as well as more units of the console hardware. The NEOGEO X Gold System Limited Edition Collection Series that includes Ninja Masters, was always planned to be a limited edition product. We are currently manufacturing our final run of this Limited Edition Collection Series and our distributors worldwide expect to have the final stock in April. Given the popularity of the NEOGEO X format, we don't expect this stock to last long.

We are absolutely delighted with how the NEOGEO X has performed so far, and are incredibly grateful for the support of gamers and we are looking forward to continuing the development of this game platform.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, HD

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/S5cOJffI6P0/

palmetto rob lowe sanctum the notebook duke basketball miranda july joe paterno near death

Samsung?s Galaxy S IV may feature new high-definition display tech

Samsung

An alleged Samsung (005930) roadmap uncovered recently suggested that the upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone will feature a 5-inch display with a pixel density of 440 ppi. Ever since Apple (AAPL) released the iPhone 4 with its class-leading 326 ppi Retina display, vendors have been attempting to pack as many pixels into a screen as possible. HTC (2498) and Sony (SNE) have both announced full HD smartphones with pixel densities of 440 ppi, however there are limitations as to how high the pixel count can actually go.

[More from BGR: As data gets cheaper for Verizon to transmit, customers are paying more]

According to Digitimes, Samsung is planning to use hexagonal and diamond-shaped pixel layouts instead of the current side-by-side layout, to increase the amount of pixels it can squeeze into its new displays.

[More from BGR: Three reasons to root for RIM]

The technology is expected to debut on the Galaxy S IV, which Digitimes claims will now have a pixel density greater than?440 ppi. The smartphone is also believed to include a 1.8GHz 8-core Exynos 5 Octa processor, 4G LTE, 2GB of RAM, a microSD slot, wireless charging capabilities and a 13-megapixel camera.

The latest rumors suggest the Galaxy S IV will be?announced in March and released in April.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/samsung-galaxy-iv-may-feature-high-definition-display-175558332.html

SEC Championship Game 2012 kansas city chiefs Javon Belcher express kindle fire Jenny Johnson olivier martinez

The Cave Game Cheats - Video Games Blogger

Looking for The Cave Game cheats on PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360 & Wii U? Here we?ll list The Cave Game cheat codes and unlockables with tips for Double Fine?s new Platformer Adventure game.

Index of The Cave Game Guides:

The Cave is a game in which you lead unlikely adventurers on a journey into a sentient, talking cave.

Here?s an interview where its creator ? adventure games legend and the man behind Monkey Island ? Ron Gilbert, gives gameplay tips and talks about what people can expect to find inside The Cave.

There are no The Cave Game cheats on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac & Wii U yet. So until they are discovered, we made the handy The Cave Game guides listed above to help you with more tips and tricks for the game!

Do you know of any The Cave Game cheats or unlockables?
Let us know in the comments, you?ll get credit for finding out. ? Thanks for visiting!

About the author

By Ferry Groenendijk: He is the founder and editor of Video Games Blogger. He loved gaming from the moment he got a Nintendo with Super Mario Bros. on his 8th birthday. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and at Google+.

Source: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2013/01/23/the-cave-game-cheats.htm

monday night football SEC Championship Game 2012 kansas city chiefs Javon Belcher express kindle fire Jenny Johnson

AP Source: Obama picks Mary Jo White to lead SEC

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama will nominate Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, tapping an attorney with broad experience in prosecuting white-collar crimes to lead an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform.

A White House official said the president would announce White's nomination during a ceremony in the State Dining Room Thursday afternoon.

At the same event, Obama will renominate Richard Cordray to serve as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the official said. The president used a recess appointment last year to circumvent Congress and install Cordray as head of the bureau. That appointment expires at the end of this year.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the nominations ahead of the president.

White spent nearly a decade as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, building a reputation as a tough prosecutor with an expertise in pursuing white collar crimes and complex securities and financial fraud cases. White House officials say that experience makes her well positioned to implement Obama's Wall Street reform legislation.

While serving as U.S. attorney, White also won convictions related to the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

If confirmed by the Senate, White would take over the helm at the SEC from Elisse Walter, who is serving out the rest of former SEC chair Mary Schapiro's term. Schapiro resigned in December.

Cordray has run the consumer bureau since last year, when Obama used a recess appointment to install him in the job. Senate Republicans had opposed Cordray, as well as the concept of the consumer bureau.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., first conceived of the idea of a consumer protection bureau. Obama considered naming her to lead the bureau, but her nomination would likely have run into deep opposition on Capitol Hill.

White, 65, currently heads the litigation department at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

She was the first woman to hold the position of U.S. attorney in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious positions in federal law enforcement. During her tenure from 1993 to 2002, White won convictions of white-collar criminals, drug traffickers and international terrorists. The most notable was Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

She also led the prosecution of mob boss John Gotti when she was acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn in 1992. Gotti died in prison in 2002.

If confirmed by the Senate, White would be the first prosecutor to head the 79-year-old SEC. Most SEC chairmen traditionally have come from Wall Street or the ranks of private securities lawyers. The choice of White is likely intended to bolster the agency's enforcement profile in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

White's background differs sharply from Schapiro, who stepped down last month after guiding the agency in the four years after the crisis. Schapiro worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry's self-policing organization. Some consumer advocates have said that Schapiro's experience as CEO of FINRA made her more likely to seek compromises and less likely to aggressively pursue misconduct.

During Shapiro's tenure, the SEC reached major settlements with the biggest banks on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank. But critics said the penalties were small compared with the banks' revenues. And they complained that no senior executives were held accountable.

White would be expected to give high priority to expanding the enforcement efforts.

At the same time, much of the pressing work facing the agency involves writing new rules. The SEC is seeking stricter rules for money-market mutual funds and must get into shape the so-called Volcker Rule, which would bar banks from making certain trades for their own profit.

As head of the litigators at Debevoise & Plimpton, White has represented a number of financial institutions likely to have crossed swords with the SEC in enforcement cases. Her clients also included former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, whom she represented in a 2010 civil lawsuit by then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accusing Lewis of misleading shareholders in the bank's merger with Merrill Lynch.

White also represented the largest U.S. hospital chain, HCA, in the insider-trading investigations by the SEC and the Justice Department of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, whose family owned HCA. The investigations were closed in 2007 with no charges filed against Frist.

___

Associated Press writer Marcy Gordon contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-obama-picks-mary-jo-white-lead-130744800--politics.html

mlb trade rumors Misty May And Kerri Walsh Jake Dalton London 2012 field hockey Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics