Saturday, June 29, 2013

These Heartbreaking Ads Show How Useless Facebook Likes Can Be

These Heartbreaking Ads Show How Useless Facebook Likes Can Be

We toss around likes as if they were high fives on the Internet. As affirmation of people doing the right thing. As oh hey look cool. As being silly and ironic. As the digital form of support. As a hug. As a fist bump. But what do those thumbs up actually do? Boosts someone's ego? Spreads your online seed? In reality, nothing.

Ad Agency Publicis Singapore created an advertisement for Crisis Relief Singapore that says, "Liking isn't helping". It shows people who are in clearly need of help surrounded by a crowd of thumbs up (which are photoshopped in). It makes your stomach turn and hits home a little bit, supporting a cause by liking it isn't doing much.

People need more than just a Facebook Like or retweet or Instagram post. You can help Crisis Relief here. [Crisis Relief via PetaPixel]

These Heartbreaking Ads Show How Useless Facebook Likes Can Be

These Heartbreaking Ads Show How Useless Facebook Likes Can Be

Source: http://gizmodo.com/these-heartbreaking-ads-show-how-useless-facebook-likes-615986913

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Senate Passes Immigration Reform (ABC News)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315685979?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Imagination can change what we hear and see

Imagination can change what we hear and see [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet

Study sheds new light on a classic question in psychology and neuroscience

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows, that our imagination may affect how we experience the world more than we perhaps think. What we imagine hearing or seeing "in our head" can change our actual perception. The study, which is published in the scientific journal Current Biology, sheds new light on a classic question in psychology and neuroscience about how our brains combine information from the different senses.

"We often think about the things we imagine and the things we perceive as being clearly dissociable," says Christopher Berger, doctoral student at the Department of Neuroscience and lead author of the study. "However, what this study shows is that our imagination of a sound or a shape changes how we perceive the world around us in the same way actually hearing that sound or seeing that shape does. Specifically, we found that what we imagine hearing can change what we actually see, and what we imagine seeing can change what we actually hear."

The study consists of a series of experiments that make use of illusions in which sensory information from one sense changes or distorts one's perception of another sense. Ninety-six healthy volunteers participated in total.

In the first experiment, participants experienced the illusion that two passing objects collided rather than passed by one-another when they imagined a sound at the moment the two objects met. In a second experiment, the participants' spatial perception of a sound was biased towards a location where they imagined seeing the brief appearance of a white circle. In the third experiment, the participants' perception of what a person was saying was changed by their imagination of a particular sound.

According to the scientists, the results of the current study may be useful in understanding the mechanisms by which the brain fails to distinguish between thought and reality in certain psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Another area of use could be research on brain computer interfaces, where paralyzed individuals' imagination is used to control virtual and artificial devices.

"This is the first set of experiments to definitively establish that the sensory signals generated by one's imagination are strong enough to change one's real-world perception of a different sensory modality" says Professor Henrik Ehrsson, the principle investigator behind the study.

###

This study was funded by the European Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and the Sderberg Foundation.

Publication: 'Mental imagery changes multisensory perception', Christopher C. Berger & H. Henrik Ehrsson, Current Biology, online 27 June 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.012. Embargoed until Thursday 27 June 2013 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) US Eastern Time / 18:00 CET / 17:00 UK Time.

More about Henrik Ehrsson's research: http://www.ehrssonlab.se

Contact the Press Office and download images: ki.se/pressroom

Karolinska Institutet a medical university: ki.se/english


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Imagination can change what we hear and see [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Press Office
pressinfo@ki.se
46-852-486-077
Karolinska Institutet

Study sheds new light on a classic question in psychology and neuroscience

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows, that our imagination may affect how we experience the world more than we perhaps think. What we imagine hearing or seeing "in our head" can change our actual perception. The study, which is published in the scientific journal Current Biology, sheds new light on a classic question in psychology and neuroscience about how our brains combine information from the different senses.

"We often think about the things we imagine and the things we perceive as being clearly dissociable," says Christopher Berger, doctoral student at the Department of Neuroscience and lead author of the study. "However, what this study shows is that our imagination of a sound or a shape changes how we perceive the world around us in the same way actually hearing that sound or seeing that shape does. Specifically, we found that what we imagine hearing can change what we actually see, and what we imagine seeing can change what we actually hear."

The study consists of a series of experiments that make use of illusions in which sensory information from one sense changes or distorts one's perception of another sense. Ninety-six healthy volunteers participated in total.

In the first experiment, participants experienced the illusion that two passing objects collided rather than passed by one-another when they imagined a sound at the moment the two objects met. In a second experiment, the participants' spatial perception of a sound was biased towards a location where they imagined seeing the brief appearance of a white circle. In the third experiment, the participants' perception of what a person was saying was changed by their imagination of a particular sound.

According to the scientists, the results of the current study may be useful in understanding the mechanisms by which the brain fails to distinguish between thought and reality in certain psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Another area of use could be research on brain computer interfaces, where paralyzed individuals' imagination is used to control virtual and artificial devices.

"This is the first set of experiments to definitively establish that the sensory signals generated by one's imagination are strong enough to change one's real-world perception of a different sensory modality" says Professor Henrik Ehrsson, the principle investigator behind the study.

###

This study was funded by the European Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and the Sderberg Foundation.

Publication: 'Mental imagery changes multisensory perception', Christopher C. Berger & H. Henrik Ehrsson, Current Biology, online 27 June 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.012. Embargoed until Thursday 27 June 2013 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) US Eastern Time / 18:00 CET / 17:00 UK Time.

More about Henrik Ehrsson's research: http://www.ehrssonlab.se

Contact the Press Office and download images: ki.se/pressroom

Karolinska Institutet a medical university: ki.se/english


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/ki-icc062513.php

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iMore show and ZEN & TECH double double features today! Watch them all here!

iMore show and ZEN & TECH double double features today! Watch them all here!

We're playing a massive amount of post-[WWDC(http://www.imore.com/wwdc-2013), inter-Talk Moble catchup here this week, and to take it to it's most extreme level, we're not only doing both the iMore show and ZEN & TECH today, but we're doing two episodes of each of them! That's four podcasts back-to-sorta-back today! Here are the details!

  • 1pm PDT/4pm EDT/9pm BST: iMore show 353 with Peter Cohen and Daniel Jalkut.
  • 5pm PDT/8pm EDT/1am BST: iMore show 354 with Brain Klug
  • 6:30pm PDT/9:30pm EDT/2:30am BST: ZEN & TECH double feature with Georgia

We'll post the shows a few days apart so no one's feeds get jammed, but if you want to catch them all now, today, live, be here!

Want to go full screen? Head to iMore.com/live. Want to watch via iPhone or iPad? Grab the Ustream app and search for "mobilenations". Want to subscribe to any or all of our shows? Head on over to our podcast page.

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/nfoSxzObS1E/story01.htm

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'Laverne & Shirley' stars reunite on Nick comedy

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The leading ladies of "Laverne & Shirley" are reuniting.

Nickelodeon said Wednesday that Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams will guest star in an episode of its new sitcom "Sam & Cat."

The actresses starred as 1950s and '60s pals and roommates Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, workers in a Milwaukee brewery. The sitcom aired from 1976 to 1983 on ABC.

"Sam & Cat" features Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande as friends who start a baby-sitting business.

Nickelodeon says Marshall and Williams will start filming on Wednesday. They play characters involved in a decades-old feud, tweaking the long-ago rumors of a "Laverne & Shirley" rivalry.

"Sam & Cat" creator Dan Schneider says it was an honor to write for what he called TV's" funniest female roommates" ever.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/laverne-shirley-stars-reunite-nick-comedy-101222356.html

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Inductees to 2013 Internet Hall of Fame revealed, class includes 32 new members

Image

Over the course of the past 12 months, the internet has witnessed negotiations between big-name sites, taken us inside the minds of social media innovators, and even given us a front row seat to what could be the biggest privacy-related story of the decade. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Internet Society decided to debut its Internet Hall of Fame in April of last year, bringing on influential people like Vint Cerf and Al Gore as part of the first set of inductees. Now, it's time for the Class of 2013 to shine, one which ushers in 32 new members who will join the Father of the Internet and former US Vice President in the list of illustrious names "instrumental in the early design and development" of the web.

This year's individuals include the late Aaron Swartz under the Innovators category and more than 30 others spread across the Pioneer Circles and Global Connectors sections. President and CEO of Internet Society, Lynn St. Amour, tells us this is a way to celebrate the accomplishments of these visionaries, adding that she and her organization are always working with the utopian belief of everyone wanting to "participate fully in making the internet a platform that will continue to encourage innovation, communication, commerce, and social interaction for the benefit of people all around the world." The 2013 Hall of Fame ceremony's due to take place August 3rd in Berlin, Germany, but since we have the inductee list in the PR after the break, that means you won't have to wait until then to find out who made it in.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/26/internet-hall-of-fame-2013/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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3 Europeans freed after Tunisia topless protest

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) ? Three European feminist activists who were jailed after a topless courthouse protest in Tunisia last month were freed overnight after a court lifted their prison sentence. They left Tunisia on Thursday morning and hours later arrived in France.

The two French women and a German member of the Ukrainian group Femen maintained during the trial that there was nothing sexual or offensive about their protest and that it was only to support their imprisoned Tunisian colleague. All three apologized Wednesday during their appeals hearing.

The prosecutor didn't object to the court's decision.

The three women had been convicted and sentenced to four months and a day of prison for public indecency, offending public morals and threatening public order after they demonstrated topless in front of the court building on May 29 on behalf of Amina Sboui.

The protest was the first of its kind in the Middle East for Femen, which has used nudity to push for greater rights for women across Europe.

"I didn't think it was going to shock Tunisians to that extent. Given the consequences, I would never do it again. We want to return to our country and our loved ones," Frenchwoman Pauline Hillier said at Wednesday's hearing.

Still, they held up clenched fists on their arrival at Paris' Orly airport in a sign of determination, if not victory. They refused to speak to the gaggle of TV crews and reporters present. But Femen colleague Sarah Constantin, present for their arrival, said that "we will continue the combat" until Sboui, the jailed Tunisian protester, is freed.

"Tomorrow we start again," Constantin said. She did not elaborate.

Ivan Terel, a French lawyer for the women, said earlier that their message was misunderstood and they were fighting "for the rights of women wherever they are threatened."

On the opening day of the trial on June 5, three other Femen activists were discovered by authorities and deported on suspicions they planned another protest.

Tunisians overthrew their secular dictator in 2011, kicking off uprisings across the region. In the ensuing years, however, there has been a rise in conservative Islamist movements at odds with the country's longstanding image as secular and progressive ? especially in regard to women's rights.

The Femen activists were calling for the release of Sboui, a Tunisian member of Femen who scandalized the country in March by posting topless photos of herself as a protest. She later attempted another protest May 19 in the religious center of Kairouan, where she was arrested.

Sboui has already been fined for carrying pepper spray.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-europeans-freed-tunisia-topless-protest-081332645.html

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Inductees to 2013 Internet Hall of Fame revealed, class includes 32 new members

Image

Over the course of the past 12 months, the internet has witnessed negotiations between big-name sites, taken us inside the minds of social media innovators, and even given us a front row seat to what could be the biggest privacy-related story of the decade. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Internet Society decided to debut its Internet Hall of Fame in April of last year, bringing on influential people like Vint Cerf and Al Gore as part of the first set of inductees. Now, it's time for the Class of 2013 to shine, one which ushers in 32 new members who will join the Father of the Internet and former US Vice President in the list of illustrious names "instrumental in the early design and development" of the web.

This year's individuals include the late Aaron Swartz under the Innovators category and more than 30 others spread across the Pioneer Circles and Global Connectors sections. President and CEO of Internet Society, Lynn St. Amour, tells us this is a way to celebrate the accomplishments of these visionaries, adding that she and her organization are always working with the utopian belief of everyone wanting to "participate fully in making the internet a platform that will continue to encourage innovation, communication, commerce, and social interaction for the benefit of people all around the world." The 2013 Hall of Fame ceremony's due to take place August 3rd in Berlin, Germany, but since we have the inductee list in the PR after the break, that means you won't have to wait until then to find out who made it in.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/LFz1TG1UHGQ/

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UN accuses Congo rebels of murdering civilians

GOMA, Congo (AP) ? The United Nations says the M23 rebels in Congo have been conducting regular search operations in which civilians have been murdered.

U.N. mission spokesman Col. Felix Basse said Wednesday that the M23 has mounted regular operations involving arbitrary arrests, murders and harassment of civilians. He said that at least 26 farmers had been executed between June 16 and 19 in the localities of Busanza and Jomba. The statement is among the strongest that has been made by the U.N. against the rebels.

M23 spokesman Kabashi Amani dismissed the accusations as lies.

The M23 rebels reignited Congo's dormant war in the east last fall, overrunning the strategically important city of Goma. Peace talks with the government have started and stopped numerous times since their withdrawal from the city limits last November.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-accuses-congo-rebels-murdering-civilians-143519002.html

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Ryan: Snowden episode tests diplomatic relations (The Arizona Republic)

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U.S. justices to hear presidential appointments case (reuters)

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In Taiwan, activist Chen urges democracy for China

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) ? An activist who fled house arrest in China before moving to America last year got his first taste of Taiwan's democracy Tuesday when raucous lawmakers occupied the legislative floor while he delivered a speech in an adjacent room.

Chen Guangcheng said he considers the commotion often taking place on Taiwan's legislative floor a normal part of democracy. On Tuesday, minority opposition lawmakers were occupying the floor to prevent the ruling party from revoking Taiwan's capital gains tax.

Chen said it's better to have bickering lawmakers shoving and pushing each other than to have "someone driving a tank to storm the streets," a reference to China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy students on Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Chen, a self-taught lawyer who has been blind since birth, arrived in Taiwan Sunday for a two-week visit.

The activist, who had angered local Chinese officials by documenting complaints about forced abortions, escaped house arrest in his rural town in eastern China's Shandong province in April 2012 and sparked a diplomatic crisis when he fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Chinese officials later let him move to the U.S. with his wife and children. He spent the last year as a special student at New York University.

Chen caused a controversy last week when he said the university caved to pressure from China's Communist Party and asked him to leave. The university denied that, saying it had agreed to give Chen a one-year fellowship to assist his departure from China, and that he was leaving because the year was over.

In Taiwan, Chen has evaded questions about his criticism of NYU. NYU professor Jerome Cohen, who had arranged the fellowship and is accompanying Chen in Taiwan, said Tuesday that he was unaware of any Chinese influence.

"I'll never know," he said. "I've seen no evidence of China putting pressure on NYU. All the evidence I've seen goes the other way, that NYU has been supportive of Chen to the fullest extent."

Accompanying Chen on the trip, Cohen said the two had agreed to put the dispute behind for now so it would not overshadow the activist's events in Taiwan.

But Cohen noted the Chinese "were unhappy" about Chen's visit to Taiwan. "They blamed me as the black hand behind" for arranging the visit, he said, without elaborating.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou does not plan to meet Chen.

Ma's spokesman did not give a reason, but Ma has been working to improve ties with Beijing. Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but relations have improved in recent years.

On Tuesday, Chen said China should practice democracy like Taiwan has for almost three decades and toss its authoritarian system into "history's trash bin."

"The very fact that Taiwan has a democracy system with rule of law had disproved China's lie that democracy shall not fit the Chinese," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-activist-chen-urges-democracy-china-070503560.html

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Surprise species at risk from climate change

June 24, 2013 ? Most species at greatest risk from climate change are not currently conservation priorities, according to an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) study that has introduced a pioneering method to assess the vulnerability of species to climate change.

The paper, published in the journal PLOS ONE, is one of the biggest studies of its kind, assessing all of the world's birds, amphibians and corals. It draws on the work of more than 100 scientists over a period of five years, including Wits PhD student and leader of the study, Wendy Foden.

Up to 83% of birds, 66% of amphibians and 70% of corals that were identified as highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are not currently considered threatened with extinction on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are therefore unlikely to be receiving focused conservation attention, according to the study.

"The findings revealed some alarming surprises," says Foden, who conducted the study while formerly working for the IUCN Global Species' Programme's Climate Change Unit, which she founded six years ago. "We hadn't expected that so many species and areas that were not previously considered to be of concern would emerge as highly vulnerable to climate change. Clearly, if we simply carry on with conservation as usual, without taking climate change into account, we'll fail to help many of the species and areas that need it most."

The study's novel approach looks at the unique biological and ecological characteristics that make species more or less sensitive or adaptable to climate change. Conventional methods have focussed largely on measuring the amount of change to which species are likely to be exposed.

The new approach has already been applied to the species-rich Albertine Rift region of Central and East Africa, identifying those plants and animals that are important for human use and are most likely to decline due to climate change. These include 33 plants that are used as fuel, construction materials, food and medicine, 19 species of freshwater fish that are an important source of food and income and 24 mammals used primarily as a source of food.

"The study has shown that people in the region rely heavily on wild species for their livelihoods, and that this will undoubtedly be disrupted by climate change," says Jamie Carr of IUCN Global Species Programme and lead author of the Albertine Rift study. "This is particularly important for the poorest and most marginalised communities who rely most directly on wild species to meet their basic needs."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/oMktLx5kFuc/130624075848.htm

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As banks eye Iraq, Citi plans office in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Citigroup Inc. is set to become the first American bank to open an office of its own in Baghdad, highlighting financial firms' growing interest in Iraq a decade after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.

Executives say the representative office Citi has received preliminary approval for will help support its corporate customers in Iraq and act as a liaison for companies looking to do business there.

British bank Standard Chartered is also making a push in Iraq with plans to open branches in three cities.

"Essentially what we are doing is following our clients," said Mayank Malik, Citi's chief executive for Jordan and Iraq, ahead of an official announcement Monday. "We see this as a giant waking up. ... The time to enter is now. It's not when everything has been done."

Iraq has struggled to attract interest from Western companies outside of the oil sector in the 10 years since U.S.-led forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Security and political instability remain major concerns, and corruption within the top-heavy statist economy is deeply entrenched.

Even so, foreign banks see opportunities as Iraq's economy opens up on the back of an oil boom.

The World Bank expects Iraq's economy to grow by 9 percent this year, compared with just over 2 percent for the global economy as a whole. Last year Iraq became the second-largest oil producer in OPEC, and now churns out more than 3 million barrels of crude a day.

Iraq's financial system is dominated by state-owned banks, though lenders from nearby countries including Iran and Lebanon have opened branches since the war. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, one of the largest banks in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, opened its first outpost in Baghdad last year.

Iraq is slowly showing signs of economic development, with new hotels, restaurants and car dealerships popping up. But it remains a challenging place to do business.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in bombings and other violent attacks since the start of April in the worst outburst of violence in five years. And the country is politically volatile. Iraq's long-serving central bank governor was abruptly removed from his post in October following a probe into alleged financial wrongdoing.

Citi's Iraq country head, Dennis Flannery, who was previously the U.S. Treasury Department's representative at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, described Iraq's unpredictability and instability as "part of the landscape" of the country.

"The economic engine is still humming along. We haven't seen any reason to alter our strategy," he said.

At a cafe inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, Citi's Malik and Flannery described the new office as the start of a broader relationship with Iraq that could lead to bank branches down the road. The office itself will start out small and will be located outside the confines of the Green Zone, a sprawling complex of government buildings and embassies sealed off from the rest of the city by blast walls and heavily armed soldiers backed by tanks.

"There'll be next steps," Flannery said. "It's important to collect information, to learn better what the market is all about, to learn the good parts, the bad parts, everything. ... And that will enable us to take that next step to full-scale banking in a better informed way."

The bank says the Baghdad outpost may be followed by additional representative offices in the southern oil hub of Basra and the Kurdish regional capital Irbil in the north of the country.

Citi already counts as clients many of the large international oil companies that have been brought in to develop Iraq's vast oil reserves, he said.

The bank is also advising Kuwaiti telecommunications provider Zain as it gets ready to list shares of its Iraqi operations on the Iraq Stock Exchange. Another Iraqi telecom, Asiacell, raised nearly $1.3 billion when it floated shares on the small stock exchange in February. It was one of the Middle East's biggest stock offerings in years.

Britain's Standard Chartered, meanwhile, is working on plans to open bank branches in Baghdad, Basra and Irbil. Its reasons are similar to Citi's.

"We need to be on the ground to support our global network clients in industries such as power, oil, telecoms and construction," spokesman Piers Townsend said.

Saleh Mahoud Salman, the director of administration at the Central Bank of Iraq, was unable to say when the companies' operating licenses would be issued. He welcomed the banks' interest in Iraq, saying they could help "develop the economy and push the banking sector forward."

Even as Citi and Standard Chartered push into Iraq under their own brands, British banking giant HSBC is considering an exit of its 70 percent stake in Iraq's Dar es Salaam Investment Bank as part of a wider review of its global operations.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/banks-eye-iraq-citi-plans-office-baghdad-063554163.html

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Idolian Mini Studio


Like most Apple copycats, the Idolian Mini Studio ($178 direct) looks the part, but is a far cry from the iPad mini?it shamelessly apes. It's more of a scaled down Studio 10, with essentially the same internal components and software, but a smaller and lower-resolution display. If you're on a strict budget, the Mini Studio will net you basic tablet functions on the cheap, but spending just a bit more can get you a vastly superior Google Nexus 7?or Amazon Kindle Fire HD. And if you want to go even lower, the Coby MID8065?offers similar performance and features for less.

Design and Features
The Mini Studio is a tweener, with its 8-inch screen and 4:3 aspect ratio?clearly aimed to mimic the iPad mini. At 8.2 by 6.4 by 0.39 inches (HWD) and 14.8 ounces, it's relatively thin and light, but still doesn't come close to matching the fit or finish of the iPad. It feels more solidly built than the MID8065?and is a bit lighter to boot.?The aluminum back is sturdy, but the edges can feel sharp and dig into your palms over time.

A plastic panel along the left edge houses a microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB and mini HDMI ports, and a DC power input. Like the Studio 10, the Mini Studio syncs via micro USB, but requires the included power brick to charge. The micro USB port also supports USB OTG, and Idolian includes an adapter for plugging in peripherals like USB mice and keyboards?both of which worked fine in my tests. It's a generous selection of ports compared with the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD.?

The 8-inch, 1,024-by-768 IPS display is sharp, but it's a bit too dim and colors appear too cool. Whites have a distinct blue hue to them and outdoor visibility is pretty bad. The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD have sharper and brighter displays, while the iPad mini easily trounces the Mini Studio. It's about on par with the display on the MID8065.

This is a Wi-Fi-only tablet that connects to 802.11b/g/n networks on the 2.4GHz frequency. During testing, the Mini Studio had some trouble reconnecting to Wi-Fi networks when woken from sleep?there were noticeable delays even though saved networks were within range. The tablet also supports Bluetooth 2.1 and connected easily with a pair of wireless headphones.

Performance and Android
The Mini Studio is packing pretty much identical specs to its larger sibling?a dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex-A9 processor with 1GB RAM. Performance is generally swift, and the Studio 10 did well on most of our benchmarks?besting the MID8065 in many categories. Gaming performance is decent, with games like Temple Run 2 running without a hitch, but don't expect high framerates on more graphically intensive games like Real Racing 3.

The software loaded onto the Mini Studio is a mixed bag. It's running Android 4.1.1 "Jelly Bean," which is a step up from the MID8065's 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," but buggy Google apps hold this tablet back. Google apps like the Play Store, Gmail, and Chrome are disabled by default?you have to dig into the settings, find Developer options, then uncheck "Hide Google Application." Idolian says it is still working out the kinks with its Google certification, but promised future firmware updates to resolve any bugs. As it stands, the Mini Studio can access the Play Store and its hundreds of thousands of apps, but I found frustrating deficiencies, like the fact that Chrome did not work during testing.

For media support, the Studio 10 handles Xvid, DivX, MPEG4, H.264, and AVI videos at up to 1080p resolution. For audio, you get MP3, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, and WMA support. Screen mirroring worked fine using a mini HDMI cable, and the tablet was able to output video at 720p or 1080p resolution. If you absolutely need a camera on your tablet, there are front- and rear-facing 2-megapixel cameras, but they are not worth using?details are smudged, image noise is overwhelming, and dynamic range is non-existent.

In our battery rundown test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to max and Wi-Fi on, the Mini Studio lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes. Compare that with the MID8065's 3 hours, 11 minutes and the Nexus 7's 10 hours, 30 minutes in the same test?it's decent, but not great.

Conclusions
When it comes to small-screen tablets, you have a lot of great options, even in the budget-conscious realm. While the Idolian Mini Studio looks and feels like a premium tablet, it's lacking the software refinement that makes tablets like the Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire HD stand out. On top of that, there are a few clear compromises in terms of display quality and software polish. If you simply want the least expensive and functional tablet, the Amazon Kindle Fire (2012)?is still a good choice too. I'd recommend any of these tablets over the Mini Studio, and if you really need the microSD card slot and HDMI out, the MID8065 is a better value.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/8zPWrjOrtiw/0,2817,2420702,00.asp

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Replay of the Platform-Building Teleseminar with Jeff Goins ...

Last Thursday night, I hosted a teleseminar with Jeff Goins. If you don?t know, Jeff is a full-time author, blogger, and speaker.

Jeff Goins at the Platform Conference

We had some technical challenges in the call when we were both suddenly dropped by Skype?twice!?but we kept forging ahead. Regardless, Jeff shared some powerful content for anyone who is serious about building an online platform.

Click to Listen

Specifically, Jeff explained how he:

  • Attracted an audience of over 100,000 monthly readers,
  • Built one of the most popular writing blogs on the web, and
  • Became a professional author and speaker in less than two years.

He also shared:

  • The five types of platforms and which one is right for you
  • The little-known techniques you can use to connect with anyone
  • The secret weapon most A-list bloggers used to build their platforms
  • How to get a book deal without worrying about rejection
  • Why you should self-publish NOW

Finally, we talked about Jeff?s Tribe Writers course. More than one thousand people have already gone through this practical eight-week resource.

Tribe Writers teaches you how to build a community and get the attention your writing deserves. He also offered an exclusive $50 discount for my readers. (This offer expires at 5:00 p.m. CST on June 28, 2013.) You can click here to learn more.

Source: http://michaelhyatt.com/jeff-goins-teleseminar-replay.html

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  • Joseph Wilson

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  • Albert Tejeda

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  • Ian Stuart Wood

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  • Melissa Barbara Minarsich

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  • Wilnelia Caraballo

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  • Daphne Melin

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  • Francisco Rojas

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  • Kandice J. Child

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  • 'Vampire' Josephine Smith

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  • Julio Socarras Mompeller

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  • Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/22/police-plan-to-boost-patr_n_3483057.html

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