Top Search Engine PPC Platforms - Online Media Magic

The most popular search engine PPC program is Google AdWords which reaches over 10 billion web pages and 100 different language versions. The benefits of using Google are its inexpensive start-up cost ($5 dollars) and the amount of traffic you will get, which is far more than that of any of the other search engines. Google also provides you with its Google Analytics program, which helps you with what keywords you should be targeting in your PPC ads, a website optimizer, which allows you to test different variations of your web pages to see which convert better, and step-by-step tutorials that take you through the whole process of setting up a Google Adwords campaign. Most experts agree that it is a good idea to start out with Google Adwords, because of the low start-up fee and the heavy traffic. Although it is expensive for competitive terms, you can still get away with not bidding too much on the less competitive longer-tailed keywords. According to thesearchguru blog, on the Internet, organic search drives 75%+ of all search traffic and papy per click receives less than 25% of all search traffic; yet pay per click earns 80%+ of search engine marketing campaign budgets.

The Yahoo Search Marketing search engine PPC platform was first named as GoTo, then changed to Overture, and finally ended up as what we know it today: Yahoo Search Marketing. Yahoo charges a $30 start-up fee, but then offers you $25 of free ads. Yahoo focuses on sponsored Search and reaches over 80% of active Internet users. You can also reach your market through online publishers, newsletters and emails. Instead of your ad appearing only in search rankings, it will also show up next to content like articles and product reviews that are related to your business. You can also reach a local audience by targeting ads specifically for your geographical area. Yahoo also offers certain upgrades like the Search Optimizer, which can automatically manage your keyword bids, and the Marketing Console, which tracks how effective your online campaigns are. Each of these are available for a monthly fee. Free tools include: the Keyword Selector Tool and the View Bids Tool, as well as a PPC ROI calculator and CPM ROI Calculator.

Microsoft adCenter (Bing) is relatively new in the big names of search engine PPC. Yet, it is very popular since it offers a large range of features: costs only $5 to sign up,targeted towards a buying market where the competition is not as high as Google and Yahoo, and so the amount you pay per click is lower. You can take advantage of the keyword research tool, which gives you the past month?s searches for your keyword, other relevant keywords, and the present month?s traffic for those keywords. The tool also shows trends for each keyword.

It is generally recommended that, if you are new to PPC, you start with just one search engine (preferably Google Adwords), learn how that works, and then move on to others if you feel that it might be worth a try. In recent studies done by payperclickuniverse, there are over 500 PPC search engines operating at this time, (Google Adwords, Microsoft Adcenter, and Yahoo) are the most popular that produce over 85% of all the Pay Per Click searches.

Search Engine Optimization Services

Source: http://www.onlinemediamagic.com/blog/1976/top-search-engine-ppc-platforms/

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Congo rebels retreat to Sake

GOMA, Congo (AP) ? A rebel spokesman in Congo says his fighters have pulled back several miles (kilometers) to the town of Sake and are on track to leave the eastern city of Goma on Friday, in accordance with a deadline imposed by the nations neighboring Congo.

Sake is 27 kilometers (18 miles) outside of Goma, and was taken last week by the M23 rebels right after the fall of Goma. The capture of Goma along the Rwandan border in mineral-rich east Congo was one of the most humiliating defeats for the enormous but inept Congolese military.

Rebel spokesman Lt. Col. Vianney Kazarama told The Associated Press on Thursday: "We are withdrawing. Tomorrow we will (retreat to) Goma," on track to leave the city as asked. Rebels patrolled streets of Goma Thursday morning.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-rebels-retreat-sake-113115973.html

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Menard to fly Wis. workers in to staff ND store

Larry Boutilier, hardware manager, who has been with the Minot, N.D. Menards since 1996, looks over paperwork at the storey in Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. The home improvement retailer says it will hire workers from its home base in Wisconsin and fly them to North Dakota to staff a store in Minot, which is near the state's booming oil patch and has more jobs than takers. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Jesse D. Watson)

Larry Boutilier, hardware manager, who has been with the Minot, N.D. Menards since 1996, looks over paperwork at the storey in Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. The home improvement retailer says it will hire workers from its home base in Wisconsin and fly them to North Dakota to staff a store in Minot, which is near the state's booming oil patch and has more jobs than takers. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Jesse D. Watson)

Cabinet and appliance manager Brent Fisher, left, who has been with Menards in Minot since 1996, and general manager Phil Graer, right, talk about the advantages of living in the area, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. Menard Inc. says it will hire workers from its home base in Wisconsin and fly them to North Dakota to staff the store in Minot, which is near the state's booming oil patch and has more jobs than takers. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Jesse D. Watson)

Esther Bull, who previously worked at the Richfield, Minn. Menards store, works at the company's Minot, N.D. location Thurdsay, Nov. 29, 2012. The home improvement retailer says it will hire workers from its home base in Wisconsin and fly them to North Dakota to staff a store in Minot, which is near the state's booming oil patch and has more jobs than takers. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Jesse D. Watson)

Juan Vadell, also known as JP, works in the building materials section at the Menards in Minot, N.D. Thurdsay, Nov. 29, 2012. The home improvement retailer says it will hire workers from its home base in Wisconsin and fly them to North Dakota to staff a store in Minot, which is near the state's booming oil patch and has more jobs than takers. (AP Photo/The Minot Daily News, Jesse D. Watson)

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) ? Home improvement retailer Menard Inc. says it will hire workers from its home base in Wisconsin and fly them to North Dakota to staff a store in Minot, which is near the state's booming oil patch and has more jobs than takers.

The company said in a statement that it plans to hire 50 workers in Eau Claire, Wis., where it has its headquarters, and fly them weekly to Minot, which is also in the middle of an unprecedented building boom as it recovers from record flooding last year.

Menard, which has more than 200 stores in the Upper Midwest, said this would be the first time it has flown employees to work weeklong stints, housing them in hotels, but that it "is going to be a permanent solution for as far as we can see."

Minot is North Dakota's fourth-largest city and had been growing rapidly even before the flooding that swamped some 4,100 homes and displaced thousands of residents. Its population grew from 36,500 in 2000 to about 41,000 in 2010, U.S. Census data show. City officials say the present population is nearing 50,000.

That means there's strong demand for building materials. Minot store manager Phil Graef said business is the busiest in the five years he's headed the store, the only big-box building supply retailer in town.

"We were starting to stay even with the oil boom, and then the flood happened," Graef said. "Now, we're trying to get ahead of both of those."

Finding workers to keep up has been tough, he said.

"Everybody has a 'now-hiring' sign in their window," Graef said.

Businesses struggle to attract workers throughout North Dakota, which has some 22,000 more jobs than takers and the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at 2.4 percent, Job Service North Dakota data show. The unemployment rate in Minot is 2.3 percent.

"It's going fast and furious here," Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman said. "As it is, there is not a big enough labor force around here, and as it gets colder there is less of one."

The unemployment rate in Eau Claire is 6.3 percent, lower than the national rate of 7.9 percent in October. Mike Schatz, the city's economic development director, said its economy is strong and that there are job opportunities in the town of about 65,000.

"It's not like people can't find work here ? there are plenty of expansions going on," Schatz said.

But Menard spokesman Jeff Abbott said there was good interest when the company held a job fair in Eau Claire earlier this month to hire workers for its Minot store. Menard intends to train the workers at Wisconsin stores and send them to Minot "as soon as possible," he said.

Menard has offered a starting wage of $13 an hour at the Minot store, well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which prevails in Wisconsin. It's also the minimum wage in North Dakota, but most jobs there pay more. A listing for a pizza delivery driver in Minot was advertised Thursday at $15 to $20 per hour, plus a $250 signing bonus.

Competition for the Menard jobs has been tough in Wisconsin.

Pam Weaver, of Eau Claire, said her husband, Gary, had his heart set on one of the positions with Menard in Minot but was told Thursday that he wouldn't be hired. No reason was given, she said.

"It's frustrating," Pam Weaver said. "He seemed disappointed."

Gary Weaver, who was laid off from his job as a telemarketer several weeks ago, was back at the unemployment office Thursday filling out job applications, said his wife, a 55-year-old claims auditor for a health insurance company.

"Who would have thought that we'd be in our 50s and struggling?" Pam Weaver said. "We're not the only ones. We've had three different friends who have lost businesses in town in the last five years."

Zimbelman, the Minot mayor, and Menards store manager Graef said they hope some Wisconsin workers eventually decide to make Minot their permanent home instead of commuting more than 500 miles by air to get there.

But Eau Claire's Schatz has another idea.

"We would hope just the opposite," Schatz said. "We want them to bring that North Dakota money back to Eau Claire."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-30-Jetting%20Workers/id-f0aa4610b6b0438fba69a347a6238410

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Green Blog: Research Animals Lost in Wolf Hunts Near Yellowstone

The bullet that killed one of Yellowstone National Park?s most popular wolves was felt halfway around the world by Gwen Deniel, of Brittany, France. She cried when she learned that the animal, which wore a research collar, was shot by a hunter in Wyoming?s Shoshone National Forest, a few miles outside the park boundary.

The deaths of celebrity wolves like the one designated No. 754 and others collared for research purposes are the latest flash point in a nearly two-decade standoff.

It pits biologists and animal lovers like Ms. Deniel, who spends her vacation days and dollars visiting Yellowstone to see the reintroduced wolf packs of the Northern Rockies, against local ranchers and hunters who see the predators as natural enemies that menace and kill either their livestock or the trophy game they hunt.

Even as some people try to bridge the difference, each new round of wolf hunts revives the old tensions.

This fall, the first wolf hunts in decades were authorized in Wyoming. While ranchers and hunters say the harvests are a way to protect their livelihoods, wildlife advocates like Ms. Deniel are concerned that the hunts are having detrimental effects on both a thriving tourist industry and scientific studies that cost tens of thousands of dollars and provide data on wolf behavior and biology that is useful to all sides in the debate.

And, as with many wildlife issues, emotions come into play. ?He was so beautiful, so loyal,? said Ms. Deniel, who has spent about $4,000 each of the last three summers traveling to northeast Yellowstone?s sweeping Lamar Valley to admire No. 754, a highly visible wolf with tawny eyes and a grizzled, jet coat. Her attitude is widely shared, but also widely disparaged by those who live and work in what is now wolf country.

But for Yellowstone scientists, the loss of the collared wolves isn?t so much a political or an emotional issue, as an issue of the viability of wildlife science.

They are particularly frustrated at the elimination of five wolves outfitted with tracking collars that had spent the majority of their time inside the park border, as well as two others that roamed had through the park though spent much of their time outside.

?Does it hurt our research? Yes, very much so,? said Douglas W. Smith, senior wildlife biologist for Yellowstone. ?It?s a huge blow logistically and scientifically.?

Dr. Smith recently hired three new researchers to study one pack that could be tracked by a collared wolf. Then that wolf was shot.

?I probably wouldn?t have done the hiring if I had known that wolf wasn?t going to be there,? he said.

While killing collared wolves is legal, Ron Aasheim, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said that if a hunter can see that an animal has a collar, and if there is an option to take another, ?we would encourage them to shoot the non-collared animal.?

John Hurley, a representative for Wyoming Game & Fish, said that with regard to hunters killing collared wolves, ?we would prefer they didn?t, because that?s how we keep track of them.?

Of the nine or 10 wolves killed by hunters this year that spent some or most of their time inside Yellowstone Park, seven wore collars, compared with fewer than three in 10 wolves that wear collars in the general park population, biologists say. Also, of 11 wolves in the newly formed Junction Butte pack, only the collared wolf was shot.

While collared wolves roam throughout the Rockies, Kim Beam, a member of the Montana-based wildlife advocacy group Wolves of the Rockies, says that around Yellowstone she is ?frightened that collared wolves are being targeted.?

Inga Cabral, co-owner of Russell Pond Outfitters, which leads wolf hunts in the Idaho Panhandle northwest of Yellowstone, said thus far her organization has opted not to shoot any collared animals, but added, ?I wouldn?t fault anyone for doing what?s legal.?

Other hunters call for culling wolves at any opportunity.

?I think it?s necessary that we be able to hunt any wolf whether it?s collared or not,? said Keith Kubista, president of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, a group that is as fervently in favor of hunting wolves as Ms. Deniel is against it.

David Hallac, chief of the Yellowstone Center for Resources, quantified the loss as ?not just the cost of the collar, but the cost of getting the collar on the animal,? which includes biologists? time, plus a helicopter and crew. Two of the dead wolves? collars had GPS technology; they cost $4,000 each.

Those two collars, plus three others, were returned. Two collars, including the one worn by wolf 754, have not yet been returned, officials said. Ray Mora, 71, of Dunedin, Fla., who has donated more than $10,000 in the last few years to help wolf biologists purchase research collars, calls the killings ?like going back to square one.?

Biologists say that in Yellowstone, where wolves were extirpated in the early 1900s and then reintroduced in 1995, there are 88 left, part of an overall Northern Rockies wolf population estimated earlier this year at 1,774, including 748 in Idaho, 653 in Montana, 328 in Wyoming, plus a few in Washington and Oregon.

Wolf harvests were litigated for years until Congress, under pressure from hunters and ranchers who felt that environmental lobbyists disregarded data saying that wolf populations were sufficiently robust, removed the animal from the Endangered Species List in 2011. Montana and Idaho manage wolf quotas by region, but in most of Wyoming wolves are classified as predators that can be shot on sight. Several environmental groups are suing to change that law.

?Some of the things that we?re seeing is maybe an outlet of some frustration from some folks who feel like wolf management should?ve started sooner,? said Ryan Benson, founder of Big Game Forever, a Utah-based organization that lobbied for wolves to be removed from the Endangered Species List.

Four of the collared wolves were shot in Montana, two in Idaho and one in Wyoming. Some conservationists are still worried that wolf numbers in the Northern Rockies remain too small to provide enough genetic exchange to ensure the species? long-term survival.

While there is widespread support for exterminating any wolf that kills a domestic animal, which Jim Macgagna, the executive vice president of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association said can cost a rancher anywhere from $800 to $1,500, hunters and other wildlife advocates have clashed over shooting wolves to raise populations of big game like moose, bighorn sheep and, especially, elk.

Environmental groups like the Greater Yellowstone Coalition are calling on states to more tightly regulate a buffer zone around the park to reduce the number of study wolves that are killed.

?Those collared wolves provide vital information, particularly with regard to elk,? said Chris Colligan, a wildlife advocate for the coalition. The collars, he said, provide key data helping explain why certain elk herds have been depleted by wolves while others have not ? an issue of great concern to both hunters and biologists.

Adding to the tumult is the fact that several of the dead wolves came from Yellowstone?s most popular packs, including one that roams the Lamar Valley, a frequent destination for tour guides and wildlife photographers.

Nathan Varley, co-owner of Yellowstone Wolf Tracker tours in Gardiner, Mont., has taken scores of hopeful wolf-watchers to see the Lamar Canyon pack, and says that the majority of his company?s $500,000 gross income comes from tourists like these.

?I estimate that a half-million people saw 754,? he said. ?It was one of the million dollar wolves that was taken out of the population.?

While Yellowstone park officials can?t say exactly how many visitors saw wolf 754, most of the animal?s life played out in front of binoculars and telescopic lenses inside a park visited by more than 3 million people annually. Doug McLaughlin, 65, a lodge manager in Silver Gate, Mont., watched 754 mature from a clumsy yearling into a regal sentinel with a sonorous howl who scoured the valley floor to rescue lost pups.

Mr. McLaughlin received a call from a friend in Wyoming?s Sunlight Basin early one mid-November morning saying that 754?s tracking collar was emitting a mortality signal.

?There were a lot of tears,? he said.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/research-animals-lost-in-wolf-hunts-near-yellowstone/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Confirmed: Google Acquires Incentive Targeting To Power Super Targeted, Personalized Coupon Programs

Google has just acquired coupon targeting company Incentive Targeting. The acquisition was confirmed in a tweet from Mike Dudas, who is on the team building Google's mobile commerce business. Google confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch.

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

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Relative length of adults' fingers indicator of verbal aggression: Prenatal exposure to testosterone linked

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? A new study in the Journal of Communication links verbal aggression to prenatal testosterone exposure. The lead researcher, at University at Buffalo -- The State University of New York, used the 2D:4D measure to predict verbal aggression. This study is the first to use this method to examine prenatal testosterone exposure as a determinant of a communication trait.

Allison Z. Shaw, University at Buffalo -- The State University of New York, Michael R. Kotowski, University of Tennessee, and Franklin J. Boster and Timothy R. Levine, Michigan State University, predicted that a neuroendocrine factor, prenatal testosterone, would lead to more verbal aggression. In order to investigate this, Shaw and colleagues used the 2D:4D measure, which is the ratio of the length of the second digit (index finger) to the length of the fourth digit (ring finger), to measure prenatal testosterone exposure. This method involved measuring each finger from where it meets the palm of the hand to the tip. In addition, each hand was photocopied individually with the palm flat, facing downward, with the fingers splayed naturally, and the same measures were made from the photocopy. Subjects then filled out the Verbal Aggression scale as well as the HEXACO Personality Inventory and the Argumentativeness scale.

The findings suggested that both men and women with smaller 2D:4D ratios self-reported themselves to be more verbally aggressive. Although a small degree of verbal aggression may be beneficial for a person (e.g., being able to stand up for yourself if attacked), higher degrees of verbal aggression have been shown to be detrimental to one's personal life (e.g., problems maintaining close personal relationships, loss of job).

"Understanding the causes of verbal aggression, both biological and social, will allow therapists to have a greater understanding of how to work with individuals who may be more prone to use verbal aggression. What the findings of the current study suggest is that verbal aggression may result from a number of cognitive and affective decisions that are made throughout an interaction," Shaw said.

"This research is the future of communication science where studies examine biological bases of behavior to understand and predict fundamental human communication processes, such as verbal aggressiveness." Said Thomas Feeley, professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University at Buffalo -- The State University of New York. "With multiple observations of a given relationship, there is greater external validity and confidence in the study findings."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Communication Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal Reference:

1. Allison Z. Shaw, Michael R. Kotowski, Franklin J. Boster, Timothy R. Levine. The Effect of Prenatal Sex Hormones on the Development of Verbal Aggression. Journal of Communication, 2012; 62 (5): 778 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01665.x

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/top_health/~3/cfcaB3KIg64/121129093703.htm

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Outsourcing Industry Jobs in Bulgaria to Treble by 2017

The number of people working in the outsourcing industry in Bulgaria will treble by 2017, according to members of the newly established Bulgarian Outsourcing Association.

The outsourcing sector currently employs about 12?000 to 15?000 people and international experts expect that Bulgaria will return to the top 10 of the most attractive outsourcing destinations in the world, as it was in 2006 ? 2007.

In a Tuesday briefing of the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association, Stefan Bumov, Chair of the entity, made clear that Bulgaria was the top destination for outsourcing services in Central and Eastern Europe, ranking 17th on a global scale.

?It is particularly interesting that the industry generates a double-digit growth amid crisis, with Bulgaria registering a 12% uptick,? he explained.

?However, only 12% of the students who graduate in Bulgaria every year can work in the outsourcing industry, compared to 27% in Poland,? Bumov pointed out.

Stressing that the outsourcing industry was mostly concentrated in Sofia, he explained that the newly established Association aimed to persuade companies to opt for other Bulgarian cities with sufficient highly qualified workers.

Borislav Stefanov, CEO of the InvestBulgaria Agency, also participated in the meeting on Tuesday.

He spoke about the new legal provisions concerning foreign investments and ?the most important indicator measuring results in the sector ? quality jobs.?

Source

Source: http://news.business-news-blog.eu/outsourcing-industry-jobs-in-bulgaria-to-treble-by-2017/

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Self Improvement | Daily positive affirmations for law of attraction

Posted On: Tue, November 27th, 2012 | Comments: 0 | Views 7 | Word Count: 562

How affirmation can be defined??

Thinking positively is the road towards the fundamentals of personal growth. The way you think and the word you speak are the revelations of your affirmations. So your affirmation can be either of ?negative? or of ?positive? denominations. As we keep ourselves busy with our inner dialogue; we keep on shuffling between negativities and positivites. Any one will try to focus on the positivites and keep the negativities at bay. In our daily chores, whatever our inner truth or inner beliefs prompt us; we reveal it through our affirmations.

Our affirmations are our beliefs.

Whatever we think as true, they turn to be our beliefs. That means we are the creators of our own truths. We learn about the truths since our childhood. The truths are been programmed in our sub-conscious mind by our parents, elder siblings, teachers, family members and friends during the early ages of our life. All our thought patterns are not going to serve us during our daily chores, so naturally the affirmations goaded by negativity are replaced by the positivities. As a normal function, our subconscious mind soaks all the beliefs and basing on these beliefs creates a world around us. Our subconscious mind, being powerful, hardly sieves true or false from among their mixes and so incidentally creates the affirmation whatever it finds to be believable.?

If the law of states are to be referenced, ?like attracts like?, i.e. negatives attract negatives and positives attracts positives, whatever are our dominant thoughts they find the ways to get manifested. So, it is desirable that bringing positive changes towards reality, our thoughts must be programmed. The powerful ?arm of positive thinking? should be our daily affirmations in positive way. The reflection must come like,? I can do it, I love this??.etc.? ?An affirmation must meet all the following requirements to become effective:

• Affirmation should be precise and specific
• Affirmations needs to be positive, example?(I am healthy, in place of I am not sick)
• It is desirable that affirmations should be expressed in present tense, example---(I love my fate, in place of I will love my fate)

Suitable time of expressing affirmation

The ideal time to express positive affirmation for law of attraction is in the morning when you get up and also in the night when you go to bed. It is a psychological drill, the more you think about it you will get the faster result of it becoming as a reality. As our subconscious mind becomes programmed to believe the affirmations, it results into conversions into positive actions for our conscious mind. You must feel about its most possible emerging appearance likely to be.

Law of attraction

Here are some useful tools for you to condition yourself according to your desire:

To change yourself you need to change your conditions. Your innermost thoughts may find expressions while you are amidst your ambitions, fancies, wishes and whims. You can relate it with the growth of a sapling from a seed. When we want to change our condition, we need to ponder about its way of changing.

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Source: http://www.freearticlesinc.com/view_article-id-82428-at-Daily-positive-affirmations-for-law-of-attraction.html

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To derail Maine wind farm project, nonprofit sues federal permitting ...

PORTLAND, Maine ? A nonprofit organization filed a federal lawsuit Monday in a last-ditch effort to prevent the planned expansion of the Kibby Mountain wind farm in northwestern Maine.

The Friends of the Boundary Mountains filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, claiming the federal agency neglected several federal laws in late September when it provided a permit to TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc. allowing the company to expand its Kibby Mountain wind farm onto nearby Sisk Mountain in northern Franklin County.

The lawsuit named as defendants Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Jay Clement, the Army Corps? senior project manager in the New England District.

The Friends of the Boundary Mountains, which was founded in 1995 and is based in Farmington, claims the expansion of the wind farm will violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, according to court documents. In addition, the group alleges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to comply with the Clean Water Act when it issued the permit to TransCanada.

Before TransCanada had completed its original 44-turbine Kibby Mountain project in 2010, it already had proposed an expansion onto nearby Sisk Mountain. After TransCanada scaled back its expansion plans from 15 to 11 turbines, Maine?s Land Use Regulation Commission approved the project in January 2011. The Friends of the Boundary Mountains opposed TransCanada?s original Kibby Mountain wind farm, as well as the Sisk Mountain expansion.

Bob Wiengarten, the nonprofit?s president, said this lawsuit is the group?s last chance to stop TransCanada from building the Sisk Mountain expansion.

?We?ve been fighting this a long time,? Wiengarten said. ?We?re a minority trying to protect these species from the onslaught from wind power.?

The group?s lawsuit is related to a permit TransCanada needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is the keeper of the inland waterways under the Clean Water Act, to temporarily and permanently fill in some wetland areas to build the wind farm expansion. As part of its compliance with the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps also is required to judge the resulting effect on wildlife.

The lawsuit argues that while the Corps had a responsibility to investigate the wind farm?s effect on the golden eagle and the Bicknell?s thrush, it failed to adequately do so. Wiengarten claims both species, which have habitat on or around Sisk Mountain, would be at risk if TransCanada is allowed to expand its wind farm.

The complaint argues that the golden eagle species is ?falling between the cracks? as neither LURC nor the federal government has exercised ?the necessary due diligence in evaluating the true risks and threats to the species,? the complaint claims. Maine considers the golden eagle an endangered species, though the federal government does not. It is protected, however, under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Act.

The lawsuit cites a May 2011 letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to TransCanada: ?Proper siting of wind turbines continues to be the [service]?s most critical concern related to wind energy development to avoid and minimize wildlife mortality and habitat fragmentation. New information about migration and movements of golden eagles suggest this species may be the raptor most vulnerable to wind power in the eastern U.S.?

Wiengarten said the Army Corps put conditions into the permit that it claims will protect the golden eagle, but the conditions are inadequate. One such condition is that TransCanada needs to develop an eagle conservation plan, but the company can build the wind farm before submitting it, Wiengarten said.

?We don?t think that?s a very logical way of proceeding,? Wiengarten said. ?We know in the real world that these conditions don?t mean anything. Once TransCanada builds it, it?s too late.?

This could be the first lawsuit in Maine that cites the Eagle Act as a reason to prevent the construction of a wind farm, according to Todd Griset, an attorney at Preti Flaherty who specializes in the energy sector.

?I have seen other lawsuits alleging violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, although I am not aware of any such claims made in Maine,? he wrote in an email.

The Bicknell?s thrush is a migratory bird that spends its winters in the Caribbean and its summers in the subalpine habitat found on Sisk Mountain. The species is rare and fickle about choosing its breeding habitat, Wiengarten said. The federal government is currently reviewing a request to identify it as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, a process Wiengarten points out could take at least a year.

?Our argument is they should pay attention to it right now,? he said. ?Sisk is just not a good place to put a wind turbine because there?s this rare habitat that this bird, which may be endangered ? it?s probably endangered now, but it needs the listing to be official ? it needs that breeding habitat. It?s just too risky. It?s crazy to do this.?

When asked why he thinks the Army Corps did not pursue the effects of TransCanada?s wind farm on the Bicknell?s thrush and the golden eagle, Wiengarten said he believes federal agencies are under political pressure to support the wind power industry.

Wiengarten said he?s not against alternative energy, just not the siting of a wind farm on Kibby and Sisk mountains.

The Friends of the Boundary Mountains is asking the court to void the permit the Army Corps granted and prevent the issuance of a new permit until the violations are addressed. It?s also asking for monetary compensation for ?their costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys? fees,? according to the complaint.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/11/26/business/to-derail-maine-wind-farm-project-nonprofit-sues-federal-permitting-agency/

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11 Athletics highlights the OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge

November 27, 2012

In this month?s issue of 11Athletics, Dr. Terry Philbn, the reigning OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge winner, talks about the goals and traditions that go along with the OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge.

11Athletics is a local magazine that focuses on functional fitness and promoting athletic fitness for sports and everyday life. The writers believe that by improving your own body?s ability to move through functional fitness it will improve your energy, your desire and your life for the better. To check out the article, click here and for more information about 11Athletics, click here.

We are proud to be a part of this healthy lifestyle focused magazine and look forward to kicking off the 2013 OFAC Health & Fitness Challenge soon. Visit our website to register for the Challenge.

Source: http://www.orthofootankle.com/2012/11/11-athletics-highlights-the-ofac-health-fitness-challenge/

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Despite scientific backing, PTSD skeptics remain

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

Why do some people reject the existence of PTSD?

The topic is touchy. Even asking the question is slammed as irresponsible.

?Why on Earth would you try to put out something that states combat PTSD isn't a true affliction? Or even try to debunk it? Or to put questions into the minds of society? In the first 155 days of 2012, we lost 154 men,? Amy Cotta, an author and the mother of a Marine wrote in an email to NBC News. Her message arrived minutes after she learned NBC News was seeking to interview a PTSD denier.

Despite exhaustive scientific studies that have explored the symptoms, causes, diagnoses, and prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, hardcore skeptics remain.

They exist within the military, where some leaders openly call PTSD a mental weakness, according to mental health advocates. David Weidman, who did two tours in Afghanistan and was diagnosed with PTSD, said all of his senior non-commissioned officers advised him not to seek treatment, instead suggesting he ?just put your head down and keep going? in order to maintain any chance at a promotion.

---

They exist within the veteran community. Kevin R.C. ?Hognose? O?Brien, who operates a blog called ?WeaponsMan? and identifies himself as ?a former Special Forces weapons man,? wrote in July that PTSD was a ?quack? diagnosis, ?invented? to clump ?any odd and many normal behaviors.? He added: ?If a vet is wound up tight? PTSD! If he or she is calm? Hypercontrolling due to PTSD! Lose weight, gain weight, maintain weight, those are all PTSD markers. Get in fights? PTSD, natch. And avoid fights? Well, clearly it's .... are you starting to get the idea?? O?Brien declined to be interviewed for this story.

And they exist within medicine. In late September, Washington, D.C. psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Tarantolo authored an op-ed piece titled: ?PTSD, The Grand Scapegoat.? In it, Tarantolo described PTSD as a ?pseudo-diagnosis? and held that ?the PTSDer gets an enormous amount of pseudo-sympathy.? On Friday, Tarantolo?s voicemail message said he was out of the country on vacation.

To Afghanistan veteran Weidman, most people who so stridently dismiss PTSD have simply failed to read the available scientific literature on the subject and are, he said, ?uneducated.?

But Weidman acknowledged that different people possess varying degrees of mental ?resiliency,? underscoring the slippery nature of diagnosing anxiety disorders. That means, he added, that if an entire platoon collectively endures the same moment of extreme combat violence, not every platoon member will ultimately feel the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. According to the Mayo Clinic, those signs can include ?flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.?

?There are people who can experience something who have no side effects. It could be that person (who ends up being a denier),? said Weidman, a student at Penn State-Lehigh Valley. ?Or it could be the person who is extremely uneducated and chauvinistic, who says a guy who gets diagnosed with PTSD ?is not being a man.? You?re going to have a perfect storm within the individual who?s going to be that outlier, who says: ?It doesn?t exist.?

?Or, it could be the person who actually has post-traumatic stress, who is not seeking help, who is more living up to society?s ideal male image of being strong and being resilient,? he added. ?Those people going to make even more noise.?

Mental health experts say the occasional repudiation of PTSD is merely an extension of the larger societal taint associated with anxiety or mood disorders.

Click here for more military-related coverage from NBC News.

?It comes back down to the stigma of mental illness,? said Jean Teichroew, spokeswoman for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. ?Military members also are afraid to speak out because it?s seen as a weakness. The VA has programs to try to combat that, too. But when you have a sergeant who doesn?t think you should be afraid of a bomb going off near you or seeing a dead body, that?s another issue.?

Still, the rate of diagnosed PTSD cases among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is higher than the rate of cases associated with men and women who served in past conflicts. That abrupt spike has sparked in ongoing debate within American and British academia as to how common PTSD truly is among military personnel and veterans.

?The suffering of people with PTSD is very real whether we label it an ?anxiety disorder? or not. As for the skeptics, some of them may believe that a proportion of veterans without the disorder may report symptoms to secure service-connected disability compensation payments for PTSD,? said Harvard University psychology professor Richard J. McNally. He has penned more then 320 publications on anxiety disorders, including PTSD.

?According to (Department of Veterans Affairs) data reported late last spring, 45 percent of all veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have applied for service-connected disability compensation, and 31 percent have secured it already. This figure includes all forms of medical problems, however, not just PTSD," McNally said. "The percentage of veterans of World War II and Vietnam who obtained disability compensation is 11 percent and 16 percent, respectively.?

In 2011, the VA listed the three most common service-connected disabilities among veterans receiving federal compensation that year: tinnitus (ringing in the ears) at 10.9 percent, hearing loss at 7.5 percent, and PTSD at 5.3 percent.

Is PTSD being over-diagnosed in post-9/11 veterans?

?Yes. I think it is,? said Simon Wessely, vice dean of academic psychiatry at King?s College in London. ?I think that despite the formal criteria, there is a confusion sometimes (about) the normal emotional responses to war ? my father still has nightmares about his World War II service in Royal Navy and he is 87, but he doesn't have PTSD.

?I also think that, for example, depression often gets under diagnosed, and substance misuse also,? Wessely said. ?Our evidence also shows, for example, that quite often the triggers for what becomes labeled as PTSD is not combat exposure but actually a reflection of problems back home. It is important that we remember that not every mental health problem in theater is PTSD."

Despite the loose diagnoses or cases of outright PTSD fraud, to those in medicine and the military (post and present) who deny PTSD altogether, Wessely offers three final words: ?They are wrong.?

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on?Twitter?and?Facebook

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15395330-ptsd-may-be-overdiagnosed-but-ptsd-deniers-are-wrong-psychologists-say?lite

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'Les Mis?rables': Is Anne Hathaway Musical The Oscar Front-Runner?

First 'Les Mis' screening reactions signal musical's status as the heavyweight contender in the coming awards season.
By Josh Wigler

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway in "Les Miserables"
Photo: Universal Pictures

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697878/les-miserables-anne-hathaway-oscar-frontrunner.jhtml

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Facebook Took Down This Picture Because It Thinks Elbows Are Boobs

Elbows and boobs. Both are great in their own special ways, but they are definitely not the same thing. You and I might know that well enough, but it seems that Facebook has a little more trouble with the distinction. That's why they took down this elbowlicious picture. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Yn2kL_HIAG0/facebook-took-down-this-picture-because-it-thinks-elbows-are-boobs

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annesharma48: Gay/Lesbian relationships | new beginnings ...

Gay/Lesbian relationships | new beginnings

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

Source: http://dancingmom72.blogspot.com/2012/11/gaylesbian-relationships.html

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Source: http://annesharma48.blogspot.com/2012/11/gaylesbian-relationships-new-beginnings.html

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Khan Academy Comes to iPhone with Over 3,500 Educational Videos

iOS: Khan Academy is a great way to learn about everything ranging from math to history. Their iOS app has updated to support the iPhone alongside the previously released iPad app.

The iPhone version is rather barebones and only allows you to watch videos. This means you can't save videos for offline viewing, or track your progress like you can in the iPad app or the browser version. Still, as a means to quickly catch a lecture on the go, or to learn something new on a long car ride, the iPhone app gets the job done.

Khan Academy (Free) | iTunes App Store via The Next Web

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/IUo5nGlffjQ/khan-academy-comes-to-iphone-with-over-3500-educational-videos

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Get your ultimate emergency survivals planning with survival food ...

There will be times regrettably that people will find themselves in disaster situations. These situations typically happen due to disastrous events. These events can occur as a result of inclement weather, earthquakes, tsunamis and many more. No matter what the circumstances may be, you will still need to eat a food to stay alive, and to keep your strength up. There are survival foods that will not only good and easy to use in these emergency conditions, but they will provide essentials to keep you nurtured and living. Survival Food Supply is one of the most important items to consider when preparing for an emergency. Most of the food that is prepared for long term storage, needs to meet some criteria based on nutrition, portability and ease in preparation.

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Source: http://www.qim8.org/get-your-ultimate-emergency-survivals-planning-with-survival-food-supply.html

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Three Big Changes Ahead for Higher Education | online learning ...

?The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.? ?Albert Einstein

A change of thinking is almost obligatory when considering the future of Higher Education. Last week was the final week of the MOOC Current/Future State of Higher Education (CHFE12); its overarching objective was to explore the influences and pressures facing universities today and to identify where higher education is headed. Numerous esteemed educators?[including author and Georgia Tech's? Richard Demillo and Vice Provost Joel Hartman of University of Central Florida] shared their knowledge, expertise, research, and in some cases predictions via webinars, to shed light on the conundrums within higher ed. The results are surprising, encouraging and telling of what educators need to do to adapt and be prepared.

In this post I?ll share my synopsis of the course by focusing on three areas of change. My aim is to share with readers the areas that will be most helpful and maybe even instructive in how-to adapt thinking and/or teaching. The three areas are: 1) the drivers of change in higher education, 2) change in pedagogical methods based upon progressive educators, and, 3) changes in educational models that are on the horizon for higher education. The latter point, is my prediction of where higher education is going based upon research and findings during this MOOC.? I?ve also included a list of resources at the end of this post, links to the recorded webinars and resources available from CHFE12.

1. Drivers of Change in Higher Ed
Change is constant, yet the rate of change in higher education is accelerating. The theme of ?change? was pervasive throughout the course; each webinar guest spoke of ?change? in some context. Though it was during the weeks? topic of Leadership in Education that explored change in-depth. James Hilton, Chief information officer at the University of Virginia during the webinar he led, Thriving in Times of Disruption, described change as profound, and creating chaos and conflict. Yet at the same time, Hilton described change as an opportunity for institutions to find its North Star, meaning its strengths ?to energize the institution by focusing on those identified.

The first step in adapting and thriving in a period of chaos is to objectively and carefully examine the drivers of change that are affecting a given sector. In our case education, we can narrow it down to three primary forces driving change.

1. The abundance of quality content available on the web. Students have access to more content than ever before, which changes the paradigm of the student/teacher relationship. The professor teaching in a classroom is not the primary method for accessing scholarly expertise; content is no longer bound by cost, location or time.
2. Interactive applications and platforms on the web accessible due to cloud technology. Blogs, Slideshare and Learning Management Platforms such as Moodle, are just a few examples of tools that are changing how education (content) is delivered and accessed. Online learning, through MOOCs, either Coursera or CHFE12 (via Desire2Learn) are examples of learning that was not available ten, or even five years ago.
3. Mobile devices with Internet connectivity capability.? Millions of people around the globe, even in third world countries are owners of mobile devices that connect to the Internet. This capability drives not just educational change, but cultural and societal change as well.

2. Changes in Pedagogy
Education is becoming student focused, which means pedagogical methods are adapting and transforming accordingly.? During a webinar in week two of CFHE, Joel Hartman spoke of the new pedagogical models implemented at UCF. The new approach puts the student in the center, and provides a choice of five learning modalities. This approach is highly successful. A critical component to its success is educating faculty on the effective use of pedagogical methods in the various modalities. I wrote about these methods in-depth in a previous post.? Competency based learning, another approach uses a different pedagogy, one that focuses on the application of skill and knowledge through demonstration. Each are described in-depth below.

1. Competency based learning either in face-to-face or online. Competency learning challenges the notion of ?seat-time? based upon the Carnegie Unit (time-based reference for measuring student achievement that is used by American colleges). Western Governors and Southern New Hampshire?s Innovation U (which I wrote about here) and University Now?? all examples of schools using competencies as a model for assessment and learning. Businesses in the community are supportive of this model, often partnering with colleges in the process.

?Another form of competency learning are adaptive learning platforms. Where student learning is customized through online programs that adapt and respond to students strengths and weaknesses. Knewton learning is an example of a company that delivers adaptive learning programs.

2. Blended and Online learning that are based upon models of constructivism or? connectivism.? Students are involved and active participants within learning, either constructing their learning with content and student peers (constructivism), or connecting with nodes within a network, making connections and acquiring knowledge as a result. Learning is moving towards treating students as part of the learning, not as passive ?vessels?.

3. Changing Models of Higher Ed
Below are the three directions that may emerge based upon the advancements and developments as discussed in the CFHE12 MOOC.

1) The traditional college experience where students attend college or universities will change; will be augmented with online learning, flipped classrooms, and blended learning. The community will become part of the education experience, where students work within the community to solve problems (project based learning) or work as part of their education. Four years of attendance will be the exception, less will be the norm.

2) Do-it-yourself college: ?Students will adopt the ?build-your-own-degree plan?. Colleges are becoming unbundled, which means students will be able to choose preferred courses, MOOCs and assessment of skill for credit. This model will grow as costs for college continue to be out-of-reach for the average family.

3) Life long learning (competency based): Students will become learners for life, where learning is one long, continuous process. It will not stop after high school, or even after college, but will continue as learners need new skills for career change, job training or even personal interests. MOOCs will play a role, as will courses offered through other venues, perhaps face-to-face, online or through iTunes U.? This model has much potential.

Conclusion
The future is bright for higher education. Resistance to change can be a significant barrier to the developments needed within education, but those that resist will eventually be forced to get on board or be left behind. Those that do change and adapt will have the opportunity to reach students as never before ? educate people of all ages to be productive, educated and contributing members of society. It all begins with embracing change, and changing our thinking.

Resources:
CFHE12: Content Home Page through Desire2learn
Blended Learning Toolkit, by Thomas Cavanaugh,? EDUCAUSE Review
Strengthening the Pathway to Higher Education, by Dr. Brian Mitchell, Huffington Post
Why Online Education Works, by Alex Tabarrok, CATO Unbound

Photo Credit: Constant Change, by mermaid99, Flickr

Source: http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/three-big-changes-ahead-for-higher-education/

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Facebook and volatile market still chill IPOs

Making a killing on initial public offerings used to be easy.

At the peak of the technology boom, little more than a decade ago, a plentiful supply of companies vied to sell stock on the exchanges, and investors were assured mouthwatering returns.

These days, the deals are fewer and the returns more modest.

Companies are set to raise more than $45 billion through IPOs this year ? the most since 2007, according to data provider Dealogic. But if you scratch the surface, there are signs that the market is less healthy than it appears.

Almost a third of the money raised in IPOs this year came from one deal, Facebook's $16 billion offering in May, and the number of companies taking themselves public may end at a three-year low.

The pipeline, or backlog, of companies planning to sell stock is also thinning.

"It's a reflection of the psychology of the market today. It's not strong. It's moderate to weak," says Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Mass.

While 437 companies have filed for an IPO this year, 178 have withdrawn or postponed their planned listings, Dealogic data show.

The state of the IPO market matters beyond Wall Street. Besides giving investors the chance to buy into fast-growing parts of the market, offerings give companies the money to expand and hire workers.

Scott Cutler, head of global listings at NYSE Euronext, which runs the New York Stock Exchange, estimates that more than 90 percent of a public company's employee growth comes after it has listed on an exchange.

IPO activity is dictated largely by the health of the overall stock market. Falling markets discouraging companies from going public.

The Standard & Poor's 500 is up 11 percent this year, but the advance has been punctuated by sharp declines when investors fretted about European debt, the election and, now, a looming "cliff" of tax increases and government spending cuts.

"The general market has been real choppy this year. It really has," says Sal Morreale, an institutional salesman at Cantor Fitzgerald in Los Angeles who tracks offerings.

Facebook's calamitous market debut also put the brakes on IPOs.

The social networking site's offering was the most keenly anticipated market debut at least since Google's in 2004. But concerns about revenue from smartphone users spooked investors, and the offering was plagued by technical glitches.

The stock was priced at $38 and fell almost immediately, dropping as low as $17.55 on Sept. 4. The negative publicity helped shutter the IPO market for more than a month until EQT Midstream Partners, an energy company, sold stock June 16. Companies including American Tire Distributors and Crosair, a computer memory company, were among those withdrawing their IPOs.

"That deal has become a textbook case of how not to do a deal," says Quincy Krosby, a market strategist with Newark, N.J.-based Prudential Financial. "That IPO really chastened investors."

The backlog of companies planning IPOs fell to 39 in November, according to data from Ipreo, a market analysis company firm. That is the fewest since August 2009, just after the recession. The tally has been declining steadily since September 2011.

NYSE's Cutler says that much of the decline is because of a law passed in April designed to make it easier for companies to attract funding. They can confidentially notify regulators of their intention to seek a listing.

Cutler says that if the business environment remains stable, the pace of IPO filling will be "slightly up" next year as companies become more familiar with the law.

The law allows companies to avoid disclosing competitively sensitive information and come to the market at much shorter notice. Ultimately, it will encourage more companies to seek listings, Cutler says.

Despite Facebook's high-profile slump, most companies have left something on the table for investors.

The average return for IPOs this year has been 11 percent, according to Dealogic data. That's less than the average 88 percent one-year return that investors garnered in 1999, but roughly in line with the broader market.

Among the best debuts: Guidewire Software, a provider of software for the insurance industry, and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, a Texas mortgage provider and servicer, according to data from IPO investment advisory firm Renaissance Capital.

Investors that bought Guidewire's stock at $13 at its market debut in January have seen it rise to almost $30, while Nationstar's stock has almost doubled from $14 to $27.35.

There are some advantages to a slow IPO market, says Lutts of Cabot Money Management. When demand is low, only the best companies are able to attract enough demand to list on the exchanges, raising the quality of companies coming to the market. And it can be an indicator that the broader market is oversold and thus offers some bargains.

"When we're frothy, everything is coming at a premium," Lutts says. "I'm interested in equities today because of a weak IPO market."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-volatile-market-still-chill-ipos-164956367--finance.html

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Nokia imaging head Damian Dinning makes 'personal decision' to leave the company

Nokia's cameras and imaging systems have garnered the company plenty of attention in recent years, but it looks like it's now facing something of a turning point in that area. As Amateur Photographer reports, the man responsible for leading that charge, Damian Dinning, has announced that he's leaving the company effective November 30th. According to a statement released by Nokia UK, that move is a "personal decision" Dinning made following the company's decision to relocate a number of key strategic roles to Finland. As for what's next for Dinning, he rather cryptically tweeted just two days ago that he's "incredibly excited about the 10th Dec," adding that he "can't say more than that right now other than to say it's nothing to do with Nokia directly." There's also no word yet from Nokia on who will take over his role.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Nokia

Comments

Via: PureViewClub, The Verge

Source: Amateur Photographer, @PhoneDaz (Twitter)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/q3R-Vog38LY/

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Shared Internet Hosting Simplified | My Six Strings Blog

Just what is Committed Means?

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? Open Management Policy
In such a tie up, you might be the chief dictator, meaning in all operational steps of your task, your conclusion is most likely the remaining. The web developer can provide you with alternatives in all events and you simply are classified as the one particular who chooses exactly what is to be performed. Always make sure your world-wide-web developer adapts to this open up Management Policy devoid of falling back again anywhere.

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Source: http://mysixstringsblog.com/shared-internet-hosting-simplified-6/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=shared-internet-hosting-simplified-6

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Business Counselor 2 (Retail Management-HBRC) - HigherEdJobs

Posting Number:	000870
Hiring Department:	Small Business Development Center

Hiring Range:
3,768.27-4,900.13

Full Time/Part Time:
Full Time

App Type Search By:
External / Internal

Job Description:
This position is part of a federally funded project that will end on May 31, 2013.

This position will assist small businesses with all aspects of retail management, in both merchandising and non-merchandising areas. Will assist with advertising and sales strategies, pricing policies, cash flow, accounts receivables and payable, inventory control, general operations, customer relations, staffing as well as supplier issues.

Job Duties:

1. This position is part of the Small Business Development Center Network Hurricane Business recovery Center. This center assists Gulf Coast area small businesses in their recovery from hurricane Ike.
2. This position's responsibilities will focus on performing full financial assessments for businesses in the affected area and evaluating past and present business and financial strategies, developing new strategies for financial success.
3. Consults with clients throughout the gulf coast region of Texas at the regional office, sub-center locations or through on-site visits.
4. Assists clients in analyzing business strengths and weaknesses and developing strategies for improvement.
5. Assesses client's management and technical education needs and recommends appropriate training classes.
6. Develops and updates specialized training classes and materials for individual clients or groups; may conduct training seminars or presentations.
7. Participates in public relations activities; makes speeches and presentations; serves on various committees, etc.
8. Remains informed on changes in laws and regulations applicable to area of specialization.
9. May assist the director with a variety of administrative duties and responsibilities.
10. May provide specialized support in one of the following areas: obtaining contracts with federal, state and local governments; enhancing product commercialization and technology; solicitation of financial support; entering or expanding into international trade.
11. Performs other job-related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications:
Requires a 4 year degree from a college or university or an equivalent in-depth specialized training program that is directly related to the type of work being performed.

Requires a minimum of five (5) years of directly job-related experience.

Additional Posting Information:
Only candidates who have directly job related experience will be given serious consideration.

Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Outlook and Word required.

Proficiency in Business Plan Pro and Profit cents or other business plan and financial statement analysis software is desirable.

Entrepreneurial experience and MBA preferred.

Bi-lingual in English/Spanish a plus.

Security Sensitive Position:
Yes

Retirement Program:
TRS

Job Open Date:
11/21/2012

Expected Closing Date On or Before:
11/30/2012

Source: http://www.higheredjobs.com/details.cfm?JobCode=175695789

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