Saturday, June 30, 2012

patrickbrownTFP: Vols' guard Jordan McRae's days as a 'McDonalds fiend' are over. why? new strength coach Nicodemus Christopher. http://t.co/fLnHNrzg

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Source: http://twitter.com/patrickbrownTFP/statuses/218899036210601984

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Google Tablets, Android Jellybean, Facebook, Flashbangs and More... [The Best Stories Of The Week]

Following along with Apple and Microsoft, this week was Google's Turn to dominate the news. They had new hardware, new software, and skydivers. But there were plenty of other great stories like the death of Winamp and digital camo, a live Q&A with a bike thief, and the discovery that we can breathe without air. Here are our top stories of the week. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/966N4qv3kp4/google-tablets-android-jellybean-facebook-flashbangs-and-more

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Does Saturn's moon hide underground oceans?

Observations of how Titan warps as it orbits Saturn provides strong evidence for a liquid ocean buried under the surface of the gas giant's largest moon.

By Charles Q. Choi,?SPACE.com / June 28, 2012

This diagram shows Saturn's largest moon Titan using data from gravity measurements by NASA's Cassini probe, which suggest an underground water ocean exists on the satellite.

A. Tavani

Enlarge

The best evidence yet for a liquid ocean buried under the surface of Saturn's moon Titan has been found, scientists report.

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New observations show that Titan warps during the gravitational tides it experiences, suggesting an ocean sloshes under its outer shell. This ocean has long been theorized but never confirmed.

Titan is the biggest of the more than 60 known moons orbiting Saturn, and is larger than the planet Mercury. Scientists have long suspected that an?ocean might lurk under Titan's surface, as well as under Jupiter's moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Previous observations have shown that the entire surface of Titan appears to be?sliding around like cheese over tomato sauce on a pizza.

Now the way Titan flexes under?Saturn's gravity suggests the moon is indeed home to a vast underground ocean of either water or a water-ammonia mix. [Photos: The Rings and Moons of Saturn]

"Liquid water elsewhere in the solar system is one of the main goals of planetary exploration for NASA," said study lead author Luciano Iess, a planetary geodesist at Universit? La Sapienza in Rome. "This discovery points to the fact that many satellites in the outer solar system hide large amounts of liquid water."

To get a glimpse into Titan's mysterious interior, scientists relied on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which has orbited Saturn since 2004. They focused on the extraordinarily powerful tides the planet's gravitational pull causes its moons to experience ? tides ferocious enough to have once ripped apart titanic chunks of ice to produce the world's rings. Titan itself faces tidal effects up to 400 times greater than our moon's draw on Earth.

By monitoring how Cassini's acceleration changed during six close flybys past Titan between 2006 and 2011, the researchers deduced the strength of the moon's gravity field. Since a body's gravity stems from its mass, these details helped reveal how matter is distributed within Titan and how this changed depending on how near or far the moon was from Saturn during its oval-shaped 16-day orbit around the planet.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/ZSFvRbeDHig/Does-Saturn-s-moon-hide-underground-oceans

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Friday, June 29, 2012

European leaders' breakthrough defied expectations

(AP) ? Europe's leaders finally rose to the challenge Friday, backing bold ideas to help weak countries and frail banks ravaged by a debt crisis that has crippled economic growth and threatened the global financial system.

Markets roared their approval after leaders of the 27 European Union countries agreed on an aggressive plan to fix the financial crisis.

For the first time in 19 summits since the start of the crisis, the EU leaders declared they would:

? Centralize regulation of European banks and, if necessary, bail them out directly, instead of funneling loans through governments that already have too much debt.

? Ease borrowing costs on Italy and Spain, the euro region's third- and fourth-largest economies.

? Stop mandating painful budget cuts to every country in need of emergency financial aid.

?Tie their budgets, currency and governments more tightly.

The decisions made at the EU summit in Brussels won't end the crisis that has gripped Europe for nearly three years. Plenty of questions remain about how the bank bailouts would work, whether there's enough money committed to rescue banks and governments and whether impoverished, indebted Greece will be forced out of the 17-nation euro club.

But for EU leaders who have consistently underwhelmed their exasperated publics and nervous financial markets, Friday's efforts marked a breakthrough.

The prime minister of Ireland ? one of the five eurozone countries that have required emergency funds ? said the plans marked a "seismic shift in European policy." British Prime Minister David Cameron said that "for the first time in some time we have actually seen steps ... to get ahead of the game."

There was an immediate sign that Europe's latest plan was easing fear in financial markets: The cost for the troubled government of Spain to borrow fell dramatically. The interest rate, or yield, on the country's 10-year bonds fell by more than half a percentage point, to 6.34 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average recorded its second-biggest gain of the year, and stocks advanced even further in Europe ? in strong and weak countries alike. The benchmark stock index in Germany rose 4.3 percent, by far its best performance this year. Germany has the biggest economy in Europe, and a warm reaction there was a crucial sign of approval for the plan. Prices for oil and other commodities shot higher, another sign that the plan may remove a big barrier to a healthier economy.

At first it looked like the summit would produce little more than a modest plan to stimulate growth in Europe. But Italy and Spain, whose borrowing costs have soared to dangerous levels, refused to sign off on the $150 billion spending plan unless something was done to ease their financial burdens.

After an all-night standoff, the leaders agreed to expand the use of Europe's bailout funds ? and do so without imposing strict austerity measures on countries that are meeting existing pledges to control spending. The bailout money could be used to buy bonds to drive down a country's borrowing costs. Or it could be loaned directly to troubled banks, which EU leaders said would help break "the vicious cycle" in which weak banks and weak governments threaten to drag each other down.

Previously, European leaders insisted that the two bailout funds be used only to rescue governments ? like Ireland, Portugal and Greece. If money was going to be used for troubled banks, it had to first go to a government. But that added to the debt on a government's books because it was responsible for repaying the money.

The bids to rescue banks ended up raising fears about the ailing governments; Spain's borrowing costs rose dramatically two weeks ago after the eurozone countries agreed to lend it $125 billion to rescue its banks.

The EU also called for a single regulator ? probably the European Central Bank ? to oversee Europe's banks. Currently, banks are regulated by their national governments and some countries have been slow to recognize loan problems and shut down their worst banks.

As part of a broad "banking union," the new regulator will likely get power to close failing banks if their national regulators won't do it. The plan is also expected to include deposit insurance across Europe. Individual European countries now insure bank deposits within their borders. But bank failures could overwhelm those national funds.

The bank overhaul is supposed to be completed by the end of the year.

The leaders said they were committed to linking their countries closer together economically and politically, but didn't discuss how. Such integration would likely require countries to give up some of their taxing and spending powers to a European budget authority.

Most analysts cheered the EU plans but worried about the questions left unanswered. And they said the bailout funds are too small to handle the tasks that could be thrown at them.

Europe's two bailout funds have a combined $625 billion in lending power; up to $125 billion of that is already committed to helping Spain bail out its banks. The remaining $500 billion looks small compared with $3.1 trillion in Spanish and Italian bonds outstanding.

The solution hovering in the background, say some economists, is the European Central Bank. The ECB could buy any amount of government bonds, backed if need be by the bank's theoretically limitless power to create money. So far the bank has been unwilling to take this step, which could violate its mandate to fight inflation and a ban on central bank financing of national governments. The ECB's next policy meeting is Thursday in Frankfurt.

The summit deal leaves out crucial details of just how any bank bailouts would work. Would bank creditors have to take a loss on their investments, or would taxpayers foot the whole bill? The deal didn't specify.

If the banking regulator and a rescue fund take ownership stakes in failed banks, manage those stakes in the taxpayer interest while forcing losses on shareholders and creditors, it could be positive, said Clemens Fuest, an expert in public finance at Oxford University's Said Business School.

Otherwise, simply charging taxpayers could be "a huge burden on growth in Europe for a very long time," Clemens said.

___

McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany. Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin, David Springer in London and Robert Wielaard in Brussels contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-06-29-Europe-Financial%20Crisis/id-20aa6e8a88f049198368cc55d5277f60

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US: Madoff brother to plead guilty in NY in fraud

FILE- In this April 3, 2009 file photo, Peter Madoff exits State Supreme Court in Mineola, N.Y. The brother of Ponzi scheme king Bernard Madoff will plead guilty on Friday, June 29, 2012, to conspiracy and falsifying records, admitting his role in the multibillion-dollar fraud that destroyed the savings of thousands of investors, prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano, File)

FILE- In this April 3, 2009 file photo, Peter Madoff exits State Supreme Court in Mineola, N.Y. The brother of Ponzi scheme king Bernard Madoff will plead guilty on Friday, June 29, 2012, to conspiracy and falsifying records, admitting his role in the multibillion-dollar fraud that destroyed the savings of thousands of investors, prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano, File)

FILE - In this April 3, 2009 file photo, Peter Madoff, brother of Bernard Madoff, attends his court hearing before judge Stephen Bucaria at Mineola State Supreme Court, in Mineola, N.Y. Madoff will plead guilty on Friday, June 29, 2012, to conspiracy and falsifying records, admitting his role in the multibillion-dollar fraud that destroyed the savings of thousands of investors, prosecutors told a judge on Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, Pool, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Plans for the brother of jailed financier Bernard Madoff to plead guilty and serve 10 years in prison raise fresh questions about the status of the investigation into the epic multibillion dollar fraud and whether other family members remain under criminal investigation.

U.S. prosecutors notified a judge and victims Wednesday that Peter Madoff will plead guilty Friday to conspiracy and falsifying records charges more than three years after his brother began serving a 150-year sentence for creating the fraudulent multibillion dollar private investment business.

Bernard Madoff claimed that he acted alone as he enticed thousands of investors over several decades to join what became the largest Ponzi scheme ever prosecuted in U.S. history.

Peter Madoff was the former chief compliance officer at the private investment arm of Bernard Madoff's business. Prosecutors say he has agreed to the criminal forfeiture of $143 billion, including all of his real estate and personal property. The $143 billion, representing the amount of money believed to have flowed through the business accounts when he was part of the multi-decade Ponzi scheme, is included in a criminal forfeiture agreement, though authorities know that his assets would only amount to tens of millions rather than billions.

Court papers signed by a federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday show Peter Madoff, who had worked with his brother since 1965, plans to plead guilty to two criminal counts, admitting his role in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud, falsify records of an investment adviser, falsify records of a broker dealer, make false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, commit mail fraud and obstruct the Internal Revenue Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa A. Baroni wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain that, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Peter Madoff, 66, had agreed "not to seek a sentence other than 10 years' imprisonment."

Charles Spada, a lawyer for Peter Madoff, declined to comment.

Bernard Madoff, 74, is serving his prison term in Butner, N.C., after revealing in December 2008 that he cheated thousands of investors of roughly $20 billion for years, using money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients. Lawyers for a court-appointed trustee recovering money for Bernard Madoff's investors had said Peter Madoff also was the company's senior managing director.

The trustee, Irving Picard, said in court papers that Peter Madoff "failed miserably" to meet his responsibilities to monitor the company's operations and ensure its compliance with federal securities laws.

The court papers said Peter Madoff had received at least $60 million during the fraud and used fake stock trades to make large withdrawals seem justified.

Picard sought nearly $200 million from Madoff family members, claiming they used Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC as "the family piggy bank" to pay for vacation homes, cars, boats and even a stake in a beauty parlor.

Picard's pending lawsuit alleges that over the years, Peter Madoff, his daughter and his nephews "withdrew millions more than they invested" in private investment accounts they had with the firm.

Peter Madoff "ignored obvious red flags that the profits reflected in account statements could not have been earned legitimately, to the detriment of BLMIS and its other customers," the lawsuit says.

Bernard Madoff's relatives have said they did not know about his Ponzi scheme. His brother's plea raises new questions about the status of the prosecution and whether other family members are being targeted by the government.

Lawyers for Andrew Madoff, a son of Bernard Madoff, and Shana Madoff, Peter Madoff's daughter, did not immediately return messages for comment. A lawyer for Bernard Madoff's wife, Ruth, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Mark Madoff, Bernard Madoff's other son, committed suicide in December 2010 on the second anniversary of his father's arrest.

Six former employees and associates have pleaded guilty and are cooperating. Five others, including Madoff's former operating chief, have pleaded not guilty and appear headed to trial.

Picard has accused Andrew Madoff of living a high-end lifestyle after receiving more than $60 million, including $31 million in salary and bonuses, from 2001 to 2008.

Shana Madoff, a lawyer, had worked at Madoff's investment business since 1995 as compliance counsel and in-house counsel. Picard's civil lawsuit said that "she ignored every red flag of the massive fraud taking place right in front of her."

The huge scheme, run since at least the early 1990s, demolished the life savings of thousands of people, wrecked charities and shook confidence in the U.S. financial system. When Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty, he insisted that he acted alone, describing a separate wholesale stock-trading firm run by his sons and brother as honest and legitimate.

So far, Picard's office has reached agreements to recover approximately $9.1 billion and has distributed more than $1.1 billion to Madoff's victims.

In a statement Wednesday, Picard's spokeswoman, Amanda Remus, said the trustee and his lawyers are aware of the letter to the court about the anticipated guilty plea proceeding involving Peter Madoff but had no comment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-06-28-US-Madoff-Plea/id-b8b1041eaaf04802909293d38c99faf8

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Lawmakers reach compromise on roads, student loans

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, joined by other House GOP leaders, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 27, 2012, following a political strategy session. From left are, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Boehner, Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-NC, and Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, joined by other House GOP leaders, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 27, 2012, following a political strategy session. From left are, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Boehner, Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-NC, and Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(AP) ? Facing weekend deadlines for action, congressional leaders have agreed to deals overhauling the nation's transportation programs without a Republican provision forcing approval of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, and avoiding a doubling of interest rates for new student loans, congressional officials said Wednesday.

The agreements underscored the pressures both parties face to avoid angry voters and embarrassing headlines in the run-up to this November's presidential and congressional elections. Letting road-building programs grind to a halt during an economic downturn would be a blow to the image of lawmakers, while Democrats and Republicans alike seemed eager to avoid enraging millions of students and their parents by boosting the costs of college loans.

In contrast, enactment of the transportation measure would create or save 3 million jobs, said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chief sponsor of the Senate version of the bill. And the student loan measure would spare an estimated 7.4 million students who get subsidized Stafford loans beginning July 1 ? this Sunday ? from facing $1,000 in higher interest costs over the lives of their loans, which typically take over a decade to repay.

Congressional leaders were planning to combine the highway and student loan measures into a single bill to reduce potential procedural obstacles and hoped for final approval this week. Lawmakers would then leave Washington for a July 4 recess.

The two-year highway bill would prevent the government's authority to spend money on highways, bridges and transit systems from lapsing on Saturday, along with its ability to collect gasoline and diesel taxes. With both parties checkmating each other's top priorities this campaign season, Democrats and Republicans say the highway measure will be Congress' top job-creation initiative until the November elections.

"This is the jobs bill for the 112th Congress," said House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla.

As the price for the highway agreement, lawmakers said Republicans dropped a House-approved provision requiring the government to approve the proposed Keystone pipeline, which is to move oil from western Canada to Texas' Gulf Coast.

Pipeline approval ? which prompted a veto threat from President Barack Obama ? has been a top goal this election year for the GOP, which has pitted its claims that it would create jobs against environmental worries that it could accelerate global warming and endanger Midwestern water supplies.

Republicans also agreed to abandon language blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the toxic ash generated by coal-fired power plants, lawmakers said. The ash is used as an ingredient in some types of cement.

In return, House Republicans won Senate concessions that would halve the time allowed for environmental reviews for highway projects, and squeeze money for bike paths and pedestrian safety projects by forcing them to compete with other transportation projects, said congressional aides and environmental lobbyists.

The bill would give states more flexibility in spending federal money, impose new safety regulations and expand a federal loan guarantee program to encourage private investments in transportation projects.

Despite the measure's short-term impact, the bill delays for two years decisions about a long-term funding scheme for highway and transit programs. Gas and diesel taxes no longer cover the cost of transportation programs and are forecast to bring in less revenue as the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks increases.

President Barack Obama spent weeks this spring touring college campuses and lambasting Republicans for not pushing a freeze on student loan rates through Congress. GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney, looking to avoid handing Obama an issue, quickly said he favored the interest rate extension and congressional GOP leaders did too, though some Republicans think the government should not spend money to keep loan rates low.

The student loan pact would keep today's 3.4 percent interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans from doubling for new loans approved beginning on Sunday, an automatic increase that Congress enacted five years ago to save money. If they did double, it would affect 7.4 million students expected to get the loans over the 12 months beginning July 1, adding $1,000 to the interest costs of the typical borrower over each loan's life.

The tentative agreement was on the same package Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had said Tuesday that they had shaken hands on, said a congressional Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the measure's status. McConnell said he expected the House to accept the agreement.

"We're moving, I think, towards an agreement on a transportation bill that would also include a one-year fix on the student loan rate increase," Boehner told reporters early Wednesday after meeting privately with House Republicans.

Some GOP lawmakers at that meeting said Boehner seemed to favor the emerging deal and said it received a positive reception.

"The general sense is there's a tremendous amount of support for getting it done," said Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y. "That's what's going to drive it across the finish line."

The two parties spent the last several weeks dueling over how to pay for the $6 billion cost of the student loan bill.

Under the agreement, the government would raise $5 billion by changing how companies calculate the money they have to set aside for pensions. That change would make their contributions more consistent from year to year and in effect reduce their payments initially, lowering the tax deductions they receive for their pension contributions.

Another $500 million would come from increasing the fees companies pay for the government to insure their pension plans, linking those fees to inflation.

In addition, $1.2 billion would be saved by limiting federal subsidies of Stafford loans to six years for undergraduates.

Lawmakers decided to wrap in another Senate bill to reauthorize the national flood insurance program for five years.

The program, which provides federally backed insurance for 5.6 million households and businesses, many in flood-prone areas, has gone deeply into the red from claims after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Senate legislation would try to return the program to fiscal soundness through such steps as allowing premium increases and reducing subsidies for vacation homes.

Associated Press

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How to maximise your energy & productivity-Part 1 | Brisbane ...

Put a jump in your step!How many of us would like to experience more energy, more strength and a greater sense of vitality on a daily basis?

Well, over the next few weeks we will be uncovering some secretes to maximising our vitality and energy! Instead of feeling worn out and tired at the end of the day, too tired to take time for ourselves or others we will look at proven steps to help us experience optimal energy!

Before we can discuss what enhances our energy levels we need to take a look at what robs our energy! Ask yourself, as you look at your life, what drains your energy? What robs you of getting the things you want to get done? What limits you in living your life with unlimited energy? What prevents you from connecting with the things that are truly rewarding, meaningful, purposeful and satisfying? For many of us who live stressful and busy lives the energy we need for our ?real? priorities is usually running close to empty!

Below is some compelling information from expert life coach Cheryl Richardson, and author of ?Take Time for your life? who helps us understand how to assess your current energy levels. She encourages us to ?Imagine that inside your body exists an inner ?energy? or ?fuel? gauge, like a car. As you go about your daily activities your energy gauge elevates or declines depending upon what amount of energy is available. Like a car, driving along the road, we can determine how much fuel or energy is in the gas tank by looking at our fuel gauge. If we are low, we pull over and refuel, if we have enough we may drive a little faster or longer. Similarly when we work hard or have a significant amount of stress our energy levels decrease. When we rest, or eat healthy or connect with others, or laugh our energy levels increase.

Every action, every thought, every moment of our lives requires energy?.and we are either restoring and replenishing ourselves or we are draining or robbing our energy reserves. Before we can truly make significant changes in our lives and live our priorities, nurturing our bodies, minds and souls?we must take some time to consider what replenishes our lives and what drains our precious resource of energy.

For most of us we think of physical activities as draining our energy levels, which is true, but this is only a portion of the amount of energy drain that we experience on a daily basis. Various activities such as worrying, or arguing or procrastinating or being disorganized can significantly impact our energy levels leaving us worn out, burnt out and too tired to take care of ourselves and others! On a scale of 0-10 rate how much pressure and stress do you feel on a daily basis:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No pressure Some Pressure Can?t sleep!

What are the main stresses that you worry about on a regular basis:
1.
2.
3.

To what extent are the pressures and stresses of life effecting your health?
Spiritually Physically Emotionally Relationally Professionally
No effect Some effect Stunting my growth Choking my growth

Take some time this week to consider what drains you? What robs your energy? Think about all aspects of your life. Next time we will dive into how to begin to release more energy and vitality in your life!

Here?s wishing you a great day and week!

Remember to ?Win the Day!?

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Google to unveil tablet at conference: report

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Alaska glacier wreckage is 1950s military plane

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? The wreckage of a military plane found this month on an Alaska glacier is that of an Air Force plane that crashed in 1952, killing all 52 people aboard, military officials said Wednesday.

Army Capt. Jamie Dobson said evidence found at the crash site correlates with the missing C-124A Globemaster, but the military is not eliminating other possibilities because much investigation still needs to be done.

Processing DNA samples from relatives of those on board the plane could take up to six years, Dobson said.

"We're still at the very beginning of this investigation," she said. "This is very close to the starting line, not the finish line."

The Alaska National Guard discovered the wreckage and possibly bones June 10 on Colony Glacier, about 40 miles east of Anchorage. The wreckage was spotted soon after the heavy transport plane vanished Nov. 22, 1952, with 41 passengers and 11 crew members, but it became buried in snow and likely churned beneath the surface of the glacier for decades, Dobson said.

"The ice gives up what it wants to give up when it wants to give it up," she said. "It's really in control."

The plane went down on a flight from McChord Air Force Base in Washington state.

An Associated Press report on Nov. 24, 1952, said the Globemaster was the third big Air Force transport plane to crash or vanish in Alaska that month and the sixth around the Pacific Rim.

Soon after the crash, a 12-member military team tried three times to make it to the site, but was thwarted by bad weather, said Tonja Anderson, whose grandfather Isaac Anderson was among those on board the doomed flight. The 41-year-old Tampa, Fla., woman has researched the crash for 12 years since her grandmother, now deceased, gave her details of the airman who died at age 21, leaving behind a young widow and 1 ?-year-old son.

"I'm overwhelmed," Anderson said Wednesday about the positive identification. It's something she has tried to long get from the military, she said, only to be told that recovering the remains from the plane's hidden grave was unfeasible and would be too expensive.

"If they can bring me one bone of my grandfather or his dog tag, that would be closure for me," she said.

Days after the Globemaster went down, a member of the Fairbanks Civil Air Patrol, along with a member of the 10th Air Rescue Squadron, landed at a glacier in the area and positively identified the wreckage as the Globemaster.

According to an AP account, the civil air patrol member was Terris Moore, who was president of the University of Alaska. After returning from the site, he told reporters that the plane "obviously was flying at full speed" when it hit Mount Gannett, sliding down the snow-covered cliffs, exploding and disintegrating over two or three acres.

Only the tail and flippers of the craft were intact, but the tail numbers were enough for an identification. Moore said blood was found on a piece of blanket and there was a "sickly-sweet smell of death."

The debris was discovered June 14 while Alaska National Guardsmen were flying a Blackhawk helicopter during a training mission near the glacier. The guardsmen flew over the area several times.

Federal aviation officials implemented temporary flight restrictions over the area while the military investigation was conducted.

An eight-man Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command arrived last week, military officials said. It completed its work Tuesday at the glacier.

The team recovered materials like a life-support system from the wreckage and possible bones from the glacier. The evidence was being taken to the command's lab in Hawaii for analysis.

___

Associated Press researcher Susan James in New York contributed to this report.

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Keyword Research for Pay Per Click Advertising Campaigns | BzzHive

You know you need keywords, for your website or blog to get found on search engines, for your online ads and your social media posts. But how to begin researching keywords? ?Help your customers find you with these easy steps.

Key takeaways:

  • Starting with your understanding of your customers
  • Finding the right tool to generate keywords
  • Overview?of how to tell which keywords to bid on
  • What?factors might change your outcomes if you?re not checking in regularly

Is a pay-per-click campaign on your to-do list? If so, chances are that finding the right keywords?those seemingly magic terms that connect consumers to your business?is a priority. The good news is that you don?t necessarily need a big budget to find profitable online advertising keywords. Check out our pay-per-click tips for researching the keywords that generate action:

Step #1: Brainstorm an initial keyword list.

What does your customer want? It?s the million dollar question that every small business owner needs to answer before jumping into online advertising. One of the simplest ways to jumpstart a keyword list is to brainstorm. Ask yourself: if I were a customer, what words would I plug into a search engine to find the product or service? Remember, the more specific your keywords are, the more likely you are to get traffic from customers ready to do business. For instance, use public relations consulting Jacksonville instead of public relations.

Step #2: Choose a keyword tool.

Once you?ve established a starting point with a brainstormed list, it?s time to move to a keyword analysis tool. The web is full of tools that provide insight into choosing click-producing keywords. Some, like Wordtracker, offer paid subscriptions, while others, like Google AdWords Keyword Tool, are free. Whichever program you choose, tap its help functions to learn how to use its features effectively.

Step #3: Analyze keyword lists.

Enter each keyword from your initial brainstormed list into the keyword tool. Although features vary among programs, many will generate a list that shows the term you entered as well as related keyword suggestions. It may also share other relevant info that includes:

  • The level of competition for each term.? High competition indicates that many businesses bid on the term, so expect higher prices. Typically, PPC bid prices on low competition words are easier on the budget.
  • The number of searches. This is a straightforward number that shows how many searches used that term within a specific period. Some keyword programs offer filtering tools that allow you to break down keyword use by location.

Generally, the most profitable online advertising keywords will be those that have the lowest competition level combined with the highest search volume.

Step #4: Review, analyze, repeat.

One of the most important pay-per-click tips is to avoid letting keywords collect virtual dust. Why? Keyword effectiveness can be affected by:

  • Changes in periodic search engine algorithms.
  • Subtle or sudden shifts in consumer trends, needs, and wants.
  • Higher bids from a competitor.
  • Competitors dropping bids on a keyword, which would potentially allow you to reduce the bid amount and still maintain a top spot.

The most basic way to evaluate a PPC campaign is to use a spreadsheet to calculate what you?re paying per click and compare it to conversion rates (i.e. are customers buying the product or signing up for the newsletter?). However, PPC services like Yahoo and Google also offer free tracking to measure conversions.

Online advertising is a cost-effective way for small businesses to market?as long as you utilize the right keywords. Make the most of Internet marketing dollars by using these steps for finding profitable search terms. Happy researching!

?

Tags: digital advertising, keywords, online display ads, paid search, pay per click tips, PPC, search engine advertising, search results, SEO

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Incorporation of Celonas knowledge and information control ...

Brussels, Belgium ? 19th June 2012: Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a leading worldwide provider of risk, compliance and audit solutions for the financial services industry, today announced that it will integrate Celona data and information control software with its FRSGlobal products. With this enhancement, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has further strengthened the data integration capabilities of its FRSGlobal financial risk and regulatory reporting solutions, helping financial institutions to take control of the data lifecycle, including the collection, validation, integration, analysis, reporting and auditing of the data.

?There is an evident need for firms to have a greater grasp on the management of their data, driven primarily by regulatory change and requirements, risk management demands, and the need for increased efficiency throughout the business,? said Joost Roelin, director of Product Management for FRSGlobal at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. ?Our offering provides an improved audit trail which gives firms deep insight in the flow of the data, the transformation of the data, and the target of the data ? providing a solid architecture for consistently managing data in line with integrated business, risk and regulatory needs.?

This new functionality allows FRSGlobal to bridge the data from financial firms source systems into DataFoundation, FRSGlobals centralized data mart. Users have the ability to drill down all the way to the source data, enabling transparency at every stage and creating an end-to-end audit trail. This process will ultimately help firms to incorporate more centralized, reliable and clean data into their risk management, management information and regional and global regulatory reporting activities.

?Our data and information control software gives firms real insight into their business ? insight that both powers innovation and also enables rapid response to an ever-changing business environment,? said Sharon White, CEO, Celona. ?Working with FRSGlobal solutions, we can help financial institutions save time, resources and provide better quality information to drive their business forward.?

About Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Whether complying with regulatory requirements, addressing a single key risk, or working toward a holistic risk management strategy, more than 15,000 customers worldwide count on Wolters Kluwer Financial Services for a comprehensive and dynamic view of risk management and compliance. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services provides audit, risk and compliance solutions that help financial organizations improve efficiency and effectiveness across their enterprise. With more than 30 offices in 20 countries, the companys prominent brands include: FRSGlobal, ARC Logics for Financial Services, Bankers Systems, VMP? Mortgage Solutions, AppOne?, GainsKeeper?, Capital Changes, NILS, AuthenticWebT and Uniform FormsT. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is part of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global information services and publishing company with annual revenues of (2011) ?3.4 billion ($4.7 billion) and approximately 19,000 employees worldwide.

Learn more about business risk management or operational risk management

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Why Sandusky investigation lasted two years before charges brought

Gov. Tom?Corbett, then the state attorney general, oversaw the start of the?Sandusky?investigation after the former Penn State assistant coach was barred from a high school in 2009 when a mother complained about Sandusky. Charges were filed last November.

By Associated Press / June 25, 2012

Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky (rear) leaves the Centre County Courthouse with a Centre County Sheriff's deputy after being found guilty of multiple charges of child sexual abuse in Bellefonte, Pa., on June 22.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

Enlarge

Prosecutors needed about two years between the first report of child sexual abuse involving Jerry?Sandusky?and the filing of charges because authorities needed to build an "ironclad case" against him, Gov. Tom Corbett said Monday.

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Corbett, then the state attorney general, oversaw the start of the?Sandusky?investigation after the former Penn State assistant coach was barred from a high school in 2009 when a mother complained about Sandusky. Charges were filed last November.

"I think it surprises some people, the length of time it took," Corbett said. "But having been an assistant DA, an assistant U.S. attorney and handling cases like this, I understood that you have to do a complete investigation and get as many witnesses as you possibly can."

Corbett said the wisdom of the investigation's deliberate pace was evident in the jury's decisive verdict on Friday ? convicting?Sandusky?on all but three counts.

"I think the jury demonstrated with their convictions on 45 of 48 counts that it was an ironclad case," Corbett told CBS' "This Morning."

While defending the slower pace of the investigation, Corbett also defended the speed with which?Sandusky'scase went from grand jury presentment to trial ? seven months. Defense attorney Joe Amendola has said he and fellow attorney Karl Rominger didn't have enough time to prepare their defense and even asked to withdraw from the case because they weren't prepared.

"I'm not surprised that they would say that," Corbett said.

"Obviously it will be the subject of an appeal at some point in time. ... But in this case the jury had the opportunity to hear the compelling testimony of these now young men who were young boys who suffered at the hands of this pedophile."

The current state attorney general, Linda Kelly, told NBC's "Today" show that all parties involved knew the judge intended to move quickly. She said prosecutors supported that decision because?Sandusky?was on house arrest while awaiting trial.

"We were anxious just to bring the case to a conclusion and move to have his bond revoked and taken into custody," Kelly said.

Sandusky, 68, remains behind bars in the Centre County Correctional Facility, where he's been held since late Friday. It could be months before he's sentenced, and his own attorneys say he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

Kelly said?Sandusky's?sentence will be up to the judge, but she believes the severity of the charges merits a harsh punishment.

"Our prosecution team will ask the judge to fashion a sentence that reflects the horrific acts Mr.?Sanduskycommitted, that takes into account the number of victims that are involved here and the fact that he really does represent a clear and present danger to the community," Kelly said.

Sandusky's?conviction is only just the start of possibly years of legal proceedings over the case. Besides appeals, there remains an active investigation into?Sandusky?by the state attorney general's office as well as a federal investigation.

Corbett said Penn State trustees are still awaiting the results of an internal investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh into the school's handling of the?Sandusky?case.

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Source: Redskins QB Griffin target of extortion

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Cheaper cell phones with better signal quality: World's most powerful nanoscale microwave oscillators developed

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) ? A team of UCLA researchers has created the most powerful high-performance nanoscale microwave oscillators in the world, a development that could lead to cheaper, more energy-efficient mobile communication devices that deliver much better signal quality.

Today's cell phones, WiFi-enabled tablets and other electronic gadgets all use microwave oscillators, tiny devices that generate the electrical signals used in communications. In a cell phone, for example, the transmitter and receiver circuits contain oscillators that produce radio-frequency signals, which are then converted by the phone's antenna into incoming and outgoing electromagnetic waves.

Current oscillators are silicon-based and use the charge of an electron to create microwaves. The UCLA-developed oscillators, however, utilize the spin of an electron, as in the case of magnetism, and carry several orders-of-magnitude advantages over the oscillators commonly in use today.

UCLA's electron spin-based oscillators grew out of research at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This research focused on STT-RAM, or spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory, which has great potential over other types of memory in terms of both speed and power efficiency.

"We realized that the layered nanoscale structures that make STT-RAM such a great candidate for memory could also be developed for microwave oscillators for communications," said principal investigator and research co-author Kang L. Wang, UCLA Engineering's Raytheon Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Western Institute of Nanoelectronics (WIN).

The structures, called spin-transfer nano-oscillators, or STNOs, are composed of two distinct magnetic layers. One layer has a fixed magnetic polar direction, while the other layer's magnetic direction can be manipulated to gyrate by passing an electric current through it. This allows the structure to produce very precise oscillating microwaves.

"Previously, there had been no demonstration of a spin-transfer oscillator with sufficiently high output power and simultaneously good signal quality, which are the two main metrics of an oscillator -- hence preventing practical applications," said co-author Pedram Khalili, project manager for the UCLA-DARPA research programs in STT-RAM and non-volatile logic. "We have realized both these requirements in a single structure."

The SNTO was tested to show a record-high output power of close to 1 micro-watt, with a record narrow signal linewidth of 25 megahertz. Output power refers to the strength of the signal, and 1 micro-watt is the desired level for STNOs to be practical for applications. Also, a narrow signal linewidth corresponds to a higher quality signal at a given frequency. This means less noise and interference, for a cleaner voice and video signal. It also means more users can be accommodated onto a given frequency band.

In addition, the new nanoscale system is about 10,000-times smaller than the silicon-based oscillators used today. The nano-oscillators can easily be incorporated into existing integrated circuits (computer chips), as they are compatible with current design and manufacturing standards in the computer and electronic device industries. And the oscillators can be used in both analog (voice) and digital (data) communications, which means smart phones could take full advantage of them.

"For the past decade, we have been working to realize a new paradigm in nanoelectronics and nanoarchitectures," said Wang, who is also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. "This has led to tremendous progress in memory research. And along those same lines, we believe these new STNOs are excellent candidates to succeed today's oscillators."

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Story Source:

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

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Zhongming Zeng, Pedram Khalili Amiri, Ilya N. Krivorotov, Hui Zhao, Giovanni Finocchio, Jian-Ping Wang, Jordan A. Katine, Yiming Huai, Juergen Langer, Kosmas Galatsis, Kang L. Wang, HongWen Jiang. High-Power Coherent Microwave Emission from Magnetic Tunnel Junction Nano-oscillators with Perpendicular Anisotropy. ACS Nano, 2012; : 120611105915006 DOI: 10.1021/nn301222v

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Justin Bieber: What Comes After Believe?

MTV News has the scoop on Bieber's next single, fall tour and Mark Wahlberg movie.
By Jocelyn Vena

<P>Now that <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/bieber_justin/artist.jhtml">Justin Bieber</a> has dropped <a href="/news/articles/1687691/justin-bieber-believe-album-details.jhtml"><i>Believe,</i></a> you might be wondering what's up next for the 18-year-old. Well, between supporting his album and a burgeoning film career, the pop star shows no signs of stopping.</P><P>Bieber is still in the deciding process of nailing down just which track off <i>Believe</i> will be the next single, following up his smash hit <a href="/news/articles/1682090/justin-bieber-justin-timberlake-maturity.jhtml">"Boyfriend."</a> And when MTV News spoke to Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, he noted that there are several candidates from the album that seem like a likely follow-up release.</P><P>"We haven't picked the next single," he said. "We're gonna see how different songs react off the album. <a href="/news/articles/1687783/justin-bieber-big-sean-true-g.jhtml">'As Long As You Love Me' [with Big Sean]</a> is getting a lot of love, so is <a href="/news/articles/1686566/justin-bieber-ludacris-all-around-the-world.jhtml">'All Around The World' [with Ludacris].</a> So is <a href="/news/articles/1687838/justin-bieber-die-in-your-arms-michael-jackson.jhtml">'Die In Your Arms.'</a> 'Beauty and the Beat' is coming with the album. We're gonna see what the next single is. We're gonna figure that out."</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Justin Bieber Proving His Haters Wrong With 'Good Music'" id="vid:793035.id:1687833" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>The guys are also in the process of figuring out how the massive, already <a href="/news/articles/1686358/justin-bieber-believe-tour.jhtml">sold-out world tour</a> will look when it kicks off in September. "The tour starts at the end of September ... by the end of 2013 we're gonna hit the whole world," he explained. "He has been watching a tremendous amount of Michael Jackson concerts from the '80s and '90s. And he has been talking to me about how Michael incorporated magic and pyro and reveals and he wants to bring in that. [But] still do that acoustic thing, but he wants to take it to a whole new level.</P><P>"It's just really exciting," he continued. "Nothing makes him happier than being onstage. So it's gonna be fun to get back onto the road. I think he was an amazing performer before, but his level of dance and musicianship and his range [has grown]. He's a veteran now. I think he wants to take it to a completely new level."</P><P>Not only will Bieber stay busy in the music world, but Mark Wahlberg notes that things are also chugging along with their long-teased, in-the-works <a href="/news/articles/1687903/mark-wahlberg-justin-bieber-movie.jhtml">basketball movie</a>. The actor insists they are inching closer to a start date. And, Wahlberg is co-signing Bieber's acting abilities.</P><P>"Obviously, [Bieber] is a very good athlete. People have seen him on MTV; he can play. But I also really think he can act," he said. "There's not going to be any shortage of pushing him in getting that kind of strong performance out of him, if we get to make the movie. We're just going to have to make him realize that he's playing a character so he can't have the same hairdo," he joked.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Mark Wahlberg Says New Bieber Film Is Like 'Color Of Money'" id="vid:792981" width="415" height="255"></div><p></p>

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Hands-Off: Microsoft Surface review

After seeing yet?another ?hands-on? review of the Microsoft Surface tablet, I thought it would be interesting to shed more light on what exactly the journalists who assembled in Hollywood this week for the Surface launch event?actually got to do with the tablets. In short, not a lot. Come along as I explain the hands-off reality of what I saw.

Anticipation, It?s Making Me Wait?

When everyone checked-in before the event started, they were given small plastic cards with a time printed on them. We weren?t told what these were for. Mine said 5:50pm. The purpose became clear after the event ended, though I think we had a pretty good idea what they were for. These were to allow us some close-up time with Microsoft Surface.

When the event was over, I was really looking forward to when my appointment would come around. I had about an hour wait, so there was plenty of time for anticipation. I walked around, had some nibbles and shot a few photos with my Windows Phone (I believe in accessorizing properly). Look at how pretty Microsoft made the stage, just like a big Surface:

Seriously, I was standing in the back of the empty hall talking with the guy who helped design all this. He was rightly proud of making it look nice.

The Surface Will See You Now

But enough stage dressing. My time approached. I gathered over near the front, where we were allowed to go through in groups of about eight. I had a chance to finally meet Ed Bott, a long-time Windows guru I?ve followed, who promised me that he?d be delivering a piece to help me, a Windows 7 user not liking with Metro-happy Windows 8, on how to fix all that (and he delivered). Bott?s own impressions of Surface from his tour is here. Also in our group was, I realized today, Mary Branscombe, who?s ?hands on? piece today tipped me over the edge.

Branscombe is hardly the only journalist who came out of the tour we were given and wrote a ?hands-on? story. I?m looking at you?TechCrunch, The Verge, AnandTech?and Mashable, among others. ?Hands-on? was used in plenty of headlines, and that irked me, because I know we weren?t given any real hands-on with the device at all. That is, unless you believe holding an iPad or a Kindle Fire that?s not turned on is ?hands-on.? That?s pretty much what it was like with Surface.

The Keyboard You Can?t Type On

After we entered, we went to the first station, where there were two guys holding Surface tablets and telling us how awesome the keyboards were. There were also a variety of keyboards spread out before us in pretty colors. Here are two of them I moved together, one of the super-flat ones on top of a more traditional keyboard with keys that actually moved:

The flat keyboard is really flat. Those iPad covers from Apple? Those are slightly thicker, I?d say. When you push on this keyboard, there?s no give like you?d expect from a regular keyboard. It?s like trying to type by pushing on a paperback book.

Now, the Microsoft guys were rambling on about all the awesome stuff that makes these keyboards work as well ? if not better ? than a real keyboard, all the same stuff we?d already heard about an hour before during the main event. I wanted to try one of the damn things. You know, like hook it up to a Surface and see it for myself.

Because, you know, the keyboard is the main feature here. Aside from that keyboard, Surface just seems to be another Windows 8 tablet. The keyboard is the edge that Microsoft?s apparently hoping will ?wow? consumers, even though you?d think putting a ?real? computer in a tablet would be ?wow? enough.

I asked one of the Microsoft guys if we could try the keyboard with the Surface he was holding, one that wasn?t on. Nope. Why not? He just kind of shrugged and said he didn?t know.

What the hell? You?ve dragged 100 journalists out in the middle of Los Angeles in the afternoon (with LA traffic, imagine crawling slowly on broken glass), made a big deal about this keyboard on stage and no one can actually try it? To see for ourselves how well it works? Yeah, that wasn?t encouraging.

After seven minutes (according to the time stamps between my photos), we were moved to the next station, where the innards of the Surface were spread-out. That was to show us what we were being told, that there?s this awesome material that?s awesomely wonderful blah blah blah. Oh, and the kickstand makes a carefully engineered clicking sound.

My Bike Has A Kickstand Too; That?s Not Why I Bought It

Now I?m thinking seriously? We?re going to get excited over the kickstand? Yes, my new iPad cover (and I mean a cover for the ?new iPad? not a new cover for my iPad) doesn?t seem to clip as well as the one for my iPad 2 did. I?d like it to elevate the iPad more on those rare occasions I?m trying to maybe eating and also reading the iPad. Usually, I?m just holding it in my hand. That means I don?t care that much about a kickstand, much less one that has perfect-pitch sound.

What I did care about was that this station had a keyboard hooked up to a Surface. Of course, the Surface wasn?t actually on. But at least I could get a sense of what it was like to open it. In fact, I was?desperately?trying to open it as we were being ushered away, because I kept feeling like it opened ?backwards? from what I?d expect:

See, the keyboard is light, unlike the keyboard of a regular laptop. So, you want it to be on the bottom, which means lifting a heavier console up, and it felt odd, kind of backwards. But maybe if I?d had more than 30 seconds to try, I?d have gottten used to it.

No Touching!

There was no time for that, however. You see, as the last group of the day, there was absolutely no one behind us. That meant, oh ? yeah, there was no reason to rush us other than to keep our time as limited with the Surface ? well parts of Surface ? as possible.

No matter. At the last table were live, working units. As with the previous tables, this station had two Microsoft guys behind it. This is how we interacted with the units:

That?s not a journalist holding Surface. It?s one of the Microsoft guys. They?d swing them around with a pretty picture on the front, I guess so we?d go ?ooh? and ?ahh.? If we were lucky, we were allowed to hold one for a few seconds. But if you tried to do anything with it, bang, it was gone.

Believe me, I know. I tried. I had kept hearing everyone on Twitter screaming about how no one at Microsoft was saying what the screen resolution was. Since it was such a big uber-secret, I figured I?d try to find out.

After asking repeatedly if I could hold one ? I felt like a seven-year-old, ?please can I hold it, please can I try, would you mind if I try? ? one of the Microsoft guys gave me a shot. I brought up the Start screen by hitting the Windows button on the front of the tablet, hit Desktop to get to the Windows 8 desktop, did a long press guessing that would bring up the Screen Resolution setting and it did ? at which point, the unit was literally jerked out of my hands.

Oh dear. Did I mention having a Windows Phone? Maybe I should have waved it around more. Anyway, I don?t think Microsoft guy number one quite knew what I was doing (you know, trying to actually use the damn computer the way I?d use a computer), so Microsoft guy number two didn?t catch on that by no means should I be allowed to hold one of these devices again. After more begging ? ?please can I hold it please please please can I hold it? ? I got another maybe 10 seconds to repeat what I did before. That got the unit jerked away again, with a ?Nice trick? remark.

The Hands-Off Museum

Nice trick? No, you know what?s a nice trick? Bringing out devices that no one can actually use. I know they work. I could see that one of the Microsoft guys was all logged into his. But why not let us actually use them, especially when you?ve made us wait from 10 to 60 minutes specifically, as we were told, so we?d all have some close-up time with Surface.

No journalist seems to have really used any of these at the launch event. None of the hands-on reviews that I?ve read, having been in that room and toured the stations, have anything that reflects any real hands-on activity to me. There?s plenty of careful photography that can give the impression that hands-on was going on. Some of it doesn?t even illustrate how the last station with the Surface tablets with keyboards in them literally had a rope to keep us away.

I remember once taking my kids to a museum where you weren?t allowed to touch things, something odd for them after years of being in hands-on museums. One of them remarked, quite seriously, ?I guess this is a ?hands-off? museum.? That?s what the Surface event was like, a hands-off museum.

But Windows 8 Tablets Are Intriguing

Frankly, I?m far more excited about Windows 8 tablets coming than the fact Microsoft has its own with a potentially fancy keyboard.

As I wrote earlier, to me the distinguishing point of Surface is Windows 8 itself, the fact that unlike the iPad, it looks to be a proper desktop computer tucked into a tablet. Can I really take one of these on the road, use it like a tablet, then plug back in at home or elsewhere to external monitors or keyboard to use like a desktop? I see some awesome in that.

Again, like I wrote before, if I could have only two of three tablets, I?d go iPad then Windows 8 and not Android, because Android?s not offering me anything I can?t already do on the iPad but with (to me) what?s not an elegant environment. Windows 8 is different, unique, seems to offer some compelling features even without the icing of a kickstand that goes ?click? and thin keyboard.

At the SXSW conference in March, Microsoft had a non-Surface Windows 8 tablet out in its booth. It was fascinating to see a tablet with a real file system:

It was nerdily amazing that I could even make a DOS prompt appear on it:

That was cool, and no one made me stop playing, not even Solitaire:

It?s a pity Microsoft didn?t have enough faith in Surface to let the journalists there actually have the hands-on that we wanted.

Postscript: Mary?s done a follow-up post explaining more about her hands-on experience. I said before, and I?ll repeat. My intent wasn?t to single her out. Her story was just latest of several publications writing about a hands-on experience, even though no one seems to have really used a live unit for more than a few seconds.

To me, putting a unit in your lap and pretend typing on it isn?t hands-on. Especially with this keyboard, that tells you nothing. I pretend typed on it myself at two different stations. That didn?t give me any sense of how typing on it really works, any more than playing pretend airplane when I was a kid actually let me fly through the sky.

My experience at SXSW with a Windows 8 tablet was far more satisfying, because it was just sitting there for anyone to use. Microsoft Surface is just a Windows 8 tablet with a newfangled keyboard. If people can really go hands-on with a Samsung Windows 8 tablet, or a Lenovo one, or an Acer one, there shouldn?t be anything that secret about Windows 8 itself on a Surface nor anything likely to crash, no particular reason not to let the journalists you?ve assembled use it.

Related Topics: Features & Analysis | Microsoft: Surface | Top News



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