Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
new madrid fault current time earthquake today earthquake today droid razr oklahoma news atomic clock
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Apple?s November iPhone 4S launch led to 83 percent increase in app downloads over 2010 (Appolicious)
After releasing the iPhone 4S in November, Apple and its iTunes App Store saw a big jump in app downloads, rising 83 percent over the same period in 2010.
TechCrunch has the report, which states that app market research firm Fiksu measured the volume of app downloads for the top 200 free apps in the iTunes App Store. Fiksu found volume across all those apps increased by 15 percent from October 2011 to November 2011, and also saw that for the first time, free app downloads broke the 5 million-per-day mark, rising as high as 5.65 million downloads per day in November. October?s record high mark was 4.91 million downloads.
App downloads had been on the decline since around June, as GigaOM reports, in a trend attributed to iPhone owners waiting for the iPhone 4S to hit store shelves. Apple saw a similar decline in iPhone sales in the space between the device?s traditional launch window in the summer and the iPhone 4S? fall launch.
The new iPhone has been extremely popular to date in lots of different markets. Predictions have Apple selling 30 million more iPhones in the last quarter of 2011 than previously expected. Apple has been expanding extensively in places like China and South America to bring the iPhone to new customers, and as one might expect, when those new customers get a shiny new iPhone, they immediately download a lot of new apps.
Fiksu also put some of the blame for the spike in app downloads on the latest version of Apple?s iOS mobile operating system, iOS 5. Apple released the software just ahead of the iPhone 4S and it added a lot of new features, both for the new device and for existing iPhone versions. As a result, developers pushed a number of new updates for their apps during the same period, to add in new functionality like iCloud support. Many apps, especially games, were optimized to take advantage of the powerful new iPhone 4S, and as a result, lots of apps likely saw increases in popularity and a revival in downloads after the new OS?s launch.
As TechCrunch points out, the download spike shows that there?s still a whole lot of room to expand in the smartphone market. Among cellular phone owners in the U.S., smartphones account for only about 50 percent.?That's a high number on its own, but also remarkable because that means there?s the entire other half of the cell phone market that doesn?t have a smartphone but could, and would also be downloading apps but isn?t. The iPhone 4S likely converted quite a few of those feature phone owners, but the market is still pretty young and there?s huge room for growth.
thanksgiving crafts matt cassel snowman google music willis mcgahee willis mcgahee 2013 ford escape
Friday, December 30, 2011
Jared Leto on His Third Album, ?This Is War?
In this week?s New York magazine, contributing writer Lizzy Goodman talks to Jared Leto about 30 Seconds to Mars?s new album, and about being a sort of self-help rock messiah. Says Leto: ?I have this drive to help deliver all of us?me included?to a place where we can feel free. We spent time in art [...]
lsu alabama earthquake when is daylight savings 2011 what time is it lsu vs alabama cain gingrich debate andy rooney dies
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Oscar voters: Your ballots are in the mail (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? Academy Awards season is officially on. Nominations ballots for the 84th Oscar show have just gone in the mail.
Oscar organizers mailed ballots Tuesday to 5,783 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Ballots are due back Jan. 13, and Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 24.
The Oscar ceremony is set for Feb. 26, with Billy Crystal returning as host for the first time in eight years.
Among this season's best-picture prospects are the black-and-white silent film "The Artist," the Deep South drama "The Help," George Clooney's family tale "The Descendants" and Steven Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse."
epic beard man new york jets nfl standings broncos broncos giants vs jets ny giants
How the world might end in 2012 (or maybe later)
Continue reading page |1 |2
It's a way off, I know, but don't bother to order a diary for 2013 ? you won't be needing one. On 21 December 2012, the world as we know it will come to an end. It's all been revealed in an old calendar of the Mayans, if you believe how it's interpreted by various self-appointed experts on their slightly whacky websites.
The coming Armageddon could, it's said, take many forms: a disastrous surge in solar activity, a reversal of Earth's magnetic poles, a collision with a black hole, the close passage of a mysterious planet called Nibiru ? the list goes on. It's all very entertaining, and pure nonsense.
The Mayans did keep a calendar, called the "long count", based on a period of 1,872,000 days. It began in August 3114?BC, and so is due to click over to its next cycle late next year. However, there's no evidence to suggest the Mayans saw the switch from one cycle to the next as apocalyptic. More to the point, even if they did, they had no way of foretelling the future.
On the other hand, it's true that we are doomed. Our planet and everything on it won't last. A billion years from now the sun will have brightened and swollen to a point at which the oceans will start to evaporate. A billion years after that, all Earth's surface water will be gone and, with it, all life except for some hardy species that can survive on whatever moisture remains underground.
Incoming!
The finite lifespan of the sun guarantees the demise of planet three. But there are all kinds of other natural calamities that might kill off large swathes of us in the much shorter term ? and we love to talk about them. Asteroid or comet collisions are a big favourite.
The Earth has repeatedly been used for target practice by big dumb objects in the past. An asteroid at least 10 kilometres across barrelled into us just over 65 million years ago and helped wipe out the last of the dinosaurs along with many other groups of animals and plants. A good thing, too, if you're human, because it left mammals free to flourish.
In 1908 a blast with the strength of about a thousand Hiroshima atomic bombs flattened trees over a wide area around the Tunguska river
in Siberia. The presumed culprit in this case was a fragment of a comet or a large meteoroid that exploded several kilometres above the surface. Had it happened over a populous city, the effect would have been disastrous.
Other nasty stuff has happened to the Earth. Supervolcanoes have erupted, blanketing vast areas with dust and lava, and plunging the globe into deep volcanic winters. Ice ages have come and gone, and very occasionally, during "snowball Earth" events, it seems that almost the entire planet has frozen over for millions of years.
These kind of events will happen again. We will be hit by asteroids and comets, large and small. More supervolcanoes will erupt. It's inevitable, and some of these events are perfectly capable of decimating the human race, or even driving us to extinction virtually overnight.
Chances are?
The trouble is, the level of danger and the immediacy of the threat is often grossly overstated. Run-ins with asteroids as big as that which put paid to the dinosaurs happen once every 100?million years or so. But that doesn't mean they happen every 100?million years like clockwork. Much smaller impacts, like the Tunguska episode, occur on average about once every thousand years ? a problem if they happen to maliciously target built-up areas, but not so alarming when you think of the great tracts of ocean and wilderness which are much more likely to be on the receiving end.
Speculation about upcoming disasters runs rampant when there's a failure, or unwillingness, to grasp basic facts. It happened this year in connection with an innocuous little comet called Elenin. Google its name and you'll find all kinds of hair-raising stories about how Elenin would come close to or even ram into the Earth, bringing death and destruction on a biblical scale. The hysteria started shortly after the comet's discovery when a few armchair theorists mistook the size of Elenin's coma ? the glowing, almost vacuum-thin shiny fuzz of vaporised particles around the hard nucleus ? for the size of the nucleus itself.
Word quickly spread on the internet, helped by the usual eagerness of tabloids and late-night chat shows to exploit a juicy yarn, that Elenin was as big as a planet and would cause chaos during its close passage of the Earth. In fact, as astronomers knew, Elenin was modest by cometary standards and never going to come any closer than 35 million kilometres, or about 90 times as far away as the moon. In the event, it disintegrated and was lost from view to even the most powerful telescopes.
Continue reading page |1 |2If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
cybermonday deals steve johnson norman reedus norman reedus sears john 3 16 office max
Japan's prime minister in India on economic mission
Last Updated:
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is in New Delhi on a visit that is expected to unveil a currency swap deal and reopen talks on a civil nuclear pact.
Unlike his recent visit to China where the main talking points were geopolitical, Mr Noda's visit to India will be heavy on business.
Mr Noda and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh are expected to sign a dollar-swap accord worth up to 10 billion dollars which would allow Tokyo to provide capital when the rupee falls against the US unit.
They will also discuss a Japanese loan for a mega project to build a freight railway between New Delhi and Mumbai and a key deal on civilian nuclear cooperation.
Source: http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201112/3398706.htm?desktop
animal house big ten championship game big ten championship game ultimate fighter 14 ultimate fighter 14 2011 bowl projections michigan state
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
FRee Football !! New Orleans VS Atlanta live Stream HD NFL Football Game Video Online TV on PC
New Orleans VS Atlanta Live NFL Regular Season 2011, Week 16 Stream Online Matches ,you want to watch online ||||| You Have Come To The Correct Place. Here You Can Watch New Orleans VS Atlanta Live NFL Week 16 All Matches In Streaming Online TV. The Is No Need To Look Any Where Else. We Make It Possible For You To Watch Live New Orleans VS Atlanta NFL Regular Season 2011 Matches From All Over The World Completely Free HDTV Online Channel. No Matter Where You Are You Can Watch Free New Orleans VS Atlanta Live NFL Week 16. Don?t Miss This Game To Watch STREAM COVERAGE.COM Is Better And Trusted Site.
MATCH DETAILS
New Orleans VS Atlanta Live NFL Week 16
MONDAY DECEMBER 26
Kick off Time: 08:30 PM (ET)
Match : NFL Regular Season 2011, Week 16
In This Site You Can Select Your TV Broadcast And Select Link Video With 100% HD Quality And Better Other TV Channels. This Site Is Fully Trusted And Secured. Share This STREAM COVERAGE.COM Links With Your Friends In Facebook, Twitter Or Others Media And Don?t Miss To Bookmark STREAM COVERAGE.COM. So Guys, Lets Watch This Events,The links updates before schedule kick off time live feed streaming. If you want to watch another match. Do not worry we will hard work to get video broadcast tv online feed for free from very easy and popular website like Justin TV or Ustream, P2P, freedocast and Sopcast for the games.Get instant access to the widest sports coverage on the net directly on your PC from any area.You will catch the latest in sports entertainment with full access to the Top matches! Streaming channels from nearly 250 countries, receive instant access to over 4500 HD channels of the latest and greatest! Exclusive Sports in Broadcast from all over the world. Watch Green Bay Packers vs Detroit Lions Live NFL Sports Broadcasts and Special Events Emissions Online. So easy you can always watch your favorite teams play live online.
Free Football, NFL Football, New Orleans VS Atlanta Live, New Orleans VS Atlanta Live stream, New Orleans VS Atlanta Live online, New Orleans VS Atlanta Live football, watch New Orleans VS Atlanta Live game
Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5665373867&f=378
geoffrey mutai wes welker brandon jacobs brandon jacobs fred davis fred davis fracking
The Blockheads, Water Rats, London
A fan barely moves the warm, soupy air inside the packed pub back room. It?s the sort of place where Ian Dury played with his band Kilburn and the High Roads in the early 1970s, one leg ravaged by polio, his Essex guttersnipe wit and intransigent attitude influencing a watching Johnny Rotten. But it was his next band the Blockheads who provided the jazz-funk, pub-rock engine which powered his greatest work, often co-written with Chaz Jankel.
Since Dury?s death from cancer in 2000, last year?s biopic with Andy Serkis, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, and Paul Sirett?s great theatre musical Reasons to be Cheerful, have revived his work. The decision of the Blockheads to carry on, though, provides the purest connection.
Making two more albums to date, they?re a focal point for the mostly middle-aged fans here tonight. Dury?s former roadie and minder Derek the Draw is at the mic: Dury?s retainer, not his replacement. Impassive behind green bottle-top Lennon specs, handlebar moustache white, he?s a conduit for the parts of his boss?s spirit he shares. The band start with two of his co-writes with Jankel for Staring Down the Barrel (2009), ?George the Human Pigeon? and ?A Little Knowledge?. ?Before I could shake a stick at a jack-rabbit...? Derek muses in the pub tale preceding the latter, dry cockney wit, wordplay and voice just right. Dury?s furious charisma isn?t sought.
Mick Gallagher?s jazzy piano introduces ?Inbetweenies?, Dury?s happily salacious lyric (?put your fingers where my mouth just went...?) preceding the better-known ?Wake Up And Make Love With Me?. Norman Watt-Roy pulls the trigger on its finish with a pluck of his bass. A revered player, knees and elbows always at sharp, hip angles, he and Israeli jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon are the musicians to watch.
Many of the crowd choose discretion over valour in the sweaty back room, resting at the bar till a favourite song starts. Mine is ?Sweet Gene Vincent?, a tribute to the late, gammy-legged rocker with poetry and power which is now one to Dury. ?Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick? gains thuggish force from the fans, jazzy subtleties abandoned to dance and let rip. This strange afterlife for a band who?ve lost their leader wouldn?t work for everyone. The Attractions without Elvis Costello? But the Blockheads keep something no one else can do breathing.
andy rooney groupon ipo groupon ipo breeders cup 2011 gwar gwar san diego weather
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
#SciAmBlogs Monday - snow, cold, reindeer, glaciers and more...
Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.More??
Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.More??
#SciAmBlogs Monday ? snow, cold, reindeer, glaciers and more?
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=ba453ebd124402d3812db260464ad331
joe pa joe pa brett ratner jerry sandusky toyota recall order of operations carrie underwood
State of the world: Is war on the wane?
Part 2 of the surprisingly upbeat state of the world: Long-term statistics show war is on the wane.
Car bombs in Afghanistan, firefights in?Libya, skirmishes in Sudan ? look at today's international news, and it's just the same-old same-old, isn't it? Mankind has been at war since the dawn of anger. Won't war always be with us?
Skip to next paragraph-
Graphic: The deadliness of wars
(Source: 'The Better Angels of our Nature' by Steven Pinker/Graphic: Rich Clabaugh)
Maybe not ? or maybe not as much, at least. War is on the downswing, argue some scholars. Its frequency has lessened considerably since the cataclysm of World War II.
"There really aren't very many wars anymore," says John Mueller of Ohio State University in Columbus.
Consider this number: zero. That's how many international wars were fought between developed countries in the years since 1945, says Professor Mueller. (Some argue that the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 would count as such a conflict. That would bring the total to one.)
This is notable because, in centuries past, great powers thought of war as an acceptable means of settling differences. Think of all the Franco-Prussian-Austrian-British conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries. The casualties of the World Wars put an end to that. So far.
"Shattering centuries of bloody practice, these countries have substantially abandoned war as a method for dealing with their disagreements," wrote Mueller in Political Science Quarterly in 2009.
Other forms of warfare have waned as well, argues Harvard University cognitive science professor Steven Pinker in his recent book "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined." His assertion, based on statistical evidence, is that violence ? from spanking children to police-blotter murder, genocide, torture, and war ? has decreased markedly. His suggestion that this is mankind's least violent era sparked great debate about human nature when the book came out in October. The book raised questions about what the appropriate lens is for viewing modernity and progress in an era that did, after all, produce the Holocaust and various genocidal conflicts.
Interstate wars since 1945 are bunched into three periods, roughly coinciding with the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Iran-Iraq War, writes Mr. Pinker. Since the end of the cold war their numbers have fallen precipitously, the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts notwithstanding. Civil wars remain the most common kind of conflict, but even they have become less common and less deadly since 1989. (The genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur represent "atrocious" numbers of dead, Pinker argues, but are nonetheless spikes in an overall downward trend since 1971.)
Perhaps more important, war casualties have plunged, according to Pinker. A bar chart of the number of people killed in conflicts per decade shows steady downward progress since the 1950s.
"In 1950 the average armed conflict (of any kind) killed thirty-three thousand people; in 2007 it killed less than a thousand," Pinker writes.
What's behind this drop? Pinker argues that our better angels ? empathy, self-control, morality, and reason ? have combined to convince mankind there is more to be gained in peace than war. Thus not just war, but terrorism, murder, and other kinds of human-on-human violence have been on a downward trend in recent centuries, he writes. Maybe there is something to this civilization thing, after all.
"Humans are not innately good (just as they are not innately evil), but they come equipped with motives that can orient them away from violence and toward cooperation and altruism," writes Pinker.
Really? Human nature has failed us at many points in history. And as even those who document the decline in war note, all they are showing us is the past. They're not predicting the future, per se. A few determined nihilists with weapons of mass destruction could reverse the decline in casualty figures in an instant.
Well, perhaps. But something has been going right in recent decades, notes Pinker. It would be nice to know what it is. If we figure that out, we could encourage these better angels ? to at least keep us on the right track in decades ahead. Maybe war is not inherent in humans but a learned concept humans come to accept. Belief in witches was such a concept. So was the belief it was OK to keep other humans as slaves.
That's how Mueller sees war ? as something mankind can learn to do without: "The way I look at it, war is an idea that is sold [to ordinary people]."
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ci0yBg4mkak/State-of-the-world-Is-war-on-the-wane
too short thanksgiving thanksgiving brining a turkey brining a turkey who won dancing with the stars 2011 five iron frenzy
Monday, December 26, 2011
Storify: See #Christmas eve in Rome, Bethlehem, Vienna. A beautiful slideshow from around the world. http://t.co/PXe8WKuZ
- Passer la navigation
- Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
- Passer cette ?tape
- Connexion
See #Christmas eve in Rome, Bethlehem, Vienna. A beautiful slideshow from around the world. storify.com/globaltvnews/c? 
Storify Pied de page
Source: http://twitter.com/Storify/statuses/150980963160178688
slim dunkin will rogers ohio university ohio university etta james keystone xl pipeline bowl games
NFL Week 16: Cleveland Browns (4-10) at Baltimore Ravens (10-4)
It?s pretty simple for the Baltimore Ravens right now: Win their final two games and they will be the AFC?s No. 2 overall seed and get a first-round bye.
However, Baltimore will have to do so without top receiver Anquan Boldin. He had surgery on his knee Thursday and will miss the final two games ? the team is expecting him back for the playoffs, but that first-round bye would surely help. The 31-year-old Boldin has 57 receptions for 887 yards and three touchdowns this year.
Boldin has produced three touchdowns and two 100-yard games this season. His 57 receptions and three touchdowns are his fewest since 2004. Over the past six games, Boldin has averaged 43.3 yards receiving. Rookie receiver Torrey Smith has averaged more receiving yards during that time (62.2). With Boldin sidelined, Smith and Lee Evans are expected to start for Baltimore.
Cleveland again starts Seneca Wallace at QB ahead of Colt McCoy, who is still dealing with post-concussion symptoms. Wallace?s one start against the Ravens came in the team?s most recent trip to Baltimore on Sept. 26, 2010. He threw for 141 yards and a TD in a 24-17 defeat, while counterpart Joe Flacco passed for three touchdowns.
The Browns? offense is somewhat conservative and averages only 294.6 total yards per contest. The Ravens can be stingy, yielding 90.0 yards per contest against the run. Look for Browns coach Pat Shurmur to throw more play-action passes to loosen up Baltimore?s third-ranked defense, which yields only 287.9 yards per game.
The Ravens have won seven straight over the Browns, tied for the longest win streak against an opponent in team history. They?ve also won seven consecutive games over the New York Jets.? Baltimore?s latest victory in the series came Dec. 4 as Ray Rice ran for a career-high 204 yards in a 24-10 win. Ricky Williams added 76 yards rushing as the Ravens piled up 290 on the ground.
If the Ravens don?t get pass pressure, they are as vulnerable as any defense. In their four losses, they have registered only five sacks. Ravens star Terrell Suggs was kept fairly at bay in the first meeting, netting only one sack. His 13 lead the AFC and tie for fifth in the NFL.
WAGERWEB.COM NFL FOOTBALL BETS ? Ravens by 13
RECORD VS. SPREAD ? Cleveland 5-8-1; Baltimore 7-6-1
SERIES RECORD ? Ravens lead 18-7
LAST MEETING ? Ravens beat Browns 24-10, Dec. 4
LAST WEEK ? Browns lost to Cardinals 20-17 OT; Ravens lost to Chargers 34-14
BROWNS OFFENSE ? OVERALL (29), RUSH (30), PASS (22)
BROWNS DEFENSE ? OVERALL (14), RUSH (31), PASS (3)
RAVENS OFFENSE ? OVERALL (15), RUSH (16), PASS (16)
RAVENS DEFENSE ? OVERALL (3), RUSH (2), PASS (5)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES ? Second meeting this month between AFC North foes. Ravens have won seven straight in lopsided series. ? Browns coach Pat Shurmur and Ravens mentor John Harbaugh coached together with Philadelphia from 1999-2007. ? Browns 1-6 on road; Ravens 7-0 at home. Browns 0-4 in division; Ravens 4-0. ? Cleveland expected to start Seneca Wallace at QB ahead of injured Colt McCoy (concussion). ? Browns LB D?Qwell Jackson, who leads team with 138 tackles, played in college at Maryland. ? Cleveland RB Peyton Hillis ran for 144 yards on 22 carries with TD in last game at Baltimore, a 24-17 defeat. ? Ravens seeking to complete first 8-0 season at home. ? Baltimore QB Joe Flacco 7-0 vs. Browns with eight TDs and four INTs. ? Ravens have won six straight AFC North games. ? Baltimore RB Ricky Williams needs 64 yards to reach 10,000 in career. ? Ravens signed K Shayne Graham on Wednesday. He is expected replace injured Billy Cundiff (calf). ? Ravens S Ed Reed has 10 career INTs vs. Cleveland, the most against any opponent. ? Baltimore is only NFL team that has not yielded a first-quarter sack.
Place your NFL football bets at our online sportsbook!
humpback whale humpback whale barrel roll anagram 180 degrees askew cory smoot
NORAD Santa trackers have record holiday
FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2010 file photo, volunteers take phone calls and answer emails at the Santa Tracking Operations Center at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo. Santa is already piling up monster numbers on social networking sites this season, so the volunteer Santa-trackers at NORAD are bracing for tens of thousands of calls and emails when their operations center goes live on Christmas Eve. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2010 file photo, volunteers take phone calls and answer emails at the Santa Tracking Operations Center at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo. Santa is already piling up monster numbers on social networking sites this season, so the volunteer Santa-trackers at NORAD are bracing for tens of thousands of calls and emails when their operations center goes live on Christmas Eve. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2010 file photo, Air Force Lt. Col. David Hanson, of Chicago, takes a phone call from a child in Florida at the Santa Tracking Operations Center at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo. Santa is already piling up monster numbers on social networking sites this season, so the volunteer Santa-trackers at NORAD are bracing for tens of thousands of calls and emails when their operations center goes live on Christmas Eve. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
DENVER (AP) ? Santa Claus set records Christmas Eve he raced across the globe on his on his traditional holiday mission.
Santa tracking volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado said they fielded about 102,000 telephone queries beginning early Saturday on his progress, breaking the previous mark of 80,000.
And his NORAD Facebook page recorded about 999,000 "likes," compared with 716,000 a year ago. Twitter followers increased from about 53,000 last year more than 89,000.
Officials said records set this year were likely generated by people passing the word as well as social media interest.
"I think what happens is that every year the ones the participated" tells others, Canadian Navy Lt. Al Blondin. "There's word of mouth."
Volunteers at NORAD Tracks Santa said kids started calling at 4 a.m. Saturday to find out where Santa was.
"The phones are ringing like crazy," Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis said Saturday.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955. That was the year a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa on a hotline, but the number had a typo, and dozens of kids wound up talking to the Continental Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.
The officers on duty played along and began sharing reports on Santa's progress. It's now a deep-rooted tradition at NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canada command that monitors the North American skies and seas from a control center at Peterson.
First lady Michelle Obama was among the volunteers for a second year in a row. She took about 10 calls from her family's holiday vacation in Hawaii. Lewis said Obama's voice didn't throw any of the phoning children.
"They all just asked run-of-the-mill stuff. They wanted to know about Santa," Lewis said.
After visiting many nations, Santa's first stop in the U.S. came at 9:02 p.m. MST in Atlanta. Blondin said.
The NORAD website said Santa then set a generally westward course, making numerous stops including Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco. He later passed through Hawaii and Alaska before setting his home course for the North Pole.
In addition to NORAD's Santa website and Facebook and Twitter pages, Santa this year has a new tracking app for smart phones. The app includes the Elf Toss, a game similar to Angry Birds. Blondin said there had been more than 700,000 downloads.
___
Online:
http://www.noradsanta.org
Associated Presszynga free shipping free shipping esophageal cancer extreme makeover home edition marfan syndrome marfan syndrome
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Robert De Niro, wife welcome baby girl
FILE- In this Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 file photo, Robert DeNiro and Grace Hightower arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, FILE)
FILE- In this Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 file photo, Robert DeNiro and Grace Hightower arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, FILE)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Robert De Niro is a father again.
Stan Rosenfield, the 68-year-old actor's spokesman, says De Niro and his 56-year-old wife, Grace Hightower, welcomed a healthy 7-pound, 2-ounce (3.3 kilogram) baby girl named Helen Grace Hightower through a surrogate mother.
She is the couple's second child. Their son, Elliot, is 13. No other details were provided.
The "New Year's Eve" and "Limitless" star has four other children from previous relationships.
Associated Press2011 bowl projections michigan state michigan state ndamukong suh ndamukong suh aptera aptera
Saturday, December 24, 2011
With Microsoft Out, Who Will Keynote CES 2013?
A CES tradition is coming to a close: Microsoft will not appear, let alone own the keynote, at next year's consumer electronics trade show. But with ending traditions come new opportunities, all begging the question: Who will deliver the CES keynote in 2013?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/rLdIV0Yk2Xc/
personhood amendment haynesworth haynesworth ohio issue 2 ohio issue 2 mississippi personhood mississippi personhood
Friday, December 23, 2011
North Korean transition appears smooth so far (AP)
PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Korea's power transition to Kim Jong Il's young son appeared to be going smoothly Thursday, with state media calling him an "outstanding leader" and no signs of unrest on the capital's streets or unusual troop movements.
Foreign governments have focused intense scrutiny on North Korea since Kim's death was announced Monday, because of concerns over his untested heir's rise in a country with a nuclear program, 1.2-million strong military and a history deep animosity toward its neighbors.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans continued to mourn on Pyongyang's streets for the man who led the country for 17 years as it struggled with famine and exasperated the United States and its allies with a steady push to build nuclear weapons.
U.S. and South Korean military officials said there had been no unusual military movements by the North Koreans in recent days.
"This appears to be a relatively smooth transition on the peninsula, and we hope it stays that way," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in Washington, adding that there has been no increase in force protection levels for U.S. troops in South Korea.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, meanwhile, sought to assure Pyongyang that his country was "not hostile" toward its neighbor despite putting its front-line troops on alert since Kim's death was announced.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Yoon Won-sik said North Korea's military isn't showing any particular movement and that the South's troops are operating normally despite the alert.
In a clear signal to North Korea's people and the outside world, the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun in a lengthy editorial urged the country to "rally, rally and rally behind great comrade Kim Jong Un and faithfully uphold his leadership."
It called him "the outstanding leader of our party, military and people and a great successor."
Ratcheting up the personality cult it builds around the Kim family, North Korea claimed that Kim Jong Il's death generated a series of spectacular natural phenomena, creating a mysterious glow atop a revered mountain, cracking a sheet of ice on a lake with a loud roar and inspiring a crane to circle a statue of the nation's founder before perching in a tree and drooping its head in sorrow.
Dramatic scenes of mourning in the capital have continued nearly nonstop since Monday's announcement of Kim's death, which the government says happened two days earlier when he suffered a massive heart attack while on a train.
Tens of thousands packed Pyongyang's snowy main square Wednesday to pay respects to him. Women held handkerchiefs to their faces as they wept and filed past a huge portrait of a smiling Kim hanging on the Grand People's Study House, in the spot where a photograph of Kim Il Sung, Kim's deceased father and the country's founder, usually hangs.
State media said that a Manchurian crane was seen flying around a statue of Kim Il Sung on Tuesday and that it circled three times before alighting on a tree. The crane stayed there for quite a long while with its head drooped before flying away in the direction of Pyongyang, the report on the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.
"Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong Il born of heaven after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him," the report said.
Despite the signs that North Korea is consolidating power behind Kim Jong Un, worries remain high in the region over possible instability.
Chinese boatmen along a river separating North Korea and China told The Associated Press that North Korean police have ordered them to stop giving rides to tourists, saying they will fire on the boats if they see anyone with cameras.
Kim Jong Il ruled the country for 17 years after inheriting power from his father, who died in 1994. Kim Jong Un only entered the public view last year and remains a mystery to most of the world.
South Korean military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office policies that restrict comment on intelligence matters, confirmed that North Korea has ordered its troops to be vigilant but said that this doesn't mean they're moving.
South Korea's intelligence agency has told Parliament members that an ad hoc committee in which Kim Jong Un is a vice chairman is expected to handle key state affairs before he formally becomes the country's leader.
The agency predicts Kim Jong Un's aunt Kim Kyong Hui, a key Workers' Party official, and Jang Song Thaek, her husband and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, will play larger roles supporting the heir, according to a lawmaker who spoke to the AP.
The young Kim led a procession of senior officials Tuesday in a viewing of his father's body, which is being displayed in a glass coffin near that of Kim Il Sung. Publicly presiding over the funeral proceedings was an important milestone for the son, strengthening his image as the country's political face at home and abroad.
According to official media, more than 5 million North Koreans have gathered at monuments and memorials in the capital since Kim's death.
The North has declared an 11-day period of mourning that will culminate in a state funeral and a national memorial service on Dec. 28-29.
___
Reporting from Pyongyang by Associated Press Television News senior video journalist Rafael Wober. AP writers Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim, Sam Kim and Eric Talmadge in Seoul, South Korea, Lolita Baldor in Washington, and Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee contributed to this story.
daylight savings bobolink bobolink breeders cup hamilton park brian wilson freedom writers
Business Model Innovation the Red Sox Way - Scott Anthony ...
Scott Anthony
Scott leads Innosight?s Asian operations. His fourth book on innovation, The Little Black Book of Innovation, will be released in early 2012. Follow him on Twitter at @ScottDAnthony.
We entered the EMC Club at Fenway Park on a crisp December evening, about 10 minutes before the scheduled start of Innosight's year-end party. We gaped like little kids at what John Updike memorably called a "lyrical little bandbox of a ballpark" illuminated with wreaths. Then we turned to the scoreboard and saw what seemed a 300-foot-tall sign saying, "Fenway Park welcomes Innosight" (they even had our new logo!).
Why am I writing about Innosight's holiday party? Because Fenway can show us some novel ways to grow a seemingly mature business.
When John Henry and Tom Werner led the purchase of the Red Sox in 2002, pundits believed they had to leave Fenway Park. After all, the tiny stadium built in 1912 lacked many modern amenities and had the second smallest seating capacity in the major leagues. It seemed to constrain the team's ability to generate sufficient revenues to compete against the team's hated rivals, the New York Yankees.
Hosting parties in December is just one example of how the ownership team has found innovative ways to increase the revenues it derives from Fenway. The stadium has hosted entertainers like Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen, and events such as the National Hockey League's Winter Classic. The Red Sox have added several new classes of seats, notably seats on top of the iconic 30-foot wall in left field ("the Green Monster"). They received approval from the city of Boston to close Yawkey Way to automobiles on game days, providing increased space for vendors. In dozens of little ways the owners have found ways to squeeze more growth out of the stadium. Of course, a track record of recent success, including two World Series titles (the one in 2004 ending a famous 86-year drought) and six trips to the playoffs in nine years hasn't hurt.
The ownership has introduced other business model innovations. The Red Sox were one of the first teams to invest in the local regional cable sports network, the New England Sports Network (the Red Sox owners control 80 percent of NESN). These networks have turned into significant revenue drivers. The Red Sox also created youth camps to build brand awareness among younger consumers.
Major league owners are famously reluctant to release franchise-specific financial information. However, Forbes estimates that the value of the Red Sox has climbed from about $500 million in 2002 to $900 million in 2011 ? an impressive 7% annual growth.
Companies seeking to revitalize seemingly stagnant businesses can take three lessons from the Red Sox success:
- Question orthodoxy. Of course you can't put people on top of the Green Monster. Or host a hockey game in Fenway. Or can you?
- Systematically evaluate business model options. A business model describes how an organization creates, captures, and delivers value. Consider all of the different levers at your disposal to create growth.
- Look to the peripheries. Cable broadcasting and fan clubs aren't obvious places to look for growth. Growth often comes from carefully examining the edges of your current business.
Just because a business is mature doesn't mean there isn't room for growth. If the Red Sox can find growth in an almost 100-year-old stadium, surely corporations can find growth in products and services that seem to have leveled off.
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/anthony/2011/12/business_model_innovation_the.html
the waltons weta weta rudolph the red nosed reindeer rudolph the red nosed reindeer adam carolla desean jackson
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Asian stocks, euro steady after sell-off (Reuters)
TOKYO (Reuters) ? Asian stocks and the euro steadied on Tuesday, but sentiment remained fragile on concerns that efforts to contain the euro zone debt crisis were faltering and tougher rules to strengthen banks' capital would further undermine their profits.
Sentiment in Asia was already risk-averse, after the death of North Korea leader Kim Jong-il raised fears of regional instability and prompted investors to pull money out of riskier assets and into the safe-haven dollar on Monday.
Market players said thin pre-holiday trade was likely to exaggerate price swings, but that further heavy selling was unlikely until there was another catalyst, such as European sovereign ratings cuts.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) inched up 0.4 percent on Tuesday, after sliding as much as 2.9 percent the day before. South Korea's benchmark index (.KS11) led the gains with a 0.7 percent rise, after plunging as much as 5 percent on news of Kim's death on Monday. (.KS)
Tokyo's Nikkei share average (.N225) rose 0.65 percent, after hitting a new three-week low on Monday. (.T)
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Euro zone crisis in graphics: http://r.reuters.com/hyb65p
Euro zone meetings in 2011: http://link.reuters.com/van64s
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Kim's death triggered immediate nervousness in the region, with South Korea stepping up its military alert, while Beijing, Pyongyang's neighbor and only powerful ally, affirmed its close ties. North Korea appears to have identified Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor.
"Developments overnight helped ease some risks of immediate disorder ... triggering a rebound across the markets, which were spooked and overshot yesterday," said Makoto Noji, senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.
"But it's nothing more than buying back in oversold markets, given very little positive news to recover confidence," he said.
EUROPE WOES CAP
European finance ministers failed on Monday to boost resources at the International Monetary Fund by a targeted 200 billion euros, agreeing to raise 150 billion euros, leaving doubts about whether the scheme would work with London, Washington and Germany's Bundesbank unenthusiastic.
With worries that the region's scheduled permanent bailout fund is insufficient to handle the debt problems, the increase in the IMF resources was seen as a vital part of Europe's steps to prevent the debt crisis from spinning out of control.
European policymakers made some progress in pursuing fiscal consolidation in Europe earlier in the month, but their failure to nail down a convincing commitment for the crucial bailout program has prompted rating agencies to warn of downgrades for several euro zone countries, including France.
Credit ratings cuts of core European countries would further undermine the ability of highly-indebted euro zone countries to tap funds as they face soaring borrowing costs, and could derail progress towards resolving the euro zone's debt crisis.
"Concerns about the European situation will keep the euro under pressure even if it manages short-term rises," said Sumino Kamei, a senior currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned of substantial downside risks to the economy and forecast 2012 as a difficult year for banks.
His comments weighed on the U.S. financial sector, sending the stock price of Bank of America (BAC.N), the largest U.S. bank, below $5 for the first time since March 2009.
Dollar funding strains intensified, with the costs for euro zone banks to borrow dollars rising. The benchmark London interbank offered rate on three-month dollars rose for a seventh straight session to 0.56695 percent on Monday, the highest level since July 2009.
The euro hovered around $1.3000 on Tuesday, little changed from late in New York and off Monday's low of around $1.2983. It hit an 11-month low of $1.2944 last week.
Commodities also steadied after coming under selling pressures on Monday. U.S. crude futures gained 0.5 percent on Tuesday, while gold edged 0.3 percent higher to $1,597.30, off Monday's lows near $1,582 an ounce.
Asian credit markets firmed as other markets stabilized, with spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index narrowing by a couple of basis points on Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Alex Richardson)
nba news florida gators erin brockovich the duchess the duchess hope solo hope solo
Monday, December 19, 2011
About How Best To Blog Regarding Pets For Any Business Site ...
Pet Blogging is a good way to spend your time. If you are a natural born writer, then you will not have problems Pet Blogging. If you have a knack for sharing your opinion, then Pet Blogging is going to be fun for you. If all of these things are true, then why is Pet Blogging so hard for some people? Why do so many people have problems with Pet Blogging? This is because they are making things harder than what they should be. There is nothing hard about Pet Blogging if you use good judgment. If you do not like Pet Blogging, how do you expect your readers to warm up to your blog? Use some of the following tips to make your Pet Blogging life less stressful.
For additional info on Pet Airline, Pet Transportation Services and also Dubai Currency Dubai write today.
Even though all blogs are about one particular thing, you can create posts that are generic in nature. This makes it simpler to get new blog ideas. And you?ll also be able to create unique and valuable content. For example, if your niche is ?dog training? then you can move a bit out of it and write a general article on ?pet training?. What this does is, it gives you room for more ideas and makes your Pet Blogging much easier. It gives you the needed push from time to time. So put your focus using this method whenever you can.
Every pet blogger needs ideas. Great blog posts begin with a simple thought and transform into something wonderful. In order to get insightful, maybe you should set a specific time for it. Just like taking action, you should also plan to think as well. Even though this might seem like a little thing, it really helps things in the end. The more that you pay attention to doing new things, the better your blog will become in the end.
Pet Blogging has to really appeal to your senses. Writing until you are burned out is not a good thing. Make sure that you take regular breaks. Don?t over do it because this is not good. Your productivity will suffer instead of increase. Provide relief and take some breaks. Make time for breaks just like you do work assignments. Or you will end up burnt out and your blogs will suffer as a result of it.
Every pet blogger has goals, both long term and short term, and if you?re serious about Pet Blogging you might have goals too. It could be getting more subscribers to your blog, gaining more comments on a day to day basis or simply improving the quality of your content with time. Whatever it is that you want to achieve out of your blog, you should be focused on making your Pet Blogging experience easy for you. Figuring out what you want to accomplish is perhaps the most important part of running your blog or being in business.
Similar Posts:
Source: http://www.arlingtonmemorialhs.org/about-how-best-to-blog-regarding-pets-for-any-business-site/
nome alaska nome alaska alaska map bil keane storm in alaska storm in alaska asteroid
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Archos 35 home connect now shipping for $149, still looks pretty unsightly
Sony's Dash let you down? Can't fall for Chumby? Archos has yet another option in the blossoming world of sophisticated alarm clocks, as the previously announced 35 home connect is now shipping to the US of A. Put simply, it's an Android-based web radio that touts built-in WiFi, a pre-loaded TuneIn Radio Pro application and the ability to showcase weather, real time traffic, sports, social networking, movies, music, games and more. If your looking for a more private experience, there's even a 3.5mm headphone jack, but we aren't entirely convinced it's worth the $149 asking price. Call us crazy, but there's a bit too much 1994 in that casing.Continue reading Archos 35 home connect now shipping for $149, still looks pretty unsightly
Archos 35 home connect now shipping for $149, still looks pretty unsightly originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |
Archos | Email this | Comments
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/maOYqzFkiLc/
alec baldwin rock and roll hall of fame erin andrews erin andrews blagojevich sentence mythbusters cannonball uss arizona
Timeline: 'The greatest thing Facebook's ever done'? (The Week)
New York ? For better or worse, Facebook's new profile lays out a user's entire online history in an easy-to-graze chronological format
It's here: After a September preview, Facebook is now rolling out its dramatic profile redesign ? Timeline ??to its 800-million-plus global users (watch a video tutorial here). The "entirely new kind of profile" collects every moment and detail of a users' life, every status update and post, and organizes the material in chronological order. One commentator likens it to "an obsessive compulsive's digital scrapbook." User can opt in to the upgrade and enjoy a 7-day review period before their new profile is made public, or simply wait until Facebook switches over all old profiles, which it plans to do. Another commentator calls Timeline "the greatest thing Facebook's ever done." Is it really?
Timeline is truly impressive: "This is the single greatest change that Facebook's ever pushed on us," says Sam Biddle at Gizmodo. Facebook now has the potential to provide a visual history of an entire life, from birth to this morning's breakfast. And, it's easy-to-use and unexpectedly "beautiful" given Facebook's typically lacklustre design. Sure, "there's a certain element of lost control" with Timeline and it's "a little messy ??but hey, so's life." This is an exciting, "enormous leap for social networking."
"Facebook Timeline review: This is the greatest thing Facebook's ever done"
And seductive: "From what I've seen so far, it's a solid update," says Don Reisinger at CNET. While some users are likely to balk at such a big change, it's easy to customize and set privacy controls, it looks good, and it allows you to get to know people even better online. After making the switch to Timeline myself, I was "immediately hit with a sense of nostalgia," seeing all my old photos and updates. For better or worse, it's all there.
"Facebook Timeline goes live ? out with old, in with new"
But it's also a bit of a pain: Facebook's big change may necessitate that users "do some privacy housekeeping," says Kashmir Hill at Forbes. "Many people, when building their networks, weren?t thinking about the information that would be exposed years after." It's a good idea to limit sharing to friends, and to unfriend people whom you don't really care about or want knowing all about your past.
"As Facebook Timeline rolls out, find out how well you know your friends"
View this article on TheWeek.com
Get 4 Free Issues of The Week
Other stories from this topic:
Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletterchelsea clinton kat von d tiki barber minnesota vikings packers vs vikings packers vs vikings randall cobb
Saturday, December 17, 2011
How Apple's Patent Lawsuits Are Backfiring (ContributorNetwork)
The late Steve Jobs vowed to "destroy" Android, Google's open-source operating system for smartphones and tablets, according to biographer Walter Isaacson. He was reportedly willing to "go thermonuclear war on this" and "spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank," in order to bring Android down.
Besides the iPhone and iPad -- the latter of which has consistently beaten all Android tablets put together as far as sales go -- Apple's primary weapon in its ongoing war against Android has been patent lawsuits against Android device manufacturers. Its first suit was filed in March 2010, just after the Nexus One was released, and since then it has won import bans and sales injunctions against Android devices like the Galaxy Tab (most of which have since been reversed).
Things haven't been one-sided for Apple, though, and it's facing some unintended consequences from its patent lawsuits. Here are a couple of them:
They showed everyone how to make a non-infringing tablet
The cornerstone of Apple's case against Samsung was that Samsung's Galaxy Tab resembled the iPad very closely. Apple was shown to have doctored the photos it submitted as evidence, but many of Samsung's devices nonetheless bear such an uncanny resemblance to Apple products that photos of the two have become the stuff of Reddit parody.
At one point in a recent lawsuit, however, Apple commissioned a private inventor to submit a document explaining its competitors' options for making a tablet that Apple won't sue them over. The suggestions included "shapes that are not rectangular with four flat sides," and "front surfaces that are not completely flat or clear," or that have a "cluttered appearance."
Because of this, writers like Devin Coldewey of TechCrunch have expressed disbelief, calling the iPad "the tablet's Platonic form." Others have parodied Apple's suggestions by creating absurd concept designs of non-infringing tablets, or noting that the "Pyramid" tablet from the comedy television series The Office would pass Apple's test.
It increased customer awareness of Android tablets
As John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out: "The overwhelming majority of the media coverage I've seen for the Galaxy Tab is related to Apple's various lawsuits. ... I don't think there can be any argument that it's raised overall awareness that the Galaxy Tabs even exist."
The article that he linked to quoted a Samsung exec as saying that " the media awareness certainly made the Galaxy Tab 10.1 a household name," especially compared to how much it would have cost to market the tablet. He also said that Samsung might not be able to import enough Galaxy Tabs to meet local demand in Australia.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
patrice o neal paulina gretzky paulina gretzky wayne gretzky wayne gretzky occupy los angeles occupy los angeles
Early rally fades; stock market down for the week (AP)
An early rally faded on the stock market Friday, leaving indexes down about 3 percent for the week as worries resurfaced about a breakup of the euro.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion plunged after slashing its forecast for holiday sales. The IPO of online game maker Zynga Inc. didn't live up to its lofty expectations. The stock lost 5 percent on its first day of trading
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2 points. It was up as many as 99 points in the morning after the Italian government won a confidence vote on austerity measures. That gain evaporated around midday after Fitch warned that it might downgrade the debt of Italy, Spain and four other countries that use the euro. After markets closed, Moody's downgraded Belgium's debt two notches and said more cuts were possible.
Materials and industrial companies rose, signaling that traders expect the U.S. economic recovery to remain on track. Utilities, health care and consumer staples companies lagged the market as traders sold stocks that are considered to be safer when the economy is weak.
The Dow Jones industrial average broke a three-day slump Thursday on news that claims for unemployment benefits plunged last week and measures of manufacturing in the Northeast improved dramatically. The Dow lost 360 points over the first three days of the week as investors questioned whether Europe's agreement to closer coordinate fiscal policy would be enough to save the euro from a catastrophic breakup.
Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, said investors are holding back until they get a "firmer resolution" to Europe's debt morass and more progress in Washington on reforming entitlements, balancing the budget and getting the country growing again. "Right, now we don't have anything to offer them," he said.
Some analysts believe nervousness about Europe this fall and winter pushed stock prices too far. Investment adviser Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, expects stocks to rise into next year because of the growing likelihood that economic news and European headlines will remain positive.
"The odds are, the news is going to be better than the market is discounting," Landesman said. He said the market is near the low end of its recent trading range, and a dose of positive news could set off a mini-rally. Any market moves next week could be sharp as trading volume thins out before the Christmas holiday, Landesman said.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2.42 points at 11,866.93.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.91, or 0.3 percent, to 1,219.66. The Nasdaq composite index rose 14.32, or 0.6 percent, to 2,555.33 The Dow is down 2.6 percent for the week; the S&P 2.8 percent. The Nasdaq lost 3.5 percent.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note plunged to 1.85 percent from 1.93 percent earlier Friday after the government said consumer prices were unchanged last month, suggesting that inflation remains low. Low inflation makes bonds more attractive because it doesn't diminish the buying power of the fixed return a bond provides over time.
Seven of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index rose, with the only declines showing up in health care, consumer staples, and utilities. The biggest gains were in energy, materials and industrial companies. U.S. factories in some regions have had higher shipments and orders month, according to two surveys released Thursday. Materials companies are benefiting from soaring commodity prices.
Research In Motion Ltd. plummeted 11 percent after the company said late Thursday that new phones seen as critical to its future will be delayed until late next year. RIM also is taking a big loss on unsold tablet computers and predicted that its BlackBerry sales will fall sharply during the holiday sales season.
Zynga, which makes "Farmville" and other popular games, fell 5 percent to $9.50 in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq. The initial public offering was priced late Thursday at $10 per share, raising $1 billion. That means the San Francisco company can boast the biggest Internet IPO since Google Inc. first offered shares in 2004.
Among the other companies making big moves:
? New York-area cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. plunged 9 percent following the sudden departure of its chief operating officer, Tom Rutledge.
? Adobe Systems Inc. jumped 6.6 percent after the software maker reported earnings and revenues that were far better than what analysts had expected. Analyst Walter Pritchard at Citigroup said the quarter was a "blow-out when most expected weakness."
___
AP Business Writer Joshua Freed contributed to this story.
Follow Daniel Wagner at http://www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.
stanford football lsu football schedule lsu football schedule terrapin terrapin manny pacquiao vs marquez manny pacquiao vs marquez
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)