NASA READIs early detection GPS network, aids first responders with earthquake warnings

After tacking space shuttle Discovery onto the back of a 747, the brainy gang over at NASA's READI for a new challenge -- earthquake detection. The agency's GPS-monitoring system, known as the Real-time Earthquake Analysis for Disaster Mitigation Network, is being tested with the goal of more accurately detecting the scale of quakes and, consequently, getting tsunami warnings out as soon as possible. The setup, made possible by a partnership between the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey, works by measuring ground displacement in real-time to provide a faster, more detailed assessment of imminent damage, thereby giving first responders a head start on determining aid. So the next time you look up to the night sky and wish upon a tracking star, keep in mind that sometimes privacy-skewing, positioning tech could just save your life.

NASA READIs early detection GPS network, aids first responders with earthquake warnings originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  NASA  | Email this | Comments

encyclopedia britannica pi white lion mike d antoni resigns holes ncaa brackets 2012 odd

Men At Work Musician Greg Ham Found Dead At 58 (VIDEO)

Men At Work Musician Greg Ham Found Dead At 58 (VIDEO)

Greg Ham, the Australian flute player from the band Men at Work, has been found dead at his home. He was 58. Two friends went [...]

Men At Work Musician Greg Ham Found Dead At 58 (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

ohio primary cell phone jammer sandra fluke g8 summit netanyahu aipac vanessa minnillo

The Robotic, Disco-Loving Waitstaff of the 1980s [Video]

More »

did the groundhog see his shadow groundhog day 2012 serrano ground hog donald trump staten island chuck dr jekyll and mr hyde

Optoma Pico PK320 Pocket Projector

The Optoma Pico PK320 Pocket Projector ($450 street) is the brightest pico projector we?ve tested, with a good range of connections including HDMI. It stacks up well against other pico projectors in connectivity, and has decent image quality but for one notable issue we encountered in testing. It?s worth a good look if you?re looking for a powerful pocket projector.

The PK320 is rated at 100 lumens, and has a native WVGA (854 by 480 pixel) widescreen resolution. The projector is quite compact, measuring 1.2 by 4.7 by 2.7 inches. Using our postage scale, I weighted the projector at 0.5 pounds, while adding the power adapter brought the total weight up to just under a pound. The projector also can run off an included, removable lithium-ion cell that can last 90+ minutes in eco mode and 50+ minutes in standard mode, according to Optoma. It can fit in my pants pocket easily enough, though it takes up much of the room.

This copper-brown projector has the look of a larger projector, with the lens near the edge of one of the long sides, as opposed to the ?light saber? appearance of many picos in which the beam emerges from the middle of the narrow end. The focus wheel is in front of the lens, and is tricky to use, even if you can avoid putting a finger into the light path. On one side is the tiny power button; in back are the ports, a good selection for a pico projector: a proprietary port to fit a VGA cable; mini-HDMI; micro-USB for file transfer; AV-in, which fits an included cable with 3 RCA plugs for composite video, and an audio-out jack for headphones.

On top of the projector is a 7-button control panel, backlit with blue LEDs (though you have to quickly make a selection as the buttons soon go dark). The projector includes a tiny remote the same 7 buttons, plus buttons for Off, Bright, and for accessing VGA, HGMI, and Video sources. Working the menus can be awkward, especially at first. The controls (both on the remote and on the projector itself) make use of the arrow keys, but more often as symbol keys to access specific functions than to navigate menus. For instance, the Home screen shows six choices, each identified by a symbol: the right arrow denotes Setup, the up arrow, Music, etc.?they?re useless as arrow keys here in that you can?t scroll anywhere, but they do take you to the functions they symbolize. This takes some getting used to.

You can run presentations computer free from the projector?s 2GB of internal memory, or off of a microSD card. In addition to showing video, you can play music, show photos, or display business documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF) from internal memory, memory card, or thumb drive.

I tested the PK320 from about 8 feet away from our test screen, where it threw a test image about 48 inches diagonally. Image quality suffered in modest ambient light, so it?s best used in a relatively small, dark room.

Image Quality

In testing using the DisplayMate ?suite, I found the PK320?s data image quality suitable for internal presentations, say to a small workgroup?provided that the room is dark and relatively small. You could use it for presenting to potential clients in a pinch, though you might not want to use it in presentations where sharp text or exacting color is paramount. The good news is that (with the exception of an issue that I?ll soon discuss) colors were bright and reasonably true, especially yellows, which often look dull or mustardy with DLP projectors. The projector also showed less of a rainbow effect? distracting red-green-blue rainbow glints, particularly in bright areas against a dark background?than most DLP projectors.

In our text testing, images showed some blur at the two smallest sizes in both black-on-white and white-on-black text, a bit more fuzzy than is typical of a data projector. The other notable issue involved tinting in images with white or gray backgrounds.

When I set up our test unit and turned it on, I immediately noticed a pink tint in the (rather busy) image?s upper left corner. It persisted even after I?d given the projector enough time to fully warm up. In DisplayMate testing, when viewing an image that should have been uniformly white, the tinting revealed itself more fully as pinkish on the image?s left side, and greenish towards the bottom center.

The issue was notable enough that I requested a second test unit from our Optoma rep. I noticed the same issue in the second projector, though it wasn?t as severe: Only a trace of the pink showed up (in the same location), but the green was still apparent, at nearly the same intensity as with the original test unit. It showed up against white to medium gray backgrounds in data images, and with Word and Excel documents. It?s hard to say how pervasive or severe the problem is among PK320s in general based on two test units, but it?s definitely an issue worth looking out for. Optoma says that it is looking into the issue, with an eye towards correcting any irregularities they encounter.

Video Quality

I tested video quality using multiple video sources over several connections, primarily HDMI. The Optoma ML300 is okay for short clips, provided that color fidelity isn?t critical. For the most part, colors were bright and well saturated, but some tinting was apparent at times. Flesh tones tended to look reddish, and some bright areas took on a greenish tinge. Also, there was some loss of detail in bright areas. One plus is that, as was the case in data images, rainbow artifacts were nearly nonexistent and shouldn?t be an issue except maybe for people particularly sensitive to the effect.

Other Issues

The audio from the PK320?s built-in 2-watt speaker is of modest volume, not bad for a pico projector but you?ll want to be close to the projector whether you?re watching a movie or playing music. Fortunately the unit has an audio-out jack for headphones or powered external speakers.

The LED light source will last an estimated 20,000 hours, so you should never have to replace bulbs. The projector is backed by a 1-year limited warranty.

The market for micro-projectors has changed in the past year, with the influx of small LED-based projectors, palmtop sized or a little larger, in the 200 to 500 lumen range. Though there were always a few palmtop projectors, there?s now more of a continuum in side and brightness between pico projectors and ultra-portable business projectors.

The PK320 is among the largest and most powerful pico projectors, and its price is just slightly lower than the new micro-projectors (which cluster in the $500 to $600 range). The PK320 is smaller and lighter than these models, which weigh between 2 and 3 pounds. One drawback, though, is that it has an external AC adapter?which, unlike the projector, isn?t pocketable?while the LED micro-projectors have internal power supplies. The micro-projectors offer higher resolution, generally WXGA (1,280 by 800), and they?re considerably brighter than picos? though we haven?t been impressed with TI?s latest generation of DLP chips that many of them use, as they tend to introduce apparent scaling artifacts in data images that may result in softer focus.

If you?re considering the Optoma Pico PK320, you may want to look at some of these slightly larger and brighter micro-projectors such as the Optoma ML500 ?($650 street, 3.5 stars), Acer K330 ($600 street, 3.5 stars), and the more entertainment-oriented BenQ Joybee GP2 ($599 direct, 4 stars) as well. As for picos, the Editors? Choice Optoma Pico PK301 offers much of what the PK320 brings to the table at a lower price, though it lacks an HDMI connection and is only rated at 50 lumens. The Favi B1-LED-Pico ($280 street, 3.5 stars) is also a respectable choice, though it lacks a battery and so must remain yoked to a wall wart.

The Optoma Pico PK320 Pocket Projector is a powerhouse as a pico projector, bright and with a wealth of connectivity choices. However, it?s less impressive for its price now that bright micro-projectors are available for a little more money, and it still has a few image quality kinks to work out.

More Projector Reviews:

??? Optoma Pico PK320 Pocket Projector
??? Canon LV-8235 UST
??? NEC NP-L50W
??? Optoma Pico PK120 Pocket Projector
??? Optoma TW610STi
?? more

branson mo monkees songs danica patrick school closings top chef texas rail gun harrisburg

Funds to help bolster nascent companies (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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

butterball turkey fryer butterball turkey fryer yale harvard dan henderson oregon ducks oregon ducks oregon football

Google announces Brand Activate Initiative for online advertising, hopes to establish new standard

When Google makes a new move in advertising, people are bound to take notice, and it's made a fairly big one today. It's announced what it's dubbed the Brand Activate Initiative at the Ad Age Digital Conference today, something that initially consists of two new services for advertisers: Active View and Active GRP. The latter is a so-called gross rating point metric that's modeled to some extent on TV advertising, while Active View is something that Google hopes will become a standard for all online advertising. In short, it measures both how long an ad remains on a person's screen and how much of it is viewed -- if at least 50 percent of it is viewable for at least one second it's counted as an viewed impression. Both of those options are rolling out today, but they're apparently just the beginning of the broader initiative. You can see Google itself explain it in the video after the break, and on its DoubleClick blog linked below.

Continue reading Google announces Brand Activate Initiative for online advertising, hopes to establish new standard

Google announces Brand Activate Initiative for online advertising, hopes to establish new standard originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Yahoo! News  |  DoubleClick Advertising Blog  | Email this | Comments

kevin love north korea missile nerlens noel don t trust the b in apartment 23 world financial center shabazz muhammad angela corey

PHOTOS: Michelle Williams Steps Out with Her Daughter

Michelle Williams and Matilda take a walk in N.Y.C.! Plus, see more photos of celebs spending time with their loved ones!

wayne gretzky occupy los angeles occupy los angeles comedian patrice o neal occupy philadelphia occupy philadelphia conrad murray

Yoga for Beginners: Ideas to Get You Started

Life inside the Big Apple might be demanding and draining. One of the things you can do to chill out after having a long day of work in New York City is yoga exercise. Yoga, which indicates ?union? in Sanskrit, is actually a concentration that strives to harmonize the body, mind, and spirit. Once you find out about yoga, you most likely think about physical moves assumed for the duration of sessions. These are named ?asana?, that basically suggests ?seat?. Asana are just one part of the total system of yoga. Furthermore, it entails various other aspects for example dhyana or meditation, dharana or focus, along with samadhi or liberation.

Lots of sorts of yoga have invented through the years. Should you be looking for yoga for beginners courses in New York City, you may possibly notice many of them give vinyasa as well as hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is a lot more light and slower paced, working on basic stretches and inhaling and exhaling routines. Vinyasa yoga is just a bit sophisticated, with increased lively, brisk exercises. Both of these are wonderful yoga styles to get started with as a newbie, however, you might want to question your gyms employees which one they would suggest in your case.

Whilst you may continually start off practicing yoga alone with videos or diagrams as a manual, nothing can beat enrolling in an actual yoga for beginners class at a nearby health and fitness center. Getting a coach to help you and check out on your posture is the greatest approach to learn the concepts of yoga. Without having coach to adjust your postures, you could possibly end up working on the different asana wrong without even being aware of it.

In New York City, yoga instruction could cost you lots of money subject to which fitness center you enroll in. The great thing is besides paying for the instructional classes, you dont need to to pay for much else. All you need for your yoga for beginners courses are a yoga mat along with comfy work out garments. Always remember, yoga is completed on the ground and without athletic shoes, and that means you do not need to spend on high-priced gym equipment or running shoes.

Just before you start your New York yoga training sessions at the gym, you should become acquainted with some elementary guidelines.

* As mentioned before, yoga is performed barefoot, therefore youve got to leave your shoes and socks outside the yoga studio. Most studios or gyms have lockers or cubbyholes to safely store your shoes.

* Gadgets like mobile phones should be switched off and left inside your bag or locker. Remember, yoga is all about meditation and relaxing your mind, body, and spirit. Having a mobile phone ring during a session can be annoying and disruptive.

* Communicating with your instructor is important, especially if youre new. You dont have to be embarrassed about being a beginner; everyone has to start somewhere. If youre having trouble with a pose or exercise, ask your instructor for assistance.

* Arrive early. You will need time to put away your things and set down your mat, so you should arrive around 10 minutes before the session starts.

The author is looking for a yoga instructor who can teach yoga for beginners.

cesar chavez day raspberry ketone ron burgundy millennial media nit championship transcendentalism bells palsy

Shivya Nath: Diu May Be India's Last Beach Paradise

My slippers are in hand and my jeans are rolled up. I want to feel the white sand and the last remnants of Arabian Sea waves on my bare feet. I look at the turquoise waters in front of me and at the trail I've left on the beach. In a country of 1.1 billion people, you have to be really lucky to find a sun-kissed beach with not another soul in sight.

I arrived in Diu after a long, jerky bus ride from Ahmedabad this morning and immediately fell in love with the laid-back ambiance of the island. The empty roads beckoned me to rent a scooter and drive along the untouched coastline. With the wind in my hair, I maneuvered my way around the majestic churches of Diu, its sparsely populated villages, its eating joints and the remains of its old forts, the remains of Portugal's long-gone control.

Instead of returning in the evening to what is locally known as Sunset Point, a snippet of conversation with a resident of the island convinced me to head towards an edge of the island, where I was promised that there would be "no one." I found myself at the base of a cliff, on the right of which the sea and sand stretched for miles. No one was there.

The sun is now bright ball of fire it appears to be smiling at my arrival. On an impulse, I drop my slippers and run into the sea. The waves throw me a frisky welcome; I float atop the smaller, jump against the mighty, duck under the intimidating and find myself hurled to the sandy seabed despite my efforts. Each time I look up, the sun has moved a few inches lower and turned a few shades towards orange.

A dozen colorful little structures on the cliff scramble for my attention and, as the tide starts to rise, I wade my way to the shore to attempt to climb the rugged but gentle slopes of the cliff. The structures, I soon realize, are shrines that house the remnants of the Portuguese occupation. The waves crash sharply on the rocks at the edge of the cliff and the sun turns a bright red, the original color of these shrines. I keep them company until the sun makes its quiet exit.

?

Follow Shivya Nath on Twitter: www.twitter.com/shivya

google april fools office space shell houston open rajon rondo ray allen nascar oklahoma city thunder

Lego pirate proves how freak waves can sink ships

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV

A calm sea can sometimes unleash an unexpected weapon: a sudden monster wave that engulfs a large ship. Now Amin Chabchoub from the Hamburg-Harburg Technical University in Germany and colleagues have used a Lego ship to replicate the phenomenon in a wave tank for the first time, giving insight into how it occurs.

To recreate the effect, the team produced waves based on a solution of the non-linear wave equation thought to be the most likely explanation for large freak waves. In this case, a weak oscillation propagates continuously while suddenly increasing in amplitude for a short time. "I programmed the paddle of the wave maker to generate a wave train which is modulated according to theory," says Chabchoub. "This generated small waves as predicted from the equations and we observed the formation of a giant rogue wave during this evolution." As seen in the video above, the toy boat rides along on gentle waves until suddenly a large wave appears and it capsizes.

The experiment proves that the non-linear model provides a possible explanation for the sudden formation of walls of water in the ocean. The team hopes to expand on the research to model more realistic sea conditions involving wind, water currents and two-dimensional wave trains. The results could be used to develop a short-term prediction system for monster waves.

If you enjoyed this video, see how a toy boat was used to recreate the dead water effect or check out a water-bouncing ball that mimics skipping stones.

dwight howard michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville stephen jackson nba trade deadline

A Tale of Two Revolutions: Syrian Refugees in Libya Compare Uprisings

He has purple, bruise-like depressions beneath his eyes. She stares at the floor. The faces of their three young children are covered in mosquito bites. Together, they sit on a pair of thin, donated mattresses on the floor of their temporary home. He does all the talking.

By the time the family fled Homs two months ago, the city had become Syria's most infamous killing field. Residents say President Bashar Assad's forces lobbed shells and bullets at besieged residents like they were animals in a cage. Massacres begot funerals and demonstrations that begot more massacres. And at one such funeral, Mohamed (whose name has been changed to protect the loved ones he left behind) remembers dropping to the ground as Syrian forces opened fire -- only to feel the bodies of those who were slower fall lifeless on top of him. "They didn't fall fast enough and they killed them," he says, his voice cracking. MORE: How Bashar Assad Has Come Between the Kurds of Turkey and Syria.

The family's escape several weeks later was no less harrowing. The shelling barely missed them -- four adults and six children -- as they abandoned their home and fled south for the Jordanian border. Now they're safe, they say, because they're nearly 1,000 miles away from Homs, in Benghazi, Libya.

Syrian refugees have fled to Libya in the thousands in recent months, although no official figures are available. In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, Yahya al-Jamal, who helps run the Union of Syrian Revolutionaries there, a humanitarian outreach group, says he registered more than 700 new Syrian families in March alone.

Most of them fled the southern Syrian cities of Homs and Hama as the Assad regime shelled and shot at civilian areas where residents had staged protests and the rebel Free Syrian Army had found strongholds. But those who have made the long trek to Libya say that the North African state -- currently going through its own tumultuous transition since the revolution that toppled the 42-year regime of Col. Muammar Gaddafi last year -- has been far more welcoming than most.

Libya's transitional government was one of the first foreign governments to formally recognize the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), and it said in February that it would donate $100 million to the Syrian opposition. Across the country, Syrian refugees say that Libya has not only offered them a safer haven than Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, but that local volunteers have helped keep them off the streets. "No one is living in refugee camps," says Mohamed Tarek Ziad, a young activist from Homs, who escaped a death sentence from the regime and settled in the eastern Libyan city of Darnah. "People have offered us houses and are working to get us assistance," he says. "Even the Imams in the mosque -- in each prayer, they pray for Syria. And sometimes they join us in demonstrations."

There's something bittersweet about the hospitality here, and the reason is lost on few. "The Libyans have tasted the same pain," says al-Jamal, whose organization has shipped medical supplies to the refugee camps on Turkey's Syrian border, in addition to keeping hundreds of local refugee families afloat. "So that's why they're helping."

But it's more than that. The reason Libya is safe for Syrians, many say, is because unlike Syria's own ongoing struggle, the Libyan revolution succeeded. Libyans not only killed their dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but they toppled his regime -- and conspicuously, they did so with help. MORE: Syria Says Fighting Will Stop by UN Deadline

Overwhelmingly, Libyans argue, that's why NATO, Europe, and the United States, have every reason to support the Syrian resistance. "Bashar al-Assad is the same as Gaddafi, and what we see happening in Syria is exactly what happened to us," says Salah Buhliga, the commander of the Zawiya Martyrs' Brigade, one of Benghazi's largest rebel groups during the revolution, which, after months of NATO-assisted fighting on Libyan frontlines, is now being incorporated into a fledgling national army. "Why did NATO intervene in Libya? For the injustice. So for the same reason, they should help Syria."

In Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, that sentiment is particularly acute. Just over a year ago, in the final hours before a U.N. resolution authorizing NATO intervention was passed and implemented, Gaddafi's forces had reached Benghazi's doorstep, hurling tank shells and mortars into the city's outer neighborhoods. Many remember their fear at the time: that a massacre was imminent. "If NATO had done nothing, Benghazi would be finished, and I'd be dead, god willing," says one Benghazi resident, Saad Abdel Ghader, who used a recent Friday afternoon to picnic on the city's grassy outskirts with his family. It's a hindsight widely echoed across the country.

But the Syrians who have fled Homs for the relative safety of their Arab Spring counterpart believe there's a far more sinister reason that Homs is not Benghazi. "It has been 13 months, but no one has helped us because it's not in their interest to do so," says Ammar, a Syrian refugee in Darnah, who declines to give his last name because his parents remain in Homs. "Libya has gas and oil, but we have none of that." His friend Mohamed Tarek Ziad puts it differently: "Libyans can pay for their war. They can pay NATO back."

Analysts and foreign policy makers say it's far more complicated than that. They point to Syria's sectarian dimension -- its divided opposition and multi-ethnic, multi-religious tinderbox of a population. They note its proximity to Iraq, where a U.S.-led invasion in 2003 sparked years of sectarian bloodshed and instability that have yet to see their end. And they point to the seemingly larger proportion of regime loyalists in Syria, compared to Libya -- as well as powerful foreign backers, like Russia, China, and Iran.

But the families who fled a nightmare on the streets of Homs to the safe, but unfamiliar refuge of Benghazi, aren't buying it. "We're a poor country," says Mohamed, whose family now resides in Benghazi. "Is that why they don't care about us? Is that why we have no media inside? Libya had the chance to get media inside to expose a lot of secrets, and maybe that's why [the U.S. and Europe] helped them." He pauses, his face contorting with sadness and anger. "Is it because they want a price for our blood?" he continues. "Or is it to protect Israel and Assad is the best protector of Israel?" PHOTOS: The Victims of Assad: Photographs by Peter Hapak

On April 11, the Assad regime agreed to a ceasefire brokered by United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan. The U.N. says 9,000 people have already been killed in the war that has dragged on for more than a year; nearly a quarter million have been displaced. And the Syrian opposition has said it is suspicious of any government pledges to halt the violence, when previous declarations have preceded more military assaults on opposition strongholds.

"In America, the vicious killing of a dog or cat would make people sad for that animal," says Mohamed. "In Syria, it's children and humans who are getting killed on a daily basis," he says, staring imploringly at his foreign visitor. His four-year-old daughter watches closely from the floor. "So now there's another question," he adds. "Is it because we're Muslims?"

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

uk basketball iowa state faroe islands faroe islands corso james arthur ray james arthur ray

Strategic Business Planning ? Don't Plan to Fail By Failing to Plan

Developing a Strategic business plan is a crucial element in determining your ongoing business success. You can maximise business growth and minimise risk through effective strategic and contingency business planning. Plans do not have to be set in concrete. On the contrary, flexible business planning and goal setting is an essential part of business development and ongoing success.

Sharing our plans with business associates and staff is extremely powerful. We need to demonstrate that we are operating our businesses, however large or small, with accountability and fair prudence. Effective business planning should not just be for funding purposes or satisfying our bank manager. It should be the bedrock of successful business management. A workable and communicated plan becomes a statement of intent. It is a shared vision that the whole business, the staff and associates, are able to support.

What to include in your business plan:

Strategically, it needs to project the goals and aspirations of the owners. These need to be converted to progressive action steps that ultimately lead to the fulfilment of your objectives.

Ambitious plans create financial independence for business owners, inspire confidence in associates, empower staff and create lasting customer value. Your plan will provide the guidance you need to steer the appropriate course. Your plan can take full account of risk factors such as competitive forces and changing market conditions. Your plan needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. You are able to create a blueprint for achievement that you can action immediately, to make your business goals come true.

Start with an open mind to the true potential of your business. Every business has the inherent capability of producing outstanding profitability and astonishing results for customers. Think big. Imagine what you would strive to achieve if you knew you couldn?t fail. Develop the mindset that nothing is totally impossible. Sometimes there are only unrealistic timescales.

Match and track your activities to your objectives on a daily basis. Work with passion and a laser-like focus with persistency and consistency. Success thinkers and achievers are great visionaries. We can all be visionary by working in our areas of true passion.

These are some of the key elements of a strategic plan:

o Setting SMART goals and objectives

o Determining key financial & statistical information

o Planning an exit route

o Profiling your customer base

o Marketing your proposition effectively

o Examining key business functions

o Developing your organisational structure

o Defining your review process

If you require assistance with the development of your strategic plan, I will happily provide my guides free of charge. Please confirm whether you require personal goal setting, business planning or both to brian@brianjamesgroup.com.

Just one final thought. Don?t be fooled into thinking that there is no need to plan for your business success or any other endeavour in life. Just ask any champion.

Brian James Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.brianjamesgroup.com

Brian James has been working in the corporate marketplace for 25 years as a marketing and business development professional. He is a published author and creator of the breakthrough TripleM marketing methodology. He is an associate member of the Institute of Business Advisers, a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Vice President and Fellow of the Institution of British Engineers. He specialises in Strategic Marketing.

Brian has worked with blue-chip and medium sized companies across sectors as diverse as manufacturing, retail, telecoms, financial services and pharmaceutical. Some of the larger organisations he has worked with include the Prudential Group and British Telecom.

He currently operates as Chairman of the Brian James Group a business advisory Group for owner managed businesses ? Offering specialist advice in all areas of business management and academy membership programmes that provide ongoing regular coaching and mentoring support in person, over the phone and through distance learning. Contact:brian@brianjamesgroup.com

[http://www.brianjamesgroup.com]

Author: Brian James
:

crimson tide crimson tide dixville notch 2013 ford fusion lsu football lsu football bcs

Leftist rebels kidnap natural gas workers in Peru

Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters

Peru's President Ollanta Huamala (C) is greeted by workers at the Camisea natural gas project in the Amazon jungle, Cuzco state on April 3, 2012.

?

By Kari Huus, msnbc.com

Members of Peru?s leftist Shining Path rebel group kidnapped dozens of workers in Peru's natural gas industry on Monday, then freed some hours later, reports said.

A spokesman for?Skanska, an international construction company headquartered in Sweden, told msnbc.com that 29 of its employees ? all Peruvian nationals ? were kidnapped on Monday, and that two women employees later were released. The spokesman, Edvard Lind, said the company could not provide any other detail at this time.

Regional police chief Col. Roland Bayona says the gunmen originally seized 30 Skanska workers overnight Sunday but later freed 23, The Associated Press reported. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

---

The kidnapping occurred at Kepashiato in the Camisea gas fields in southern Peru.

The motive for the kidnapping remained unclear, but it was the first large-scale kidnapping by the rebel group in nearly a decade.

The Shining Path is a leftist insurgency founded in the late 1960s with inspiration from China?s Communist leader Mao Zedong. The guerrilla group lost much of its strength after President Alberto Fujimori launched a major offensive against the rebels in the 1990s. It has been nearly a decade since the group conducted a large kidnapping operation.

"Shining Path rebels took them hostage early this morning in the village of Kepashiato,'' an official from the natural gas pipeline company said. "They took them from the hotel where they were sleeping.''

The pipeline, which carries gas from Peru's Camisea gas fields to Lima, is owned by a consortium including companies from Argentina, the United States, and South Korea. Skanksa is building a natural gas compression plant in the area, Lind said.

Neither the government nor Skanska has said whether they had intervened to free some of the workers, Reuters reported.

The leftists were engaged in a bloody battle with Peruvian government forces throughout the 1980s, resulting in a reported 70,000 deaths and human rights abuses on both sides.

The rebel group splintered after the capture of their leader Abimael Guzman in 1992 and many top deputies, destroying the group?s chain of command, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

A couple of factions of the Shining Path continue to be active, generating income through the illegal drug trade.

None had committed a major kidnapping since 2003, Reuters reported. In that case, the rebels abducted 68 employees of an Argentinian company ? also doing work related to the gas pipeline ??and three police guards.

President Ollanta Humala, a former military officer, has vowed capture the last remnants of Shining Path. In February, government forces caught Shining Path leader "Artemio," also known as Florindo Eleuterio Flores in the Huallaga Valley. He was the last high-ranking figure from the historical core of the insurgency still at large, Reuters reported.

After Artemio's arrest, the government said it would go after rebels in the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers region, where they are led by Victor Quispe.

A high-ranking military official said the army was closing in on a group of rebels at the time of Monday's kidnapping.

"They took the hostages to halt our advance,'' the military official said.

Earlier the BBC reported the rebels had demanded the release of "Comrade Artemio" in exchange for the hostages.

A resident of Kepashiato village?told RPP radio that 150 armed insurgents were in the area and about 80 of them carried out the kidnapping, Reuters reported.

In this week?s kidnappings, the workers were seized in a jungle region near the Apurimac-Ene valley, one remaining stronghold of the guerrilla group, according to the BBC.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

colcannon dystonia tourettes gonzaga rosie o donnell soda bread recipe vanderbilt

El Futuro - Opp. for Internet Use, Business, & SEO in Mexico in ...

I haven?t spent that much time discussing the internet and the potential for internet marketing and SEO in Latin American -yet. It has been an area that just hasn?t received great attention. This is largely due to the fact that internet penetration in Latin America has been slow and the market for building an optimized online presence is not fully developed. Thus is the nature of developing markets, they hold great potential, but each country?s situation is different ? it depends on whether they are three years, six years, or more from entering a space where they have the infrastructure, support, business presence, and computing public to push for all the benefits the internet brings. A developed internet landscape not only brings a market for internet advertising and SEO, but it also brings marked social and economic benefits in terms of international development and progress. A McKinsey study interestingly addresses this very point.

With this context, we turn our attention to a leader in internet in Latin America ? Mexico. The country has seen significant growth in the internet during the last six years and the government is making it a priority to continue to advance in this realm. From a business perspective, the Mexican market, although being the third most connected in Latin America, is largely underdeveloped in terms of marketing. But as the internet advances in the country, the growth will spell great opportunity for many companies who serve the Mexican market to utilize SEO and optimize their web properties and essentially be ahead of the curve.

The Mexican Market
The Mexican government has unveiled its National Digital Agenda affirming the goals of the government as it outlines its ICT strategy for the years to come. In broad terms the plan sets out to ?reduce the digital gap and make a positive impact on the telecommunications markets in Mexico,? according to Mexico?s secretary of communications and transport, Dionisio P?rez J?come. The stats offered are significant, the number of internet users has doubled since 2006, now reaching 40 million, and in terms of broadband connections, there were 13 million fixed and 7.8 million mobile at the conclusion of 2011. A leading issue is access, as it is far from universal.

Check back tomorrow for the rest of my thoughts on internet in Mexico and how specifically businesses and SEOs can benefit from its advance. For more information on internet use in foreign markets or how international SEO services can benefit your business, reach out to me directly at rbuddenhagen@webimax.com.

Last updated by Ryan Buddenhagen at April 9, 2012.

Continue reading:

1. Internet in China, A Closer Look
2. More on Cultural Characteristics & Their Impact on Internet Marketing
3. Reframing the Challenge of Culture for Strat. Comm., PR, & Internet Marketing ? p.1
4. Mishap Draws Attention to ?Get Your Business Online? Programs Abroad
5. Google?s ?Get Your Business Online? in Emerging Markets ? Part 2

pentatonix nicki minaj barbie doll nicki minaj barbie doll black dahlia drew drew lady gaga marry the night video

Dade City candidate pays property tax penalty (tbo)

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

bill o brien portland trailblazers will kopelman casey anthony leann rimes dakota fanning casey anthony video diary

UN: Syria cease-fire to be in place by April 12

[ [ [['beyond the incredible personal tragedy', 3]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/stand-ground-laws-not-just-gop-policy-records-053103956.html', '[Related: \?Stand your ground\? laws not just GOP policy\, records show]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['This is as serious of a tornado', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-touch-down-in-texas-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120403/trucksdallas.jpg', '630', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['Can you create commerce in order to regulate it', 9]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSgtu8', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/78/778e2416573870cd705774e92403447d.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Charles Dharapak', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

music awards giants eagles bcs rankings week 13 bcs rankings week 13 philadelphia marathon rhodes scholar cranberry sauce recipe

Fed not involved in Watergate, watchdog says

[ [ [['beyond the incredible personal tragedy', 3]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/stand-ground-laws-not-just-gop-policy-records-053103956.html', '[Related: \?Stand your ground\? laws not just GOP policy\, records show]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['This is as serious of a tornado', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-touch-down-in-texas-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120403/trucksdallas.jpg', '630', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['Can you create commerce in order to regulate it', 9]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSgtu8', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/78/778e2416573870cd705774e92403447d.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Charles Dharapak', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

ashley olsen fiona apple tri international criminal court ios 5.1 apple tv update new ipad release

Pakistan: Suicide bomber targeting police kills 4

A Pakistani police officer searches the area after a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan on Thursday, April 5, 2012. Police say a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing scores of people. (AP Photo)

A Pakistani police officer searches the area after a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan on Thursday, April 5, 2012. Police say a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing scores of people. (AP Photo)

Pakistani security officials secure the area of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan on Thursday, April 5, 2012. Police say a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing two people. (AP Photo)

Pakistani security officials secure the area of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan on Thursday, April 5, 2012. Police say a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing scores of people. (AP Photo)

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? A Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a vehicle carrying a senior police official in a southern Pakistani port city on Thursday, killing four people, officials said.

Nine people were also wounded in the attack in the Malir area of Karachi, said Manzoor Wasan, the home minister of surrounding Sindh province. The target of the bombing, Malir police chief Rao Anwar, was unharmed, he said. Anwar had been receiving threats from militants.

Javed Ahmad, a police official, said two people died in the explosion and two died of their injuries at a hospital.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press.

"We targeted him to take revenge for the torture these officers inflict upon our comrades in custody," said Ahsan.

Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and commercial capital and has a long history of ethnic, sectarian and political violence.

Much of the violence is carried out by gangs allegedly affiliated with the city's main political parties. But the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamist militant groups also have a significant presence in the city.

____

Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar contributed to this report from Peshawar, Pakistan.

Associated Press

thanksgiving crafts matt cassel snowman playstation network down houston astros google music 2013 ford escape