DEARBORN HEIGHTS, MI ? The approaching holiday season brings traditions, parties, shopping, entertaining ? and potential danger,?according to Jeffrey Whitmarsh of SERVPRO?of Dearborn Heights.
Christmas Tree Fires Burn Quickly
The latest statistics available from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) show?the holidays are a high-risk time for home fires. Christmas trees are responsible for 240?home fires each year, and other holiday decorations are the cause of another 1,170 fires.
Thanksgiving Day sees almost a threefold increase in cooking-related fires; ?cooking fires?are almost twice as likely to happen on Christmas Day as on non-holidays.
?No one wants to think about the possibility of losing their home, and even more?tragically, lives because of a fire during the holidays,? said Whitmarsh. ?But statistics?show, it?s important to be aware of the increased risk seasonal decorating, entertaining?and cooking can cause during the holidays.?
Whitmarsh reminds Dearborn Heights residents that prevention and common sense can?help keep homes and families safe during the holidays and throughout the year. Here are?some sobering facts about holiday fires and tips to help keep your home, friends and?family safe throughout the holiday season.
?
Christmas Tree Fire Facts
33% of tree fires are caused by electrical problems; 13% involve decorative?lights. Check wiring on lights for breaks and wear. Replace worn strings and don?t?exceed manufacturer guidelines for connecting multiple strands of lights. Don?t leave?tree lights plugged in when you are away from home or when you go to bed.
42% occur on the 12 days from December 23 through January 3. Keep live trees?well watered to reduce the chance of a fire.
Holiday Decoration Fire Facts
45% of all holiday fires involve candles; that number rises to 56% in December.?Use flameless candles. If you do use traditional candles, burn them in sturdy?candle holders, well away from drapes and other flammable materials, and never?leave them unattended or allow them to burn down to less than one inch in length.
48% of all decoration fires start because the decoration is too close to a heat?source. Keep all decorations away from heat sources like radiators, portable heaters,?fireplaces, etc.
Cooking Fire Facts
Cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day exceed the daily average by 272%. Supervise?items on the stovetop. ?58% of kitchen fires involve ranges; homes with electric?cooktops have a higher risk of fire than homes with gas cooktops.
Cooking fires on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve exceed the daily average by?96% and 89% respectively. Keep flammable items ? potholders, packaging,?wrapping, wooden utensils, loose clothing ? away from the stovetop. And, don?t let?lack of sleep or alcohol consumption affect your ability to concentrate on preparing?the meal.
?It only takes a moment?s distraction or carelessness to turn a holiday celebration into a?catastrophe,? said Whitmarsh. ?We hope these tips will be a reminder to Dearborn and Dearborn Heights area families to make fire prevention a priority in their holiday preparations, so?they can spend the season enjoying family and friends, not dealing with the aftermath of a?fire.?
For more fire prevention tips and information about fire and water damage restoration?services, contact Jeffrey Whitmarsh with SERVPRO??of Dearborn Heights North / East?Garden City at (313) 228-5134 or servpro9764@aol.com.
The beginning of everything: A new paradigm shift for the infant universePublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy science@psu.edu 814-863-4682 Penn State
A new paradigm for understanding the earliest eras in the history of the universe has been developed by scientists at Penn State University. Using techniques from an area of modern physics called loop quantum cosmology, developed at Penn State, the scientists now have extended analyses that include quantum physics farther back in time than ever before -- all the way to the beginning. The new paradigm of loop quantum origins shows, for the first time, that the large-scale structures we now see in the universe evolved from fundamental fluctuations in the essential quantum nature of "space-time," which existed even at the very beginning of the universe over 14 billion years ago. The achievement also provides new opportunities for testing competing theories of modern cosmology against breakthrough observations expected from next-generation telescopes. The research will be published on 11 December 2012 as an "Editor's Suggestion" paper in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
"We humans always have yearned to understand more about the origin and evolution of our universe," said Abhay Ashtekar, the senior author of the paper. "So it is an exciting time in our group right now, as we begin using our new paradigm to understand, in more detail, the dynamics that matter and geometry experienced during the earliest eras of the universe, including at the very beginning." Ashtekar is the Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Physics at Penn State and the director of the university's Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos. Coauthors of the paper, along with Ashtekar, are postdoctoral fellows Ivan Agullo and William Nelson.
The new paradigm provides a conceptual and mathematical framework for describing the exotic "quantum-mechanical geometry of space-time" in the very early universe. The paradigm shows that, during this early era, the universe was compressed to such unimaginable densities that its behavior was ruled not by the classical physics of Einstein's general theory of relativity, but by an even more fundamental theory that also incorporates the strange dynamics of quantum mechanics. The density of matter was huge then -- 10 to the 94 grams (10^94) per cubic centimeter, as compared with the density of an atomic nucleus today, which is only 10 to the 14 grams (10^14).
In this bizarre quantum-mechanical environment -- where one can speak only of probabilities of events rather than certainties -- physical properties naturally would be vastly different from the way we experience them today. Among these differences, Ashtekar said, are the concept of "time," as well as the changing dynamics of various systems over time as they experience the fabric of quantum geometry itself.
No space observatories have been able to detect anything as long ago and far away as the very early eras of the universe described by the new paradigm. But a few observatories have come close. Cosmic background radiation has been detected in an era when the universe was only 380-thousand years old. By that time, after a period of rapid expansion called "inflation," the universe had burst out into a much-diluted version of its earlier super-compressed self. At the beginning of inflation, the density of the universe was a trillion times less than during its infancy, so quantum factors are much less important in ruling the large-scale dynamics of matter and geometry.
Observations of the cosmic background radiation show that the universe had a predominantly uniform consistency after inflation, except for a light sprinkling of some regions that were more dense and others that were less dense. The standard inflationary paradigm for describing the early universe, which uses the classical-physics equations of Einstein, treats space-time as a smooth continuum. "The inflationary paradigm enjoys remarkable success in explaining the observed features of the cosmic background radiation. Yet this model is incomplete. It retains the idea that the universe burst forth from nothing in a Big Bang, which naturally results from the inability of the paradigm's general-relativity physics to describe extreme quantum-mechanical situations," Agullo said. "One needs a quantum theory of gravity, like loop quantum cosmology, to go beyond Einstein in order to capture the true physics near the origin of the universe."
Earlier work with loop quantum cosmology in Ashtekar's group had updated the concept of the Big Bang with the intriguing concept of a Big Bounce, which allows the possibility that our universe emerged not from nothing but from a super-compressed mass of matter that previously may have had a history of its own.
Even though the quantum-mechanical conditions at the beginning of the universe were vastly different from the classical-physics conditions after inflation, the new achievement by the Penn State physicists reveals a surprising connection between the two different paradigms that describe these eras. When scientists use the inflation paradigm together with Einstein's equations to model the evolution of the seed-like areas sprinkled throughout the cosmic background radiation, they find that the irregularities serve as seeds that evolve over time into the galaxy clusters and other large-scale structures that we see in the universe today. Amazingly, when the Penn State scientists used their new loop-quantum-origins paradigm with its quantum-cosmology equations, they found that fundamental fluctuations in the very nature of space at the moment of the Big Bounce evolve to become the seed-like structures seen in the cosmic microwave background.
"Our new work shows that the initial conditions at the very beginning of the universe naturally lead to the large-scale structure of the universe that we observe today," Ashtekar said. "In human terms, it is like taking a snapshot of a baby right at birth and then being able to project from it an accurate profile of how that person will be at age 100."
"This paper pushes back the genesis of the cosmic structure of our universe from the inflationary epoch all the way to the Big Bounce, covering some 11 orders of magnitude in the density of matter and the curvature of space-time," Nelson said. "We now have narrowed down the initial conditions that could exist at the Big Bounce, plus we find that the evolution of those initial conditions agrees with observations of the cosmic background radiation."
The team's results also identify a narrower range of parameters for which the new paradigm predicts novel effects, distinguishing it from standard inflation. Ashtekar said, "It is exciting that we soon may be able to test different predictions from these two theories against future discoveries with next-generation observational missions. Such experiments will help us to continue gaining a deeper understanding of the very, very early universe."
###
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.
Barbara Kennedy (PIO): 814-863-4682, science@psu.edu
IMAGES
A high-resolution illustration related to this research is online at
http://www.science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2012-news/Ashtekar11-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The beginning of everything: A new paradigm shift for the infant universePublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy science@psu.edu 814-863-4682 Penn State
A new paradigm for understanding the earliest eras in the history of the universe has been developed by scientists at Penn State University. Using techniques from an area of modern physics called loop quantum cosmology, developed at Penn State, the scientists now have extended analyses that include quantum physics farther back in time than ever before -- all the way to the beginning. The new paradigm of loop quantum origins shows, for the first time, that the large-scale structures we now see in the universe evolved from fundamental fluctuations in the essential quantum nature of "space-time," which existed even at the very beginning of the universe over 14 billion years ago. The achievement also provides new opportunities for testing competing theories of modern cosmology against breakthrough observations expected from next-generation telescopes. The research will be published on 11 December 2012 as an "Editor's Suggestion" paper in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
"We humans always have yearned to understand more about the origin and evolution of our universe," said Abhay Ashtekar, the senior author of the paper. "So it is an exciting time in our group right now, as we begin using our new paradigm to understand, in more detail, the dynamics that matter and geometry experienced during the earliest eras of the universe, including at the very beginning." Ashtekar is the Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Physics at Penn State and the director of the university's Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos. Coauthors of the paper, along with Ashtekar, are postdoctoral fellows Ivan Agullo and William Nelson.
The new paradigm provides a conceptual and mathematical framework for describing the exotic "quantum-mechanical geometry of space-time" in the very early universe. The paradigm shows that, during this early era, the universe was compressed to such unimaginable densities that its behavior was ruled not by the classical physics of Einstein's general theory of relativity, but by an even more fundamental theory that also incorporates the strange dynamics of quantum mechanics. The density of matter was huge then -- 10 to the 94 grams (10^94) per cubic centimeter, as compared with the density of an atomic nucleus today, which is only 10 to the 14 grams (10^14).
In this bizarre quantum-mechanical environment -- where one can speak only of probabilities of events rather than certainties -- physical properties naturally would be vastly different from the way we experience them today. Among these differences, Ashtekar said, are the concept of "time," as well as the changing dynamics of various systems over time as they experience the fabric of quantum geometry itself.
No space observatories have been able to detect anything as long ago and far away as the very early eras of the universe described by the new paradigm. But a few observatories have come close. Cosmic background radiation has been detected in an era when the universe was only 380-thousand years old. By that time, after a period of rapid expansion called "inflation," the universe had burst out into a much-diluted version of its earlier super-compressed self. At the beginning of inflation, the density of the universe was a trillion times less than during its infancy, so quantum factors are much less important in ruling the large-scale dynamics of matter and geometry.
Observations of the cosmic background radiation show that the universe had a predominantly uniform consistency after inflation, except for a light sprinkling of some regions that were more dense and others that were less dense. The standard inflationary paradigm for describing the early universe, which uses the classical-physics equations of Einstein, treats space-time as a smooth continuum. "The inflationary paradigm enjoys remarkable success in explaining the observed features of the cosmic background radiation. Yet this model is incomplete. It retains the idea that the universe burst forth from nothing in a Big Bang, which naturally results from the inability of the paradigm's general-relativity physics to describe extreme quantum-mechanical situations," Agullo said. "One needs a quantum theory of gravity, like loop quantum cosmology, to go beyond Einstein in order to capture the true physics near the origin of the universe."
Earlier work with loop quantum cosmology in Ashtekar's group had updated the concept of the Big Bang with the intriguing concept of a Big Bounce, which allows the possibility that our universe emerged not from nothing but from a super-compressed mass of matter that previously may have had a history of its own.
Even though the quantum-mechanical conditions at the beginning of the universe were vastly different from the classical-physics conditions after inflation, the new achievement by the Penn State physicists reveals a surprising connection between the two different paradigms that describe these eras. When scientists use the inflation paradigm together with Einstein's equations to model the evolution of the seed-like areas sprinkled throughout the cosmic background radiation, they find that the irregularities serve as seeds that evolve over time into the galaxy clusters and other large-scale structures that we see in the universe today. Amazingly, when the Penn State scientists used their new loop-quantum-origins paradigm with its quantum-cosmology equations, they found that fundamental fluctuations in the very nature of space at the moment of the Big Bounce evolve to become the seed-like structures seen in the cosmic microwave background.
"Our new work shows that the initial conditions at the very beginning of the universe naturally lead to the large-scale structure of the universe that we observe today," Ashtekar said. "In human terms, it is like taking a snapshot of a baby right at birth and then being able to project from it an accurate profile of how that person will be at age 100."
"This paper pushes back the genesis of the cosmic structure of our universe from the inflationary epoch all the way to the Big Bounce, covering some 11 orders of magnitude in the density of matter and the curvature of space-time," Nelson said. "We now have narrowed down the initial conditions that could exist at the Big Bounce, plus we find that the evolution of those initial conditions agrees with observations of the cosmic background radiation."
The team's results also identify a narrower range of parameters for which the new paradigm predicts novel effects, distinguishing it from standard inflation. Ashtekar said, "It is exciting that we soon may be able to test different predictions from these two theories against future discoveries with next-generation observational missions. Such experiments will help us to continue gaining a deeper understanding of the very, very early universe."
###
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.
Barbara Kennedy (PIO): 814-863-4682, science@psu.edu
IMAGES
A high-resolution illustration related to this research is online at
http://www.science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2012-news/Ashtekar11-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Updated 7:30 p.m. ET: Troubled "Mean Girls" actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested at a Manhattan nightclub overnight on an assault charge after she allegedly got into a confrontation with another club patron, police say.
Police and witnesses say the pair got into a dispute at Club Avenue in Chelsea?and that Lohan hit the woman in the face, coming at her from behind. The other woman?allegedly involved was not expected to face charges, according to a police source with knowledge of the situation.
Read more from NBCNewYork.com
INFphoto.com
Lindsay Lohan leaves the 10th precinct in New York after being arrested early Thursday morning.
The police source said Lohan made no comments to police when she was taken to the 10th precinct early Thursday except to ask for an attorney.
Her lawyer, Mark Heller, later said in a statement that his client "is a victim of someone trying to capture their 15 minutes of fame." He added that he is confident that Lohan would be exonerated.
The 26-year-old actress received a desk appearance ticket and left the station shortly before 8 a.m., wearing leggings, a miniskirt and a black jacket covering her head.
She got into a black SUV with another man and a driver and the car sped off.?Calls to Lohan's publicist were not immediately returned.?Her next court date was not known.
Hours later, Lohan was charged in California for a June crash in which her Porsche slammed into a dump truck. In that crash, the actress got into the wreck on her way to a movie set. She was taken to the hospital but returned to the set of the film, "Liz and Dick," hours later.
Lohan has run into numerous problems in New York in recent months.?She was involved in a NYPD investigation in September after alleging a man had assaulted her in a New York hotel, but charges against the man were later dropped.
Also in September, the actress was accused of clipping a man with her car outside another Manhattan nightclub, but prosecutors chose not to move ahead with charges.
WNBC
The woman wearing the fur coat was allegedly punched by Lindsay Lohan at a New York nightclub.
In October, police were called to her childhood home on Long Island after a report of fight between her and her mother. An investigation revealed "no criminality."
Lindsay Lohan: I was bullied in school
David Mcnew / Getty Images
In May, she was cleared of allegations that she struck a Hollywood nightclub manager with her car.
Lohan remains on informal probation for taking a necklace from a jewelry store without permission last year. That means she doesn't have to check in with a judge or probation officer but could face a jail term if arrested again.
Her latest film, "Liz & Dick," in which she portrays screen icon Elizabeth Taylor, premiered on Lifetime on Sunday.
Lohan also recently filmed "The Canyons," an indie film written by "Less Than Zero" and "American Psycho" author Bret Easton Ellis.?
Only a few years ago, it seemed that the internet had reached a level of stability and acceptance by most.? While HTML and other internet technologies continued to improve, usage pattern seemed to be fairly reliable.? This changed with the advent of social media, and social media marketing now represents a huge opportunity for business if done right.
Those who want to reach an online audience must use social media as part of their efforts.? However, social media marketing must be used in an effective manner.? Not knowing how to effectively use social media seems to be the biggest complaint of most business owners.? Their number one complaint:? ?It?s a waste of money.?? Well, here are four clear signs that your social media campaign is wasting money.
Sign #1 ? The number of social media account followers remains constant or low.
The main benefit of social media is its ability to exponentially expose your brand and message to the masses in a short period of time.? Attention breeds more attention, and those who use social media marketing effectively will want to see their number of followers grow at a steady pace.? Slow growth is perfectly acceptable if you?re a small local business, but no growth is a sign that a campaign is failing.? If the campaign is unable to grow each day, it is time to reconsider one?s activities.
Sign #2 ? The level of social engagement and interaction fails to increase
The purpose of social media is to provide users with a two-way means of communication.? Social media is not a one way broadcast platform to merely shout your business message out to the world (although, many use it incorrectly this way).? If the level of fan/follower engagement is stagnant or is dropping, this can be a sign that your marketing efforts are failing to reach out to the right audience.? Fortunately, there are number of techniques that can be used to target the right audience and increase follower engagement, but it is first necessary to analyze the current level of engagement and examine where the campaign is hitting the mark and missing the mark.
Sign #3 ? Not building an email list through your social media marketing efforts.
It is important to remember that you don?t control social media platforms.? Some call them unstable.? Those platforms we use in social media today could be gone tomorrow (or at least change).? Because of this, it is important to constantly work on growing your email list.? You control the email list regardless if the platform changes or goes away.? Fan/Followers are great first step, but it is important to contact them through multiple channels, such as email.? If the number of fans/followers is growing but you?re not building a solid email database behind the scenes, this would be a sign that you?re wasting money on your social media efforts.
Sign #4 ? Not change in company revenue and profits.
Never forget that the purpose of running a social media campaign is to make money in the end.? Now, where the confusion lies with most business owners is that they?re used to running or paying for some direct form of advertising and seeing an immediate increase in interest or purchase activity. This is not the way social media works.? Social media marketing used effectively expands the reach of your brand, introduces you to an audience that may not be ready for your products or services today but may in the future and allows this audience to build up a level of trust with who you are as a company.? In the end though, you must take account to whether your campaign if producing revenue.? Last I checked, profits are still the ultimate goal.? If the campaign is effective at engaging users, reaching new followers and collecting email addresses but still fails to make a profit, something is definitely wrong and it?s time to consider a change to the strategy.
Conclusion
A huge mistake business owners make in starting to market their business on social media is they think they can just hire their teenage child, a young college kid or perhaps a stay at home parent who doesn?t have anything to do while the kids are in school to run their social campaign.? They put no thought into what you want the campaign to do.
You know why?? They don?t want to deal with it.? They don?t want the hassle and they feel pressured to do it but won?t take the time to really understand how social media can explode their business if done properly.
If that?s you don?t worry, no one is going to know that you?re reading this but you .? Seriously though, if you feel that you?ve been wasting money in social media or you have been that business owner who has said to themselves, ?I don?t want to deal with it but I know it?s important? then we may be able to help.? Complete the form below for a no hassle, no obligation consultation that will enlighten you to the mistakes you may be making and how you can start making money with social media.? Platforms may continue to change but selling through social media is not a fad.? It?s a change to the fiber of our business culture.? Embrace it and profit from it.? We can help.? Fill out the form below now and we?ll be in touch.
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Michelle Davis and her family have lived in their house on Hunter Drive in Madison for 23 years and, with the help of a friend who is a carpenter, they focused on a different remodeling project each year.
Bathrooms and the kitchen were updated, hardwood floors were put down and new windows were installed. This year they realized they finally had everything the way they wanted it.
On Tuesday evening, a fire that started near a metal chimney spread through the attic left the home a "total loss," Davis said Wednesday.
"We'll rebuild, we'll do it over, and everybody got out safe," she said.
Fire consumed part of the house, smoke and water damaged other parts, and sections of walls and ceilings had to be ripped out so firefighters could access the fire.
Davis said she, her husband Frank, four children and four dogs are staying with her parents in Florham Park. The insurance company next week will work out a place for them to live until the home can be rebuilt and they are able to move back, possibly in about six months.
Davis and her two daughters and four dogs, who were home at the time, got out of the house when they realized it was on fire and called 9-1-1.
Frank Davis works for Madison's Department of Public Works, and has a landscaping business. He was out plowing snow Tuesday when he got a call about the fire. He came home to find the home illuminated by emergency lights and smoke coming from the roof, Michelle Davis said.
After the fire was knocked down, the fire department let them inside and held flashlights so they could retrieve items with sentimental value that weren't destroyed, such as baby pictures and a christening gown.
"The firemen, they were fantastic, all lined up, passing photo albums, cartons of pictures," she said. "You can't replace any of that stuff."
With two other fires in Madison in the previous month, one on Crestwood Drive and one on Park Avenue, fire safety was on their mind the day before the fire. Davis said the smoke detectors in the house worked, but they figured it would be good to install new ones and she purchased smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on Monday. They had not yet installed them.
The fire means this year's family Christmas gathering will be held in someone else's home, but Michelle Davis said she hopes to have family over for Christmas in their rebuilt home next year. The fire also has led friends and family to reach out to offer support, Davis said.
"We have a lot of great friends and family and they were with us right away and they've been with us every step of the way," she said.
?I screwed up royally ? (but) Team Petraeus will survive,? former CIA Director David Petraeus wrote in a letter to an old Army chum after resigning his post and admitting to an extramarital affair, NBC News has confirmed.
The letter to retired Brig. Gen. James Shelton, dated Nov. 20, was first reported Wednesday by Britain?s Daily Mail newspaper.?
In the letter, Petraeus thanked Shelton ?for sending him some pictures and a note saying he still had faith in him despite the scandal that lead to his resignation.
??I screwed up royally. I paid the price (appropriately) and I sought to do the right thing, at the end of the day,? it read in part. ?Team Petraeus will survive though have obviously created enormous difficulty for us. Holly is however once again demonstrating how incredibly fortunate I was to marry her.?
Davis Turner / Reuters
Paula Broadwell,leaves her home in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 19.
Petraeus resigned his post on Nov. 9, citing an extramarital affair. Government and law enforcement officials have told NBC News that the 60-year-old former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and coalition forces in Iraq was involved with his 37-year-old biographer, Paula Broadwell, who also is married.
Shelton, 76, a longtime friend of Petraeus who described himself to the Daily Mail as a father figure to the former CIA director, told the newspaper that he never considered Petraeus ?a woman chaser? and that Broadwell, who interviewed him for her book ?All In,? was ?more savvy than Dave about the nature of the things that they got involved with.?
?She?s not a kid. In a lot of ways I think she knows more about the world than Dave ? I?m talking about sex,? he said. ?I don?t think Dave ever thought about that too much, he only thought about the Army and gave it everything he had.?
NBC News' Amanda Sidman contributed to this report.
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FocusWriter uses an intriguing concept that makes you wonder why other word-processing tools do not offer the same hide-away tool panels to eliminate distractions. It offers a set of writing tools with the ease and speed of unencumbered text editors. Focuswriter is a full-screen writing program. It has no option to resize or minimize.
H A I R ...H A I R... E V E R Y W H E R E.... Welcome to my Tumblr blog. We all have our own things we find sexy in men. Mine is hairy men. I love hairy slimmer men, but not twinks, with a little muscle , but not too much. I love a hairy man with a hairy chest that looks nice and soft as well as a hairy untrimmed dick. I like a furry bum too.
NONE OF THE PICTURES ARE MINE. They are just pictures that I've found online and stamped with my seal of approval. This seal of approval will and should mean nothing to most of you, but for those of you that share my view for what I find is hot, then you've got a decent collection of eye candy to look at, browse through and maybe jack off too. I take NO credit for any of these photos and if you are looking for re-blog history, please look at the trail (notes) in each photo. Remember it's just a bunch of porn we're all just spanking it too...don't take it too seriously...no one else is 30 seconds after they've FINISHED their viewing "business".
NSFW. 18/21+. If you own any of the images I post and would like them removed, please contact me.
H O T 4 H A I R Y Tumblr | Twitter | Email HAIR HAIR EVERYWHERE! EMAIL: hot4hairy2011@gmail.com TUMBLR: http://hot4hairy.tumblr.com TWITTER: http://twitter.com/hot4hairy
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday information stolen from one of its former servers had been posted on a hacker website and it was taking "all possible steps" to ensure its computer systems and data were protected.
The stolen information was contained in a statement by a group with an Iranian-sounding name calling for an inquiry into Israel's nuclear activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is investigating Iran's nuclear program.
The IAEA said the theft concerned "some contact details related to experts working" with the Vienna-based agency but it did not say who might have been behind the action.
A Western diplomat said the stolen data was not believed to include information related to confidential work carried out by the IAEA. One of the agency's tasks is preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
The statement posted in the name of Parastoo (which in Farsi means swallow, the bird, and can also be a woman's name) included a large number of email addresses and called for the people to whom they belonged to sign a petition for an "open" IAEA investigation into Israel's Dimona reactor.
The statement dated November 25 and headlined "Parastoo Hacks IAEA" said: "Israel owns a practical nuclear arsenal, tied to a growing military body."
Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal but neither confirms nor denies this under a "strategic ambiguity" policy to deter Arab and Iranian foes.
The country is outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty that would require it to forswear nuclear weapons and open up its reactor in the southern desert town of Dimona.
Israel and the United States accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, a charge Tehran denies, and says the Islamic state is the main proliferation threat.
Iran and Arab states say Israel's assumed atomic arsenal threatens peace and security in the Middle East.
IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said the agency "deeply regrets this publication of information stolen from an old server that was shut down some time ago".
Measures had been taken to address concern over possible vulnerability in the server, she said.
"The IAEA's technical and security teams are continuing to analyze the situation and do everything possible to help ensure that no further information is vulnerable," Tudor said.
(Refiles to clarify translation of Farsi word Parastoo, paragraph 5)
(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Additional reporting by Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich; Editing by Robert Woodward)
?Truth. Everyone of my REO properties are listed at fair market value.? Asset managers are willing to wait out the 4-6 month market time in order to find that buyer willing to pay market value and occupy REO homes that are in average marketable condition. Utilities are on, pools are being maintained, and repairs are being made.
Realty Times - Foreclosures Selling Near, At Traditional Listing Prices
The three-strong team ? who have worked together for more than 10 years, latterly at Blackstone?s GSO division ? will invest in investment grade infrastructure debt investments secured by transportation, social infrastructure and regulated utilities assets.
BlackRock will also seek to buy performing infrastructure single loans and loan portfolios from de-leveraging bank with infrastructure assets.
Benaroya and Wrenn will jointly head up the London-based European Infrastructure Debt investment unit, which falls within BlackRock?s Alternative Investors (BAI).
Once BlackRock has established a track record, the global fund manager will eventually seek to raise an third party capital for a multi-investor European infrastructure fund.
BlackRock is looking to establish a scalable business over time and will consider investments in France, Germany, the Benelux countries, the UK as well as euro-denominated Scandanavian assets, over five to 25 years on both a fixed and floating rate basis.
Given the flexibility of investments sought, within investment graded parameters, margins will vary but a guidance of at least 300 basis points over either EURIBOR, LIBOR or the relevant gilt benchmark is indicated.
BlackRock said the new focus for the global asset manager is in response to institutional client demand to channel capital into new build infrastructure projects and secondary loan investments in a search for increased yield amid a low interest rate environment.
The low correlation to other asset classes is expected to increase the appeal of infrastructure debt to traditional liability-matching fixed income investors.
Matthew Botein, head of BAI, said: ?Investors are looking for increased yield, and to exploit new investment opportunities resulting from global de-leveraging.
?We expect to see a continuation in the robust growth in the infrastructure market.?
Botein said the OECD estimates market size at US$3 trn by 2018 and $50trn by 2030, and alternative investments have doubled as a proportion of the institutional investment market in the last seven years.
He added: ?Hiring this team is an exciting and significant development which helps us develop this burgeoning market and adds a first-mover advantage to BlackRock?s current service provision in Europe.?
Benaroyn and Wrenn join as managing directors co-head of European Infrastructure Debt, while Lengaigne joins as director. Benaroyn has 18 years of infrastructure and project finance experience, while Wren has worked in infrastructure and structured finance for over 25 years and Lengaigne?s experience totals a decade.
David Lomas, head of BlackRock?s Global Financial Institutions Group, said: ?This new platform is the right service at the right time. Solvency II is proving a major catalyst for insurers in this new world of market volatility and low interest rates as they search for alternative sources of income to meet their liabilities.
?Research undertaken by BlackRock earlier this year suggests insurers may look to increase their allocation towards alternative asset classes to achieve this. The characteristics of infrastructure debt make it an ideal strategy to help them in this search for diversified income.?
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If you are one of the many people afflicted with the "Twilight Saga" blues, then we have just the cure for you. The brilliant minds behind Bad Lip Reading videos have tackled the "Twilight Saga" yet again, and have created some of their best work yet. Taking some of the most emotional moments from the [...]
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency says a Palestinian man has been charged with relaying information to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon about sensitive government sites, including parliament.
It identified the suspect as Azzam Mashahara, a resident of east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967.
Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem, unlike Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip, have Israeli identity cards that allow them to travel freely within Israel.
The agency said the indictment was handed down on Sunday, a day after Mashahara was arrested.
All of the sites identified in the Shin Bet agency statement appear on Google Earth. Mashahara was charged with maintaining contacts with a foreign agent and relaying information to the enemy.
Everytime I think the Democratic race card players could not get more vile, more deranged, more patronizingly demeaning to blacks, someone manages to defy even my vivid imagination.
This time, it is the Editorial Board of The Washington Post, which issued a truly amazing screed (h/t Gabriel Malor) claiming that critics of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are motivated by race and sex, as demonstrated by the facts that most are male and a significant percentage come from former confederate states (emphasis mine):
Could it be, as members of the Congressional Black Caucus are charging, that the [97 Republican House] signatories of the letter are targeting Ms. Rice because she is an African American woman? The signatories deny that, and we can?t know their hearts. What we do know is that more than 80 of the signatories are white males, and nearly half are from states of the former Confederacy. You?d think that before launching their broadside, members of Congress would have taken care not to propagate any falsehoods of their own.
The WaPo Editorial Board must have forgotten the opposition to Condoleezza Rice?s confirmation, which was led by former Klansman Robert Byrd and a guy who left a girl to die:
Leading the charge against Rice on Tuesday were Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Barbara Boxer of California.
Boxer, one of two Democrats to vote against Rice?s nomination in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Rice?s answers to her questions were ?completely nonresponsive? and raised more issues about her credibility than they answered.
Rice, Condoleezza, reveived fewer favorable votes in her Secretary of State confirmation than any nominee in almost 25 years and more negative votes than any nominee in 180 years.? Twelve of the thirteen votes against Rice were from White Males, including the aforementioned former Klansman.
Boxer accused Rice of lying about Sadaam Hussein?s WMD program, and Rice pushed back that they relied on the available intelligence, among other things.?
This would become a theme in Boxer?s continuously demeaning conduct towards Rice, which included mocking the fact that Rice had no children during the Iraq Surge hearings in January 2007 (note, Boxer also used the term ?dark cloud? which, had it been used by a Republican as to a black Democratic nominee, surely would have been called a dog whistle or worse)(full video here):
Boxer?s mocking of Rice, Condoleezza?s family status created a firestorm?of controversy, but plenty of liberals defended the attack.
Rice, Condoleeza, also was physically attacked at the start of those hearings, by White Liberals:
The Democrats often personal attacks on Rice, Condoleezza, continued unabated (Kerry Picket has more).? Liberal cartoonists at major publications played on crude racial stereotypes in going after Rice, Condoleezza.
You get the point.
The criticisms of Rice, Condoleezza, on policy grounds were within the legitimate political realm, as are the criticisms of Rice, Susan.
In the criticisms of Rice, Susan, we have not seen from Republicans anything approaching the vitriol and crude racial and sexist comments directed at Rice, Condoleezza.
Does the?Editorial Board of The Washington Post even belief what it writes?? I doubt it.? It?s all part of their race card game.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2012) ? Routine smear tests have considerably reduced the number of cases of cervical cancer, but despite intensive screening 250 women in Sweden still die from the disease every year. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed new methods of minimising the number of missed cases and making diagnosis more reliable.
Since the introduction of organised screening in Sweden in the 1960s, the number of women being diagnosed with and succumbing to cervical cancer has fallen dramatically. Screening, where a sample of cells is collected from the cervix and examined under an optical microscope, detects early cell changes so that they can be treated before they cause cancer.
However, despite intensive screening 250 women still die from cervical cancer each year in Sweden, and a further 500 develop the disease.
The sensitivity of the current test is low, which means that cell samples must be taken at least every three years. A large number of tests must also be repeated because of unreliable results -- something which causes anxiety among patients and additional costs for the health service.
Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg have now developed a complementary test capable of minimising the number of missed cancer cases.
"Around 70 per cent of all cervical cancer cases are caused by two specific virus types, known as HPV16 and HPV18. We have developed a method that identifies proteins of these oncogenic viruses in cells, enabling a more objective interpretation of the test results," explains Maria Lidqvist, a doctoral student, who presents the method in her thesis.
"This method can hopefully produce a more reliable diagnosis in uncertain cases and reduce the number of missed cancer cases, as well as the number of women who have to be re-called because of cell samples that are difficult to interpret."
The research behind this method has been financed by the Swedish Research Council and conducted at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, in collaboration with Fujirebio Diagnostics AB in Gothenburg.
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2012) ? EU-funded researchers have squeezed radar technology into a low-cost fingernail-sized chip package that promises to lead to a new range of distance and motion sensing applications. The novel device could have important uses in the automotive industry, as well as mobile devices, robotics and other applications.
Developed in the 'Silicon-based ultra-compact cost-efficient system design for mm-wave sensors' (Success) project, the device is the most complete silicon-based 'system-on-chip' (SoC) package for radar operating at high frequencies beyond 100 GHz.
'As far as I know, this is the smallest complete radar system in the world,' says Prof. Christoph Scheytt, who is coordinating the project on behalf of IHP in Frankfurt, Germany. 'There are other chips working at frequencies beyond 100 GHz addressing radar sensing, but this is the highest level of integration that has ever been achieved in silicon.'
Measuring just 8 mm by 8 mm, the chip package is the culmination of three years of research by nine academic and industrial partners across Europe, supported by EUR 3 million in funding from the European Commission. The team drew on expertise from every part of the microelectronic development chain to develop the groundbreaking technology, which is expected to be put to use in commercial applications in the near future.
Operating at 120 GHz -- corresponding to a wavelength of about 2.5 mm -- the chip uses the run time of the waves to calculate the distance of an object up to around three metres away with an accuracy of less than one millimetre. It can also detect moving objects and calculate their velocity using the Doppler effect.
From a commercial perspective, the technology is also extremely cheap: manufactured on an industrial scale, each complete miniature radar would cost around one euro, the project partners estimate.
That gives it the potential to replace ultrasonic sensors for object and pedestrian detection in vehicles, to be used for automatic door control systems, to measure vibration or distance inside machines, for robotics applications and a wide range of other uses. It could even find its way into cell phones.
To develop the miniaturised radar system, the team had to overcome a range of technical challenges, not least integrating and ensuring the reliability of the tiny antenna.
'In this area, size matters a lot,' Prof. Scheytt notes. 'The main motivation for using high frequencies rather than lower ones is that the antennas can be smaller.'
While an FM radio has an antenna that's about one metre long and a WiFi router's antennas are about 10 cm in length, at mm-Wave frequencies (between 30 GHz and 300 GHz) the antennas can also be at the millimetre scale. Given the increasing miniaturisation of modern devices -- from cell phones to robotics components -- working in the millimetre range is therefore a significant advantage.
A novel substrate to solve attenuation
However, at high frequencies unwanted electromagnetic radiation and high attenuation are serious problems. 'The higher you go in frequency the more the wiring radiates: modelling this interface was a big challenge,' the project coordinator says.
The Success team addressed the issue through precise modelling, a novel technique for antenna integration, and using a polyamide substrate for the antenna.
'The project partners researched and tested a lot of different substrates for the antenna to find one that was the least lossy. Then they used a technique to print the antenna on it and connect it through solder bumps,' Prof. Scheytt explains. 'The antenna itself is planar, meaning it is mounted flat on top of the chip. This is completely different to the packaging technology of other millimetre-wave systems, which usually have bulky antennas with tube-like conductors. The advantage is that the whole "system-in-package" is a lot smaller.'
Another issue with high frequency devices is testing that they work as they are designed to. Current testing techniques are expensive and ill-suited to the high-volume testing necessary if the device is to be manufactured commercially. To address this, the Success team took the unusual step of including self-testing features built in to the chip package.
'Built-in self-testing is quite common for cell-phone chips that work at much lower frequencies, but it is something quite novel for millimetre-wave chips,' Prof. Scheytt says. 'Our industrial partners put a lot of emphasis on including this as it makes no sense to have a chip that can be manufactured for a euro and then have to spend 30 or 40 euro to test each one.'
The built-in test features enable technicians to easily and cheaply test if the antenna is connected correctly, the transmit power of the device and if it is operating in the right frequency range. And, because there is no radio frequency interface to deal with, integration onto a printed circuit board is similarly cheap and easy.
'Since all the high-frequency circuitry is in the package you have only low-frequency interfaces to work with,' Prof. Scheytt notes.
He points out that an application engineer can handle the chip, because it is a standard surface-mount package, in much the same way they would fit an ultrasonic sensor or microcontroller.
'Users can solder the chip onto their standard circuit boards and receive low-frequency signals that can be processed without difficulty,' says Prof. Thomas Zwick, head of IHE at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), a project partner.
The different partners in the Success consortium are now looking to use the technology commercially. Bosch, for example, is investigating deployment possibilities, seeing major potential for low-cost radar operating at high frequencies, while other partners, such as Silicon Radar in Germany, Selmic in Finland and Hightec in Switzerland are also expected to incorporate the work carried out in Success into their industrial processes.
Success received research funding under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
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Suffering a personal injury can be a very scary, uncertain, and overwhelming time. No one expects to be a victim of a personal injury, and therefore most people do not know the right and the wrong actions to take or not to take after experiencing such an injury. However, taking the right steps and avoiding the wrong ones can make a big difference when it comes to personal injury cases and fair compensation for pain, suffering and related medical bills.
Seek Medical Attention
The most important step to take after experiencing a personal injury is to seek medical attention. Even if the victim believes the injury is minor, or thinks that monitoring the injury for a few days might be beneficial before seeking medical care, it is important to get the injury examined by a doctor. The sooner someone?s injuries are examined by a doctor and documented the more believable to they are. For more serious injuries, starting treatment right away can lead to a better and quicker recovery.
Seek Representation
After your injuries have been stabilized, you will want to seek the representation of a qualified and experienced personal injury attorney. The attorney should schedule you for a consultation to determine whether or not you have a valid claim for a personal injury case. If so, the attorney and his or her team will begin to investigating the events that lead up to you suffering your personal injury. Securing a personal injury attorney will also allow them to speak to the insurance company or any other involved parties on behalf of the victim, making this time less stressful for the injury victim as they focus on recovering from their injuries.
Keep a Paper Trail
It is also important for the injured victim to keep track of medical bills, any payments made on those bills, and appointments. They should also document and take notes on doctor?s visits and even their mileage to those visits, as mileage can sometimes be reimbursable within the personal injury case. Victims who keep better documentation regarding their injuries and care are more likely to receive fair compensation.
Do Not Take Responsibility
After a personal injury occurs, it is very important that the victim not take personal responsibility for the accident. This can happen a lot after a car accident where it is unclear whose fault the accident is. If a victim jumps out of their car and apologizes to everyone for the accident, they are potentially damaging their personal injury case. Sometimes it is not until months later when the at-fault driver is discovered.
Do Not Talk to Anyone
Other than the victim?s own lawyer and medical providers, it is imperative a victim not discuss their case with anyone from their insurance company or the insurance company of other involved parties. Doing so can potentially damage a personal injury case. Should the victim receive a request for information from such insurance companies, they should politely direct them to their own attorney with any questions or clarifications. Personal injury victims also should not sign anything without first consulting their own attorney.
Be Careful of Social Media
Not only have potential employers become wise to using social media to their advantage for their hiring practices, insurance companies and lawyers have as well for their own reasons. Many personal injury lawyers these days recommend that their clients completely remove themselves for all social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Anything posted on these sites can potentially be used against personal injury victims to the advantage of the at-fault parties. If a victim chooses not to delete their personal social media accounts they need to be very careful of what they are posting on such sites.
Taking the right steps and avoiding the wrong steps after a personal injury occurs can be a little confusing. Once a victim contacts and hires a personal injury attorney, their attorney can direct them more in the direction of what to do and what not to do. Heading this advice will increase the chances of the victim getting the fair compensation they deserve.
This article was written by Ty Whitworth for the team at justcolleges.com; they can be of great assistance in making the move from college to the working world.
PRINT ? Eng Bee Tin (Spring Roll) (Photo credit: ItsKimmyLee)
Regardless of the technological advancements and the trends that keep changing every now and then, printing services still offer the best marketing strategy in the advertising world. Companies rely on print media to communicate to their clients. Newspapers and magazines never run out of popularity and give companies competitive advantage.
Print media is the best way in which a company can use to reach out to a specific target audience. For instance, most fashion lovers ensure they get a copy of their favourite fashion magazine on a regular basis. Fashion oriented companies that advertise on these magazines tend to have more clients since the information lands on the desired group. Reaching out to a target audience increases the opportunity of enhancing sales figures.
Advertisements on print media have better performance and a longer lifespan, although it varies from one type to another. Magazines generally have a longer lifespan than newspapers although both generally last for long periods. Advertisements in print media are not just seen and forgotten after a while unlike the adverts posted on websites or television. These materials can be kept for years and referred to much later. Television advertisements usually flash and disappear in an instant. Adverts posted on print media however, give one the freedom to go through them at their own pace. Every time they read the magazine or newspaper, they see the same thing. The details therefore remain in the minds of the readers thereby popularizing the brand.
Magazines and other print media have a larger target audience. In most cases, the materials are cheap especially newspapers. Unlike television and the internet, which are reserved for the stable income individuals; most people can afford a newspaper. Advertisements shown on the internet usually reach out to the people watching at a particular time. Some may move out of a specific position for a short moment and miss the details. Print adverts on the other hand not only reach out to the purchasers in full detail, but also close family and friends as it is very easy to share the media.
Print advertising gives a company the benefit of special advert positioning. An organization may pay a little more for a larger advertisement section. Instead of a small portion of a page, having a whole page for advertisement increases the visibility of the product. It draws more attention and greatly increases the chances of recognition by potential clients or customers.
Print media produce quality output especially those that incorporate digital printing. It is the best method for advertising as it largely increases the familiarity of brands. Customers are more likely to settle for a product in which they are more familiar.
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