Nook HD review: a high-def tablet with the heart of a reader ...

Barnes & Noble knows where it stands in the tablet race. Sure, the company has been plugging away at the space since the day the Nook Color made its transformation into a full-fledged tablet, but the Nook, it seems, is rarely mentioned in the same breath as the Kindle Fire or Nexus 7, when discussing low-cost tablets. As such, the company seems to rarely mention its devices without discussing the competition -- Amazon in particular. In fact, at the launch event for the Nook HD and HD+, reps trotted out Kindle Fire HDs at every possible opportunity.

Seeing the two devices side by side, there's no question that Nook trumps the Fire in a number of categories, and the bookseller has gone a ways toward making the Nook HD stand out in a field full of bigger players. For one thing, the device is far more focused on the reading experience than the competition, a fact reflected in both hardware and UI decisions. The company has also taken a more aggressive approach toward marketing the device toward families. The question, then, is whether these features are enough to capture marketshare from the more prominent devices. See how the Nook HD stacks up after the break.

Hardware

The Nook Color / Tablet scored plenty of points for originality in the industrial design department, polarizing users in the process. The long, plastic-shelled body did a fine job of standing apart from the push toward all-screen slates that has gripped the vast majority of the industry over the past several years. That's thanks in no small part to a carabiner that wouldn't have looked altogether out of place strapped to your trusty hiking backpack. Devotees of that old design will find some solace in the slimmed-down and souped-up arms of the HD+. The HD, on the other hand, wouldn't seem too out of place hanging out at the open bar of a Simple Touch family reunion, with a stubby body, rounded corners and slightly concave back, created by Robert Brunner, the former Apple designer who breathed life in B&N's popular reader series.

Function over form is what Barnes & Noble is selling this time out. That's not to say the Nook HD is a particularly bad-looking device, but as with the Simple Touches, there's little doubt that the company sacrificed a bit of sleekness in favor of building a slate around the human hand, a noble enough pursuit so far as tablet industrial design is concerned. As with B&N's other recent products, the Nook HD's got bezel to spare -- a plastic affair that shields the sides of the screen from both dings and thumb prints, making sure those greasy digits don't smudge the pristine HD display at the center of the device. Next to this, you'll find a black display bezel that's wider on the top and bottom of the device.

The area's a bit of a no man's land along the top -- there's no camera to be seen on the Nook's front or rear. It's a sacrifice the company seemingly made in the name of keeping costs low -- one of the few fronts the company seems willing to admit it got beat by the Kindle Fire HD. While most consumers with money to spend on a new tablet are likely not lacking on the devices-with-cameras front, in late-2012 at least one built-in webcam seems like a pretty baseline feature. That's particularly true for an easy-to-hold, high-def product that might have made a nice little Skype device. On the bottom black bezel, you'll find the Nook's signature lowercase "n" physical home button. It's the one truly conspicuous input on the device, placed there, no doubt, for aesthetic consistency and, B&N tells us, so that you'll never forget which way is up -- not that such orientation makes a heck of a lot of difference when the accelerometer is hard at work.

A small seam splits the front plastic bezel from another, slightly shinier piece of plastic on the side of tablet. This bit houses the Nook's other buttons. You'll find two volume buttons on the right and power on the left (give the screen a second or so to turn on after clicking the power button). It's not quite as intuitive as having a power button on top, but let's face it; the dream of relatively uniform button placement went out the window years ago. Up top, you've got a headphone jack and small mic hole that allows you to, among other things utilize the company's great Read and Record feature for kids' books.

On the bottom, there's a proprietary charging jack. When asked why it went that route vs. the nearly ubiquitous micro-USB (the choice on the tablet's e-reader siblings), the company claims that it's, in part, due to the ability to speed up charging. Given how many micro-USB cables we've got floating around, that would have been a nice choice -- and hey, it's good enough for the Fire HD and Nexus 7, right? Barnes & Noble's quick to point out, however, that, unlike the Fire, the price of the Nook includes the necessary (again, proprietary) cable, along with a wall adapter. To the charging port's right, a small yellow light turns green when the battery's full. To the left of this port is a microSD door that'll let you expand the device's 8GB or 16GB by up to 64GB, always a welcome feature on Nook devices, particularly in the case of a tablet, where, unlike e-readers, you'll probably actually be storing some HD multimedia files. It's also a boon for those who found past Nook tablet devices such a delight to root.

The rear of the device has that familiar soft-touch feel, which really feels nice in-hand, and offers a bit of traction for those sweaty palm you get while using the device on the elliptical machine. As with the Simple Touch devices, the rear indents a bit, providing a slot for your fingers to rest in while reading. However, it's far less pronounced here and honestly doesn't really serve all that much of a purpose. In the center of all of this, as per usual, is a large, indented lower case "n," should you ever forget which tablet you bought when it's faced screen-side down.

Along the bottom of the rear, two small speaker grids flank a small "nook" logo and all of the requisite FCC information (interestingly, the pricier Nook HD+ only has a single speaker). (Update: Barnes & Noble contacted us to clarify that the HD+ has two speakers, they're just both behind a single grille.) We prefer the spread-out placement of the stereo speakers on the Fire HD, which make it a bit harder to accidentally muffle the sound while holding the tablet during a movie -- not that the sound on the Nook HD is all that much to write home about, SRS TruMedia or no. It doesn't really get all that loud. For most occasions, we suspect we'll be relying on that headphone jack up top for our multimedia needs.

On a whole, Barnes & Noble's done a nice job here on the industrial design front, creating a tablet that's easily held, thanks in part to a slim width (7.7 x 5 x 0.43 inches to the Fire's 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.4) and light weight (11.1 ounces to the Fire's 13.9). The 7-inch 1,440 x 900 IPS display really does pop, offering up great viewing angles and the sort of high-definition playback it would have been hard to imagine on a $200 tablet not all that long ago. The Nook also scored a solid 1,271ms score in our SunSpider testing. The plastic bezel on the front provides a nice spot on which to deposit one's thumb and, like the Simple Touch, provides for a design that stands apart from the army of lookalike tablets that dominate the market.

Software

The Nook HD is running, hold onto your hats, Ice Cream Sandwich under the hood. Barnes & Noble is far less cagey about Android versions than Amazon. That's perhaps because, while it's a highly skinned version, it's far less so than the one you'll find on the Kindle Fire HD, which essentially secures that tablet's place as a content delivery device. Click the power button and you'll see a lock screen welcoming you back, along with the date and time. In the center is a lock icon surrounded by faces representing different user accounts. Drag yours to the center and you'll open up access to your content. When switching to a different user, you'll get a split second view of the content on the previous user's desktop, a small bug the company will hopefully fix with the next upgrade.

Barnes & Noble's calling skin "paper-like" (not to be confused, of course, with Paperwhite), a dull name, we'll admit, but it certainly gets to the heart of the matter. The company's gone a way toward providing a minimalist experience, not overcrowding things with flashy features that are unnecessary to core usage. At top is a black toolbar letting you know whose Nook you're looking at. There are notifications in the center that you can tap to read (rather than the customary notification pull-down), the time, WiFi indicator, batter listing and settings icon. Tapping Settings lets you adjust brightness, switch WiFi networks, enable airplane mode and toggle lock screen rotation.

By default, the desktop is mostly bare, with visible fibers that really drive that whole "paper-like" thing home. At top, you'll see the date, your account icon and another little welcome message custom-fit to the time of day. Below is the Daily shelf, a small carousel featuring quick, rotating access to your most recent content -- movies, newspapers, books, apps, comics, et al. It's not unlike what you get on the Kindle Fire HD, but it's far less central here. Below this is an open area onto which you can drag content and apps. There are five desktop pages in all, so you've got plenty of area to play around with. Toward the bottom of the page are links to your library, apps, the web browser, email and the Nook store. Down farther still are a search bar and a button that gives you quick access to all your open apps.

Barnes & Noble introduced Your Nook Today for this round of tablets. Clicking this will drop the page down with a cool little animation that breaks the sticker. The first time you launch the feature, the page will take a bit of time to populate -- especially on a lackluster connection. At the top, you'll get the current local weather, along with the current highs and lows, courtesy of AccuWeather.com (a hugely desired feature, according to B&N). The page also features reading recommendations, based on your habits and a quick "Three Minute Read," for the on-the-go person who wants to feel they've accomplished something in an exceedingly short space of time.

The library page offers up all of your content broken down by category -- books (including comics), magazines, movies and TV, apps, kids (including all content from all mediums that fit in the category), catalogs, newspapers and various methods for refining your own content, live shelves, scrapbooks and files. Content in the different categories is organized into rows that can be advanced with a swipe. Clicking on the header will bring you to a page that features all of that content laid out on grid. As with the homepage, the layout features a lot of white space -- a defining characteristic of the UI, which, compared to the vanilla Jellybean offered up on the Nexus 7, feels a little half-baked. Though for those looking for a simple tablet that doesn't overwhelm the senses, there's perhaps something to be said for Barnes & Noble's approach here. The aesthetic carries over to the Apps page. The icons certainly pop when placed on the dull white background, surrounded by so much white space.

Browser

Barnes & Noble's offered up a fairly straightforward browsing experience this time out -- precisely what one would look for in a starter tablet like this. At the top, you've got tabs which can be added to with the click of a plus sign. Below this, you'll find the navigation bar and buttons, and a bookmarks icon that will bring you to a list of browser thumbnails on a plain background. Along the bottom are icons for sharing (via email and Evernote), searching and the ArticleView, which adheres to the device's central reading focus by serving up web stories in a more magazine-like format. Clicking the top right lets you add a bookmark to the page you're currently reading and brings up access to further reading settings.

Reading

Reading is still the essence of the Nook line, and in a sense, like the Nook Color before it, the HD can be regarded as a reading device with some extra tricks up its sleeves. After all, the company clearly designed the form factor around the reading experience. Accordingly, in press materials for the company, reading is regularly mentioned ahead of things like movies and apps, in spite of the push toward a higher-definition display. Not much has changed on the prose-reading front. You get a page largely monopolized by text, save for the book title on the top and your progress on the bottom. Page turns default to a standard swipe, though fiddling with the settings make it possible to add a more book-like page curl animation that features some intentional image bleed from the page before it.

Click the progress at the bottom and you get a slider that lets you flip through the book. You can also get information on the book (cover, reviews, recommendations), word and phrase search, sharing and format adjustments -- which offer up eight text sizes, six font styles and six page colors, among others.

More visual texts are where the Nook HD really shines. Magazines like Details really do look stunning on the HD display. And while the Nook HD+ offers up a better form factor for such reading, you can home in on text with a pinch. For a more straightforward reading experience, Barnes & Noble is offering up the same ArticleView you get in the browser. Click it and the images disappear, offering up a layout similar to the printer-friendly format offered up by many news sites.

Tap the bottom of the screen, and you get a carousel of article pages. Below that is a link to a grid layout that offers up the whole book laid out as thumbnails on a single page. You can also view the contents via a more traditional TOC. The whole experience is tied together with excellent transition animations, making for a smooth and seamless reading experience. For all the unfinished feeling one gets navigating through the UI, it's clear that B&N invested a lot in magazine reading this time out.

Comics, too, are a pleasure to read on the Nook HD. The colors really pop and enabling ZoomView Letterboxing makes it possible to read panel by panel, really the ideal way to enjoy sequential art on a tablet device. As with magazines, you can also view a carousel of pages on the bottom of the screen, along with textual and visual tables of contents.

Barnes & Noble added shopping catalogs to its list of reading options. The viewing options are quite similar to those of magazines, only these get pushed to you for free, because, well, their sole reason for existing is to sell you products. The images feature hotspots, which, when clicked, bring you to product pages where you can purchase products. They look great, sure, but in a world in which catalogs are still widely considered junk mail for most consumers, it's hard to imagine the feature serving as a major selling point for most users.

Kids' books, meanwhile, have long been something of a secret weapon in Barnes & Noble's tablet offerings. The company has worked closely with manufacturers to offer up an experience that really goes the extra mile to harness the multimedia capabilities of the devices, adding sound effects, animation and music. Opening up the book offers up three different experiences: Read By Myself, which offers up no narration, Read and Play, which features built-in narration and Read and Record, which lets parents record narration for their kids.

As with other texts, clicking the bottom of the screen offers up a carousel of pages from the book. All of this, coupled with the low price, relatively durable design, small form factor and user profiles make a compelling argument for the Nook HD as a strong device for families. The whole process is extremely simple, and once a profile has been created, it will be synced over to other Nook devices linked to the same account.

Profiles

As evidenced by the lock screen, Barnes & Noble is really pushing the profile feature this time out -- and it's not hard to see why. Families share tablets, particular inexpensive ones. But while you might not mind handing off a $200 tablet, you don't necessarily want to put all of your content into your kids' hands. You can set up to six profiles per device by clicking your user icon on the home screen. From here, it will give you the option to create a profile for an adult or child. You can change the profile image using built-in clip-art or pictures stored on the device and pick a gender (you can also opt for a non-gender-specific version). Filling in the age on the child account helps Barnes & Noble determine "age-appropriate content."

On the following page is a checklist for different content types you can let the children access, as well as rating levels for movies and TV shows. Once you've filled all this out and picked a few interests, the Nook will recommend free content to you.

Shop

The Nook Shop design is fairly straightforward, offering up a rotating carousel of featured content in the upper left, with a list of pages of different content (book, magazines, movies & TV, et al) to its right. Below this are further recommendations broken up by categories like "Passion for Fashion" and "Your Favorite Heroes" (comics). If you know what you're searching for, however, just skip straight down to the search field at the bottom of the page.

It should be pointed out that, like the Fire, the Nook's skinned UI means you're getting no access to the Google Play store. The company is instead opting to work with developers to create apps that better fit their device. And while B&N claims to have all the popular apps, there are some conspicuous absences here -- searching for Spotify, for example, will only offer up a copy of the $12 e-book, "Spotify for Dummies." Who knew such a thing existed -- and really, without access to the app, who would ever need such a thing?

Wrap-up

Barnes & Noble invested a lot in the hardware, and it shows. The Nook HD has a great little screen, snappy performance and industrial design that stands out from the competition without proving quite as polarizing as its predecessor. Most of all, it's built to be held, a fact that echoes the device's focus on the reading experience. That core functionality spills over onto the software side, making visually interesting magazines, comics and kids' books a pleasure to read. Priced (ad-free) at $199 for an 8GB model and $229 for 16GB, it's a great little piece of hardware for those looking for a reader that can also handle casual gaming and high-def videos. And the addition of profiles makes this a tempting proposition for families with children.

The "paper-like" UI, on the other hand, doesn't feel as if it got quite as much attention. It's stark and at times buggy (though the company promises that a fix is coming shortly), missing both the content focus of the Kindle Fire and the full functionality (and Google Play access) of the Jelly Bean-rocking Nexus 7. Also, the lack of a camera feels like a strange oversight. All said, however, the Nook HD is a fine little tablet for the price, though in a space where the Kindle and Nexus have been crowned champions, asking people to make the leap feels like a bit of a hard sell.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/nook-hd-review/

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A Morphing Storm: As Sandy Moves Inland, Snow And Winds Follow

An ambulance is stuck in over a foot of snow off of Highway 33 West, near Belington, W.Va. on Oct. 30. Superstorm Sandy buried parts of West Virginia under more than a foot of snow.

Robert Ray/AP i

Even though Sandy has switched from hurricane to post-tropical cyclone, it's still a formidable storm. The latest forecast predicts strong winds and coastal storm surges up to four feet in some places. Areas from the eastern Great Lakes region to the mid-Atlantic and up to southern New England can also expect an additional inch of rain.

And NPR's Dan Charles reports from Beckley, W. Va., that there's at least a foot of snow on the ground there, and more on the way.

The mid-Atlantic region is no stranger to hurricanes, but as Sandy made its way north and onto land, it became far more wintery.

Hurricanes draw their power and energy from the heat of ocean water, releasing it high in the atmosphere. It's this transport of heat that keeps the system spinning in the characteristic counter-clockwise direction.

As Sandy moved north and turned westward toward land, it collided with cold air making its way south from Canada. The huge, rotating storm began drawing this cold air into its cyclonic path, driving it farther south. That's why we're now seeing snow in places like Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

The National Weather Service points out that winter storms can spin around like a hurricane does, but there's a key difference between a wintertime cyclone and a hurricane (one type of tropical cyclone). Winter cyclones draw their energy from differences in temperature and pressure in the atmosphere, not from ocean heat.

What continues to make Sandy so powerful is its broad diameter ? more than 1,000 miles ? and its union with the winter storm descending from Canada.

Blizzard warnings remain in effect in the higher elevations of the central Appalachians. Charles reports the heavy, wet snow is breaking tree branches and downing power lines as wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour continue to lash the region.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/10/30/163955358/a-morphing-storm-as-sandy-moves-inland-snow-and-winds-follow?ft=1&f=1007

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93% The Sessions

All Critics (88) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (82) | Rotten (6)

Most often with The Sessions the blunt comedy outweighs the drift toward sanctimony.

It sends viewers out of the theater with a heightened sense of the physical and a real feeling for all the things that sex means in human life.

The achievement of this simply told, exceptionally fine film is the clarity with which it portrays the drama of a good soul in an inert body.

Hawkes' performance is the must-see hook of The Sessions, but Hunt gives this funny, touching movie its soul.

Character actor John Hawkes is often cast as a frightening rustic (Winter's Bone, Martha Marcy May Marlene), but he gives a tender and witty performance here as Mark O'Brien.

The joy of The Sessions goes beyond sexual healing. It makes physical intimacy far more a matter of the heart, and you won't be alone wiping an occasional tear.

"The Sessions" introduces us to some harsh truths we may not want to consider, but the outcome is one we cannot fail to understand.

"The Sessions" is a film that reminds us of the fragility of life, and how human beings are capable of a deep emotional bond when it is least expected.

... a story of triumph over disability that takes the form of an uplifting sex comedy rather than a depressing saga of a dying man.

That exceedingly rare combination of sexy, clever and sweet, a winning tale of one charming disabled man's quest to get some stank on his hangdown.

The film greatly benefits from Hawkes' tremendous performance. (Full Content Review for Parents also available)

For the entire endeavor to emotionally register, you must buy into the romance that purportedly blossoms between Hawkes and Hunt. I didn't, not for a second.

Hawkes' work here is that good that it carries one away on a wave of emotion that dismisses critical thought. The film around him could have been better but you're unlikely to realize that while you're watching it.

...a perfectly watchable showcase for two undeniably above-average performances.

Uneven and perhaps a little too tidy as it aims to promote one man's extraordinary spirit. It is John Hawkes and Helen Hunt, however, who are most worth seeing.

Practically ignores everything about O'Brien's life except as it relates to his sexual odyssey, turning the life of the man into little more than a curio.

A powerful expression of our common needs, fears, and consolations.

For better and for worse, The Sessions has 'crowd-pleaser' written all over it.

More Critic Reviews

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sessions/

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Commodity Trade: Guide To Investing In Cocoa (NYSEARCA:NIB ...

Carolyn Pairitz:?The commodity?cocoa, refers to cocoa beans, which are the dried seeds from the,?Theobroma Cacao, or cocoa tree. The tree is native to the Americas, specifically the Southern Hemisphere, and has been a major part of the area?s history, though now the vast majority of the trees exist in West Africa. In fact, cocoa beans were used as a common currency in many areas prior to the Spanish conquest. Now, cocoa is used all over the world to create chocolate, and other products such as cocoa butter. Many consume cocoa beans because of the benefits associated with them, as they are thought to have positive effects on cardiovascular health among other things. As an investment, cocoa has become a popular?commodity?for investors looking to cash in on the sweet gains it can provide?[for more cocoa news and analysis subscribe to our?free newsletter].?

Physical Properties And Uses Of Cocoa

Cocoa trees require a warm climate to thrive, specifically within 20 degrees north or south of the equator. There are two different types of cocoa plants: Criollo and Forastero, with Criollo being the most sensitive to weather conditions, making it more difficult to grow and harvest properly. The cocoa trees take approximately five years to reach maturity, and each tree can produce roughly 2.2 pounds of cocoa. The cocoa beans themselves are about 3 cm thick with the center filled with a sweet pulp called mucilaginous. The seeds are typically white, though they turn a reddish brown color during the drying process [see also?Commodity Investing: Physical vs. Futures].

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The most visible use of cocoa beans is present in candies and beverages, most often chocolate. But, cocoa bean can also be used to make cocoa butter, which is used for many pharmaceutical drugs, as it makes for a nice substance to encapsulate various substances. Cocoa beans are also present in cosmetics, including various kinds of makeup, lotions, and soaps because of its?coveted?moisturizing?properties.

Cocoa Supply And Demand

Cocoa bean production is dominated by?emerging and frontier markets,?primarily?countries in Africa. Cote d?Ivoire (The Ivory Coast), Indonesia, and Ghana are the top three producers worldwide, with the Ivory Coast nearly doubling the output of the second place Indonesia. Though Africa dominates cocoa production, holding roughly 70% of the market share collectively, Latin America also accounts for a substantial portion of output thanks to Brazil, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and Peru.

Top Cocoa Bean Producers: 2010
Rank	Area	Production (Int $1000)
1	C?te d?Ivoire	1,290103
2	Indonesia	877,134
3	Ghana	656,362
4	Nigeria	373,855
5	Cameroon	274,240
6	Brazil	244,448
7	Ecuador	137,184
8	Togo	105,406
9	Dominican Republic	60,579
10	Peru	48,407
Source: Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations

From a consumption standpoint, the country list is the polar opposite of the producing markets, the top five being the U.S., Netherlands, Germany, France, and Brazil. Because the consumers and producers are in vastly different areas and economies, cocoa beans can see dramatic price changes [see alsoWhy Commodities Belong In Your Portfolio].

Cocoa Price Drivers

As a global commodity, the price of cocoa is impacted by a number of factors, and is often subject to significant price swings in a relatively short period of time. The major price drivers of cocoa include:

• Weather Conditions:?Like most?agricultural commodities, cocoa is subject to adverse weather conditions. Any unforeseen extreme weather pattern can set off supply issues sending cocoa prices soaring.
• Geopolitical Tensions:?With the major cocoa-producing nations being emerging and frontier markets, the supply of this crop can be easily bottlenecked by the combustible political situations that often characterize these nations.
• Climate Shifts:?While most plants are pollinated by bees or butterflies, the cocoa flower is pollinated by midges, small flies, or by hand. Any kind of global climate shifts could drastically throw off the natural pollination of this plant. Also, as previously mentioned, cocoa trees require very specific?environmental conditions?for healthy growth, and a subtle shift in an area?s climate could make a huge difference in the industry.
• Labor:?Unfortunately, numerous cocoa plants are harvested by child labor. In fact, in 2005 it was estimated that over 200,000 children were working in substandard conditions in cocoa fields. As of 2011 active programs in almost 300 cocoa cultivating communities in Ghana and the Cote d?Ivoire have caused a migration to the region of adults looking for work.?Because this crop relies heavily on?cheap labor, these changes and new regulations on how the crop is produced, and who does it, the price of cocoa is now at its highest level since its transition from delicacy to every day treat in the 80?s.

Investing in Cocoa

The investment thesis behind cocoa, is that this global commodity can be used to?hedge against inflation?as well as numerous other factors. Because the majority of the world?s cocoa supply is dependent on international markets, a cocoa investment can be a play on political relationships on some of these volatile nations. Below we outline numerous ways to add cocoa exposure to your portfolio:

Cocoa Futures

Cocoa futures are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange under the symbol CJ, with prices quoted in U.S. Dollars and Cents per pound. A single contract represents 10 metric tons of cocoa with a minimum fluctuation of $1.00 per ton. Trading is conducted in the March, May, July, September, and December cycle for the next 23 months. All contracts are subject to the?rules and regulations of NYMEX. Trading terminates on the day immediately preceding the first notice day of the corresponding trading month of Cocoa futures at ICE Futures U.S.

Cocoa ETFs

There are currently two ETFs that offers exposure to cocoa, both through Barclays iPath. The iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cocoa Total Return Sub-IndexSM ETN (NYSEARCA:NIB) tracks a is a single-commodity sub-index currently consisting of one futures contract on the commodity of cocoa, while the Pure Beta Cocoa ETN (NYSEARCA:CHOC) is comprised of a single exchange traded future at a time but with contango reducing technology [see also?Which Cocoa ETF Is Right For You? NIB vs CHOC].

• iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cocoa Total Return Sub-IndexSM ETN (NYSEARCA:NIB)
• Pure Beta Cocoa ETN (NYSEARCA:CHOC)

Another way to gain exposure to this commodity is to invest in countries which have high production levels. Below are several country and region ETFs that focus on major cocoa producers:

• Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSEARCA:IDX)
• iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (NYSEARCA:EWZ)
• Global X/InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (NYSEARCA:GXG)
• Market Vectors ? Africa Index ETF (NYSEARCA:AFK)

Resources On Cocoa Investing:

Written By Carolyn Pairitz?From CommodityHQ??Disclosure: No Positions.

CommodityHQ offers?educational?content, analysis, and commentary on global?commodity?markets. Whether you?re looking to speculate on a short-term jump in crude or establish a long-term allocation to?natural resources, CommodityHQ has the information you need.

NYSE:CHOC, NYSE:EWZ, NYSE:GXG, NYSE:IDX, NYSE:NIB

Source: http://etfdailynews.com/2012/10/30/commodity-trade-guide-to-investing-in-cocoa-nib-choc-idx-ewz-gxg-afk/

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England's Construction Bust Without Boom - Business Insider

The decline of U.S. housing market? has a compelling narrative. Lenders convinced borrowers to live beyond their means, financial institutions packaged borrowers? debt as a high-grade investment vehicle, and rating agencies went along with the charade ? until the house of cards came crashing down.

However, understanding the effects of the crisis on other countries is a pretty nuanced? task.

The Bank of England?s Ben Broadbent, External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee, spoke at Lancaster University on Monday to explain the nation?s construction market ? specifically, how it experienced a bust without a preceding boom.

As you can see in the charts below, although home prices increased, the UK?s bust was considerably more than its boom ? which itself was devoid of real construction growth:

?

These charts also demonstrate that U.K. construction fared much worse than many of its European counterparts.

Broadbent cites three reasons for the poor performance of U.K. construction leading up to and after the recession.

The first explanation is that although the physical stock of housing increased only marginally, a housing bubble was created in the U.K. through loans to commercial real estate companies, as demonstrated in the chart below:

Bank of England

As Broadbent explains, this reallocation of financial resources wasn?t riskless:

?the debt and the cash ended up with different people. So even if it wasn?t adding much to physical capacity, increased leverage was adding to the economy?s vulnerability to economic shocks.?

Broadbent also claims the crisis was exacerbated in the U.K. because banks were a ?net importer? of the financial crisis, as 75% of bank losses were due to overseas assets. As a result, Broadbent notes, "these foreign losses added to the contraction in domestic credit supply."?

Finally, leading up to the housing crisis, low productivity growth in construction caused prices to rise more than physical capacity. In other words, the value of commercial properties grew more at a faster rate than the stock of housing. Productivity growth was poor in light of building costs that, over the past decade, have increased much faster than inflation.

As Broadbent writes:

In cash terms, and relative to the general rate of inflation at the time, growth in the 2004-2008 period was almost as strong as it had been twenty years earlier and peaked at a slightly higher level. But growth in real investment was much slower. And, despite higher nominal spending (as a share of national income) the peak number of housing completions was lower.

In short, real output in construction did not mirror the nominal rise in home prices. There just wasn't that much actual construction occurring in the run-up to the financial crisis.

As such, Broadbent has effectively demonstrated that not all housing crises are created equal ??and reinforced how adverse effects of the U.S. housing crisis echoed throughout the world.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/englands-construction-bust-without-boom-2012-10

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Find Out How To Choose The Right Internet Hosting Plan | My Six ...

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Related posts:

1. Questions You Need To Query Your Internet Hosting Plan Company
2. Find A Good Internet Hosting Company
3. Internet Hosting Supplier Bluehost Com Area Hosting Php Hosting Low-Cost Internet Hosting E Commerce Internet Hosti
4. Web Hosting Providers Reseller Web Hosting Cloud Internet Hosting Dedicated Internet Hosting
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Source: http://mysixstringsblog.com/find-out-how-to-choose-the-right-internet-hosting-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=find-out-how-to-choose-the-right-internet-hosting-plan

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Want To Increase Private Improvement? Try These Tips | The Secret ...

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Source: http://www.drbonomi.com/enblog/want-to-increase-private-improvement-try-these-tips/

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THURBER: Who wants to raise your taxes, OH? ? Watchdog News

By Maggie Thurber | Special to Ohio Watchdog

TAX PUSH: Businesses are pushing for an increase in property taxes.

Toledo Public Schools has a new 4.9 mill levy on the November ballot.?This is on top of the 64.39 mills it already collects and in addition to its $11.22 million carryover from the 2011-12 school year.

While this would seem to be enough money ? at least to get through to next year ? TPS is running a campaign urging voters to increase the taxes they pay by $13.3 million a year.

But who is behind the push to raise the property taxes?

You?re probably thinking that the majority of contributions to the levy campaign came from unions, especially the teachers and administration unions who represent employees in the district.

You would be wrong.

Certainly the unions, along with the school board and school administration, want more money, but it is businesses who are the largest contributors.

Of the $53,196.95 raised and reported on the Committee for Schools pre-general campaign finance report, 60 percent comes from vendors of the school district.

When you think about it, it makes sense.?If the school district has more money, it can pay these companies for more things.?Unions have donated $12,000 through Oct. 17, the last day of the reporting period.

The largest contributor is the district?s law firm, Marshall & Melhorn, who gave the campaign $10,000.?Four attorneys with the firm, including three who have represented TPS, each gave $500.?That?s not bad considering that TPS has paid them $243,823.47 through September this year, according to documents on the TPS website.

Other large contributors included ProMedica, Buckeye Telesystems, Rice Securities and Squire Sanders, along with construction firms handling the school building program.

What is missing, so far, is a donation from the Toledo Federation of Teachers, the union representing teachers in the district.

Another interesting fact about the Committee for Schools report is the amount of donations coming from outside the city of Toledo.?Nearly 52 percent comes from people who do not have a Toledo address on the campaign finance report.

They?re not going to pay the proposed tax, but they?re helping to pass a levy so others will.

The businesses that are donating who are in the district won?t really pay the tax either.?They?ll just pass that additional overhead on to their clients who will end up paying more for their services as a result.?Toledoans will pay twice ? once for their own taxes and then again when they pay higher prices for the products the business contributors sell.

For TPS, this means that its vendors will raise their prices, and TPS will need even more money to pay those additional costs, so it?ll ask for another levy, which it?ll fund through contributions from vendors, who will then raise their prices when the levy passes.

It?s a vicious cycle with taxpayers footing the bill.

But it?s not just Toledo.?Matt Mayer, in his book ?Taxpayers Don?t Stand A Chance,? noted that the entire $41,000 spent by the Good Schools Committee on behalf of a 2011 Dublin City Schools levy came from vendors and school district employees.

Mayer also notes that rarely do traditional media outlets share this information with voters as part of their levy reporting.

With 1,055 tax levies on the ballot in Ohio this year ? 151 of which are for schools ? voters should check the campaign finance reports to see who is behind the quest to raise their taxes.

Campaign finance reports are all public records and are available from your county Board of Elections.

?

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Source: http://watchdog.org/60567/thurber-who-wants-to-raise-your-taxes-oh/

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CSN: Don't get ahead of yourselves, Giants fans

October 26, 2012, 4:18 pm

DETROIT -- Now that you?ve all gotten ahead of yourselves -- and to be fair, why wouldn?t you after that delicious two-day meal of Sandoval on a bed of Bumgarner -- here?s something to remind you that few things are ever as they seem.

The Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals.

I grant you, this is not the way to bet. The Giants have their best pitchers of 2012 R. -- Andrew Vogelsong and M. Thomas Cain -- going in Game 3 and 4, which is one more way that Bruce Bochy?s way of thinking works in his favor even when it seems like it doesn?t.

But as a big believer in the ?things are awfully quiet around here . . . a little TOO quiet? theory of human dynamics, your faithful, charming and even adorable author is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Now maybe it won?t; it didn?t for Texas two years ago.

But the Rangers also led the World Series 3-2 last year before losing the final two games in St. Louis, which is just one more example of how nothing is over until John Belushi in Animal House says its over. And even the stat that 14 of the last 15 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the Series have gone on to win it doesn?t take into account the possibility that this is one of those years when a lead is really a cleverly disguised deficit.

See the Cardinals. See them golfing and hunting and lamenting their 3-1 lead over the Giants.

In other words, there are lots of ways this could get to be interesting -- so interesting that the ratings hammering the first two games took can be arrested and even perhaps reversed.

So, because a dose of reality never hurts anyone living in a state of unbridled euphoria, we present scenarios by which the Tigers could make this an event rather than a coronation. And don?t think of this as buzzkill. Think of it as a map of a minefield -- where you?d rather know what could go wrong than blithely stroll through and find out the hard way.

And remember, we?re always thinking of you.

1.????? Anibal Sanchez, Saturday?s Tiger starter, does not treat the Giants well. In his last three years in Florida, he muzzled the Giants as well as nearly anyone, and in his two starts this year he was exemplary once and part of a 14-7 abomination the other time. In other words, he can claim to have their number.
2.????? The Tigers can?t really be smothered thrice in their own park, can they? Comerica Park is a big place, but the Tigers are much better there than in an airport like San Francisco, where power hitters go to die and gap hitters thrive.
3.????? Delmon Young is better as a designated hitter than as a left fielder. The Tigers will use either Don Kelly or Quentin Berry in left in the three games here, which immediately improves Detroit?s greatest deficiency -- defense. It also exacerbates one of the Giants? deficiencies -- no natural DH.
4.????? Having been fooled by the low end of Justin Verlander?s skill set once this series, we can estimate that he will be better in Game 5. We do not do this with the same surety we had in Game 1 (and yes, we were in a group that comprised all other living humans interested in baseball on that one), but it is hard to fathom he will not learn from his mistakes in Game 1.
5.????? If you believe in rust (and again, we do not), the Tigers are no longer rusty. They were dusty in Games 1 and 2, but ought to be free of webs and insect nests by now.
6.????? There is no longer a question of where Jose Valverde fits into the Tigers? bullpen. He doesn?t. That logically diminishes the Giants? chances.
7.????? The 2010 World Series ended too abruptly. Some drama would be nice.
8.????? The Giants have a knack for playing their backs against the wall. We are not entirely sure how they will do with the other guy?s back against the wall.
9.????? Seriously, another five-game series would be kind of a letdown, except maybe for Fox, which can?t seem to get people to watch anything that isn?t Yankees-vs.-Red Sox.
10.???? Smug does not become a Giants fan. Fret, worry lines, agony, and the fetish that watching a good baseball team over and over again is torture is what makes a Giants fan. So a struggle here could be therapeutic for you all, as it is what you seem to prefer.

And all that said, the Giants are still in a dramatically superior position here, and as long as they don?t act like it, they?ll be fine. Eventually. We think.

Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com

Source: http://www.csnbayarea.com/10/26/12/Dont-get-ahead-of-yourself-Giants-fans/nbcsportsgiants.html?blockID=794033&feedID=2796

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Comments (0) - Today's Software Headlines! ? SaaS Newswire

Kentico Software (http://www.kentico.com), the Web Content and Customer Experience Management vendor, today introduced the Kentico Online Marketing Competency and awarded Kentico Gold Certified Partners NetConstruct and Pull Digital with first recognition. This competency enables customers to recognize Kentico partners based on their expertise in delivering Kentico EMS websites.

Wokingham, Berkshire, UK (PRWEB) October 27, 2012

?Any Kentico Gold Certified Partner who completes two or more Kentico EMS (Enterprise Marketing Solution) implementations, leveraging its advanced marketing features, and successfully passes the Kentico Online Marketing knowledge test with a minimum score of 80% is eligible to receive this recognition of their experience,? said Lenka Navratilova, Partner Program Manager at Kentico Software. ?Both NetConstruct and Pull Digital are well-established Kentico Gold Partners and the Online Marketing Competency recognition proves their proficiency in creating Kentico EMS websites and distinguishes their skills and experiences as being superior in enterprise Web development with Kentico.?

Kentico Online Marketing Competency is awarded to Kentico Gold Certified Partners who not only pass the Kentico Online Marketing knowledge test, but who show expertise in creating websites using Kentico EMS, making use of its many enterprise marketing tools, such as Marketing Automation, Email marketing, Contact Management and Segmentation, Lead scoring, Analytics, and Reporting.

Pull Digital, a leading online marketing agency based in the UK, has been a Kentico partner for over 3 years with over 30 sites completed.

?We see Kentico EMS as an important evolution for Kentico CMS and it will enhance our online marketing offering considerably,? commented Manoj Shah, Digital Services Director of Pull Digital. ?It is changing the way Pull and its clients see and use websites, utilizing its improved tracking and intelligence to increase ROI. Several of our clients are now on board with Kentico EMS too, and we are looking forward to rolling it out over the coming months.?

NetConstruct, a UK-based Full Service Digital Agency, has been a Kentico partner for 4 years with 75 sites completed.

?NetConstruct sees Kentico EMS as a vital tool for today?s marketing professionals who want genuine marketing intelligence and automation from their website platform rather than just good content management,? said Jonathan Healey, Development Director at NetConstruct.

Pull Digital case study on Kentico EMS: http://bit.ly/RhZo3T

More information about Pull digital and other real world case studies are available on request from http://www.pulldigital.com

NetConstruct case study on Kentico EMS: http://bit.ly/Vyqidc

More information about NetConstruct: http://www.kentico.com/Partners/NetConstruct

More information about Kentico EMS is available at: http://www.kentico.com/Product/For-Marketers

There is a LinkedIn group dedicated to Kentico Online Marketing and EMS: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4679569&trk=anet_ug_hm

More information about Kentico EMS is available at: http://www.kentico.com/Product/For-Marketers

About Kentico CMS

Kentico CMS is an enterprise Web Content Management System and Customer Experience Management System that provides a complete set of features for building websites, intranets, community sites and e-commerce solutions on the Microsoft ASP.NET platform on premise or in the cloud. It supports mobile websites, SEO, document management, online marketing tools, multilingual websites, multisite management and it ships with 70 modules, 400 configurable Web parts and source code available.

Kentico CMS customers can expect a highly flexible platform with a uniquely easy-to-use user interface. It?s currently used by more than 15,000 websites in 87 countries. The clients include Microsoft, Guinness, Chiquita, Vodafone, O2, Orange, Brussels Airlines, Mazda, Ford, Subaru, Isuzu, Samsung, Gibson, ESPN, DKNY, Abbott Labs, Medibank, Ireland.ie and others.

About Kentico Software

Kentico Software (http://www.kentico.com) helps clients create successful dynamic websites, intranets, community sites and e-commerce solutions using Kentico CMS for ASP.NET. It's committed to deliver a full-featured, enterprise-class, stable and scalable Web Content Management solution on the Microsoft .NET platform. Founded in 2004, Kentico is headquartered in the Czech Republic and has offices in the United States (Nashua, NH and Seattle, WA), United Kingdom (Reading) and Sydney (Australia). Since its inception, Kentico has continued to rapidly expand the Kentico CMS user base worldwide. Its partner network consists of 1,200 partners in 80+ countries. Kentico Software is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. In 2010, Kentico was named the fastest growing technology company in the Czech Republic in the Deloitte Technology FAST 50 awards. In 2012, Kentico Software was named global Microsoft Partner of the Year Finalist in the ISV/Software Solutions Industry category.

About Pull Digital

Pull Digital is a full service online marketing agency delivering strategy, branding & design, website development and digital campaigns. We are 100% focused on improving our clients? bottom line, delivering measurable results and high ROI, we call it Marketing Certainty?.

Working across B2C and B2B brands, we blend timeless communication know-how with leading technologies to transform our clients? businesses. Pull is a Kentico Gold Partner and we have completed over fifty projects using the Kentico CMS. We are also one of the first UK agencies to deploy the Kentico EMS.

Pull Digital offers all the knowledge and experience of an international agency, without their costs. We combine traditional marketing, creativity and best practice approaches and solutions with leading edge digital marketing.

About NetConstruct

NetConstruct is a leading full-service digital agency with more than 15 years? experience having delivered more than 2,000 projects.

From offices in London and Leeds, it takes a business consultancy approach to understanding its clients? objectives and target outcomes. NetConstruct works closely with clients to deliver the digital solutions and campaigns that provide them with real business benefit.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/10/prweb10056667.htm

Source: http://www.saasnewswire.com/2012/10/todays-software-headlines-436/

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Will President Obama Legalize Same-Sex Marriage? You Asked!

During 'Ask Obama,' the president says the issue should be left up to the states, and one student responds.
By James Montgomery

President Barack Obama on "Ask Obama Live"
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696360/president-obama-same-sex-marriage-equality.jhtml

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Food, music paired for symphony fundraiser - Table Hopping - Steve ...

A fundraiser called Tasting Notes, to benefit the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 29, in the Van Curler Room at Schenectady County Community College. Reception at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. There will be a four-course meal, five music selections and six wines. See the wines and music after the jump. Tickets are $100 per person; order here.

Aperitivo
Sparkling Wine Reception with Live Jazz
Hunt Country Brut Chardonnay, Keuka Lake, NY

First Course
Bernard Andres ? Algues
Ott de Selle Rose 2011, Provence, France

Second Course
Jacques Ibert ? Tres Pieces Breves for wind quintet
Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet St. Jean Blanc 2008, Burgundy, France

Main Course
Claude Debussy ? Petite Suite
Chateau de Pez 2009 Bordeaux, St. Estephe, France

Wolfgang A. Mozart ? String Quartet in D major, K. 155
Ferrari Carano Tresor 2008, Alexander Valley, CA

Dessert
Michael Wicks ? Famous Harmonies
Standing Stone Gewurtraminer Ice, Seneca Lake, NY

Source: http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/33980/food-music-paired-for-symphony-fundraiser-2/

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Rare ladybug in Montana behaves like a turtle

Rare ladybug: The 'headless' ladybug is a new genus that can tuck its head in its throat. How rare is it? Only two of the bizarre-looking ladybird beetles have ever been collected, a male in Montana and a female in Idaho.

By Laura Zuckerman,?Reuters / October 25, 2012

A newly discovered ladybug tucks its head into its throat - making it not only a new species but an entirely new genus. With just two specimens ever collected, scientists say it's the rarest species in the United States.

REUTERS/Montana State University/Handout

Enlarge

Sleepy Hollow has its headless horseman and now Montana has a headless ladybug.

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The newly discovered insect tucks its head into its throat - making it not only a new species but an entirely new genus, or larger classification of plants and animals.

Ross Winton captured the insect in 2009 in traps he set in a sand dune while an entomology graduate student at Montana State University. Winton, now a wildlife technician in Idaho, at first thought he had parts of an ant but then discovered the bug can hide its head, much like a turtle ducking into its shell.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

Winton sent his discovery to scientists in Australia working on this group of insects and the headless ladybug was formally described in a recent issue of the peer-reviewed journal Systematic Entomology, a publication of the Royal Entomological Society.

Just two specimens of the tan, pinhead-sized ladybugs, also known as ladybird beetles, have ever been collected, a male in Montana and a female in Idaho, scientists said, making it the rarest species in the United States.

Entomologists historically used males to describe beetle species so the credit for the new discovery went to Winton.

However, the new species - Allenius iviei - was named after his former professor and Montana State University entomologist Michael Ivie.

The insect, with the proposed common name "Winton's Ladybird Beetle," may prey on aphids and other plant pests.

"The species is very unusual not only because of its small size, unique habitat and rarity, but the fact that its head is pulled back into a tube in its thorax makes its biology quite a mystery," Ivie told Montana State University News Service.. "It was so unique that it was placed, along with another new species known from Baja California, in a new genus. While discovery of a new species of beetle in the USA is not an everyday event, a completely new genus is quite rare."

He said it was unclear why the beetle slips its head into a tube in its midsection.
"It's a whole new kind of ladybug. Whatever this does, it is very specialized. It's quite the exciting little beast," Ivie said.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

(Editing by Mary Slosson and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/iXDMCOK2cvk/Rare-ladybug-in-Montana-behaves-like-a-turtle

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Make The Most up-to-date Home Improvement The Jeal | Home Town

Doing redecorating assignments can be accomplished without having to pay the additional price of hiring a expert. Take advantage of the details offered previously mentioned, and get yourself started on making http://www.doubleglazingquoteuk.com individuals alterations. Keep the assistance here in mind to take care of redesigning easily.

Be sure that all safety safeguards are adopted when improving your property. You might sense a bit absurd donning a difficult head wear inside the ?security? of your house, nonetheless think how silly you will truly feel relaxing in a medical facility your bed describing how an errant bit of drywall place you there. Hardhats and goggles are great options to put on while improving your house.

Put in a bath in the event you don?t already have a single about the properties. A shower is effective in reducing the level of normal water applied and is more readily available than the usual bathtub. A bath which will take a few minutes will make use of just one-4th the water of your whole tub.

Granite tiles may be the best way to inexpensively get rock into your home. A simple granite slab could cost you lots of money and be very difficult to transfer and set up appropriately. Do the identical space in tile and also the cost falls to about $300. Granite ceramic tiles get the appearance you would like to look at, at a simple fraction of expense.

A great idea to use if you?re improving your home is to read through the contract you?re signing as carefully as you possibly can. It may look like a great deal to study, even though you ought to be sure that you approve everything that is incorporated in the contract. Unless you make time to verify it extensively, you can be taken benefit of. Irregardless of methods significantly religious beliefs you possess in him, look at that contract with a great-teeth hair comb!

Apply certain varnish and wallpapers to produce a again splash in the kitchen. Select the wallpapers inside a design which you adore. Calculate out of the total place of your walls, and purchase a bit more than you really need. Use the wall surface papers mixture and give it time to established for a couple minutes till it believes tacky. Then, hang up the wallpaper within the region you applied the paste, employing a squeegee about the papers to remove bubbles and sleek things out. Cut the edges for just the right fit. Apply a level of varnish by using a clean. You can now appreciate your back-splash.

Almost never you may find water leaky underneath the basin or possibly through the faucet, but tend not to attempt to fix the problem on your own. Be sure to provide a catch for the dripping h2o, and after that get in touch with an expert plumbing service.

People often feel that setting up underfloor, radiant warming or possibly a cleaning system that is certainly key boosts their home?s worth. Unfortunately, many forget to target the exterior appearance such as the painting or the uneven shutters. In the event the shopper recognizes several things that should be fixed, they won?t pay out the maximum amount of. Do not forget that the very first effect that others have of your home does subject.

A great hint when it comes to home improvement is usually to consider classes at diy stores. The stores provide courses mainly because they would love you to accomplish all of your current organization with them. Prior to starting a residence development undertaking, require a course to become knowledgeable about the basic principles.

Constantly offer transaction to some contractor with a verify or maybe your visa or mastercard, to be capable of placed an end to the financial transaction if you have to. It will help make certain you won?t get cheated out of any cash. Charge cards perform best when disputing a deal even though it is going through.

If you have owned and operated your house for a while, or freshly obtained it, you might truly feel that it must be time for some modernizing and work. The information from this article will allow you to in your home remodeling journey.

Source: http://theperpetualbeta.com/accounting/make-the-most-up-to-date-home-improvement-the-jeal/

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Free Wedding Dress From A Bride Who Wants To 'Pay It Forward': Winner

When Ren?e Stroinski first learned she would be receiving a gorgeous wedding dress for free, she reacted the way any self-respecting bride-to-be would under the circumstances: she freaked out.

"I screamed! I was so happy -- I couldn't believe it!"

The 25-year-old Fairlawn, NJ-based student is planning to marry her boyfriend of five years, Zac Follmer in the fall of 2014, but thanks to their collective student debt (he graduated with an MBA from Seton Hall in South Orange, NJ in June; she is set to graduate with a five-year accounting degree in the spring of 2013), her dream of a perfect wedding -- and the dress to go along with it -- seemed totally out of reach. "I had conceded to the fact that I wasn?t going to wear an actual wedding dress. I was shopping for an evening dress," Stroinski told HuffPost Weddings.

That's why she was intrigued when she read the Huffington Post Weddings story of a Washington, D.C.-based newlywed who had decided to give away the $800 Cambodian silk wedding gown she'd worn for her September nuptials to a deserving bride-to-be. The generous bride -- who initially chose to remain anonymous but has since revealed her first name, Alissa -- initiated the giveaway in a bid to "pay it forward," asking brides-to-be who felt their wedding experience would be "truly transformed" by the dress to send in their stories.

Stroinski didn't hesitate when she came across the dress, which she realized would fit her 5?5 ?, size 4 frame perfectly, even though, she says, "It was almost too good to be true."

She, along with dozens of other women around the country, sent her story to Alissa via Huffington Post Weddings in a bid to walk down the aisle in the dress.

In her note to Alissa, Stroinski detailed the "leap of faith" she had taken with the help of her now-fiance to leave her retail job to pursue a college degree full-time ("He helped me muster the strength to leave my job in a recession," Stroinski later told Huffington Post Weddings. "That was totally out of character for me. Nobody has ever inspired me to be that strong.")

She went on to describe how she longed for "that special 'moment,'" when her husband-to-be and her father -- who recently underwent a kidney transplant -- would see her for the first time in her gown. "That memory is one of the few things that I know will last long after the wedding," she wrote, even though she knew the couple's extremely lean financial circumstances would probably make that impossible.

While Stroinski's story was moving, Alissa says she knew she'd found the right bride for her dress when she read about Stroinski's desire to give the dress away after she'd worn it: "I would definitely continue the bride's tradition of offering the dress for free," wrote Stroinski.

"Ren?e, perhaps more than anyone else ... seemed to embrace the spirit and the vision of 'paying it forward,'" Alissa told The Huffington Post. "It was clear from her letter that the impact of the dress won?t stop just at her.?

Alissa's instincts were bang-on.

"I don?t know what made me feel happier," Stroinski told Huffington Post Weddings, "that I?m gonna get to wear the dress or that I?m gonna give it to someone else after I wear it!"

Alissa will be on NBC's "TODAY" Show on Monday, Oct. 29 to pay-it-forward and hand off the beautiful gown to Renee!

For images of the dress and to read Alissa's story, click here. Below, click through photos of Stroinski and her fiance.

• "In 2006, I was working in retail and also going to school and I decided to become friends with one of my co-workers," says Stroinski. "Zac and I met through him. He was in a grad program and he urged me to go back to school. I wanted to leave the workforce because I wanted more. He gave me the strength to do it. And so for the last 3 years that is what I have been doing."

• The two started dating officially in 2007. "We're New York Giants fans. That's how we remember the transition to when we actually became a couple because it was the year the Giants won the superbowl!" How'd she know he was The One? "I just knew I couldn't be without him," she says.

• The marriage conversation was very "organic," says Stroinski. "We started planning our lives together. I don't think there was ever an actual decision. We talked about it more and more as the years went by."

• As far as a proposal, there hasn't been a formal one--yet. "We can't afford a ring right now. He's proposed, but after my graduation he said that's when he would do it for real."

• The couple's wedding --a small affair for about 50 of their family members and closest friends--will take place at the Crystal Springs Resort in New Jersey in the fall of 2014.

• When Follmer learned Stroinski would be the recipient of the dress, she says, "He went and found the Huffington Post Weddings link to look at it right away. He loves it!"

• "I saved all the emails he sent me, all his encouraging words" says Stroinski. "I have them printed out and in shoeboxes--one for every year that we've been together. It has all the emails, and the events we go through--baseball ticket stubs, concerts, everything. I'm gonna print this Huffington Post Weddings article out and put it in there!"

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/free-wedding-dress_n_1962129.html

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