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Thursday, February 28, 2013
One Direction's Harry Styles Gets Nailed Onstage By Fan-Wielded Sneaker
'I didn't mean to hit him where I hit him. I'm really embarrassed,' guilty concertgoer confesses.
By Jocelyn Vena
Harry Styles [file]
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702713/harry-styles-hit-by-shoe-onstage.jhtml
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Dell S320wi
Short-throw interactive projectors like the Dell S320wi are best understood as less expensive, but nearly as good, alternatives to ultra short throw models like the Editors' Choice Epson BrightLink 485Wi. For any given size image, you can't put them as close to the screen as with ultra short throw projectors, but they generally work just as well otherwise. More important, the S320wi in particular is a reasonably capable representative of the breed.
Built around an XGA (1024 by 768) DLP chip, the S320wi offers a 3,000-lumen brightness rating, putting it in the typical range for current models meant for small to medium-size rooms. It weighs only 7 pounds, which makes it potentially portable. If you want to carry it with you, however, you'll have to buy a carrying case separately. Dell doesn't include one with the projector, which isn't surprising given that projectors in this weight class--particularly interactive projectors?are most likely to wind up on a cart or permanently installed in a wall mount.
Short Throw vs. Ultra Short Throw
Short-throw projectors have the advantage of projecting a big image from a short distance. They're not a match for ultra short throw projectors, on this score, but the difference isn't as much as you might think. For the 78-inch wide image we use for most testing, I measured the distance between the screen and the front of the S320wi at just 49 inches, which is a lot less than the 110 inches or more for most standard projectors at maximum zoom. I measured the Epson BrightLink 485Wi's distance at just 10-inches, but that's not a truly comparable measurement.
With almost all ultra short-throw projectors, including the 485Wi, the image comes from the back of the projector rather than the front. For the 485Wi, the actual throw distance for a 78-inch wide screen comes out to 21 inches. As a practical matter, if the projectors are mounted above the screen, that doesn't give it much advantage over the S320wi for eliminating shadows when you're standing near the screen. However, it can make a more noticeable difference for projectors on a cart.
Setup and Interactivity
Setting up the S320wi is standard fare. Connection options on the back include an HDMI 1.3 port for a computer or video source, plus the usual assortment of VGA, composite video, and S-Video ports. There's also a? USB A port for reading files from a USB key, a USB B port for connecting to your computer for interactive control and mouse control, a LAN port for both sending images to the projector and controlling it over a network, and support for a Wi-Fi connection.
As with most DLP-based interactive projectors, including, for example, the Editors' Choice Optoma TW610STi the S320wi uses the Texas Instruments interactive technology, which doesn't need calibration between the supplied pen and the projector. In addition the pen doesn't need to touch the screen to interact, so you can turn literally any surface into the equivalent of an interactive whiteboard.
As is typical for projectors using TI's approach to interactivity, I saw a slight lag between moving the pen and the results onscreen at times, but the responsiveness was good enough so I don't consider it a problem.
Brightness and Image Quality
The S320wi is bright enough for the 78-inch wide (98-inch diagonal) image size I used in my tests to easily stand up to the level of ambient light you'll find in most offices and classrooms. Turn on interactive mode, however, and the brightness drops noticeably. The good news is that even with interactive mode, the image was bright enough for a 66-inch wide (83-inch diagonal) image with moderate ambient light.
Very much on the plus side, the S320wi did reasonably well for data image quality on our standard suite of DisplayMate tests. Color balance was good, with most preset modes delivering suitably neutral grays over the entire range from black to white. Colors were a little dark in terms of a hue-saturation-brightness color model, but the colors were generally well saturated. More important for data images, the projector holds details well, with text easily readable at sizes as small as 6.8 points.
Video quality is also good for a DLP data projector. The S320wi handled skin tones well, I didn't see any posterization (shading changing suddenly where it should change gradually) even in scenes that tend to cause the problem, and I saw only minimal noise in large solid areas, like blank walls. I also saw moderate loss of shadow detail (details based on shading in dark areas) in scenes that tend to cause the problem, but many, if not most, data projectors do far worse with shadow detail.
One potential issue for any DLP based projector is rainbow artifacts, with light areas breaking up into little red-green-blue rainbows. I see this rainbow effect relatively easily, but it showed so rarely with data screens on the S320wi that few people, if any, are likely to find it bothersome. As with most DLP projectors, however, the rainbows show more often with video. Anyone who's sensitive to the rainbow effect may well see it often enough with video to consider it annoying.
Other Issues
Two other issues that demand mention are the S320wi's audio system and its 3D support. The audio quality is good enough so I could hear every word of some quietly spoken dialog that's almost impossible to make out with most projectors. Unfortunately, that's balanced by low volume, with a five-watt speaker. For larger rooms, you'll want to use an external sound system.
The 3D support, using DLP-Link glasses, is typical for DLP projectors, which means the S320wi is designed to work with computers that include Quad Buffered, Open GL 3D-compatible graphics cards. It also comes without any DLP-Link glasses, which are currently about $30 each for the cheapest models available. Buying enough glasses for a large audience can be costly enough to make 3D impractical. But at least the feature's available if you want it.
Overall, if you need an XGA interactive projector, the Dell S320wi offers a lot to like, with its short throw and its level of data and video image quality. However it's also a little pricey. Comparable in most ways to the Optoma TW610STi but with a lower resolution, at XGA (1,024-by-768) instead of WXGA (1,280-by-800), it should cost less. Instead, it costs more. That said, if XGA is the resolution you need, the Dell S320wi will be the better fit. And despite its price, it's a fairly reasonable choice.
More Projector Reviews:
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Mindy McCready's funeral held in southwest Florida
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) ? As her music played in the background, country music star Mindy McCready was remembered Tuesday by friends and family as a fun and talented singer who also "wanted to be healed" from her past.
About 200 friends and family gathered in the 37-year-old singer's Florida hometown of Fort Myers. A large screen behind the altar of Crossroads Baptist Church was filled with her images and her portrait stood nearby.
"Our Mindy was so tired. She felt helpless," said McCready's mother, Gayle Inge. "She was in her darkest moment and she was hurt by so many allegations. She was too emotional to understand."
McCready, whose real name was Malinda Gayle McCready, committed suicide Feb. 17 at her home in Arkansas, days after leaving a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program. The mother of two died from a single gunshot to the head about a month after her longtime boyfriend David Wilson's death, also thought to be suicide, in the same place.
Inge acknowledged that her daughter had faced many battles but now: "Her spirit found healing on the other side."
McCready's personal problems started in 2004 and included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons. She was briefly hospitalized in 2010 after police responded to an overdose call to a home her mother owned in North Fort Myers, Fla., and she later appeared on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," where she declared herself clean from drugs.
McCready's family declined to address any custody issue at the funeral.
"She wanted them to know that nothing, not even death, could separate her from them," Gayle Inge said of McCready's two sons, Zander Ryan and Zayne Christopher. "She's healed. She's no longer sick," she added, referring to what she told McCready's sons.
A separate funeral organized by her friends and the music community is tentatively scheduled for March 6 in Nashville, Tenn.
McCready's stepfather, brothers and cousin also shared their fondest ? and often funny ? memories of McCready.
"You all know I grew up coming from a broken home," said brother Timothy McCready, wiping away tears. "It makes your brothers and sisters really important to you. We used to joke about how she raised us...we raised each other, all of us. And she probably got us all in a lot more trouble than she got us out of," he later joked about his sister.
"I just know that Mindy is on vacacioun where she is," said younger brother Skylar Phelan, referring to how McCready often used the Latin word for "vacation" to get out of chores.
McCready grew up in Fort Myers, where she took private vocal lessons and later sang in karaoke bars.
Family friend Julie Ende-Killion remembers the day when McCready won her first award for "Ten Thousand Angels."
"And I remember her coming out of the trailer," she recalled. "I think she was in Kenny Chesney's trailer because she didn't even have her own dressing room at that time. Nashville is a pretty cool place. She made her mark on it."
McCready arrived in Nashville in 1994 and hit the top of the country charts before her personal problems sidetracked her career.
In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," which her stepfather sang during the funeral.
"She's our special angel," said Michael Inge. "She sang a song years ago about 'Ten Thousand Angels' watching over her and now she is in the presence of all those 10 thousand angels," Michael Inge said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mindy-mccreadys-funeral-held-southwest-florida-080238802.html
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Teen charged in Ohio school shooting pleads guilty
T. J. Lane listens during court proceedings in Geauga County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Chardon, Ohio. Lane, charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of aggravated murder and other charges. Lane, now 18, also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a single count of felonious assault. Prosecutors agreed to drop the death-penalty specifications from the aggravated murder counts.(AP (Photo/Marvin Fong, Pool)
T. J. Lane listens during court proceedings in Geauga County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Chardon, Ohio. Lane, charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of aggravated murder and other charges. Lane, now 18, also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a single count of felonious assault. Prosecutors agreed to drop the death-penalty specifications from the aggravated murder counts.(AP (Photo/Marvin Fong, Pool)
T. J. Lane looks up during court proceedings at the Geauga County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Chardon, Ohio. Lane, charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of aggravated murder and other charges. Lane, now 18, also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a single count of felonious assault. Prosecutors agreed to drop the death-penalty specifications from the aggravated murder counts. (AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, Marvin Fong, Pool)
T. J. Lane listens during court proceedings at the Geauga County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Chardon, Ohio. Lane, charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of aggravated murder and other charges. Lane, now 18, also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a single count of felonious assault. Prosecutors agreed to drop the death-penalty specifications from the aggravated murder counts.(AP (Photo/Marvin Fong, Pool)
T.J. Lane is escorted into the Geauga county courthouse Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Chardon, Ohio. Lane, 18, charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school a year ago, will enter a guilty plea during a court hearing later Tuesday morning, said attorney Ian Friedman. Lane's appearance in the courtroom comes one day before the anniversary of the deadly shootings at Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
T.J. Lane is escorted into the Geauga county courthouse Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Chardon, Ohio. Lane, 18, charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school a year ago, will enter a guilty plea during a court hearing later Tuesday morning, said attorney Ian Friedman. Lane's appearance in the courtroom comes one day before the anniversary of the deadly shootings at Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
CHARDON, Ohio (AP) ? A teenager charged with killing three students at an Ohio high school pleaded guilty to all charges Tuesday, the eve of the first anniversary of the shooting rampage.
T.J. Lane, now 18, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a single count of felonious assault.
The Wednesday anniversary of the attacks at Chardon High School comes after a year of mass shootings, including one that left dead 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn., and another that claimed 12 lives at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater.
The anniversary in Chardon, a tight-knit courthouse community east of Cleveland, will be marked with a memorial walk and service activities at the school.
Lane, dressed in a green open-collar shirt and dark slacks with his once-shaggy hair buzzed short, held his head up without emotion Tuesday as he repeatedly said, "Yes, your honor," to questions posed to him by the judge.
He could face life in prison. Judge David Fuhry scheduled sentencing for March 19.
Lane wasn't subject to the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the crimes.
Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz said the plea provided the same outcome that he wanted from a trial. Families of the victims agreed that Lane should face life in prison, he said.
Flaiz said he was prepared to present a motive at trial but declined to specify it.
Two wounded survivors and parents of most of the victims watched Lane's plea.
Bob Parmertor, father of Danny Parmertor, 16, who was killed, said after the plea that he felt justice would be done if Lane "will never see daylight again" outside prison. "We're just very glad it's not going to trial," he said.
Lane's grandmother, weeping quietly, sat arm's length from Nick Walczak, who was rolled into court in a wheelchair. Walczak, who was crippled in the attack, shifted his eyes to Lane as the attempted aggravated murder charge detailing his case was read by the judge.
Lane was determined to take responsibility, his attorney said after the court session.
"T.J.'s plea of guilty is a complete admission to each and every element of each and every charge, every crime," defense attorney Ian Friedman said.
"It is hoped that the decision will bring closure to what has been a tragic year for the victims, their families and loved ones, T.J.'s family and the entire community both near and far."
Prosecutors say Lane fired 10 shots at students in a cafeteria at Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. He was there waiting for a bus to another school.
Lane, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was prosecuted as an adult. Minutes before his guilty plea, the judge accepted a report finding Lane mentally competent to stand trial.
Both the defense and the prosecution had sought court-ordered psychiatric testing for Lane to determine if he would be competent to stand trial.
Before the case went to adult court last year, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent despite evidence he suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies. He withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Tuesday.
Investigators say he admitted shooting at students but said he didn't know why he did it. Prosecutors say Lane took a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to the school on Feb. 27, 2012, and fired 10 shots at a group of students in the cafeteria.
Lane attended an alternative school for students who haven't done well in traditional schools. He was at Chardon waiting for a bus.
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Monday, February 25, 2013
LG Has Acquired webOS From HP to Power Smart TVs (Updated)
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Urijah Faber and Court McGee take UFC 157 wins
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Urijah Faber and Court McGee got back on the winning track at UFC 157 on Saturday.
Faber got a first-round submission win over Ivan Menjivar. Faber and Menjivar started the fight with a rolling takedown and Faber ended up on top. He worked the top position until Menjivar got back to his feet. Faber held on, and while attached to Menjivar's back, Faber swung around and sunk in a rear naked choke. Menjivar tapped at 4:34 in the first round. The Anaheim crowd erupted for "The California Kid."
It was an important win for Faber after he lost a title fight to Renan Barao in July. The win puts him at 27-6, with five of his losses coming in title fights.
[Also: Ronda Rousey survives UFC debut, wins via first-round arm bar]
In earlier action, Court McGee punched his way to a decision win over Josh Neer. McGee used an effective strategy early on of working Josh Neer's body. Throughout the first round, Neer was hobbled by McGee's body punches. But in the second, McGee worked more on headshots. Though it wasn't as effective, McGee outstruck Neer. In the final round, McGee worked the ground game and controlled Neer while still leading on strikes. All three judges saw it 30-27 for McGee.
It was McGee's first fight at welterweight.
?I felt great at 170 lbs. This was a great move for me. I felt stronger, faster and had a lot more gas. I was told by FightMetric that I broke the record for most significant strikes ever in a welterweight fight and feel great. I could have stopped it, maybe, early with body shots but I was glad I put on a good performance.?
After the win, McGee's record is 15-3. Though he won "The Ultimate Fighter," he also lost two fights in 2012.
Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
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How dinosaurs grew the world's longest necks
rancisco Gasc? under the direction of Mike Taylor and Matt Wedel
Plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods had the longest necks in the animal kingdom. Here an adult Brontomerus mother.
By Charles Choi, LiveScience
How did the largest of all dinosaurs evolve necks longer than any other creature that has ever lived? One secret: mostly hollow neck bones, researchers say.
The largest creatures to ever walk the Earth were the long-necked, long-tailed dinosaurs known as the sauropods. These vegetarians had by far the longest necks of any known animal. The dinosaurs' necks reached up to 50 feet (15 meters) in length, six times longer than that of the current world-record holder, the giraffe, and at least five times longer than those of any other animal that has lived on land.
"They were really stupidly, absurdly oversized," said researcher Michael Taylor, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Bristol in England. "In our feeble, modern world, we're used to thinking of elephants as big, but sauropods reached 10 times the size elephants do. They were the size of walking whales."
Amazing necks
To find out how sauropod necks could get so long, scientists analyzed other long-necked creatures and compared sauropod anatomy with that of the dinosaurs' nearest living relatives, the birds and crocodilians.
"Extinct animals ? and living animals, too, for that matter ? are much more amazing than we realize," Taylor told LiveScience. "Time and again, people have proposed limits to possible animal sizes, like the five-meter (16-foot) wingspan that was supposed to be the limit for flying animals. And time and again, they've been blown away. We now know of flying pterosaurs with 10-meter (33-foot) wingspans. And these extremes are achieved by a startling array of anatomical innovations." [ Image Gallery: 25 Amazing Ancient Beasts ]
Among living animals, adult bull giraffes have the longest necks, capable of reaching about 8 feet (2.4 m) long. No other living creature exceeds half this length. For instance, ostriches typically have necks only about 3 feet (1 m) long.
When it comes to extinct animals, the largest land-living mammal of all time was the rhino-like creature Paraceratherium, which had a neck maybe 8.2 feet (2.5 m) long. The flying reptiles known as pterosaurs could also have surprisingly long necks, such as Arambourgiania, whose neck may have exceeded 10 feet (3 m).
The necks of the Loch Ness Monster-like marine reptiles known as plesiosaurs could reach an impressive 23 feet (7 m), probably because the water they lived in could support their weight. But these necks were still less than half the lengths of the longest-necked sauropods.
Sauropod secrets
In their study, Taylor and his colleagues found that the neck bones of sauropods possessed a number of traits that supported such long necks. For instance, air often made up 60 percent of these animals' necks, with some as light as birds' bones, making it easier to support long chains of the bones. The muscles, tendons and ligaments were also positioned around these vertebrae in a way that helped maximize leverage, making neck movements more efficient.
In addition, the dinosaurs' giant torsos and four-legged stances helped provide a stable platform for their necks. In contrast, giraffes have relatively small torsos, while ostriches have two-legged stances. [ Image Gallery: Animals' Amazing Headgear ]
Sauropods also had plenty of neck vertebrae, up to 19. In contrast, nearly all mammals have no more than seven, from mice to whales to giraffes, limiting how long their necks can get. (The only exceptions among mammals are sloths and aquatic mammals known as sirenians, such as manatees.)
Moreover, while pterosaur Arambourgiania had a relatively giant head with long, spear-like jaws that it likely used to help capture prey, sauropods had small, light heads that were easy to support. These dinosaurs did not chew their meals, lacking even cheeks to store food in their mouths; they merely swallowed it, letting their guts break it down.
"Sauropod heads are essentially all mouth. The jaw joint is at the very back of the skull, and they didn't have cheeks, so they came pretty close to having Pac Man-Cookie Monster flip-top heads," researcher Mathew Wedel at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., told LiveScience.
"It's natural to wonder if the lack of chewing didn't, well, come back to bite them, in terms of digestive efficiency. But some recent work on digestion in large animals has shown that after about 3 days, animals have gotten all the nutrition they can from their food, regardless of particle size.
"And sauropods were so big that the food would have spent that long going through them anyway," Wedel said. "They could stop chewing entirely, with no loss of digestive efficiency."
What's a long neck good for?
Furthermore, sauropods and other dinosaurs probably could breathe like birds, drawing fresh air through their lungs continuously, instead of having to breathe out before breathing in to fill their lungs with fresh air like mammals do. This may have helped sauropods get vital oxygen down their long necks to their lungs.
"The problem of breathing through a long tube is something that's very hard for mammals to do. Just try it with a length of garden hose," Taylor said.
As to why sauropods evolved such long necks, there are currently three theories. Some of the dinosaurs may have used their long necks to feed on high leaves, like giraffes do. Others may have used their necks to graze on large swaths of vegetation by sweeping the ground side to side like geese do. This helped them make the most out of every step, which would be a big deal for such heavy creatures.
Scientists have also suggested that long necks may have been sexually attractive, therefore driving the evolution of ever-longer necks; however, Taylor and his colleagues have found no evidence this was the case.
In the future, the researchers plan to delve even deeper into the mysteries of sauropod necks. For instance, Apatosaurus , formerly known as Brontosaurus, had "really sensationally strange neck vertebrae," Taylor said. The scientists suspect the necks of Apatosaurus were used for "combat between males ? fighting over women, of course."
Taylor and Wedel detailed their findings online Feb. 12 in the journal PeerJ.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook ?& Google+.?
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Senate panel plans Tuesday vote on Lew nomination
FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's choice to be treasury secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Finance Committee. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says the committee will vote on Lew's nomination Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, said Lew had answered the committee's questions "in a thorough and fully transparent manner" and that the committee has conducted a "thorough review" of the nominee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's choice to be treasury secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Finance Committee. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says the committee will vote on Lew's nomination Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, said Lew had answered the committee's questions "in a thorough and fully transparent manner" and that the committee has conducted a "thorough review" of the nominee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee says the committee will vote on Tuesday on the nomination of former White House chief of staff Jack Lew to be treasury secretary.
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana says in a statement that Lew has answered the committee's questions "in a thorough and fully transparent manner" and the committee has conducted a "thorough review" of the nominee.
Lew would succeed Timothy Geithner in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet.
Some of the toughest questions he faced during his confirmation hearing dealt with his short time at Citibank. Lew was a top executive during the height of the financial crisis.
On policy matters, he addressed Europe's debt crisis, U.S.-China relations and the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul.
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Sunday, February 24, 2013
Yum says to step up check on suppliers after China scare
BEIJING (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc
In a statement ahead of a media briefing in Beijing on Monday, the company also said it would look to improve its communications with the Chinese government and people in the wake of the scare.
Diners began avoiding Yum's nearly 5,300, mostly KFC, restaurants in December after news reports and government investigations in China focused on chemical residue found in a small portion of its chicken supply.
The company was not fined by China food safety authorities.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Jonathan Standing; Editing by Ryan Woo)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/yum-says-step-check-suppliers-china-scare-020949572--finance.html
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UK credit downgrade provokes call for change
LONDON (AP) ? The man in charge in Britain's economy says he won't change direction despite a rating agency's decision to downgrade the nation's credit rating and he spurned renewed calls from the opposition for more stimulus for a flat-lining economy.
Treasury chief George Osborne declared that the action by Moody's Investors Service redoubled his commitment to the government's police of cutting spending in an effort to reduce deficits.
But Labour Party spokesman Ed Balls said Saturday that the government should increase borrowing to give immediate stimulus to the economy.
Announcing the downgrade one notch from the top AAA to AA1 on Friday, Moody's said sluggish growth and rising debt were weakening the British economy's medium-term outlook.
Osborne had once boasted of the triple AAA rating as validating his policy, but he soft-pedaled its importance as a downgrade became increasingly likely. Two other major rating agencies ? Fitch and Standard & Poor's ? have Britain still at AAA but on negative watch.
Howard Archer, chief European economist for IHS Global Insight, said the expectation of a downgrade "may actually mean that there is little negative economic impact from the move."
"The negative impact for the U.K. is also likely to be limited by the fact that there are now very few countries left that have a AAA rating from all of the credit rating agencies," Archer said.
Public sector borrowing remains stubbornly high, and is forecast by the government's Office for Budget Responsibility to be around 120 billion pounds ($182 billion) for the year ending in April, little changed from the previous year.
The U.K. economy stagnated in 2012, with just one quarter of growth.
Osborne said in a statement that the downgrade was "a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country," with a debt accumulated over the years exacerbated by Europe's economic crisis.
"We will go on delivering the plan that has cut the deficit by a quarter, and given us record low interest rates and record numbers of jobs," Osborne said.
Balls charged that Osborne was incapable of admitting a mistake.
"The plan has not worked," Balls said.
"I think the prime minister (David Cameron) is going to have to ask himself, 'how do I get change in our economic policy for the good of the nation?'" Balls added.
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Saturday, February 23, 2013
Google Announces Google I/O 2013 Event http://t.co/omqPrhJzWK #android
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How to simplify the tax code in 2013
Making the tax code less complicated and more efficient may not achieve the rate-cutting, base-broadening reform many want, Gleckman writes,?but it can have important consequences for real people.
IRS employees exit the US Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. Congress can get a lot done on the tax code without getting into theological battles over whether we are taxed too much or not enough, Gleckman writes.
Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor/File
EnlargeAs regular readers of?Tax Vox?know, I don?t believe there is?much chance?President Obama and Congress will agree on individual broad-based tax reform in 2013. Without a deal?on how much this new tax system should raise, talking about a?big rewrite?is futile. However, Obama and Congress still have an opportunity to do something very useful: Clean up the law so it is simpler and smarter.
Skip to next paragraph Howard GleckmanHoward Gleckman is a resident fellow at The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the author of Caring for Our Parents, and former senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Business Week. (http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org)
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Making the code less complicated and more efficient may not achieve the?rate-cutting, base-broadening reform many want. And it surely is not the cosmic shift to a consumption tax favored by others. But it can have important consequences for real people.
Until now, Democrats and Republicans have been like a couple that has been living in the same house since 1986. For decades, they?ve been having the same argument: She wants to put on a big addition. He wants to move. While they?ve bickered, the house has deteriorated.
But they have an alternative: Call a cease fire and upgrade what they have: Put in energy-efficient appliances, update that pink-tiled bathroom, and give the place a fresh paintjob. Neither spouse may be??fully satisfied, but they?ve made the house a lot more pleasant to live in.
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Oddest Pairings of Senators By State
States can be fickle. Some years, a state's voters might go for a Republican for Senate. And in the next election, they may turn around and elect a Democrat. It can make for some truly disparate voting records among a state's Senators. But these "Odd Couple" pairings are volatile, and have a good chance of changing on any given year.
National Journal's?most recent rankings include three such pairs, some faced with dramatic breakups in the current Congress and ?the coming year.
1) Sens. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., topped the charts as the oddest bedfellows this year. Johnson was the fifth-most-conservative member of the Senate this year, while his Democratic counterpart Kohl was the 67th most conservative. But this couple is no more, as Kohl retired at the end of 2012. Wisconsin is still likely to rank among odd couples next year, as Kohl has been replaced by a liberal Democrat, Sen. Tammy Baldwin.2)?Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and John Thune, R-S.D., rank second overall among divergent same-state Senate pairings. But rumors are swirling that Johnson may not seek another term and could retire in 2014. This could open the door to former Republican Gov. Mike Rounds to take the spot and end South Dakota's time on the Odd Couples list.
3)?Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin's upcoming retirement in 2014 will end a true Odd-Couple power couple. Harkin took office in 1985 and has been a true liberal lion during his time in the upper chamber, while sitting beside Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who always ranks among its most conservative members (and has one of the best Twitter feeds around). Whether the seat stays in Democratic hands or goes Republican is very much up in the air.
?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oddest-pairings-senators-state-070008699--politics.html
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Report: Mexico disappearances constitute 'crisis'
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2012 file photo, a member of a caravan of Central American mothers hold a photograph of her disappeared child during a Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The sign reads in Spanish "Looking for Denis Mauricio Jimenes Bautista." A new Human Rights Watch report released on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 calls Mexico?s anti-drug offensive ?disastrous? and cites 249 cases of disappearances, about 149 of which include evidence of being carried out by the military or law enforcement. The report says the forced disappearances follow a pattern in which security forces detain people without warrants at check-points, homes, workplaces or in public. Human Rights Watch criticizes former President Felipe Calderon for ignoring the problem, calling it ?the most severe crisis of enforced disappearances in Latin America in decades.? (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, file)
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2012 file photo, a member of a caravan of Central American mothers hold a photograph of her disappeared child during a Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The sign reads in Spanish "Looking for Denis Mauricio Jimenes Bautista." A new Human Rights Watch report released on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 calls Mexico?s anti-drug offensive ?disastrous? and cites 249 cases of disappearances, about 149 of which include evidence of being carried out by the military or law enforcement. The report says the forced disappearances follow a pattern in which security forces detain people without warrants at check-points, homes, workplaces or in public. Human Rights Watch criticizes former President Felipe Calderon for ignoring the problem, calling it ?the most severe crisis of enforced disappearances in Latin America in decades.? (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, file)
MEXICO CITY (AP) ? A Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday calls Mexico's anti-drug offensive "disastrous" and cites 249 cases of disappearances, most of which show evidence of having been carried out by the military or law enforcement.
The report says the enforced disappearances follow a pattern in which security forces detain people without warrants at checkpoints, homes or workplaces, or in public. When victims' families ask about their relatives, security forces deny the detentions or instruct them to look for their loved ones at police stations or army bases.
Human Rights Watch criticizes former President Felipe Calderon for ignoring the problem, calling it "the most severe crisis of enforced disappearances in Latin America in decades."
An email asking for comment and sent to Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where Calderon is a fellow, was not immediately answered Wednesday.
While the report acknowledges that current President Enrique Pena Nieto inherited the problem, it says he should act urgently "in cases where people have been taken against their will and their fate is still unknown."
Mexico's Interior Department, which oversees domestic security, declined to make an immediate comment about the report.
A civic organization released a data base late last year that it said contained official information on more than 20,000 people who had gone missing in Mexico over the previous six years.
In posting the date base on its website, Propuesta Civica, or Civic Proposal, said the information was collected by the federal Attorney General's Office during Calderon's recently ended administration.
The missing include police officers, bricklayers, housewives, lawyers, students, businessmen and more than 1,200 children under age 11. They are listed one by one with such details as name, age, gender and the date and place where the person disappeared.
Among the examples cited by Human Rights Watch is evidence suggesting that marines detained about 20 people in three northern border states in June and July of 2011. Though it denied abducting the victims, the Navy later acknowledged it had contact with some before they disappeared.
In one such case, Jose Fortino Martinez Martinez was sleeping with his wife and four children at their home in the northern border town of Nuevo Laredo when he was woken by the sound of his door being knocked down. That night in June 2011, eight masked men burst into his bedroom carrying automatic rifles and bulletproof vests with "Marina," Navy in Spanish, written on them.
Martinez, 33, was taken away by those men, according to the several of his neighbors who testified at the time. Although Naval officials denied arresting him they said weeks later that they would investigate if marines were involved.
So far, nothing is known of Martinez's whereabouts.
The report also says security personnel sometimes work with criminals, detaining victims and handing them over to the gangs. The report cites incidents in which investigators used information collected in a case to pose as kidnappers and demand ransom payments from the victims' families.
Authorities frequently fail to take even the most basic investigative steps, such as tracing victims' cellular phone or bank records, and often rely on investigations carried out by the victims' relatives, the report adds.
Human Rights Watch recommends that the Mexican government take concrete steps to change security procedures, including issuing new rules that require that detainees be taken immediately to prosecutors' offices and not be held at military bases or police stations.
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Thursday, February 21, 2013
Informatics tools underutilized in prevention of hospital-acquired infection
Feb. 20, 2013 ? Advances in electronic medical record systems and health information exchange are shifting efforts in public health toward greater use of information systems to automate disease surveillance, but a study from the Regenstrief Institute has found that these technologies' capabilities are underutilized by those on the front lines of preventing and reporting infections.
The new study measured the awareness, adoption and use of electronic medical record systems and health information exchange by hospital-based infection preventionists (formerly known as infection control professionals) to report and share information critical to public health. Infection preventionists are often responsible for reporting information on patients diagnosed with health-care-acquired infections like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, as well as sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia.
Prior research at Regenstrief and other academic institutions has shown that health information exchange can increase the completeness and timeliness of infection reporting to local and state health agencies. In this study, the researchers found that half of the infection preventionists surveyed were unaware of whether their hospital or health system participated in a health information exchange. Only 10 percent of infection preventionists indicated that their organizations were formally engaged in health information exchange activities.
While 70 percent of infection preventionists surveyed reported access to an electronic medical record system, less than 20 percent were involved in the design, selection or implementation of the system. Without such involvement, those surveyed indicated the information systems often did not include modules or components that supported infection control activities.
"There is a push from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reduce hospital-acquired infections and increase the use of electronic health record systems," said lead author Brian Dixon, MPA, Ph.D., Regenstrief Institute investigator and assistant professor in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging local and state health departments to use health information technologies to improve infectious disease reporting and prevention activities. We found that while hospital-based infection preventionists -- the people on the front line -- may have access to health information technology, they lack specially designed computer tools needed to sift through the massive amounts of data in electronic medical records.
"We learned that hospital infection preventionists are frustrated with inefficient lists of patients whose electronic medical charts they must examine individually," said Dr. Dixon, who is also a health research scientist with the Richard Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "They say they want electronic alerts and reminders when the system detects something of potential importance. There needs to be concerted R&D to meet this gap in decision support."
In addition to Dr. Dixon, co-authors of the study are Josette Jones, Ph.D., of the School of Informatics and Computing; and Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., of the Regenstrief Institute and the IU School of Medicine. The Regenstrief Institute is the home of internationally recognized centers of excellence in biomedical and public health informatics, aging, and health services and health systems research.
"Infection Preventionists' Awareness of and Engagement in Health Information Exchange to Improve Public Health Surveillance" was published online on Feb. 18 in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Well-designed and supported electronic medical records systems and health information exchange can provide tools that can help prevent and halt the spread of infection among hospitalized patients," Dr. Dixon said. "But to do so effectively, infection preventionists must be made part of the selection and implementation of health information technologies."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Indiana University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Brian E. Dixon, Josette F. Jones, Shaun J. Grannis. Infection preventionists' awareness of and engagement in health information exchange to improve public health surveillance. American Journal of Infection Control, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2012.10.022
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/EYZ5e1epUV0/130220153659.htm
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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Play your vinyl records and convert them to MP3 with the Pyle Retro Belt-Drive Turntable
The?Retro Belt-Drive Turntable (PVTT2U) from Pyle reminds me of the old suitcase-style record players of the 1960s. ?Inside the suitcase is a 3-speed (45, 33-1/3, and 78), belt-driven turntable, a ceramic stereo cartridge, and speakers; you can playback your records with no other equipment. ?If you want to convert the music on those vinyl records [...]
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Sunday, February 17, 2013
British PM Cameron on India trade trip amid graft scandal
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron arrives in India on Monday to try to win new investment in the face of fierce global competition as a scandal engulfs an Anglo-Italian helicopter deal.
Making his second visit to India as prime minister, Cameron's trip comes days after a similar trade mission by French President Francois Hollande, underlining how Europe's debt-stricken states are competing to tap into one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
His delegation, which includes representatives of over 100 companies, cultural and educational bodies, is the biggest taken abroad by a British prime minister and includes four ministers and nine lawmakers.
However, the timing of Cameron's trip is not ideal. India said on Friday it wanted to cancel a $750 million deal for a dozen helicopters made by AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian subsidiary of Italy's Finmeccanica, over bribery claims.
That will not make Cameron's job of persuading India to buy more civil and military hardware easier, and Indian officials have told the local press they intend to press Cameron for "a fully fledged report" on what Britain knows about the scandal.
Britain has said it wants to wait until the end of the Italian investigation before commenting in full, but has given India an interim report on the subject.
At a time when Britain's government is struggling to get its economy growing, officials see India, projected to become the world's third largest economy by 2050, as a key strategic partner in what Cameron has called a "Global Race".
"I think Britain and India can be one of the great partnerships of the 21st Century," he told the Hindustan Times. "India is going to be one of the great success stories of this century - a rising power in the world. And I want Britain to be one of your partners as you grow and succeed."
He is expected to remind the Indian government that the Eurofighter jet - which is partly built in Britain - remains an attractive option if New Delhi decides to review a multi-billion dollar deal to buy 126 French-made Rafale fighters.
A British government source said on Friday that London had noted that Hollande had not finalized the Rafale fighter jet deal during his own trip and that London would be asking how the talks with the French were going.
Companies travelling with Cameron include BP, BAE Systems, De La Rue, Diageo, EADS UK, HSBC, JCB, Lloyd's, the London Stock Exchange, London Underground, Rolls-Royce and Standard Chartered. He is also taking 30 small and medium-sized firms.
COLONIAL PAST
Cameron's visit to India, a country that won independence from Britain in 1947 and whose colonial history remains a sensitive subject for many Indians, will take in Mumbai and New Delhi.
Cameron says the two countries enjoy a "special relationship", a term usually reserved for Britain's ties with the United States, but it is a relationship undergoing profound change. For now, Britain's economy is the sixth largest in the world and India's the 10th. But India is forecast to overtake its old colonial master in the decades ahead.
TATA group, an Indian company that owns car maker Jaguar Land Rover, is now Britain's biggest employer in the manufacturing sector and, in a nod to how the relationship is evolving, London will stop giving India foreign aid after 2015.
Cameron is expected to lobby India to open up its economy to foreign investment to allow retailers, such as Britain's Tesco, to open outlets there amid frustration that many of the sectors in which British business excels remain partly or fully closed to foreign investors.
India is forecast to spend $1 trillion in the next five years on infrastructure and Britain is hoping its firms may win some of those contracts.
Some British companies have run into problems in the past. Mobile phone operator Vodafone has repeatedly clashed with the Indian authorities over taxes and oil company Royal Dutch/Shell has asked the British government to raise a tax dispute it has with India during Cameron's visit.
Cameron's aim is to double trade between the two nations from 11.5 billion pounds in 2010, when he last visited, to 23 billion pounds in 2015. Officials say that goal remains on track.
He is expected to meet Manmohan Singh, his Indian counterpart, as well as President Pranab Mukherjee, and to announce a clutch of deals, including cooperation agreements to help India develop its city metro systems.
His office said those deals would create 500 British jobs and safeguard a further 2,000. British firms were also winning contracts in India, it said, saying the Intercontinental Hotel Group planned to build 13 new hotels in the next few years.
Another big trade mission in 2010 failed to yield the gains Cameron had hoped for.
(Editing by Rosalind Russell)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-pm-cameron-india-trade-trip-amid-graft-000308551.html
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In China, a New Year's Tradition Spurs a Debate Over Air Pollution
For centuries, celebrants have set off fire crackers, supposedly to ward away bad luck. Now, with China's current air pollution woes, some want them banned.
Chinese man sets off fire crackers during Spring Festival celebrations at a village in China's Shanxi province on February 12, 2005. (Reuters)
Among all the ancient traditions that Chinese people observe during the lunar New Year, setting off firecrackers is the most controversial. Originally used to "drive bad luck away," firecrackers have been an intrinsic part of the Chinese New Year celebration for thousands of years. Yet, their contribution to air and noise pollution has always incurred debates about whether they should be banned. This year, the debate has been intensified by the severe air quality crisis many cities faced right before the festival.
Towards the end of January, citizens in Beijing endured several waves of what many Western media outlets dubbed "airpocalypse." On January 29, the air quality index released by the U.S. embassy in Beijing peaked at 526, beyond "hazardous" and literally off the charts. Responding to the environmental disaster, many Web users spontaneously advocated to stop setting off firecrackers during the upcoming festival. A comment tweeted by Shi Shusi(@???), the editor-in-chief of the Workers' Daily, is representative. "Entering middle age, I suddenly realize that the majority of my family consists of seniors and children. So although I've loved firecrackers since childhood, I decided to quit using them for the sake of both tranquility for my family and clearer air.? I request earnestly that everyone set off fewer firecrackers, and while doing it, try to keep your distance from seniors and children."
As the anti-firecracker web users' voices multiplied, accounts of official media joined the campaign. China Central Television's Economics and Finance Channel (@????) is one of them. "The air quality in Beijing has become poorer and poorer as we approach the New Year. If we still set off firecrackers, the air quality will not be not restorable. Here, our channel appeals to all society not to set off firecrackers for our children, for our aged parents. Let's make our own contribution to clear the air that our families breathe."?By February 11, the post had been shared more than 33,000 times.
The campaign has managed to make a noticeable difference. According to the Beijing Evening News (@????), sales of firecrackers dropped by 37 percent compared to last year. Using city sanitation bureau data, Beijing News (@???) reported that the quantity of firecracker dust was 18 percent lower than last year.?User @??? proudly claimed, "I fulfilled my promise this year: I neither bought nor set off any firecrackers. Many people in Beijing have done the same too! Clapping hands for myself."
But not all citizens bought into the initiative. On the eve of lunar new year, Beijing Evening News interviewed a person setting off firecrackers while wearing a protective mask. "I heard that the PM 2.5 index [which measures dangerous airborne particulate matter] was terrible, so I'm wearing a mask to protect myself." When asked by the reporter why he didn't abandon setting off the polluting firecrackers for the benefit of those around him, the interviewee explained, "It's celebrating the New Year; pollution is not the priority."
In fact, a great many Web users question the sudden surge against firecrackers. @????3 wrote, "Media's emphasis that firecrackers lead to air pollution is just misleading. Why don't they talk about industrial pollution? Why don't they talk about excessive car use? Why don't they talk about the poor quality of oil and gasoline? Selective, biased propaganda does tremendous harm to us citizens!"
Both sides drew on statistical data to support their arguments. According to China News (@?????), setting off firecrackers caused heavy pollution in multiple cities. From 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on New Years' Eve, the high tide of firecracker inflammation, PM 2.5 indices were all above 300 milligrams per cubic meter in Beijing, Xi'an and Nanjing, suggesting fairly poor air quality. Yet, Beijing News reported that at 2 p.m. on the following day, the index declined rapidly to 20 milligram per cubic meter, which showed that the influence of firecrackers was short-term. With light traffic flow and a recess for industrial activities, Beijing maintained good air quality in general during the holiday.
Obviously, firecrackers cannot be the root cause of bad air quality. Instead, the core question is whether individual citizens should take personal responsibility for temporary fluctuations in air quality, with all of its serious effects on human health. User @???lawyu? gave an affirmative answer, putting on the table the cultural significance of firecrackers. "Firecrackers is part of folk culture, which cannot be judged according to pragmatic standards. Banning firecrackers shows little respect to our culture. [Practically speaking,] tomb-sweeping is a waste of time and generates pollution, church building in the West is also a waste of time and money, and there is no point in listening to clergymen again and again. [But] pragmatists neglect the cultural and spiritual meanings in those behaviors. "
Many Web users asked whether the state should ban firecrackers, with @???? arguing in assent. "Hobbies are worth respecting, but not when they disturb the lives of others. Nothing is more disruptive for others than firecrackers. Why should innocent people endure the noise? Why should we endure pollution? The danger of firecrackers is not only born by those who set them off. Passers-by are no less vulnerable. We should not keep unreasonable practices in the name of folk culture!"
Others contend that a ban would be a product of arbitrary authoritarianism and disrespect citizens' rights. According to @?????, "If we really need to decide whether firecrackers should be allowed, we should turn to a popular vote. Authoritarian bans only hurt feelings and anger the people."
This isn't the first time that firecrackers have come under serious scrutiny. In 1993, Beijing banned firecrackers by administrative regulation. But twelve years later, swayed both by cultural preservationists and the sheer difficulty of enforcing the ban, the government revoked it, instead putting limitations on when, where and how firecrackers should be set off.
Instead of an outright ban, Xi Junyang (@???), professor at Shanghai University of Economics and Finance, suggested taxation. "Raising taxes on factories that produce firecrackers and thus pushing prices up is a good way. Meanwhile, the increased tax revenue can be used to alleviate air pollution," he wrote.
As the increasingly heated debate suggests, a policy pleasing all sides is unlikely to emerge in the near future. Indeed, as @???-??? suggests, the issue embodies a convoluted intersection of culture, economics and politics: "Legally speaking, the local government is granted unlimited discretion on this issue. Yet, the real challenge is how to balance economic, environmental, safety and cultural demands. Because of the strong cultural argument behind the scene, legislative tools are not effective enough to tackle social problems, just like the gridlock on gun control faced by the Americans."
This post also appears at?Tea Leaf Nation, an Atlantic partner site.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticInternational/~3/7Uj6vmx8uuI/story01.htm
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Brave new world of customer "service" | CustomerThink
A Dresden, Germany based company, Cognitec which touts itself as the market leader for "face recognition technologies and applications for enterprise and government customers" recently rolled out its latest product called "FaceVACS-VideoScan" a video screening and analysis technology. The Orwellian overtones to its potential uses notwithstanding, the device promises to revolutionize businesses in a number of areas from security to operations and marketing.
A review of FaceVACS, by Planetbiometrics,a website devoted to news from the "fast-moving biometrics industry" notes that analyzing the data "over time allows the software to compute people count, demographical information, people movement in time and space, and to detect frequent visitors and crowds."
The biometric journal? goes on to suggest that, for instance, operators in a variety of customer-interface situations across industries, " can receive an alarm if too many people gather in a specific area and measure waiting times to direct traffic. The analysis of traffic patterns and demographical statistics over long periods of time can provide businesses with precise visitor data to make interior design, advertising placement, staffing and other operational decisions."?
The implications for hotels and airlines, should the device be effectively deployed and used in the check-in process and for hotels in restaurants and banquets appears considerable. Secondly, in these two industries the security enhancements that presumably can be brought about are also tremendous as it promises to detect and prevent unwanted behaviour in much faster and more efficient ways as security personnel can receive alerts on mobile devices to act within the immediate vicinity of a suspect. Addtionally, real-time identification of authorized individuals or high-ranking customers can prompt access to restricted areas or alert personnel to provide special treatment. The latter foretells a rich menu of options for establishments catering to high rollers for example by enabling instant acknowledgement and access to premium areas.
Along the lines of the foregoing, the Financial Times has an interesting report on a "Live Lab" situated in Singapore that was developed by professors at Singapore Management University.? The Singaporean government invites its consumers to "opt into" the service using their mobile phones in three high traffic/high end locations locations in the city state.? For instance, the scheme would cause participating consumers to receive real time pings on their mobile devices whilst they are in a store or other retail establishment that may point to offers specific to what they are looking at.?
Given? the intrinsically intrusive nature of the Singapore project it is probably an idea that can only develop legs in a country famous for its ability to monitor its citizenry. Nevertheless, it offers up a slew of marketing possibilities that could gin up sales in any number of departments in most service industries.
Source: http://www.customerthink.com/blog/brave_new_world_of_customer_service
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