Detroit company gets auto show and movie cars ready for prime-time

I know you, dear readers, love the glitz and glamour of the North American International Auto Show. We are the Motor City after all. But did you ever wonder who builds some of those great Ford concept vehicles, prototypes and cutouts you ooo and ahh over??It?s Detroit talent.

Did you ever wonder who teamed up with Dreamworks and GM to build the cool vehicles used in the Transformer 2 movie? It?s Detroit talent.

Did you ever wonder who works with the agencies and preps vehicles for some of those cool Ford car ads? It?s Detroit talent.

Did you ever wonder who salvages and disposes of Ford test vehicles? It?s Detroit talent.

Did you ever wonder who gets some of those muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles in tip-top shape for the Woodward Dream Cruise?

Again, it?s Detroit talent.

DST Industries, which sits within earshot of the runways at the Detroit airport in Romulus, is responsible. ?It?s a full-service, Tier 1 automotive supplier that offers an entire portfolio of services for large automakers, individual auto enthusiasts, the photo and film production industries and more.

Ford is its core customer. DST makes, delivers, preps, stores and recycles many of those Ford auto show concepts and prototypes ? not just for the Detroit show but also for others such as the LA Auto Show, which is going on this week. DST will prep, deliver and maintain 60 Ford vehicles for that show and then turn around and get ready for the Detroit show in January. That means working 24/7 ? no long holiday breaks for them ? and they love it ? stress and all.

?This is a reactionary business,? says Don Snell, COO of DST Industries. ?We must adjust our time.?

When the Los Angeles and Detroit auto shows are behind them the DST team will get those vehicles ready and deliver them to shows in New York and Washington, DC, as well as regional auto shows in places like Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Cleveland and Toledo.

The work is challenging and the DST team must spin in a dime when its customers demand changes or have new ideas. Do you remember working the interactive Ford Touch at the auto show? Well, it was built at DST. ?Do you remember Mustang Garage? Also DST.

Many auto show concepts and prototypes as well as test vehicles have a short life span. DST?s vehicle recovery services remove and recycle usable parts from one-off prototypes to high-mileage fleet vehicles and then dispose of the vehicles. Untested and concept parts are scrapped. Reusable parts are sold at auction or used right away. The vehicles are then crushed, melted down and what?s left is recycled. ?The process has saved Ford $3 ? $4 million annually and is environmentally friendly, Snell says.

DST?s work doesn?t stop with auto shows and scrappage. ?It also plays a key role in advertising campaigns ? work that is fun, challenging and sometimes very scary.

A few years back DST worked on an ad for the Ford F350 where the truck had to pull a boat through the ice. The ad was shot in Russia. To get the truck where the ad was filmed the team had to rent a Russian fishing trawler. It required moving the vehicle from Norway to Russia as well as filming on the black sand beaches in Iceland. ?This was the most complicated ad the DST team has worked on ? at least so far, says Snell. Adding polar bears to the mix sure didn?t help.
DST also offers marketing support. Its operation in Palm Springs houses film and video production facilities that include sound and photo stages, private outdoor grounds with a mountain backdrop and other services. That operation also serves as the launch point for getting vehicles ready for the LA Auto Show.

Getting cars ready for the movies, too

That said, fun is essential to the DST team and Snell says working on the Transformer 2 vehicles for Dreamworks and GM was great fun. The team build 20 vehicles that turned into Jolt (Chevy Volt), Bumblebee (Chevy Camaro), Mudflap (Chevy Trax), Slidz (Chevy Beat), Sideswipe (Chevy Stingray), Ratchet (Hummer H2), Swerve (Chevy Aveo) ? well you get the idea. Many of these vehicles were just in the concept stage so DST hand built fiberglass bodies that had to withstand trips to filming locations such as the George Washington Bridge, an Air Force base in California and sites in Israel.

The team had three months to deliver the finished vehicles.

?The GM guys didn?t think we could get it done in time,? says Snell. ?They were amazed. We have very talented people working for us. We put 50-60 people on it and they worked 24/7.
?The Michigan film credits gave us the opportunity,?? he says. ?We bid on Transformers 3 but it was a no go because the lack of film credits.??

DST employs 165 people, some of whom have been with the company for more than 40 years.

Restoring cars in Detroit

So what do they do in the offseason? Auto shows are basically early winter, spring and late fall events. A year ago DST added an auto restoration business in Romulus, which keep the summer months full.

It?s a lucrative business. Many baby boomers are still in love with the cars they owned or wanted as teenagers and will often spend more than the vehicle is worth. ?It?s an emotional thing,?? says Bob Milligan, who heads the classic/vehicle restoration business. DST?s most expensive work ? a $90,000 bottom-up restoration.

Detroit Unspun checked out some of the vehicles currently in the shop. We saw a redone Autorama-quality ?53 Chevy. There was a ?65 Mustang red convertible a guy from Florida wanted completely redone for the Woodward Dream Cruise. A ?75 Chevy Caprice with new engine paint and top. A ?57 Dodge Panel with a redone engine. We could go on and on.

Restoration isn?t a quick job. It takes an average of five months to get one done, says Milligan.

Still, DST was able to give Kurt Newman?s 1988 Mustang a facelift just in time for the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise, according to a story on WXYZ. ?The car was disassembled the car, given a fresh coat of paint and new carpeting. Newman picked it up on Friday just in time for the Cruise.

DST was founded in 1955 and is a woman-owned business. President and CEO Brenda Lewo took over the business when her husband died several years ago and is working to grow the business. Fortunately, that seems to be happening.

BONUS RESTORE AND MODIFICATION CLASSIC CAR PHOTOS AT DST:

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Source: http://blog.thedetroithub.com/2012/11/26/detroit-company-gets-auto-show-and-movie-cars-ready-for-prime-time/

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Activists: Syrian rebels seize major dam in north

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian rebels on Monday captured a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates River in the country's north after days of heavy clashes, carting off boxes of ammunition from defeated regime forces in the latest in a string of recent strategic advances for opposition fighters, activists said.

Also Monday, activists said rebels and pro-government Kurdish gunmen struck a truce to end days of fighting in the town of Ras al-Ayn near the border with Turkey that opposition forces entered earlier this month.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel fighters overran regime defenses and captured the Tishrin Dam, near the town of Manbij, before dawn Monday. Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said the dam supplies several areas of Syria with electricity.

"This is a major blow to the regime," said Abdul-Rahman by telephone, describing the dam as "strategic location" on the Euphrates, which flows from Turkey through Syria and into Iraq.

The rebels have scored a series of hard-fought strategic advances recently, perhaps even seizing the momentum in their relentless battle of topple President Bashar Assad's regime. On Sunday, they captured a regime helicopter base outside Damascus before pulling back for fear of government airstrikes.

Amateur videos posted online showed gunmen inside the dam's operations room as an employee sat in front of five screens speaking by telephone about the level of water behind the dam. Another video showed gunman in front of dozens of green wooden boxes apparently full of munitions.

A gunman opened one of the boxes showing that it contained hand grenades. "The Free Syrian Army has fully liberated the Tishrin Dam," one of the rebels could be heard saying.

The activist videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting about the events depicted. Syria restricts the access of reporters.

Syria's conflict started in March 2011 as an uprising against Assad's regime, but quickly morphed into a civil war that has since killed more than 40,000 people, according to activists. It has also prompted hundreds of thousands of Syrians to flee to neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said airstrikes by regime warplanes killed and wounded several people in the Syrian border town Atmeh on Monday. The agency said some of the wounded were brought to Turkey for treatment, and several people were also heading to the Turkish border to seek refuge. Atmeh is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of the Tishrin Dam.

A local official in the Turkish town of Reyhanli confirmed that Turkish F-16 jets flew over the border region Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The Observatory reported air raids on other areas as well, including the northern towns of Maaret al-Numan, Kfar Rouma and Harem.

Also Monday, Kurdish activist Mustafa Osso and the Observatory's Abdul-Rahman said the town of Ras al-Ayn has been quiet since Saturday after fighters from the government-leaning Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, reached an agreement on a truce with rebels, most of them from Islamist extremist groups, including the al-Qaida-inspired Jabhat al-Nusra.

The rebels entered the town earlier this month and have since clashed almost daily with PYD gunmen for control over the area. Both factions add to the complexity of Syria's conflict, which has taken on heavy sectarian ? and ethnic ? overtones.

The fighting in recent days has left dozens of people killed or wounded, and dozens captured on both sides. Osso and Abdul-Rahman said PYD forces and the rebels agreed to exchange prisoners and to withdraw their militiamen from the town.

Abdul-Rahman said the rival parties agreed to form a local council that will run day to day life in Ras al-Ayn. Osso said thousands of people who fled the town, which has a mixed population including Arabs, Kurds, Chechens and Christians, have started returning home.

A journalist in Ras al-Ayn told The Associated Press that the town has been calm since Saturday, adding that cars with PYD gunmen were seen in the streets with loudspeakers urging residents to return to their homes after the truce was reached. He added by telephone that parts of the town were heavily damaged by government air raids earlier this month.

When regime forces withdrew from Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria in July, they were quickly replaced by Kurdish fighters from PYD. Those forces then battled rebel fighters after they pushed their way into predominantly Kurdish areas. The Kurdish group is affiliated with the PKK, rebels fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast region of Turkey.

The Islamic militants, who are fighting on the side of the rebels, have played a bigger role in the Syrian conflict in recent months and many openly say they want to set up an Islamic state. The opposition is split, with some groups strongly opposed to the influence of extremists.

The Observatory also said that the health of leading opposition figure Abdul-Aziz al-Kheir, who it said is being held by one of the country's security agencies, has deteriorated recently. It did not disclose details of his health problems.

The National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria accused the regime of being behind the disappearance of two of its leaders, including al-Kheir, shortly after they arrived home from China in September.

Al-Kheir, 61, comes from Assad's hometown of Kardaha and belongs to the president's ruling Alawite minority sect. He spent long periods in jail in the past because of his opposition to the regime.

____

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-syrian-rebels-seize-major-dam-north-094500305.html

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Interannual variability in soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China

Public release date: 26-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Yan Bei
yanbei@scichina.org
86-106-400-8316
Science China Press

Soil respiration is a critical hydrological process that plays an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Associate Professor CHEN ShuTao and his colleagues from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology set out to estimate annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China. They have tabulated published estimates of annual soil respiration and developed an empirically based, semi-mechanistic model that includes climate and soil properties. They found that the highest and lowest annual soil respiration rates appear in southeastern China and northwestern China, respectively, which is in accordance with the spatial patterns of mean annual air temperature and annual precipitation. They also determined that annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China varied from 4.58 to 5.19 Pg of carbon per year (1 Pg = 11015 g or 1109 tonnes) between 1970 and 2009. Their work, entitled "Interannual variability in soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China and its response to climate change", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, 2012, VOL 55 (10).

With the exception of gross photosynthesis, soil respiration (e.g., soil CO2 emissions) exceeds all other terrestrial-atmospheric carbon exchanges. Quantifying the spatio-temporal pattern of soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China is critical to provide a theoretical basis for evaluating the carbon budget. Great uncertainty remains from previous annual soil respiration estimates for terrestrial ecosystems in China, with a difference of 1 Pg of carbon per year between the highest and lowest values. Moreover, few studies have focused on the relationship between interannual variability in soil respiration and climatic factors. The need to develop a soil respiration model that includes increased field measurement data covering a wide range of plant functional types and biomes is urgent.

Based on in situ measurements, global soil respiration data sets have been compiled. These data sets include measured annual soil respiration from China and other countries, covering most types of terrestrial ecosystems. A annual soil respiration model was established using a range of predictors, data including mean air temperature, total annual precipitation and soil organic carbon storage. The data sets used in estimating soil respiration include climate (mean annual air temperature and precipitation) data sets from 1970 to 2009 and topsoil (0 cm) property data sets obtained from the Second State Soil Survey. Data on the annual precipitation at ~670 weather stations from 1970 to 2009 were obtained from the National Meteorological Information Center, China. By linking the model to the spatial database, the annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China was estimated from 1970 through 2009.

The variability of annual soil respiration shows clear spatial patterns in the data. Three distinct regions can be characterized by differences in their annual soil respiration; these regions can be geographically identified as southeastern China, northwestern China, and northern and northeastern China. The highest and lowest annual soil respiration rates appeared in southeastern China and northwestern China, respectively, in accordance with the spatial patterns of mean annual air temperature and annual precipitation. Annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China varied from 4.58 to 5.19 Pg of carbon per year between 1970 and 2009. During this time period, annual soil respiration was estimated to be 4.83 Pg carbon per year on average. Annual soil respiration in China accounted for 5% of the global annual soil respiration.

A significant linear relationship between annual soil respiration and annual precipitation was found. Precipitation may influence soil respiration by affecting vegetation growth and root activity. In this regard, precipitation is therefore an important factor controlling the terrestrial carbon cycle. Interannual variability in mean air temperature also influences the variability in annual soil respiration. This relationship suggests that, under a scenario of warming, increasing variability in mean annual air temperature incurs greater variability in annual soil respiration.

###

See the article: Chen S T, Huang Y, Zou J W, et al. Interannual variability in soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China and its response to climate change. SCI CHINA Earth Sci, 2012, 55(10).

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[ | E-mail | Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 26-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Yan Bei
yanbei@scichina.org
86-106-400-8316
Science China Press

Soil respiration is a critical hydrological process that plays an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Associate Professor CHEN ShuTao and his colleagues from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology set out to estimate annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China. They have tabulated published estimates of annual soil respiration and developed an empirically based, semi-mechanistic model that includes climate and soil properties. They found that the highest and lowest annual soil respiration rates appear in southeastern China and northwestern China, respectively, which is in accordance with the spatial patterns of mean annual air temperature and annual precipitation. They also determined that annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China varied from 4.58 to 5.19 Pg of carbon per year (1 Pg = 11015 g or 1109 tonnes) between 1970 and 2009. Their work, entitled "Interannual variability in soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China and its response to climate change", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, 2012, VOL 55 (10).

With the exception of gross photosynthesis, soil respiration (e.g., soil CO2 emissions) exceeds all other terrestrial-atmospheric carbon exchanges. Quantifying the spatio-temporal pattern of soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China is critical to provide a theoretical basis for evaluating the carbon budget. Great uncertainty remains from previous annual soil respiration estimates for terrestrial ecosystems in China, with a difference of 1 Pg of carbon per year between the highest and lowest values. Moreover, few studies have focused on the relationship between interannual variability in soil respiration and climatic factors. The need to develop a soil respiration model that includes increased field measurement data covering a wide range of plant functional types and biomes is urgent.

Based on in situ measurements, global soil respiration data sets have been compiled. These data sets include measured annual soil respiration from China and other countries, covering most types of terrestrial ecosystems. A annual soil respiration model was established using a range of predictors, data including mean air temperature, total annual precipitation and soil organic carbon storage. The data sets used in estimating soil respiration include climate (mean annual air temperature and precipitation) data sets from 1970 to 2009 and topsoil (0 cm) property data sets obtained from the Second State Soil Survey. Data on the annual precipitation at ~670 weather stations from 1970 to 2009 were obtained from the National Meteorological Information Center, China. By linking the model to the spatial database, the annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China was estimated from 1970 through 2009.

The variability of annual soil respiration shows clear spatial patterns in the data. Three distinct regions can be characterized by differences in their annual soil respiration; these regions can be geographically identified as southeastern China, northwestern China, and northern and northeastern China. The highest and lowest annual soil respiration rates appeared in southeastern China and northwestern China, respectively, in accordance with the spatial patterns of mean annual air temperature and annual precipitation. Annual soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China varied from 4.58 to 5.19 Pg of carbon per year between 1970 and 2009. During this time period, annual soil respiration was estimated to be 4.83 Pg carbon per year on average. Annual soil respiration in China accounted for 5% of the global annual soil respiration.

A significant linear relationship between annual soil respiration and annual precipitation was found. Precipitation may influence soil respiration by affecting vegetation growth and root activity. In this regard, precipitation is therefore an important factor controlling the terrestrial carbon cycle. Interannual variability in mean air temperature also influences the variability in annual soil respiration. This relationship suggests that, under a scenario of warming, increasing variability in mean annual air temperature incurs greater variability in annual soil respiration.

###

See the article: Chen S T, Huang Y, Zou J W, et al. Interannual variability in soil respiration from terrestrial ecosystems in China and its response to climate change. SCI CHINA Earth Sci, 2012, 55(10).

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/scp-ivi112612.php

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Email Marketing Software Reviews

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If you are in business and looking for a great way to promote your business, you may want to consider purchasing email marketing software. There are many email marketing software reviews written on the web to help you decide which software would best suit your business needs. A good email marketing software program will help you to create professional looking newsletters. Reading the latest email marketing software reviews will teach you about the different kinds of email marketing software programs. There are certain characteristics that a good software program should have.

For example, a good program should be easy to set-up. Most of the email marketing software reviews go into detail about the many features and how to set-up your program. For instance, your program should have many different features so you can develop professional looking mail. Furthermore, the instructions that accompany your software should be easy to follow. Creating newsletters should be fun and easy because most programs have many features.

Along with your email marketing software program, you will want to choose one that you will be able to produce reports from for you to see how many people have subscribed to your newsletters. The main reason for having a good software program is to be able to send messages to your current customers and to gain new ones and to encourage them to keep buying your goods and services. Using a good email software program will help your business reach a vast number of people who may want to subscribe to your newsletters that may keep them up-to-date on your products and services.

Moreover, a good email marketing plan can help you make sales and establish relationships with your customers. Essentially, if you have a large number of subscribers, within your program, you should be able to make professional looking emails. Having a good email marketing software program is cheaper and better.

Accordingly, if you decide to choose an email marketing software program, or an online service, this will depend upon what your business needs are, and if you are willing to pay a one-time fee for software, or a monthly fee for a service. On the other hand, an online email marketing service may be able to offer you more features, such as, more reports and many more features. There are many options and it is best to do your due diligence by researching your options and consider your long-term goals for your business needs.

Source: http://ninjaseomethods.com/email-marketing-software-reviews/

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After Sandy?s deluge, mold and dust pose threats

John Makely / NBC News

Ken Court removes sheetrock and plywood damaged by the floodwaters of Hurricane Sandy from his home in Breezy Point.

By Maggie Fox, NBC News

From his perch on top of his father?s house in Breezy Point, N.Y., Ken Court can see an array of health disasters in the making.

?There are asbestos roofs that have collapsed near the ocean,? says Court, a 52-year-old roofer. ?There is a lot of dust. You see people walking around with masks on. You use the hand cleaners all day long.?

Breezy Point sits at the tip of the peninsula jutting into the waters south of Brooklyn where Jamaica Bay, New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean come together. Much of the close-knit, blue-collar neighborhood was destroyed when Superstorm Sandy hit three weeks ago ? swamped in the storm surge, roofs ripped by flailing winds or burned to the ground?in a six-alarm fire that took out block after block of homes.

Now it?s one of the last places left without power or clean water, with no ETA on when either will be restored. And as Court works day in and day out to clean up the mess, he sees long-term trouble wherever he looks.

"You should really wear masks. I remember that everyone in 9/11, when they went there to help, they got sick,? Court told NBCNews in a telephone interview.

Asbestos and other chemicals from the collapsed World Trade Centers created a pall of dust that persisted in lower Manhattan for months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Firefighters, police and other rescue workers are eligible for federal compensation for the illnesses they have developed since the cleanup ? most recently 50 different types of cancer.

People who were in the area have higher death rates in general than similar populations, and were especially likely to develop respiratory diseases and asthma. Asbestos can cause a rare type of lung cancer called mesothelioma.

While the dust caused by the Sandy cleanup isn?t nearly as bad, Court isn't taking chances. Asbestos is only a problem if it is kicked up in dust and breathed in ? but he?s seeing plenty of dust being generated as wrecking crews pile up and remove the debris. "Those corrugated roofs on the houses down by the ocean ? they?re all asbestos,? he said.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene advises on its website that "While Sandy has not caused problems with outdoor air quality, indoor dust, mold, fumes from temporary heating sources and the use of strong cleaning products can be irritating to the eyes, throat, and lungs. Dust can also be produced by repair and debris removal. In addition, debris removal and repair work can lead to injuries of various types.?

John Makely / NBC News

Breezy Point residents clean up after Hurricane Sandy
Kate Sisk. at her summer home at 21 Jamaica Walk in white jump suit trying to remove the fiberglass in the crawlspace before mold starts to grow.

What concerns Court most, however, is mold. His 79-year-old father, Rod, has emphysema ?and needs supplemental oxygen. ?We got a foot of water up into the first floor. We are just ripping everything out and starting fresh,? said Court, who grew up in Breezy Point and who now lives in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island.

?Right now I have men ripping out the tile. We can?t take a chance with mold with my dad,? Court added. ?Now that we took up the tile floor, it?s all wet under there and it?s black.?

Health officials say Court?s doing the right thing. Anything that might turn moldy should be removed or cleaned with a bleach solution. Mold spores can cause allergic reactions or asthma in people who are sensitive to them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has done many studies on the health dangers that linger after hurricanes, but the CDC's parent agency, the Health and Human Services Department, is not making federal officials available to talk about Sandy's aftermath.

Still no clean water
Despite the flooding that swamped water treatment plants, poured into subway tunnels and flushed raw sewage into rivers, most of New York City?s tapwater supply remained clean. But Breezy Point?s water pipes were damaged so badly that the water still isn?t safe to drink, according to local authorities.

?Breezy Point Cooperative is in the process of re-establishing its internal drinking water system and the City will meet with the Breezy Point Cooperative to ensure that it can safely and reliably provide potable water to its residents," the New York health department said in a statement.

?DO NOT drink the water from the faucets. Do not use this water to cook, wash yourself or wash food, make ice, brush teeth or for any other activity involving consumption of water,? the Breezy Point Cooperative web site advises. It?s not even okay to boil it ? meaning chemicals could be contaminating the water, also.

Andrew Juhl, an ecologist and oceanographer at Columbia University, has been testing the waters around New York City for years and knows well what could have seeped into the broken water pipes at Breezy Point.

?With the hurricane there was this enormous flood of water that came into the city and flooded sewage treatment plants and also damaged pipes,? Juhl told NBCNews. ?It is possible that there was a lot of sewage released. We don?t really know. No one was out sampling at that time.?

Related stories

Love among the ruins: Sandy decimates community, but wedding goes on

'What Thanksgiving is all about': Breezy Point teen raises $80K, lifting spirits in devastated hometown

His tests the days after Sandy hit showed lots of bacteria in the water, however ? enough to where people shouldn?t touch the water without washing afterwards.

?We measure Enterococcus,? he said. It?s found in the guts of warm-blooded animals, including people. ?If you find it in the environment, you know it was recently in the body of a warm-blooded animal.? While enterococci are not themselves a big threat to health, if they?re in the water, so are other germs. These include anything that the people and animals in the area contribute to sewage, from hepatitis to parasites such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia that may cause diarrhea and stomach cramps.

One thing that people may fear is cholera, but cholera isn?t commonly found in New Yorkers, and so it?s very unlikely to be in the sewage or water.

?The most common illness that people get is gastrointestinal problems,? Juhl says. ?They get nausea, diarrhea, cramping, skin rashes, eye infections -- that kind of thing.?

You don?t have to drink the water to get ill ? people who touch the water can touch their eyes, mouths and noses and become infected. Juhl?s team sampled flooded basements in Queens and found the water was teeming with bacteria commonly found in sewage. They also found germs all over dried-out storm debris.

?The stuff we sampled up in Rockland County had been sitting around dry for a week and it still had really high (bacterial) counts. That actually surprised me,? Juhl said. ?We haven?t done that kind of sampling before and we don?t have a context for it.? Maybe there are really high counts there all the time.?

Nonetheless, it could make people handling it sick. ?They should wear gloves. They should wear face masks. They should make sure they clean themselves really well before they eat. We don?t know what the specific threat is. l would be prudent,? Juhl advises.

Court?s doing just that. ?Most people are wearing protective equipment when they are working in the basements,? he said. ?You wear boots.?

Related stories:

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Source: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/25/15341592-after-sandys-deluge-mold-and-dust-are-the-threats?lite

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American Airlines leads iOS Apps of the Week

This week?s top iOS apps are brought to you by a heaping helping of Thanksgiving leftovers. Enjoy these apps while you also enjoy not cooking for the next week. We?ve got (very timely) apps on crafting a healthy diet, a redesigned American Airlines app and updates for blogging aggregators, cloud document storage apps and even a cloud journaling app. Warm up that plate of leftovers and enjoy these apps!

American Airlines is putting a little fun back into air travel with the latest update to their iPad app. Users can now play a trivia game that can even be played while the plane is in flight. The app?s redesign supports a complete rotation of the screen. Boarding time has also been added to all passbook supported boarding passes, as well. All those new features combined with the simple but smart layout of the American Airlines app make it a strong contender for one of the best airline apps around.

In the post-Thanksgiving food coma that sets in after the holiday, it?s important to get your diet back on track. Healthy Diet & Grocery Food Scanner can help with that big time. The app has features that help you pick out foods that match your dietary needs. And you can set goals for yourself that can be achieved within the app. With Healthy Diet it?s easier than ever to make a healthy grocery list. The latest update to the app features 50,000 new foods to add to your grocery list, too.

Pulse, the content aggregator that brings the latest news, blog posts, magazine articles and social networking posts together under one app, is back with a new update to hopefully streamline some processes based on user suggestions. Users can now add unlimited news sources to their feed. So the reader who wants to know everything isn?t confined to a small set of sources any longer. Pulse has also added a brand new search where users can find any website, person, brand or topic from places like Tumblr, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, Flickr and more.

If you?d previously used Documents To Go in order to keep your mobile docs handy but found it a little unstable, its latest update fixes some crash and formatting issues. As a refresher, Documents To Go lets you edit, create and view Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. You can then sync with cloud files via Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.Net or SugarSync. It is a terrifically helpful app, aside from the instability that had plagued its earlier iterations.

Day One provides a mobile journaling experience that exists in the cloud as much as it does on your phone. The app lets users upload photos, add in weather and temperature data, Foursquare places and of course accompanying text to regular journal updates. But those journal entries can then be synced to the cloud using iCloud or Dropbox to your Mac, iPhone or iPad apps. Day One?s latest update also includes tags in order to better organize your posts alongside new formatting headers to make sure your journal is stylish.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/12978-american-airlines-leads-ios-apps-of-the-week

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New Rijksmuseum website - Lines and Colors

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of the world?s great museums, with a collection rich in famous masterpieces from the likes of Rembrandt and Vermeer, as well as hundreds of lesser known treasures.

The museum?s website, like many museum websites, long left something to be desired. Though numerous images were available, many in high resolution, they were not easy to search or browse, and overall presentation was somewhat awkward.

The museum recently launched a completely redesigned website, with a much better interface, easier access for searching, and in particular much better provisions for browsing and discovering images.

Choose Language at upper right if you would like to change to English, and then ?Collection? to either Explore or Search the collection. The Explore section offers highlights, a good place to start, and offers categories like Artists, Works, Subjects and Styles which are then subdivided into subcategories.

The selections within a given artist or subject are no longer presented as tiny scrolling thumbnails, but as large scrolling thumbnails (certainly an improvement).

The individual images are then presented fullscreen, adapting dynamically to the size of your browser window, and overlaid with navigation widgets (I don?t know of a way to hide the latter), including controls to zoom the image. You can also move the image within the browser window by clicking and dragging.

The ?i? at the bottom of the screen brings up an information panel with information about the image, links to details and a ?Download image? link. To download images, however, requires creating a free ?Rijksstudio? account (basically just an email address). You must then, for every image you download, choose the level of rights (?Personal use?) and click an ?I agree with terms and conditions? checkbox ? every time.

I will be quick to say that the new site is a vast and welcome improvement over their old one, and the images are large and well reproduced, but this kind of nonsensical legal paranoia mars the experience and makes the museum look small minded and disrespectful of their visitors.

(Hello! Almost all of these works are hundreds of years old, therefore in the public domain, and are not subject to copyright by international, or even specifically Dutch, copyright law. The standard here in the US is that photographs that just reproduce public domain artworks are also in the public domain. Perhaps this has yet to be tested in Dutch courts; but the checkbox barrier to downloading, or even viewing the work without the navigation widgets, just seems petty.)

That being groused about, the new site is well worth visiting and exploring, and a Rijksstudio account is worth setting up, if only for the unobstructed view of the high resolution images. Their intention is for visitors to form their own Rijksstudio collections, essentially bookmarked images similar to the collections you can make in the Google Art Project. They go on to offer to sell you prints of the images, or crops of them, in various modes (hence, I suppose, some of the reproduction rights BS).

Though not quite at the level of the Metropolitan Museum of Art?s fantastic website makeover, this is still a worthy world-class museum website, suited to a world class museum, and a welcome addition to the web?s list of outstanding art resources. (Now if only the Louvre and the Mus?e d?Orsay would follow suit?)

(Images above: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Aelbert Cuyp, Cornelis Springer)

Source: http://www.linesandcolors.com/2012/11/24/new-rijksmuseum-website/

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9 more Iraq, Afghan war veterans joining Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) ? As Tammy Duckworth sees it, her path to Congress began when she awoke in the fall of 2004 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She was missing both of her legs and faced the prospect of losing her right arm.

Months of agonizing therapy lay ahead. As the highest-ranking double amputee in the ward, Maj. Duckworth became the go-to person for soldiers complaining of substandard care and bureaucratic ambivalence.

Soon, she was pleading their cases to federal lawmakers, including her state's two U.S. senators at the time ? Democrats Dick Durbin and Barack Obama of Illinois. Obama arranged for her to testify at congressional hearings. Durbin encouraged her to run for office.

She lost her first election, but six years later gave it another try and now is one of nine veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who will serve in next year's freshman class in the of House of Representatives.

Veterans' groups say the influx of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is welcome because it comes at a time when the overall number of veterans in Congress is on a steep and steady decline. In the mid-1970s, the vast majority of lawmakers tended to be veterans.

For example, the 95th Congress, which served in 1977-78, had more than 400 veterans among its 535 members, according to the American Legion. The number of veterans next year in Congress will come to just more than 100. Most served during the Vietnam War era. In all, 16 served in Iraq or Afghanistan, not all in a combat role.

"We're losing about a half a million veterans a year in this country," said Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America. "We are not going to be in a world where a significant plurality of people spent some time in the military, so to have 16 men and women who fought in this current Congress is incredibly significant."

Tarantino said he recognizes that the 16 Iraq and Afghanistan vets have wide-ranging political views. But at the end of the day, he said, their shared experiences make it more likely they'll put political differences aside on issues like high unemployment and suicide rates among returning veterans, or in ensuring that veterans get a quality education through the post-9/11 GI bill.

Their election victories also provide a sense of assurance to veterans.

"The biggest fear we have as veterans is that the America people are going to forget us," Tarantino said. "When you have an 11-year sustained war, the fight doesn't end when you pull out."

Duckworth carries the highest profile of the incoming vets. She was co-piloting a Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade landed in her lap, ripping off one leg and crushing the other. At Walter Reed, she worried about what life as a double amputee had in store. But during her recovery, she found a new mission ? taking care of those she describes as her military brothers and sisters. That mission led her to a job as an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs during Obama's first term.

"Had I not been in combat, my life would have never taken this path. You take the path that comes in front of you," Duckworth said from a wheelchair last week as she and her fellow freshmen went through orientation at the Capitol. "For me, I try to live every day honoring the men who carried me out of that field because they could have left me behind, and they didn't."

Duckworth is one of two freshmen Democrats who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The other is Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who served near Baghdad for a year and was a medical operations specialist. Gabbard said she hopes the two of them can be a voice for female veterans and the unique challenges they face.

About 8 percent of veterans are women. They tend to be younger on average. Nearly one in five seen by the Department of Veterans Affairs responds yes when screened for military sexual trauma.

Seven Republicans served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most had backing from tea party supporters who share their views that the size and scope of the federal government should be curtailed.

?Ron DeSantis of Florida was a judge advocate officer in the Navy who deployed to Iraq as a legal adviser during the 2007 troop surge.

?Brad Wenstrup of Ohio was as a combat surgeon in Iraq.

?Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan served in an administrative capacity with an artillery unit in Iraq and retired after suffering a neck injury. He also served as an infantry rifleman in Vietnam.

?Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma was a combat pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan.

?Scott Perry of Pennsylvania commanded an aviation battalion in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.

?Doug Collins of Georgia was a chaplain in Iraq.

?Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Harvard Law School graduate, was an infantry platoon leader in Iraq and then was on a reconstruction team in Afghanistan. In between, he was a platoon leader at Arlington National Cemetery.

Cotton said the reason he ran for Congress is the same one that led him to enter the Army after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I felt we had been attacked for who we are ? the home of freedom," Cotton said. "And I worry now our liberty is threatened at home by the debt crisis we face, which in the long term will mean less prosperity and less opportunity, and therefore less liberty."

Cotton said he could easily see himself working with Duckworth and Gabbard on veteran's issues. "They've carried a heavy load and we owe them a great debt," he said.

At the same time, it's clear the freshmen veterans have clear differences of opinion over policy matters. For example, Gabbard is a strong critic of the war in Afghanistan. She says the United States needs to get out as quickly and safely as possible. Cotton opposes setting timetables for withdrawal.

"We're trying to win a counter-insurgency war where we can put a friendly, allied, stable government in place," Cotton said. "It's certainly been a long and somewhat winding road, but on the whole, America and our interests in the world are much better off for having waged the war in Afghanistan."

There also will be differences over spending priorities. Cotton is reluctant to trim spending on defense as a way to deal with the deficit.

Duckworth said certain programs need close examination, particularly in the area of government contracts. She said she "can actually stand up and talk about defense spending in a way that will be realistic without being attacked for lack of patriotism or not being strong on defense."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/9-more-iraq-afghan-war-veterans-joining-congress-140652303.html

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writ trig: Sport Fishing Boats ? 3 Of The Best | recreation and sports ...

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Source: http://kaatun883.blogspot.com/2012/11/writ-trig-sport-fishing-boats-3-of-best.html

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Sandy dampens mood for many Black Friday shoppers

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y./BROOKLYN, New York (Reuters) - Malls across the United States teemed with shoppers looking for Black Friday bargains, but many in the New York area sat out the madness, too busy coping with the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy.

The Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York, just a few miles from New York's JFK airport, is in a part of Long Island that was particularly devastated by the October 29 storm, which destroyed or severely damaged homes in many low-lying areas.

While still busy, shoppers and store workers alike said it was far from being the usual mob of years past.

"All the money people are spending on eating or on gas because they're displaced from their homes is money they won't spend on gifts," said Liliana Bignardelli, a 30 year-old perfume saleswoman working out of the Macy's at the mall.

She herself has been displaced since Sandy flooded the first floor of her home in Freeport, on Long Island, in one of the worst hit areas. She won't be able to go home until sometime in December. A colleague of hers said he had never seen a Black Friday this quiet.

A few doors down, at a Kohl's Corp store, Ed Gunn of West Hempstead, New York, said that last Black Friday, it took him forever to find a parking spot. This year, it was easy.

And he put the blame squarely on Sandy. His sister, who lives in Oceanside, also on Long Island, lost her home.

"They're not worrying about going shopping. They're trying to get their lives back together," he said.

A number of national retailers in recent weeks have said that Sandy has affected business. Expected economic losses from Sandy have been estimated at well north of $50 billion.

"It's clearly had an impact," Macy's Chief Executive Terry Lundgren told Reuters.

Other retailers reporting an impact from Sandy range from jeweler Zale Corp to upscale department store operator Saks Inc .

Despite the circumstances, some shoppers hurt by the storm turned out in search of deals given their stretched finances.

At the Kings Plaza Mall, near the parts of Brooklyn that were flooded the most dramatically, foot traffic was lighter at the mall on Black Friday than last year, although store workers said there had been crowds at Best Buy earlier looking for deals on televisions.

At Macy's, a mall worker named Raffie, was buying shoes for her son to attend a Sweet 16 party before she started her shift at a different store.

"We lost everything at our home in Staten Island," she said.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba in Valley Stream, N.Y., and Beth Pinsker Gladstone in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Editing by Ben Berkowitz and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandy-dampens-mood-many-black-friday-shoppers-214706761--sector.html

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Christopherson Business Travel ? A Business Travel Guide to ...

Did you know the word ?tip? supposedly came from a pub owner who used it years ago as an acronym for ?To Insure Promptness?? Essentially, tips are a reward for those who provide prompt and attentive service. But the two questions I?m always asking myself are:

1. Who do I tip?
2. How much do I tip?

Tipping etiquette varies worldwide, but I have found that (for the most part) when tipping a percentage of a bill, the average is 10-20% of the charge prior to tax. For baggage assistance the average is $1-$2 per bag. When paying a percentage of the bill, some people, for convenience, will take the amount of the tax and double it, while others might quickly figure out 10% of the charge and then double that.

Listed below are some tipping standards for business travel in the United States:

• Courtesy Shuttle Driver: $1-$2 per person
• Taxi or Limousine Driver: 15-20% of the total fare and an extra $1-$2 for help with bags
• Porter/Doorman: $1-$2 per bag
• Bell Staff: $1-$2 per bag if they deliver them to your room
• Room Service: $1-$5 per night depending on the number of people in your room (It is best to tip daily since different staff members could be cleaning your room.)
• Valet Parking: $1-$2 when car is retrieved (Tipping when they park the car is optional and not expected.)
• Restaurant Waitstaff: 15-20% of the bill, excluding tax (Watch the bill. Many restaurants automatically add 15% gratuity for parties of six or more.)
• Wine Stewards: 10-20% of the wine bill only
• Buffet Service: $1-$2 per person dining
• Bartender/Cocktail Waitress: 10-15% of the total tab
• Concierge: tipping not necessary for general requests like directions or restaurant recommendations, but if the concierge arranges for tickets or reservations, tips can range from $2-$5
• Skycap: $1/bag or $2/bag if they take the bag to the check-in counter

I recommend the following websites for additional information and international tipping guides:

1. Conde Nast Traveler
2. Esquire
3. Forbes

---

Source: http://blog.cbtravel.com/?p=7471

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Vitamin B2 let your muscles stronger | Health and Fitness Tips ...

Exercise a strong muscle is every man?s dream.People all know, the body muscle rely on protein intake, but if only complement protein, no supplement vitamin B2, fill more protein is no good.

This is because in many vitamins, vitamin B2, is most likely to lack. It is involved in the synthesis of body protein metabolism, and maintain the integrity of the skin and mucous membranes, an important role in muscle development. Vitamin B2 is found primarily in animal organs, such as liver, kidney, heart, milk, eggs and red meat also contain vitamin B2. However, animal offal contained higher fat than not to excess consumption. You can also choose milk and eggs, the ordinary trainer every day to eat 4 to 5 eggs, milk, not more than 500 ml.

Green leafy vegetables, beans, wild vegetables and nuts food (such as walnuts, chestnuts, pine nuts, peanuts, seeds, etc.) also contains vitamin B2, these food for people who do not eat offal, is also a very good choice.

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  1.The best time in the sun 8:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 17:00 is the best time in the sun health. Daylight at this time to benefit the main beam of ultraviolet A, the body can produce vitamin D, there...
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  Most human requirement of vitamin is vitamin C, a lack of vitamin C, will affect the glial protein synthesis, so that the capillaries become brittle, permeability, around hair follicles in the skin bl...

Tags: muscles stronger, Vitamin B2 muscles stronger
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2012 and is filed under Health Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.hhtip.com/vitamin-b2-let-your-muscles-stronger/

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Ultrasound pictures show difference in fetus yawning and other mouth openings

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Ultrasound scans of faces in utero can distinguish between when a fetus yawns and when it just opens its mouth, according to research published November 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Nadja Reissland from the University of Durham and colleagues at other institutions.

The researchers found that during the period between 24 to 36 weeks of gestation, they could distinguish between yawns and simple mouth openings on ultrasound images of fetal faces. They report that simple mouth openings occur less often than yawns and the frequency of these openings declines from 24 weeks of gestation onward. More than half of all mouth openings are yawns at 24 weeks of gestation, and the frequency of yawns begins to decline at a later stage (28 weeks onward).

The study suggests that trends in yawning behavior may potentially be used to track healthy fetal development. Reissland says, "Fetus yawning is not contagious, nor do they yawn because they are "sleepy". Instead, frequency of yawning in the womb might be related to activity-dependent brain maturation early in gestation."

###

Reissland N, Francis B, Mason J (2012) Development of Fetal Yawn Compared with Non-Yawn Mouth Openings from 24 Weeks Gestation. PLoS ONE 7(11): e50569. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050569

Public Library of Science: http://www.plos.org

Thanks to Public Library of Science for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 69 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125436/Ultrasound_pictures_show_difference_in_fetus_yawning_and_other_mouth_openings

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Don't be fooled! Great camera deals are harder to spot on Black Friday

Featured

3 days

Gary Merson , HD Guru

We?ve scoured the major retailers? Black Friday deals and found the most outstanding values for every member of the family. A 32-inch scree... Read more

7 hrs.

Devin Coldewey , NBC News

While there are plenty of deals and discounts to be had on TVs, phones,?laptops and other tech products, camera-wise, there aren't a lot of reasons to wait in line until midnight?after Thanksgiving dinner. That's because the year's best cameras ? many of which are?rounded up here?? simply?aren't subject to fire-sale pricing. The cameras you'll most likely?find in sales circulars?are cheapies to begin with, or are?nicer but older cameras that have to move because they're just taking up space.

Sure, you can get a Nikon D3200 for $600 at Best Buy on Friday, and that's a good deal on a relatively new camera. But this is the same good deal that's been going at B&H and other retailers for a while now. Same thing?goes for the unremarkable $649.99 Black Friday?price tag on the remarkable Sony NEX-5R with kit lens.?

The camera you'll see everywhere?with the biggest price cut is the?Canon T3.?Though it'll take decent pictures, it's a year old, was downmarket to begin with, and has long since been replaced by shinier hardware.?

What about the dozen or so point-and-shoots that cost less than a steak dinner? Many of them, particularly the?off-brands, will?perform worse than your phone's camera.

Only a few noteworthy point-and-shoots appeared as we combed Black Friday ads from top retailers. Canon's ELPH 110 HS and Samsung's?WB150F are both modest but decent little cameras?that usually go?for around $180, but will be selling for $130 at Best Buy?and Adorama respectively. Neither would be a bad camera to keep as a back-up, or to give to a photo-enthusiastic kid.

Another recommended?Canon, the SX260, lists for $299.99, so the fact that Best Buy and others are selling it for $199 is pretty great. It's definitely a deal ? especially with free case and memory card ??but the camera already sells on Amazon for $229.99, and we spotted one other?retailer selling it for $209.99.

Whether the motivation lies with?the retailers or the suppliers (or both), the price flexibility in the camera world?shows a desire to offload old inventory, not to?shed light on hot new cameras. Perhaps the assumption is that shoppers,?in the heat of the Black Friday or Cyber Monday?moment, won't have time to check the specs. Meanwhile, camera buffs will likely?pay more for hot devices like the Olympus?E-M5 or Sony RX100, so why offer them deep?price cuts?

But if you're a photographer ??or just shopping for one ? don't despair. Prices may not be plummeting on the best stuff, but?accessories are on sale, and camera bundles offer a new kind of value proposition. Who couldn't use an extra 16-gigabyte SD card? At under?$10 each in multiple sales they're a solid deal. And every photographer needs a couple external hard drives ? and you can get multi-terabyte ones for under $100 at Staples, Best Buy or Office Depot.

If you do decide to pick up a camera, even at fairly regular prices, keep an eye out for bundles. Sometimes in order to get around manufacturer ?pricing rules, shops sell a camera for an ordinary price but include a bunch of goodies to make up for the lack of savings.

For instance, here's that D3200 at Adorama for just under $600. But if you scroll a little further, here's the same camera with the same lens for the same price ? except you get a bag, a 16-gigabyte card, and some filters as well. Why is this? It's a mystery, but not the bad kind of mystery. Get the bundle. Even if there are things in there you don't think you'll use, it can't hurt to take it all and sort out what you'll keep once you get home.

And if you do?want to pick up a sweet new DSLR or fancy point-and-shoot, just remember that prices will?never go up, and tend to go down. Generally, the worst time to buy any camera is the month or so after it launches, but soon enough, the pricing does?start to ease downward, even if it doesn't drop like a rock. Just because the camera of your dreams isn't a doorbuster doesn't mean it's not delivering value. And in the Black Friday frenzy, when every slash of a price tag triggers a visceral reaction,?it's worth remembering that you sometimes have to pay more to get more.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC?News Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/dont-be-fooled-great-camera-deals-are-harder-spot-black-1C7154889

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Holiday Gift Guide: Giada for Target Helps with Holiday Entertaining ...

Happy Thanksgiving!? How?s the cooking come along?

Holiday cooking and baking is one of my favorite things.? I love spending some quality bonding time in the kitchen with my mom and sisters; it?s the best time to talk about our families and all of the fun things that are going on during the holiday season.? It also makes all of the entertaining we have to do less stressful because we actually enjoy the time together!

I was ecstatic when I was asked to try some items from the Giada for Target line.? Not only do I love to try new baking and cooking gear, but I just love Giada!? I was sure she was going to have some quality and user friendly items and I couldn?t wait to try them.

I received her bakeware and kitchen tool set, as well as some black olive tapenade and an herb foccacia bread kit.? It felt like Christmas came early!? Here is what it included:

Giada De Laurentiis for Target 5-piece Bakeware Set:

• 1 Baking sheet
• 1 ? 9? Springform pan
• 2 ? 9? baking rounds
• 1 ? 12-cup muffin pan

Giada De Laurentiis for Target 5-piece Gadget Set:

• Stainless steel can opener
• Stainless steel ice cream scoop
• Stainless steel pizza wheel
• Stainless steel peeler
• Silicon whisk

And 2 boxes of Giada De Laurentiis? Herb Foccaccia Bread mix and Black Olive Tapenade.

Let the festivities begin!

Since I am in charge of the Brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner in my family (I?m sorry for those of you who do not like them, you are really missing out!), I decided to first use the baking sheet for baking them.? Usually, I line my baking sheet with aluminum foil for an easy cleanup, but I wanted to test this baking sheet so I put everything directly on the cooking sheet.

The pan cooked my Brussels sprouts beautifully, the sheet never once tweaked in the oven (I have that issue a lot with my other sheets), and it was so easy to clean after ? I won?t ever use aluminum foil again!? I loved it.

I made some muffins for breakfast since my husband loves them so much and the muffin pan was easy to clean as well.? I didn?t use cupcake holders and they came out of the pan really easily.? I also used the ice cream scoop to put the mix in the muffin cups and it worked beautifully!? I loved how easily it came off the spoon with the lever feature.? I usually prefer the more simple gadgets, but I love this extra feature that makes scooping your baking treats so much easier and less messy!

I used the baking rounds to make Giada?s yummy Herb Foccaccia Bread and it was delicious!? So easy, too.? All I needed was a little bit of Olive Oil and the rest is already in the box! ?I used the pizza wheel to slice the bread and it was perfect.? I love the convenience of a good pizza wheel!? And once again, the round tin was another easy-to-clean item!? Can you tell what things are important to me?? My sister is the cheesecake baker in our family so I am bringing her the springform pan to use on Thanksgiving day.? Judging by the way the other items worked, I?m sure it will be great!

Her kitchen gadget set also comes with her delicious marinara sauce recipe, which I decided I had to try.? I got to use the peeler for the carrots and the can opener for the canned crushed tomatoes.? Both worked beautifully.? I loved how easily the peeler peeled the carrots ? very little pressure needed for a clean peel, and the can opener was super simple to use and had a really nice grip to it.? I think my old peeler and can opener are going to be moved to the camping box to make room for these new beautiful stainless steel gadgets in my kitchen for everyday use.

I not only used the pizza wheel for the bread, but also for making my first lattice pie!? It cut really nice and clean lines that allowed the dough to separate without ripping.? I had to beat an egg as well for it so I got to use the silicon whisk.? I love the fact that it is silicon because I have a few recipes that require whisking but you can?t use a wire whisk or a fork, so this is perfect and so much more versatile.

I have to hand it to my girl, Giada.? She knows her stuff in the kitchen and she has definitely made it better for us with her new line at Target.? It?s great that such respected chefs will make affordable products for everyone to use that work great!? I mean, if you watch food shows, I?m sure you know and love Giada, but even if you don?t, I?m sure you love Target!

Time to celebrate this cooking and baking season!? Happy entertaining!

Buy It:

Giada De Laurentiis for Target products can be purchased online or at a Target store near you.

Win It:

1 lucky winner will receive a set of the Giada De Laurentiis for Target bakeware.
1 Baking sheet, 1-9? springform pan, 2-9? baking rounds, 1-12-cup muffin pan

Rules:

This giveaway ends on December 6, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST.
Open to the US only, ages 18+.
Click?here?for complete rules and disclosure.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Source: http://musingsfromasahm.com/2012/11/holiday-gift-guide-giada-for-target-helps-with-holiday-entertaining-giveaway/

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Ed's Daily Notes for November 21st ? Ed's Talking Stock

We get the weekly U.S. jobless claims report today (a day early due to Thanksgiving tomorrow) at 8:30 am EST. Last week?s report spiked up to 439,000. The Bloomberg consensus estimate is for 415,000 this week, within a range of 380,000 to 500,000. We could see a market impact, although volume is expected to be light today.

Bloomberg: Europe Fails to Seal Greek Debt-Cut Deal in IMF Clash

Greece is like a bad cold that won?t go away:

European finance ministers failed to agree on a debt-reduction package for Greece after battling with the International Monetary Fund over how to nurse the recession- wracked country back to fiscal health.

With creditors led by Germany refusing to put up fresh money or offer debt relief, the finance chiefs were unable to scrape together enough funds from other sources to help alleviate Greece?s debt burden, set to hit 190 percent of gross domestic product in 2014.

Greece?s fiscal woes have defied three years of rescue efforts, rekindling doubts about Europe?s crisis-containment strategy and maintaining a cloud over the euro, postwar Europe?s signature economic accomplishment. More than 11 hours of talks broke up early today in Brussels without an agreement. That leaves the next aid payment, which has been held up since June, frozen until at least another emergency ministers? meeting on Nov. 26.

?We have a series of options on the table on how to close the financing gap,? German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters. ?We discussed the issue very intensively, but since the questions are so complicated we didn?t come to a final agreement.?

?A bloc of top-rated creditors led by Germany continues to resist debt forgiveness, telling their taxpayers that the Athens government will pay back in full the 240 billion euros in loans doled out or promised in two rescue packages since 2010.

For some reason, the words of Yoda come to me here: ?Do or do not. There is no try.? Europe is making a lot of effort that seems to go nowhere, and that is because they aren?t committed to what it will take to fix Greece. Until Greece defaults on ALL of their existing debt, they won?t be able to fix their problems. As long as Europe and the IMF won?t let them, this will continue to drag out far longer than is necessary.

Jerusalem Post: Terror attack on Tel Aviv bus injures 23 people

So much for Israel?s cease fire agreement with Hamas:

Terrorists blew up a bus on Tel Aviv?s Shaul Hamelech Street around noon Wednesday.

A total of 23 people were injured the attack, according to police.

?Palestinian media reports said the Fatah-linked Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for the attack, although that was unconfirmed.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri praised the bombing, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

?Hamas blesses the attack in Tel Aviv and sees it as a natural response to the Israeli massacres? in Gaza,? he told Reuters.

According to Kitco, oil is up 1.27% as I write this.

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Source: http://edstalkingstock.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/eds-daily-notes-for-november-21st/

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EU steelmakers unhappy with EU conditions on Glenstrata deal

LONDON (Reuters) - EU steelmakers said Europe's antitrust conditions for Glencore to go ahead with its $33 billion takeover of Xstrata are not sufficient to prevent the dominant influence of one zinc supplier.

The European Commission (EC) cleared the world's largest diversified commodities trader to complete the $33 billion deal but said it must scrap an exclusive European zinc sales agreement with producer Nyrstar .

Zinc, used in metal alloys and to prevent corrosion, is a metal where Glencore and Xstrata would be particularly strong as a combined entity.

Terminating the agreement between Glencore and Nyrstar addresses one of the European steel industry's major concerns, but the remedy may not be sufficient, steel industry body Eurofer said on Thursday.

"The European steel industry, which uses the lion's share of zinc metal traded in Europe, will still have to face a leading provider effectively controlling the zinc supply chain from mining to warehousing operations," Eurofer said in a statement.

Post-merger, the parties will still have a share of around 35 per cent of the European zinc market and the vertical integration of the new entity, which includes mining, smelting, trading, logistics and warehousing, is also concerning according to Eurofer.

"This shows that Glencore/Xstrata can still exert controlling influence on the zinc market, for instance by artificially shortening supplies," Gordon Moffat, Eurofer director general, said.

The European steel industry needs zinc for corrosion-resistant coatings applied to steel products. More than half of global zinc production goes into steel making.

(Reporting by Silvia Antonioli; Editing by David Holmes)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-steelmakers-unhappy-eu-conditions-glenstrata-deal-191355505--finance.html

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