Thursday, February 28, 2013

New cars increasingly out of reach for many

Looking to buy a new car, truck or crossover? You may find it more difficult to stretch the household budget than you expected, according to a new study that finds median-income families in only one major U.S. city actually can afford the typical new vehicle.

The typical new vehicle is now more expensive than ever, averaging $30,550 in 2012, according to TrueCar.com data, and heading up again as makers curb the incentives that helped make their products more affordable during the recession when they were desperate for sales.

According to the 2013 Car Affordability Study by Interest.com, only in Washington, D.C., could the typical household swing the payments, the median income there running $86,680 a year. At the other extreme, Tampa was at the bottom of the 25 large cities included in the study, with a median household income of $43,832.

The study looked at a variety of household expenses, such as food and housing, and when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle, it considered more than just the basic purchase price, down payment and monthly note, factoring in such essentials as taxes and insurance.

Bottom line? A buyer in the capital can purchase a car with a sticker price of $31,940, slightly more than the new vehicle average for the 2013 model year and about what it would cost for a mid-range Ford Fusion sedan or a stripped-down BMW X1 crossover. The buyer in Tampa? They?ll just barely cover the cost of a basic Kia Rio, with $14,516 to spend.

More from The Detroit Bureau: Hyundai settles lawsuit for false mileage claims

?If you live in New York City or San Francisco, you?re probably going to have to pay a lot for housing, but you don?t have to pay a lot for a car,? said Mike Sante, the managing editor of Interest.com, a financial decision-making website.

Affordability has been a matter of growing concern for the auto industry in recent years as prices have continued to move upward. Even the most basic of today?s cars are generally loaded with features that were once found on high-line models a few decades back ? if they were available at all ? such as air conditioning, power windows, airbags and electronic stability control, as well as digital infotainment systems. They also have to meet ever tougher federal safety, emissions and mileage standards that have added thousands to the typical price tag.

?The average compact car of today has the features of a midsize model somebody might be trading in ? but it may be just as expensive,? said David Sargent, director of automotive operations for J.D. Power and Associates.

That is one reason why many buyers have been downsizing in recent years, said Bill Fay, general manager of Toyota, though he added that ?there is still a lot of affordability in the marketplace.?

Perhaps, but industry planners have come to recognize that they are targeting a much smaller segment of the American public than in decades past. That?s one reason why most manufacturers are offering more downsized models.

More from The Detroit Bureau: Consumer Reports names its 'Top Picks'

They also are working with their dealers to offer certified pre-owned programs where buyers can stretch their budget by purchasing a two- or three-year-old vehicle that has gone through an extensive inspection and, if necessary, repairs and replacements. Such vehicles may cost slightly more than a conventional used model but usually include a like-new warranty.

While the typical new vehicle will likely nudge up this year, Interest.com editor Sante stressed that car costs are one of the most controllable parts of a household?s budget. ?You?re better off driving something more affordable and saving or investing the difference.?

If the typical new car costs $30,550, with an average monthly payment of $550, the five cities most able to meet ? or come close ? are:

1) Washington, D.C.
Average Household Income: $86,680
Affordable Purchase Price: $31,940
Maximum monthly payment: $628

2) San Francisco
Average Household Income: $71,975
Affordable Purchase Price: $26,786
Maximum monthly payment: $537

3) Boston
Average Household Income: $69.455
Affordable Purchase Price: $26,025
Maximum monthly payment: $507

4) Baltimore
Average Household Income: $65,463
Affordable Purchase Price: $24,079
Maximum monthly payment: $468

5) Minneapolis
Average Household Income: $63,352
Affordable Purchase Price: $24,042
Maximum monthly payment: $470

At the other end of the scale, those five cities least able to handle a car payment are:

21) Phoenix
Average Household Income: $50,058
Affordable Purchase Price: $17,243
Maximum monthly payment: $348

22) San Antonio
Average Household Income: $48,699
Affordable Purchase Price: $17,137
Maximum monthly payment: $334

23) Detroit
Average Household Income: $48,968
Affordable Purchase Price: $17,093
Maximum monthly payment: $332

24) Miami
Average Household Income: $45,407
Affordable Purchase Price: $15,188
Maximum monthly payment: $295

25) Tampa
Average Household Income: $43,832
Affordable Purchase Price: $14,516
Maximum monthly payment: $282

More from The Detroit Bureau

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/new-cars-increasingly-out-reach-many-americans-1C8573730

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PSA: Kindle iOS app users should not update to version 3.6.1

PSA iOS Kindle users should not update to version 361

This one's coming straight from the horse's mouth. Amazon is acknowledging a "known issue" with version 3.6.1 of its Kindle app for iOS -- the company is recommending that current users avoid the latest update, which hit the App Store today. According to TUAW, the new version may completely erase a user's book library. How this passed the e-book giant's QA team is anyone's guess, but until a revision hits the cloud, we suggest you stay away.

Update: Amazon has reached out to clarify this issue. The update causes the app to "deregister," and as a result, items are removed from the smartphone or tablet. All of your content remains in the cloud, however, and can be re-downloaded after you re-register the device with Amazon. The update has been re-submitted to Apple and should appear soon. Consider us re-lieved. You'll find the official word below:

We have identified an issue with the app update that may cause your app to become deregistered. To register, enter your Amazon account e-mail address and password and all your Amazon content will be available in the cloud. We have submitted an update fix for this issue and are working with Apple to release.

Update 2: As of Wednesday afternoon, the app has been replaced with version 3.6.2, with listed improvements including "Fix for Registration Issue." The source link will now direct you to that latest version, which, presumably, won't make all your books disappear.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: TUAW

Source: Amazon (iTunes)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/kindle-ios-issues/

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In probing mysteries of glass, researchers find a key to toughness

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

In a paper published online Feb. 26 in the journal Nature Communications, a Yale University team and collaborators propose a way of predicting whether a given glass will be brittle or ductile ? a desirable property typically associated with metals like steel or aluminum ? and assert that any glass could have either quality.

Ductility refers to a material's plasticity, or its ability to change shape without breaking.

"Most of us think of glasses as brittle, but our finding shows that any glass can be made ductile or brittle," said Jan Schroers, a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale, who led the research with Golden Kumar, a professor at Texas Tech University. "We identified a special temperature that tells you whether you form a ductile or brittle glass."

The key to forming a ductile glass, they said, is cooling it fast. Exactly how fast depends on the nature of the specific glass.

Focusing on a new group of glasses known as bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) ? metal alloys, or blends, that can be extremely pliable yet also as strong as steel ? researchers studied the effect of a so-called critical fictive temperature (CFT) on the glasses' mechanical properties at room temperature.

When forming from liquid, there is a temperature at which glass becomes too viscous for reconfiguration and freezes. This temperature is called the glass transition temperature. Based on experiments with three representative bulk metallic glasses, the researchers said there is also, for each distinct alloy, a critical temperature that determines the brittleness or plasticity of the glass. This is the CFT.

Researchers said it's possible to categorize glasses in two groups ? those that will be brittle because in liquid form their CFT is above the glass transition temperature, and those that will be ductile, because in liquid form their CFT is below the glass transition temperature.

They previously thought a liquid's chemical composition alone would determine whether a glass would be brittle or ductile.

"That's not the case," Schroers said. "We can make any glass theoretically ductile or brittle. And it is the critical fictive temperature which determines how experimentally difficult it is to make a ductile glass. That is the major contribution of this work."

The finding applies theoretically to all glasses, not metallic glasses only, he said.

"A glass can have completely different properties depending on the rate at which you cool it," Schroers said. "If you cool it fast, it is very ductile, and if you cool it slow it?s very brittle. We anticipate that our finding will contribute to the design of ductile glasses, and in general contribute to a deeper understanding of glass formation."

###

Yale University: http://www.yale.edu

Thanks to Yale University 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127036/In_probing_mysteries_of_glass__researchers_find_a_key_to_toughness

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Advanced Breast Cancer Increasing Among Young Women

The percentage of young women ?in the U.S. who have advanced breast cancer has increased slightly in recent decades, according to a new study.

Between 1976 and 2009, the rate of metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread to distant organs such as bones or the brain) among women ages 25 to 39 increased by about 2 percent each year, the study found.

While this increase is small ? it translates to about 1.4 extra cases per 100,000 people over a 34-year period ? it shows no signs of tapering off, the researchers said.

Because this is the first time researchers have seen an increase in advanced breast cancer in the U.S., the findings will need to be confirmed by future studies. But if real, the results are particularly alarming because young women with advanced breast cancer have a low survival rate (about 31 percent of them survive five years). What's more, young women are not advised to receive breast cancer screening unless they have a family history of the disease, the researchers said.

The reason for the increase is also not clear, and will need to be investigated further, ?said study researcher Dr. Rebecca Johnson of Seattle Children's Hospital.

Breast cancer in young women is less common than it is in older women: about 1 in 227 American women will develop the disease before age 30; 1 in 42 will be diagnosed with it by age 50; and 1 in 28 will develop it by age 60, according to the National Cancer Institute.

In the new study, Johnson and colleagues analyzed information on breast cancer incidence using databases from the National Cancer Institute.

The researchers found that the rate of metastatic breast cancer among women ages 25 to 39 increased from 1.53 cases per 100,000 people in 1976 to 2.90 cases per 100,000 people in 2009. The biggest increase was seen during the most recent decade. Among all young women with breast cancer, the proportion diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer increased from 4.4 percent in the 1970s to 5.5 percent in the 1990s and 7.2 percent in the 2000s.

By contrast, there was no increase in early-stage breast cancer in young women, or breast cancer of any stage in older women, the researchers said.

A possible reason for the new increase could be that what doctors call metastatic breast cancer is being diagnosed at a different stage now than it used to be. But if that were the case, we would expect to see decreases in the number of women diagnosed with earlier stages of breast cancer, which has not happened, Johnson said.

The researchers examined existing studies to see if they could find an environmental factor that changed during the same period when the increase occurred, but couldn't find one, Johnson said. The increase in obesity in recent years has been a significant change, but earlier studies actually found a decreased risk of breast cancer in obese young women. If the increase is real, it's likely that more than one factor is responsible, Johnson said.

A 2007 study in Switzerland also detected an increase in breast cancer among young women. Data supporting an increase in breast cancer in young women may have to come from other countries, as the largest database documenting cancer incidence in the United States only goes back to the 1970s, Johnson said.

Pass it on: The rate of advanced breast cancer among young American women has increased slightly in recent years.

Follow Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner, or MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

Copyright 2013 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/advanced-breast-cancer-increasing-among-young-women-222312267.html

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Helping Your Business Go Viral - Social Media Marketing Tips ...

Author: Greg James | Total views: 279 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1002 Date:

With today's technology and with everyone on a mobile device, marketing via the Internet and social media is really the only way to go. Social media is a fairly new way to market your business services, but you must learn how to do it to succeed. The article below contains some of the best tips on the subject of social media marketing.

Offer exclusive deals for social media fans. Provide your customers with valuable content and they will show interest in your campaign. Offer unique items through contests. Otherwise, you could just simply provide some special offers for your fans. You can make announcements strictly through a social media page.

In the age of the world wide web it can be easy to forget about printed advertising, but it can be quite beneficial to incorporate your social media marketing campaign with your printed ads. You should include your profile address on the publications and post them on your site. This can help you to generate a greater interest in your products, both online and in print format.

Ensure that you are always updating your blog and sharing it with your social media sites. Post any sales or promotions that you are offering in your blog. Also post updates containing information about vital news, such as changes in your operating hours, closings and new locations opening up. You should also put this into your blog.

Do not take time off during the holidays; this is the best time of the year for business. You can inspire holiday spirit and shopping enjoyment by staying in touch with customers during this busy time. Plan the holidays well ahead of time: come up with fun ideas for contests, giveaways or coupons. Customers will pick up on this.

If you have a tough time with formatting, use a list format for the next article you post on your social networking profiles. Doing this will allow you to display important information in an easy to digest manner that lets reader see what's most important. Social media users are usually young people with short attention spans, so this format will get them the information they need without a lot of filler to read through.

Use the Twitter API to keep your feed interesting. This can be performed so that other people's blog posts can be auto-tweeted. Find good blogs that are trustworthy and updated frequently to share with the followers you have. This will help to keep your page new and fresh.

When you publish something new on your company blog, be sure to repost it at your social media venues. By back-linking to your blog, you will be able to tell your social media followers that you have new content available.

Stay active! You can't be successful without being social. If you don't have any activity, then your social media campaign is not going to succeed. Being active can spark the interest of your followers and help you be more successful.

Games on Facebook are something to look into. Creating a game around your product or service will be a fun way to introduce it to a large audience. Some popular brands have been extremely successful with Facebook's games, which turned into viral phenomenons. It's worth the cost to pay a professional design team to create the app, and market it on social media!

Through helping others and commenting on social media posts, you can boost your positioning as an industry expert. This will consistently bring new business your way because of your expertise. Find questions about your industry and give quality answers. Specific and useful knowledge will help you gain customers that you may not have been able to find without SMM.

Create new content frequently, and update it often. If you post daily or more often, your customers will get in the habit of checking your feed regularly. If you rarely post, many customers will stop frequenting your page. Make a posting schedule, or use a company that will post for you in specific time intervals. You will also keep a schedule with your readers.

An effective way to use Twitter for social marketing purposes is to organize a group chat, commonly called a Twitter party. A Twitter party involves a number of people gathering on Twitter and talking about a topic chosen in advance, using a unique hashtag to track the conversation. Get a few bloggers to join and give advice to customers. Make sure you choose influential bloggers who will write about the upcoming party and attract their own crowd.

Be sure to think of eye-catching headings for your posts. This is the first thing that a reader sees, so it can make or break the deal. You must get their attention and keep them interested enough to read all of your content. So careful thought is necessary when thinking up headlines and titles to catch the readers attention.

If you have a blog or a site, you need to ensure that people can subscribe to it easily. Make sure you subscribe and share buttons are visible on your social media pages. When you put it in a noticeable location, it will help your fans sign up easier. Remember, some people may have very slow Internet connections, so it is best to have the subscribe button as the first thing that loads on your page.

Hopefully, the idea of launching a marketing push in social media is now looking a little less complex to you. Once you choose to start such an effort, continuing to educate yourself in trends and techniques will take you far. Consistent yields are the result of constant effort, so apply the ideas and insights from the preceding paragraphs, and block out whatever hours are needed to provide fresh content to your social media profiles with regularity.

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1: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

3: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website

Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.

4: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda

If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/helping-your-business-go-viral-social-media-marketing-tips.htm

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Pistorius holding memorial service for slain girlfriend

Lucky Nxumalo/City Press via AP

Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp at an awards ceremony in Johannesburg in Nov. 4, 2012.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

Oscar Pistorius was to hold a private memorial service Tuesday for the girlfriend he was charged with murdering.

Slain model Reeva Steenkamp was cremated and mourned at a family service last week while Pistorius was in custody during a weeklong hearing on whether he should be released on bail.

Now that the South African athlete is free on $112,000 bond, he "specifically requested the memorial service as he continues to grieve and remains in deep mourning for the loss of his partner," a statement from his representatives said.

Mike Sheehan /EPA file

Barry Steenkamp, father of Reeva Steenkamp, is embraced after her memorial service at the Victoria Park Crematorium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on Feb. 19.

"Since it is such a sensitive issue," the statement said, "Oscar has asked for a private service with people who share his loss, including his family members who knew and loved Reeva as one of their own."

The service was to be held at the hilltop Pretoria home of his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, where he has been staying.

The sprinter known as "Blade Runner," who inspired millions when he became the first double-amputee to compete in the Olympics, has admitted he fatally shot Steenkamp, 29, his girlfriend of four months.

He said in a court statement that he heard what he thought was a prowler, grabbed his gun, rushed to the bathroom on his stumps and fired through a closed door.

Prosecutors contend that he knew Steenkamp was in the bathroom and that he meant to kill her after a Valentine's Day argument. They charged him with premeditated murder, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life.

Steenkamp's family did not attend the emotionally charged bail hearing, where Pistorius, 26, sobbed numerous times as prosecutors leveled accusations against him.

Her mother has said she wanted answers about what happened the night of the shooting. Her father said last week that if Pistorius was telling the truth, he might one day forgive him, but that if he was lying, "he will suffer."

Meanwhile, the judge who presided at the bail hearing confirmed Tuesday he was dealing with a personal tragedy: his first cousin is suspected of poisoning her 12-year-old and 17-year-old boys and then killing herself in Johannesburg over the weekend, the Associated Press reported.

The revelation was one of several twists in the Pistorius case. Last week, the chief investigator was tossed from the inquiry because attempted murder charges stemming from a police-involved shooting in 2011 had been reinstated. And Pistorius' brother is also facing a homicide charge in connection with a 2008 car accident that left a woman dead.

Cheryll Simpson of NBC News contributed to this report

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17102387-pistorius-holding-memorial-service-for-slain-girlfriend?lite

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Lawmaker wears blackface costume to Jewish party

A state assemblyman from Brooklyn, N.Y., wore blackface paint and an Afro wig to a costume party over the weekend, and says he "can't imagine anyone getting offended." ?

The party was for the Jewish holiday Purim, a festive celebration often commemorated by dressing up. ?

According to?Politicker, Assemblyman Dov Hikind?hosted a Purim party at his home over the weekend. ?

A photo posted on Facebook by Hikind's 32-year-old son, Yoni Hikind, shows the lawmaker with a darkened face, wearing a black wig, sunglasses and what appears to be an orange jersey over a white t-shirt. The assemblyman's wife wore a devil costume.

The caption reads: "How cool are my folks... Lol"?

See the controversial photo at NBCNewYork.com

Dov Hikind told Politicker that he was "trying to emulate, you know, maybe some of these basketball players."

"Someone gave me a uniform, someone gave me the hair of the actual, you know, sort of a black basketball player,? Hikind said. ?It was just a lot of fun. Everybody just had a very, very good time and every year I do something else. ? The fun for me is when people come in and don?t recognize me.? ?

Hikind said he couldn't imagine the costume bothering anyone.

?Purim, you know, everything goes and it?s all done with respect. No one is laughing, no one is mocking. No one walked in today and said, ?Oh my God.? ? It?s all just in good fun with respect always, whatever anyone does it?s done with tremendous amounts of respect and with dignity, of course.?

By NBCNewYork.com staff

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17088742-new-york-lawmaker-in-hot-water-for-blackface-costume-at-party?lite

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Survey shows China manufacturing at 4-month low

BEIJING (AP) -- A survey shows China's manufacturing activity this month has declined to a four-month low in a reminder of possible threats to its shaky economic recovery.

HSBC Corp. said Monday the preliminary version of its purchasing managers index for February fell to 50.4 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity expanding. That was down from January's 52.3.

Growth in the world's second-largest economy rebounded in the final quarter of 2012 but analysts say a recovery will be gradual and could be vulnerable if trade or investment decline.

HSBC said its survey found export orders decreased while output and overall orders grew at a slower rate.

HSBC economist Hongbin Qu says in a statement that "the Chinese economy is still on track for a gradual recovery."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-shows-china-manufacturing-4-024024106.html

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Pain from the brain: Diseases formerly known as 'hysterical' illnesses

Feb. 24, 2013 ? Psychogenic diseases, formerly known as 'hysterical' illnesses, can have many severe symptoms such as painful cramps or paralysis but without any physical explanation. However, new research from the University of Cambridge and UCL (University College London) suggests that individuals with psychogenic disease, that is to say physical illness that stems from emotional or mental stresses, do have brains that function differently. The research was published February 25, in the journal Brain.

Psychogenic diseases may look very similar to illnesses caused by damage to nerves, the brain or the muscles, or similar to genetic diseases of the nervous system. However, unlike organic diseases, psychogenic diseases do not have any apparent physical cause, making them difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat.

"The processes leading to these disorders are poorly understood, complex and highly variable. As a result, treatments are also complex, often lengthy and in many cases there is poor recovery. In order to improve treatment of these disorders, it is important to first understand the underlying mechanism," said Dr James Rowe from the University of Cambridge.

The study looked at people with either psychogenic or organic dystonia, as well as healthy people with no dystonia. Both types of dystonia caused painful and disabling muscle contractions affecting the leg. The organic patient group had a gene mutation (the DYT1 gene) that caused their dystonia. The psychogenic patients had the symptoms of dystonia but did not have any physical explanation for the disease, even after extensive investigations.

The scientists performed PET brain scans on the volunteers at UCL, to measure the blood flow and brain activity of both of the groups, and healthy volunteers. The participants were scanned with three different foot positions: resting, moving their foot, and holding their leg in a dystonic position. The electrical activity of the leg muscles was measured at the same time to determine which muscles were engaged during the scans.

The researchers found that the brain function of individuals with the psychogenic illness was not normal. The changes were, however, very different from the brains of individuals with the organic (genetic) disease.

Dr Anette Schrag, from UCL, said: "Finding abnormalities of brain function that are very different from those in the organic form of dystonia opens up a way for researchers to learn how psychological factors can, by changing brain function, lead to physical problems."

Dr Rowe added: "What struck me was just how very different the abnormal brain function was in patients with the genetic and the psychogenic dystonia. Even more striking was that the differences were there all the time, whether the patients were resting or trying to move."

Additionally, the researchers found that one part of the brain previously thought to indicate psychogenic disease is unreliable: abnormal activity of the prefrontal cortex was thought to be the hallmark of psychogenic diseases. In this study, the scientists showed that this abnormality is not unique to psychogenic disease, since activity was also present in the patients with the genetic cause of dystonia when they tried to move their foot.

Dr Arpan Mehta, from the University of Cambridge, said: "It is interesting that, despite the differences, both types of patient had one thing in common -- a problem at the front of the brain. This area controls attention to our movements and although the abnormality is not unique to psychogenic dystonia, it is part of the problem."

This type of illness is very common. Dr Schrag said: "One in six patients that see a neurologist has a psychogenic illness. They are as ill as someone with organic disease, but with a different cause and different treatment needs. Understanding these disorders, diagnosing them early and finding the right treatment are all clearly very important. We are hopeful that these results might help doctors and patients understand the mechanism leading to this disorder, and guide better treatments."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/1FMDTf7Ajyk/130225092250.htm

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Flexible Work Is Healthy, Studies Show

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, enacted a policy this week that requires previously remote workers to now spend their days in-office and bars employees from using flexible work hours.

"To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side ... That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices," read the memo written by head of HR Jackie Reses and obtained by AllThingsD. ?Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home.?

Employees and the general public alike were dismayed by the news -- particularly as many companies move toward more flexible work hours, influenced by reports that a looser work schedule is healthy for workers -- and for the bottom line. Even the White House has compiled a comprehensive report, extolling the attributes to wellbeing of flexible work policies.

It should come as no surprise that Mayer, known for her hard-charging work ethic and her two-week maternity leave, would prefer an all in-house staff. But are flex hours merely a luxurious refuge for the underperforming or, in the current work culture, a necessity for many in the workforce?

Research on employees who use flexible hours and work from home points toward the latter. Studies regularly show that employees who are given some choice as to their schedule and location of work report better self-care behaviors like increased exercise and regular doctors' visits, better sleep habits, less stress, less depression and less work-life conflict.

A 2010 Cochrane research review looked at the results of 10 studies evaluating more than 16,000 people. They found that self-scheduling work time improved a variety of health metrics, including reduced exhaustion, improved sleep (both duration and quality), lowered blood pressure, improved mental health and better self-rated health status. The distinction of self-scheduled, meaning the choice belongs to the employee, is important to note: As the authors wrote in their report, "In contrast, interventions that were motivated or dictated by organizational interests, such as fixed-term contract and involuntary part-time employment, found equivocal or negative health effects."

"Flexible working seems to be more beneficial for health and wellbeing where the individuals control their own work patterns, rather than where employers are in control," review author Clare Bambra, of the Wolfson Research Institute at Durham Univerisy in the UK, said in a statement. "Given the limited evidence base, we wouldn't want to make any hard and fast recommendations, but these findings certainly give employers and employees something to think about."

One well-known study looked deeper into the health impact of flexible work environment by following 608 white-collar workers at the headquarters of Best Buy before and after a flexible ?Results Only Work Environment? policy was implemented. The researchers found that, on average, employees got one additional hour of sleep per work night after flex-hours were implemented and were more likely to exercise. They were more apt to go to the doctor when they needed to and were less likely to go into the office when contagious. From a mental health standpoint, the subjects reported that they felt "greater mastery" of their time, had fewer work-life conflicts and, as a result, felt increased energy, less stress and a self-reported sense of well-being.

"Flex time is a way to get control over work. We can't reduce the overload of tasks, but flexible schedules make it a bit more manageable," co-author of the Best Buy study, Phyllis Moen, Ph.D., McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair of Sociology at the University of Minnesota tells HuffPost. "We now have an elevated intensity of work -- we're expected to work smarter, do more with less and with fewer people. And what has enabled workers to continue to work with this level of intensity is often that they now arrange when they work."

"And yet I can't imagine [Mayer] will tamp down on the intensity of work," Moen adds. "What she's asking for isn't just a relocation shift -- she's ratching up time pressures when you want to be more flexible. Time pressure has a negative effect on people who are going to be expected to work long hours, to work intensely and work smarter.

Further, many of the employees affected by Mayer's new policy are already accustomed to working on their own schedule and in their own environment. What will happen to the health of workers who have grown accustomed to flexible work hours and must now return to their office desks full time?

"We have no studies looking at what happens when you take it away, but the assumption would be that it would have negative effects," says Moen. "It will mean a lack of control -- and feeling a lack of control over one's life is associated with greater psychological stress."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/flexible-work-healthy-marissa-mayer-yahoo_n_2761872.html

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Commemoration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Oldest Parish of the Diocese of Connecticut, Christ Church, Stratford, Wednesday, June 12, 1907 (Christ Episcopal Church )


Author: Stratford (Conn.). Christ Church. [from old catalog]
Publisher: [New Haven
Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT
Language: English
Call number: 13953301
Digitizing sponsor: Sloan Foundation
Book contributor: The Library of Congress
Collection: library_of_congress; americana
Scanfactors: 1

Full catalog record: MARCXML

[Open Library icon]This book has an editable web page on Open Library.


Selected metadata

Scanningcenter: capitolhill
Mediatype: texts
Identifier-bib: 00126089545
Identifier: comemmorationoft00stra
Ppi: 400
Camera: Canon 5D
Operator: scanner-annie-coates-@...
Scanner: scribe8.capitolhill.archive.org
Scandate: 20080806150438
Imagecount: 19
Identifier-access: http://www.archive.org/details/comemmorationoft00stra
Identifier-ark: ark:/13960/t3zs2ww5t

Source: http://archive.org/details/comemmorationoft00stra

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013 - Family Home and Life: Grandparent's ...

One month ago today, my sons dog was lost while he and a friend were hiking in the desert north of Phoenix. I felt as if my life has been on hold, waiting to get on with it until she was found. She was, 27 days after she was lost, she is our miracle dog! It's quite a story and I intend to write about it.?
I am once again sick, this time with a stomach virus and have not been able to sit up until last hour or so. I think all the extra stress has gotten to me. So sadly I once again did not get around to reading and commenting on your linked up post. But our Daisy is home and doing well, and it's all good! I have a picture here of her before she was lost, I didn't want to post her recent pics?because?they look pretty bad as you can imagine after 27 days! She's such a good dog and so loving. Her eyes look older and weary, and she is having a little issue with?separation?anxiety, but she is our same ole Daisy.
It snowed here this week too, and here is a pic of the parking lot at a local mall. I'm so glad Daisy wasn't out in that! We never know what is waiting for us just around the corner do we? Thank you for coming every week, I appreciate you all very much and think of you as my online family.?
Button pic 9


This is a link up for older bloggers; but you don't need to be a grandparent to link up.?Link up to three post, not to your home page, and link that back to Family Home and Life. While you are here I hope you will visit the other linkers and come back to see who links up later. We all love comments! No Etsy shops or giveaways please. This link closes on Monday night.?

Be sure to visit Lisa at?Grandma's Briefs?to join her linky, GRAND Social, on Mondays. Thank you for linking up with me!





If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright ? Family Home and Life 2010-2013 All Rights Reserved

Source: http://www.familyhomeandlife.com/2013/02/grandparents-say-it-saturday_23.html

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Fruit flies force their young to drink alcohol for their own good

Feb. 22, 2013 ? The fruit fly study adds to the evidence "that using toxins in the environment to medicate offspring may be common across the animal kingdom," says biologist Todd Schlenke.

When fruit flies sense parasitic wasps in their environment, they lay their eggs in an alcohol-soaked environment, essentially forcing their larvae to consume booze as a drug to combat the deadly wasps.

The discovery by biologists at Emory University is being published in the journal Science on February 22.

"The adult flies actually anticipate an infection risk to their children, and then they medicate them by depositing them in alcohol," says Todd Schlenke, the evolutionary geneticist whose lab did the research. "We found that this medicating behavior was shared by diverse fly species, adding to the evidence that using toxins in the environment to medicate offspring may be common across the animal kingdom."

Adult fruit flies detect the wasps by sight, and appear to have much better vision than previously realized, he adds. "Our data indicate that the flies can visually distinguish the relatively small morphological differences between male and female wasps, and between different species of wasps."

The experiments were led by Balint Zacsoh, who recently graduated from Emory with a degree in biology and still works in the Schlenke lab. The team also included Emory graduate student Zachary Lynch and postdoc Nathan Mortimer.

The larvae of the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, eat the rot, or fungi and bacteria, that grows on overripe, fermenting fruit. They have evolved a certain amount of resistance to the toxic effects of the alcohol levels in their natural habitat, which can range up to 15 percent.

Tiny, endoparasitoid wasps are major killers of fruit flies. The wasps inject their eggs inside the fruit fly larvae, along with venom that aims to suppress their hosts' cellular immune response. If the flies fail to kill the wasp egg, a wasp larva hatches inside the fruit fly larva and begins to eat its host from the inside out.

Last year, the Schlenke lab published a study showing how fruit fly larvae infected with wasps prefer to eat food high in alcohol. This behavior greatly improves the survival rate of the fruit flies because they have evolved high tolerance of the toxic effects of the alcohol, but the wasps have not.

"The fruit fly larvae raise their blood alcohol levels, so that the wasps living in their blood will suffer," Schlenke says. "When you think of an immune system, you usually think of blood cells and immune proteins, but behavior can also be a big part of an organism's immune defense."

For the latest study, the researchers asked whether the fruit fly parents could sense when their children were at risk for infection, and whether they then sought out alcohol to prophylactically medicate them.

Adult female fruit flies were released in one mesh cage with parasitic wasps and another mesh cage with no wasps. Both cages had two petri dishes containing yeast, the nourishment for lab-raised fruit flies and their larvae. The yeast in one of the petri dishes was mixed with 6 percent alcohol, while the yeast in the other dish was alcohol free. After 24 hours, the petri dishes were removed and the researchers counted the eggs that the fruit flies had laid.

The results were dramatic. In the mesh cage with parasitic wasps, 90 percent of the eggs laid were in the dish containing alcohol. In the cage with no wasps, only 40 percent of the eggs were in the alcohol dish.

"The fruit flies clearly change their reproductive behavior when the wasps are present," Schlenke says. "The alcohol is slightly toxic to the fruit flies as well, but the wasps are a bigger danger than the alcohol."

The fly strains used in the experiments have been bred in the lab for decades. "The flies that we work with have not seen wasps in their lives before, and neither have their ancestors going back hundreds of generations," Schlenke says. "And yet, the flies still recognize these wasps as a danger when they are put in a cage with them."

Further experiments showed that the flies are extremely discerning about differences in the wasps. They preferred to lay their eggs in alcohol when female wasps were present, but not if only male wasps were in the cage.

Theorizing that the flies were reacting to pheromones, the researchers conducted experiments using two groups of mutated fruit flies. One group lacked the ability to smell, and another group lacked sight. The flies unable to smell, however, still preferred to lay their eggs in alcohol when female wasps were present. The blind flies did not make the distinction, choosing the non-alcohol food for their offspring, even in the presence of female wasps.

"This result was a surprise to me," Schlenke says. "I thought the flies were probably using olfaction to sense the female wasps. The small, compound eyes of flies are believed to be more geared to detecting motion than high-resolution images."

The only obvious visual differences between the female and male wasps, he adds, is that the males have longer antennae, slightly smaller bodies, and lack an ovipositor.

Further experimentation showed that the fruit flies can distinguish different species of wasps, and will only choose the alcohol food in response to wasp species that infect larvae, not fly pupae. "Fly larvae usually leave the food before they pupate," Schlenke explains, "so there is likely little benefit to laying eggs at alcoholic sites when pupal parasites are present."

The researchers also connected the exposure to female parasitic wasps to changes in a fruit fly neuropeptide.

Stress, and the resulting reduced level of neuropeptide F, or NPF, has previously been associated with alcohol-seeking behavior in fruit flies. Similarly, levels of a homologous neuropeptide in humans, NPY, is associated with alcoholism.

"We found that when a fruit fly is exposed to female parasitic wasps, this exposure reduces the level of NPF in the fly brain, causing the fly to seek out alcoholic sites for oviposition," Schlenke says. "Furthermore, the alcohol-seeking behavior appears to remain for the duration of the fly's life, even when the parasitic wasps are no longer present, an example of long-term memory."

Finally, Drosophila melanogaster is not unique in using this offspring medication behavior. "We tested a number of fly species," Schlenke says, "and found that each fly species that uses rotting fruit for food mounts this immune behavior against parasitic wasps. Medication may be far more common in nature than we previously thought."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Emory Health Sciences. The original article was written by Carol Clark.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal References:

  1. B. Z. Kacsoh, Z. R. Lynch, N. T. Mortimer, T. A. Schlenke. Fruit Flies Medicate Offspring After Seeing Parasites. Science, 2013; 339 (6122): 947 DOI: 10.1126/science.1229625
  2. Neil?F. Milan, Balint?Z. Kacsoh, Todd?A. Schlenke. Alcohol Consumption as Self-Medication against Blood-Borne Parasites in the Fruit Fly. Current Biology, 2012; 22 (6): 488 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.01.045

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/553YyOM3vUk/130222102958.htm

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Edward Gorey: writer, artist, and a puzzling man

Edward Gorey was a man of?contradictions. He inspired marginalized groups with his illustrations and words. Yet, for all his dark humor, Gorey?s quirks were simultaneously normal and baffling.

By Aimee Ortiz / February 22, 2013

A screenshot of Google's Edward Gorey Doodle.

Google

Enlarge

E is for Edward whose heart gave away?. That?s Edward Gorey we?re talking about. The American writer and illustrator would have turned 88 today. Google is honoring Mr. Gorey with a doodle featuring the writer and some of his famed artworks.

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Gorey?s first book, The Unstrung Harp, was published in 1953. The novel, like the near 70 books that followed, is dark and funny, with a side of morbid whimsy.

For an artist, he claimed to have very little training. Gorey studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1943 but left after one semester. Nevertheless, he proved to be a talented artist in his own right. Gorey?s ink drawings and all their intricacies would go on to influence artists, musicians, and even subcultures.

One subculture that particularly admires Gorey?s work is the gothic community. Goths have a distaste for society's mainstream culture, often opting for what others view as peculiar and underground. Gorey?s surrealist art and ghoulish stories sparked the interests of goths.

Ironically enough, Gorey, who is still greatly revered by goths, reveled in the mainstream. He taped and studied commercials. He watched soap operas and sitcoms. He was anything but goth.

?He was fascinated with the stories of soap operas. I could never understand it,? said?Alexander Theroux, Gorey?s long-time friend and author of The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, during a 2011 interview with comicsreporter.com.

In fact, Gorey responded to the notion that he was gothic on more than one occasion.

In a 1992 interview with The New Yorker, Gorey said, ?If you're doing nonsense it has to be rather awful, because there'd be no point.?

What Gorey meant by "nonsense" was his style of writing. Literary nonsense is literature that utilizes different elements in order to break conventional language or logical reasoning.

Goths, perhaps, are also attracted to Gorey?s defiance of language, such as in this line: "It was seemingly deaf to whatever they said, So at last they stopped screaming, and went off to bed.?It joined them at breakfast and presently ate All the syrup and toast and a part of a plate."?

However, they would be in shock to find out that the writer shamelessly enjoyed watching Cheers ad Petticoat Junction.

In the Guardian?s obituary to the writer, they mention his belief that he was not as morbid as he seemed. Once again, Gorey did not see himself as dismal and removed.

?I see no disparity between my books and everyday life... I write about everyday life,? said Gorey, according to The Guardian

And according to Mr. Theroux, Gorey lived his everyday life just the way he wanted.

?He was one of the few people I've ever known that did exactly what he wanted. Just don't get in his way. He was always heading somewhere. To a movie. He had to have that cultural water floating along all the time,? said Theroux in the same interview. ?He thought?Golden Girls?was hilarious.?

Gorey, in living his life as he wanted, perplexed scholars. This man who was happy, who was peculiar, could write some of the darkest pieces of literature. When he died, he continued to confuse them. His Cape Cod house had several cats, items from yard sales, and 45,000 books.?

Gorey?s dark themes appeal to the adults, to goths, to anyone who enjoys a thorough brain scrubbing. And yet, the lightness of his work allows children to enjoy the books as well. The novels are complex, simple, lively, and humorous. Edward Gorey disproved stereotypes, influenced people, made the world a little brighter and a littler darker with each stroke of his pen.?

For more tech news, follow Aimee on?Twitter,?@aimee_ortiz?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/DizDfojl2cM/Edward-Gorey-writer-artist-and-a-puzzling-man

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Hangout features zero-G antics ? and cats!

Astronauts on the International Space Station star in NASA's first space-plus-Earth Google+.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA followed one of the classic rules for Internet videos during its first space-to-Earth Google Hangout on Friday: If you want to bring in the viewers, don't forget the cats.

Astronaut Tom Marshburn's demonstration of how an astronaut in the International Space Station's zero-gravity environment can imitate a falling kitty was one of the highlights of the hourlong video chat, which addressed more than 30 questions sent in via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and real-time hookups with kids across the country.


One of the questions, phrased in the form of a video, came from the host of the "Smarter Every Day" webcast series, a rocket engineer known as Destin. (He keeps mum about his last name to protect his kids, who appear in the webcasts.) Destin ran his own mini-video showing how a falling cat rights itself in the air to land on its feet, and asked if the astronauts could match that feat in zero-G.

"We don't have any cats onboard," said space station commander Kevin Ford, "but we have a medical doctor who maybe can try to demonstrate the next best thing to a cat."

Marshburn, who's a physician as well as an astronaut, then proceeded to float in front of the camera and twist his body to change position ? not quite as adroitly as the cats, but not bad for a human.

"I hope you believe that what you saw happened with the cat isn't a mystery, and that it can happen in space, too," Ford concluded. You can watch the demonstration around the 33-minute mark in the Hangout video.

Other astronauts participating in the chat included Canada's Chris Hadfield aboard the station, and NASA's Ron Garan and Nicole Stott on the ground. They took questions passed along from social media by NASA moderator John Yembrick; from live-video hookups with classrooms at University High School in Orlando, Fla., and Mescalero Apache School in New Mexico; and from a youngster named Fred whose video link was facilitated by the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Google

Astronauts Tom Marshburn, Kevin Ford and Chris Hadfield join the Google+ Hangout.

Here are a few more nuggets from the video:

  • Hadfield said that this week's communications outage on the space station was "not that big a deal," and that the crew members were well-trained to operate the station even when they were out of contact with ground controllers. "It wasn't any sort of panic or anything, it was just us dealing with a problem on the ground, and our crew dealing with the problem on board," he said.?
  • Getting into the right sleep cycle is a big challenge on the space station, where there are 16 sunsets and sunrises every day. Garan said that when it gets close to bedtime, some astronauts avoid looking out the window at Earth's bright side. Stott said NASA is experimenting with a scheme that makes the lighting inside the space station more bluish for the "morning" of the astronauts' workday, and more orangish during the "evening."
  • The station's crew members showed off the medical kits they kept on board for health problems, but if there's a life-threatening emergency on board, astronauts would get into one of the Russian Soyuz capsules attached to the station and fly the stricken crew member back to Earth. "Our Soyuz is our ambulance," Marshburn said.?
  • When the astronauts were asked which scientist from the past they wish they could bring to the space station, Marshburn instantly said Isaac Newton, who drew up physics' three laws of motion in the 17th century. "We see what he could only imagine," Marshburn said.?
  • Taking pictures from space is a challenging task that requires advance training, due to the sharp contrast between the blackness of outer space and the brilliance of the planet below, Hadfield said. But there's one big plus: Because of the zero-G environment, it's a lot easier to handle huge telephoto lenses. "Every photographer in the world would love to have that much glass in front of their eyes ... and not have to balance it," Hadfield said.
  • When the astronauts were asked about their growing social-media stardom, Hadfield said, "I don't think anybody tries to push the edge of human experience more than we do." Being able to see the whole world below is "too good an experience not to share," and avenues such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+ help facilitate that, he said. He noted that a lot of the astronauts' popularity had to do with their unique perspective. "We know just how lucky we are to be here," Hadfield said.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17057588-nasas-spacey-google-hangout-shows-off-zero-g-antics-and-a-cat-video?lite

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Utica shale wells producing huge oil and gas yields for Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake had drilled 184 wells, including 45 producing wells, in the Utica play as of Dec. 31.

Chesapeake Energy Co. (NYSE: CHK) is satisfied with results from its liquid-rich Utica shale wells in eastern Ohio, reports the Akron Beacon-Journal.

The Utica play ?will be solid for a lot of years to come,? company spokesman Steve Dixon said Thursday as the Oklahoma City-based company held an earnings call with analysts.

Chesapeake, the top shale gas driller in Ohio, is projecting what the industry calls ?estimated ultimate recovery? of 5 billion to 10 billion cubic feet of oil and gas equivalents from each well over its lifetime in its core area of Carroll and surrounding counties in eastern Ohio. That is significantly higher than what has been reported from wells drilled in the Marcellus shale play in Pennsylvania, the Beacon-Journal reported.

There also are Utica shale numbers in the press release that Chesapeake issued with its fourth quarter earnings report. Among them: The company had drilled 184 wells, including 45 producing wells, in the Utica play as of Dec. 31 and plans to operate 14 drilling rigs there this year.

Jeff Bell covers public policy, utilities, energy and the business of sports for Business First.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_30/~3/Q6X2G_cCCTw/utica-shale-wells-producing-huge-oil.html

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Friday, February 22, 2013

TECH TIME REVIEW: 8X is best Windows Phone offering yet, but app and storage limitations hold it back

Overall screen size on the Windows Phone 8X is 4.3 inches, not as big as some of the new phones coming out, but big enough for most people. It?s a size that fits quite comfortably in the hand, and allows for one hand typing on the on-screen keyboard.

The resolution on the phone is 720p, so it?s HD but not 1080p full-HD like some other new phones.

Corning Gorilla Glass 2 helps keep your screen safe from damage.

Operating system

As the name might indicate, the Windows Phone 8X runs the Windows 8 operating system.

While I wasn?t too big on the new crop of Windows Phone offerings when they first came out a couple years back, I must admit that Windows 8, especially the tile setup out front that gives you quick access to your favorite apps and features, and live updating tiles, is starting to grow on me. Once you figure out how to use it and make your most common features quickly accessible, it?s as easy to use as most Android or Apple phone offerings.

The other nice feature about Windows Phone devices is their strong integration with other Microsoft products (such as Outlook, Office, OneNote, SharePoint,SkyDrive, Xbox), if you are invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.

For those of you with kids who like to use your phone, a feature called Kid?s Corner gives them access only to the aspects of the phone you choose to give them access to.

If you?re into cloud storage of your files, SkyDrive keeps your items online and they are accessible from any device that can access the Internet.

APPS Continued...

NETWORK, CALLS

You get access to Verizon?s 4G LTE network on the Windows Phone 8X, and the download and upload speeds are super snappy as usual.

Phone calls that I made were clean, which no dropped calls, and little noise or interference.

For messaging, the on-screen keyboard is responsive, but was a little too tiny for my tastes, especially when held vertically (horizontal was more manageable even for larger fingers).

CAMERA

One of the camera features that I like the most on the Windows Phone 8X is more of a design feature -- and that is the button on the side of the phone that works as a camera shutter.

That dedicated camera button is much better than what I?ve seen on many phones where they want you to tap the screen to take a picture. That just isn?t natural with how we are trained to take pictures. So I like the dedicated button.

You get a 8MP auto-focus rear?facing camera with flash, and photos were decent -- though not the best I?ve seen on newer smartphones. Sharing your photos to social networking sites on online storage like Skydrive is very easy.

The front-facing camera is 2.1 megapixels, and features an 88-degree ultra?wide angle; this is used primarily for video chat or self-portraits; and again, it?s nothing too special.

One thing I do like about the camera is how you can instantly launch the camera, even from a locked screen, by pressing the shutter button on the side of your phone -- so a shorter delay before shooting.

In terms of video, both the front and rear cameras can record in 1080p HD quality.

MUSIC

Like almost all of HTC?s new phones, the Windows Phone 8X features Beats Audio, which aims to improve the overall sound quality.

It?s a decent improvement, but is only really noticeable when listening via headphones. Out loud, a cell phone is still going to sound like a cell phone.

OTHER FEATURES

? The phone is global ready

? You can use data and voice simultaneously

? For an extra monthly fee, you can use the phone as a Mobile Hotspot, with support for up to 8 Devices on 3G or 4G

? NFC allows for Tap and Share of files with other NFC devices

? Voice commands: Make a call, launch an app, send a text, take a note, find something online

PRICE

The Windows Phone 8X will cost you $99.99 with a 2-year contract from Verizon, or $549.99 without contract.

BOTTOM LINE

The Windows Phone 8X is a fast and easy-to-use phone, and probably the best Windows Phone that has been released to date.

But it lacks in some key areas and is not as great as it needs to be to truly compete against phones like the Samsung Galaxy phones or iPhones.

It will find some fans, particularly those who are big fans of the Windows Phone OS as compared to Apple or Android. And maybe some people new to smartphones who don?t yet have a favorite system might go for it.

But with no real standout features that puts it above those competitors, there?s no way it can expect to be a big hit and make a major impact on the smartphone market overall.

In the grand scheme of the smartphone world, Windows Phones still make up a very small percentage of the overall market.

But that hasn?t stopped Microsoft from continuing to improve on their phone offerings on the various carriers, and this year there have been several offerings aimed at raising the profile of the Windows Phone ecosystem, as they try to dent the market domination of Apple and Android phones.

One such offering from Verizon Wireless is the new Windows Phone 8X by HTC, which I recently had the chance to test.

I?m back with a full report of what it offers compared to its smartphone competition.

LOOKS

One demand that smartphone buyers today have is that their phones are thin and light. Gone are the thick, heavy phones of the past, and even big-screen phones are low in the ounce count these days.

Windows Phone 8X delivers in this department, with dimensions of 5.21 (H) x 2.61 (W) x 0.40 (D) inches. The weight is 4.66 oz.

My test phone was an attractive blue color on the back and on the front border, but there are also black and red options from Verizon if that suits your tastes more.

The rubbery material on the back of the phone provides a decent grip, and overall, while it?s not the sturdiest of all smartphones, it?s still well-made and should withstand the usual amount of abuse and spills a phone might take.

Display

Overall screen size on the Windows Phone 8X is 4.3 inches, not as big as some of the new phones coming out, but big enough for most people. It?s a size that fits quite comfortably in the hand, and allows for one hand typing on the on-screen keyboard.

The resolution on the phone is 720p, so it?s HD but not 1080p full-HD like some other new phones.

Corning Gorilla Glass 2 helps keep your screen safe from damage.

Operating system

As the name might indicate, the Windows Phone 8X runs the Windows 8 operating system.

While I wasn?t too big on the new crop of Windows Phone offerings when they first came out a couple years back, I must admit that Windows 8, especially the tile setup out front that gives you quick access to your favorite apps and features, and live updating tiles, is starting to grow on me. Once you figure out how to use it and make your most common features quickly accessible, it?s as easy to use as most Android or Apple phone offerings.

The other nice feature about Windows Phone devices is their strong integration with other Microsoft products (such as Outlook, Office, OneNote, SharePoint,SkyDrive, Xbox), if you are invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.

For those of you with kids who like to use your phone, a feature called Kid?s Corner gives them access only to the aspects of the phone you choose to give them access to.

If you?re into cloud storage of your files, SkyDrive keeps your items online and they are accessible from any device that can access the Internet.

APPS

The biggest knock on Windows Phone offerings that helps keep down the food chain in smartphones is the apps gap. Basically, that means that, in my view, Microsoft?s store for apps comes nowhere near what is offered by Apple and Android, leaving users frustrated with the offerings they have to choose from. This will continue to be a main problem for Microsoft, and is a byproduct of them being late to step up their game in the smartphone arena while their competitors soared.

PROCESSOR, STORAGE

No complaints here, as the 1.5GHz dual?core processor and 1GB of RAM keep the phone humming along without delays. Web browsing, game play and other duties on the phone were not a burden on the system.

In terms of storage, you get 16GB of internal memory, but there is no way to upgrade. This will be a concern for people who like to store a lot of apps and large files on their phone, as the room will go away very quickly.

BATTERY LIFE

The Windows Phone 8X and its 1800 mAh Li?Ion battery do a solid job of keeping the phone running, as it got me through each day.

The concern, though, is that the battery is nonremovable, meaning that you don?t have the option to carry a spare in case you?re going to be unable to charge it for a longer period of time.

WIRELESS CHARGING

The good news: This phone features the ability to do wireless charging.

The bad news: Wireless charging port sold separately, which is disappointing.

NETWORK, CALLS

You get access to Verizon?s 4G LTE network on the Windows Phone 8X, and the download and upload speeds are super snappy as usual.

Phone calls that I made were clean, which no dropped calls, and little noise or interference.

For messaging, the on-screen keyboard is responsive, but was a little too tiny for my tastes, especially when held vertically (horizontal was more manageable even for larger fingers).

CAMERA

One of the camera features that I like the most on the Windows Phone 8X is more of a design feature -- and that is the button on the side of the phone that works as a camera shutter.

That dedicated camera button is much better than what I?ve seen on many phones where they want you to tap the screen to take a picture. That just isn?t natural with how we are trained to take pictures. So I like the dedicated button.

You get a 8MP auto-focus rear?facing camera with flash, and photos were decent -- though not the best I?ve seen on newer smartphones. Sharing your photos to social networking sites on online storage like Skydrive is very easy.

The front-facing camera is 2.1 megapixels, and features an 88-degree ultra?wide angle; this is used primarily for video chat or self-portraits; and again, it?s nothing too special.

One thing I do like about the camera is how you can instantly launch the camera, even from a locked screen, by pressing the shutter button on the side of your phone -- so a shorter delay before shooting.

In terms of video, both the front and rear cameras can record in 1080p HD quality.

MUSIC

Like almost all of HTC?s new phones, the Windows Phone 8X features Beats Audio, which aims to improve the overall sound quality.

It?s a decent improvement, but is only really noticeable when listening via headphones. Out loud, a cell phone is still going to sound like a cell phone.

OTHER FEATURES

? The phone is global ready

? You can use data and voice simultaneously

? For an extra monthly fee, you can use the phone as a Mobile Hotspot, with support for up to 8 Devices on 3G or 4G

? NFC allows for Tap and Share of files with other NFC devices

? Voice commands: Make a call, launch an app, send a text, take a note, find something online

PRICE

The Windows Phone 8X will cost you $99.99 with a 2-year contract from Verizon, or $549.99 without contract.

BOTTOM LINE

The Windows Phone 8X is a fast and easy-to-use phone, and probably the best Windows Phone that has been released to date.

But it lacks in some key areas and is not as great as it needs to be to truly compete against phones like the Samsung Galaxy phones or iPhones.

It will find some fans, particularly those who are big fans of the Windows Phone OS as compared to Apple or Android. And maybe some people new to smartphones who don?t yet have a favorite system might go for it.

But with no real standout features that puts it above those competitors, there?s no way it can expect to be a big hit and make a major impact on the smartphone market overall.

Source: http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2013/02/21/life/doc51262ca31dfb4825440579.txt

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