Pierce Brosnan's First Wife Cassandra Harris Always On His Mind After Her Battle With Cancer

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Lily Collins attended Day 2 of WonderCon 2013 at Anaheim Convention Center on March 30 in Anaheim, Calif.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Britney Spears, her two sons Sean and Jayden Federline and her father Jamie were spotted arriving on a flight in New Orleans, La., on March 29.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Diane Kruger posed for pictures outside ABC Studios for an appearance on "Good Morning America" on March 28 in NYC.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Taylor Swift went casual in a black sweater and red pants as she headed out and about in New York City on March 27.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Sandra Bullock gave her son Louis a piggyback ride after picking him up from school in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 26.

Celebrity News: March 2013

Angelina Jolie and the UK Foreign Secretary William Hague visited a rescue camp for women on March 25 in the Democratic Republic of Congo to raise awareness of warzone rape. Jolie, a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner, said the issues need a "worldwide focus."

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Kim Kardashian stepped out in New York City on March 26 after revealing her pregnancy weight is around 140 pounds.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Jamie Lynn Sigler celebrated the news of having a boy with with a Sally Hansen Nail Color Manicure (in blue) in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 25.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Kelly Osbourne attended a photocall to promote her E! show Fashion Police in Amsterdam on March 25.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Anne Hathaway looked all bundled up as she was spotted out and about with husband Adam Shulman in New York on March 25.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin Rossdale took their sons Kingston and Zuma to a park in Sherman Oaks, Calif., on March 24.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart attended Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix, Arizona on March 23, where the Moet & Chandon champagne was flowing as celebrities toasted the guest of honor, Muhammad Ali.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Drew Barrymore ran some errands in New York City on March 22. Looking good post-baby!

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Ashley Greene was spotted leaving a gym wearing a pink top in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 20.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Eva Mendes, wearing a brown leopard print dress and brown boots, headed to a taping of "The Late Show with David Letterman" in New York City on March 19.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

"The Bachelor" star Sean Lowe and his fiance Catherine Giudici took a stroll at The Grove in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 19.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

A makeup-free Cameron Diaz sported black spandex pants as she got some exercise while hiking with a friend in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 19.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Emilia Clarke looked incredible at HBO's Season Three premiere of "Game of Thrones" held at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Calif., on March 18.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Selena Gomez showed off her legs in a a short skirt as she arrived at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to promote her new film "Spring Breakers" on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on March 18.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Lindsay Lohan was seen leaving the court house in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 18 after showing up 45 minutes late.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

"Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara took a taxi to an office building in New York on March 18.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner took their kids Violet, Seraphina and Samuel to a park in Brentwood, Calif., on March 17. How adorable are these sweet siblings?

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Taylor Swift rocked short shorts as she headed to a photo shoot in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 16.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

"Jersey Shore" star Pauly D was spotted this past weekend spinning some of today's hottest hits at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana's ORO Nightclub in the Dominican Republic.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Jessica Simpson, who recently confirmed she is expecting a boy, shopped at Bel Bambini Baby Boutique in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 15.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Khloe Kardashian left the One The Thirty restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Calif., on March 14. Looking good, Khloe!

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Jennifer Garner struck a pose at the Neutrogena Sun Summit (raising awareness on the changing environment's impact on overall skin health) in in New York City on March 13.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Camila Alves rocked a blue leather jacket, black top and black pants as she set out around New York City on March 13.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar filmed scenes on the beach in Malibu, Calif., for the TV show "Franklin & Bash" on March 12.

Celebrity PHotos: March 2013

Pregnant reality star Kim Kardashian headed to an office to film scenes for 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 12.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Jessica Alba returned to her hotel in Soho in New York City on March 11.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

"Pretty Little Liars" actress Shay Mitchell prepped her skin with Bior? Acne Clearing Scrub in the green room in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 12.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Charlize Theron stopped for a sweet snack at Pinkberry with her son Jackson in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 11.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Maxxinista Giuliana Rancic picked up designer finds for spring at T.J.Maxx in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 11.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Ryan Gosling returned to his hotel after attending a press junket in New York City on March 10. The actor's girlfriend and co-star was close behind.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Camila Alves is seen with her kids, Levi and Vida in New York City on March 10.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Isla Fisher took her daughters, Olive and Elula, out for a shopping trip in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 9.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Eva Mendes walked her dog in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 7.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Hilary Duff stopped by Paquito Mas in Sherman Oaks, Calif., to grab some mexican food to go with her baby boy Luca on March 6.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Lea Michele and boyfriend Cory Monteith seemed upbeat as they arrived in New York City on March 5.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

"Twilight" star Kristen Stewart was escorted by friends out of the Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 5.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Selena Gomez grabbed a lot of attention as she posed on the set of a video shoot in Palmdale, Calif., on March 4.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Rihanna attended the launch of her River Island collection at the Oxford Street River Island store on March 4 in London. She donned a sexy sheer dress, of course.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Newly single Michelle Williams took daughter Matilda Ledger grocery shopping in Brooklyn, NY on March 4.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attended the Givenchy Fall-Winter 2013-2014 'Ready-To-Wear' collection show held at Halle Freyssinet in Paris on March 3.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Natalie Portman went casual in an all brown ensemble for a trip to the grocery store in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 3.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield strolled through Tribeca on a chilly afternoon in New York on March 2.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Britney Spears was seen playing with her two sons, Sean and Jayden Federline in Santa Barbara, Calif., on March 2.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Jessica Chastain attended the Viktor & Rolf Fall-Winter 2013/2014 Ready-to-Wear collection show held at Espace Ephemere des Tuileries in Paris, France on March 2.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Justin Timberlake and his wife Jessica Biel took an arm-in-arm stroll through graffiti filled Soho together on March 1 in NYC.

Celebrity Photos: March 2013

Newly engaged "90210" star, Shenae Grimes, got her lips ready for her big day with eos Summer Fruit Lip Balm on March 1.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/31/pierce-brosnans-first-wife-cancer_n_2988663.html

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If employee refuses to cooperate with investigation, feel free to fire ...

Not everyone wants to cooperate when an employer begins investigating discrimination or harassment charges. That?s especially true if an employee?s job is on the line because the charges involve him.

The thinking: Why help dig your own grave? Let HR figure out what happened. Don?t say anything that might court more trouble.

Of course, when employees won?t talk, that puts investigators at a disadvantage.

One solution is to tell all em??ployees they must cooperate. Otherwise, they risk being disciplined. If that doesn?t work, you now have an option: Go ahead and fire the employee for re??fusing to help with the investigation.

Recent case: John supervised a staff of subordinates, including a lesbian who married her partner. Around the same time, John proposed putting her on a performance improvement plan (PIP) because he felt she wasn?t working up to capacity. The woman refused to sign off on the PIP. Instead, she went to HR with allegations that she had been sexually harassed and disciplined be??cause of her sexual orientation and marriage.

HR brought in an attorney to conduct an investigation. All employees were ordered to cooperate, including John. He answered many of the lawyer?s questions, but refused to provide details about how he evaluated subordinates, including the woman at the heart of the investigation.

Others employees, however, provided a wealth of information. They recounted several instances in which John?surrounded by male employees, but excluding women?was said to have told sexually offensive jokes.

The investigating attorney ultimately concluded that the woman who filed the complaint had been neither har??assed nor discriminated against based on sex or sexual orientation. John was cleared of any wrongdoing and, according to the report, his request for a PIP was legitimate.

However, the investigator recommended that John either lose his job or take an unpaid suspension for re??fus??ing to completely cooperate with the investigation. The employer fired John.

He sued, alleging he had been fired for engaging in protected ??activity. He claimed that refusing to disclose his evaluation methods was an attempt to protect his subordinates? privacy.

The court didn?t buy it, deciding instead that John had refused to follow rules and specific directives. By ignoring sexual harassment policies prohibiting dirty jokes and by refusing to fully cooperate with the investigation, he revealed professional flaws other than the ones the investigation began looking at. John?s case was dismissed. (McGrory v. Applied Signal Technology, No. H036597, Court of Appeal of California, 2013)

Final note: The employer in this case did everything right?and in the right order. It took a complaint, hired an expert to investigate and took the time to conduct a thorough and fair inquiry. It warned everyone that they were required to cooperate and answer questions to the best of their ability. Then the employer had the expert prepare a comprehensive report containing solid recommendations based on what she uncovered during the investigation.

It also didn?t let the fact that the investigation could not confirm the subordinate?s initial allegation stop it from disciplining John for being uncooperative. There was no rush to judgment. Instead, this was a deliberate and careful process aimed at uncovering what happened.

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We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

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Cell reprogramming during liver regeneration

Friday, March 29, 2013

During embryonic development, animals generate many different types of cells, each with a distinct function and identity.

"Although the identities of these cells remain stable under normal conditions, some cells can be persuaded to take on new identities, through reprogramming," says Ben Stanger, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Researchers have been able to reprogram cells experimentally, but few have shown that cells can change their identities under normal physiological conditions in the body, particularly in mammals.

In the cover article of this month's issue of Genes and Development, Stanger, PhD candidate Kilangsungla Yanger, Yiwei Zong, PhD, and their colleagues, did just that in the liver of a mouse. Stanger is also an investigator in the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology.

The adult liver contains two major cell types ? hepatocytes and biliary cells ? that differ dramatically in appearance and function. Hepatocytes are the main cell type in the liver, where they synthesize proteins and other macromolecules, and detoxify toxic substances. Biliary cells, on the other hand, line the bile ducts, which carry bile from the liver to the small intestine to help digest fats.

Using a sensitive method to tag and track how cells develop and differentiate, the researchers found that conditional expression of an activated Notch1 gene converted hepatocytes into biliary cells. Notch is an important receptor for relaying signals to tell cells how to develop.

What's more, after the researchers injured liver cells with a variety of toxins to stimulate wound healing, they found that over two to three weeks hepatocytes activated a biliary cell program on their own, acquiring the shape and function of biliary cells. These changes were dependent on the activation of endogenous Notch signaling.

"This is direct evidence that cells can be converted from one mature cell type to another in a live animal, as part of a normal response to injury," says Stanger. "We think that augmenting pre-existing cell reprogramming relationships may be another way to engineer cells for the treatment of diseases in which there are not enough bile ducts, such as cholestasis."

###

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/

Thanks to University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine 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 84 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127525/Cell_reprogramming_during_liver_regeneration

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Little kids talk the truth about relationships. Another unique marriage ...

We start Good News Friday with one of the cutest videos I?ve ever seen. Ostensibly this is a promotional video for a new book called ?Get The Guy,? but really it?s just two minutes of little girls talking like grown-ups about relationships.
I?m not buying the book, but this commercial is genius.

**Well that sucked.
Can?t remember an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 night with three out of four crappy games; only one game was remotely competitive, and that was Ohio State squeaking out a three-point win over Arizona.
Indiana and Miami both completely failed to show up; I was so looking forward to them facing each other on Saturday, except both forgot to play this game first. Kudos to Marquette and Syracuse, both teams played great, but man, what stinkers of games.
Oh well, the good news is (and hey, it?s Good News Friday, so you knew there had to be some good news) is that tonight?s games should be crackling.
Most important to me is the could-be-epic Duke-Michigan State game. I?m feeling pessimistic about my boys? chances, because the Spartans are so good inside and on the boards, two of Duke?s weaknesses. If Mason Plumlee doesn?t get into foul trouble, and if Ryan Kelly remembers how to shoot, Duke can win.
But I?m not all that confident.

We?ve also got a possibly great Kansas-Michigan game tonight, and we?ve got the best story in sports, the Florida Gulf Coast juggernaut (ha!), playing the big bad boys of their state, the Florida Gators. Man I hope FGCU can keep it going, that would be so great to watch.

So I expect three out of four really good, close games tonight. After Thursday?s debacle, we hoopheads deserve it.

**And finally, you know I?m a huge fan of creative marriage proposals. The ones on the scoreboard at sports events are pretty lame, but this guy found a different way to propose at a basketball game.

Check out her reaction when she turns around, it?s beautiful.

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Source: http://michaeljlewis.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/little-kids-talk-the-truth-about-relationships-another-unique-marriage-proposal-in-public-after-a-night-of-duds-tonights-ncaa-games-will-be-great-and/

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Web Hosting Australia For Home Based Businesses

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The advent of technology these days allows people to work from home using their computer and a reliable internet connection. It will be best for you to know that there are varieties of web hosting Australia solutions that are now widely available for your specific needs. It will be best for you to know that there are lots of options that will be suitable for your specific needs.

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There are cheaper types of web hosting firms that can support your needs regardless of its type; you can also set up your virtual office using a cheap dedicated server hosting firm. There are even free and there are luxurious ones that will be suitable for your needs. It is vital for you to know that when it comes to web hosting Australia, there will always be something that will meet your needs.

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There are lots of options when it comes to web hosting Australia and if you would like to take a step forward to upgrade your business type and make it visible over the web 24/7 and make it rank higher as well, it?s just about time for you to look for the right type of web hosting Australia providers that can provide you with the best web hosting you would like to have. It will be easier for you to know that there are ways you can do to spread the good news you have to friends and people you are targeting with because of the internet.

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There are lots of big companies that are offering thousands of tools that will be suitable for your needs, regardless of your budget. Regardless of the type you are looking for, it will be best for you to know that there are important tools that can be very helpful to meet your needs and demands now that modern time is here. Here are some ways you should know regarding proper selection of the best web hosting Australia:

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1. First thing you should do is to decide if you are really prepared to do services and broadcast your business type to your prospective clients. It will be best for you to know that there are ways to do that and web hosting Australia service providers can help you best with this field you are opting to achieve. There are lots of companies that are offering you with the best type of tools that you will need for web posting, blogging and many others. Finding the best one will truly be the best for your needs.

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2. You need to evaluate your needs when it comes to online visibility. There are varieties of web hosting Australia firms that are widely available today but it?s truly up to you to choose the right one that will meet your needs. You need to make a complete list of things you need to have including the need for a multiple domain. You also need to know when to pay for the subscription fee and many others. All these will be truly helpful to you on your way to success.

Web Hosting Australia - SIS Hosting provides reliable and affordable website hosting to small, medium and large enterprise. For more details visit http://sishosting.com.au

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Source: http://www.informationbible.com/article-web-hosting-australia-for-home-based-businesses-296244.html

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Deal may mean immigration breakthrough

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Big business and labor have struck a deal on a new low-skilled worker program, removing the biggest hurdle to completion of sweeping immigration legislation allowing 11 million illegal immigrants eventual U.S. citizenship, labor and Senate officials said Saturday.

The agreement was reached in a phone call late Friday night with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, U.S. Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue, and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who's been mediating the dispute.

The deal resolves disagreements over wages for the new workers and which industries would be included. Those disputes had led talks to break down a week ago, throwing into doubt whether Schumer and seven other senators crafting a comprehensive bipartisan immigration bill would be able to complete their work as planned.

The deal must still be signed off on by the other senators working with Schumer, including Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida, but that's expected to happen, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity. With the agreement in place, the senators are expected to unveil their legislation the week of April 8. Their measure would secure the border, crack down on employers, improve legal immigration and create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants already here.

It's a major second-term priority of President Barack Obama's and would usher in the most dramatic changes to the nation's faltering immigration system in more than two decades.

"The strength of the consensus across America for just reform has afforded us the momentum needed to forge an agreement in principle to develop a new type of employer visa system," Trumka said in a statement late Saturday. "We expect that this new program, which benefits not just business, but everyone, will promote long overdue reforms by raising the bar for existing programs."

Schumer said: "This issue has always been the dealbreaker on immigration reform, but not this time."

The AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, longtime antagonists over temporary worker programs, had been fighting over wages for tens of thousands of low-skilled workers who would be brought in under the new program to fill jobs in construction, hotels and resorts, nursing homes and restaurants, and other industries.

Under the agreement, a new "W'' visa program would go into effect beginning April 1, 2015, according to an AFL-CIO fact sheet.

In year one of the program, 20,000 workers would be allowed in; in year two, 35,000; in year three, 55,000; and in year four, 75,000. Ultimately the program would be capped at 200,000 workers a year, but the number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and data collected by a new federal bureau pushed by the labor movement as an objective monitor of the market. One-third of all visas in any year would go to businesses with under 25 workers.

A "safety valve" would allow employers to exceed the cap if they can show need and pay premium wages, but any additional workers brought in would be subtracted from the following year's cap.

The workers could move from employer to employer and would be able to petition for permanent residency after a year, and ultimately seek U.S. citizenship. Neither is possible for temporary workers now.

The new program would fill needs employers say they have that are not currently met by U.S. immigration programs. Most industries don't have a good way to hire a steady supply of foreign workers because there's one temporary visa program for low-wage nonagricultural workers but it's capped at 66,000 visas per year and is only supposed to be used for seasonal or temporary jobs.

Business has sought temporary worker programs in a quest for a cheaper workforce, but labor has opposed the programs because of concerns over working conditions and the effect on jobs and wages for U.S. workers. The issue helped sink the last major attempt at immigration overhaul in 2007, which the AFL-CIO opposed partly because of temporary worker provisions, and the flare-up earlier this month sparked concerns that the same thing would happen this time around. Agreement between the two traditional foes is one of many indications that immigration reform has its best chance in years in Congress this year.

After apparent miscommunications earlier this month between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce on the wage issue, the deal resolves it in a way both sides are comfortable with, officials said.

Workers would earn actual wages paid to American workers or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department would determine prevailing wage based on customary rates in specific localities, so that it would vary from city to city.

There also had been disagreement on how to handle the construction industry, which unions argue is different from other industries in the new program because it can be more seasonal in nature and includes a number of higher-skilled trades. The official said the resolution will cap at 15,000 a year the number of visas that can be sought by the construction industry.

Schumer called White House chief of staff Denis McDonough on Saturday to inform him of the deal, the person with knowledge of the talks said. The three principals in the talks ? Trumka, Donohue and Schumer ? agreed they should meet for dinner soon to celebrate, the person said.

However, in a sign of the delicate and uncertain negotiations still ahead, Rubio sent a letter Saturday to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., calling for a deliberate hearing process on the new legislation and cautioning against a "rush to legislate." Rubio and a number of other Republicans are striking a tricky balance as they simultaneously court conservative and Hispanic voters on the immigration issue.

Separately, the new immigration bill also is expected to offer many more visas for high-tech workers, new visas for agriculture workers, and provisions allowing some agriculture workers already in the U.S. a speedier path to citizenship than that provided to other illegal immigrants, in an effort to create a stable agricultural workforce.

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Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-labor-deal-worker-program-004114076--finance.html

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Coddle Your Pooch at "Dog Appreciation Day" - Baristanet | Baristanet

Coddle Your Pooch at ?Dog Appreciation Day?

BY Christina Gillham ?|? Friday, Mar 29, 2013 9:00am ?|? COMMENTS (5)

Is your dog vomiting yellow fluid every morning? Do you want to know if it?s safe to color your Bichon Frise with chalk? What kind of exercise does a beagle need compared to a pug?

These were three of many issues discussed on yesterday Petocracy?s homepage. The new website was launched about a month ago and describes itself as ?a one-stop online community for dog and cat owners.?

On the website?s Pinterest-like pages, pet parents can connect with a team of Resident Experts (pet professionals from around the United States), connect with other pet owners and lovers, and get tailored information about their pet.

?Petocracy is all about bringing a personalized experience to the community,? says Vicky Simpson, a Petocracy ?team member.?

The company, which is based in Virginia Beach, also hosts local events around the country to connect with pet owners on an in-person basis. On April 13, Petocracy will be holding a ?Dog Appreciation Day? at Pups@Play in Livingston. New Jersey dog trainer Fern Camacho, one of the sites Resident Experts, will be co-hosting the event.

The free event takes place from 12-4pm and will have book signings by Jeff Coltenback (of Memphis fame) and Jim Gorant. There will also be an appearance by Daniel the Miracle Dog, free training and obedience sessions, and Q&As with groomers, nutritionists and trainers. A few rescues will also be on hand for possible pet adoptions. For more information, click here.

Related Posts:

Source: http://www.baristanet.com/2013/03/coddle-your-pooch-at-dog-appreciation-day/

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Reid Flair passes away

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2013 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2013 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/reid-flair-passes-away

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BrowserCheck Business Edition

Large companies have IT personnel responsible for tracking software users have on their computers. For the small business, the task generally falls to end-users and one IT person already burdened with a long to-do list. If the user doesn't keep up with updates and IT doesn't notice, that is a security risk. Considering the amount of Web-based threats out there, the free BrowserCheck scanner from Qualys is a quick way to ensure Web browsers and installed plug-ins are up-to-date.

Cyber-criminals have a choice between buying?or creating?attacks targeting either zero-day vulnerabilities or older security flaws. The latter type is much cheaper and readily available. ?Recent research has shown a significant number of computers run outdated software. Targeting older software can be pretty lucrative.

Qualys offers BrowserCheck (three stars) for personal use and BrowserCheck Business Edition, both for free. The personal version scans the end user's computer and generates a security profile right away. BrowserCheck Business Edition collects the scan results from each computer and displays them in a dashboard. At one glance, the administrator can tell what browsers and plug-ins have been installed. For Windows machines, administrators can also check the status of antivirus and firewall protection, as well as the latest security updates via Windows Update. Thanks to automated scanning, BrowserCheck Business Edition allows administrators to schedule future scans to monitor any changes to the computer's software security profile.

Getting Started
I signed up for a BrowserCheck Business Edition on the Qualys site with a non-webmail account, as Qualys does not accept addresses from Web providers such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. Businesses that don't have their own domain name and rely on these email services are blocked from using the scanner, unless they have some other email address to use instead.

The dashboard's tables and graphs offer a bird's-eye view of how many insecure browsers and plug-ins are in the organization. I viewed detailed scanning results for each system and historic reports, as well as platform statistics, such as the most frequently installed plug-ins and browsers.

BrowserCheck supports server and desktop Windows versions all the way from Windows 2000 to Windows 8, Mac OS X, and Linux. I ran a basic scan using the stock Web browser for Android but not for Firefox, and I didn't test on iOS. Qualys can also analyze alternative Web browsers, such as Maxthon, Seamonkey, and Rockmelt.

BrowserCheck, Administrator
The administrator controls all the BrowserCheck settings, such as scanning all the browsers installed on the computer at the same time, checking if the antivirus, firewall, and Windows Update are turned on (Windows only), looking for missing Microsoft Security Updates (also Windows only), and setting up an automated scheduler.

The administrator can send the customized Quick Scan URL listed under account settings to users. When someone clicks on this link, BrowserCheck scans the computer and saves the results back to the dashboard. The no-install scanner can check the plug-ins and version number for that browser only. This is a nice and simple way for the administrator to see all the results of all the machines in one place. Even so, the BrowserCheck plug-in is the better option.

Administrators can email the link to the plug-in and ask users to install it manually, or push out the MSI agent onto the computers via a software distribution tool or a script. If the organization didn't already have a software distribution tool that can push out files to user computers, administrators would have to rely on users, or take the time to make the rounds and install the plug-in themselves.

BrowserCheck can also be silent, where the user doesn't get to see the results of the scan as it is sent directly to the dashboard.

BrowserCheck, User-Side
All the end-user has to worry about is clicking on the Quick Scan link from IT to run the no-install scanner or downloading and installing the plug-in. The administrator determines what to scan and how often, making the process really simple for the user.

The plug-in-based scanner collects machine information, such as the operating system and the machine name, and associates the scan results with the machine name in the dashboard. The no-install scanner results are saved without any machine-identifying information. It's more helpful to tell the administrator which computer has the outdated Java plug-in, rather than just saying one computer needed to be updated.

If "silent mode" wasn't on, the user would see the results, a list of all installed plug-ins and their statuses. BrowserCheck has 13 different types of statuses, such as Obsolete and Retired. Outdated ones appear first, with red "Insecure Version" and blue "Fix It" buttons, followed by yellow "Update Available" buttons to indicate the updates were non-security related. Up-to-date plug-ins have green buttons, and all the ones BrowserCheck doesn't recognize have gray "Unknown" buttons.

Clicking on "Fix It" or "Update Available" buttons downloads the latest versions, but there's no way to automate getting the latest updates.

The scan results page look very similar to Mozilla's own plugin check.?With BrowserCheck, though, I could view the status of the plugins for each browser, along with system-specific data for Windows machines. I was concerned that nearly half of the plug-ins were flagged as "unknown" by BrowserCheck. While great for Windows OS and for common plug-ins, there is quite a lot the scanner doesn't recognize.

BrowserCheck for Security
For small businesses falling behind on patch management and regular software updates, BrowserCheck Business Edition is a great first step. There is nothing worse in security than not doing anything at all, so being able to see which computers have unsafe browsers or are missing security updates is a positive move.

If you just want a quick system that will tell you the state of your browsers and operating systems across your Windows network, BrowserCheck is sufficient. If you don't have a way to automatically deploy the MSI across all the computers, BrowserCheck will not be as effective as you depend on the users to install the plug-in. BrowserCheck Business Edition is the easiest way to ensure browsers and plug-ins within your organization are up-to-date with the latest security patches. If you need a little bit more, such as automated patching, investing in a more robust platform such as Panorama9?may be the way to go.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/7Fd-YK4CUfI/0,2817,2417226,00.asp

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Sprial galaxy: Hidden depths of Messier 77 revealed

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Messier 77 is a galaxy in the constellation of Cetus, some 45 million light-years away from us. Also known as NGC 1068, it is one of the most famous and well-studied galaxies. It is a real star among galaxies, with more papers written about it than many other galaxies put together.

Despite its current fame and striking swirling appearance, the galaxy has been a victim of mistaken identity a couple of times; when it was initially discovered in 1780, the distinction between gas clouds and galaxies was not known, causing finder Pierre Mechain to miss its true nature and label it as a nebula. It was misclassified again when it was subsequently listed in the Messier Catalogue as a star cluster.

Now, however, it is firmly categorised as a barred spiral galaxy, with loosely wound arms and a relatively small central bulge. It is the closest and brightest example of a particular class of galaxies known as Seyfert galaxies -- galaxies that are full of hot, highly ionised gas that glows brightly, emitting intense radiation.

Strong radiation like this is known to come from the heart of Messier 77 -- caused by a very active black hole that is around 15 million times the mass of our Sun. Material is dragged towards this black hole and circles around it, heating up and glowing strongly. This region of a galaxy alone, although comparatively small, can be tens of thousands of times brighter than a typical galaxy.

Although no competition for the intense centre, Messier 77's spiral arms are also very bright regions. Dotted along each arm are knotty red clumps -- a signal that new stars are forming. These baby stars shine strongly, ionising nearby gas which then glows a deep red colour as seen in the image above. The dust lanes stretching across this image appear as a rusty, brown-red colour due to a phenomenon known as reddening; the dust absorbs more blue light than red light, enhancing its apparent redness.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ecypzfdwMAw/130328125104.htm

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Kerry heads home after Iraq, Afghanistan visits

PARIS (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed for home Wednesday after making clandestine journeys to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he delivered a stern warning to Iraqi leaders about Syria and sought to patch up differences with Afghanistan's president.

Kerry was flying back to Washington from Paris, having piggy-backed off President Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East to make unannounced stops in Baghdad and Kabul, as well as following up on Obama's discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

In Iraq, he told Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that shipments of Iranian weapons and fighters through Iraqi territory must stop. In Afghanistan, he put on a show of unity with President Hamid Karzai, whose recent anti-American comments had angered U.S. officials.

Kerry's first foray as secretary of state into the war zones were shrouded in secrecy for security reasons.

Using Jordan ? the last stop on Obama's tour ? as a base, Kerry flew surreptitiously to Baghdad aboard a military transport plane Sunday for meetings with al-Maliki and other Iraq officials just four days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

A key message, officials said, was to warn Iraq that unless it cracks down on Iranian planes and trucks using Iraqi territory to supply Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime with arms, it will not have a voice in ongoing preparations for a post-Assad Syria. He also urged the Iraqis to overcome deep sectarian differences that have fueled consistent instability since the departure of U.S. troops in late 2011, and to hold inclusive, transparent local elections next month.

After returning to Jordan, where he had dinner with Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Kerry flew to Afghanistan on Monday for talks with Karzai amid fears the Afghan leader might be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with anti-American rhetoric.

While Kerry was there, the Taliban claimed responsibility for eight suicide bombers attacking a police headquarters in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing five officers and wounding four.

Karzai infuriated U.S. officials earlier this month by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration pressed ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.

But after their talks, which coincided with the U.S. military ceding control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, Kerry brushed aside concerns about Karzai's comments.

"We're on the same page," Kerry told reporters. "I don't think there is any disagreement between us and I am very, very comfortable with the president's explanation."

Karzai said he had been trying to make the point that if the Taliban really wanted foreign troops out of Afghanistan they should stop killing people.

Speaking to staffers at the embassy in Kabul before he left Tuesday, Kerry joked about the rapprochement, noting that the weather before his arrival had been cold and rainy. "President Karzai and I stood up and it was like the sun had been shining forever between us," he said to laughter. "It was wonderful."

Kerry then flew to Paris, where he met French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to discuss the crisis in Syria and also promoted a new trans-Atlantic trade agreement that the Obama administration is pushing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-heads-home-iraq-afghanistan-visits-102734413--politics.html

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'Modern Family' Season 4 Episode 18: ?The Wow Factor? | Who Got ...

In tonight?s Modern Family season 4 episode 15, ?The Wow Factor,? Claire and Cam are entrenched in the house flip, but when they hit an impasse on a big landscaping decision, a ?neutral? third party is brought in ? Pam (guest star Wendi McLendon-Covey), the lesbian mom from Lily?s school. Meanwhile, Phil decides to teach the kids basic fix-it skills around the house; Gloria spends some quality one-on-one time with Manny, leaving Jay alone with baby Joe; and Mitch helps Lily deal with a schoolyard bully.

The series is based on a Dutch filmmaker which records the lives of three families, including one he stayed with as an exchange student. In one household, the dad works and the mom stays at home with their kids; in another, a gay couple experiences first-time fatherhood with the Vietnamese child they just adopted; and in the third home a 60-year old man becomes an instant father when he marries a thirtysomething Latina mother. Shot documentary-style. Modern Family won six Emmy Awards, including the one for Outstanding Comedy Series. It also brought home a Peabody Award, Writers Guild Award, Directors Guilds Award and Television Critics Award.

Modern Family stars Ed O?Neill as Jay, Julie Bowen as Claire, Ty Burrell as Phil, Sof?a Vergara as Gloria, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell, Eric Stonestreet as Cameron, Sarah Hyland as Haley, Nolan Gould as Luke, Ariel Winter as Alex, Rico Rodriguez as Manny and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Lily.

Modern Family ?The Wow Factor,? airs Wednesday, March 26, 9:00ET on ABC. Spoiler pictures below:

modern-family-season-4-the-wow-factor1

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Source: http://www.whogottherole.com/tv-news/modern-family-season-4-episode-18-the-wow-factor-34377

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Industry Night Ghana 2013 Will Promote Ghanaian Music-Tic Tac ...

As part of efforts to promote Ghanaian music to the outside world, the Greater Accra regional branch of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) has launched the maiden edition of an event dubbed ?Industry Night Ghana 2013? at the Golden Tulip Hotel.

The Industry Night Ghana 2013 which is expected to kick off in June this year according to the Greater Accra regional chairman of MUSIGA, Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah, aka Tic Tac, is being organised to bring together?all major corporate organisations, music industry players and musicians from different backgrounds together to network for the good of Ghanaian music.

He stressed that the event will see the creation of a ?village? at the Golden Tulip Hotel to promote Ghanaian music and artistes, adding that established and upcoming artistes will also use that platform to perform and market their musical works.

Tic Tac disclosed that the key objective of the initiative ?is to get Ghanaians and foreigners working in Ghana together to understand the Ghanaian creative and arts industry, culture and business. The Industry Night Ghana 2013 will promote Ghanaian music.?

Speaking at the launch which attracted a large number of stakeholders in the music industry, Tic Tac disclosed that?the Industry Night Ghana 2013?will afford musicians the unique opportunity to entertain and develop themselves as musicians professionally and businesswise.

By George Clifford Owusu

Source: http://www.ghanamma.com/2013/03/industry-night-ghana-2013-will-promote-ghanaian-music-tic-tac/

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Nasdaq extends deadline for Facebook IPO compensation applications

The latest version of iOS is reportedly creating problems for a number of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. Apple (AAPL) released iOS version 6.1.3 earlier this month to fix a recent vulnerability that allowed unauthorized users to bypass a device?s lock screen ??an issue that is ongoing. To make matters worse, some users are now reporting that the?latest update is causing the battery to drain faster than before while also hurting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. According to CNET, normal fixes such as restoring the device to its factory settings seem to be unsuccessful in resolving the problem. Battery life issues are not uncommon after iOS updates, as users previously reported similar problems with iOS version 6.1 in February.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasdaq-extends-deadline-facebook-ipo-compensation-applications-163637354--sector.html

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Liz Riggs: 8 Ways to Make Long Distance Work

So you're dating someone long distance. Lucky you, right? Eh... Those familiar with long distance love affairs know that if you've got a long distance relationship, you've got a full time job, and it doesn't pay -- at least not in real American tender. But don't fret. Just follow these eight tips, and you'll be enjoying your long distance relationship a lot more than most of your sorry-ass friends are enjoying whatever passes for romance in their lives.

1. Talk Every Day

The most important thing about making a long distance relationship work is to be so doe-eyed, star-crossed, stomach-flipping batshit crazy about each other that you have to talk every single day -- possibly multiple times. You never see each other! You're deprived of love's most basic perks! You've got to have an emotional bond on such a soul-shattering, spirit-bending, molecular level that time and space are seen as but pesky obstacles on your quest to carve a sacrificial amount of time out of your every single day to fuel the unquenchable fire in your heart. Also, the more people around when you're talking -- the better. They'll be throwing up, which is the surest proof of true love.

2. Talk to Other People About Each Other

Another key to making a long distance relationship work is to truly believe that you are the first two people to have ever felt this way about each other in recorded history, and to see yourself as divinely anointed with the task of spreading your Gospel of Love to every friend, family member and hater that comes within shouting distance. Ideally, you should also believe that you are the only people who have ever fallen in love more than three miles away from one another and you should spend significant amounts of time explaining to people why Death Cab For Cutie's Transatlanticism was written specifically for you and your long distance lover. Even perfect strangers should not be safe from your sermon of how you met, what the other person is like, what they might be up to right now (if you're following Point One, you won't have to guess) and why your relationship is superior to whatever they're enduring at the moment. (Usually, it will be.)

3. Stop Going on Dates With Other People

This doesn't seem like any kind of novel idea, but it's such a common mistake that it bears mentioning here. Going on little dates with other people is the easiest way to make your long distance relationship into a series of drunken hate-voicemails, threatening packages and arson attacks. These days, it's easy to end up on a date that you thought was nothing more than an opportunity to eat a hamburger with someone else. You misunderstood a text message (more on these later) and next thing you know, someone is trying to have sex with you in the middle of the street. The best way to avoid this is to never respond to any advance, friendly or unfriendly, from a single human of the opposite sex. Dogs and other animals as well. Just to be safe.

4. Text Always

While this may seem to be a sort of addendum to Point One, it's not. Not only should you speak to your significant other every day (preferably for extended periods of time and ideally where there is potential for nakedness), but you should also spend a good deal of your time texting this person. This allows you to constantly know what your long distance lover is doing (see Point Two and then also Point One again). Texting can also lead to sexting, which only sounds dumb to people who've never been in a long distance relationship.

5. Spend Most Of Your Money On Plane Tickets And/Or Gasoline

People who claim to be in long distance relationships and only see each other once a month (OR LESS?) are, in fact, much closer to living in a Monastery than they are to being in love. To make it work? Fly out to each other more than seems reasonable, or necessary. Fly out for fun. Meet halfway. Go back and forth. Skip work sometimes. Even when it's stupid to skip work. Fly out for reasons that sound miserable, like bar mitzvah's, or her roommate's birthday, or her dad's vasectomy, or meeting her extended homeschooled Amish family -- because at least she will still be there, and that's what relationships are about.

6. Skype Your Life

Do the sorts of things you'd do if you were together, like drink too much and watch movies and sit around with your roommates acting like assholes and fall asleep. Listen to music. Read each other stories. Show each other pictures of your friends you may never meet. Plan a trip. Write a book. Cook dinner. Play an instrument. Do jumping jacks. Take off your pants. Just use the wonder of technology to make yourself feel a little less lonely doing it. And remember: It's not drinking alone if it's a long distance relationship. Well, yes it is. But, still.

7. Send Each Other Shit

People love presents. Anyone who says he doesn't is an asshole. Find $10 (or steal it from a roommate) and send your boo a copy of your favorite book. Amazon will probably have it delivered before you've even realized you actually ordered it. Find some place near her work that delivers snacks and send her lunch. Don't send flowers. Flowers are stupid. Oh, she tells you she likes flowers? Well, why don't you just write this damn thing then, since you're so smart? Of course she likes flowers, but here's the thing: you can do better. Flowers show that you are normal and trite and that you have the same ideas any douchebag in the whole world. Send her something she can eat. Or hold. Or listen to. Send something that will make her coworkers jealous. Find a way to make her think about you while you are a thousand miles away; although, if you've been paying any attention and are following Points One, Two, and Four, this probably won't be an issue.

8. Have a Foreseeable End

Like most relationships, long distance relationships will end in either a break-up or a lifelong commitment. Oh, you've only spent a total of 136 hours together over the course of the last month? That's like, 136 normal-ass, mundane, in-person dates. So, while most couples can take their time to figure this out, or just not really care to figure it out at all, you can't. You've got to be thinking in terms of how much you're willing to put your money, job, friendships, rollover minutes and free time towards someone you only see via the Internet. Breaking up is an option. Moving to the same city is also an option. But doing all other seven points here, month after month, waiting to see where things go next? That's not an option. Talk goals. Figure your life out. But, the absolute best thing you can do for your long distance relationship is make it into a short distance one.

?

Follow Liz Riggs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/riggser

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-riggs/long-distance-relationships_b_2965780.html

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BBC details iPlayer's open source TV Application Layer

The modern challenge for any content distributor is maximizing its reach. That means doing everything -- within reason -- to get your content in front of those who might want it. That's easier said than done, no doubt, and the BBC's plan is to do whatever it takes to get iPlayer on every connected device you own. To that end it's created the TV Application Layer (TAL), which uses the latest web technologies, like HTML5, to do as much of the heavy lifting as possible for would-be hardware makers. The TAL provides a layer of abstraction that takes care of any difference in devices capabilities or controls, so that software built using it will continue to run on anything added to the BBC's certified list without the need for a new version.

This in and of itself is admirable, but the BBC has taken it one step further and put the source code out there for all to see and use. The hope is that this will motivate others to contribute to the Layer, help other content owners reach their viewers, and increase the return on investment of all those TV taxes. The BBC currently uses the TAL for its iPlayer, BBC News and BBC Sport apps, as well as new connected Red Button experiences. The code is live at the source link below if you'd like to take a look.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: BBC Blog

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/WCpHKtOT86o/

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A richer Brazil grants its maids daycare, overtime

By Brad Haynes

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - After decades as second-class citizens under Brazil's constitution, maids and caretakers have finally won an equal seat at the table.

A constitutional amendment that Congress passed late Tuesday will remove a clause treating domestic servants as a distinct category of worker - a striking reminder of how an economic boom over the past decade has chipped away at Brazil's vast inequalities.

"We are finally burying the slave quarters," Senator Antonio Carlos Valadares told his colleagues from the floor of the chamber before they unanimously approved the amendment.

Brazil was the last Western country to abolish slavery, in 1888, and the constitution drafted 100 years later reinforced the notion of a unique relationship between families and their servants, who were overwhelmingly female and darker skinned.

An economic boom over the past decade has begun to change that, driving up maids' wages and forcing families to be more flexible with their expectations - or go without the help.

Now, under the amended constitution, maids can expect the same rights as other Brazilian workers - ranging from employer-paid daycare to overtime wages on workdays longer than eight hours. Even workers in union bastions such as Detroit do not enjoy such guarantees under recent United Auto Workers contracts, which were renegotiated as car makers faced bankruptcy.

The timing of the move has raised some eyebrows, especially since the economy has cooled considerably over the past two years. Brazilian newspapers have been full of speculation that many people will fire their maids rather than give them the extra benefits, and the new law could potentially push more workers into the informal sector.

It's also unclear how the new constitutional guarantees will translate into practice in a country where even well-established industries are rife with informal employment and arrangements that skirt the letter of the law.

Nonetheless, equal treatment is a symbolic victory in Brazil, where the architecture itself assumes an underclass. Many Brazilian apartments have separate entrances, elevators and closet-sized bedrooms designed for servants.

"I think it's about time people recognized the value of this work," said Rita Figueiredo Sousa, who began working as a maid in Sao Paulo two years ago when she discovered it was the most profitable employment available to her.

"You can see attitudes are starting to change," she added. "If you do your work well, you deserve the same respect as anyone else."

EXPANDING PROTECTIONS

Having a maid has long been a part of life for many Brazilian families, but demand for such services has picked up due to a rapidly expanding middle class. There are over 7 million domestic workers here, more than twice as many as in the entire developed world, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Profound economic shifts elsewhere in the developing world have also brought the status of domestic workers to the forefront, leading to concerns of human trafficking in India and a legal battle in Hong Kong over foreign maids' rights.

But in Brazil a string of recent minimum wage increases and a history of organizing among domestic workers have yielded better pay and working conditions even for informal workers, the ILO highlighted in a recent report.

Already, maids and caretakers are entitled to paid vacation, maternity leave and pensions under Brazil's labor laws.

Salaries for domestic services nearly doubled over the past six years, adding to mounting inflationary pressures that have kept officials on edge.

In 2012 alone, the cost of domestic services rose over 12 percent - the largest single contribution to a rising consumer price index. Overtime pay and new benefits are likely to accelerate the trend.

Discussion of specific workers' rights enumerated in the Brazilian constitution - 34 items in total - has also put the spotlight on a rigid labor code.

Brazilian companies complain frequently about onerous payroll taxes, high severance penalties and the tightest job market on record, even as productivity stagnates in Latin America's largest economy.

But some say Brazil has waited too long already to offer its maids the same rights as any other worker.

With that, Brazilian law is catching up to an economic transformation that has lifted a quarter of the population out of poverty since the 1988 constitution, drafted after 20 years of military rule.

"Brazil at the time was a very young democracy, and many still had a feudal world view," said Alexandre de Almeida Gon?alves, a Sao Paulo attorney specializing in labor law. "Servants were there to do anything employers wanted - they had no schedules, no rights."

Since then, salaries have risen sharply and working conditions have improved for Brazil's working poor. Measures of inequality have also tumbled over the past decade - a rare feat among rapidly growing economies.

(Additional reporting by Eduardo Simoes in Sao Paulo and Bernie Woodall in Detroit, Editing by Brian Winter, Kieran Murray and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/richer-brazil-grants-maids-daycare-overtime-185844176.html

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Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 Review - The Worlds Best Video Game News

Back in 2010, first-person aficionados who had a hankering to shoot targets from a much further distance got the chance to squeeze that trigger in Sniper: Ghost Warrior. And it was absolutely awful. Armed with a fresh sequel, the second Sniper: Ghost Warrior game is a improvement on the original. Not that much though, but still, sort of better.

Enemy at the gates

Covert ops ain?t easy to pull off in gaming these days. You?ve got to face the fact that lining up that shot, getting into position and flushing the toilet to see if the Coreolis effect is more than just a myth, are activities that are usually boring.

Which is why the majority of Sniper games all have that special hook to keep interest high, during sequences of a duller nature. Take last year?s Sniper Elite V2 for instance. Despite several negative gameplay mechanics, it made the idea of squeezing off a round one of the most satisfying experiences in gaming today, thanks to a gory kill-cam that highlighted the damage that your bullet was doing to Nazis, sending them on to Cloud Nein.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 doesn?t have that feature though. Instead, it?s got a focus, and that?s on getting your lead character of army sharpshooter Cole Anderson making his way through hot-spots to sniper nests where he can set up and blast away.

In that respect, the game both works and fails. Missions will see you equipped with nothing more than a sniper rifle and a silenced pistol, but even the most die hard of high?caliber?fans are going to find the constant grind of working from point A to point B to be a monotonous slog.

When it comes to sniping, it?s all about that one moment, something that is exemplified in the above example with Sniper Elite V2. What Sniper Ghost: Warrior 2 tries to do though, is to stretch that moment into an entire level, something that just doesn?t work.

Sniper no sniping!

It?s the exact same mission, over and over again. Enter a hotspot, take down enemies and work your way up to the designated spotter zone. Commence to kill anything with a pulse while soldiers on the ground call out targets for you, rinse and repeat.

What variety there is between these scenarios over the three acts, is about as rare as a soldier who doesn?t act as if he?s in a Michael Bay film. I like the fact that one part of a mission has me tasked with taking down a soldier who is holding a hostage. I like the fact that at one point, I have to shoot down a chopper.

Stealth still plays a role, as taking down targets without alerting other soldiers, or using the foliage as camouflage puts the Ghost moniker to good use. It?s a simple system, but one that gets compromised pretty quickly during the course of the game.

Those are great examples of Sniper Ghost: Warrior 2 shining. But at the same time, it?s like eating your way through a box of Smarties where 99% of the candy has been replaced with small bits of coal. A rare treat.

But I?ll give the game some credit, and mention that the CryEngine looks pretty decent here, as you?re reminded of that fact every time you start the game up. Jungle effects look just fine, lighting effects are acceptable and the guns look and handle superbly at least, what few there are them.

But amidst those great graphics, are some pretty inconsistent additions such as muddy textures, character models which look dated by the standards of today and more than a few share of glitches, such as floating rifles and rag doll effects which will disturb you.

Wesley Snipes

On the gameplay front, it?s also a mixed bag of ideas. Firing off your rifle requires you to squeeze a trigger to avoid recoil, while your adjustable scope also requires that you pay attention to limited weather conditions, resulting in a second reticle within a reticle. Reticleception.

And here?s another feature which I liked, but was underutilised in the game: Breathing. While the idea of Anderson taking a breath to slow down the action and focus on a target isn?t exactly new, it?s the impact that his breathing has on his aiming that I liked.

Run away from a firefight, and your heart rate obviously jumps, resulting in a targeting scenario that is shakier than Michael J Fox?s photographs. It?s a subtle feature, but one that I?d like to see more of, if Sniper: Ghost Warrior is going to continue down a path that is more realistic.

Add to those woes enemies who tread a fine line by practicing their mime techniques, and having a radar sense of your location that would rival Daredevil himself, and the unbalanced gameplay starts to stink after a while.

And it?s something that continues into the terrible multiplayer as well. You get not one, but two, count ?em TWO, whole maps with which to practice your sniping against human foes. But thanks to some lag issues, and the fact that you?ve got two dozen players all waiting for someone to drift into their scopes, and you?ve got a scenario where you feel like twenty minutes of your life has been stolen away from you.

And that?s without mentioning the fact that you have no idea who your friends and foes are, thanks to a lack of markers. Something that had me chatting to a Scotsman last night as we tried to figure out which team we were on. And then he knifed me in the face when we figured it out.

On the surface, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 has plenty going for it. Decent visuals if you don?t pay attention, a campaign that will stretch from 6-8 hours and some solid gameplay. But it lacks the drive to go any further, resulting in a lacklustre game that misses several high value shots in the process.

Source: http://www.lazygamer.net/xbox-360/sniper-ghost-warrior-2-review/

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Measuring the magnetism of antimatter

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

In a breakthrough that could one day yield important clues about the nature of matter itself, a team of Harvard scientists have succeeding in measuring the magnetic charge of single particles of matter and antimatter more accurately than ever before.

As described in a March 25 paper in Physical Review Letters, the ATRAP team, led by Gerald Gabrielse, the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics, and including post-doctoral fellows Stephan Ettenauer and Eric Tardiff and graduate students Jack DiSciacca, Mason Marshall, Kathryn Marable and Rita Kalra was able to capture individual protons and antiprotons in a "trap" created by electric and magnetic fields. By precisely measuring the oscillations of each particle, the team was able to measure the magnetism of a proton more than 1,000 times more accurately than an antiproton had been measured before. Similar tests with antiprotons produced a 680-fold increase in accuracy in the size of the magnet in an antiproton.

"That is a spectacular jump in precision for any fundamental quality," Gabrielse said, of the antiproton measurements. "That's a leap that we don't often see in physics, at least not in a single step."

Such measurements, Gabrielse said, could one day help scientists answer a question that seems more suited for the philosophy classroom than the physics lab ? why are we here?

"One of the great mysteries in physics is why our universe is made of matter," he said. "According to our theories, the same amount of matter and antimatter was produced during the Big Bang. When matter and antimatter meet, they are annihilated. As the universe cools down, the big mystery is: Why didn't all the matter find the antimatter and annihilate all of both? There's a lot of matter and no antimatter left, and we don't know why."

Making precise measurements of protons and antiprotons, Gabrielse explained, could begin to answer those questions by potentially shedding new light on whether the CPT (Charge conjugation, Parity transformation, Time reversal) theorem is correct. An outgrowth of the standard model of particle physics, CPT states that the protons and antiprotons should be virtually identical ? with the same magnitude of charge and mass ? yet should have opposite charges.

Though earlier experiments, which measured the charge-to-mass ratio of protons and antiprotons, verified the predictions of CPT, Gabrielse said further investigation is needed because the standard model does not account for all forces, such as gravity, in the universe.

"What we wanted to do with these experiments was to say, 'Let's take a simple system ? a single proton and a single antiproton ? and let's compare their predicted relationships, and see if our predictions are correct," Gabrielse said. "Ultimately, whatever we learn might give us some insight into how to explain this mystery."

While researchers were able to capture and measure protons with relative ease, antiprotons are only produced by high-energy collisions that take place at the extensive tunnels of the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Gabrielse said, leaving researchers facing a difficult choice.

"Last year, we published a report showing that we could measure a proton much more accurately than ever before," Gabrielese said. "Once we had done that, however, we had to make a decision ? did we want to take the risk of moving our people and our entire apparatus ? crates and crates of electronics and a very delicate trap apparatus ? to CERN and try to do the same thing with antiprotons? Antiprotons would only be available till mid-December and then not again for a year and a half.

"We decided to give it a shot, and by George, we pulled it off," he continued. "Ultimately, we argued that we should attempt it, because even if we failed, that failure would teach us something." In what Gabrielse described as a "gutsy" choice, graduate student Jack DiSciacca agreed to use this attempt to conclude his thesis research, and new graduate students Marshall and Marable signed on to help.

Though their results still fit within the predictions made by the standard model, Gabrielse said being able to more accurately measure the characteristics of both matter and antimatter may yet help shed new light on how the universe works.

"What's also very exciting about this breakthrough is that it now prepares us to continue down this road," he said. "I'm confident that, given this start, we're going to be able to increase the accuracy of these measurements by another factor of 1,000, or even 10,000."

###

Harvard University: http://www.harvard.edu

Thanks to Harvard University for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127457/Measuring_the_magnetism_of_antimatter

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Pebble 1.9.1 firmware update arrives to resolve shutdown woes

Some Pebble owners were understandably perturbed when their smartwatches seemingly went dead after a shutdown -- that's not the best first impression of an emerging technology. Some credit is due for a rapid turnaround, however, as the Pebble team just delivered a 1.9.1 firmware upgrade that should tackle the problem. It fixes a bug that occasionally prevented the microcontroller from reconfiguring itself before the watch went dark, leaving the buttons unresponsive on wake and the Pebble more of a paperweight. You'll still have to swap out for a replacement if your watch has already fallen ill and won't recover, but the experience should be more reliable for already functional watches from here on out. Let fellow owners know how well the upgrade worked in the comments.

[Thanks, Daniel]

Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables

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Source: Pebble

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/pebble-1-9-1-firmware-update-arrives-to-resolve-shutdown-woes/

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