65 Home Business Ideas You Can Do From Your Kitchen Table

There?s something alluring about chilling in your comfy pants while in the confines of your own home and getting paid at the same time.

No annoying co-worker to interrupt your day with the company gossip that you could give a rip about.

No mandatory meetings that leave you ?zombified? that even a cup of the strongest black coffee can remedy.

Just you, your computer, and the freedom to get stuff done.

Before you get excited about starting your home based business idea, you first have to make sure you have the right tools in place. The main tool is a speedy Internet connection. Most home based businesses will require some sort of Internet connection. With a good Internet connection, you can also take care of a phone and fax. Isn?t technology great?

On top of the right tools, you should also have a dedicated office or work space that?s free from distractions. No TV?s! When?s it?s time to work you only want to be doing one thing: working.

That that you have the right tools and workspace, let?s look at some of the top 65 home based business ideas you can start today.

Home Businesses Ideas That Require Training

All of these ideas require some background in the area, but they are an ideal way to use your already-acquired skills in a work-from home business. And even if you do not already have the necessary training, there is nothing keeping you from getting certified in order to start your home-based business.

1. Graphic Design. Businesses always need graphic designers to help them convey information visually, through logos, advertisements, posters, websites, and the like. While it is possible to be an entirely self-taught graphic designer, most have either a certification or a degree. Other than the cost of design software, this business has very little overhead and can be done anywhere with a dedicated computer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, graphic designers have a median salary of $45,000.*

*All median salaries listed are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unless otherwise noted.

2. Bookkeeping. This is a perfect business idea for trained accountants who would like to work from home, although it is not necessary to be a Certified Public Accountant in order to become a freelance bookkeeper?it?s just necessary to have the background knowledge that bookkeeping courses at any community college can offer. This kind of freelance work is especially helpful for small businesses that do not need or cannot afford a fulltime bookkeeper, making it possible for you to have full time work through several smaller clients. Median salary: $34,000.

3. Home Inspection. An important part of the home buying process is having a professional home inspector go through the house to determine the condition of the building and point out any potential problems. A home inspector needs to meet the state regulations for the profession, which varies from state to state, although anyone who has worked in the construction or housing industry will have a leg up. Median salary: $52,000.

4. Massage Therapist. While licensing requirements for massage therapy can vary from state to state, the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork can help any budding masseuse fulfill their local requirements. Massage therapists can either work out of their own home or make house calls with a portable massage table. Median salary: $34,900.

5. Tax Preparation. No one likes doing taxes, and they need to be paid whether the economy is booming or tanking. This is why at-home tax preparation can be a great business for anyone with a tax background, or anyone willing to take training courses. Since there are annual changes to the tax code, you will need to refresh your training each year, and you will also need to register with the IRS as a tax preparer. This is more of a seasonal business than a year-round endeavor, but it can be a great way to earn some extra income each winter/spring. Median salary: $30,900.

6. Doula. A doula is a labor coach that can help a birthing mother in any labor environment, from a hospital to a midwife clinic to home. Doulas are non-medical professionals who offer information, emotional support, and physical assistance in the process of giving birth. While licensing for doulas is not required by most states, getting certified by DONA International, the only certifying body for this profession, is a good idea. Doulas do have to deal with unpredictable schedules, but they easily can do this work from home. Doulas generally charge between $500 and $1000 per birth.

7. Hairstylist. If you have experience cutting hair and giving manicures, opening up shop from your home is an excellent way to start your own salon. Make sure that you follow all of your state?s requirements for doing salon care in a home, as they can be stringent. Median salary: $22,500.

8. Interior Designer. While you do not need a degree or certification in order to set out an interior designer shingle, it is really necessary in order to make sure you can meet the needs of many clients. An education in the history and theory of design will allow you to understand trends that you may not like, but your clients do. Median salary: $46,280.

Meeting the Remote Needs of Companies

Many small businesses have gaps in what their employees can take care of. Hiring a full time employee to fill in those gaps isn?t necessarily feasible, which is where your work-at-home business comes into play. Here are some work-at-home ideas that every business needs:

9. Copywriting. These writers put together promotional materials for businesses, including ads, websites, newsletters, commercials, direct mailings, and many others. Copywriters generally have a degree in advertising, marketing, English, or communication, but any excellent writer can do a great job copywriting. Median salary: $55,000.

10. Virtual Assistant. This is a worker who handles any number of small tasks for a business or individual. Tasks include answering emails, data entry, scheduling, managing blogs, and even shopping. Anyone can become a virtual assistant. According to Indeed.com, the average salary for virtual assistants is $42,000.

11. Courier Service. If you live in a bustling area, chances are local businesses could use a local courier service. Unlike the big name services, you can offer more flexible pick-up and drop off times, which can be a godsend to many small businesses. According to About.com, half of couriers earn in the $17,000 to $27,000 range.

12. Marketing Consultant. Whether you are helping a business with traditional marketing materials or instructing them on the fine art of blogging (ahem) and social media, this is a business that has almost unlimited potential for freelancers. Median salary: $108,000 (!).

13. Editing. Like copywriting, this is a freelancing gig where it?s helpful to have a background in English or communications?but any eagle-eyed writer could do great job. Median salary: $51,470.

14. Web Design. Helping clients design the best website for their needs is a great way to make a living from home. About.com lists the median salary as of 2008 at $65,270.

15. Translation. If you know a second (or third) language, you can make a living at home translating documents. It?s a global marketplace, and even the best translation software can?t understand linguistic nuance. Median salary: $43,300.

16. Video Production. Everyone wants a piece of YouTube, so talented freelancers can make a great living producing videos for companies and organizations. Rates vary by area, equipment, and background.

17. Internet Security Consulting. If you?re tech savvy and understand the ins and outs of internet security, consider becoming a consultant for small businesses. Unlike the big boys, these companies can?t afford the huge security budgets, but they still want to be able to protect their internet customers.

18. Green Consulting. Many smaller companies would like to find ways to make their processes greener without spending more green. You can help them to figure out ways to improve their carbon footprint without sacrificing the bottom line.

19. Grant Writing. Non-profits, universities, hospitals and other community organizations all have a great need for grant money to supplement their budgets, but grants are notoriously tricky to write for the first time. If you have experience writing grants, or are willing to learn how to do it by practicing your skills without pay for a few non-profits, you can start a lucrative freelance grant writing business. According to eHow, grant writers can make anywhere from $40, 300 to $67,000.

20. Medical Transcription. You hear about these opportunities, and they often sound like scams. But the truth is that the medical industry has a great need for individuals to transcribe audio dictations into coherent reports. Transcriptionists do need education?generally a two-year degree?to make sure they are clear on the arcane medical terminology. Median salary: $32,900.

21. Debt Collection. It takes a very thick skin to go into this business, but debt collectors only need a telephone and a computer to work, making it a great work-at-home business. It?s also a recession-proof (or even recession-loving) business. Licensing requirements vary from state to state, so make sure you do your homework before setting up shop. Median salary: $31,300.

22. Call Center Representative. Believe it or not, it is possible to actually reach a woman named Peggy (and not a man with a Russian accent) when you call customer service. That?s because of the homeshore movement, which is trying to hire more independent contractors to work from home on customer service issues. If you?ve got a phone line and an internet connection, you can work from home as a call center rep. Median salary: $30,460.

Make Your Hobbies Pay

Anything you love to do for fun could also become a great at-home gig.

23. Blogging. It takes some time to grow an audience and find ways to monetize your blog, but if you love to share your point of view with the world, this can be a good way to work from home. Niche blogs are a particular area of growth in this ever-growing profession. Pay can vary widely, but the income potential is nearly limitless.

24. E-book author. Publishing is dead; long live the e-reader! Now that anyone can have their work e-published, it is possible for anyone to make a fortune off their writing. The biggest recent example is the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy, but there are many authors taking advantage of the ease of e-publishing. If you love to write and are willing to do your own promotion (and having a blog can really help in that case), writing an e-book is an excellent way to make money at home.

25. Building furniture. Everyone loves a well-built and handmade piece of furniture. If you?re already spending time in your workshop, why not sell your wares? Etsy is an excellent place to start selling without having to have a physical storefront.

26. Sewing. Whether you?re making onesies and quilts for sale online or at local markets or doing repairs and alterations for locals with ill-fitting clothes, your sewing machine could be your ticket to a work-from-home business.

27. Personal Organizer. If you?re someone who reorganizes closets for fun, offer up your services to harried and disorganized individuals and businesses.

28. Home Staging. If rearranging furniture is your idea of fun, home staging is a great home-based business. You will help sellers get their homes looking beautiful so they sell as quickly as possible.

29. Herb Farming. Gardening can be very relaxing, and potentially very lucrative. With both the increased interest in alternative therapies and the demand for locally grown and organic foods, an herb farmer can find plenty of customers, particularly if you?re in an urban area. While this does require some space for growing, herbs are fairly small and nearly any home can be slightly modified to allow for an extensive herb garden.

30. Electronic Repairs. If you?re the sort who takes apart the computer for fun, operating an electronics repair shop out of your home is a natural decision. In particular, repairing iPads and other tablets would provide you with a great deal of business, as many tablet users are looking for a less expensive way to fix smashed screens and other damages that can be costly through the manufacturer. Median salary: $49,170.

31. Baking. Beautifully decorated cakes and cookies, artisan bread, and artful pastries have become all the rage, partially thanks to shows like Ace of Cakes. Median salary for bakers: $23,450.

32. Personal Chef. As a personal chef, you would spend your time whipping up delicious meals for those who don?t have time to cook but do have money to burn. The best way to make a name for yourself as a personal chef is to offer meals that fit stringent dietary or allergy requirements.

33. Mystery Shopping. For many people, the idea of getting paid to shop is a dream come true. There are many mystery shopping scams to beware of, however. Never accept a gig that requires an upfront fee?that?s a good sign it?s not legit. According to the website Scambusters, legitimate mystery shopping can pay anywhere from $8 per job up to $50 to $100 per job.

34. Bargain Hunting. If you love a bargain and know how to make coupons, specials, and unadvertised deals your penny-pinching bitch, then you could help others learn how to save money?and turn a profit. The Grocery Game?s Teri Gault is the most famous at-home bargain hunter turned millionaire, but you could be next.

35. Personal Stylist. You have an eye for clothes and know what styles look best on what body types. So turn your passion for fashion into a business by becoming a personal stylist/shopper. You?ll feel good about making others look great.

36. Catering. If you love to cook on a grand scale, why not start a catering business out of your home? How much you make depends on the scale of the assignments you take, and your ability to correctly decide how much your materials will cost. But this is also an industry where you can start small and work you way up to bigger gigs?and profits.

37. App Designer. Creating a profitable app for smart phones isn?t necessarily about having the best or most innovative idea: it?s about creating the best user experience for that idea. That?s how app designers are able to make their work-from-home a full time job?and then just live off the passive income.

38. Furniture Refinishing and Repair. You might have made a hobby of refinishing and repairing garage sale finds. Now, make your skills profitable by offering to make old furniture as good as new. After all, retro is definitely in.

39. Landscape Design. If you?re never happier than when you are landscaping your yard, landscape design might be the home-based business for you. This is a relatively new field, so you can get some background knowledge through a degree, although schools that offer these degrees are somewhat rare, or you can intern with another landscape designer.

40. Tour Guide. You may love exploring all the fun corners of your hometown, but it might not occur to you to make that hobby a business. This is an especially good idea if you can offer themed tours or other niche tours. Median salary: $23,620.

Necessary Services

Everyone needs a hand sometimes. Here are ways you can lend one and make a living.

41. At-Home Daycare. This is an especially good idea for stay-at-home-parents who need to bring in some money. You?re already staying home with your kids: why not invite a few others to the party? Licensing for in-home daycare varies from state to state, but you will want to make sure you comply with your local regulations. Median salary: $19,300.

42. Off-Hours Daycare. Though this is basically the same as above, it does deserve its own description. Finding someone to regularly watch children during off-hours, like second shift, weekends, or very early mornings, can be extremely difficult for parents. Offering care during off-peak hours means that you can command a higher fee.

43. Elder Care. In most cases, work-from-home elder care workers will make daily house calls to their patients to help with anything from meal preparation to self-care to minor home repairs. Median pay: $20,170.

44. Lawn Care. While once the province of teenagers, lawn mowing, gardening, raking, and snow removal can be a legitimately grown up home-based business.

45. Dog Walker. This job isn?t just for New Yorkers anymore. Any large community can use dog walkers to help the area Fidos and Rovers make it through the master?s long workday.

46. Pet Sitter. If you can find pet owners who are willing to bring their dogs and cats to you, this is truly a home-based business. Otherwise, you?ll need to be willing to live at other houses (or at least visit 3-4 times a day) while you?re working.

47. Pet Grooming. Most pet owners don?t quite have the stomach or the time to clip nails, bathe, or give haircuts to their animals. With a couple of small tweaks to a bathroom, basement, or laundry room, you could have a full service doggy salon in your home. Again, it?s important to double-check your local requirements for this.

48. Travel Planning. While anyone can check an aggregator site for the best price to fly to Saint Louis, planning a more elaborate trip might be too much for some travelers. This is where a travel planner comes in, using his skills to find the best trip?including flight, accommodation, rental car, and tours?for the budget.

49. Meal Planning. One of the best ways to keep a grocery budget?and a waistline?in check is to do meal planning. But for some, this kind of planning is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. A meal planner could put together a list of a week?s recipes, along with a grocery list, for a harried but budget-conscious shopper.

50. Resume Writing. If you have a knack for making a resume shine, you could offer your services to job seekers.

51. Party Planning. From weddings to birthday parties to corporate events to conferences, the details of putting on a huge bash can be beyond the average party-giver. That?s why they?ll turn all the planning over to you. Median salary: $45,260.

52. Child Proofing. Keeping our kids safe is so important, but the details of how to do so can be confusing. A professional child proofing business is inexpensive to start up, but there may be state regulations to follow. It?s also a good idea to apprentice with a child proofer in order to learn the business.

53. Digital Media Conversion. It?s time consuming to convert old school media like CDs into digital files. If you have excellent tech skills, this is a service you can offer to the tech-phobic and time-crunched alike.

54. Tutoring. A background in education is helpful for tutoring, but not necessary. All you really need are mad skillz in one or more academic area, and you can help local students do better in their classes.

55. Patient Advocacy. With the byzantine complexity of modern medical billing practices, there is a definite need for patient advocates. These individuals take the time to track down hospital billing paperwork and potentially argue with insurance companies. Considering the fact that many of those who need to hire advocates are either ailing or grieving, this is a very necessary service.

56. Personal Trainer. You love to work out and you know the ins and outs of nutrition and exercise. Share your passion with novice exercisers, either out of your home or through a local gym. Median salary: $31,090.

57. Junk Removal. Anyone who has ever had the unenviable task of cleaning up a house for sale after the death of the owner knows just how important this job is. Junk removal can be as simple as hauling away unwanted stuff to the dump, or it can be as complicated as separating out the trash from the treasures and handling the actual sale of the goods.

58. Appraiser. We all love the moment in Antiques Roadshow when the owner learns how much their heirloom is worth. Becoming an antiques appraiser will allow you to live that moment every day. This does require a background education in the subject and access to an excellent reference library.

59.? Music Teacher. Teaching piano (or guitar or violin or singing) lessons out of your house is a well-established way for stay-at-home spouses to make a little extra cash. If Lois Griffin can do it, so can any musically minded entrepreneur.

60. House cleaner. With very low overhead and a skill set that is very easy to learn, housecleaning is one of the easiest businesses to start. Depending on how much you want to grow, the income potential is pretty limitless.

Opportunities That Didn?t Exist 15 Years Ago

As technology develops, so do entrepreneurial opportunities. Here are some work-at-home jobs that our parents would never have anticipated:

61. Online Store. It used to be that if you had a product to sell, you also had to have a storefront and all the costs associated with it. These days, you can sell anything to anyone anywhere in the world. Whether you?re marketing the organic honey from your backyard apiary, or selling personalized linens that you embroider yourself, you can find a market for your products online.

62. eBay Sales. The other option for online sales is to simply become the eBay middleman. Millions of vendors sell their wares on the online auction house. If you can find an inexpensive source for (legally!) saleable merchandise, you can get into business.

63. Micro Jobs. With the advent of Fiverr, we saw a brand new way to assign and accept work: little jobs for small payouts. But it?s no party trick. Apps like Gigwalk and sites like Mechanical Turk make it possible to cobble together a living with lots of little assignment each day.

64. Internet Marketing Affiliate. If you already have your own website or blog, you can earn money by becoming an affiliate. You can either sell products directly and earn money that way, or you can sign up others as affiliates, much like multi-level marketing.

65. Get Paid for Social Media. Some Twitter users are able to leverage their huge following into a paid gig for advertisers. Prolific bloggers have been known to get paid for commenting on other blogs. If you are a social media expert, you can use that expertise to earn money. People want to reach your audience and are willing to pay you for it.

The Bottom Line on Working From Home

There?s no need to work for The Man. Home business opportunities are plentiful, as will be your opportunities to work in your pajamas.

Source: http://www.goodfinancialcents.com/home-based-business-ideas-easy-to-start/

paul george eddie long ufc 143 weigh ins micron ceo glenn miller who do you think you are superpac

Investors Who Own Japanese Stocks are About to Get a Nasty ...

Big Trouble For a Wide Range of Players

I expect Japanese airlines and Chinese airlines to hit turbulence, too.

Since the widespread violence in China this fall, legions of tourists and business travelers alike continue to cancel trips. While Japanese travel agencies report a drop in bookings to China, Chinese agencies are getting out of the game altogether and it's not just the bit players, either.

Xinhua reports that China International Travel Service Limited, China Comfort Travel and China CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd., have stopped selling travel to Japan entirely.

Reports here suggest that Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. and Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. cancelled upwards of 20,000 seats on routes into China in late September and early October. It is not clear if -- or when-- they will be added back into flight operations.

At the same time, Chinese airlines, including Air China, China Southern and China Hainan Airlines, have also cancelled flights and cut seats to Japan while also postponing valuable new routes to both Sendai and Okinawa.

Anecdotally, my friends tell me that many formerly full flights between the two countries are half full at best.

Japanese home appliance makers are not immune, either.

Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Sanyo are all likely to experience an earnings impact in the months ahead.

Executives I spoke with this weekend, who wish to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of their companies, suggest that monthly sales in Chinese retail outlets could be off 45%-70% by the time the damage is "done."

I pressed for clarification as to when that might be and didn't get any officially. But their cold silence spoke volumes about what they expect through year end.

For Every Loser, There is a Winner

So what do you do about this? That depends on four things.

First, the situation is unlikely to go away any time soon. In fact, I believe it's going to play out well into the fourth quarter. Any Japanese company doing business with China is at risk.

Many are names you know, but if you have invested in Japanese ETFs like many investors have, there are a lot you don't know, too. This is particularly true if you factor in the extensive supplier network of second- and third-tier Japanese companies behind such well-known names as Mitsubishi, Honda and Toyota.

Second, China plays the nationalist card at its discretion and tacitly fans the flames whenever it is convenient. Its citizens, many of whom have yet to grasp the subtleties of international politics because their view of the outside world is extremely limited, react predictably when they perceive they have been wronged. So the situation and its impact on earnings is unpredictable at best.

Third, there is the very real and growing possibility that China will use military force to take the Daioyu Islands back. Since 1949, China has been involved in 23 territorial disputes and has used force in six of them - all of which resemble the Senkaku/Daioyu dispute, according to M. Taylor Fravel, an associate professor of political science at MIT and the author of Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Dispute (Princeton, 2008).

I agree. Beijing is under pressure to produce favorable results at a time when its leadership faces a complicated transition, slowing economic prowess, unprecedented fallout from the Bo Xilai situation and other prominent scandals that have rocked the very top of the Communist Party -- including recent revelations that Premier Wen Jiabao appears to have amassed a $2 billion fortune illicitly, using his position to gain wealth and power.

Fourth, I am hard pressed to imagine how Japanese companies can come out on anything other than the losing end of the stick no matter how the Senkaku/Daioyu Island situation plays out.

And with more than 20 years of doing business in this part of the world, that's not an easy conclusion for me to reach.

Japan has built its entire economy on exports for decades and the conscious shift to embrace China in the late 1990s will haunt Japanese corporations for a long time to come if Japanese and Chinese leaders cannot come to some sort of agreement.

If there is a bright spot it is this: Capitalism works because there are ebbs and flows in capital markets that are caused, many times, by factors well beyond rational expectations.

That means there for every loser, there is a winner.

I expect German and Korean car makers to immediately fill any gaps left by pressured Japanese automakers. Both VW and Hyundai come to mind, for example. GM and Ford will both make competitive moves as well if they're smart.

In like fashion, other non-Japanese, non-Chinese air carriers will move to service demand if it resumes. This will allow both nations to draw closer together without either losing face by directly "serving" the other.

Home appliance makers are more problematic in that both industries are effectively commoditized at this point. There is very little in the way of technology or other competitive advantage that can't be taken up by local Chinese companies.

Perhaps that's an opening for American manufacturers if the upcoming anti-Chinese presidential election rhetoric doesn't effectively tank them, too.

Related Articles and News:

Source: http://moneymorning.com/2012/10/30/investors-who-own-japanese-stocks-are-about-to-get-a-nasty-surprise/

loretta lynn gene kelly zoe saldana zooey deschanel and joseph gordon levitt debra messing ayaan hirsi ali rachel uchitel

The Reference Frame: Was Sandy systematically caused by CO2?

Anthony Watts wrote down a nice table describing which folks believe or at least pretend to believe that CO₂ "caused" Hurricane Sandy and which people don't. If I simplify it a little bit, activists, liars, and crackpots such as Al Gore support the link while scientists don't. I am kind of pleased to see that for the first time, most of the media seem to agree that the people promoting the hurricane-CO₂ link are hacks.

I was intrigued by a member of the former group, hardcore leftist activist Mr George Lakoff, who wrote the following text for the Huffington Post:

Global Warming Systemically Caused Hurricane Sandy

He introduces a new problematic term: "systematic causation". He believes that fossil fuels "systemically caused" Hurricane Sandy (and other weather events we don't like). The description makes it look like the construct "A systemically caused B" means "A increased the odds of B" ? note that my alternative wording is equally long, much more accurate, and not requiring any new contrived phrases.

Except that Mr Lakoff believes that AIDS is only "systemically caused", not "directly caused", by the HIV virus. That's pretty interesting. Either he is an HIV denier or his definition of "systemic causation" is internally inconsistent. But let's ask two questions: Was Sandy "systemically caused" by CO₂ emissions? And forgetting about the answer and focusing on genuine "systemic causes" of bad events in general, is it legitimate for the society to outlaw them?

My answer to both questions is No, although the latter question deserves a subtler discussion.

Unless you believe in astrology and similar things, you will surely agree that it's not in the power of CO₂ or any other indirect hypothetical causes to adjust some "highly internal" and "seemingly random" characteristics of tropical storms such as the population of the city that the storms target. ;-)

So the fact that Sandy managed to flood some tunnels in the New York subway system, among dozens of related achievements, is pretty clearly a coincidence that can't be explained by any well-defined long-term "cause", not even a "systemic cause". Most hurricanes avoid New York, some hurricanes get there, and only the proportion may be measured or theoretically calculated. In other words, when we talk about unknown future hurricanes, we may only predict their ability to target New York or other great cities probabilistically. And we may only estimate the probability that the most important hurricane of 2013 will make landing at most 4 days before the Halloween.

(The same comment, "only probabilistic predictions are possible", obviously applies to earthquakes in Italy, too.)

Needless to say, exactly the same words apply to Katrina and New Orleans in 2005. Katrina was a big story ? much bigger than Sandy (surely by the number of casualties) ? because it hit a large and relatively vulnerable city of New Orleans. Sandy was a relatively big story because it affected the "greatest city in the world" although not as much as Katrina did harm New Orleans. Let's agree that the targeting is a matter of chance.

But if you subtract all the "special characteristics" of Sandy that are related to its random path, there is almost nothing left. In fact, by the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), Sandy isn't even the largest storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. It's not even the second one. It's not even the third one: Sandy is just the fourth largest Atlantic tropical storm of 2012. That shouldn't be shocking because it has made it to the Category 2 and only marginally and for a short time.

One may look for various detailed properties of Sandy ? its trajectory, its area, its pre-Halloween timing, and so on. But I think it's clear that trying to attribute some "message" (I would say "divine message") to any of these detailed properties is a sign of medieval superstitions. People who try to interpret these properties as divine signals may use a quasi-scientific vocabulary but the vocabulary isn't the essence. The essence is the logic behind their thoughts and beliefs and it is equally unscientific as any other generic medieval superstitions.

The fact that Sandy went to New Jersey is a coincidence ? one that could be predicted a few days in advance but one that has no implications for any knowledge or mechanisms that are relevant outside the end of October 2012. The fact that Sandy hit before the Halloween or before the U.S. presidential election is another coincidence. It's totally scientifically implausible to assign "causes" or "systemic causes" to such microscopic accidental characteristics of a tropical storm. Such links are equivalent to astrology and other superstitions. There isn't any conceivable natural mechanism that could impose such causal links ? and there's even no conceivable mechanism or explanation that could significantly increase the chance that a hurricane is more Sandy-like if the CO₂ concentration is higher. I am convinced that everyone who has been given basic scientific education ? or who has a basic scientific intuition even in the absence of any formal education ? must know that.

So we are back to the usual questions whether the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may be increasing or decreasing the number or hurricanes or their average or maximum intensity. I think that the data speak a clear language: no such dependence, whether positive or negative, may be extracted from the data that seem to be fully explainable by "noise", essentially "white noise". In the future, the datasets will become more extensive and perhaps more accurate and people may see a signal we don't see today. That's why it makes sense to ask whether we may predict what they will see. I think (based on arguments I have been repeatedly explained by Richard Lindzen in particular) that if they will ever see such an impact, it should be a negative impact ? fewer hurricanes or weaker hurricanes. It's because storminess and other activity is driven by temperature (and other) gradients and in a hypothetical warmer world, the equator-pole temperature difference should be smaller because the poles should warm up faster. The gradients should decrease and because the gradients power the cyclone activity (and other things, including temperature variations in general), the cyclone activity should go down.

That's my prediction but I don't know how strong the effect is. It's probably very weak and it may remain invisible for centuries and perhaps forever because "global warming caused by CO₂" will most likely never have an observable effect that would go beyond a modest shift of the global mean temperature.

Even when you look at the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season which became another heavily overhyped one, you will see that the Accumulated Cyclone Energy is just 121 so far, just marginally higher than the historical average around 105. The ACEs for individual seasons are never constant. They belong to some statistical distribution. It's inevitable that sometimes, the ACE ends up being above the average, sometimes (in many years after 2005), it ends up being below the average. There's nothing shocking about either outcome: it's a law of physics that such things are not constant although left-wing, egalitarian activists often have a problem with this totally basic concept underlying all of science.

Standing doctrine vs systemic causes

Despite all the hype, there's no evidence that something is changing about the statistical distributions that encode the number, strength, and geographical location of tropical storms and there's surely no evidence that this unobserved change of the distributions has some particular reasons such as a changing CO₂ concentration. We've spent way too much time with this stuff. If someone isn't able to see that my conclusion is the only one that is empirically defensible, he or she probably suffers from some hopeless mania of superstitions and it's probably impossible to rationally talk to such a person.

But I want to continue with my second topic, namely the right of "systemic causes" to lead to bans. Are bans justified by "systemic causes" i.e. causes that only affect undesirable effects probabilistically desirable and compatible with some legal principles of civilized countries based on the rule of law? I would say that the answer is mostly No and if it's Yes, it shouldn't be "complete bans" and the legislation behind some "incentives" shouldn't be dogmatic but it should be based on a careful cost-and-benefit analysis.

What do I mean?

In 2006, I informed about a Massachusetts vs EPA lawsuit that ultimately ended by the unbelievable verdict that CO₂ was a pollutant that EPA has the duty to regulate. So far, thank God, this pernicious verdict hasn't been fully exploited but it's a time bomb that may still explode sometime in the future.

In 2006, I discussed an important legal technicality, the standing doctrine:

It says that the plaintiff in front of the federal courts must show that her injury is "concrete and particularized" as well as "actual or imminent". The founding fathers wrote these wise sentences exactly in order to make things like suppression of the freedom of speech or suppression of life and the work of companies with the help of hypothetical accusations impossible.

Using Mr Lakoff's new terms, a person who thinks he has been affected by a "systemic cause" has no standing in the federal courts! Indeed, it's very important that only "direct causes" may be used as arguments against a "culprit". Mr Lakoff's suggestion that we should suddenly start to fight against "systemic causes", i.e. against all kinds of acts and events that have been hypothesized to increase the chance of some undesirable "systemic consequences", is therefore extremely dangerous for the life in the U.S. and elsewhere. Such a program would have a huge potential to restrict the very basic freedoms of the citizens and corporations ? well, indeed, this may be the very goal of Mr Lakoff and his comrades.

Our laws are actually already full of various regulations that are meant to suppress "systemic causes", i.e. processes that may increase the chances of undesired consequences. The laws protecting people against passive smoking may be picked as an example.

Science hasn't resolved the question whether passive smoking increases the odds of various bad diseases. There are many theoretical reasons to think that the answer should be Yes. There are also some "maverick" reasons that the influence could actually be going in the opposite direction ? explanations emulating the proverb "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" (those things are believed by some in the case of weak radioactivity in particular). I personally think that the former ? passive smoking is somewhat unhealthy ? is more likely to be true.

However, this uncertainty is often presented using big words and the possible consequences are often presented as far-reaching ones. But this is a complete distortion of what the scientific research has already found out. We don't have reliable data showing that second-hand smoking increases the probability e.g. of lung cancer; and we don't have reliable data showing that second-hand smoking decreases the probability of e.g. lung cancer.

But we actually do have lots of evidence to say that if any of these two influences exists, it's very small! This conclusion of many studies that asked this very question is often being obscured, overlooked, and censored. But it's damn real. If \(p_\text{no smoke}\) is the probability to "catch" lung cancer if you are exposed to no cigarette smoke at all, the probability for second-hand smokers is related to it by something like\[

p_\text{second-hand smokers} = (1.1\pm 0.2) p_\text{no smoke}.

\] This is a number comparable to the results of various surveys. It's not the number from any particular survey but this result is as compatible with them as any single survey from the list of actual surveys and I think it's good to offer you my own number so that you won't overestimate the importance of any particular paper in literature. There is some error margin and the results are compatible with the hypothesis that there's no influence. And they are compatible with the hypothesis that the second-hand smoke slightly increases the risk or slightly decreases the risk (for the latter, the compatibility may be worse).

But the experiments are not compatible with the hypothesis that passive smokers have a doubled risk (or, on the contrary, halved risk) of lung cancer, for example!

That's an important point that will lead you, if you're rational, to realize that the change of lung cancer risks isn't a rational reason to avoid second-hand smoke! There may be other reasons but this simply ain't one of them because if the influence exists, it is weaker than the "noise". Because of genetic and other differences, you may have a 4 times higher risk or 3 times lower risk to develop lung cancer than your friend. You don't really know what the chance is but whether you change the risk by 10% isn't a real issue and if you're unpleasant to your environment because of this small correction to the noise, you may be rightfully viewed as an intolerant jerk. This may increase the chances that someone will kill you so you may be actually shortening your life by being nasty to smokers around you.

But such "systemic causes" that increase the chances of something bad do exist. I could surely find better examples than the second-hand smoke. The society wants to thrive "statistically" so it may invent various policies that "encourage" the systemic causes of good things and "discourage" systemic causes of bad things. But it's important that such legislation shouldn't be dogmatic, black-and-white, and mindless.

Various processes we have may have "good systemic consequences" (good events whose probability is increased by the cause) as well as "bad systemic consequences" (the bad events whose chance is increased by the cause). Both of them must be taken into account. I think that if the "good systemic consequences" prevail ? e.g. if we measure them in dollars ? it's utterly irrational and counterproductive to legally discourage such "systemic causes".

Needless to say, even if Sandy were fully caused by CO₂ emissions in 2012 ? in reality, not even 1% of it is "caused" by any carbon dioxide, whether one emitted in 2012 or any other previous year ? it would still fail to imply that it's irrational to regulate CO₂ using this Sandy justification. The damages caused by Sandy are of order $20 billion. Imagine that this happens every year. However, the damages caused by a full ban (or near-complete ban) on CO₂ would be several trillion dollars a year just for the U.S. So even if you believed the totally indefensible hypothesis that "CO₂ is the systemic cause behind most Sandy-like hurricanes", it would still be indefensible to introduce laws that (almost) outlaw the carbon dioxide. The actual cost-and-benefits analysis implies that the ban would be at least 3 orders of magnitude more costly than the "damages" it tries to mitigate.

In some cases, we may find out that it's plausible that some acts contribute as "systemic causes" to some undesired consequences. In those cases, it could make sense to create laws that would force the "perpetrators" of the acts identified as "systemic causes" to pay for a corresponding fraction of the damages of the consequences that were "partly or statistically" caused by the acts.

Let me give you an example. Imagine that there's some breakthrough or change and evidence accumulates that 10% of hurricanes like Sandy are caused by the CO₂ emissions. If this were true ? and I don't believe that the current science suggests anything of the sort but just imagine that it will do so in the future ? then it would make sense to introduce legislation that would force the CO₂ emitters to pay 10% of the damages caused by future hurricanes similar to Sandy. (Without a new law, prosecution must remain impossible. A judge simply can't prosecute someone for some previously unencountered "systemic causes" because the "guilt" can't be reliably demonstrated so any "guilty" verdict would conflict with the presumption of innocence!)

For "another Sandy" whose damages are $20 billion or so, the "club of all the world's CO₂ emitters" would be ordered to pay $2 billion to the fund for the victims of "another Sandy". It would save some money to the insurers and others.

You surely see where I am going. My point is that even if science accumulated evidence that CO₂ helps to strengthen similar hurricanes or increase their number, the extra fees that the CO₂ emitters after a similar hurricane would have to pay would be totally negligible and they wouldn't change anything whatsoever about their business. Every year, the world's CO₂ emitters would pay some extra $2 billion for an Atlantic hurricane, perhaps another billion for another weather event that would be partly blamed on them, and so on. So they could share a $5 billion fine a year.

That's totally negligible because they ? and we ? collectively waste hundreds of billions of dollars a year by carbon markets and similar policies to regulate the CO₂ emissions.

Even if you decided that the largest hurricanes we experience are partially ? significantly ? "systemically caused" by CO₂, the damages would still be vastly smaller than the costs of the war on CO₂. The insane people who defend the policies regulating CO₂ need much more than an indefensible attribution of weather events to the gas we call life: they need to invent tons of events and devastation that doesn't exist at all. They need a full, unrestricted demagogy. They are living outside the reality and their survival depends on their complete separation from the reality and from the truth.

It's very important to keep all those events and hypothetical causal relationships in the context and to assign them numbers. Even if human lives are at stake, you must talk about numbers. You either count the human lives separately or identify a human life with XY million dollars, whatever the right number is, but it's totally critical to do so and to preserve a rational thinking at every step. The failure to do so opens the door to the demagogy by unhinged medieval superstitious assholes such as the scum that wants to fight against the carbon dioxide. And once these jerks see the open door, they won't hesitate to scream that an influence that is actually very insignificant, cheap, and de facto negligible (for the mankind and for the CO₂ emitters) is practically infinite and Universe-threatening and enough for them to demand everything, ban anything they want, and become de facto dictators of the society.

We mustn't allow anything of the sort. We must preserve the rational and quantitative reasoning. If we manage to do so, we will inevitably protect our legal systems and habits from counterproductive policies such as the carbon regulation ? and from many other bad rules that refer to "externalities" and similar things that are actually negligible if looked at properly.

And that's the memo.

Source: http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/10/was-sandy-systematically-caused-by-co-2.html

jr smith chris anderson rondo suspended bay bridge downton abbey season 3 presidents day band of brothers

Hurricane Sandy disrupts Northeast U.S. telecom networks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Power outages and flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy disrupted telecommunications services in Northeastern states on Tuesday, resulting in spotty coverage for cellphones, television, home telephones and Internet services.

While all the region's telecom service providers were having problems, Verizon Communications, which serves many of the states in the hurricane's path, may have suffered some of the worst damage from the storm to its wireline network.

About 25 percent of the region's wireless cell towers were out of action after the storm and some 911 emergency call centers were not working, according to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

"Our assumption is that communications outages could get worse before they get better," Genachowski told reporters on a conference call, noting that the storm had not ended.

Also power outages could disrupt more cell sites if they run out of back-up power before commercial electricity services are up and running again.

People lined up at pay-phones in at least one New York neighborhood, the Lower East Side, today as their phones had either lost coverage or they had run out of battery power because there was nowhere to charge their phones in the neighborhood which had lost commercial power.

New York-based Verizon said the storm caused flooding at three Verizon central offices that hold telecom equipment in Lower Manhattan as well as sites in Queens and Long Island.

Its downtown headquarters, which was put out of action 11 years ago by the September 11 attacks, had three feet of water in the lobby at one point. Because of flooding, all its telecom equipment at that office, which serves much of Wall Street and downtown consumers, was knocked out of service.

The company said it was working on pumping out the water in the hope that it could restart its back-up power generators in the facility as commercial power services were not yet restored the morning after the big storm hit.

"The bullseye of the impact is the metro area," said spokesman William Kula, adding that restoring service for the city's financial district was a top priority for Verizon.

Telecom disruptions affect electronic trading as well as corporate operators. The chief operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange, which is expected to open Wednesday, said "lots of telecom infrastructure is down" and that the NYSE was working with big firms to ensure they were doing testing of their systems.

Verizon did not give an estimate as to how many businesses and consumers were affected. Two of three Manhattan central offices were partially flooded and operating minimal services.

Customers served by the damaged central offices will experience "a loss of all services" including TV, Internet, and traditional telephone services, Kula said. Some customers may experience intermittent busy signals for non-emergency calls.

Verizon said its engineers were working on assessing the damage from the early hours. Outside of New York, the company warned that it was also having some trouble.

"Verizon is discovering that many poles and power lines/Verizon cables are down throughout the region due to heavy winds and falling trees," the company said in a statement.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA said they were dealing with wireless service problems in the hurricane region. Cable operators Cablevision Systems Corp, Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable also said they were having service problems.

"I think everybody's equipment's going to be damaged, including cellphone towers," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King said from his Verizon Wireless cellphone in Baltimore.

"Particularly for Verizon, they're clearly going to have the most damage on the wireline side because its pretty much all of their territory (where the storm hit)," King said.

Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider said it was seeing outages at some cell sites because of the power outages across all the states in Sandy's path including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maryland, North Virginia and New England.

"(Repair crews) have started on some critical areas but they haven't been able to get to everywhere they need to be," spokeswoman Crystal Davis said. She noted that 80 of the company's stores would reopen at noon. Sprint had closed about 180 stores ahead of the storm.

T-Mobile USA said that "customers may be experiencing service disruptions or an inability to access service in some areas, especially those that were hardest hit by the storm."

People complained of outages to their cable telephone, Internet and television services from providers including Comcast, Cablevision and Verizon in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York.

Cablevision said it was experiencing widespread service interruptions primarily related to loss of power. The company said it is working to restore services.

Comcast, whose headquarters is in Philadelphia and serves East Coast states, said that for the majority of customers, "Comcast service should be restored as power comes back on to their homes."

Cellphone service was spotty for top wireless providers Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, according to some customers.

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, said on Tuesday afternoon that customers may be experiencing service issues and that about 94 percent of its cell sites were up and running.

AT&T said it was experiencing some issues in areas heavily affected by the storm. By Tuesday morning, spokesman Mark Siegel said AT&T was in the initial stages of on-the-ground assessment and that it expected "crews will be working around the clock to restore service."

Several Time Warner Cable customers in Brooklyn said that their Internet, television and phone services stopped working Monday night but were back again by Tuesday morning.

Time Warner Cable said that while it has not seen any major damage to its infrastructure, its customers who do not have electricity do not have cable services.

Millions of people in the eastern United States awoke on Tuesday to flooded homes, fallen trees and widespread power outages caused by Sandy, which swamped New York City's subway system and submerged streets in Manhattan's financial district.

At least 30 people were reported killed in the United States by one of the biggest storms to ever hit the country. Sandy dropped just below hurricane status before making landfall on Monday night in New Jersey.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba, Liana Baker, Katya Wachtel in New York, Dian Bartz in Washington DC and many other Reuters reporters around the hurricane region; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-sandy-disrupts-northeast-telecom-networks-134150463--sector.html

brock lesnar retires new years wake forest wake forest old dominion insync the duchess

Out to Crunch: U.S. Energy Department Unleashes Its Titan Supercomputer

When fully operational, Titan will use a combination of computer and graphics processors to surpass the world's fastest supercomputers

By Larry Greenemeier

TITANIC: When fully brought up to speed Titan will be capable of more than 20 quadrillion calculations per second, or 20 petaflops. One of Titan's roles will be to help Oak Ridge researchers visualize reactor core simulations. Image: Courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory

In 2005 engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DoE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory unveiled Jaguar, a system that would later be upgraded into a world-beating supercomputer. By 2011 it had grown to a room-size system that used seven megawatts of energy, ran nearly 225,000 processor cores and had a peak performance of 2.3 petaflops, or 2.3 quadrillion calculations per second. Topping Jaguar, albeit necessary to deliver ever more complex modeling of sophisticated energy challenges, would not be easy.
?
Simply adding more CPUs, or central processing units, to scale Jaguar to 20 petaflops would require enough energy to power 60,000 homes. To best their own record, the Oak Ridge engineers instead turned to video games?or more precisely, to the graphics processors used in Microsoft Xboxes, Nintendo Wiis and other video game systems.
?
As of Monday Jaguar becomes Titan, a supercomputer that leverages both CPU and GPU (graphics processing unit) accelerators to deliver 10 times the performance of Jaguar with more than five times the power efficiency.
?
The key to Titan's speed and efficiency is a design that uses more than 18,500 NVIDIA GPUs, along with nearly 300,000 CPU cores, which typically form the foundation of high-performance computers. The GPUs account for about 90 percent of the system's computational performance and enable Titan to remain roughly the same size as Jaguar.
?
When fully brought up to speed, Titan (a Cray XK7 system) promises to be the world's most powerful open-science supercomputer, even more powerful than the DoE's Sequoia, a 16.3-petaflop IBM Blue Gene/Q system crowned the world's fastest supercomputer in June. Sequoia differs from Jaguar/Titan, which placed sixth on the list, in that Sequoia is used exclusively by the DoE's National Nuclear Security Administration to monitor U.S. nukes. Titan will be used by a variety of researchers for a variety of projects.
?
Titan will initially support a handful of key projects at Oak Ridge, including Denovo, simulation software that models the behavior of neutrons in a nuclear power reactor. Oak Ridge's engineers designed Denovo for Jaguar as a way to help extend the lives of the U.S.'s aging nuclear power plants, which provide about a fifth of the country's electricity. Running Denovo, Titan will take 13 hours to model the complete state of a reactor core at a specified point in time, a job that took Jaguar 60 hours to perform.
?
"The ability to burn nuclear fuel uniformly is very much dependent on knowing and being able to predict the distribution of neutrons in the core," says Tom Evans, a computational scientist at Oak Ridge's Consortium for the Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), which created Denovo. Titan will enable much more precise simulations.
?
Titan calculations will also be used to provide nanoscale analysis of materials used to build electric motors and generators as well as model the burning of a variety of fuels in internal combustion engines. Still another application will simulate long-term global climate. A sizable amount of Titan's capacity in the coming year will be devoted to the DoE's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program (INCITE), which invites academia, government researchers and industry to apply for access to the supercomputer for their various projects.
?
The performance comes at a price, however. Because Jaguar used only CPUs, its computer architecture was simpler, which in turn made it easier to write its software. "The algorithmic complexity to write that code for a machine like Titan is momentous," Evans says. "For us, first and foremost is getting the CPUs and GPUs to work together."
?
Titan may be cutting edge, but Evans already has a hankering for more computational power. Ideally, Evans and his team want to do complete, high-fidelity 3-D simulations over a full reactor depletion cycle, which requires calculations at many reaction state points?not just a single point in time. Despite its horsepower, even Titan may not be able to achieve this. "We want to push the envelope, but the reality is that Titan's not going to get us there yet," Evans says. The computing resources required to do this are significant, and Evans points out that he and his team don't have Titan all to themselves. It looks like the engineers had better get cracking on Titan's successor.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c09190b6125c0d3104344f41eadc7bb8

jennifer garner romney michigan derrick williams railgun jk rowling new book between two ferns ihop

BestThinking / Thinkers / Arts & Entertainment / Literature / Fiction ...

Oct. 30, 2012 2:03 pm

With only a few days to go until the Presidential election, as usual each side is convinced that if the other candidate wins it will be a calamity for the country. You know how it goes: Barack Obama, socialist, dangerous foreigner, and architect of towering deficits versus Mitt Romney, who never had a belief that he couldn't deny he ever had, a man who turned memory loss into campaign strategy. ...? Read?More

Sep. 25, 2012 2:42 pm

As we get ready for three television debates between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, much is being written about the first one between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon 52 years ago. The problem is that so much of it is wrong. Rarely have so many inaccuracies become part of an event's mythology. Over the years I've written about the pivotal Kennedy-Nixon debate several times. I watched it twice...? Read?More

Aug. 27, 2012 5:31 pm

When Steve Jobs died, a satrical publication called The Onion lamented that Jobs was the last American who knew what the hell he was doing. It was a different time and a different world, but Neil Armstrong, who died August 25 at 82, knew what he was doing, too. The first man to walk on the moon; it doesn't get any better than that. In this utterly dispiriting presidential campaign - something...? Read?More

Aug. 21, 2012 5:26 pm

Scott McKenzie may have died, which he did a few days back at the age of 73, but his song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) lives on, which is too bad because I hate the damn thing. Always have, by the way. I am no Robert-come-lately. I hated it as much in the summer of 1967, when it first abraded the nation's ears, as I do now. That song has more sap than an entire forest...? Read?More

Aug. 16, 2012 1:47 pm

We live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which bills itself as "The City Different" - and let me tell you, it isn't kidding. Don't misunderstand - after more than three years, we love it here. Great sunsets, great food, lots of art, very outdoorsy. But to call Santa Fe different doesn't get the job done. This place is nuts. Let me offer some examples: The Woo Woo Factor We lived in California for...? Read?More

Aug. 8, 2012 4:01 pm

I don't watch much television news and every so often it's good to be reminded why. A couple of days ago two self-inflating gas bags on Fox News - where else? - were releasing hot air all over Gabby Douglas and her double gold medal-winning gymnastics performance at the London Olympics. Alisyn Camerota, guest host of Fox's "America Live," pointed out that it was noticed by "some folks,"...? Read?More

Jul. 19, 2012 3:23 pm

You probably weren't at all wondering why 90-plus year old British mystery writer P. D. James thought I was gay. That's okay, I gave it enough thought for all of us. Me, my wife, Dana, and another couple recently indulged ourselves in a trans-Atlantic cruise from New York City to Great Britain via the Queen Mary II. Unlike the standard port-a-day cruises, we got on the ship in New York City and...? Read?More

Jun. 7, 2012 3:08 pm

It seemed as if the great Ray Bradbury always was and always would be, and it does not seem possible that he could die. Many will praise the extraordinary literary legacy he left behind with his death at age 91 - more than 27 novels, 600 short stories, and many classic short story collections, including "The Martian Chronicles," "Fahrenheit 451," "Dandelion Wine," and one of the the greatest...? Read?More

May 28, 2012 4:13 pm

And so, like the song says, another one bites the dust. In this case, "another one" is the New Orleans Times-Picayune, which sometime this fall will go out of business as a daily newspaper, leaving New Orleans as the largest city in the country without one. We should be used to this by now. The newspapers that now Rest In Peace include the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, the Seattle...? Read?More

May 23, 2012 1:10 pm

There was a time, back long before the earth cooled, when you had to get up to change the channel! What! those who are not of a certain age may cry. Impossible! The horror! The brutality of it all! Trust me, it's in all the history books. And who is the man who helped lead us out of this dark and terrifying time? I give you Eugene Polley, inventor of the first wireless channel changer,...? Read?More

May 6, 2012 2:18 pm

A friend recently sent me a copy of an essay by the writer Hilary Mantel that confronted a problem faced by all historical novelists: How did those people talk? As Mantel, author of the excellent novel "Wolf Hall," pointed out, in any era the language in preserved letters, speeches and documents is much more formal than how people really spoke to each other. In Mantel's case, that era is Tudor...? Read?More

May 4, 2012 12:13 pm

I have been asked time and time again - that makes twice - why I was interested in writing two novels about Sam Houston, a man whose name is well known but without anything specific coming to mind for most people. Which is one reason I wanted to write about him. He was, to say the least, colorful, which makes writing about him a lot more enjoyable. I'm sure there are people who yearn to write...? Read?More

Source: http://www.bestthinking.com/thinkers/arts_and_entertainment/literature/fiction_and_literature/robert-wisehart?tab=blog&item=18883

johnny knox johnny knox bonjovi bonjovi antonio brown martial law is jon bon jovi dead

BBC iPlayer comes to Sky+, Hell reports incoming frost

The BBC and Sky may represent polar, warring opposites of the broadcasting business, but that doesn't mean their technology platforms can't get along. Following a promise made all the way back in January, internet-connected Sky+HD boxes will be able to access BBC iPlayer from today. The service has been integrated into Sky's world-class program guide, with users even able to plump to catch available shows in high definition. The announcement also let slip that 4OD, the last remaining holdout to the service, will be added in early 2013. If you've yet to hook your Sky box up to the internet, you just need an Ethernet cable or wireless adapter -- but let's hope for your sake they aren't at opposite ends of your house.

Continue reading BBC iPlayer comes to Sky+, Hell reports incoming frost

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

BBC iPlayer comes to Sky+, Hell reports incoming frost originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sky  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/iplayer-sky-hd/

Allison Schmitt Olympic Schedule Kyla Ross Ryan Lochte Montenegro Olympic Games Dana Vollmer

DeMarco: Giants prove pitching and defense wins

New champions were built on perhaps the most-fundamental principle in the game

OPINION

By Tony DeMarco

NBCSports.com contributor

updated 2:52 a.m. ET Oct. 29, 2012

Tony DeMarco

DETROIT - There are things about the San Francisco Giants that other organizations just aren't going to try.

Over the years, the Giants have attempted to curb Pablo Sandoval's appetite and change his work habits, but in the end, they let Panda be Panda, and mature on his own.

Because when he gets hot, he can carry a team through a postseason by hitting .364 with 11 extra-base hits and 13 RBI in 16 games, and win a World Series MVP award with a three-homer game, .500 batting average and four RBI.

After nine teams passed on a skinny little right-hander in the 2006 amateur draft, the Giants weren't afraid to pull the trigger on Tim Lincecum.

Two Cy Young Awards later, he unselfishly turns in a string of dominant postseason relief appearances, the last two of which were key wins in a World Series sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

And there is no looser, more tolerant atmosphere around any organization. It's one that fosters a colorful cast of mostly bearded characters who aren't necessarily fit, say, for the uptight professionalism around Yankee Stadium.

But another by-product is an always-have-fun-mentality that can shake off pressure and help in winning six postseason elimination games.

So maybe the Giants, who put away the Tigers with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings on Sunday night, aren't going to be the MLB model organization everybody tries to emulate. But two World Series titles in three years say they know what works for them, and they're doing it right.

"Two out of the three years; it's amazing,'' manager Bruce Bochy said. "Believe me, I know how difficult it is to get here. It's pretty remarkable what these guys have done.''

But the closer you look, the more you realize that for all their eccentricities, the Giants are built on perhaps the most-fundamental principle in the game ? pitching and defense wins.

It was around the time back in October of 2006 when senior vice president/general manager Brian Sabean swiftly scooped up Bruce Bochy to replace retiring manager Felipe Alou that the Giants committed to a makeover.

Partially by choice, and partially dictated by their unforgiving AT&T Park ? the toughest place in which to hit a home run this season ? the Giants knew they had to transform from more of a slugging, station-to-station team to a more athletic one that was led by its pitching staff.

And then they went out and executed the plan. Do pitching and defense ever go out of style, Mr. Sabean?

"No, because we're proving they haven't ? at the right time, and in the biggest games,'' he said. "In our park, in our division, you're crazy not to build (around) a pitching staff. If you pick up the ball, you're in most games. We play a lot of close games in our division.''

And in the postseason, too. A postseason that ended with the Giants on a seven-game winning streak that began in Game 5 of the NLCS; a streak during which they allowed 0, 1, 0, 3, 0, 0 and 3 runs.

"When pitching is your strength, you want a good defense,'' Bochy said. "As long as you can stay in games, the better chance you have of winning them. That's how we play.''

I think our defense saved us in every game. The double plays, the plays (Gregor) Blanco made, the plays (Brandon) Crawford made, really everybody.''

And when you look at the Giants' Game 4 lineup, you see exactly how Sabean's plan has come together.

Ace Matt Cain, the longest-tenured Giant on the roster as the club's No. 1 pick in the June 2002 draft. He was the first of the rotation's first-round picks, followed by Lincecum in 2006 and Madison Bumgarner in 2007.

When you add likely NL MVP Buster Posey (first round, 2008) into the equation, as well as Crawford (fourth round, 2008) and Brandon Belt (fifth round, nine), that's enviable draft-and-development success.

Crawford went to spring training without a roster spot guaranteed, and knowing he would struggle offensively at times, the Giants kept him around anyway. The reason ? all you had to do was watch him play shortstop in this series. It won't be a surprise if he's a Gold Glove Award winner in the near future.

Gregor Blanco was signed as a free agent last winter, and was nothing more than a fourth outfielder until the July 31 Melky Cabrera suspension. That emphasis on defense kept the Giants from dealing for a pricier, more-offense-oriented replacement for Cabrera.

Instead, they traded for Marco Scutaro, who never stopped delivering in key situations and playing excellent defense after he came over from the Colorado Rockies. Scutaro, 36, long has been a solid, fundamentally sound player, but he quickly earned the nickname 'Blockbuster' (as in the Giants' big blockbuster acquisition).

So who else but Scutaro ? the NLCS MVP ? who delivered the game-winning hit Sunday, a single in front of Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson that scored Ryan Theriot.

"You get worried when a guy like that comes up; you think maybe he's used them all up,'' Cain said. "But he had one more left, and it was the biggest one we needed.''

Added Bochy: "I knew he was a good player. But I didn't realize how good he was until I saw him on a daily basis. He's a guy you want up there in that situation.''

? 2012 NBC Sports.com? Reprints

advertisement

More news

How sweep it is!

After surviving deficits in first two playoff series, S.F. sweeps Detroit to capture second?World Series?in three years.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49592578/ns/sports-baseball/

jonathan frid pujols watchmen hitch justin beiber lamar odom perfect game

Orphan Sunday is Nov. 4 | TFI Family Services, Inc.

TFI Family Services joins Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, in the promotion of adoption through Orphan Sunday.

A message from Secretary Gilmore:

Right now there are about 389 Kansas children awaiting a forever family. In social-work speak we say they?re without an ?adoptive resource,? meaning there?s no foster care parent or relative to adopt them. They are kids who need loving, attentive parents.

Regardless of how you characterize them, we at the Department for Children and Families think 389 children without a permanent home is 389 too many. We?d rather that number be zero. That is why we place such strong emphasis on National Adoption Month in November.

During National Adoption Month, Kansas families that already are committed to adoption across the state will take the last step in the process together, finalizing their adoptions alongside friends and relatives. Undoubtedly, there will be many joyous smiles and happy tears.

Adoption Month is also a chance for us to shine a spotlight on the beauty of adoption and ask others to step forward and grow their families. We want Kansans to examine their lives and their hearts and ask themselves if there?s room to provide a permanent, loving home for a child or children who have none.

That?s where you come in. We would like you to help us promote the adoption of children in Kansas. On Sunday, November 4, many churches across the state are having Orphan Sunday, dedicated to finding families for children in need of loving, permanent homes. What we?re asking is pretty simple. We?d like churches to devote a portion of their service to showing a one-minute video, and to talking about the importance of adoption.

Could you help us spread the word to the churches in your network about Orphan Sunday?

During the service, here are a few facts about adoption the churches can mention:

• Adoption through the state is affordable. Instead of $30,000 as is often the case in private adoption, public adoption costs little or nothing. In addition, many children and sibling groups are eligible for adoption subsidies.
• It is legally secure to adopt through the state.
• Many older children can get free tuition at any state college or university.
• There is a community of support for adoptive families in Kansas. Families who take the step towards adoption will not be alone.

We?d like churches to put the database of children who are eligible for adoption (www.adoptkskids.org) in their Sunday bulletin and on their website screens so parents who are interested in adoption can find out more and take the first step.

You can also show the video to the volunteers and workers in your organization, and help direct them to the adoptKSkids.org website.

We appreciate your help taking care of the orphans in our state. These children are so precious, and they deserve a warm, loving home. Let?s help them find one.

With sincerest gratitude,

Phyllis Gilmore

Source: http://www.tfifamilyservices.org/?p=3095&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=orphan-sunday-is-nov-4

angelman syndrome total recall troy tulowitzki katie couric good morning america the rock vs john cena acm awards 2012 january jones

California ballot measures draw free-spending billionaires (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/259137887?client_source=feed&format=rss

etta james songs east west shrine game haywire underworld awakening dog the bounty hunter tacoma narrows bridge weather nyc

The Best Ski Vacation Possible! | travel and leisure article updates

By Martin C. Lunden

Since the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler has continued to secure the spot for one of the most amazing vacation destinations in the world. Just a short two hour drive from Vancouver gets you to Whistler Village, the top ski destination year after year. It has become an icon in the ski resort industry.

Peak 2 Peak Gondola

In the old days, you couldn't really ski both mountains on the same day. You had to pick one or the other. That was just the reality of the landscape. With the vastness of the mountains, there was simply not enough time to ski both. The travel time between the two would eat up most of your day. But the Peak 2 Peak gondola, a two-mile, 11-minute horizontal journey that joins the two mountains, made that choice between the two mountains unnecessary. This amazing gondola can move 4,100 people per hour from mountain to mountain. If you are the adventurous type, be sure to check out the cabins with a glass bottom. You'll have a view unlike any other you've experienced.

It is Kid's Friendly

The Ski and Snowboard School is one of the largest in the world and it has an excellent reputation. It's a great opportunity to get your youngsters interested in skiing from world class instructors. Children of all ages will love the facilities including a Magic Castle on Blackcomb Mountain and hidden Tree Fort on Whistler Mountain.

Shop, Shop, Shop

There are over 200 shops in Whistler. Despite having a fairly small local population, the shops are varied and the quality is exceptional. The tourist class certainly feeds these shops. You can purchase whatever you need for your skiing or snowboarding in local shops throughout the village.

Eating Out

If you think you are limited to burgers and beer on the mountain, think again. Whistler has an amazing assortment of dining choices for any palate. You may be surprised at the number of choices you have. They include pubs, casual restaurants, and fine dining alternatives. Visitors will find flavours from near and far on offer in Whistler's varied eateries. You can enjoy Japanese food, savor world class Italian cuisine, or enjoy Pacific Northwest inspired dishes.

Nightlife

If you're looking for a wild night out, you won't have to look to far in Whistler. There is something for everyone here. Whether you are into live music, the club scene, or a quiet jazz band, Whistler has it. Be sure that you don't overlook the famous pubs of Whistler. They are sure to please and the food is second to none. Nightclubs in Whistler close at 2am (Sundays at 1am). And a further mention of early hours, the bars close at one in the morning, although patios usually close an hour earlier.

Source: http://travel-leisure-updates.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-best-ski-vacation-possible.html

robert deniro mexico news the talented mr ripley weather new orleans orcl the hartford illinois primary 2012