Stricken

Even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret could not stay hidden forever. The new family was different, and their claiming was near. Light Caster or Dark Caster?

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Stricken?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Rene

Member for 0 years

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Hi there! I'd like to reserve a caster boy, if that would be all right. I also have a couple of questions.

Are there limits on what sort of supernatural they can be, or what their powers are? Also, are anime pictures allowed?

EDIT: Silly me. I just read the character sheet. >.<

X64

Member for 1 years

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X64 wrote:Hi there! I'd like to reserve a caster boy, if that would be all right. I also have a couple of questions.

Are there limits on what sort of supernatural they can be, or what their powers are? Also, are anime pictures allowed?

EDIT: Silly me. I just read the character sheet. >.<

Oops! Silly me, too! I totally forgot to put up the powers list.... You can make up some power for now, like controlling an element or reading minds or something like that. But when the Claiming happens, which I will explain later, they will gain more power. So, just one supernatural ability for now! Thanks for reserving a character!

Rene

Member for 0 years

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Thanks ^^ I'm working on the character now, (it takes me a while) but I'll be sure to keep a lookout for the power list just in case.

X64

Member for 1 years

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X64 wrote:Thanks ^^ I'm working on the character now, (it takes me a while) but I'll be sure to keep a lookout for the power list just in case.

EEP! Really excited...!

Rene

Member for 0 years

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Might I reserve a caster girl? :) This looks to be quite interesting!

CortezHorse

Member for 2 years

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CortezHorse wrote:Might I reserve a caster girl? :) This looks to be quite interesting!

Of course! And, thank you!

Rene

Member for 0 years

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Wow, this is a very nice looking roleplay. Can I reverse a teen boy please? :D

FollowerOfDarkPaths

Member for 0 years

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I would like to reserve a Caster girls? This Roleplay sounds pretty fun!

~The future is uncertain~

JxLucky

Member for 0 years

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FollowerOfDarkPaths wrote:Wow, this is a very nice looking roleplay. Can I reverse a teen boy please? :D

Thank you! Reserving it for you!

Rene

Member for 0 years

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JxLucky wrote:I would like to reserve a Caster girls? This Roleplay sounds pretty fun!

Happy to reserve the slot for you!

Rene

Member for 0 years

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New method of manufacturing smallest structures in electronics: Discovery could revolutionize semiconductors

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? A completely new method of manufacturing the smallest structures in electronics could make their manufacture thousands of times quicker, allowing for cheaper semiconductors. The findings have been published in the latest issue of Nature.

Instead of starting from a silicon wafer or other substrate, as is usual today, researchers have made it possible for the structures to grow from freely suspended nanoparticles of gold in a flowing gas.

Behind the discovery is Lars Samuelson, Professor of Semiconductor Physics at Lund University, Sweden, and head of the University's Nanometre Structure Consortium. He believes the technology will be ready for commercialisation in two to four years' time. A prototype for solar cells is expected to be completed in two years.

"When I first suggested the idea of getting rid of the substrate, people around me said 'you're out of your mind, Lars; that would never work'. When we tested the principle in one of our converted ovens at 400?C, the results were better than we could have dreamt of," he says.

"The basic idea was to let nanoparticles of gold serve as a substrate from which the semiconductors grow. This means that the accepted concepts really were turned upside down!"

Since then, the technology has been refined, patents have been obtained and further studies have been conducted. In the article in Nature, the researchers show how the growth can be controlled using temperature, time and the size of the gold nanoparticles.

Recently, they have also built a prototype machine with a specially built oven. Using a series of ovens, the researchers expect to be able to 'bake' the nanowires, as the structures are called, and thereby develop multiple variants, such as p-n diodes. A further advantage of the technology is avoiding the cost of expensive semiconductor wafers.

"In addition, the process is not only extremely quick, it is also continuous. Traditional manufacture of substrates is batch-based and is therefore much more time-consuming," adds Lars Samuelson.

At the moment, the researchers are working to develop a good method to capture the nanowires and make them self-assemble in an ordered manner on a specific surface. This could be glass, steel or another material suited to the purpose. The reason why no one has tested this method before, in the view of Professor Samuelson, is that today's method is so basic and obvious. Such things tend to be difficult to question.

However, the Lund researchers have a head start thanks to their parallel research based on an innovative method in the manufacture of nanowires on semiconductor wafers, known as epitaxy -- consequently, the researchers have chosen to call the new method aerotaxy. Instead of sculpting structures out of silicon or another semiconductor material, the structures are instead allowed to develop, atomic layer by atomic layer, through controlled self-organisation.

The structures are referred to as nanowires or nanorods. The breakthrough for these semiconductor structures came in 2002 and research on them is primarily carried out at Lund, Berkeley and Harvard universities.

The Lund researchers specialise in developing the physical and electrical properties of the wires, which helps create better and more energy-saving solar cells, LEDs, batteries and other electrical equipment that is now an integrated part of our lives.

Besides Lars Samuelson, the other authors of the article are: Magnus Heurlin, Martin Magnusson, David Lindgren, Martin Ek, Reine Wallenberg and Knut Deppert, all employed at Lund University, except for Martin Magnusson, who works at start-up company Sol Voltaics AB.

About semiconductors Semiconductors are materials that neither conduct electricity as well as metals, nor stop a current as effectively as insulators -- silicon and germanium are two examples. These properties may not sound attractive, but in actual fact they are excellent. The reason is that we can influence the conductive capacity of the materials, for example by introducing impurity atoms, known as doping. Materials with different types of doping can be combined to manufacture products such as transistors, solar cells or LEDs.

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Journal Reference:

1. Magnus Heurlin, Martin H. Magnusson, David Lindgren, Martin Ek, L. Reine Wallenberg, Knut Deppert, Lars Samuelson. Continuous gas-phase synthesis of nanowires with tunable properties. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11652

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/_Sy3gopuJIw/121128143942.htm

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More omnivore dilemmas: Seasonal diet changes can cause reproductive stress in primates

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? When seasonal changes affect food availability, omnivores like blue monkeys adapt by changing their diets, but such nutritional changes may impact female reproduction, according to research published November 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Steffen Foerster from Barnard College, and colleagues from Columbia University and the Smithsonian Institution.

The authors found that levels of fecal glucocorticoids (fGC), a stress marker, increased when female monkeys shifted their diet towards lower quality fallback foods, whereas the levels decreased when the monkeys had access to preferred foods like insects, fruits and young leaves.

They also found that lactating females and those in the later stages of pregnancy showed greater increases in the stress marker than females who were not in these stages of reproduction. According to the authors, their results suggest that these seasonal changes in food availability may affect inter-birth intervals in these primates, and also affect the timing of infant independence from mothers.

Foerster adds, ""While it was interesting to find that even subtle changes in dietary composition may have strong effects on female reproductive decisions, it is equally noteworthy that social stress was almost entirely absent from blue monkey societies. Our study makes the point that integrating behavioral, ecological, and hormonal measures can reveal adaptive behavioral and reproductive strategies that would otherwise be difficult to discern."

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Journal Reference:

1. Steffen Foerster, Marina Cords, Steven L. Monfort. Seasonal Energetic Stress in a Tropical Forest Primate: Proximate Causes and Evolutionary Implications. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e50108 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050108

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/NFsqAA79Ps4/121128182947.htm

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First-ever hyperspectral images of Earth's auroras: New camera provides tantalizing clues of new atmospheric phenomenon

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Hoping to expand our understanding of auroras and other fleeting atmospheric events, a team of space-weather researchers designed and built NORUSCA II, a new camera with unprecedented capabilities that can simultaneously image multiple spectral bands, in essence different wavelengths or colors, of light. The camera was tested at the Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO) in Svalbard, Norway, where it produced the first-ever hyperspectral images of auroras -- commonly referred to as "the Northern (or Southern) Lights" -- and may already have revealed a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon.

Details on the camera and the results from its first images were published November 29 in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.

Auroras, nature's celestial fireworks, are created when charged particles from the Sun penetrate Earth's magnetic field. These shimmering displays in the night sky reveal important information about the Earth-Sun system and the way our planet responds to powerful solar storms. Current-generation cameras, however, are simply light buckets -- meaning they collect all the light together into one image -- and lack the ability to separately capture and analyze multiple slivers of the visible spectrum. That means if researchers want to study auroras by looking at specific bands or a small portion of the spectrum they would have to use a series of filters to block out the unwanted wavelengths.

The new NORUSCA II hyperspectral camera achieves the same result without any moving parts, using its advanced optics to switch among all of its 41 separate optical bands in a matter of microseconds, orders of magnitude faster than an ordinary camera. This opens up new possibilities for discovery by combining specific bands of the same ethereal phenomenon into one image, revealing previously hidden details.

"A standard filter wheel camera that typically uses six interference filters will not be able to spin the wheel fast enough compared to the NORUSCA II camera," said Fred Sigernes of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Norway. "This makes the new hyperspectral capability particularly useful for spectroscopy, because it can detect specific atmospheric constituents by their unique fingerprint, or wavelengths, in the light they emit."

These spectral signatures can then reveal subtle changes in atmospheric behavior, such as the ionization of gases during auroras. This form of multispectral imaging also will enable scientists to better classify auroras from background sky emissions and study the way they cluster in the atmosphere.

A New Phenomenon

On Jan. 24, 2012, during the inaugural research campaign of NORUSCA II, a major solar flare jettisoned a burst of high-energy particles known as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The CME eventually slammed into Earth's magnetic field, producing magnificent auroras and a chance to fully test the new camera.

The researchers were able to image the aurora in unprecedented clarity through a layer of low altitude clouds, which would have thwarted earlier-generation instruments (see Image 1). The camera also revealed something unexpected -- a very faint wave pattern of unknown origin in the lower atmosphere (see Image 2). The wave pattern resembles "airglow" -- the natural emission of light by Earth's atmosphere. Airglow can be produced by a variety of known sources, including cosmic rays striking the upper atmosphere and chemical reactions. Its concurrent appearance with the aurora suggests that it may also be caused by a previously unrecognized source.

"After the January CME, we think we saw an auroral-generated wave interaction with airglow," said Sigernes. This would be an entirely new phenomenon and if confirmed, would be the first time airglow has been associated with auroras.

"Our new all-sky camera opens up new frontiers of discovery and will help in the detection of auroras and the understanding of how our Sun impacts the atmosphere here on Earth. Additional development and commissioning will also hopefully verify our intriguing first results," concludes Sigernes.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/NnP1uPSdwfc/121129111839.htm

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Small sachets are big help for clean water in developing world

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Greg Allgood tears open a small sachet and dumps the powder into a large plastic container filled with brown, murky water. After about five minutes of stirring, clumps of sludge form and sink to the bottom as the water starts to clear.

"You let it settle, pour it through a cotton cloth and then you wait 20 minutes and it's ready to drink," said Allgood, the U.S.-based director of Procter & Gamble Co's not-for-profit programme to provide clean water in developing nations and disaster zones.

"We reverse engineered a municipal water treatment plant, so something that costs tens of millions of dollars we can make for three and a half cents."

P&G, a consumer products giant, works with international and local humanitarian groups such as Care, World Vision and Save the Children to get the sachets to areas where dirty water is a leading cause of illness and death.

One sachet purifies 10 liters (2.6 gallons) of water, enough for five people for one day, and it does not matter that the container and straining cloth are not clean. Shipping, duties and distribution, education and training by the groups on the ground take the final cost to about 10 U.S. cents per packet.

The dirt in Allgood's demonstration came from his garden, where his dog likes to romp. Iron sulphate is the coagulant that pulls together soil, heavy metals and parasites. Chlorine - a precise 80 granules per sachet - kills viruses and bacteria, including those that cause cholera.

"When the water is really dirty, there aren't a lot of low-cost technologies that work very well," Allgood, who has a PhD in toxicology and is P&G's point person in the Clinton Global Initiative, told Reuters in an interview before the formal opening of a new production plant in Singapore on Thursday.

"It seems strange to us but I hear it so many times - people see this and they say 'Oh my God, I was drinking dirty water'."

About 40 million sachets will be made this year at a plant in Pakistan and 100 million in Singapore, which is also P&G's global disaster relief hub. The goal is to make 200 million a year by 2020, equal to 2 billion liters of clean water.

Many of the sachets are sent to development projects in Africa and emerging Asian countries but were also handed out to people hit by floods and other disasters in Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Haiti, Allgood said.

Clean water is also vital to people with HIV/AIDS, he added, as their damaged immune systems make them very vulnerable to life-threatening diarrhoea and other infections.

"It goes well with Scotch," Allgood joked, handing over a glass of clear, clean water that had been dangerous to drink 30 minutes earlier and now had only a slight taste of chlorine.

In Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 2010, he said, the sachets were part of relief supplies and he visited tents for cholera victims, showing aid workers how the powder works.

"I grabbed a bucket out of the place where the effluent was from where they washed the clinic. I went and treated it and told the World Vision folks we had to drink it," he said. "They looked at me like I was crazy. But we did drink it."

(Reporting by John O'Callaghan, editing by Elaine Lies)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/small-sachets-big-help-clean-water-developing-world-062543313--finance.html

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Video: Cyber Monday Spotlights Digital Marketing

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Is early adoption a clever social media marketing strategy? Opinsy ...

Yet another social media platform was launched in October in the continual search for the next Facebook or YouTube. Is it a good idea for business to add a new platform to their social media marketing strategy or to adopt a wait and see policy?

Opinsy.com has a good pedigree, as it was set up by Ankur Shah, the Brit behind the Techligtenment, a social technology service which was later snapped up by credit agency Experian. Opinsy.com is aiming to harness online opinions in one single, and provide a platform for debate. Shah wants the site to become ?YouTube for opinions.? Can Opinsy.com become part of a social media marketing strategy?

For businesses, there are no hard and fast rules when considering which platforms to add to your strategy. Early adoption contains a certain element of risk, of course. New platforms come and go, and no business wants to waste time on platforms that are being used by themselves and a couple of techies in Silicon Valley. The advantage is that most new platforms are free for businesses, so the cost is measured in time rather than money. Getting in on the ground level will mean that you have built up considerable experience, collateral and good will by the time the platform goes global. If you are an early adopter, try to get yourself noticed by the developer.

Perhaps the first rule to apply for early adoption and incorporation into your social media marketing strategy is to decide the fit with your organisation and overall internet marketing strategy. For example, Opinsy.com realises that creating debate has commercial advantages ? the opinions garnered can drive aspects of your marketing and social media activity. You could also use the platform to market research new products and services, adverts or marketing campaigns, offers or incentives.

Early adoption can mean months of activity with very little response or engagement, but it can pay off. It?s a fact that the most popular platforms in 2022 will NOT be the most popular in 2012 but deciding where the changes will take place will produce plenty of expert ?opinion? and advice.

If you need any help with any aspect of your social media strategy, call us today.

Remember to watch this space as we will be releasing a range of online marketing blogs over the coming months. Our readers can also find our Opace Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/OpaceWebDesign. For all the latest goings on, you can keep up-to-date with Opace on Twitter https://twitter.com/OpaceWeb. And we also now have an Opace Google+ page live at https://plus.google.com/111516148099633923012.

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Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing, internet marketing strategies, Online Marketing, Opinsy, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Startegy, Web Marketing

Source: http://www.opace.co.uk/blog/is-early-adoption-a-clever-social-media-marketing-strategy

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Baby boomers turn to college to boost job skills | Fifty Plus Advocates

By Encarnacion Pylecolumbus

OHIO ?

Steve Newman never expected to be going back to college in his 50s to train for a new job.

But the 51-year-old also never expected to get laid off three years ago after 25 years as a civil engineer.

?Fortunately, my wife and I had been making provisions for an undefined emergency since the middle of the previous summer, so we were not without resources,? Newman said.

With high unemployment, low home values and downsized retirement accounts, hundreds of thousands of baby boomers are turning to college to boost their job skills. The number of students ages 50 to 64 increased 17 percent nationwide between fall 2007 and fall 2009, according to the latest data available from the National Center for Education Statistics.

The growth has been even more dramatic at Columbus State Community College. The number of students age 50 and older increased more than 81 percent, to 1,506 students, between fall 2007 and fall last year. That age group is the fastest growing population at the school.

?It used to be that many older adults came to college to help pass the time during their retirement and to enrich their lives,? said Chandra Bell, a counselor and career-assistance coordinator at Columbus State. But people are now coming back ?because they have lost their jobs, need new skills to keep their jobs or are planning a new career because they can?t afford to retire as planned,? Bell said.

With 78 million baby boomers entering their retirement years, the country needs more of these experienced workers to stay in the workforce longer, even in part-time positions, officials said.

?Keeping older workers engaged in the labor force is vital for the continued economic growth of our region,? said Bill LaFayette, a Columbus economist and owner of the consulting firm Regionomics.

The labor force growth rate has already been declining and is projected to slow to a crawl between 2020 and 2025 because of the exodus of baby boomers, he said.

With people living longer, healthier lives, there is also a new demand for programs designed to train the over-50 population, said Celia Crossley, a career strategist and managing partner of Crosworks.

Last year, about 36 percent of workers said they expected to keep working past age 65, compared with 20 percent in 2001, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

?It?s a different world today where 50 to 70 is considered the new ?middle age,? ? Crossley said.

Martha Harrison, 52, of Powell started playing with the idea of going back to college in 2005 after more than 20 years as a preschool teacher. She was motivated by two primary factors: money and a desire to get a counseling degree to help children deal with their increasingly complicated home lives.

?Preschool teachers barely make above minimum wage, which makes no sense when you think about taking care of someone?s most-valuable asset,? Harrison said.

She tried a few online psychology classes with a for-profit college in 2005 but didn?t really get started on her education until she enrolled at Columbus State?s Delaware campus in fall 2010. Harrison has enjoyed school so much she wants to transfer to Ohio State to work on a bachelor?s degree and eventually earn a master?s so she can become a school counselor. She isn?t daunted by her age.

?The way I look at it, people my age, we have maybe 25 or more years left of working in us, especially in something that we enjoy,? she said.

When Newman lost his job, he and his wife, Deb, who is a stay-at-home mom, had saved about half of what they thought they might need to sustain themselves for about six months with no other income.

?We were glad to have made such decisions, despite not having had time to complete our preparation,? he said.

Through friends, Newman immediately landed a job as a marketing director for a men?s legwear company in Granville. He took a job 11 months later as a traffic engineer for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

But neither worked out long term. So the father of four signed up for a free three-week program at Columbus State that was created to train dislocated workers in logistics ? the movement and storage of goods from the beginning to the end of a supply chain.

After the training, Newman got a job as an inventory specialist at ODW Logistics Inc. in Columbus. He then enrolled in a three-quarter-long online certificate program at Columbus State, which helped him move to a more-advanced job at the pharmaceutical company of Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc.

Even though Newman had earned a bachelor?s degree from Ohio State in 1984, going back to college was challenging, he said.

?In the past 13 days, I?ve had to read seven chapters, take nine quizzes, solve four sets of problems, take one midterm and two finals ? and that doesn?t even count working 40 hours and spending time with my family.?

Newman is just thankful for a second chance, even though he?s making $60,000 a year less than his peak salary as a civil engineer. He?s also looking forward to working his way up in what he hopes turns out to be a long, successful second career.

?Getting laid off was quite a blow,? he said. ?But finding something else to go after and making strides to move ahead has me feeling good again.? ? AP

Source: http://fiftyplusadvocate.com/archives/7270

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Give the gift of premium Web services

18 hrs.

Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker

As you're trying to come up with great gifts for the holidays, software likely isn't the first thing that comes to mind. It can make a great gift for the right person, though, especially when they're not willing to shell out the cash themselves (as so few people are). Here are some of our favorite (and your favorite) premium Web services that not only boost productivity, but dish out a little holiday cheer too.

Note: Most of these are monthly subscriptions, so you can gift them however you like. Giving someone a few months or a year of a service is a great gift that you can tweak for your budget, and leave yourself room for the same gift next year if they really like it.

If a service doesn't offer a gift option, you can always use a prepaid credit card and give it to them for use with the service you're gifting.

SUBSCRIPTIONS?UNDER $5 A MONTH?

A personalized domain name
It?may sound silly for the No.?1 item on our list, but it's the cheapest subscription you can give, costing only $3.99 a year (that's 33 cents a month), and it's something everyone should have. They may not know it, but a personalized domain name can come in extremely handy, and will only get more important as time goes on. They can post their online CV or resume there, redirect it to their Twitter or Facebook page, and further control how the Internet sees you. The quicker you snatch it up before someone else with the same name, the better. We've linked to Namecheap below, since that's your favorite domain registrar, but check out our Hive Five for a few other options.

Crashplan+
If you have a friend who still isn't backing up their data, it's the perfect time to give them the gift of bulletproof backup thanks to Crashplan. Even if they're backing up to an external drive, that isn't good enough???they need something in the cloud so no matter what happens, their backups are always accessible and they don't become another sad story of lost data. Crashplan is our favorite option, being cheap and easy to set up, so get them in the habit now. If you're particularly cheap, RobotTaco notes that you can get a free subscription right now from this page.

LastPass and Xmarks Premium
If you know someone with multiple computers, the gift of synchronization can be a wonderful thing. Give them a combined subscription to LastPass and Xmarks for their passwords, bookmarks, history, open tabs, and everything else so they're able to browse easily from any computer.?

Xmarks is convenient, but LastPass is the most important app here, as it gives you the enhanced security everyone should have???make sure they create good passwords and turn on two-factor authentication, while you're at it, so they don't fall prey to the ever-increasing number of hacks happening nowadays.?

The pro versions give you access to the mobile apps for each service, more secure two-factor authentication with a thumb drive or YubiKey, plus an ad-free experience and priority support. You can buy each service separately, but buying them both together gets you a pretty sweet discount.

Pandora One
Everyone loves Pandora, but no one likes ads interrupting their music. Reader jrod3737recommended a subscription to Pandora One as a gift for just about anyone: it not only ditches the ads, but lets you use the Pandora desktop client, customize your experience with skins, and listen to higher quality audio all day long. You can either buy a month-to-month subscription or grab an entire year for a discounted price.

Evernote Premium
Evernote is still your favorite note-taking application, and it's only gotten better lately. If you know someone that isn't using Evernote yet???particularly if they need some extra organization in their life??a subscription to Evernote Premium is a great way to get them started. A premium subscription gets you more space per month, offline notebooks, collaborative notes, better speed, PDF search, priority support, an ad-free experience, and more. It's the perfect way to take someone's organization from good to awesome with one simple download.

SUBSCRIPTIONS UNDER $10 A MONTH

Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime's combination of two-day shipping and sizable library of streaming TV shows and movies makes a fantastic gift for?...?well, anyone who ever uses Amazon. And if they don't use Amazon, they will once they can buy anything with free two-day shipping. Of course, you could always share your two-day shipping benefits with them, but getting them their own subscription lets them stream movies too, which is always nice???especially if they have a home theater PC or streaming set-top box in their living room.

Netflix and Hulu Plus
For the true TV addict, grab them a subscription to Netflix and/or Hulu Plus so they can watch all their favorite movies and TV shows on demand. Netflix is great for movies and TV shows alike, while Hulu Plus is particularly good for watching current seasons of shows as they air. Both subscriptions let you stream to a set-top box, too, and are the perfect companions for ditching an expensive cable subscription. Grab one or both for your friends and help set them free from the shackles of cable TV.

Spotify Premium
If your friend has truly embraced streaming and switched to Spotify for their music-listening needs, they need a premium subscription.?

Not only will it get rid of the ads (which the cheaper "Unlimited" subscription will also do), but it gives them higher-quality audio and lets them listen on their iPhone or Android phone, truly completing the Spotify experience.

?It may not be ready to replace most people's libraries, but if you know someone whose fallen in love with it, you should help them go all-out with a Premium subscription.?

Alternatively, if you don't like Spotify, you can grab them a subscription to one of the other great music services out there, like Grooveshark or Rdio.

FOR THE BIG SPENDERS: SUBSCRIPTIONS $10 A MONTH AND UP

A VPN for privacy and international browsing
A VPN (virtual private network)?may seem like an ultra geeky gift, but it's something not everyone knows they need, and nobody wants to pay for. However, it can be useful for all sorts of people, but especially good for users looking for an extra bit of privacy (like bittorrent users) or, as reader JeshuaSanmentions, those living internationally (who?want to watch Hulu or listen to Spotify when it isn't available in their country). Every user is different, so hit the link below to see some of the VPNs we recommend.

• Choose a VPN (Subscriptions range from $7.99/month to $38/month)
  

Extra Dropbox space
Dropbox is one of our all-time favorite Web services, and while you can grab a lot of space for free, sometimes you just need to pony up for a premium subscription. A subscription to expanded space can be great for students, video editors with large files, or people that just want to sync their large musicor photo libraries across computers. Alternatively, you can also grab someone one of the cheaper options, like Google Drive, Skydrive, or Box.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who provided suggestions last week! It made putting together these guides a lot easier, and a better fit for you.

More?from Lifehacker:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/give-gift-premium-web-services-1C7209890

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96% Sister

All Critics (46) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (2)

Seydoux perfectly captures the anger and self-defeat of ill-educated, hedonistic, man-chasing young women who live on the fringes.

L?a Seydoux fulfills Louise, and Kacey Mottet Klein, as Simon, is one more to join the pantheon of film's excellent child actors.

Haunting and sad. And absolutely worth seeing.

The chemistry between the two leads is a razor's-edge dance: feral, childish, tender and always complex.

Movies about wayward kids are a European specialty. The new film "Sister" deepens the specialty.

The influence of Belgian masters Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's documentary eye for youth on the margins is evident in Ursula Meier's calmly heartbreaking drama.

Emotionally engaging and impeccably crafted

Klein and Seydoux give such naturalistic performances that they're never overwhelmed by the spectacle.

"Sister" is loose and episodic, but held together with nicely sketched characters.

[A]voids bathos. . .reveals unexpected depth in a heartbreaking bond. . . Different classes conflict [in] adjacent spaces . . .in spare, realistic Dardennes' style.

Meier draws out wonderfully naturalistic performances from her young stars, with Mottet Klein particularly good as the young roustabout Simon ...

It comes over like a subtle short story and is well acted.

Meier's portrait of Simon ... is richly atmospheric and never sentimental.

An enigmatic, heartfelt account of a vulnerable young boy's yearning for a better life.

Most intriguing is how the writers and director have transformed what's essentially a rather dark, bleak story into something involving and emotionally resonant, all without ever turning sentimental.

It is an interesting and well-made movie, though with an uncertain ending.

Sister gradually reveals pattern in its tapestry of everyday life.

An expert piece of storytelling with a host of strong character turns and thematic depth to burn.

A healthy seam of mischief helps cut through the occasionally rote social comment.

An emotionally engaging, beautifully shot and impressively directed Dardennes-esque French drama with a superb script and excellent performances from Kacey Mottet Klein and L?a Seydoux.

An unusual, involving, slightly strained character study from Ursula Meier, the French director of 2008's satirical dystopia, 'Home'.

'Sister' often recalls the recent work of the Dardenne brothers of Belgium and that landmark of the French new wave, Francois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows' (1959).

Psychologically complex. You may be shocked, you may be moved, but you won't easily forget "Sister."

No quotes approved yet for Sister. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lenfant_den_haut/

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95% The House I Live In

All Critics (44) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (2)

The House I Live In is a work of journalism, not propaganda: Jarecki has done his research and leaves it to you to decide what to make of it.

If [it] takes a while to focus, it eventually becomes the conversation starter the subject desperately needs.

Jarecki takes a highly original approach to create a compelling, thought-provoking look at a highly relevant and controversial topic.

An absorbing, disturbing sit.

It's a film as profoundly sad as it is enraging and potentially galvanizing, and it's one of the most important pieces of nonfiction to hit the screen in years.

Jarecki's case is so compelling that, when he concludes by comparing the drug war to the Holocaust, the obvious charge of hyperbole doesn't quite stick.

An angry and personal attack on America's war on drugs contends it is a grotesquely wasteful public-works scheme.

Jarecki is a stickler for sticking to his subject, or sub-subject, until it squeals like a leech victim.

Jarecki offers 100 small conclusions rather than one big one for you to take away.

This urgent and formidably smart movie - perhaps the year's most important political documentary - has opened minds and changed laws already.

Tells a complex story with troubling ease.

Persuasively argues that punitive laws against users have historically involved disproportionately targeting poor, non-white communities.

Jarecki's parade of experts and eyewitnesses is impressive, as are his arguments that race and class prejudice enter into the policing efforts of America's drug warriors.

Jarecki's conclusion is powerfully plausible

There's no confusion about Jarecki's point of view in The House I Live In- he's out to make the case that America's drug laws cause far more damage, to individuals and communities, than drug use ever has

The film deserves credit for offering a unique perspective on a relevant social issue.

The House I Live In is depressing stuff, but it sparks the fires of anger, and from that anger, possible action.

This film could serve as a potent tool for those trying to change 40 years of public policy.

A thought-provoking, compelling documentary that encourages you to look at our national drug policy in a broader context.

Statistics abound in this thorough analysis of the declared war [on drugs] that, like Vietnam, we are losing.

A devastating dispatch from the front lines of America's war on drugs, the film tracks the rise of the prison-industrial complex as masterfully as the filmmaker's previous work took on its older military-industrial cousin.

You will hear a Lincoln historian, Richard Lawrence Miller, compare the War on Drugs to the Holocaust and be convinced. Then Jarecki finds a Lexington, Oklahoma corrections officer who finds his way to many of this man's same conclusions.

No quotes approved yet for The House I Live In. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_house_i_live_in/

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Play the Slate News Quiz

The Slate News Quiz always requires razor-sharp reflexes, but if you're still in a post-Thanksgiving food coma, fear not: This week's food news was a real pick-me-up. First, Hostess announced it was filing for bankruptcy, so reflex-dulling Twinkies and Ho Hos will soon be harder to find. And then Frito-Lay announced that caffeinated Cracker Jacks, of all things, will be hitting supermarket shelves soon. Snack food: The cause of, and solution to, all life's problems!

Question 1 of 12

What is the "Iron Dome," the subject of many headlines this week following a March 2011 debut?

The rocket defense system is said to have intercepted almost one thousand Gaza-launched rockets.

Question 2 of 12

An unemployed Scottish man named Armstrong Baillie made headlines worldwide this week for his practice of performing random good deeds whilst doing what?

Mr. Baillie, who calls himself "the Good Giraffe," travels the highways and byways of Scotland twice a week wearing a furry suit his mother made him.

Question 3 of 12

In a historic first this week, a Facebook poll was used to determine what outcome?

Despite the results of the poll, both "Cobbler" and his alternate "Gobbler" were spared and will live out their lives at Mount Vernon.

Question 4 of 12

President Obama's trip to Asia this week included the first ever visit to what nation by a sitting president?

Question 5 of 12

The largest criminal fine in United States history?$4.5 billion?was assessed last week against what company?

BP's fine was a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Question 6 of 12

George Sabra told reporters this week that a $60 billion "Marshall plan" of foreign aid will be needed to rebuild after what?

Sabra heads the Syrian National Council, a new coalition opposing the rule of Bashar al-Assad.

Question 7 of 12

A new analysis of the body of 16th-century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe disproved what historical theory about him?

Despite all the conspiracy theories surrounding Brahe's 1601 death, mercury levels in his bones were normal. His death was probably due to a boring old burst bladder.

Question 8 of 12

Whose resignation was prompted by accusations from a 24-year-old model and criminal psychology student named Cecil Singleton?

Clash was the voice and puppeteer of Sesame Street's Elmo for more than two decades.

Question 9 of 12

Of the 169 million smartphones sold last quarter worldwide, what was true of 72.4 percent of them, up from 52.5 percent last year?

Google Android is the operating system of choice for low-end smartphones, which top sales figures in many markets.

Question 10 of 12

Negotiations began this week to end a 50-year war between government troops and FARC guerrillas. FARC is an acronym for the "revolutionary armed forces" of where?

Question 11 of 12

Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee, now a fugitive wanted for murder in Belize, made the unusual decision this week to begin doing what?

For reasons known only to him, McAfee's new blog even includes descriptions of the disguises he's using to duck authorities.

Question 12 of 12

A Chinese construction company is planning a record-breaking 220-story building in Changsha, China next year. What will be most unusual about the building's construction?

Broad Sustainable Building announced last week that it will begin the Sky City skyscraper in January and finish it in March, by stacking prefabricated units.

You got 8 out of 12 answers correct in 20 minutes 30 seconds.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=dc18614d62074b5a20764609e2ddfc3d

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Food & Drink Innovation Network ? SPAR ANNOUNCES LIMITED ...

November 23rd, 2012

Spar UK is making its Christmas 2012 own label range more exciting this year in ?a bed to help retailers tap into the sales opportunities the festive season provides.

This year?s limited edition Christmas range will offer five limited edition sweet snacks: Iced Santa Gingerbread (RRP 80p), Iced Rudolph Shortbread (RRP 80p) both available on clip strips, Iced Cupcakes 4pk (RRP ?1), Chocolate Crispy Cakes 6pk (RRP ?1) and Mince Pies 6pk (RRP ?1).

The new own label products will be available in SPAR stores in November.

Spar brand director Susan Darbyshire said:

?While mince pies are crucial at this time of year, there are huge opportunities to tap into the ?1/2 million Christmas impulse market with our five new sweet snacking lines.?

Spar UK is also running a host of promotional offers across its wines ahead of Christmas, to boost sales during the party season.

Many of the wines on offer have been recognised by the international wine trade this year, winning awards at the International Wine & Spirits Competition, Decanter and the International Wine Challenge.

Related posts:

1. SPAR UNVEILS NEW WINTER PIE RANGE
2. SPAR UNVEILS LIMITED EDITION BRITISH SUMMER CUPCAKES
3. SPAR UNVEILS HALLOWEEN RANGE
4. Credit-crunch Christmas kicks off
5. PREMIER FOODS UNVEILS NEW CHRISTMAS 2011 RANGE
6. THE ORGANIC COLLECTION LAUNCHES CHRISTMAS PRODUCTS
7. HESTON BLUMENTHAL UNVEILS SQUARE MINCE PIES FOR CHRISTMAS 2011
8. TRUFREE RE-LAUNCHES GLUTEN FREE MINCE PIES

Source: http://www.fdin.org.uk/2012/11/spar-announces-limited-edition-christmas-range/

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Congo army fights back as rebels hold Goma

SAKE/GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congolese troops were fighting back on Thursday against rebels who rejected calls from African leaders to quit the eastern city of Goma, captured earlier this week.

Thousands of people fled the area of clashes around the town of Sake, as M23 rebel fighters rushed from Goma to reinforce their positions there against a counter-offensive by the army.

The rebel movement, widely believed to be backed by Rwanda, has vowed to "liberate" all of the vast, resource-rich country after taking Goma, a provincial capital on the Rwandan border, ramping up tensions in a fragile region.

The head of M23's political arm said the rebels would not retreat despite the call to do so from governments in central Africa, preferring to hold their ground until President Joseph Kabila opens direct talks with them: "We'll stay in Goma waiting for negotiations," Jean-Marie Runiga told Reuters in the city.

"They're going to attack us and we're going to defend ourselves and keep on advancing."

Rebel fighters seized the sprawling lakeside city of a million people on Tuesday after government soldiers retreated and U.N. peacekeepers gave up trying to defend it.

The next day the rebels moved in unopposed to Sake, a strategic town about 25 km (15 miles) west along the main road. It was there that government troops and allied militia were hitting back in fighting the flared up late on Wednesday.

Regional and international leaders have been scrambling to halt the fresh conflagration in the Great Lakes, a region of many colonial-era frontiers and long a tinderbox of ethnic and political conflict, fuelled by mineral deposits.

On Wednesday, foreign ministers from the states of the Great Lakes region demanded the rebels leave Goma and halt their advance, and Kabila - in a concession to the rebels that fell short of opening talks - promised to look into their grievances.

"I'm not confident, because I've already waited for three months in Kampala for talks," Runiga said of a recent spell in the capital of Uganda, which has tried to mediate in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Neighboring Uganda and Rwanda had no right to make demands of M23, added the group's political chief, who styles himself Bishop Runiga, a post he holds in several Congolese churches.

He said M23 wanted aid groups to return to Goma, after they evacuated during the fighting. Reuters correspondents in the city saw some aid workers driving in the town on Thursday.

RENEWED CLASHES

Thousands of residents fled the town of Sake on Thursday, a Reuters correspondent in Sake said, as gun battles continued.

"It's no problem, it's just war," Vianney Kazarama, an M23 spokesman, said by telephone, adding that the clashes had begun late on Wednesday.

Several truckloads of M23 fighters sped toward Sake from Goma as the fighting raged on Thursday afternoon.

M23 takes its name from a peace deal, signed on March 23, 2009, that was meant to bring former rebels into the national army, but which the group says the government has violated.

The group has since sought to broaden its support in Congo by tapping into popular frustrations over the government's slow pace of reform in one of the world's least developed and most turbulent nations.

But the effort has faced hurdles amid mounting evidence of Rwanda's involvement in the insurgency.

Kabila's government insists the M23 rebellion is a creation of Rwanda, which has intervened repeatedly in Congo over the past 18 years - and the claim is backed by U.N. experts who say Kigali is both commanding and supporting the insurgency in part to control the region's minerals.

Many of Rwanda's international allies, including the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands and the European Union have suspended some aid over the allegations.

Britain, which unblocked part of its frozen aid in September citing Rwandan efforts to solve the crisis, said it was now considering new evidence that could affect future aid.

"We judge the overall body of evidence of Rwandan involvement with M23 in the DRC to be credible and compelling," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.

"These allegations will necessarily be a key factor in future aid decisions to the Government of Rwanda."

The United Nations on Wednesday defended its failed effort to prevent rebels from seizing Goma, saying its helicopters had fired hundreds of rockets at rebels but were unable to beat them back as their ranks swelled dramatically.

Runiga said M23 had the capacity to hang on to Goma, after its force was bolstered by mutinying Congolese soldiers from Kabila's army, the FARDC.

"Absolutely," he said. "Firstly we have a disciplined army, and also we have the FARDC soldiers who've joined us.

"They're our brothers, they'll be retrained and recycled then we'll work with them."

(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by David Lewis and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-m23-rebels-stay-goma-until-talks-official-091318380--sector.html

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