sparkling washing: October 2012

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The benefits of SEO to a home business - Online Business Ideas ...

By David Dischler

If you're small scale firm owner and enthusiastic about promoting your services and/or products online? Then you want to use an expert of SEO services. These services will help you battle the troublesome times that your business may go through. Search Engine Optimization is a process which will see the search websites find your website simply.

With the advancements in net technology, many companies are going hitech. They have worked up websites thru which consumers can find them simply. It is very possible that you have a internet site that's dormant. To have it up and running, you need the services of good SEO service provider.

SEO ideas are very advantageous to your small enterprise. They are going to help make your business site accessible by the search engines and purchasers. SEO services will build on inbound links which will help consumers find your web-page simply. When talking about search website ranking, these services will see your business website go high making it simple to access when searched.

If you'd like to boost traffic to your internet site, the absolute best you can do is utilize SEO services. They're going to build on links that will lead many visitors to your internet site. Many people have a tendency to say that the key task of link building is to raise the ranking of the internet site. It will also act as a bait to attract and keep buyers.

An SEO service supplier will make sure all the coding mistakes on your website get handled. Having such mistakes on your website will put off future clients. This is because of the fact that the search sites will not be able to read through all the pages of your internet site. There are several service providers of SEO you can make use of. So as to get the very best services, use one who has been in this field for quite some time now.

Source: http://online-business-tips-and-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-benefits-of-seo-to-home-business.html

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Breast-cancer checks save lives despite over diagnosis | Yahoo ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Breast-cancer screening saves lives even though it also picks up cases in some women that would never have caused them a problem, according to a review published in The Lancet medical journal.

The independent review, commissioned by the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Britain's Department of Health, follows fierce international debate about the benefits of routine screening and recent research that has argued it does more harm than good.

"This has become an area of high controversy," said Sir Mike Richards, the Department of Health's National Cancer Director and one of the sponsors of the review.

Critics of routine screening argue that women can be subjected to unnecessary surgery, radiotherapy and medication to treat cancers that would have posed them no risk.

Harpal Kumar, chief executive of CRUK, acknowledged the shortcomings of screening but argued that until testing for breast cancer becomes more sophisticated, regular monitoring is the best option.

"Screening remains one of the best ways to spot the very early signs of breast cancer, at a stage when treatment is most likely to be successful," he said.

"Yet, as the review shows, some cancers will be diagnosed and treated that would never have caused any harm."

A panel of experts led by University College London professor Sir Michael Marmot concluded that screening prevents about 1,300 deaths per year in Britain but can also lead to about 4,000 women having treatment for a condition that would never have troubled them.

This means that for every death that is prevented, three women are over-diagnosed.

The review panel called for improved information, in health leaflets for instance, to give women a clearer picture of both the benefits and potential harms before they go for a mammogram.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in Britain, affecting one in eight at some point in their lives. The country's screening program invites women aged 50 to 70 for a mammogram every three years and this is being expanded to ages 47 and 73.

Earlier diagnosis and better treatments have improved the survival rate to 77 percent in 2007 from 41 percent in 1971, according to CRUK.

The conclusions of the review are based on analysis of 11 trials that all took place more than 20 years ago, which assessed whether screening resulted in fewer deaths due to the disease, compared to when no screening takes place.

The panel acknowledged the studies had limitations, not least because of their age, but decided the evidence was strong enough to conclude that women invited for screening have a relative risk of dying from breast cancer that is 20 percent less than those who are not invited.

Harpal Kumar said research is under way that could lead to more sophisticated tests that distinguish aggressive cancers from those that are not.

This, coupled with a better understanding of genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors that play a role in breast cancer, could mean more finely targeted screening and less over-diagnosis.

"Until this is possible, we'd recommend women who have had something unusual picked up through screening to seek full advice and discuss all possible options with their breast cancer specialist team," he said.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/breast-cancer-checks-save-lives-despite-over-diagnosis

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Will Undecided Voters Break Toward Romney? (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Stocks stabilize on Wall Street after a sell-off

NEW YORK (AP) ? The steep losses stopped Wednesday as the stock market turned calm, a day after one of its biggest sell-offs of the year. Indexes ended with slight losses after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy still needs support.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 25.19 points at 13,077.34, a day after one of its worst drops this year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.36 points to close at 1,408.75 while the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.76 points to 2,981.70.

"Today we're assessing the damage," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. "Everybody just got clobbered yesterday."

Lower corporate revenue and expectations for the rest of the year drove the Dow down 243 points Tuesday, its third-biggest drop this year. DuPont, 3M, UPS and Xerox all reported lower sales than a year ago.

"It seemed out of the blue, but what we were seeing was stock prices adjusting to corporate profitability," Luschini said.

The market flitted between small gains and losses for much of the day. Indexes started to fade after 2 p.m., after the Fed repeated its assessment that the U.S. economic recovery remains modest at best.

At the end of its latest two-day meeting, the Fed said the economy is still expanding at just a "moderate pace" and that it needs time to see whether a new bond-buying effort launched in September will spur economic growth and new hiring.

Third-quarter earnings reports have mainly disappointed investors. The Dow has risen just one day in the last five, a gain of two points on Monday. It lost 205 on Friday following poor results from Microsoft, General Electric and McDonald's.

The latest batch of earnings reports wasn't as dire, and there was the occasional piece of encouraging news.

Facebook had its best day since its stock market debut in May. The company said late Tuesday that 14 percent of its advertising revenue came from mobile devices, allaying some investor concerns.

The social network's stock soared $3.73 to $23.23, a jump of 19 percent. Facebook has swung widely since its IPO at $38, and has traded as low as $17.55.

AT&T, which is part of the Dow average, said it added the fewest wireless customers since 2003, far behind Verizon Wireless. AT&T's results still managed to beat the estimates of financial analysts. AT&T slid 29 cents to $34.71.

A measure of manufacturing in China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, improved this month to a three-month high. China's white-hot economic growth has been slowing.

Homebuilder stocks gained after the Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes jumped last month to the highest level in more than two years. Toll Brothers rose 70 cents to $35.25 and D.R. Horton rose 32 cents to $21.41.

A drop in profits for Norfolk Southern hit other railroad stocks. Norfolk Southern reported a 27 percent slump in quarterly earnings late Tuesday, as falling coal prices led to lower revenue. Many utilities have favored using cheap natural gas instead of burning coal this year, pushing down coal prices and weighing on railroad operators.

Norfolk Southern fell $4.92 to $61.09. Union Pacific lost $2.35 to $120.87.

Prices for U.S. government bonds inched lower, sending yields up. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note edged up to 1.79 percent from 1.76 percent late Tuesday.

Among other stocks in the news:

? Netflix dropped $8.10, or 12 percent, to $60.12. Late Tuesday, it slashed its prediction for how many U.S. video-streaming subscribers it would add this year to 4.7 million to 5 million. It had predicted it would add as many as 7 million.

? Dow Chemical rose $1.33 to $29.88. The company announced a wide-ranging restructuring plan late Tuesday that includes cutting 2,400 jobs and closing 20 manufacturing facilities. The company cited slowing economic growth in Europe and elsewhere.

? Tempur-Pedic International sank 20 percent after the maker of memory-foam mattresses reported revenue that was well below the estimates of Wall Street analysts. The company also cut its estimates for full-year profits and revenue. Its stock plunged $6.21 to $25.66.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-stabilize-wall-street-sell-off-135610585--business.html

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Video: How Goldman Sachs Manages Client Money

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49535159/

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New Jersey teens charged with murder (+video)

The body of a missing 12-year-old girl was found in a recycling bin not far from her home on Monday. Two brothers have been charged, though the motive is still unclear.?

By Geoff Mulvihill,?Associated Press / October 23, 2012

Investigators gather at a house on Clayton Avenue in Clayton NJ on Tuesday, after the discovery of a girl's body in a home's recycling bin. Gloucester County prosecutors say a body believed to be that of Autumn Pasquale was found around 10 p.m. Monday.

AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek

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A teenage boy lured a 12-year-old?girl?into his house under the guise of getting parts for her treasured bicycle and then, with his older brother, killed her, police said Tuesday. The?girl's disappearance had sparked a frantic search by residents of her small?New?Jersey?town until a tip from the boys' mother led police to her body, stuffed into a home recycling bin.

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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> Two teens were charged in the murder of a New Jersey girl on Tuesday.

The boys, ages 15 and 17, were charged with murdering Autumn Pasquale, who disappeared while riding her BMX bike Saturday, a little more than a week before what would have been her 13th birthday. She appeared to have been strangled, Gloucester County prosecutor Sean Dalton said at a late-day?news?conference.

The boys' mother had come forward with information about a posting on a son's Facebook account, Dalton said. He wouldn't say what was on the website or discuss a possible motive for the killing, but said there was no sign of sexual assault.

Autumn was lured to the house, where they apparently lived with their mother and stepfather, for the purpose of getting parts for her treasured BMX bike, which she rode frequently and talked about on her Facebook pages.

Both brothers were charged with counts including first-degree murder, body disposal and tampering with evidence. The 15-year-old was also charged with luring.

The boys' names were not released because they are juveniles, but Dalton said his office is considering trying to have the case transferred to adult court. The boys turned themselves in with their attorneys, public defenders, but it could not be immediately determined who they are.

The?girl's?body was found around 10 p.m. Monday in a recycling bin on a vacant property next to the home where the boys live, police said. The suspects had attended a community vigil for her shortly before the discovery, several residents said.

Autumn's BMX bike and other belongings were recovered from the boys' home, the prosecutor said. He did not detail all the items, but a backpack matching a description of the?girl's?was also seen being taken out.

One of the three teenage brothers who friends said live at the house traded BMX bike parts, according to a according to a young man, Corey Hewes, 19, who said he was among those who traded with him.

Neighbors also said the house was a place where teens frequently hung out and had parties.

The home is just blocks from Autumn's house and from the town hall, where thousands of people gathered for the tearful candlelight vigil to pray for her safe return in this town of 8,000 about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Philadelphia.

Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/iWuceE1rpic/New-Jersey-teens-charged-with-murder-video

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Biases on beauty draw Thais to illegal surgery

BANGKOK (AP) ? Her dream was to look less Thai and more like Jennifer Lopez, so the 25-year-old street food vendor went to the Internet and typed in "cheap Botox."

That was the start of a five-year makeover for Ratphila Chairungkit that included two nose jobs, two eye-widening surgeries, chin augmentation, lip trimming, skin whitening and dozens of Botox-type injections.

The goal had been to redesign her entire face, but things went horribly wrong. "I started to look like a witch," she recalled. Her upper eyelids sagged; her lower lids erupted in tapioca-like bumps. Her chin drooped and her nose swelled.

After costly and painful corrective surgeries, she is now content with her appearance, though it bears no resemblance to her American pop idol.

Thailand is swarming with cheap but risky cosmetic clinics, thanks to two powerful forces: Their prices are designed to attract the poor, and Thai society defines beauty as fair and delicate. It looks down on the ethnic facial features associated with the lower classes ? the wide noses and dark skin most of the country possess.

"I used to look like a factory worker," said Ratphila, now 30, cringing at an old snapshot of her smiling former self. "Now, when I look in the mirror, I'm happy. With a better face, you have better chances in life."

Her quest for beauty at bargain prices was a painful mistake. A pseudo-beautician injected commercial-grade silicone into her cheeks, chin and under her eyes; it all needed to be surgically scraped out. She spent 500,000 baht ($16,000) over five years, a huge sum by her humble standards, mostly to fix his handiwork.

"I'm lucky I didn't die," she said, trying to smile through her cosmetically corrected face.

Far from having regrets, she says, her ordeal has turned into a business opportunity and she plans to open her own cosmetic clinic later this month. "Now, I've become a beauty guru. Everyone comes to me for advice," she said.

Not all of Thailand's beauty victims live to tell. The death this month of a 33-year-old aspiring model from a botched collagen injection has focused nationwide attention on the illegal beauty industry and intensified a government crackdown.

Nearly 40 illegal beauticians have been arrested in Bangkok, the capital, in the past two months, but authorities believe nearly 200 are still operating. Advertising in plain sight on the Internet, they're commonly known as "bag doctors" because many make house calls or meet customers in vans to administer cheap injections straight from their bags.

Last week, the Health Ministry and police declared a small victory after arresting someone they called "the most dangerous" operator to date: a 37-year-old former beautician's assistant with no medical training who had set up an all-purpose clinic in her home.

Inside the woman's pale yellow town house in a working-class Bangkok neighborhood, authorities found box-loads of counterfeit Botox, cheap facial fillers, intravenous skin-whitening chemicals and a variety of banned products known to have dangerous side effects. The arsenal of potentially toxic beauty products underlined the lengths that women ? and some men ? take to improve their looks.

"This is terrifying," said Phasit Sakdanarong, chief adviser to the Public Health Minister, who joined the raid and has since advised the government to expand the crackdown nationwide. "This woman was not a doctor. This clinic has no license, and the products she was using are not FDA-approved."

"We are facing a very, very serious problem," said Phasit. "When people go to illegal clinics like this, it is very easy to get an infection ? and sometimes it is easy to die."

The clinic operator, Jiratha Saraban, told authorities through tears that she had ordered her products cheaply off the Internet and catered to low-paid office workers and college students.

"I wanted to help people who can't afford to do these procedures at expensive clinics," Jiratha said. She faces up to 11 years in prison on three charges that include posing as a doctor and illegally selling medication.

She offered standard black market rates: $30 Botox shots and $50 filler injections, a popular method for elevating the nose bridge to look "less Asian." In licensed Bangkok clinics, Botox injections range from roughly $150 to more than $400.

Dangerous beauty treatments have become a worldwide problem as people seek cheaper alternatives to plastic surgeons. In Hong Kong, a woman died last week of septic shock after getting a blood transfusion that a clinic claimed would whiten her skin. An American woman died in March from an illegal buttocks implant in Georgia, caused by suspected counterfeit silicone.

But Thailand sets a particularly stark example, partly because Thais of all income levels are striving for a uniformity of beauty that for large parts of the population would be impossible without surgery.

"People here are not seeking to look unique or different. They're all trying to look the same," said Lakkana Punwichai, a Thai feminist and social commentator who hosts a popular TV talk show.

Thais with darker skin, flat noses, round faces and full lips ? features associated with the working-class descendants of Lao, Khmer and other ethnic groups ? are enduring needles, knives and hazardous chemicals to emulate the Bangkok elite, whose porcelain complexions and more chiseled features traditionally stem from Chinese ancestry.

"The rich already have the look that Thai society values, they just work to maintain it," Lakkana said. "But the lower class has a dream of upgrading themselves. For them, cosmetic surgery has become a shortcut to a better future."

The cost of cosmetic procedures is low enough in Thailand that many Thais can afford licensed beauty clinics. There are 500 of them in the capital, and most have sprung up in the past five years, the Health Ministry says.

Bangkok's Yanhee Hospital, one of the country's best-known beauty emporiums, performs 30,000 cosmetic treatments a month, a dramatic increase from five years ago when dermatologists at the hospital say Botox was much less popular.

Some of those procedures are for foreigners ? part of Thailand's "medical tourism" industry. But a large portion are for Thais, including young people who are using Botox long before the onset of wrinkles.

At a cafe in Bangkok, a group of fashionable young professionals said most of their friends no longer have their original faces.

"Almost all my friends have had something done," said Nuttida Kruapanich, a 23-year-old student and aspiring actress who recently had a nose job and injects Botox to make her face look slimmer. "If not cosmetic surgery, they've had Botox or filler. Nowadays, there's so much importance attached to how you look. What matters is that you're beautiful."

Her friend Surasit Areesamarn, 24, joked that he's a victim of both beauty and fashion. His nose job two years ago was modeled after what he called "the Western nose," but now he wants "a Korean nose," which is flatter at the top and pointy at the end.

"It's like changing shoes," he laughed. "You want the fashionable model."

___

Associated Press writer Thanyarat Doksone and AP video journalist Papitchaya Boonngok contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biases-beauty-draw-thais-illegal-surgery-054508267.html

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Tim Cook: Customers Choose To Buy Our Products Because We Don?t Cut Corners

During the Q4 2012 earnings call today, Tim Cook fielded a question regarding the upcoming strong financial push that Apple will be making this holiday season. As you know, Apple had a strong Q4 and has just re-launched its complete lineup of products. It's before Christmas, so someone is getting goodies in their stockings their year. Cook said that customers are delighted with Apple products because of its focus on design, and clearly stated that it doesn't "cut corners." This is probably a stab at Samsung, who has lost its court battle against Apple due to lifting some of the major components of the iPhone's success.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Ha4JhEIEtuA/

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Collinsville Teacher Arrested; Charged With Harassing ...

Posted on: 12:57 pm, October 25, 2012, by Robert Richardson, updated on: 05:40pm, October 25, 2012

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) ? Sheriff?s deputies arrested a teacher at Collinsville High School on Thursday.

DeKalb County Superintendent Charles Warren says Broox Goza, 37, was arrested about 12 p.m.? We understand Goza is a computer teacher, and was arrested in his classroom.

Broox Marvin Goza (Photo: DeKalb County Sheriff?s Office)

Sheriff Jimmy Harris said Goza, of Gadsden, is charged with harassing communications.? Harris said a someone filed a report about a week ago against Goza, concerning harassment and harassing communications.

During the arrest, Sheriff Harris said deputies ?found more evidence of other possible offenses that could lead to more charges in the future.

?This situation involves adults only and no allegations involving students or juveniles were made,? said Sheriff Harris.

Superintendent Warren said the school system will place Goza on administrative leave until further notice as they evaluate the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

Source: http://whnt.com/2012/10/25/collinsville-teacher-arrested-at-school/

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Taking Science to Court - Association for Psychological Science

This is a photo of a gavel. Ever since the celebrated submissions to the US Supreme Court regarding segregated education, psychological scientists have made important contributions to legal decision making and public policy development. Recently, psychological scientists have been key witnesses in federal and state courts that are considering challenges to laws restricting the rights of gay and lesbian Americans to raise, foster, and adopt children as well as their rights to have their relationships recognized as marriages.

I became involved in such litigation more than a decade ago, when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked me to testify in a case challenging Florida regulations prohibiting gay and lesbian adults from adopting children. The prohibition appeared indefensible from a scientific perspective: There was no evidence that gay and lesbian adults were any less likely to take care of children appropriately and lovingly, but I never had the opportunity to explain the research because a federal judge upheld the prohibition without a trial.

A few years later, however, the ACLU managed to get hearings in both Florida and Arkansas courts challenging these restrictive practices. In both cases, I testified at length about the voluminous body of evidence documenting the factors affecting children?s well-being and adjustment. Specifically, numerous psychological scientists (and other social and behavioral scientists) have shown how the quality of parent?child relationships, the quality of the relationship between the parents (or between parents and other significant figures in their lives), and the adequacy of their economic and social resources are crucially important factors in shaping children?s development. There was no theoretical reason to predict that the parents? sexual orientation was important, and the research on children raised by gay/lesbian parents has consistently shown that such children are just as likely to be well-adjusted as children raised by heterosexual parents.

In both of these early cases, opposing testimony was provided by a clinical psychologist whose credibility was undermined (according to the judges) by an evident religious and ideological bias. Such biases are hardly surprising. With the absence of evidence that adoption by gay/lesbian parents places children at any risk and compelling reasons to believe that many children will remain in state care if not adopted by willing gay/lesbian parents, it is clear that the regulations can only be explained by prejudice. Whereas the Supreme Court of Florida let the lower court ruling stand, thereby overturning the statewide ban, the Arkansas decision prompted changes to the state law that were challenged anew. After a further round of legal maneuvering (and further statements and depositions on my part), the new law was invalidated and Arkansas too began allowing gay and lesbian couples to take care of young children desperately in need of homes and loving caretakers.

By this time, of course, the focus had shifted back to federal courts around the country. Much of the recent litigation has focused on the ways in which the relationships between gay and lesbian adults are legally recognized. While many challenges to laws denying gays and lesbians the right to marry make reference to the literature on factors affecting children?s adjustment, a much broader range of issues has to be addressed. In the most high-profile case to date, a challenge to California?s ban on same-sex marriage, testimony came from historians who chronicled the history of discrimination, sociologists who described the changing cultural landscape, political scientists, and three psychological scientists: APS Fellow Greg Herek (University of California, Davis) discussed the nature and effects of discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals; APS Fellow Letitia Peplau (University of California, Los Angeles) discussed research on the intimate relationships between same-sex adults; and I talked about the factors affecting children?s adjustment, again underscoring that children raised by gay and lesbian parents are just as likely to be well-adjusted as those with heterosexual parents.

Prior to trial, supporters of the ban on same-sex marriage also identified a number of witnesses, all of whom submitted written declarations about which they were deposed (i.e., questioned under oath). Lawyers defending the marriage ban called only two witnesses ? a social commentator and a political scientist ? and the court ruled decisively in favor of overturning the ban on gay/lesbian marriage. That decision was upheld on February 7, 2012, by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, setting up a likely appeal to the Supreme Court.

By the time that case reaches the Supreme Court, however, it may have considerable company. Federal courts around the United States have been hearing challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996. DOMA denies federal benefits and protections to same-sex partnerships that are otherwise available to married heterosexual couples, even when the same-sex couples are legally married in states where same-sex marriage is permitted. Typically, challenges to federal law would be defended by the Justice Department, but the Obama administration has refused to defend DOMA, so Congress has funded the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to do so instead. Again, expert witnesses are playing a central role in these cases; I have been involved in several cases that touch on children?s well-being. As in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (the California marriage case), several appellate court affirmations of lower court decisions striking down elements of DOMA have already been appealed to the Supreme Court. Thus, at some point in the not-too-distant future, the US Supreme Court will again be making a decision about an issue that has been the focus of considerable psychological science research. In Brown v. Board of Education nearly 60 years ago, the body of research was small, but by all accounts, it powerfully swayed the court?s decision. In the gay marriage cases, by contrast, the evidence is extensive and the conclusions are overwhelming. It remains to be seen whether the evidence again plays a decisive role.

Source: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2012/november-12/taking-science-to-court.html

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Apple's Mac flies in under the radar

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amid the fanfare accompanying the noisy launch of the iPad mini this week, Apple Inc also took the wraps off new Mac computers.

The facelift may help revitalize an important lineup that -- while seeing growth tail off in the early part of 2012 -- yields 14 percent of revenue and still racks up sales growth numbers that are the envy of a flagging PC world.

On Tuesday, Apple took the lid off a slimmed-down iMac and a 13-inch laptop with a vastly improved screen, setting the stage for a potential revival in sales even as Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc struggle just to stay level.

Earlier this year, Apple had also launched an updated MacBook Air - a product analysts say spawned over 20 touch-enabled designs from rivals called "Ultrabooks," which run Microsoft Corp's upcoming Windows 8 software.

Apple remains No. 3 in U.S. market share behind HP and Dell. But the Mac's premium pricing, at $1,000 and above, and its subsequent outsized margins mean a spike in revenue growth can give its bottom line a significant boost.

"The pricing and feature set of the refreshed iMac present an attractive combination, and I would not be surprised to see the new iMac stimulate desktop sales in the December quarter and beyond," Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said.

The decades-old Macintosh line that helped set a stumbling computer company back on its feet -- today overshadowed in both revenue and media appeal by the popular iPhone and iPad -- saw growth drop to single-digit percentages in the first two quarters of 2012 for the first time since 2009.

Yet sales outgrew the PC market, overall, by more than seven times over the 12 months to June, according to CEO Tim Cook, and has outpaced PC growth over the last six years.

Apple reports fiscal fourth quarter results on Thursday. The company will likely have sold 5.1 million Macs in the October quarter, up just 5 percent, Piper Jaffray & Co analyst Gene Munster estimates.

HALO EFFECT

On Tuesday, Apple Marketing Chief Phil Schiller called the Mac "what began it all," and he claimed the Mac was America's No. 1 laptop and desktop among individual models. Research houses Gartner and IDC figures place Apple third in the United States with a market share of about 13 percent.

Regardless where it places, at prices starting at $1,000 for its MacBook Air and going all the way close to $4,000 and growth -- while well off the 30-percent range of 2010 -- still defying the market, the Mac has proven a consistent money-spinner for the company even during troubled times for the traditional PC.

Intel Corp, HP and other stalwarts of the PC industry are now fighting to sustain growth as tablet computers eat into their PC-related businesses.

While the Mac line has not completely side-stepped PC market trends, it has held up better partly because it is targeted at a higher-spending clientele that values its consistency, vis-a-vis the often fragmented PC, where multiple vendors supply different components that don't always work seamlessly.

But it also owes its success in large part to a so-called halo effect stemming from consumers' experiences with the iPhone and iPad, said Loren Loverde, analyst with research firm IDC.

"They are on the positive end of halo effect both in terms of traffic and brand image," Loverde said, adding that Apple also has yet to fully realize the international growth opportunities for Mac, and expects the new products to see good demand during the holiday quarter.

Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh in 1984, and it became the first successful computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface -- a model that has stayed intact through the succeeding decades. The desktop Mac itself stuck to that interface but has radically shifted in design over the years, to today's slim, all-in-one form.

Analysts say the redesigned Macs may give Apple's December quarter an extra lift, but the quarter will hinge mostly on how many consumers bought iPads and iPhones, which combined accounts for 72 percent of the company's revenue.

Cook and other executives are likely to be questioned on the smartphone's supply issues and the ramp-up of the new "iPad mini," available in stores on November 2.

"The bigger question is likely the company's ability to ramp supply to meet the strong demand," Baird Equity Research analyst William Power said. Recent investor concerns regarding Apple have included "perceived slowing iPhone innovation, the lack of a strong developing market strategy for iPhone and current iPhone supply constraints."

Apple's stock has reflected some of those concerns. While the stock is up 52 percent this year, it is down 12 percent from its record high of $705 on September 21. Despite the pullback, Apple is trading at 11.6 times next year's estimated earnings, same as the S&P 500 and far lower than some rivals like Amazon.com Inc, which trades at 100 times estimated 2013 earnings.

Investors will focus initially on the headline shipment numbers during the fiscal third quarter on Thursday. It is estimated to have sold between 24 million and 26 million iPhones in the July-September period.

And Apple said on Tuesday that it sold its 100 millionth iPad two weeks ago, which means that the company sold under 16 million last quarter. This is below the 17 million to 18 million some analysts had forecast.

Longer term, Apple could also face margin pressure as smartphones pass the 50 penetration rate in major developed markets, said BGC analyst Colin Gillis.

"The next stage of smart phone growth could be more focused on mid-to-lower priced offerings," Gillis said. "Apple may find it difficult to maintain margin while growing massive scale, particularly as the overall market for smartphones slows."

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apples-mac-flies-under-radar-004438349--finance.html

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Timberlake and Biel reveal wedding photos

By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

Who wouldn't be jumping for joy at his own wedding? In the case of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, who got married last weekend in Italy, the answer to that ? and a lot more ? will be available in the new issue of People magazine, on newsstands Friday. But TODAY got special look at all of the details ? including the revealing cover ? which showcases the bride in pink!

Specifically, it's a custom-made "petal-pink Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown" that Biel wore for the nuptials at the Borgo Egnazia resort in southern Italy.

More People photos: Justin?and Jessica's road to the altar

Timberlake wrote his bride a song to hear as she walked down the aisle, which brought her to tears. "Grown men were weeping," Timberlake told the magazine. "Hopefully it's because I didn't sound bad."

People on Justin and Jessica's pre-wedding Italian celebrations

The couple's first dance? Donny Hathaway's "A Song for You." (Hear it here.) The 100 guests included "Late Night's" Jimmy Fallon and former "Saturday Night Live" star Andy Samberg, and bride and groom put all their guests up at the resort for a full week.

"It was a lot to ask of them to travel, so we figured we'd give our guests a good party," said Timberlake.

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DRDGold Q1 gold production up 11 percent, earnings flat

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drdgold-q1-gold-production-11-percent-earnings-flat-062054804--finance.htmlmario balotelli mario balotelli jenny mccarthy espn3 kevin youkilis Tropical Storm Debby legend of korra

Nuclear-free energy security unlikely | Eco-Business.com

Nobuo Tanaka, former head of the International Energy Agency, explains why nuclear might not be going anywhere. Image: Asia Future Energy Forum 2012, Eco-Business.

The former head of the International Energy Agency, Nobuo Tanaka, is not ready to count nuclear energy out of a future Asian energy mix, particularly in light of waning American interest in the Middle East.

In his opening keynote address at the Asia Future Energy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday, Mr Tanaka said it was doubtful that the world ? and Japan in particular ? would be able to meet energy security goals without nuclear power.

With its growing demand for oil, Asia would be especially vulnerable to potential petroleum supply disruptions in the Middle East, where Iran is currently threatening to block access for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz (see sidebar).

North America will achieve energy independence in the near future, which may prompt the US to decrease its defensive presence in the Middle East, said Mr Tanaka.

He added that a major disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could lead to oil prices of up to US$160 per barrel, triggering a severe crisis in Japan. Without nuclear power to diversify the energy mix, Japan?s federal deficit may reach 12 trillion yen, he said.

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Japan was one of several countries that committed to phasing out nuclear power following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and currently only two of its 50 nuclear plants are operating. Nuclear plants generated 30 per cent of Japan?s electricity prior to the disaster.

To make up for the loss, Japan has increased imports of fossil fuels such as natural gas, and introduced policies to boost renewable energy development.

?I am sceptical about the feasibility of this plan. It is good to develop renewable energy for energy security, but it?s costly,? said Mr Tanaka, who is currently an associate for energy security and sustainability at Japan?s Institute of Energy Economics.

The new feed-in tariff (FiT) that the government introduced in July, which mandates that utilities purchase solar energy at a cost premium for the next 20 years, is the world?s highest at 42 yen per kilowatt-hour.

While expensive, the FiT is having an impact: Solar could expand by 2,000 megawatts by the end of March, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Natural gas also comes at a cost premium, noted Mr Tanaka, explaining that Japan?s gas prices are about 5 times higher than in the United States and twice as much as in Europe. He further noted that, while global natural gas supplies are expanding because of recent technologies such as shale gas extraction, global demand is ramping up as well.

For Japan ? and the rest of Asia ? to reduce gas prices and improve energy security, Asia will need better physical connections between its various energy and electricity supplies, he said, pointing out that connectivity allows Germany to phase out nuclear energy ?because it can always import electricity from neighbours in shortfall?.

Mr Tanaka said that Europe as a region has achieved relative energy security because of the diverse energy sources it can access using connected electricity grids as well as oil and natural gas pipelines.

To further diversify, Europe has been working on extending its grid connection to North Africa and the Middle East in a project known as Desertec.

Asia could also create such a ?super-grid? incorporating new and existing pipelines within Asia as well as pipelines from Russia, he told the 200 policymakers, industry players and thought leaders attending the forum.

In the absence of a growing nuclear industry, Mr Tanaka said, new technologies such as hydrogen fuel and storage systems, and super-conductivity transmission lines ? which do not lose power over long distances ? were key. However, he added that the region would also need natural gas to fill the gap and would need to invest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) to sustainably use its ample supplies of coal.

Even with such innovations, Mr Tanaka thinks that nuclear ? in newer and safer models ? will persist, in part because of its role in reducing Europe?s dependence on Russian gas.

?I believe nuclear will continue to play a major role in the world?It will be necessary to convince the public that there are (safer) alternatives in nuclear power,? he said.

Source: http://www.eco-business.com/features/nuclear-free-energy-security-unlikely/

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Video: President Obama's Economic Plan

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49543970/

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White House told of Libyan attack claim Sept. 11

This is a redacted copy of an email obtained by The Associated Press discusses the attack of the Benghazi, Libya mission. Two hours after the U.S. Consulate came under attack in Benghazi, Libya, the White House was told that a militant group was claiming responsibility for the violence that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. (AP Photo)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton answers a reporter's question on Libya during a joint news conference with Brazil's Foreign Minister Antonion de Aguiar Patriota, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) ? Two hours after the U.S. Consulate came under attack in Benghazi, Libya, the White House was told that a militant group was claiming responsibility for the violence that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

A State Department email sent to intelligence officials and the White House situation room said the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter, and also called for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.

The document may fuel Republican efforts to show that the White House knew it was a terrorist attack, even as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was saying ? five days afterward ? that it appeared to be a protest gone awry.

The Obama administration's account of the Benghazi events has become a campaign issue, with Republican challenger Mitt Romney and GOP lawmakers accusing the White House of misleading Americans about the nature of the attack.

The Associated Press and other news organizations obtained the unclassified email and two related emails from government officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about them publicly.

Meanwhile, the Tunisian government said it has arrested a 28-year-old Tunisian linked to the U.S. Consulate attack. Interior Ministry spokesman Tarrouch Khaled said Wednesday that the suspect, Ali Harzi, was in custody in Tunis. Khaled told The AP "his case is in the hands of justice," but did not elaborate.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that the review board she appointed to investigate the attack is "looking at everything," rather than "cherry picking one story here or one document there."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the emails represented just one piece of information the administration was receiving at the time.

"There were emails about all sorts of information that was becoming available in the aftermath of the attack," Carney said. "The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgments about what happened and who is responsible."

Carney, traveling with President Barack Obama Wednesday on Air Force One, said the emails were unclassified and referred to assertions made on a social media site.

There were a series of three emails sent by State Department officials in Washington as events unfolded on Sept. 11. Among the recipients was the White House situation room.

The first email said that the State Department's regional security officer reported the mission in Benghazi was under attack, and that "20 armed people fired shots." It said that Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack, was in Benghazi, and that Stevens and four others were in the compound's safe haven.

Forty-nine minutes later, an email said that the firing at the consulate "has stopped and the compound has been cleared," while a response team was attempting to locate people.

The next message, one hour and 13 minutes after the second and some two hours after the attack began, a message reported that Ansar-al-Sharia claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Faceboook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli," it said.

Ansar al-Sharia bragged to members of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb that it was responsible for the attack, according to recordings of phone calls intercepted by U.S. intelligence. But the group has publicly denied having anything to do with the attack.

Clinton, speaking to reporters at the State Department, said, "You know, posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence and I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued some time to be."

She added, "What I keep in mind is that four brave Americans were killed and we will find out what happened, we will take whatever measures are necessary to fix anything that needs to be fixed and we will bring those to justice who committed these murders."

____

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this story.

Follow Larry Margasak on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarryMargasak

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-24-US-US-Libya/id-121060bf07c9485fa84760434688b52e

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Report: Alicia Keys Buys Englewood Estate From Eddie Murphy ...

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Celebrity-approved homes are definitely a niche in the housing market, which is why most stars choose to buy from each other.

Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys is particularly fond of this home-shopping method. She bought a Manhattan penthouse from Lenny Kravitz, and now rumor has it that Keys and her husband, hip-hop star Swizz Beatz, are in contract to buy Eddie Murphy?s Englewood, NJ home, according to the NY Daily News.

Keys listed her slick SoHo apartment in March for $17.95 million. Apparently all the glass and floating staircase didn?t make a great setting for her first nearly 2-year-old son.

A gated, brick estate appears to be the answer for the little family. Sitting on nearly 4 acres on a quiet street, the home is both a suburban retreat and a quick drive to New York; it?s only a few minutes away from the George Washington Bridge.

The 13,076-square-foot home in Englewood?s East Hill area has 7 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms. A circular drive leads to the front of the Georgian-style home, marked by grand columns. Inside, the home has a pool, bowling alley, racquetball court, art deco movie theater and a professional recording studio. Other amenities include a five-car garage, gym, tennis court and ?imaginative playground.?

According to property records, Murphy bought the home in 1989 for $1.5 million. The actor-comedian also owns an empty parcel behind the house, which the NY Daily News reports Keys will also buy.

Murphy has been trying to sell the home for quite some time, listing it first for $30 million, then dropping the price to $19 million in 2007 and most recently to $15.9 million in early 2010. The home is not currently MLS-listed, but according to the Daily News, Keys will spend about $12 million on the estate.

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Immigration Clearinghouse - Colorado conducts more citizenship ...

DENVER (AP) ? There are 300 more suspected noncitizens on Colorado?s voter rolls, Secretary of State Gessler announced Tuesday in the latest chapter of a contentious national debate over what Republicans say is vulnerability in the voting system.

The latest figures are from the 3,903 people who received letters from Gessler?s office questioning their citizenship in August. During a first round of checks, Gessler said 141 others were found to be possible noncitizens based on a federal immigration database.

Critics of Gessler, who is a Republican, have questioned his political motives and argue the checks have the potential to disenfranchise eligible voters. Some of the people who have received letters questioning their citizenship have turned out to be U.S. citizens, and a few of the original 141 have maintained they are citizens.

The majority of the people who are suspected to be noncitizens and on the rolls are unaffiliated voters, which make up more than half, and Democrats, according to data provided by Gessler?s office. The proportion in party registration breakdown is similar to the overall number of people who received letters in August.

State election officials did additional checks this month after obtaining immigration identification numbers from the state division of motor vehicles for all of people who received letters. They received letters because at one point they showed proof they weren?t U.S. citizens, such as a green card, when obtaining a driver?s license.

The latest figures mean that out of the 3,903 who received letters, 441 are believed to be non-citizens, according to the federal database, which has normally been used to check the status of legal immigrants who receive government benefits.

?It?s unacceptable to have ineligible voters casting ballots in our elections,? Gessler said. ?We want to ensure the most accurate reliable elections possible.?

Gessler?s office said it has mailed letters to people believed to be ineligible voters, alerting them about the database findings so they can verify their citizenship or voluntarily remove their registrations.

Of the 441 identified as suspected noncitizens, 232 are unaffiliated, 163 are Democrats, and 37 are Republican. Gessler?s office has said they did not look at party registration when checking the voter rolls for possible fraud.

Swing states, like Colorado and Florida, have gotten permission from the federal government to use the immigration database to check voter rolls. Others battleground states, like Iowa and Ohio, have also asked for permission to use the database.

Gessler and other Republican election chiefs in those states have come under heavy criticism from Democrats and voter advocacy groups, who question their political motives in a presidential election that polls show will be extremely close.

?It?s suspiciously close to the election for someone who has been so partisan for this kind behavior,? said Ellen Dumm, a consultant working for voting rights in Colorado.

Dumm said everyone agrees ineligible voters shouldn?t cast ballots. But she argued that Gessler should focus on more important issues, like making sure the secretary of state?s office website functions properly to allow people to register to vote, and coordinating with clerks on election issues before November. She said the 441 figure amounts to a ?rounding error? in the greater scheme, considering there are 3.5 million registered voters in Colorado.

Gessler has forwarded the names of the suspected noncitizens, 441 in all, to county clerks for any potential challenge at the polls if they show up to cast ballots.

?Though the timing is not ideal, I felt it was important to alert these voters that the federal government says they?re not citizens,? Gessler said in a written statement. He also sent a letter to U.S. Attorney John Walsh in Denver on Tuesday, letting him know of the figures, telling him that many of the voters believed to be noncitizens would appear on voter rolls across the state.

Walsh announced this month that was appointing a prosecutor to look into any voter fraud in the upcoming election. Gessler said in the letter to Walsh that his office only recently completed the citizenship checks because his office didn?t get access to the federal immigration database until August.

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-co-conducts-more-citizenship-checks-003647376?election.html

Source: http://immigrationclearinghouse.org/colorado-conducts-more-citizenship-checks/

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v93: Facebook gambles on launch of virtual bingo game offering real cash prizes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/07/facebook-launches-virtual-bingo-game

Version 93 of 95.

Facebook has made its first move into online gambling in the UK, launching a virtual bingo machine that offers real cash prizes.

Britons aged 18 and over will be able to stake real money on the new Facebook game, dubbed Bingo Friendzy. The US social network plans to introduce virtual slot machines in the coming weeks.

Facebook insists that its controls will prevent anyone aged under 18 from gambling, but the move is likely to provoke some concern from parents whose children spend vast amounts of time on the site.

Bingo Friendzy has been developed by the gambling giant Gamesys, which runs several big-name jackpot sites including the Sun Bingo and Caesars Casino.

When a user signs up to Bingo Friendzy, they are asked to enter their personal details and confirm their date of birth. They are then asked to enter bank account details and make a deposit of between ?10 and ?500 to begin playing.

The game will not be regulated by the UK gambling commission because Gamesys is based in Gibraltar. The government has said it plans to make any company offering gambling services in the UK comply with the country's regulatory regime.

According to media regulator Ofcom, nearly two thirds of internet users in the UK are on Facebook. The average UK user spends six and a half hours a month on Facebook, which was the most popular internet destination behind Google search in March.

A spokeswoman for Facebook said: "Facebook is a place that allows people to connect and share. Real money gaming is a popular and well-regulated activity in the UK and we are allowing a partner to offer their games to adult users on the Facebook platform in a safe and controlled manner."

Facebook said it had no immediate plans to expand the venture to other markets, but the site could partner with other companies to launch new games in the UK.

Many countries outside the UK have more burdensome regulatory regimes for online gambling. In the US, for example, online gambling is largely prohibited in all but some states.

The venture into online gambling had long been expected for Facebook, which generates a growing amount of its worldwide revenues from gaming.

In the three months to 30 June, ?123m ($192m) out of Facebook's ?760m ($1.2bn) in revenues were generated from payments made in games such as Zynga's Farmville and Mafia Wars.

Licensed UK gambling is forecast to reach ?10.0bn by 2012, according to the market intelligence firm H2 Gambling Capital. European interactive gambling was worth ?8.3bn (?6.6bn) in 2009 and is expected to reach ?12.6bn (?10bn) by 2012.

Comments

49 comments, displaying first

7 August 2012 12:48PM

Judging by the number of under 13's on Facebook-their controls can't be that stringent. This is bad news.

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7 August 2012 12:48PM

Facebook looking for more mugs to add to those suckered in its IPO, huh?

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7 August 2012 1:02PM

I just lost all respect for Facebook. Zuckenberg is now the Tony Blair of hi-tech. Trying to make a cheap buck from gambling addicts. Sickening really.

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7 August 2012 1:42PM

Slippery slope Facebook! Looks like a cashing in while you can approach to the platform. I'd give them 2-3 more years?

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7 August 2012 1:45PM

Facebook.... the privatised web within the web.

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7 August 2012 1:48PM

"The game will not be regulated by the UK gambling commission" - Funny, I wasn't aware they regulated ANY gambling sites...or betting shops...or casino's.

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7 August 2012 1:49PM

Facebook bingo? An oxymoron, surely. FB is (supposedly) about social networking. Gambling is not a social activity, unless you count the crimes committed and the social damage done to and by gambling addicts as "social" behaviour. But who cares when there's money to be made?

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7 August 2012 1:49PM

Presumably US players will also be able to play the game. If this is the case I await the US DoJ shutting down this operation ala Full Tilt Poker et al.

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7 August 2012 2:26PM

Will Facebook's well-known security protocols regarding user identity prevent my dog (he's only 16 and 3/4 in canine years) from playing?

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7 August 2012 2:27PM

Controls will prevent anyone aged under 18 from gambling on Bingo Friendzy, insists US social network

Presumably these controls will be considerably harder to circumvent than starting a new profile and entering a date of birth that makes you appear to be 18?

Not sure how they would do that, though. Perhaps they'll require credit card details, in the hope that only over-18s have access to credit cards. Yeah, right.

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7 August 2012 2:29PM

Can the bots which have registered 80 million FB accounts play?

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7 August 2012 2:33PM

I just hope no pension funds invested in Facebook.

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7 August 2012 2:33PM

The share price has halved, they are still making a loss and they have admitted 80m of their accounts are false. All going well then!

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7 August 2012 2:37PM

Anyone remember FriendsReunited ?

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7 August 2012 2:42PM

Aha! For all those who wondered how Facebook could justify its valuation, here you are

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7 August 2012 2:47PM

FriendsReunited? Yeah, but I don't think you can really compare the two and predict FB doom just because they were both 'social networks'. I mean, FR never became a verb ("Facebook me!") and never became a household name around the world, not least throughout America.

MySpace is definitely the one to compare FB to, as they shared similar success but I think FB has ingratiated it's way into far more day-to-day interactions than MySpace ever did. For example, many sites require FB logins if you want to comment, or offer FB logins alongside Twitter logins etc, if you don't want to make an account there. I never saw TV shows interacting with people via MySpace.

This isn't evidence that FB will never stumble and fall, or even just become boring to the many millions of people that use it once something fancier comes along, but I do feel like it's here to stay for many a year at this point, even as it becomes ever more corporate and ever less private.

Stay away, that's my best advice. Nobody, but nobody, needs to be on Facebook.

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7 August 2012 2:48PM

If it's designed for over 18s, why on earth does that screenshot look like a CBeebies programme?

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7 August 2012 2:50PM

That article goes on to break down what 'false accounts' actually means in Facebook legal parlance. Also, I don't think it's really an issue to be worried about. It's only 8.something percent of all accounts around the world, which I know is still quite big, but not bad given how ubiquitous FB is.

How many Twitter accounts are spambots, anyone know?

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7 August 2012 2:52PM

If it's designed for over 18s, why on earth does that screenshot look like a CBeebies programme?

Because it wants to make it's insidious offerings seem casual and fun. Given that the vast majority of FB users are just regular human beings for whom starting a Facebook account was their first big step into 'The Internets' appearing accessible and casual is the name of the game when it comes to launching a game on FB; and that's the hook, they want to seem like it's just a game.

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7 August 2012 2:53PM

Can the bots which have registered 80 million FB accounts play?

Not if they don't have a bank account, which you need to start playing.

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7 August 2012 3:13PM

What's the risk of hackers getting access to users' bank details through this development?

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7 August 2012 3:17PM

The graphic promises "Bingo & Slots" but the article never mentions the "slots" - are they the digital version of what Aussies call "Pokies"?

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7 August 2012 3:18PM

Sounds like Zuckerberg is anxious nay, desperate to raise Facebook's share price.

Just another corporate asshole then.

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7 August 2012 3:20PM

What's the risk of hackers getting access to users' bank details through this development?

Same risk as any other internet-based company that has any of your bank details on file.

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7 August 2012 3:21PM

Slots? Slot machines? Things you put a coin into? Here in the UK where the Guardian is based, we all know what slot machines are :)

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7 August 2012 3:22PM

I beg to differ. In this case there is no noticeable social benefit but I worked for a bookies for about five years and it was more like a local pub than anything else. Many regulars came in every day, spending maybe 20p to ?1 per bet, hanging out with their friends, watching the racing and having a few coffees. It was like them going to the pub all day, except they weren't pissed and spent less.

Not all gambling is bad.

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7 August 2012 3:23PM

Sounds like Zuckerberg is anxious nay, desperate to raise Facebook's share price.

Just another corporate asshole then.

YEAH! All you Chief Executive Officer's of companies! Take heed of this comment quoted above! How dare you try to increase the value of your company? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU, you corporate assholes...

Oh no hang on, raising the share price is pretty much the single most important thing a CEO is responsible for, no matter what company he runs.

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7 August 2012 3:28PM

I'll be interested to find out how Facebook takes its cut. If your a gambling site, based off-shore, I presume you take 100% of what's lost or staked, no tax to pay. However, if Facebook is taking it's usual 30% cut then will that come from every transaction (win or lose) or just the profits? Even when punters paid tax on their bets it was only 9% (now bookies pay it).

If indeed it is 30% then I'd assume these guys are hoping that Facebook delivers enough punters for it to be worth the time.

In my opinion, this is a dangerous road. Online gambling is a very big problem, much more so than shops. How much easier it is to keep spending money when you're sat in your bedroom, never touching the physical cash, it's scary. And Facebook is a great (horrible) way to get at those who would never think of setting foot in a bookies or casino.

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7 August 2012 3:28PM

This thing is dead in two years.

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7 August 2012 3:45PM

I know the type. In one of my local pubs there are a pair of chaps who argue for ages about who's going to win the 3.00 at Kempton or wherever, getting really agitated with each other, only to finally decide on the winner and place their ?1.00 each way bet. Harmless, amusing and strictly just for fun. I would not dream of criticising their pastime. Down the road, another story. Bookies, pub and Cash Generator in a row. The traffic from pub to bookies and back never stops.............people spending their wages or benefits on the horses and then, in desperation, the FOBTs. Lose enough and it's Cash Generator time. The trouble is that for every responsible gambler there's a problem gambler out there. What do you think will happen when 13-year-olds go on FB and see something they aren't allowed to use? They'll find a way. Nick dad's wallet for ten minutes and they're into the wonderful world of losing money that ain't theirs on something they're not allowed to do.

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7 August 2012 3:45PM

I just find this depressing - if Facebook had to take one of the big things that make money online but are morally dubious then I wish Zuck had chosen porn. I'd far rather that coming up in my newsfeed

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7 August 2012 3:47PM

I stopped using (and deleted) my FB account about 18 months ago - how would something you have no interest in (gambling apps, porn apps, whatever) turn up in your timeline?

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7 August 2012 4:02PM

If anyone that you are friends with use an app there's a chance it can come up as a story in your news feed, but anyone marketing these apps will use a Facebook 'sponsored story' or 'promoted post' type of ad to pay & make sure that the story of an app being used is seen by all that person's friends. It's to try and make the app look more trustworthy. If you go on Facebook now (especially the mobile version) it's absolutely full of these sponsored stories.

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7 August 2012 4:05PM

And there's no way to turn that off? Well,that's the price of free; the users are the product, and they're sold to advertisers. :(

I don't miss FB in my life one little bit, one less noisy distraction in an already noisy world. I guess future generations will treat FB as an essential element of their lives, that they have to be on it and feel withdrawn if they can't use it. Sad :(

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7 August 2012 4:42PM

No not really, there isn't a great deal that can be done to turn off the ads, apart from using an ad-blocker I suppose.

I don't think I'll be turning my Facebook off any time soon though, there's loads of good that comes of it as long as you actually like your friends. You're right though, future generations will feel withdrawn if they don't use it. That's because it's part of people's lives now, like mobile phones, email, TV, computers and all those other cultural developments that made previous generations moan and say they were the death of society. Even if Facebook fails (which I don't think it will) people will just migrate to another social network, the concept of wanting to know what your friends are up to isn't going anywhere.

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7 August 2012 4:48PM

It's just so tacky.

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7 August 2012 5:04PM

Seem to be a lot of knee-jerk comments here. The service doesn't rely on facebook login information for date of birth, and from a quick look at the app's information they use identity verification software to confirm the details entered are correct (verified from a number of databases) before a single bet can be placed. As for the insinuation that being licensed in gibraltar makes the company somewhat less reputable, look at the number or online gambling operators licensed out of there. It's for tax reasons, not because the rules are more lax. In terms of exploiting people with gambling issues, the app is certified by Gamcare, the UK's leading gambling support charity. If people want to gamble they will, this is just a new method for them to do so on a platform that is primarily used by adults. The sky isn't falling.

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7 August 2012 5:17PM

Judging by the (awful) artwork it's definitely aimed at young people.

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7 August 2012 6:02PM

Ok, firstly this is UK only and will be limited be IP geolocation; secondly before penny one is spent you will have to be id validated - almost certainly by possession of a valid DUK Drivers Licence. Passport or CC / DC from which funds will be debited; thirdly, the Gibraltar regulations are certainly NOT lax.

It will be as easy for your kid to book a holiday to Cancun using your credit card as to do this. In other words, steal your card and use your name and cash. No service accepting CCs can effectively counter that as far as I know.

Not of the foregoing makes any of this a particularly good idea but let's have some perspective.

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7 August 2012 6:26PM

Because it wants to make it's insidious offerings seem casual and fun

All those fancy bright colours fooling the unthinking plebs.

I think you may find for some people it is exactly that - harmless fun. The problem is that term "harmless fun" has vastly diminished in scope.

Still, it is not a particularly inspiring move from Face-ache

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7 August 2012 7:57PM

How tacky can you get?

Thank goodness I have never gone near Facebook.

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7 August 2012 8:18PM

If it's designed for over 18s, why on earth does that screenshot look like a CBeebies programme?

It had to be 'dumbed down' for them.

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7 August 2012 8:19PM

How tacky can you get?

Keep watching facebook over the next few years to find out.

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7 August 2012 8:23PM

Ok, firstly this is UK only and will be limited be IP geolocation

Is that the same IP geolocation that hotmail believe when they keep pestering me for an american phone number - 'just in case' - even though I'm in the UK and use a Bristol ISP?

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7 August 2012 9:31PM

It just goes to show how silly some people can be, though the fb thing really is a bit confusing for some, including active users. I mean, how could so many apparantly normal people invest billions in an entity that could disappear in a flash, on a collective whim to move to something else?

Their success *so far* may be due to the relative unobrusiveness of their adverts, which you don't even notice if you get into the habit of not looking at the relevant part of the screen. Sometimes it's quite amusing though; I saw a urologist once and was rewarded with adverts for medical devices I didn't know existed. If they start getting aggressive, like with betting stuff that is strictly regulated in some normal countries, it looks like fb's demise is programmed for very soon - no doubt an inside job in the offing.

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7 August 2012 10:15PM

As a software engineer, I do not understand the attraction of web social-networking, a la Twitter and Facebook. If I want to share things with my friends/family I simply phone/email them. I make friends with people I meet in the normal run of social-life, at parties, gigs, and sometimes just chatting to someone in a place like a coffee shop, a bookshop,a cafe. Why does anyone feel the need to broadcast to a global audience? Seems to be something pathologically narcissistic about it all. Perhaps this is why Facebook is the perfect platform for launching a gaming enterprise ? a ready market with so many vulnerable people.

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8 August 2012 1:38PM

I guess Facebook really is the new Bebo/Myspace in more ways than one....

Sell, sell sell.

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9 August 2012 4:28AM

Looks like the thinking behind those mini "casinos" in service stations - lots of people passing by on their way to lay down a crap but you are making no money out of the vast majority of them.

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9 August 2012 12:42PM

hmm, not sure if this is a bug for facebook / mobile (Android OS)

- facebook app - google -------------------------- android OS

- Owner has log in to facebook app - log out - at google (if you type your facebook id) it comes up - with access to your profile - even if your log out at the facebook app

- second user - login to facebook app and via google then after logging out - user can use google to find fb id - and get full access

other samples are - when owner has login to facebook app - but second user uses google - login to myspace music player - second user still goes online and get full access..

not good at reportin - but aniway <<<

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