Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Uptick in citizen journalism leads Syria to ban iPhones (Yahoo! News)

Colette Noble

DES MOINES--Colette Noble's kids used to tell her, "You'll never lose your job--you work too hard."

Noble's voice choked up and her eyes welled with tears as she recounted the exchange.?"I used to say, 'You know what--you never know,' " she said, during an interview last week at a Starbucks here. "There are lots of good people who worked hard that lost their jobs."

Noble was laid off in January as an account manager at CDS Global, an Iowa-based subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, where she worked for two decades. She was the was the sole breadwinner for her family of four. Her two sons are 15 and 17. Her husband, a lawyer, stopped working several years ago after becoming addicted to Oxycontin, a painkiller that a doctor prescribed him for back pain. He's now healthy and looking for work again.

Noble, who is 48, threw herself into the search for a new job. "If there's a resource to be found, I feel like I've found it, " she said. But nearly a year later, she's still looking. She's now unable to pay the mortgage on her house.

Her long and fruitless search is hardly uncommon. The political class thinks of Iowa these days mostly as a staging ground for the long presidential campaign surrounding January's first-in-the-nation caucuses (including?Saturday's Republican presidential debate at Drake University, sponsored by Yahoo! and ABC News). But for many people in Iowa, the most important day-to-day concern is the state's struggle, along with the rest of the country, to throw?off the effects of the Great Recession and the halting recovery that's followed.

Although?low by national standards, Iowa's official unemployment rate has spiked to 6 percent--around 99,000 people--from 3.7 percent in 2007, before the economic downturn began. And jobless spells are lasting longer than ever. Iowa's long-term unemployment rate--the share of the 99,000 unemployed who have been out of work for 6 months or more--is 34 percent, nearly twice what it was before the downturn began.

"We look better, it sounds better, it feels better," said David Swenson, an economist who teaches at Iowa State University. "But in fact we have a lot of the stresses and the consequences of the recession that the rest of the nation has."

Iowa didn't have much of a housing bubble, so it escaped the worst of the crash. And thanks to high food prices, its agricultural sector is booming, helping to keep the rest of the state's economy afloat. But Swenson said Iowa's relatively low jobless rate is deceptive. Many of Iowa's younger workers--those under 45--tend to move to places like Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago, where there's more work.

"So our historically low unemployment rate is a function of that as well," Swenson said. "Our surplus labor that we can't use, it goes someplace else. It's unemployed elsewhere."

Compounding the problem, the recession exacerbated a nationwide trend that was already underway: a shift toward jobs with lower pay and fewer hours. The jobs gained in Iowa since the recession officially ended in 2009 pay more than $5,000 less, on average, than those lost during the downturn, according to a recent report?by the Iowa Policy Project, a union-backed group. Iowa is one of only three states in which wages for low-, median-, and high-wage workers were all lower last year, after adjusting for inflation, than they were a decade earlier. Colette Noble said she'd be "thrilled" to get a job that paid 60 or 70 percent of what she was making before.

Read More ?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111205/tc_yblog_technews/uptick-in-citizen-journalism-leads-syria-to-ban-iphones

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively Enjoy a Romantic Date

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are continuing their high-profile romance with a sugary sweet date in Connecticut last Friday night that featured lots of hand holding and sharing ice cream.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/ryan-reynolds-and-blake-lively-enjoy-romantic-holiday-date/1-a-407925?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aryan-reynolds-and-blake-lively-enjoy-romantic-holiday-date-407925

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Good Reads: Why British diplomats consider Tehran a 'hardship post'

Yesterday's rampage by Iranian 'students' are just the latest example of how Iranian domestic anger gets focused on diplomats.

With troops pulling out of Iraq and drawing down in Afghanistan, the global war on terror appears to be all but finished. But the reverberations from that war may be felt for some time.

Skip to next paragraph

Earlier this week, US-Pakistani relations took a dive because of a NATO bombing raid on a Pakistani border post that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Yesterday, Iranian students and members of an elite volunteer militia called the ?Basij? ? apparently not held back by Iranian police ? jumped the fence and raided the British Embassy in Tehran, prompting London to pull back most of its diplomats there. Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that there would be ?serious consequences.?

America?s and Britain?s relations with Iran ? which appeared to be moving toward rapprochement in the early days following Sept. 11 attacks ? have since taken a nosedive after Bush administration officials increasingly attempted to draw links between Iran?s security services and Al Qaeda as well as concerns about a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program. In that context, yesterday?s protests by Iranian students make sense, but what would get them so angry to raid the British embassy is a bit hard to explain. The Guardian?s Riazat Butt does write, in his penultimate paragraph, this explanation.

The storming of the embassy was triggered by the UK's decision to sever ties to the Iranian banking system and parliament, the Majlis, after the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report citing "credible" evidence that Iranian scientists had experimented with a nuclear warhead design and could be continuing to do so.

Frequent readers of the Monitor ? you know who you are ? will have read Scott Peterson?s excellent piece on Nov. 8 detailing the IAEA report on Iran?s nuclear program. Relying on intelligence reports and Iranian official information smuggled out of the country in a pilfered laptop, the IAEA concluded that Iran had continued to study ways to enrich uranium beyond the normal uses of civilian power-generation, and also continued to study ways to deliver a nuclear payload aboard Iran?s long-range Shahab-3 missiles. Iran has hotly denied that its nuclear program is for anything other than peaceful purposes, and calls the IAEA report ?politically motivated.?

The Iranian rampage has all the elements of us-versus-them that characterizes so much about international politics these days, but the Washington Post?s Thomas Erdbrink and Joby Warrick note that there are signs of dissension within the Iranian regime about whether the student raid on the British embassy was appropriate behavior. Students raiding the embassy pledged loyalty to Iran?s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, the Post wrote, while a spokesman for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the rampage ?unacceptable.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/c27QunU42Lg/Good-Reads-Why-British-diplomats-consider-Tehran-a-hardship-post

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Fujitsu Arrows ES IS12F coming to Japan next year: thick name, thin phone

KDDI's au network in Japan has revealed that it'll be stocking the slender Fujitsu Arrows ES IS12F starting January 2012. Fujitsu fans may recall seeing a very similar handset with the same (mostly) 6.7mm profile when NTT DoCoMo's version sashayed into those stuffy FCC offices. The phone runs on a single core processor, which is responsible for powering the image-stabilizing five megapixel camera and Gingerbread OS. The 4-inch, 480 x 800 AMOLED screen is cocooned in the same water resistant armor found on other Arrows devices, helping to protect those essential keitai functions like the One-Seg digital TV tuner and IR receiver. The skinny smartphone will go on sale in both black and red options on KIDDI, while NTT DoCoMo customers will have to settle for black.

Fujitsu Arrows ES IS12F coming to Japan next year: thick name, thin phone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/05/fujitsu-arrows-es-is12f-coming-to-japan-next-year-thick-name-t/

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Exit polls show less support for Putin's party

Exit polls cited by Russian state television are showing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party tallying less than 50 percent of the vote in Russia's parliamentary election.

The results represent a significant drop in support for United Russia compared to the previous election four years ago when it won over 64 percent of the vote nationwide.

The early returns from Sunday's vote signal it may lose its current two-third majority that allowed it to change the constitution unchallenged.

The drop reflects a sense of disenchantment with Putin's authoritarian course, rampant corruption and the gap between ordinary Russians and the super-rich.

United Russia is followed by the Communist Party with nearly 20 percent of the vote, according to two separate exit polls cited by Channel One and Rossiya television.

Putin remains by far the most popular politician in the country, but there are some signs Russians may be wearying of his cultivated strong man image.

The 59-year-old ex-spy looked stern and said only that he hoped for good results for his United Russia party as he walked past supporters to vote in Moscow.

Some voters expressed disgust with a poll they thought likely to be rigged.

A number of pro-democracy protesters were arrested at an unsanctioned rally held by the Left Front opposition group in downtown Moscow Sunday. One man held up a banner reading "I didn't vote."

Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister when Putin was president, said he and other opposition activists who voted Sunday were under no illusion that their votes will be counted fairly.

"It is absolutely clear there will be no real count," he said. "The authorities created an imitation of a very important institution whose name is free election, that is not free and is not elections."

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Others said they backed the party of Putin, who has continued to exert influence as Prime Minister since yielding the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 under a constitution forbidding more than two consecutive terms.

"I will vote for Putin. Everything he gets involved in, he manages well," Father Vasily, 61, a bespectacled and white-bearded monk from a nearby monastery said.

"It's too early for a new generation. They will be in charge another 20 years. We are Russians, we are Asians, we need a strong leadership," he added.

Time for a change?
Some said they would vote for Just Russia, which calls itself "new socialist," or the Communists, who retain support largely among poorer citizens two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the advent of a free market system.

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, voting at a cultural center decked with Soviet-style hammer and sickle flags, said there were election violations in several of Russia's 93 regions spanning 5,600 miles.

Polls show Putin's party is likely to win a majority but less than the 315 seats it currently has in the 450-seat lower house of parliament, known as the Duma.

"It is time for something to change so I am going to vote for the (nationalist party) LDPR. So far this seems the only party that can resist United Russia," 24-year-old event manager Yekaterina Makarova said in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

If Putin's party gets less than two-thirds of seats, it would be stripped of its so called constitutional majority which allows it to change the constitution and even approve the impeachment of the president.

Supporters say Putin saved Russia during his 2000-2008 presidency, restoring Kremlin control over sprawling regions and reviving an economy mired in post-Soviet chaos.

His use of military force to crush a rebellion in the southern Muslim region of Chechnya also won him broad support.

Hackers attack radio station
Opposition parties say the election is unfair because the authorities support United Russia with cash and television air time. The independent Ekho Moskvy radio station said its website had been shut down by hackers early on Sunday morning.

"It is obvious that the election day attack on the site is part of an attempt to prevent publishing information about violations," the station's editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov wrote on the radio's Twitter account.

Story: Russia media claim cyber attack after election

Independent election watchdog Golos said it was excluded from several polling booths in the Siberian Tomsk region, according to Interfax news agency. Moscow prosecutors launched an investigation last week into Golos' activities after lawmakers objected to its Western financing.

Russian customs officers held the director of an independent election watchdog for 12 hours at a Moscow airport on Saturday. The United States said it was concerned by "a pattern of harassment" against the watchdog.

The group has compiled some 5,300 complaints of election-law violations ahead of the vote. Most are linked to United Russia. Roughly a third of the complainants ? mostly government employees and students ? say employers and professors are pressuring them to vote for the party.

Putin has no serious personal rivals as Russia's leader. He remains the ultimate arbiter between the clans which control the world's biggest energy producer.

'Swindlers and thieves'
But his party has had to fight against opponents who have branded it a collection of "swindlers and thieves" and combat a growing sense of unease among voters at Putin's grip on power.

"I shall not vote. I shall cross out all the parties on the list and write: 'Down with the party of swindlers and thieves,'" said Nikolai Markovtsev, an independent deputy in the Vladivostok city legislature on the Pacific seaboard.

"These are not elections: This is sacrilege," he said, adding that the biggest liberal opposition bloc had been barred from the vote by the authorities.

Opponents say Putin has crafted a brittle political system which excludes independent voices and that Russians are growing tired of Putin's swaggering image.

Sports fans booed and whistled at Putin at a recent Moscow martial arts fight ? an exceptional event in a country inclined to show respect and restraint towards leaders.

Putin is almost certain to win the March 4 presidential election but signs of disenchantment are extremely worrying for the Kremlin's political managers.

In an attempt to reinvigorate his party, which President Medvedev is leading into the election as part of a job swap announced in September, Putin has sent his closest allies to lead United Russia in some of Russia's 83 regions.

Russians in the Far East region braved temperatures as low as minus 41 degrees Celsius (minus 42 Fahrenheit) to vote eight hours before polls opened in Moscow.

Chukchi reindeer herders living across the Bering Sea from Alaska voted in late November as did some oil workers on rigs pumping the lifeblood of Russia's $1.9 trillion economy, with their ballots taken out by helicopter to be counted.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45541182/ns/world_news-europe/

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Yoshikazu Tanaka On How Mobile Social Gaming Will Make GREE ...

Taylor auction tells story of life and loves (AP)

NEW YORK ? From the colorful, couture frocks worn during her two weddings with actor Richard Burton, to the dazzling ruby and diamond Cartier jewelry set, a gift from her third husband, film producer Mike Todd, "The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor" on display at Christie's auction house in New York tells a passionate story, spanning seven husbands and nearly five decades.

"(Through the collection) you can see that all the men were really, really fundamentally in love with her," said Orianne Collins, a jewelry designer and Taylor aficionado who hosted a preview of the exhibition Thursday before it opens to the public on Saturday.

Other tokens from admirers include jewelry and an autographed poster from Taylor's cherished friend, Michael Jackson. The 1987 print is signed "To my true love Elizabeth. I love you forever."

Patrons of the exhibition, which runs through Dec. 12, will certainly flock to one of Taylor's most prized possessions ? a 33.19-carat, emerald cut diamond ring. The estimated worth of the gift Burton gave her in 1968 is $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

Thomas W. Burstein of Christie's said the only time the famous ring left Taylor's hand was when she offered it up to friends to try on. "She really had this notion that the jewelry should be shared and loved by everybody," he said.

One of the most precious items of the collection is a 16th century pear-shaped pearl, the centerpiece of a ruby and diamond necklace designed by Cartier and Taylor herself.

"This is such a rare piece. I compare it to the Hope diamond," Burstein said.

The necklace's estimated worth is $2 million to $3 million.

The exhibition is also a journey through Taylor's evolving fashion sense, from her glamorous red carpet gowns to a chorus line of colorful kaftans and a bevy of beaded Versace jackets. The second floor offers a look at Taylor's vibrant purse and shoe collection, a sea of gold Hermes bags, sequin Chanel clutches and satin Louboutins.

Meredith Etherington-Smith, curator of Taylor's fashion collection, called the exhibit a glimpse into Taylor's "tempestuous, fabulous, technicolor personality that epitomizes gutsy glamour."

The collection will be up for auction both live and online Dec. 13-17. Part of the proceeds will go to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. The beloved actress died March 23 at age 79.

___

Online:

www.christies.com

___

Nicole Evatt covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_en_mo/us_people_elizabeth_taylor_auction

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Space agency ends attempt to contact Russian probe (AP)

MOSCOW ? The European Space Agency said Friday it has abandoned efforts to contact a rogue Russian space probe, increasing the likelihood it will plunge to Earth.

The unmanned Phobos-Ground probe was to head to the Mars moon of Phobos on a 2 1/2-year mission to take soil samples and fly them back to Earth. But the probe became stuck in Earth orbit after its Nov. 9 launch and attempts to send commands that could propel it toward the Mars moon have been unsuccessful.

ESA said in a statement that although the agency has halted efforts to contact the probe, it will resume if any changes are reported by the Russian space agency.

A spokesman for the Paris-based ESA told The Associated Press that Russia was going to continue to try to contract the probe over the weekend; he spoke on condition he not be named. Russian space officials could not be reached for comment late Friday.

Russian deputy space chief Vitaly Davydov said last month that if the spacecraft is not sent to Mars, it could fall to Earth sometime between late December and late February.

The failed spacecraft is 13.2 metric tons (14.6 tons); most of that weight, about 11 metric tons (12 tons), is highly toxic fuel. Experts say that if the fuel has frozen, some could survive the plummet to Earth, but that if it is liquid it will likely combust from the heat of re-entering the atmosphere.

The mission was planned to reach Mars orbit next September and land on Phobos in February 2013.

Scientists hoped that studies of the Phobos soil would help solve the mystery of its origin and shed more light on the genesis of the solar system. Some believe that the crater-dented moon is an asteroid captured by Mars' gravity, while others think it's a piece of debris resulting from Mars' collision with another celestial object.

_____

Online:

ESA website http://www.esa.int

_____

Associated Press writer Sarah DiLorenzo contributed to this story from Paris.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_mars_mission

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Apple boots Match.com app after it runs afoul of subscription policy (Appolicious)

Match.com?s app for Apple?s iOS mobile platform has been kicked out of the iTunes App Store after Match.com failed to give Apple its cut of the service?s subscription fees.

Subscription services with apps like Match.com?s fall under Apple?s June subscription policy, which Apple originally created to service newspaper and magazine subscriptions being taken mostly through its iPad apps. Apple?s policy today is that apps that take subscription fees are free to offer those subscriptions through apps, but they have to pay Apple 30 percent of any subscription that gets purchased using an app on an Apple device. If those services would rather not pay Apple, that?s fine. Apps can access subscription content purchased elsewhere, but they can?t provide a button that sends users to the web to make their subscription purchase. In essence, if you want to use your app to garner subscriptions, Apple gets a cut, and you can?t perform an end-run on Apple to avoid paying the toll.

But that?s precisely what Match.com?s app has been doing, according to TechCrunch, presumably since Apple enacted the policy in June. The app contained a button that sent users to the Internet to get their subscription to Match.com, where Apple wasn?t getting a piece. Apparently, Apple didn?t realize that fact until just recently, but when it did, it pulled the Match.com app as per the subscription policy.

So for the moment, Match.com isn?t in the App Store, but that probably won?t be the case for long. Apple and the online matchmaker are currently negotiating what needs to happen with the app before it can be returned to the store, but it?ll be interesting to see what Match.com chooses to do with its app going forward. It has two options: cut Apple in on subscriptions that come through the app, or forgo offering subscriptions through the app entirely.

At the very least, it?s likely Match.com will want to return its mobile offering to the App Store even if it doesn?t use it to garner subscriptions. Giving users even somewhat limited mobile functionality is still highly convenient to those users, and Match.com probably won?t want to give up its iOS presence completely.

But whether it?ll be profitable for the company to give Apple a 30-percent cut of its in-app subscriptions or just leave them off entirely is another question. It would depend on just how many subscriptions Match.com drags in from its apps, and whether losing its app will significantly decrease its visibility. If the App Store is how lots of people learn about Match.com and buy their subscriptions, then the company will probably opt to pay off Apple. But it seems like a mobile app might not be the best way to interact with the service, so in-app subscriptions for it may now be a thing of the past.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10366_apple_boots_match_com_app_after_it_runs_afoul_of_subscription_policy/43786380/SIG=13l1502a3/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10366-apple-boots-match-com-app-after-it-runs-afoul-of-subscription-policy

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PSU prez: 'Wide-open' search for new coach

Penn State President Rodney Erickson speaks at a town hall forum organized by students at the university's main campus, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in State College, Pa. The event served as an open discussion between students and the administration about the school's recent sexual abuse scandal, which has resulted in the departures of school President Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/John Beale)

Penn State President Rodney Erickson speaks at a town hall forum organized by students at the university's main campus, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in State College, Pa. The event served as an open discussion between students and the administration about the school's recent sexual abuse scandal, which has resulted in the departures of school President Graham Spanier and longtime football coach Joe Paterno. (AP Photo/John Beale)

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2011 file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno stands on the field before his team's NCAA college football game against Northwestern, in Evanston, Ill. Former Penn State coach Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son. Scott Paterno says in a statement provided to The Associated Press by a family representative that the 84-year-old Joe Paterno is undergoing treatment and that "his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery." (AP Photo/Jim Prisching, File)

(AP) ? Penn State will conduct a wide-open search for a new football coach and focus on candidates with characteristics including honesty and integrity, the school's new president said.

The Nittany Lions need a new leader after Hall of Famer Joe Paterno was fired in his 46th season after child sex abuse charges were filed against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

"As we go out to search for a head football coach, one of the first and foremost criteria is how that person would fit into the value system of Penn State, which clearly has to be honesty, integrity and commitment to excellence in academics," president Rod Erickson said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Erickson had said Wednesday night after a campus town hall forum that he hoped to have a new coach in place by the time No. 23 Penn State (9-3) plays its bowl game. The postseason destination should be announced this weekend.

Erickson cited the school's success in graduating athletes, an achievement championed by Paterno, who has a library named after him on campus.

But the scandal also tarnished the reputation of a football program that once proudly boasted the slogan "Success with Honor."

Sandusky, who drew up the "Linebacker U." defensive schemes for Paterno, was charged Nov. 5 with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span. The ex-assistant coach has acknowledged that he showered with boys but denied molesting them.

Paterno, the Division I leader with 409 career victories, announced his retirement effective the end of the season on the morning of Nov. 9 amid mounting criticism that school officials should have done more to respond to allegations of alleged abuse. Despite the announcement, school trustees fired Paterno about 12 hours later.

Paterno is not a target of the investigation.

Longtime assistant Tom Bradley, who is 1-2 since taking over on an interim basis, has expressed interest in keeping the job full time. Some critics have said the next coach should have no previous ties to Penn State given the scandal.

Erickson maintained the search was "wide open" when asked if he would rule out anyone with a Penn State connection, but declined comment on any specific candidate. Acting athletic director David Joyner is heading a six-person search committee for a replacement.

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-01-FBC-T25-Penn-St-Coach-Search/id-a7b8ed3200ad45f79af4b1bb1fc12a26

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Thrifty Thursday: Prairie on the Cusp of Winter


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Thrifty Thursdays feature photographs taken with equipment costing less than $500.

Seed heads of black-eyed susans emerge whimsically from the prairie (Urbana, Illinois).

[Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 - $241]

By now the Illinois prairies have traded their summer greens for fall browns and golds. All that remains of the black-eyed susans that bloomed in June are the old flower heads, standing upright among the Indian grass.

Photographing with a point-and-shoot camera means an especially deep focal plane. Even the out-of-focus backdrop retains texture. Thus, composition with these small cameras is often more challenging than with the larger cameras whose shallow focal planes more thoroughly blur the backdrop.


Alex WildAbout the Author: Alex Wild is an Illinois-based entomologist who studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books, and media outlets. Follow on Twitter @myrmecos.

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=73f9ec3437b1bcba02b57f10d3472ffd

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China factory sector shrinks first time in nearly 3 years (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China's factory sector shrank in November in the face of weakening demand both at home and abroad, two surveys showed on Thursday, underlining the central bank's move to cut bank reserve requirements to shore up the economy.

The official and HSBC purchasing managers' indexes are likely to feed worries that the global economy is on a slippery slope as the euro zone is marred by its debt crisis, reinforcing expectations that China will ease policy further.

The official PMI released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) fell to 49 in November from October's 50.4, suggesting activity among big manufacturers shrank in November for the first time in nearly three years, or since the global financial crisis.

The reading was below the median forecast of 50 in a Reuters poll. That level demarcates expansion from contraction.

"The November PMI dropped further to below the boom-bust line of 50... indicates that the economic growth pace would continue to moderate in the future," Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Centre of the State Council, wrote in the CFLP statement.

The CFLP said the sub-index for new orders fell to 47.8 in November from 50.5 in October, while the sub-index for new export orders dipped to 45.6 in November from October's 48.6. Both sets of figures suggest the domestic and overseas new order books are shrinking.

Meanwhile, the HSBC China PMI dropped to a 32-month low of 47.7 in November from October's 51. A sub-index for new orders skidded to a 32-month low of 45 from 52.6 in October.

"The November PMI final reading points to a sharp deterioration in business conditions across the Chinese manufacturing sector," said Qu Hongbin, China economist at HSBC.

In one bright sign though, new export orders in the HSBC survey, geared more to smaller and private-sector factories, was comfortably above 50, suggesting growth.

China's economic expansion has been slowing all this year as Europe and the United States -- China's top two export markets -- have struggled to recover from the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.

In addition to global headwinds, China's once red-hot real estate sector is slowing down as home prices and sales fall.

China's central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio for its commercial lenders on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three years to ease credit strains and shore up an economy running at its weakest pace since 2009.

The reserve cut, effective Dec 5, reduces the ratio for the biggest banks to 21 percent from a record high 21.5 percent, freeing up funds that could be used for lending to cash-strapped small firms. Analysts said they expect further cuts in bank reserves.

FALLING INFLATION

The positive side of the surveys was that inflationary pressures in China could ease further, creating more room for the central bank to relax policy to support growth.

"We can see that the central bank is actually increasing the magnitude of policy easing, although it is still early to call it a comprehensive loosening," said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura.

The prices sub-index of the official PMI fell to 44.4 from October's 46.2.

China's annual consumer inflation dipped to 5.5 percent in October from September's 6.1 percent, pulling back further from July's three-year peak of 6.5 percent.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning agency, forecast that inflation will fall below 5 percent before the end of this year as food price pressures ease, the Economic Daily reported on Nov 14.

The HSBC PMI for November came in lower than its flash number released late in November and based on 90 percent of responses.

Then flash reading of 48 implied annual industrial output growth of 11-12 percent, HSBC said, a pace not seen since 2009 when China was pulling out of the global crisis.

Factory output, which accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product, hit its weakest pace in a year in October, even though expansion in the first 10 months of 2011 averaged 14.1 percent.

(Reporting by Aileen Wang and Kevin Yao; Editing by Ken Wills and Neil Fullick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/bs_nm/us_china_economy_pmi

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Oil rises above $98 in Asia as stock markets gain (AP)

BANGKOK ? Oil prices rose above $99 a barrel Monday in Asia, taking a cue from gains in stock markets after a strong start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up $2.49 to $99.30 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 60 cents to settle at $96.77 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude was up $2.13 at $107.99 on the ICE futures exchange.

Oil took its cue from Asian and European stocks, which were mostly higher Monday after record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the four-day U.S. holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day. That was up from 212 million last year, according to early estimates by The National Retail Federation.

Reports that France and Germany might circumvent European bureaucracy to get nations using the euro common currency to comply with strict rules for budget discipline also boosted sentiment.

Crude has fallen from above $103 more than a week ago amid investor concern that Europe's debt crisis will undermine global economic growth and oil demand.

In other Nymex trading, natural gas was up 0.3 cent at $3.545 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil added 4.8 cents to $2.99 a gallon and gasoline rose 6.6 cents to $2.52 a gallon.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Philly calm but 4 arrested in LA after deadlines

Wall Street protesters dance to music as they remain at the camp in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Wall Street protesters dance to music as they remain at the camp in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

A Los Angeles Police officer looks on near the illuminated city hall as a large group of anti-Wall Street protesters remain at the Wall Street protesters camp in Los Angeles shortly after midnight Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Jeff Rousset holds a sign during a demonstration by Occupy Philly, at Dilworth Plaza, in Philadelphia, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. A deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for some two months passed without scuffles or arrests as police watched nearly 50 demonstrators lock arms and sit at the entrance of Dilworth Plaza. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)

Members of Occupy Philly demonstrate at Dilworth Plaza, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, in Philadelphia, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. A deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for some two months passed without scuffles or arrests as police watched nearly 50 demonstrators lock arms and sit at the entrance of Dilworth Plaza. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)

A protester yells from a light pole at the Occupy LA camp in Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors' campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday but police did not enforce the deadline. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

(AP) ? Wall Street protesters in Los Angeles and Philadelphia defied orders to leave their months-old encampments, making it through the deadlines without the acrimony that marked earlier forced evictions in other cities.

Protesters chanted "we won, we won" as riot gear-clad Los Angeles police left on Monday, though there were four arrests. Occupy LA supporters asked a federal judge to bar the city from tearing down their encampment.

In Philadelphia, the camp was mostly quiet amid a heavy police presence, and on Monday morning a handful of people marching down one of the city's main business corridors banging drums.

When the camps would be cleared after officials in both cities ordered their removal was unclear.

"There is no concrete deadline," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said after hundreds of officers withdrew without moving in on the camp. He said he wanted to make sure the removal would be safe for protesters and officers.

"With as little drama as possible," he told reporters.

Police and protesters have clashed in recent weeks, most notably in Oakland, Calif., as officers sometimes used pepper spray and tear gas to shutter camps that officials say have grown more dangerous for public health and safety.

Some of those encampments had been in use almost since the movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago.

Elsewhere, nine people were arrested in Maine after protesters in the Occupy Augusta encampment in Capitol Park took down their tents and packed their camping gear after being told to get a permit or move their shelters.

In San Francisco, protesters shouted and chanted as they disrupted a University of California board meeting, forcing officials to move to another room.

The meeting comes after video footage captured a UC Davis police officer pepper-spraying peaceful protesters drew outrage, not just at the school but around the world, and set off a debate about the appropriate use of force.

In Los Angeles, about half of the 485 tents had been taken down as of Sunday night, leaving patches of the 1.7-acre park around City Hall barren of grass and strewn with garbage.

Police turned back after hundreds of Occupy LA supporters showed up at the camp Sunday night as the midnight deadline for evacuation neared. As the night drew on, many demonstrators left.

Protester Julie Levine said she was surprised that police did not move in as the numbers dwindled. "We were fearful," she said. "But we held our numbers and police were on their best behavior."

Officers reopened the streets around 6:30 a.m.

"Let's go get breakfast," said Commander Andrew Smith as he removed his helmet.

The protest was largely peaceful but there were some skirmishes. Four people were arrested for failure to disperse and a few protesters tossed bamboo sticks and water bottles at officers, Smith said. No injuries were reported.

Jim Lafferty of the National Lawyers Guild said he filed a petition Monday in federal court, arguing that a City Council-passed resolution of support for the occupiers protects them from the city's ban on overnight camping.

In Philadelphia, a deadline set by the city for protesters to leave the site where it has camped for nearly two months passed Sunday without any arrests.

Dozens of tents remained at the encampment outside Philadelphia's City Hall on Monday, 12 hours after a city-imposed deadline passed for the protesters to move to make way for a construction project.

Along the steps leading into a Philadelphia plaza, about 50 people sat in lines Sunday with the promise that they would not leave unless they were carried out by authorities. For a time, they linked arms.

But as it seemed that a forceful ouster was not imminent, they relaxed a bit. A police presence was heavier than usual but no orders to leave had been issued.

A few dozen tents remained scattered on the plaza, along with trash, piles of dirty blankets and numerous signs reading, "You can't evict an idea."

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was out of town Sunday, but his spokesman reiterated that "people are under orders to move."

The mayor had an exchange on Twitter with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who asked Nutter "to remember this is a non-violent movement ? please show restraint tonight." Nutter's response: "I agree."

___

Mulvihill reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers John Rogers and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles, Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, and Glenn Adams in Augusta, Maine contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-28-Occupy-Protests/id-4158ccc3c23f4517a22a7fd68f3fe1e2

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