Michael Ansara, well known for playing Klingon commander Kang on “Star Trek”, has passed away at his home in Calabasas, California due to complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 91. Ansara’s friend and former publicist, Michael B. Druxman, confirmed to EW, “Michael and I have been friends since 1968. He was my best friend. He ...
[unable to retrieve full-text content]"The poll showcases the value of friendship in relationships, which we strongly believe in. These are some of the most successful Bollywood relationships whose love and understanding for each other also makes them good ...
The personal essay is more than a diary entry for the masses. You probably don?t want people to read your journal as is, but chances are, having a literary magazine say that they want to publish your feelings, opinions, and observations sounds pretty darn good. The trick is to move past the egocentric style of a journal entry to create a narrative tale others can relate to. Here are four tips that we have found successful in getting editors to say, ?Yes!? to your submission.
Brevity and precision. In these modern days, people have a tough time focusing their attention for too long. We get involved with something and then a TV show comes on, or you get sidetracked by a message on your computer, or?you have a wicked hangnail that needs to be picked. Your personal essay should be under 3,500 words?and we state this adamantly. This is, apparently, the absolute most attention that the modern human can give to a piece of writing (man, we?re lazy sometimes). Though you may want to ramble on about conflict in the Middle East, or your addiction to gummy bears, it is better to establish your goal and get to it quickly. The shorter the work, the more focused your presentation. Thus, the better you keep the readers? interest. Now, put down that gummy bear.
Get with it! The world is one big, constant story. Tap into it. Stay fresh with current events, and give us your take on them. Personal essays that take on popular news stories are especially interesting. We spend a lot of time listening to broadcast journalists in the world telling us their opinions; don?t you think it?s time for yours to be heard, in your own voice?
Fresh insight. We all have our own train of thought, our own analysis. The personal essay is great because you can lend your perspective to others. Readers can agree or disagree, but either way they are learning something new about themselves. That?s a great feeling for both the writer and reader. So, dive into what you?re writing about. Analyze every nook and cranny of it, and give us your fresh take. There?s almost nothing more satisfying than reading new insights because they can change our perceptions, which can change us. But don?t hypnotize us?and don?t preach at us.
Don?t be too self-involved. Remember: Yes, you are writing this for yourself, but you?re also writing it for others to relate to and to find a common ground. Don?t just delve deeper into your life?s specificities. Think about those friends who just seem to always talk about themselves and about what happened in their day, and about their kids, and their job, and their?blah, blah, blah. Do you sit in anticipation of hearing about those people?s stories? I?m going to guess no (unless you?re Oprah and getting paid to). So why would anyone want to invest in your essay if you?re spewing out personal information and readers have absolutely no way of relating? They wouldn?t. Involve all of us, and we will read with vigor and excitement!
Now, go submit, submit, submit. Find literary magazines that are partial to what you?re writing about, or to your style. Practice these tips and hone your voice. People will want to read what you have to say. We?re all a bunch of walking opinions. As long as those opinions and stories are presented in a relatable way, there will always be a market for them. Writer?s Relief has seen this work time and time again.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Each might be invested in a slightly different way and from different pension plan providers, each with a different charging structure for the plans they provide. It can be further complicated by the fact that each provider is ...
CHICAGO (AP) ? Falling televisions sent nearly 200,000 U.S. children to the emergency room over 20 years and the injury rate has climbed substantially for these sometimes deadly accidents, a study found.
Doctors and safety experts say better awareness is needed about the dangers ? especially the risks of putting heavier, older model TV sets on top of dressers and other furniture young children may try to climb on.
Most injuries are in kids under 5; head and neck injuries including concussions are the most common.
"This is a problem that is increasing at an alarming rate," said lead author Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatric emergency specialist and president of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance in Columbus, Ohio.
Smith said it is unclear from the data what type of TV sets are involved in the accidents or whether older, heavier models are the most common culprit.
The study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
In 2011, 12,300 children nationwide got ER treatment for TV-related injuries, compared with 5,455 in 1990. The injury rate nearly doubled, from 0.85 injuries per 10,000 children aged 17 and younger in 1990 to 1.66 per 10,000 in 2011, the study found.
The researchers examined national ER data on non-fatal television-related injuries to kids from 1990-2011. In many cases, the set had been placed on a dresser and the child used open drawers as stairs to climb up and reach the TV, toppling it.
Over those two decades, 215 children died from these injuries, government data show, and news reports indicate that since January 2012, at least six young children have been killed nationwide by falling TVs.
Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the government's Consumer Product Safety Commission, said as flat screen TVs have become more popular, many families move heavier old TVs to bedrooms, placing them on dressers or other unsteady furniture not designed to hold them.
The commission urges parents to anchor furniture to the wall or floor with brackets or other specially designed tethers. TVs also should be anchored to sturdy surfaces, the commission recommends.
Contact: Dr. Damien Fordham damien.fordham@adelaide.edu.au 61-477-303-470 University of Adelaide
Climate change could drive the Iberian lynx ? the world's most threatened cat to extinction within 50 years, despite substantial ongoing conservation efforts, a new international study has found.
Published today in Nature Climate Change, the research team says the impact of climate change must be incorporated in strategies to reintroduce the Iberian lynx to new habitats if the species is to be saved.
"We show that climate change could lead to a rapid and severe decrease in lynx abundance in coming decades, and probably lead to its extinction in the wild within 50 years," says lead author Dr Damien Fordham, from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute. "Current management efforts could be futile if they don't take into account the combined effects of climate change, land use and prey abundance on population dynamics of the Iberian lynx."
The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered cat species, with only an estimated 250 individuals surviving in the wild. Recent declines have been associated with sharp regional reductions in the abundance of its main prey, the European rabbit. Only two Iberian lynx populations persist in the wild compared with nine in the 1990s.
Over 90 million has been spent since 1994 to try and save the species, mainly through habitat management, reduction of destructive human activity and, more recently, reintroducing the lynx into suitable areas where they have lived in recent history.
Although there is evidence that lynx numbers have increased in the last ten years in response to intensive management, this study warns that the ongoing conservation strategies could buy just a few decades before the species goes extinct. This study is the most comprehensive conservation-management model yet developed of the effects of climate change on a predator and its prey.
"Models used to investigate how climate change will affect biodiversity have so far been unable to capture the dynamic and complex feedbacks of species interactions," says Dr Miguel Arajo, senior author and Spanish Research Council (CSIC) Senior Researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. "By developing new forecasting methods, we have managed, for the first time, to simulate demographic responses of lynx to spatial patterns of rabbit abundance conditioned by disease, climate change, and land use modification."
CSIC researcher at the Doana Biological Station in Seville, Dr Alejandro Rodrguez, says: "Habitat in the south-west of the Iberian Peninsula, where the two existing populations of lynx persist, is most likely to be inhospitable to lynx by the middle of this century." Current reintroduction plans are targeting the south of Spain and Portugal but survival of the species in the long term may require higher latitude and higher altitude regions on the Iberian Peninsula.
"That the numbers of Iberian lynx are currently increasing suggests that intensive management of habitat and rabbit populations have worked as effective short-term conservation strategies, but small population size means that the species is still threatened and susceptible to future population declines," says Professor Barry Brook, Chair of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide. "This means that the species is extremely vulnerable to shifts in habitat quality or to changes in the abundance of their rabbit prey due to climate change."
The researchers say climate-change-informed decisions should be a common part of conservation practice.
###
Media Contact:
Dr Damien Fordham
Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8313 6711
Mobile: +61 477 303 470
damien.fordham@adelaide.edu.au
Robyn Mills
Media and Communications Officer
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8313 6341
Mobile: +61 410 689 084 robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Dr. Damien Fordham damien.fordham@adelaide.edu.au 61-477-303-470 University of Adelaide
Climate change could drive the Iberian lynx ? the world's most threatened cat to extinction within 50 years, despite substantial ongoing conservation efforts, a new international study has found.
Published today in Nature Climate Change, the research team says the impact of climate change must be incorporated in strategies to reintroduce the Iberian lynx to new habitats if the species is to be saved.
"We show that climate change could lead to a rapid and severe decrease in lynx abundance in coming decades, and probably lead to its extinction in the wild within 50 years," says lead author Dr Damien Fordham, from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute. "Current management efforts could be futile if they don't take into account the combined effects of climate change, land use and prey abundance on population dynamics of the Iberian lynx."
The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered cat species, with only an estimated 250 individuals surviving in the wild. Recent declines have been associated with sharp regional reductions in the abundance of its main prey, the European rabbit. Only two Iberian lynx populations persist in the wild compared with nine in the 1990s.
Over 90 million has been spent since 1994 to try and save the species, mainly through habitat management, reduction of destructive human activity and, more recently, reintroducing the lynx into suitable areas where they have lived in recent history.
Although there is evidence that lynx numbers have increased in the last ten years in response to intensive management, this study warns that the ongoing conservation strategies could buy just a few decades before the species goes extinct. This study is the most comprehensive conservation-management model yet developed of the effects of climate change on a predator and its prey.
"Models used to investigate how climate change will affect biodiversity have so far been unable to capture the dynamic and complex feedbacks of species interactions," says Dr Miguel Arajo, senior author and Spanish Research Council (CSIC) Senior Researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. "By developing new forecasting methods, we have managed, for the first time, to simulate demographic responses of lynx to spatial patterns of rabbit abundance conditioned by disease, climate change, and land use modification."
CSIC researcher at the Doana Biological Station in Seville, Dr Alejandro Rodrguez, says: "Habitat in the south-west of the Iberian Peninsula, where the two existing populations of lynx persist, is most likely to be inhospitable to lynx by the middle of this century." Current reintroduction plans are targeting the south of Spain and Portugal but survival of the species in the long term may require higher latitude and higher altitude regions on the Iberian Peninsula.
"That the numbers of Iberian lynx are currently increasing suggests that intensive management of habitat and rabbit populations have worked as effective short-term conservation strategies, but small population size means that the species is still threatened and susceptible to future population declines," says Professor Barry Brook, Chair of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide. "This means that the species is extremely vulnerable to shifts in habitat quality or to changes in the abundance of their rabbit prey due to climate change."
The researchers say climate-change-informed decisions should be a common part of conservation practice.
###
Media Contact:
Dr Damien Fordham
Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8313 6711
Mobile: +61 477 303 470
damien.fordham@adelaide.edu.au
Robyn Mills
Media and Communications Officer
The University of Adelaide
Phone: +61 8 8313 6341
Mobile: +61 410 689 084 robyn.mills@adelaide.edu.au
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Engineers have created a new e-skin that responds to touch by instantly lighting up. The more intense the pressure, the brighter the light it emits. The material is the first sensor network on flexible plastic that is user-interactive.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]University of Auckland Master of Commerce $7272-$7896 for domestic students, $28,680 for international students. About 5000 or 11% international. Massey University business postgraduate fees $5481.60-$7239.20 for ...
There is always more to learn about Website marketing. Internet promotion is constantly evolving, and there will always be much to learn. The article below provides ideas for getting your Web marketing strategies off the ground.
A website?s tag is one of its most important features. It tells the world who you are. The title of your website can determine how your customers perceive your business?s website. If you use an inaccurate tag, or waste that space with something meaningless, people could leave your site, or not click on it in the first place.
To make more money, you need more subscribers. A split test, where you show different versions of a website to different persons, can help you determine what approaches are most effective. You can make a more informed decision after looking at the number of subscribers each page generated.
TIP! Provide one thing that is niche or very unique on your site. This will most likely get you a ton of traffic.
A good strategy is to know what your competitors are doing. It can be easy to look over the competition?s website and learn the features their site has. Your goal is to create a better site that people will check instead of your competitors?.
Always provide the information and answers that customers are seeking and make it easy to find. Build a website that offers accurate information and is easy to navigate. Add interesting, relevant content like reviews and instructional articles that demonstrate your expertize and legitimacy in the eyes of prospective customers.
Be certain that the information you provide to customers when you promote your business is appropriate. You need to make your articles high quality and different. Unique content can represent your business in a favorable light and even educate your consumers on your mission statement. This alone should compel you to update your content frequently!
TIP! For increasing user satisfaction with your business online, try making a FAQ page for your site. It will help you answer any questions your customers might have more easily and efficiently which solves their problem and increases the level of satisfaction they feel.
Website marketing is both similar to, and different from, other marketing tactics. As an example, in the future title tags may be weighed less by search engines for their rankings. If something like this happens, it might become better to market to a viral video audience.
Decide what you want your website to accomplish, and keep your focus on that goal. What kind of articles do you want to publish? What directories do you want to publish your articles to? You will find that directories all have different requirements. Write with these guidelines in mind to have the best submissions.
Being listed with Google is vital to achieve successful affiliate marketing. Millions of people search Google every hour of every day, and you need to know when people are searching for terms related to your business. Showing up high in the Google results will increase your business a great deal.
TIP! You possess the skills needed to be successful in internet marketing. You are perfectly capable of achieving your goals without help from software programs or gimmicks.
While following what your competitors do is important, it is even more important that your own marketing be memorable and unique. Online filters are good at locating duplicate content. Although you may experience gains in the present, you might experience losses in the future. You can increase your successes by being innovative in your strategies.
Take a hard look at the true value of your service or product. No amount of marketing can change a product that is faulty or otherwise inferior. In order to see your sales grow, you should be sure that you are marketing a quality product, one that is superior to your competitors products.
The best part of a solid marketing strategy is having solid content. Review your content prior to posting to ensure your customers get the right message. Also, have others review your content. A fresh pair of eyes makes a huge difference. Your visitors will read your articles if the grammar is correct and if they are interesting.
TIP! Be sure to keep statistics that are detailed. This could include website traffic, sales, refunds, conversion, referrals, and just about anything that could be measured.
Try giving away stuff from your site. A great free downloadable item to offer is an article related to your product or services. It could be an introductory article explaining your product and it?s uses, with testimonials from customers. Homeowners may appreciate an article on home improvement tips if construction is your line of work. This type of freebie shows customers that you care and want to assist them.
You can benefit from the vast amount of information out there with regards to improving your Internet promotion efforts. You don?t have to become an Internet marketing expert. These simple acts are just a start. You can make quick improvements in the way you market your business online. So, keep a lookout on all new Internet marketing topics and keep looking to improve every day.
TIP! Do not overlook direct marketing as a streamlined complement to your Internet marketing system. Offer special deals and services by direct contact with your customers through email, phone, Twitter or text messaging.
The thing about successful innovation is that it becomes assimilated and imitated quickly. The bigger the breakthrough, the bigger the market pressure for follow-up wonders. Without a constant flow of big ideas, customers become complacent, competitors catch up, and investors catch on.
On Tuesday, Apple Inc. will have to answer critics who have worried the company has lost its entrepreneurial spirit and innovative drive since Steve Jobs died. They point out there has been a void of new, must-have i-devices since Tim Cook took over as CEO more than a year ago.
At the same time, Apple has reversed course on its long-held corporate resistance to paying shareholder dividends and stock buybacks. Instead, Apple has been returning billions of dollars of its cash hoard to its investors rather than making a rash buyout of another company or technology it would be better off without.
Sure, Apple hasn't unleashed a new iPhone that has customers rushing to upgrade. Nor has it unveiled a long awaited TV product. The June announcement of its iRadio streaming music service was greeted as an obvious, if late-to-the-game strategy. Instead, the company has concentrated on the foundation of its mobile device business, introducing a new operating system to be out in the fall.
Apple will have a lot to crow about when it releases its quarterly results Tuesday after the stock market closes. IPhone sales likely remained robust, even with competitor Samsung getting rave reviews of its Galaxy S4 smartphone, and the iPad remains the tablet of choice, eating away business from the traditional PC business.
Apple stock is about two-thirds the price it was nine months ago. Anticipation anxiety over its pace of innovation continues. That's the future price of past success.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Tom Hudson is a financial journalist based in Miami. He is the former co-anchor and managing editor of "Nightly Business Report" on public television. Follow him on Twitter @HudsonsView.
Posted by Bill on Jul 19, 2013 in TIps | 0 comments
Finding a good personal injury lawyer is a daunting task for some people, but it shouldn?t be so if you are properly armed with the right information. When you or someone you know are injured, it is imperative that you find a good injury attorney like the attorney at http://www.injuryattorneyalexandriala.com/. Personal injury attorneys help their clients to get compensation for their injury and financial loss. Choosing an injury lawyer is an important decision and you need to take appropriate steps in order to make the right choice.
Start by contacting the American Bar Association to get a list of personal injury attorneys in your city or town. The website of the American Bar Association has instructions on how to obtain a list of lawyers in your area. The ABA website provides legal resources and information that can help you as you prepare your legal process.
Talk to friends and family members to find out if they can recommend a good attorney like the attorney at http://www.injuryattorneyalexandriala.com/. Getting advice from the people you trust is very valuable because they can tell you how the lawyer acted during the legal process. A friend or relative will tell you whether the attorney returned telephone calls promptly, whether the attorney was proficient, whether the attorney was friendly, and other useful information that you cannot find out from calling lawyers yourself.
Schedule an appointment once you compiled a list, and meet with a few personal injury attorneys. Find out whether the attorney has handled similar cases and his success rate. This is an opportunity to ask your questions and discuss issues that are important to you.
Find out about the lawyer?s fees up front. Some lawyers charge a fee to evaluate your case and initial consultation. Most personal injury attorneys will allow the client to pay them when the claim is settled, if settlement is expected. Get a fee arrangement in writing and make sure you understand it before signing.
Keep in mind these types of cases can last a long time. It is important that you hire a lawyer that you can get along with. You will spend a good amount of time with the lawyer, so you need to be sure you can get along with this person. Most personal injury cases are settled through negotiation. Only a small number of cases go to court.
Many excellent resources are available to help you find the right personal injury lawyer. If you do proper research before choosing an injury attorney, you will certainly find the right attorney for you, such as the ones at http://www.injuryattorneyalexandriala.com/. Use these guidelines to help you make an intelligent decision.
One of Cube World's neat features is that it lets you collect as many pets as you'd like. Under normal circumstances, you might already be tempted to catch 'em all?they're so cute! I imagine that if you install this Pokemon mod, which changes the models of mobs in Cube World to Pokemon, that inclination will become irresistible.
The changes are as follows:
Pet Box ?> Pokeball
Pink Slime ?> Ditto
Blue Slime ?> Shiny Ditto
Wolf ?> Houndour
White Cat ?> Persian
Bomb ?> Electrode
Spitter ?> Squirtle
Sheep ?> Mareep
Crab ?> Krabby
Bat ?> Zubat
Collie ?> Growlithe
Sand Horror ?> Haunter
Bumblebee ?> Butterfree
Chicken ?> Pidgey
Skull Bull ?> Tauros
Black Cat ?> Rattata
Horse ?> Ponyta
Onionling ?> Vileplume
More may come in the future, according to crazymonkay. If you're hesitant, the readme file on the mod?which you can download here?explains how to do it. Here are some more pictures of the currently available models, if you're curious (some of these are of models from later in the thread, which may not be incorporated into the first post):
Summer can be an uncomfortable?even a dangerous?time for pets and people. It?s difficult enough simply to cope with rising temperatures, but things really get tough in areas that are hit with the double blow of intense heat and storm-caused power outages. Sometimes it comes with tragic results.
You can follow the Humane Society of the United States? tips for helping everyone in your family stay healthy and comfortable when the heat is on (and even if the power isn?t). You can start with the basics, and practice basic summer safety.
You should never leave your pets in a parked car, not even for a minute. You shouldn?t even with the car running and the air conditioner on. ?On a warm day, temperatures inside a vehicle can rise rapidly to dangerous levels.
On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. Your pet may suffer irreversible organ damage or die.
If you see an animal in distress in a parked car, contact the nearest police by calling 9-1-1 immediately and take the following steps:
Get the vehicle?s tag number and enter the nearest store or business to request an emergency announcement be made about a pet left in a hot car.
Go back and wait for police at the vehicle.
Heat stress is not the only danger your pet faces when left alone in a car. Many pets are stolen each year from unattended cars.? Many pets prefer to stay home, but if you must take your pet with you in your car, do so safely.
Cats should ride in pet carriers, and dogs should ride in travel crates or wear a safety harness. When a pet travels, it should wear two ID tags?one with a home address and one with a destination address.
You should limit pet exercise on hot days, and take care when exercising your pet. You should adjust intensity and duration of exercise in accordance with the temperature. On very hot days, limit exercise to early morning or evening hours, and be especially careful with pets with white-colored ears, which are more susceptible to skin cancer, and short-nosed pets, which typically have difficulty breathing.
Asphalt gets very hot and can burn your pet?s paws. You should walk your dog on the grass if possible.
Also, you shouldn?t rely on a fan. Pets respond differently to heat than humans do. (Dogs, for instance, sweat primarily through their feet.) And fans don?t cool off pets as effectively as they do people. You should provide ample shade and water.
Any time your pet is outside, make sure it has protection from heat and sun and plenty of fresh, cold water. In heat waves, add ice to water when possible. Tree shade and tarps are ideal because they don?t obstruct air flow. A doghouse does not provide relief from heat?in fact, it makes it worse.
You should watch for signs of heatstroke. Extreme temperatures can cause heatstroke. Some signs of heatstroke are heavy panting, glazed eyes, a rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, excessive thirst, lethargy, fever, dizziness, lack of coordination, profuse salivation, vomiting, a deep red or purple tongue, seizure, and unconsciousness.
Animals are at particular risk for heat stroke if they are very old, very young, overweight, not conditioned to prolonged exercise, or have heart or respiratory disease. Some breeds of dogs?like boxers, pugs, shih tzus, and other dogs and cats with short muzzles?will have a much harder time breathing in extreme heat.
Here are some times of how to treat a pet suffering from heatstroke.
Move your pet into the shade or an air-conditioned area. Apply ice packs or cold towels to its head, neck and chest or run cool (not cold) water over it.
Let it drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes. Do not force your pet to drink.
Take your pet directly to a veterinarian. It could save its life. Call ahead, if possible, to be sure your veterinarian is available.
Pet owners should also prepare for power outages. ?Before a summer storm takes out the power in your home, create a disaster plan to keep your pets safe from heat stroke and other temperature-related trouble.
The Animal Welfare Council is a non-profit 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed in 2006 by a group of individuals who share concern and passion for animals in the community and strive to fulfill the needs of local animals and their owners.
For more information about the Animal Welfare Council, call 814-857-5282.
In a global survey, many respondents believe that China has, or eventually will overtake the U.S. as the world's leading superpower. Chinese are shown here walking in Shanghai's financial district in March.
Carlos Barria/Reuters/Landov
In a global survey, many respondents believe that China has, or eventually will overtake the U.S. as the world's leading superpower. Chinese are shown here walking in Shanghai's financial district in March.
Carlos Barria/Reuters/Landov
China has or soon will supplant the U.S. as the world's leading superpower. That's the headline from a survey by the Pew Research Center, which put this proposition to people around the world.
In 23 of the 39 countries surveyed, majorities or pluralities said China has or will overtake America.
In China, the verdict was clear: Two-thirds believe their country already has or eventually will supplant America.
In the U.S., about half the country believes America will continue to be a greater economic and political force than China. But the number is down from 54 percent in 2008 to 47 percent today, the survey found.
The survey reflects China's dramatic rise as a global economic power over the past three decades, and economic turmoil in the U.S. in recent years.
"China's economic power is on the rise, and many think it will eventually supplant the United States as the world's dominant superpower," the report says.
U.S. Viewed More Favorably Than China
However, those surveyed still had a more favorable view of the U.S. compared with China, with 63 percent having a positive view of America, compared with 50 percent for China.
The U.S. was viewed more positively in every region in the world except the Middle East ? where only 1 in 5 respondents had a favorable view of America.
Several places that are leading recipients of U.S. assistance had the most negative views of America: Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian territories all receive large amounts of U.S. aid. But only 11 percent to 16 percent of respondents in those countries had a favorable view of America.
It's worth noting that these global perceptions can be subject to rather dramatic shifts. Roughly two decades ago, Japan's economy was surging, and there was widespread talk that it could overtake the U.S. as the world's most important economy.
Japan's economic bubble then popped, and has never fully recovered.
Pew, which is based in Washington, surveyed nearly 38,000 people in 39 countries in March and April.
What do you think? Send your comments to Parallels.
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Forty-three states are experiencing temperatures in the 90s this week, and 16 have issued heat advisories or warnings. The heat is expected to break over the weekend. NBC's Tom Costello reports and TODAY's Al Roker gives the forecast.
By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News
A sweltering heat wave that has pushed temperatures into the 90s from Cape Cod to Oregon will continue Wednesday as emergency crews, power companies and commuters sweat it out with little relief in sight before the end of the week.
The countrywide slow bake is expected to continue until a cold front moves south on Friday over the Plains, making thunderstorms likely, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures along the East Coast looked unlikely to tail off until Sunday, forecasters said.
Low temperatures read like highs; the lowest temperature in New York City since Sunday has been 77 degrees. And the heat index -- the "feels like" factor -- is well into triple digits for tens of millions of people as clear, sunny skies combine with high humidity in many places.
?Plain and simple, this week may feel the worst of any week for this summer in the Northeast,? Accuweather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski told Reuters. ?The I-95 region will be a virtual sauna bath.?
People across the country struggled to stay cool, with power companies urging customers to turn off nonessential devices and heat advisories in effect for 16 states including parts of New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
Every state but Alaska, New Mexico, and Hawaii stood to hit 90 degrees on Wednesday, NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said.
?A lack of a breeze in the humid conditions at night will make it very rough in urban areas without air conditioning or a fan,? Sosnowski told Reuters.
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Chess players use umbrellas to find shade in Union Square on July 16, 2013 in New York City.
An 18-year-old New York City Council intern passed out at a mayoral campaign stop on Tuesday morning and waited 30 minutes before she was picked up by an ambulance, NBC New York reported. Area hospitals have seen a 5 to 20 percent spike in heat-related illnesses, according to the station. At one point, mayoral candidate Christine Quinn called the city?s police commissioner to speed up the process.
There was little relief in many cities overnight as temperatures stayed high through the evening hours.
?In this case, it?s the longevity of the heat wave, that poses the biggest concern, rather than the magnitude of the temperatures themselves,? Weather Channel meteorologist Jon Erdman said.
Compounding the sizzling heat in Prince Georges County, right outside Washington, D.C., crews worked to make emergency repairs to a major water main ? but some residents in the Maryland county will not be able to get more than a trickle out of their faucets on Wednesday.
?The more judiciously you use the water, the longer it will last,? Kira Lewis, a spokesperson for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, told NBC Washington. ?We?re reminding folks new water is not coming into the system Wednesday.?
The water outage could last three to five days in the affected area, NBC Washington reported.
Two deaths in the Chicago area on Tuesday were cited as possibly related to the heat, the Cook County Medical Examiner?s Office told NBC Chicago. Temperatures in the city could feel as high as 105 degrees in the city on Friday, forecasters said.
A 78-year-old Kentucky man whose body was found around 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday died from heat exhaustion, the Mason County deputy coroner said, according to NBC affiliate LEX18. Roy Allen Bishop had gone missing from his home about 12 hours earlier.
The near-record temperatures and humidity have already strained the electricity supply in New England, causing the region?s power grid operator to urge people to turn off lights and appliances they do not need as a precautionary measure.
As temperatures soar across the country, NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman shares how to beat the heat and stay healthy, and describes who is most at risk from the high temperatures.
?As the heat continues to build throughout the week, electricity demand is expected to increase significantly, which is likely to result in tight system conditions,? said company vice president Vamsi Chadalavada in a release. ISO New England expected to hit a peak power demand of about 27,800 megawatts on Thursday.
Power usage also threatened to reach new highs in New York, where Con Edison said crews have worked around the clock to repair outages to more than 7,600 customers since temperatures began to rise again on Sunday. No usage records have been set yet, the company said, but that could change as the state stood to see no relief on Wednesday or Thursday.
In Maine, where temperatures reached 90 on Tuesday, the spiking mercury had people rushing to purchase new air conditioning units, causing some stores in the Portland area to sell out over the weekend, hardware store owner Tim Currier said.
?It takes good hot weather like this to push people over the edge,? Currier told local newspaper the Portland Press Herald. ?This is the time when everyone starts calling because they?re panicking and can?t find [air conditioners] anywhere.?
Most people will need to wait for the weekend to get more than temporary relief from the stifling heat, however.
?There is relief ahead,? the Weather Channel?s Erdman said. ?Cooler air should arrive in the upper Midwest beginning Friday. By this weekend, the Northeast will receive the cooler air with open arms. All this will come at the cost of severe thunderstorms, however.?
Julie Jacobson / Julie Jacobson / AP
With summer in full swing, people are heading outdoors to soak up the sun or doing their best to stay cool
How are you staying cool? Show us by adding #NBCNewsPics to your tweet or Instagram post, or upload your pictures directly by clicking the box below.
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This story was originally published on Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:47 AM EDT
Twitter fans on Android just got a pair of small features that could go a long way toward streamlining conversations. An update to the app now lets socialites reply directly from a tweet's detail page, skipping a minor but sometimes annoying step. The refresh also permits sharing tweets through direct messages -- you won't have to broadcast your intentions to the world. If time or privacy is of the essence, Twitter's Android upgrade is already live at the source link.
Earlier this week, we learned that Hudson Jeans was acquired by California denim company Joe's Jeans -- but it looks like the smaller label is angling for a more global appearance. Hudson recruited British model/Rolling Stones progeny Georgia May Jagger to pose for their fall campaign... in little more than denim and a Union Jack.
Georgia models Hudson's separates with "A Single Man" actor Jon Kortajarena in sultry black and white. Ben Taverniti, the brand's creative director, told Women's Wear Daily that the campaign "[revolves] around our brand mantra of 'Let yourself go.'"
You'll note those guiding words are immortalized in a hashtag, fashion's new favorite way of inserting itself into the digital landscape. Hudson's extending their campaign to IRL "models," allowing users to tag #LetYourselfGo on photos of themselves, well, letting go.
Take a look at Georgia's decidedly British take on American denim below, and contribute to Hudson's campaign if you feel so inclined. How do you let yourself go?
PHOTOS:
More ads that got people talking:
Dakota Fanning
When she was 17 years old, Fanning starred in this Marc Jacobs' Oh Lola! ad. The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority pulled the ad finding it too "sexual."
Julianne Moore
Moore's Bulgari billboard was taken down when it was placed near Doge's Palace in Venice after the mayor of the city deemed it inappropriate.
Beyonce
Beyonce's commercial for her fragrance "Heat" came under fire for being too racy in 2010. It was cut down to 30 seconds and had an "after 7:30 p.m." restriction in the U.K.
Eva Mendes (NSFW)
Eva's 2008 commercial for Calvin Klein's "Secret Obsession" fragrance was banned, due to the fact that it featured a <em>major</em> wardrobe malfunction.
Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley starred in this controversial PSA against domestic violence in 2009 for Women's Aid.
Taylor Swift
The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority felt Swift's CoverGirl ad was too exaggerated (aka Photoshopped) and falsely promoted the product.
Madonna
ABC asked that several changes be made to Madonna's 2012 perfume ad before they agreed to run the 30-second spot, including covering more of her breasts and butt. Even with said changes in place, ABC only aired the commercial after 9 p.m.
Pamela Anderson
PETA created this racy ad featuring Anderson's body as a sectioned-off piece of meat.
Ashton Kutcher
Kutcher's online ad for PopChips was banned after it was considered racist by the Indian-American community.
Angelina Jolie
Two of Universal Studios' posters for "Wanted," starring Angelina Jolie, were banned because of her seductive pose with a gun. The ASA felt it glamorized violence.
Julia Roberts
Julia's Lancome ad was considered too heavily airbrushed to print by the ASA.
Natalie Portman
The Advertising Standards Authority banned Natalie's ad for Dior Diorshow lash multiplying mascara on the grounds that it "misleadingly exaggerated the effects of the product."
Kim Kardashian
Although Kim's Carl's Jr. ad ran, many considered it to be too sexy.
Rihanna
Nivea ended Rihanna's campaign after the CEO said she was too sexy for the brand.
Mark Wahlberg & Kate Moss
This 1992 Calvin Klein ad was pretty risque for the '90s.
Another Eva Mendes
A PETA ad, featuring hot women and supposed-to-be "sexy" veggies, was banned from the Super Bowl ad lineup in 2010 for being "too much" for TV.
Paris Hilton
Like Kim's, Paris Hilton's 2005 Carl's Jr. commercial was considered too racy, as well.
Jessica Alba
Alba posed for a controversial Declare Yourself ad during the 2008 elections.
Alexander Skarsgard, Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer
The threesome came under fire after they posed naked and bloody while promoting "True Blood" on a super racy cover of Rolling Stone in 2010.
Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith & Lea Michele
Although this cast wasn't naked, they were still slammed for promoting "Glee" with this promiscuous GQ cover.
Want more? Be sure to check out HuffPost Style on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram at @HuffPostStyle.
While messaging has become a veritable war with apps like Line, KakaoTalk, WeChat, Path and Facebook Messenger across Asia and Western markets, there’s been one longstanding app that’s presided over the space with very few apparent changes. WhatsApp, the Sequoia-backed messaging app that dominates in Europe and that is often tipped as an attractive acquisition candidate for companies like Google and Facebook, just went freemium finally on iOS. The app has been paid for years on the iPhone at a $0.99 price point. But today it went free with an annual subscription fee of $1 after the first year. This isn’t really a surprise as CEO Jam Koum talked about this several months ago. It brings WhatsApp’s business model on iOS in line with other platforms like Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows Phone. The paid app business model is really a vestige of an older era when developers would sell their work up-front. But over time, many paid apps have made the switch toward going free with paid features. Games really triggered this wave, but other high-usage apps like messaging have gone for a freemium strategy. Japan’s Line, for example, made $58.9 million in the first quarter of this year in Japan through in-app purchases and sales of stickers — which apps like Path and Facebook Messenger have subsequently copied. WhatsApp launched back in 2009 and quickly grew popular in markets where SMS pricing made messaging through smartphone apps cheaper. It really dominates in European markets and has a strong foothold in India, as well. Recently, the company said it was bigger than Twitter with more than 200 million monthly actives, 10 billion messages sent and 17 billion received in a single day.
N.P.G., Piazza Navona, Fountain of the Four Rivers, 1900 ca., silver bromide photo reproduction. Three of the four statues representing the world?s rivers are visible in this image: the Danube (representing Europe) in the middle; the Ganges (Asia) on the left, from behind; and the Nile (Africa) on the right, beyond the palm tree
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According to popular belief, the statue representing the Rio de la Plata ? one of the four rivers in the fountain in Piazza Navona ? raises its right arm instinctively to protect itself from the collapse of the beautiful church of Saint Agnes in Agone, which stands with its two towers and beautiful dome only a few meters from the sculpture.
In fact, the fountain ? with its statues, large rocks and obelisk ? was erected in 1651, when the church had not yet been built (construction began in 1652). The rumor about the statue was sparked by the well-documented rivalry between the famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini, author of the fountain, and the great architect Francesco Borromini, who designed the church. The Rio de la Plata?s gesture was misinterpreted to express Bernini?s belief that the sacred building was bound to collapse, posing a risk for his monumental fountain.
Rumors aside, the Fountain of the Four Rivers hides a number of meanings from the casual observer. Bernini clustered in this work a series of messages, all relating to a broader theme of celebration and worldwide evangelization, according to the plans put in place by the so-called Counter-Reformation, which between the late 16th and the early 17th century counted on some of the greatest men of faith in the history of the Catholic church, such as Saint Philip Neri and Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.
At the time, the whole square was under the patronage of the Doria Pamphilis, family of Pope Innocent X; the market, which had been held here every day since 1477, had a fountain that had already been embellished by the pope?s sister in law, Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, who had added to it a statue of an Ethiopian man fighting with a dolphin. While the fountain had been commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII, and designed by Giacomo Della Porta in 1576, the so-called Moor was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and sculpted by Giovanni Antonio Mari.
Another beautiful, multilobed-basin fountain by Giacomo Della Porta was erected in the square in 1576. The two fountains were both decorative and functional, as they provided the water needed by the market. It was only when the Doria Pamphilis built their stately mansion and beautiful church here, that they decided to place a monumental fountain at the center of the square, making the entire area ? corresponding to Emperor Domitian?s ancient Stadium ? a pleasing and theatrical space that could inspire a sense of wonder in anyone emerging from the surrounding narrow, sullen streets.
Thus the Fountain of the Four Rivers stands at the center of the square, opposite the church, as if to point out the building?s presence and to highlight the devotion it symbolizes (the church commemorates the martyrdom of Saint Agnes, in whose memory the ecclesiastical vestments called ?palliums? are made to this day).
The fountain consists of a towering obelisk that was recovered, at the behest of Pope Innocent X, from the ruins of the Circus of Maxentius, along the Appian Way. The obelisk was made in Roman times with Egyptian granite, which before being moved to the circus had been either in the Circus Agonalis or at the Iseum Campense, as the hieroglyphic inscription on it states it was made under Emperor Domitian, who had those two monuments built.
On the tip of the obelisk, on what used to be its pyramidion, there is a dove bearing an olive branch in its beak. The dove is part of the Doria Pamphilis? coat of arms: you can see it on the fa?ade of Borromini?s church, on the towers, on the dome and on the gate, and on the family?s emblem that is still affixed side by side with that of the titular cardinal and of the reigning pontiff ? because the church of Saint Agnes is still property of the Doria Pamphili family.
The dove was meant to symbolize the pope?s family, but also to remind the faithful of the dove that Noah saw returning to the ark with an olive branch ? a sign that the fury of the flood had subsided and that nature had started to flourish again: it was time to disembark and re-populate the earth.
Furthermore, in the New Testament, a dove is the form taken by the Holy Spirit at Christ?s baptism, and often appears in the iconography of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
So the same symbol of the noble family was also a sign of peace between God and man, and of the presence of the Holy Spirit, whose infinite wisdom illuminates believers? faith (?Veni, Sancte Spiritus?). And how can the wisdom of God/Holy Spirit descend on man? Obviously it comes form above. And in what language is it expressed? Certainly one that is mysterious, secret, entirely spiritual, indecipherable to reason, but powerful and able to illuminate the depths of the soul. Thus the obelisk ? a physical axis for the sun?s rays, joining heaven and earth ? represents an ideal metaphor for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the world of men.
The hieroglyphs on the obelisk remind us that the Holy Spirit?s message cannot be comprehended with the eyes: to our mortal senses it is just as indecipherable as hieroglyphics were in the 17th century.
At the end of the holy descent, the world of men awaits, scattered over four continents (in the 17th century, Europeans were still unaware that a fifth one, Australia, existed). Those continents are represented by the statues of four rivers, designed by Bernini and sculpted by his students: the Danube (the work of Antonio Raggi), with a laurel wreath around his head, for Europe; the Nile (by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli), with his head wrapped in a cloth to symbolize the fact that the river?s source was unknown, for Africa; the Ganges (by Claude Poussin) representing Asia; and the Rio de la Plata (by Francesco Baratta), with a garter on one leg, to represent America.
Thus now the fountain?s meaning is clear: God?s wisdom descends upon earth to illuminate the peoples of the four continents. When it reaches man, it becomes the message of salvation announced by Christ, mentioned for the first time in the Gospels at the time of Jesus? baptism in the Jordan river. Hence the water of the fountain flows and rolls down the gigantic rocks of the world, alluding to the holy water used in baptisms ? always abundant in Rome, the city of the Vicar of Christ and successor of Peter, and the center of the message of salvation in the Catholic Church.
The faith born from baptism, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, tames the human passions represented in the fountain by the horse pawing over the rocks; it is as strong as the lion drinking water from the basin, while fantastic animals from the depths of the sea open their mouths (which allow water to drain away).
Meanwhile the dove, emblem of Pope Innocent X and his family, is carved in white marble, as light as a cloud, and surmounted by the keys of Saint Peter and the three crowns, representing the superiority of the pontiff?s authority over civil powers of any kind.
Alberto Manodori Sagredo
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Photos via nicholasjv.blogspot.it/2012/12/art-sunday-bernini.html stephendanko.com/blog/15222 www.arte.it/opera/fontana-dei-fiumi-313 www.atlantedellarteitaliana.it/artwork-3603.html www.marcopolo.de/reisefuehrer-tipps/rom/fontana-dei-quattro-fiumi-poi-115009574.html www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2011/03/la-fontana-dei-quattro-fiumi-roma-1651.html
Michael Ansara, well known for playing Klingon commander Kang on “Star Trek”, has passed away at his home in Calabasas, California due to complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 91. Ansara’s friend and former publicist, Michael B. Druxman, confirmed to EW, “Michael and I have been friends since 1968. He was my best friend. He ...
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Public release date: 21-Jul-2013
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While messaging has become a veritable war with apps like Line, KakaoTalk, WeChat, Path and Facebook Messenger across Asia and Western markets, there’s been one longstanding app that’s presided over the space with very few apparent changes. WhatsApp, the Sequoia-backed messaging app that dominates in Europe and that is often tipped as an attractive acquisition candidate for companies like Google and Facebook, just went freemium finally on iOS. The app has been paid for years on the iPhone at a $0.99 price point. But today it went free with an annual subscription fee of $1 after the first year. This isn’t really a surprise as CEO Jam Koum talked about this several months ago. It brings WhatsApp’s business model on iOS in line with other platforms like Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows Phone. The paid app business model is really a vestige of an older era when developers would sell their work up-front. But over time, many paid apps have made the switch toward going free with paid features. Games really triggered this wave, but other high-usage apps like messaging have gone for a freemium strategy. Japan’s Line, for example, made $58.9 million in the first quarter of this year in Japan through in-app purchases and sales of stickers — which apps like Path and Facebook Messenger have subsequently copied. WhatsApp launched back in 2009 and quickly grew popular in markets where SMS pricing made messaging through smartphone apps cheaper. It really dominates in European markets and has a strong foothold in India, as well. Recently, the company said it was bigger than Twitter with more than 200 million monthly actives, 10 billion messages sent and 17 billion received in a single day.
