Captain Crunch reveals cheaper deals for restaurant meals - The Sun

Dear Captain

MY husband is unable to work at present due to his heart condition. We are not entitled to any disability payments and my wage is the only money we have coming in.

Our car, which we need as my husband is unable to walk any distance, has just failed its MoT and we are in arrears with our rent.

BRENDA CORSER, Billingham, Durham

Captain Crunch says: My ?250 will help get you back on the road.

Dear Captain

FOR the last few months I?ve been in and out of work due to complications from an appendectomy.

I?m down to 50 per cent pay, back in hospital again after a third operation and things are really tight.

It?s my son?s birthday this month but I?m struggling to even pay the bills.

SAM PIPER, Gosport, Hants

Captain Crunch says: I am sending New Year cheer in the shape of ?250.

Dear Captain

THE Scout group that I am a leader of has been burgled. More than ?1,000 worth of equipment was stolen and a caravan used for less-abled members was broken into and vandalised.

Everyone has worked very hard to make this group what it is and the attack is a real slap in the face to them.

GUY HARRIS, Fakenham, Norfolk

Captain Crunch says: How sad that some people have nothing better to do than hurt others. I will send ?250.

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SEND your cash appeals, letters and money-saving tips to: CAPTAIN CRUNCH, The Sun, 3 Thomas More Square, London E98 1SN or email me at captaincrunch@the-sun.co.uk. Morrisons give ?100 to spend on groceries for every tip used. Include your address and daytime phone if possible.

---

Loser of the week

Dear Captain

MY son was taken seriously ill on Christmas Eve and has been transferred to a specialist hospital. I am unemployed and it is costing me ?20 in fares to visit him.

SIMON, Lancaster

Captain Crunch says: I have established that: a) Your son is well and living with his mum in Morecambe. b) You are working full-time. And c) You like to boast about owing hundreds of pounds to the Child Support Agency.

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FED up with the winter weather and want to give yourself a little treat? How about a cheeky meal out?

This is the best time of the year to find restaurant discounts.

Sites such as VoucherCodes.co.uk have more discount coupons in January than any other month.

Co-founder Duncan Jennings told me: ?January can be a tough month for those who have overspent at Christmas.

?Restaurants recognise that lots of people will be working with a tighter budget than normal.

?But there?s no reason people can?t enjoy an evening out without worrying about their bank balance.

?The bumper discounts we?ve seen so far this year are set to make that even easier as they trump the smaller offers that have been typical of recent years.?

Here are my favourite deals available at the moment.

Toby Carvery

SIGN up for emails at TobyCarvery.co.uk and receive a voucher for a free TOBY CARVERY ice cream. No expiry date.

Harvester

GET a fifth off food and drink at HARVESTER when you spend at least ?25 before February 12. Voucher from Harvester.co.uk.

Loch Fyne

GET a quarter off a la carte food at LOCH FYNE from Sunday to Thursday and before 6pm Fridays and Saturdays. Some exclusions. Ends January 31. Voucher from VoucherCodes.co.uk.

Gourmet Burger

GET two Capital Burgers at GOURMET BURGER KITCHEN for ?10, saving ?4.90, with a voucher from gbk.co.uk. Ends February 17.

La Tasca

LA TASCA offer two-for-one on tapas. Not available Saturdays. Some venues excluded. Ends January 31. Voucher from LaTasca.com.

Carluccio's

GET two main courses for the price of one at CARLUCCIO?S before February 12. Some exclusions. Voucher from Carluccios.com.

Strada

GET 40 per cent off pizza, pasta and risotto main courses at STRADA from Sunday to Friday. Some venues excluded. Ends February 13. Voucher from VoucherCodes.co.uk.

Bella Italia

GET a third off your food bill at BELLA ITALIA. Not available Saturdays. Ends February 13. Voucher from NetVoucherCodes.co.uk.

Frankie & Benny's

GET a fifth off food at FRANKIE & BENNY?S when buying at least two mains. Not weekends, Mondays after 5pm or Valentine?s. Excludes airports. Ends February 28. Voucher from NetVoucherCodes.co.uk.

Browns

TWO-FOR-ONE on main courses from Monday to Thursday at BROWNS bar and brasserie chain with a voucher from Browns-Restaurants.co.uk. Ends February 8.

The Living Room

HALF-PRICE a la carte meals at THE LIVING ROOM Sundays to Thursdays and Fridays before 6pm. Ends January 31. Voucher from TheLivingRoom.co.uk.

Pizza Express

GET a three-course meal at PIZZA EXPRESS for ?12.95, saving around ?12, with an app from VoucherCloud.com. Runs January 25 to 27. Some venues excluded.

Pizza Hut

PIZZA HUT have a saint or sinner deal offering 50 per cent off their 500-calorie Pizzetta pizzas or 50 per cent off off regular Stuffed Crust pizzas. Ends Friday. Some venues excluded. Voucher from NetVoucherCodes.co.uk

Cabana

CABANA will accept ANY restuarant voucher and offer two skewers of malagueta chicken for the price of one. Ends January 31.

Chiquito

GET a fifth off food at CHIQUITO from Sunday to Thursday except Valentine?s Day. Voucher from VoucherCodes.co.uk. Ends March 2.

Travelodge

GUESTS booking a room online at a Travelodge with a BAR CAFE can order a two-course meal with a drink for ?9.95, saving up to ?7. No expiry.

Auberge

TWO-FOR-ONE on main courses at AUBERGE with a voucher from VoucherCodesPro.co.uk. Ends January 31.

Burger King

THERE are loads of BURGER KING vouchers at MoneySupermarket.com including buy-one-get-one-free, family dine for ?10, kids? meal for ?2 and two dine for ?7.50. Details vary.

Ask

GET a quarter off your food bill Sundays to Fridays at ASK ITALIAN with an app from VoucherCloud.com. Ends February 13.

Local pub offers

SIGN up at LocalPubOffers.co.uk and claim a free PUB MEAL when buying a drink before February.

The Slug And Lettuce

SIGN up for emails at SlugAndLettuce.co.uk to get a voucher for a quarter off your food bill at THE SLUG AND LETTUCE outlets. No expiry date.

Sizzling Pubs

SIZZLING PUBS offer selected main meals for ?2.99, saving up to ?2. Valid until January 30.

Yo! Sushi

GET 40 per cent off food Tuesdays to Fridays from YO! SUSHI conveyor belts with a voucher from MyVoucherCodes.co.uk. Excludes London Selfridges and Harvey Nichols concessions. Ends January 25.

Zizzi

GET a quarter off your food bill at ZIZZI with a voucher from Zizzi.co.uk. Excludes the ?cichetti? tapas-style dishes. Ends February 13.

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Bargain Basement

TESCO have eight-packs of WeightWatchers mini CHOC ICES for ?2, saving 99p, and 400g packs of Upper Crust chicken, mushroom & bacon PIES for ?1.29, saving ?1.50.

From tomorrow Waitrose will offer two 400g packs of Cumberland SAUSAGES for ?4, saving ?1.78, and 100g bars of Continental PLAIN CHOCOLATE for 76p, saving 39p.

Also from tomorrow, Wilkinson will have 1.76kg packs of Fairy non-bio WASHING POWDER for ?5, saving ?1.25, and 750ml bottles of Cif BATHROOM CLEANER for ?1.50, saving ?1.13.

The Co-op have 170g packs of Birds Eye CRISPY CHICKEN for ?1, saving ?1, and 500g boxes of SHREDDIES for ?1.32, saving ?1.35.

Iceland offer five 100g packs of Batchelors SUPER NOODLES for ?2, saving ?1, and six-packs of cheese WOTSITS for ?1, saving 48p. McVitie?s 24-pack JAFFA CAKES are 99p, saving ?1.20, at 99p Stores. The Nuk Vapo Rapid steam STERILISER for baby bottles, teats and soothers is ?30.33, saving ?15.66, at ChemistDirect.co.uk.

Asda have 400g tins of Heinz TOMATO SOUP for 75p, saving 25p, and 480g packs of Chosen By You CHICKEN ENCHILADAS for ?2, saving ?1.

Morrisons have halved the price of PORK SHOULDER to ?2.25 a kilo and are also offering buy-one-get-one-free on ?3.98 eight-packs of COCA-COLA.

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Basket league

MORRISONS and Asda are tied at No1 in my Basket League.

The basket is: sliced bread (800g), milk (2pts), butter (250g), cheddar (500g), eggs (six medium or large), cornflakes (750g), orange juice (litre), baked beans (220g), minced beef (500g) and seedless grapes (500g).

Some sizes adjusted to match. Quality may vary.

MORRISONS ?10.25 =

ASDA ?10.25 =

SAINSBURY'S ?10.99 =

TESCO ?11.33 =

WAITROSE ?16.46 =

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News

- THE most likely reason cash-strapped consumers will use their credit cards this month is to buy groceries, a Post Office survey finds. Main reasons: Groceries ? 42 per cent. Day-to-day purchases ? 35 per cent. January sales ? 30 per cent. Booking a holiday ? 25 per cent. Big household purchase ? 16 per cent. Paying Christmas debt ? 8 per cent. Bills ? 7 per cent.

- THE average deposit needed to buy a house is ?26,468 ? more than the average annual wage ? but rises to ?72,760 in London, according to finance experts Castle Trust.

- PREMIUM crisps makers Tyrrell?s say sales jumped 35 per cent last year, partly as a result of returning to Tesco shelves after a five-year gap.

- CARLING British Cider is launched in March, with an alcohol content of 4.5 per cent. Traditionalists may be disappointed as Carling say it has a ?crisp taste with a hint of sweetness? ? code for ?yet another Magners clone?.

- AVERAGE income adjusted for inflation rose ?21 a head in the third quarter of 2012 to reach its highest level since the end of 2010, the Office for National Statistics say.

- EXPECT price rises for wine and vinegar after last year?s extreme weather slashed grape production.

?100 tips

DON?T waste money tumble drying this winter. My partner put coat hooks above the radiator in our hall and I hung a washing line across the bannisters. It dries everything.

TERESA COTTLE

Redruth, Cornwall

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/money/captaincrunch/4756928/restaurant-voucher-codes.html

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US futures mixed as are corporate earnings reports

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stock futures are mixed with U.S. companies posting varying quarterly results.

Dow Jones industrial futures are down 18 points to 13,558. The broader S&P futures have added 1.6 points to 1,477.30. Nasdaq futures are up a point to 2,734.75.

Verizon posted a wider loss for the fourth quarter Tuesday, and DuPont said weakness in electronics and communications and chemical sales. DuPont's profit dropped 70 percent, though it still beat Wall Street expectations.

So did Delta Airlines, even after taking a $75 million hit to revenue from Superstorm Sandy.

Johnson & Johnson beat most expectations for the final quarter of the year, but shares slipped before the opening bell due to a weak forecast for this year.

Earnings reports continue after the market closes with Google, IBM, CSX and Norfolk Southern.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-futures-mixed-corporate-earnings-reports-132613929--finance.html

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Eric Schmidt's Daughter Recounts the Duo's Bizarre Trip to North Korea

Eric Schmidt's trip to North Korea in order to spread the good word about open Internet has been kind of strange from the start. Today, he posted on Google+ how he warned the country that it might be left behind. You know, Internet. Politics. All that jazz. Schmidt's daughter, who accompanied him on the "vacation" has now shared her—more candid—take too. And man, it seems like it was a weird trek. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/kOnjWVC7cqw/eric-schmidts-daughter-recounts-the-duos-bizarre-trip-to-north-korea

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Seniors in Our Midst: A Guide to Eldercare in the Tetons | Teton ...

The Tetons are an incredible place to live out your youth, and they are a wonderful place to grow old. While our elders may not be the most visible or vocal members of our community, they have provided a backbone of support for decades. Families may scatter for much of their members? lives, but they are often drawn together later by choice and/or necessity. As neighbors and family members age, they remain vitally important, and should always be included in our thoughts and activities.

The eldest generation gathered here for several reasons. Some are pioneers or their first-generation descendants, who were born and remained here to witness the transformation of the rugged, rural land. Another large segment of the demographic ventured to the region decades ago as young adults and stayed to build careers, homes, and families. There are also newer, younger residents who have brought their parents or grandparents here from other places to live out their days in this vibrant and beautiful environment.

In Teton County, Wyoming, 9.9 percent of the population, or approximately 2,100 people, are older than sixty-five. According to Ruby Parsons?a founding board member of the Seniors West of the Tetons Senior Center in Driggs?Teton County, Idaho, is home to about five hundred citizens over sixty years old. Available resources for elders have grown as their numbers have increased; opportunities for seniors to get out of their homes and retain vital social relationships abound through local hospitals, church groups, and care agencies. For those more frail and homebound, the network of caregivers, homecare, and hospice services grows ever larger to assist both the elderly and their families.

The Senior Center of Jackson Hole, located at 830 East Hanson, has provided services to 1,315 people so far this year; they served nineteen thousand senior meals in 2011, including three routes of home-delivered meals. The center provides educational and fun activities ranging from fitness classes like yoga, Qigong, and Zumba to Spanish classes, Bible study, pinochle, bridge, cribbage, and bingo. Health-related sessions include blood pressure checks, Medicare assistance, and foot clinics with a podiatrist.

The center hosts two separate caregiver-support groups each month facilitated by professional counselors. They have an equipment closet stocked with walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, shower chairs, and benches to loan. The center mails out more than nine hundred newsletters each month, and a bus is available for pick up and delivery to the center, with assistance available from door to door. For a small fee, the bus is available for shopping and other errands.

Across the street from the Senior Center is Pioneer Homestead Apartments. The three buildings here include seventy-eight units for people sixty-two or older and of limited income, or the disabled of any age. Residents live independently, and the facility honors the federal Grandparents Raising Children program, which means family members may not be denied residence. Companion pets?cats and small dogs?as well as working dogs for the disabled are allowed. About half of the residents have animals. Some additional benefits include laundry facilities on every floor, and a library with books, games, and puzzles. About 60 percent of those living here have moved in from out of the area to be with their children and families, and the waiting list for the apartments remains at about twenty names. Many residents stay for as long as fifteen years.

?These people have much to give,? says Deborah Barnes, property manager at Pioneer Homestead Apartments. ?They are deep wells and [too often] no one draws from them. Our job is making a difference in folks? lives. I think more people need to volunteer to visit with elders. It helps turn people?s heads around.?

Barnes speaks from experience. Most of her career was spent as a child psychologist. And when her nephew was rebellious, having difficulties with relationships and school, her sister had him volunteer to help the elderly in their community. Barnes saw firsthand her nephew?s dramatic transformation to becoming more adaptive and tolerant.

River Rock Assisted Living Facility south of Jackson is another, more opulent option for independent living. The beautiful facility, run by the Oxford Group of Kansas, offers full meal service, housekeeping and maintenance, scheduled transportation, paid utilities, an emergency call system, and group activities. Trained staff, including medical professionals, is available for monitoring and assistance with medications, medical appointments, and personal care such as bathing and dressing.

St. John?s Living Center is a long-term care, skilled-nursing facility connected to the hospital in Jackson. However fragile it may sometimes be, life abounds here. In the Eden Alternative facility a large aviary of colorful finches greets visitors. Three cats reside among the residents. The sixty-bed facility is truly a community within a community, with an average of 10 percent of residents there for rehabilitation and short-term respite care.

?It?s a pretty dynamic place with lots of coming and going,? says administrator Pat Weber. ?We keep moving toward our goal of being resident-centered. Relationships are based on two-way communication. There are three registered nurses and eight certified nursing assistants every day. The staff truly cares.?

Activities include popcorn parties, Sunday services, and a music teacher with guitar that entertains and interacts with residents and their families. Residents find joy in visits with the children from St. John?s Medical Center on-site daycare who come every Monday. The kids grow comfortable around seniors and don?t fear wheelchairs or wrinkled faces. Residents are invited to employee picnics and Karen Connelly, Director of Marketing for St. John?s, was surprised when her young daughter said, ?Oh, there is my friend, I have to go say hello,? and walked right over to greet a frail woman in a wheelchair.

On staff at the Living Center is a social worker that addresses such issues as medications management, safety, nutrition, and preventive health care. Public Health Nursing provides annual flu shots and visits with an audiologist. It is important to acknowledge grieving for the loss of pets, friends, driving ability, and mental and physical capacities in general, and there is guidance for those dealing with the changing roles of parents and their children.

On the Idaho side of Teton Pass, the Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership sponsors the Area VI Agency on Aging, which offers resources for seniors including adult protection and caregiver support; various health, financial, and legal services; participation in the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program; and in-home services to ensure seniors are able to stay in their homes. District VII Public Health Nursing?s services range from legal aid and low-income energy assistance to home care and advocacy programs.

Avalon Home Health and Hospice provides health care to seniors in Teton Valley who are unable to leave their home. A nurse can do an initial assessment and help with insurance coverage (100 percent covered by Medicare, others vary) and local caregivers with reliable transportation are assigned to clients. And Teton Valley Health Care provides care and screenings, including services for those in need of financial assistance, through the hospital and clinic in Driggs as well as a smaller clinic in Victor.

After going years without, Teton Valley welcomes the Teton Peaks Assisted Living facility set to open January 2013. The sixteen-bed facility located just north of Driggs offers independent living with twenty-four-hour nurse oversight for folks ready to turn over the keys to their own home. They provide meals, medication reminders, and shower assistance, and have partnered with Avalon Home Health and Hospice for medical caregivers.

Seniors West of the Tetons Senior Center serves lunch to anywhere from thirty to sixty on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday each week (but it?s closed for holidays). They feature Pie Day and Bingo on Tuesdays. The center has a Fit & Fall-Proof exercise session led by a therapist on Mondays and Thursdays at 9:00 am. Sponsored by Eagle Orthopedics and Sports Physical Therapy, this multi-level class is free and open to the public. Blood pressure checks are available on Mondays. Each month the center hosts a speaker presentation called Women of Teton Valley; an additional gathering honors one local citizen each month.

One final regional resource of stellar quality is the Institute for Cognitive Health at St. John?s Medical Center. An affiliate of the University of Utah Center for Alzheimer?s Care, Imaging, and Research, the Institute provides screenings and neuropsychological assessment and directs a continuum of care for those with memory impairment. It offers educational seminars on healthy aging, and maintains a lending library. Three support groups that meet monthly offer guidance for those dealing with the isolation involved in caring for loved ones suffering from mental decline. Each October the institute takes part in National Memory Screening Day.

Every November the Institute for Cognitive Health teams up with the Senior Center of Jackson Hole to host the Brain Game Challenge sponsored by the Alzheimer?s Foundation of America. For this event, the Teton County/Jackson Parks and Recreation Department and local high school Honor Society students work together to create diverse activities, including a Language Learning Lab in four languages, a Zumba movement class, and lots of puzzles and games. It?s a time for people of all ages to come together, and there is plenty of food and fun for everyone.

There is a sweetness to be shared hanging out with old folks. It is amazing the unexpected things one might learn, or the glimpses of the past one might see, provided by someone who was there. My grandmother, who was born in 1891 and grew up ?back East,? once shared a bit of personal history while she was looking at pictures in a bird book with some visiting children: ?I remember the first time I ever saw a ring-necked pheasant.?
?Really?? the children asked. ?Haven?t they always been here??

?No, they were imported from Korea about the turn of the twentieth century. My dad was sitting with us kids on the porch. Our mother was dying of cancer,? she continued. ?A beautiful pheasant walked out of the cornfield into the yard. Father told us to sit perfectly still while he went inside to carry Mother out to see that marvelous bird.?

If you enjoyed this, you might also like 7 Secrets to Longevity

RESOURCES FOR SENIORS IN THE TETONS
Teton County, Idaho
Area VI Agency on Aging/Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership ? eicap.org/opsl/seniors ? 208.522.5391
Avalon Home Health and Hospice ? avalonhh.com ? 208.419.0896
District VII Public Health Nursing ? Sally Coburn ? 208.354.2334
Idaho Commission on Aging ? aging.idaho.gov ? 800.926.2588
Seniors West of the Tetons Senior Center ? City Center Building, Driggs ? 208.354.6973
Teton Peaks Assisted Living ? 208.201.6284 or 208.403.5751
Teton Valley Health Care ? tvhcare.org ? 208.354.2383

Teton County, Wyoming
Institute for Cognitive Health ? tetonhospital.org/cognitive ? 307.739.7434
Pioneer Homestead Apartments ? 307.733.9787
River Rock Assisted Living Facility ? riverrockalf.com ? 307.734.0500
Senior Center of Jackson Hole ? seniorcenterjh.org ? 307.733.7300
St. John?s Living Center ? tetonhospital.org/livingcenter ? 307.739.7450
Wyoming Aging and Disability Resource Center ? swwrap.com ? 877.435.7851
Wyoming Department of Health?s Aging Division ? health.wyo.gov/aging ? 800.442.2766

Source: http://tetonfamilymagazine.com/?p=660

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ABC News' Barbara Walters hospitalized after fall

NEW YORK (AP) ? Veteran ABC newswoman Barbara Walters has fallen at an inauguration party at an ambassador's home in Washington and has been hospitalized.

Walters, 83, fell Saturday night on a step at the residence of Britain's ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said. The fall left Walters with a cut on her forehead, he said.

Walters, out of an abundance of caution, went to a hospital for treatment of the cut and for a full examination, Schneider said on Sunday. She was alert and was "telling everyone what to do, which we all take as a very positive sign," he said.

It was unclear when Walters might be released from the hospital, which ABC didn't identify.

Walters was TV news' first female superstar, making headlines in 1976 as a network anchor with an unprecedented $1 million annual salary. During more than three decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, her exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty and entertainers have brought her celebrity status. In 1997, she created "The View," a live weekday talk show that became an unexpected hit.

Walters had heart surgery in May 2010 but returned to active duty on "The View" that September, declaring, "I'm fine!"

Even in her ninth decade, Walters continues to keep a busy schedule, including appearances on "The View," prime-time interviews and her annual special, "10 Most Fascinating People," on which, in December, she asked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie if he considered himself fit enough to be president someday. (Christie, although acknowledging he is "more than a little" overweight, replied he would be up to the job.)

Last June, Walters apologized for trying to help a former aide to Syrian President Bashar Assad land a job or get into college in the United States. She acknowledged the conflict in trying to help Sheherazad Jaafari, daughter of the Syrian ambassador to the United States and a one-time press aide to Assad. Jaafari helped Walters land an interview with the Syrian president that aired in December 2011.

Walters said she realized the help she offered Jaafari was a conflict and said, "I regret that."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abc-news-barbara-walters-hospitalized-fall-202427714.html

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Strategy meeting on dangers of Powerline Communications

On January 12, DARC (Deutscher Amateur Radio Club) held a one-day strategy meeting to discuss the hazards of Powerline Communications (PLC / PLT).

In his introductory speech Christian Entsfellner DL3MBG commented on the alarming increase in electromagnetic interference.

Thilo Kootz, DL9KCE, research associate of the DARC, gave a presentation on the draft standard prEN50561-1.

Ulfried Ueberschar DJ6AN described the basics of PLC technology based on OFD-Modulation and explained the physical causes of the electromagnetic emissions by 4NEC2 simulated grid installations.

Finally, the participants formed working groups and agreed on their duties. During the HAM RADIO event in Friedrichshafen from June 28-30, the working groups will meet again to take stock.

DARC in Google English
http://tinyurl.com/GermanyDARC

Source: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2013/strategy_meeting_on_dangers_of_powerline_communications.htm

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Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.rssmicro.com/rss.web?q=Mayor

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Obama to Take Oath of Office Sunday (Voice Of America)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/278196177?client_source=feed&format=rss

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CBS News Political Director's Astonishing Advice: Obama 'Must Go ...

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President Barack Obama needs to ?pulverize? and ?destroy? his Republican opponents if he wants to leave any kind of legacy ? according to CBS News? political director.

?Go for the throat!? declares the title of John Dickerson?s latest column for Slate, posted Friday. Its subtitle: ?Why if he wants to transform American politics, Obama must declare war on the Republican Party.?

In it, Dickerson ? who was named CBS News political director in 2011 ? says Obama, facing political gridlock and endless clashes with House Republicans, has the challenge of ?how to be great when the environment stinks?:

The president who came into office speaking in lofty terms about bipartisanship and cooperation can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP.?If he wants to transform American politics, he must go for the throat.

How should the president proceed then, if he wants to be bold??The Barack Obama of the first administration might have approached the task by finding some Republicans to deal with and then start agreeing to some of their demands in hope that he would win some of their votes. It?s the traditional approach. Perhaps he could add a good deal more schmoozing with lawmakers, too.

That?s the old way. He has abandoned that. He doesn?t think it will work and he doesn?t have the time. As Obama explained in his last press conference, he thinks the Republicans are dead set on opposing him. They cannot be unchained by schmoozing. Even if Obama were wrong about Republican intransigence, other constraints will limit the chance for cooperation.?Republican lawmakers worried about primary challenges in 2014 are not going to be willing partners. He probably has at most 18 months before people start dropping the lame-duck label in close proximity to his name.

Obama?s only remaining option is to pulverize. Whether he succeeds in passing legislation or not, given his ambitions, his goal should be to delegitimize his opponents. Through a series of clarifying fights over controversial issues, he can force Republicans to either side with their coalition?s most extreme elements or cause a rift in the party that will?leave it, at least temporarily, in disarray.

Fox News? Brit Hume took notice of the column Saturday morning, tweeting out the link and noting Dickerson?s affiliation with CBS.

Read Dickerson?s full column here.

Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/19/cbs-news-directors-astonishing-advice-obama-must-go-for-the-throat-pulverize-declare-war-on-the-gop/

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Intel's Trying To Help Stephen Hawking Get His Speech Back Up to Speed

Stephen Hawking is a survivor. He's been valiantly holding his own against ALS disease for 50 years now, but it's still taking its toll. The cheek-twitching mechanism he's been using to talk for the past 10 years isn't quite as efficient as it used to be. He's down to one word per minute at times, but Intel's CTO is working hard on a fix. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/k2LueFcRXa4/intels-trying-to-help-stephen-hawking-get-his-speech-back-up-to-speed

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Mega Launches Its Cloud Storage And File Sharing Service As ?The Privacy Company? Amid A Huge Surge Of Interest

Kim Dotcom's new secure file storage-and-file-sharing venture, Mega, has now officially launched, with the timing, 6.48 AM New Zealand time on January 20, made to coincide exactly with the one-year anniversary of the raid on his home by New Zealand authorities, after the closure of Megaupload, another file-sharing and file storage site that was seized by U.S. authorities for copyright violations.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WtoDgroB4nE/

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New study finds malaria, typhoid -- not Ebola -- biggest health threat for travelers to tropics

New study finds malaria, typhoid -- not Ebola -- biggest health threat for travelers to tropics

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Feeling feverish after a visit to the tropics? It may not just be a bout with this year's flu. If you're a Western traveler, malaria and typhoid fever should top the list of diseases to discuss with your doctor when you return, especially following travel to Western Africa or India.

In a study of more than 80,000 returned travelers who sought medical care for illnesses, around 3,000 (4 percent) were affected by malaria, typhoid fever and other potentially life-threatening tropical diseases. Many would be surprised to know that not a single traveler contracted the highly contagious and lethal Ebola virus, which is typically one of the tropical diseases most feared by travelers. The findings were published online today in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

"While diagnosis and treatment of malaria and typhoid fever and many other tropical diseases have improved greatly over the years, people still can die from them if they are not treated quickly after their symptoms begin," said University of Oslo researcher Mogens Jensenius, MD, PhD, who with his colleagues analyzed 15 years of data entered into the GeoSentinel surveillance network database. "Doctors and nurses in Western countries need to be vigilant in considering these potentially life-threatening tropical infections in recently-returned travelers with fevers, and identify and treat them quickly."

Jensenius and fellow researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and several other universities throughout Europe, Israel, Australia and the United States looked at data from 82,825 ill travelers from Europe, North America, Israel, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The travelers sought care at clinics associated with GeoSentinel from June 1996 through August 2011 with illnesses contracted during travel to the tropics.

They found that 3,655 patients?4.4 percent of the total?had one of 13 life-threatening diseases. There were a total of 13 deaths, 10 of which occurred in patients with malaria.

Of the diseases, the researchers found:

• Malaria?caused by a parasite spread by the bite of infected female mosquitoes?was by far the most common condition, making up 76.9 percent of the diagnoses
• Fevers such as typhoid fever?a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection contracted from contaminated food and water in areas with poor sanitation?were found in 18.1 percent of the patients
• Leptospirosis, the rare bacterial infection, which is usually caused by exposure to contaminated water, was diagnosed in 2.4 percent of the ill travelers

Malaria was mostly seen in travelers to West Africa, while most cases of typhoid fever were contracted by visitors to the Indian subcontinent. There were no cases of Ebola, Lassa fever or yellow fever among the more than 82,000 ill Western travelers included in the study, according to Jensenius and his fellow researchers.

"We were quite surprised that these much-feared viral infectious diseases were completely absent," said Jensenius, who is also an infectious disease physician at Oslo University Hospital. "People talk about them all the time, but our paper suggests that these are still very, very rare among travelers."

European clinics reported more than half of all of the life-threatening diagnoses. Jensenius said this may reflect the fact that most European (as well as New Zealand and Australian) GeoSentinel sites are located in hospitals whereas sites in the United States and Canada more often are travelers' clinics. "In many of the North American GeoSentinel sites, they are more focused on pre-travel care," he noted, "and don't see as many patients post-travel as we do in Europe."

Every year, an estimated 50 million Western travelers visit tropical countries in Central and South America, Africa, Oceania and Asia, and their numbers are expected to grow, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). They may be tourists, adventure or eco-travelers on holiday or those traveling for business. But the group also includes an increasing number of immigrants returning to their home countries to visit friends and relatives.

"While tropical illnesses are rare in the Western world, these findings remind us that infectious disease pays no attention to geographic borders and affects the world at large," said David H. Walker, MD, president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and chair of the department of pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. ""Our membership includes an exceptional cadre of skilled physician-scientists who are civilian, military and governmental clinical experts in travelers' health and diagnosing and treating tropical infection and disease. It is noteworthy that three of the leading life-threatening diseases are neglected rickettsioses, scrub typhus, murine typhus, and spotted fever rickettsioses." (For a list of physicians who specialize in Tropical Medicine, Medical Parasitology and Travelers' Health, go to: http://www.astmh.org/source/ClinicalDirectory/)

Each year, thousands of ill travelers seek health care at one of the 57 clinics associated with Geosentinel around the world when they return from their visits. Their anonymous diagnoses are uploaded to GeoSentinel's database to track disease trends among travelers. The GeoSentinel network was initiated in 1995 by the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM), and is funded by ISTM and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track travel-related illnesses and deaths.

Researchers have published more than 20 studies using GeoSentinel data, but the new study focuses only on tropical travel and "the life-threatening conditions that we as physicians need to identify rapidly," Jensenius said.

Travel Advice for Returning Immigrants and Western Travelers

Many of the malaria cases seen in the study were in immigrants returning to their countries of origin to visit friends and relatives, the researchers discovered. Jensenius said these travelers may have battled malaria when they once lived in the tropics, and "have this misconception that they are immune to the disease."

"When they go back from Europe 10 years later, they believe they don't need the protection of a prophylaxis," he said. "But that's wrong." Similar misconceptions might occur among returning immigrants to the Indian subcontinent, who believe they have immunity against typhoid fever.

The researchers advise all visitors to tropical regions to seek pre-travel advice on vaccinations and medications required for the countries they plan to visit, and while traveling take precautions to prevent insect bites, and drink bottled water.

Travelers who become ill with fever or flu-like illness while traveling or soon after returning home from high-risk areas should seek immediate medical attention and share their travel history with their physician, Jensensius cautioned. "Nearly all the diseases identified in our paper presented with a fever and an incubation period of just a couple of weeks."

###

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Thanks to The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126328/New_study_finds_malaria__typhoid____not_Ebola____biggest_health_threat_for_travelers_to_tropics

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Semen quality of young men in south-east Spain down by 38 percent in the last decade

Public release date: 18-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: SINC
info@agenciasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

The first comparative study on the evolution of sperm quality in young Spanish men over ten years, headed by researchers at the University of Murcia, reveals that spermatozoid concentration in men between 18 and 23 years in the regions of Murcia and Almeria has dropped by an annual average of 2%.

The suspicion that the semen of Spanish men is losing quality now takes force in the case of young men from Murcia and Almeria.

The 'Andrology' journal has published a multidisciplinary and international study, headed by the Department of Preventative Medicine and Public Health of the University of Murcia (UMU), which demonstrates that "total sperm count and concentration has declined amongst young men in the south-east of Spain in the last decade." More specifically, the decrease amounts to 38%.

The lead researcher, Alberto Torres Cantero, explains to SINC that the study involved "comparing the results obtained by the Medical Research Centre of the University of Granada from the semen of 273 men from Almeria between 18 and 23 years, collected between 2001 and 2002, with those samples collected ten years later by 215 undergraduates from Murcia, all the while ensuring that both sample groups had the same age range and similar characteristics."

The analysis shows that the number of spermatozoids is significantly lower in the subjects from Murcia compared to the participants from Almeria. Average concentration goes from 72 million spermatozoids per millilitre in 2011 to 52 million/ml in 2011, according to Torres Cantero, professor of Preventative Medicine and Public Health at UMU.

Another relevant result is that "40% of those university students analysed in Murcia suffered from alterations in at least one semen parameter (morphology, mobility). Furthermore, all sperm indicators are below the norm in 15% of the sample," states Jaime Mendiola, professor at the UMU and first signatory of the study.

Clinic trails are needed

"Before there were no well performed studies to detect a change in sperm quality in Spain," explains Torres. Its main limitation is that it only makes reference to one geographic area and cannot be extrapolated: "We do not know if the same has occurred in other parts of Spain," outlines the researcher. There is little likelihood that the study will be carried out in other regions "because there are no similar semen quality studies in the young and healthy population."

Nonetheless, the fact that semen has worsened does not necessarily mean that the number of infertile men has increased. As Torres clarifies, this study measures semen quality and not fertility, "for which specific criteria established by the WHO are used."

Despite this, Mendiola feels that these data are worrying because "it has been verified in recognised studies that a concentration lower than 40 million/ml makes conception more difficult. If the rate of loss we have outlines continues, with an average decline in quality of 2% per year, the sperm of young men could reach this danger level of 40 million/ml in a very short space of time."

For this reason, the authors stress the urgency to promote "clinical trails that identify effective prevention actions for counteracting this negative trend via lifestyle changes."

"We believe that some prevention actions involving lifestyle improvements, such as a healthier diet, could increase sperm quality," outlines Alberto Torres. "But we still lack rigorous scientific information to propose them neither in the clinical field nor at a population level. If we could identify those actions, we could improve sperm quality."

###

This study enjoyed the participation of the Department of Preventative Medicine of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, the Reproduction Department of the University of Copenhagen, the Spanish universities of Granada and Miguel Hernndez (Elche) and Dexeus and Fertilidad Roca clinics in Murcia. It was financed by the Fundacin Sneca - the Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia - and the Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Carlos III Institute.

Contact:

Alberto Torres Cantero
investigador principal
catedrtico de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pblica de la Universidad de Murcia
amtorres@um.es
telfono: 868 88 46 57

Reference:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2047-2927.2012.00058.x/abstract;jsessionid=F1B8DE0AD83F78A0DFAC4F2BF4ADF7C2.d04t04

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

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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.

Public release date: 18-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: SINC
info@agenciasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

The first comparative study on the evolution of sperm quality in young Spanish men over ten years, headed by researchers at the University of Murcia, reveals that spermatozoid concentration in men between 18 and 23 years in the regions of Murcia and Almeria has dropped by an annual average of 2%.

The suspicion that the semen of Spanish men is losing quality now takes force in the case of young men from Murcia and Almeria.

The 'Andrology' journal has published a multidisciplinary and international study, headed by the Department of Preventative Medicine and Public Health of the University of Murcia (UMU), which demonstrates that "total sperm count and concentration has declined amongst young men in the south-east of Spain in the last decade." More specifically, the decrease amounts to 38%.

The lead researcher, Alberto Torres Cantero, explains to SINC that the study involved "comparing the results obtained by the Medical Research Centre of the University of Granada from the semen of 273 men from Almeria between 18 and 23 years, collected between 2001 and 2002, with those samples collected ten years later by 215 undergraduates from Murcia, all the while ensuring that both sample groups had the same age range and similar characteristics."

The analysis shows that the number of spermatozoids is significantly lower in the subjects from Murcia compared to the participants from Almeria. Average concentration goes from 72 million spermatozoids per millilitre in 2011 to 52 million/ml in 2011, according to Torres Cantero, professor of Preventative Medicine and Public Health at UMU.

Another relevant result is that "40% of those university students analysed in Murcia suffered from alterations in at least one semen parameter (morphology, mobility). Furthermore, all sperm indicators are below the norm in 15% of the sample," states Jaime Mendiola, professor at the UMU and first signatory of the study.

Clinic trails are needed

"Before there were no well performed studies to detect a change in sperm quality in Spain," explains Torres. Its main limitation is that it only makes reference to one geographic area and cannot be extrapolated: "We do not know if the same has occurred in other parts of Spain," outlines the researcher. There is little likelihood that the study will be carried out in other regions "because there are no similar semen quality studies in the young and healthy population."

Nonetheless, the fact that semen has worsened does not necessarily mean that the number of infertile men has increased. As Torres clarifies, this study measures semen quality and not fertility, "for which specific criteria established by the WHO are used."

Despite this, Mendiola feels that these data are worrying because "it has been verified in recognised studies that a concentration lower than 40 million/ml makes conception more difficult. If the rate of loss we have outlines continues, with an average decline in quality of 2% per year, the sperm of young men could reach this danger level of 40 million/ml in a very short space of time."

For this reason, the authors stress the urgency to promote "clinical trails that identify effective prevention actions for counteracting this negative trend via lifestyle changes."

"We believe that some prevention actions involving lifestyle improvements, such as a healthier diet, could increase sperm quality," outlines Alberto Torres. "But we still lack rigorous scientific information to propose them neither in the clinical field nor at a population level. If we could identify those actions, we could improve sperm quality."

###

This study enjoyed the participation of the Department of Preventative Medicine of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, the Reproduction Department of the University of Copenhagen, the Spanish universities of Granada and Miguel Hernndez (Elche) and Dexeus and Fertilidad Roca clinics in Murcia. It was financed by the Fundacin Sneca - the Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia - and the Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Carlos III Institute.

Contact:

Alberto Torres Cantero
investigador principal
catedrtico de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pblica de la Universidad de Murcia
amtorres@um.es
telfono: 868 88 46 57

Reference:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2047-2927.2012.00058.x/abstract;jsessionid=F1B8DE0AD83F78A0DFAC4F2BF4ADF7C2.d04t04

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/f-sf-sqo011813.php

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Obesity in young kids dropped in NYC, grew in LA

NEW YORK (AP) ? In the battle against childhood obesity, New York City appears to be doing better than Los Angeles, at least for low-income preschoolers.

A study released Thursday compared obesity rates for young poor children in the nation's two largest cities over nine years. Rates dipped in New York from about 19 percent to 16 percent. But in Los Angeles they rose from 17 percent to more than 21 percent before dropping to about 20 percent.

One reason for the difference: Los Angeles kids included many more Mexican-Americans, and obesity is more common in Mexican-American boys than in white or black kids.

The study joins other recent reports of declines in childhood obesity rates in places like Philadelphia, Anchorage and Kearney, Neb.

New York City's health commissioner said he was glad to hear the study's results, calling them "a big success." But with high rates of overweight and obesity in older children and adults, "there is much more work to be done,' Dr. Thomas Farley said in a statement.

The director of Los Angeles County's health department said it's not clear why the rate rose there, but he was heartened to see it peak around 2009 and decline after.

"This is the first clear evidence ? in the largest municipalities in the country ? of this kind of decline" in pre-school age children," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding in a phone interview.

The research focused on children ages 3 and 4 enrolled in a government program for women, infants and young children known as WIC that provides food vouchers and other services. The children in the New York and California programs are measured and weighed every six months.

The study covered 2003-2011 and the number of children enrolled varied each year, with as many as 67,000 in New York City and 150,000 in Los Angeles County.

New York's WIC program started very early ? in the 1990s ? in trying to promote exercise, healthy eating and breastfeeding. That's probably one reason New York City's obesity rate started dropping earlier, said the study's lead author, Jackson Sekhobo of the New York State Department of Health.

It probably also helped that walking and mass transit is much more common in New York City than in car-centric places like Los Angeles, he added.

But another primary explanation is the breakdown of the kids in the two cities. In 2011, about 85 percent of the Los Angeles children in the study were Hispanic, and most were Mexican-American ? a group with the highest reported childhood obesity rates, at least among boys.

In New York, 46 percent were Hispanic, with far fewer Mexican-Americans, Sekhobo noted.

Nationally, about 12 percent of preschool-age children are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 18 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are obese, and about the same proportion of adolescents are that fat.

About 36 percent of adults are obese, according to the agency's figures.

After decades of alarming reports of Americans gaining weight, "we're seeing perhaps the beginning of the end of the obesity epidemic," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement.

The CDC released the study Thursday.

___

Online:

Obesity report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-01-17-Childhood%20Obesity/id-8a1de7eee41c471f82b4f8a65adfb244

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Lenovo?s Chromebook: $430, Blacked-Out and ThinkPad-Branded

Lenovo, like Samsung and Acer, is now making Chromebooks. And like its Windows-powered ThinkPads, the new Lenovo Chromebook is matte black, and ready for business.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/H5S1_GmXthk/

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Mother of Poland's Kaczynski twins dies at 86

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2007 file photo Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right, waits for his mother Jadwiga, left, to cast her vote at a polling station during Parliamentary elections in Warsaw, Poland. Jadwiga Kaczynska, the mother of the identical twin brothers who shaped public life in Poland for many years, has died. She was 86. Kaczynska?s death Thursday Jan. 17, 2013, was announced by Law and Justice, the conservative party led by her surviving son, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2007 file photo Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right, waits for his mother Jadwiga, left, to cast her vote at a polling station during Parliamentary elections in Warsaw, Poland. Jadwiga Kaczynska, the mother of the identical twin brothers who shaped public life in Poland for many years, has died. She was 86. Kaczynska?s death Thursday Jan. 17, 2013, was announced by Law and Justice, the conservative party led by her surviving son, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? Jadwiga Kaczynska, the mother of the late President Lech Kaczynski and his identical twin brother Jaroslaw ? an unusual political duo who shaped public life in Poland for many years ? has died. She was 86.

Kaczynska's death Thursday was announced by Law and Justice, the conservative party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The cause of death was not given but Kaczynska had been ill for several years.

The sons were openly attached to their mother and credited her with playing a strong role in shaping their political views and decisions.

For a time the two held the country's top political jobs simultaneously ? as prime minister and president ? and she was sometimes present with them at ceremonial events. The closeness of the family was also a way they expressed their attachment to traditional, Roman Catholic family values.

They had credited her with shaping their deeply conservative and patriotic world view, one that is marked by deep suspicion of Poland's historic foes Germany and Russia.

It's a view shaped by the experience of suffering during World War II, when Poland was carved up and occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union. Kaczynska herself was active in the anti-German resistance, giving first aid to wounded soldiers.

"Her descriptions of war, conspiracy, battles that her older friends took part in, and finally, her own involvement in the conspiracy, made a huge impression on me," Jaroslaw has said, according to the TVN24 news outlet.

Kaczynska's fate intersected with that of her son Lech, who was Poland's president when he died in a 2010 plane crash in Russia along with his wife and 94 others, including many of the country's top political and military leaders.

In the weeks before the crash, Kaczynska was in such a critical condition with heart and lung problems that the president had canceled foreign trips to be by his mother's side.

Polish media reported that Jaroslaw had also planned to be on the ill-fated flight but stayed home to be with their mother.

For many weeks after the crash she had no idea her son had died, with doctors asking the family to spare her the news until she was better.

Jaroslaw finally broke the news to her six weeks later, a devastating shock to her and a painful moment also for Jaroslaw, who has mourned his brother visibly, wearing black suits exclusively to this day in public.

Telling her "was the most difficult moment in Jaroslaw Kaczynski's life," a former aide, Elzbieta Jakubiak, said at the time.

Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski first entered the public spotlight as child movie stars in a 1962 hit film, "The Two Who Stole the Moon," about a pair of troublemakers who try to get rich by stealing the moon and selling it. Their mother, who then worked as a Polish language teacher at a Warsaw high school, gave up her work for half a year to be with her sons during the filming.

That was the end of their film career, however, and they went on to study law.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the brothers were activists in the anti-communist opposition and served as advisers to Solidarity founder Lech Walesa. After the fall of communism, they were active in political life in the young democratic state. They eventually formed Law and Justice, now the country's main opposition party.

Both brothers drew criticism from many quarters. In European Union circles, their nationalistic policies have been seen as euro-skeptic, and their suspicion of Germany and Russia has been criticized abroad ? and by some Poles who feel their views are overly focused on the past.

Their mother said once when her sons were serving as president and prime minister that she was proud of them but that criticism of them was hard to take.

"Some of the comments and the attacks hurt me," she said, according to the news agency PAP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-17-Poland-Obit-Kaczynska/id-7aee88150cde4927b38f974a2f8ff825

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Zynga, From Social Gaming To Real Money Gaming - Seeking Alpha

It has been little over a year since social gaming company Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) completed its IPO. Investors' interest in social media and Internet IPOs was at its peak when Zynga listed its shares on the public market. However, it has been downhill ever since for ZNGA and other social media stocks.

Since the IPO, Zynga shares have fallen more than 72%. The stock has tumbled amid concerns over the company's growth. Zynga has also been affected by a mass exodus of senior management.

Many reasons have been cited for Zynga's problems, including the company's "freemium model". While Zynga has a very large user base, the company has struggled to monetize this asset. Perhaps the biggest problem for Zynga has been the shift to mobile.

However, the social gaming company has been making efforts to revive growth. Back in October 2012, the company had announced a cost reduction plan. The company also plans to focus on mobile. However, the thing that has excited investors the most is Zynga's plan to enter real money gaming.

In October, Zynga announced an exclusive partnership to offer real money online Poker and Casino games in the U.K. market. Last month, the company said that it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in the state of Nevada.

Zynga is pinning hopes on real money gaming to revive growth. And the company is putting a concerted effort as it looks to branch out into real money gaming.

According to a report by Envision IP, which is an intellectual property research firm, Zynga has acquired a number of new patents over the past year, with emphasis on gambling. In just a year, Zynga's patent portfolio has expanded from 1 patent and 9 pending to 89 patents and 36 pending. Maulin Shah, Managing Director of Envision, told All Things Digital that Zynga acquired around 38 or so patents from Walker Digital, and of these 38 patents, 33 are related to casino gaming and gambling technologies.

The casino gaming and gambling patents relate to technology that enables users to place wagers, team play with a casino slot club, and making payouts based on predefined rules among others. Shah further said that Zynga probably found it prudent to get some patents before they entered the online gambling space.

This is not all. According to a report from All Things Digital last month, Zynga launched two landing pages in the U.K., which are likely to become home to 180 casino games.

The acquisition of patents from Walker Digital suggests that Zynga is going all-out as it looks to launch real money gaming. This is not surprising considering that the company's future relies heavily on the success of real money gaming operations.

Disclosure: I am long ZNGA. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1116891-zynga-from-social-gaming-to-real-money-gaming?source=feed

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Jessica Simpson postponed wedding for babies

(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Jessica Simpson)

Pop star Jessica Simpson has tried to marry her fianc? Eric Johnson twice, but her unexpected pregnancies forced the couple to call off the wedding dates.

Simpson became engaged to the retired football player in 2010 and has been planning her wedding ever since, but she had to delay the ceremony after conceiving her daughter Maxwell in 2011 and again after falling pregnant last year.

The mother-to-be tells Jay Leno, ?We?ve had two different wedding dates, but he keeps knocking me up. We?re doing (marriage) very backwards, I know? I?ll just keep my legs crossed, I guess, this time.?

When asked if she was planning for a second baby, Simpson adds, ?Nope! Apparently it was a part of God?s plan for my life. I was extremely shocked ? because I was going through a lot of hormonal changes, trying to get back to the old, vibrant Jessica. You know, it was kind of like a one-night stand. And it happened, all over again!?

Simpson, a spokesperson for diet firm WeightWatchers, is determined to have a healthy second pregnancy because she piled on the pounds by eating ?everything in sight? while expecting her first child.

She explains, ?I was really happy to be pregnant (with Maxwell) and I didn?t ever step on the scale. I didn?t realize you could gain that much weight that quickly. (I gained) a lot more than doctors would recommend. I didn?t really make any healthy good decisions.?

Source: http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2013/01/16/jessica-simpson-postponed-wedding-for-babies/

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France delays move to make Web giants pay for networks

PARIS (Reuters) - France backed away from legislation to make Internet companies including Google pay for the burden they place on telecommunications networks, opting instead to ask a commission to study the controversial issue.

Fleur Pellerin, junior minister for the digital economy, said the government would ask the National Digital Council, a panel of tech experts and entrepreneurs, to evaluate whether a law was needed and how it might work.

A decision on how to proceed is due by late February.

France's Socialist government is concerned that Web giants weigh down networks with traffic without contributing to telecom companies' investments in high-speed systems, echoing a position held by European telecom operators.

Big Web companies like Facebook, Google and Netflix reject the idea of paying telecom operators to have their content reach customers.

Many argue they already pay for bandwidth through private deals with "content delivery networks" or sometimes directly with telcos or cable companies.

Internet activists also oppose paying extra because it would create two-speed networks and violate the net neutrality principle that all traffic on the Internet is treated equally regardless or its source or destination.

France's debate on net neutrality and who should finance networks arose early in January when the country's second-biggest broadband provider Iliad launched a feature to automatically block online advertisements.

The company withdrew the facility after an outcry from Web publishers and Internet activists, but not before Pellerin said it had a point.

"What solutions do Internet providers have when faced with content providers who use their networks but don't invest in them?" Pellerin said last week.

"We need to ask serious questions about how Web companies can put some money into networks."

Iliad's move was widely seen as a shot across the bows of Google because the French broadband provider has long sought, unsuccessfully, to get the search engine, whose business model is based ad revenue, to pay for the traffic it sends to French customers.

Iliad also acknowledges it slows down video-sharing site YouTube at peak hours, arguing that it congests the networks.

In France, Google has signed deals with Cogent and France Telecom to deliver its content to French web users.

Net neutrality has been debated by governments and companies all over the world in recent years as the Internet has grown in influence and reach.

Only the Netherlands, Chile and Slovenia have passed laws guaranteeing net neutrality.

In the United States and most of the European Union, regulators have adopted a more hands-off approach in which companies reach commercial contracts amongst themselves.

Asked why the French government had decided to wait instead of proposing a law now, an adviser to Pellerin said there was not yet consensus among the various players.

"For there to be a draft law, there would have to be a minimum of consensus between the various actors," said the adviser. "The debate today showed that we are a long way off."

(Editing by David Cowell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/france-delays-move-giants-pay-networks-162429820--sector.html

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