Sunday, September 30, 2012

Bankruptcy Advice You Can Put To Use | Siben & Siben Long Island ...

TIP! Once you have completed the bankruptcy filing, you should take time to do something you enjoy. So many people become stressed when they file.

The process of filing for bankruptcy can bring both stress and relief into your life. You do have to sort through all of your finances and interact with a lot of people in the financial part of your life. However, after this is over, you can restore your finances and be free of bill collectors. The following are some useful ideas for facilitating a smooth bankruptcy.

TIP! If financial distress is making you depressed an internet support group for bankruptcy may help. Bankruptcy can cause a lot of stress and make you feel isolated from your friends.

If you filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you can still get a mortgage or a car loan. Of course, it?s difficult. You will be required to meet a trustee and be approved for a new loan. You will need to make a budget and prove that you will be able to afford your new loan payments. You also need to be prepared to answer questions about your need for the new item.

TIP! If you are facing financial difficulty, it may not be wise to go through with a divorce. Many people who divorce must immediately file bankruptcy because of unforeseen financial difficulties.

If you will be owing taxes, do not think bankruptcy is an easy escape. Therefore, you should not use any credit card if you are going to file bankruptcy. This is a little trick they try, assuming that a credit card balance won?t be looked at the same way. However, there are already bankruptcy laws in place for this. This will leave you with owed taxes and then credit card interest for it, too.

TIP! Examine all of the possible options available to you before you choose to file for bankruptcy. Analyze your situation when it comes to debt as you determine which type of debt can be easily discharged under bankruptcy.

Know what your lawyer is doing while your bankruptcy proceedings are underway. You need to know what?s going on so don?t be afraid to ask them questions. Law offices that are busy are known to make occasional errors. No matter what people say, lawyers are human too!

TIP! Your most important concern is to protect your home. You don?t have to lose your home just because you are filing for bankruptcy.

Do not feel free to start running up credit card bills immediately before you file. The temptation may be there to run up some purchases, but the courts do not look kindly upon this. Practice sound financial management to the greatest degree that you can. Now is always a good time start beginning sound fiscal habits with the future in mind.

One tip that is very applicable in situations of personal bankruptcy is to be certain of paying debts on time and in an amount greater than the minimum due. Some people assume that making only minimum payments is the easy route, but doing so can cause a person to become controlled by debt too easily.

TIP! If you have an attorney, select one that has years of experience with bankruptcy. Rest assured, however, that you can find an ample selection of qualified attorneys.

Most people end up filing for personal bankruptcy because they owe more than they make. If this describes your situation, it makes sense to become familiar with relevant laws. Most states differ in their laws governing bankruptcy. You may find your home is safeguarded in one state, while in another it isn?t. Become acquainted with local bankruptcy laws before filing.

TIP! If you are worried about your car being repossessed, consult your attorney about trying to get the monthly payment lowered. Often, you can negotiate a lower payment through bankruptcy.

Think about other options before you file for bankruptcy. One of these choices is consumer credit counseling. Various non-profit companies are out there to give you assistance. They can negotiate with each of your creditors to work out payments that you can afford, along with reduced interest rates. You make payments to them and they pay your creditors.

TIP! If you?re considering filing for bankruptcy, it is critical that you assess what events and behaviors brought you to this point. Getting waylaid by an unexpected loss of income or a huge expense like emergency medical treatment is unavoidable, but impulsive spending is a problem that has to be addressed.

You may end up losing more than you bargained for when you file a bankruptcy claim, so be sure that you know just which assets may be taken before filing. There are several assets which are exempt from bankruptcy; therefore, consult the Bankruptcy code. It is important to be aware of this list so you will know what assets are saved. If you don?t read it, you could have nasty surprises pop up later due to your prized possessions being seized.

TIP! After you go through bankruptcy you will need to rebuild your credit. One way to do this is through a new line of credit.

There are good things as well as bad, in regards to filing for bankruptcy. Regardless of what your reason for declaring bankruptcy is, it is vital that you keep informed and involved in the entire process. You will have an easier time with your bankruptcy filing thanks to this article?s tips. Use these tips smartly to make the best decision possible

Source: http://www.sibensiben.com/long-island-injury-lawyer-blog/long-island-bankruptcy-lawyer/bankruptcy-advice-you-can-put-to-use-2

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Amazing Hidden Beach on Marietas Islands in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

It's not everyday that you get to visit the beach, much less a hidden one. Well, you're in luck, the images above show a hidden beach on Marietas Islands in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Marieta Islands "are archipelagos that were formed as a result of volcanic activity." Continue reading for a video and more information.

The marine environment of hidden beach Marieta Island, Puerta Vallarta has developed over several years, sans any disturbance from humans or outside nature. As a result, the marine life here is intriguing and holds a huge potential for people who love just this kind of sport. Marieta Islands are one of the best sports for snorkeling and scuba diving owing to the virgin nature of the place, along with its diversity.

The water along the hidden beach Marieta Island, Puerto Vallarta is a crystal clear blue mass of pure bliss. Of the marine wildlife available to view in the place, Humpback whale, sea turtles and dolphins are just a few of the most magnificent examples. Travelers can also enjoy a powerboat trip to the hidden beach, Marieta Island, Puerto Vallarta taking in the scenery along the way.

[Source 1 | 2]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techeblog/~3/MmfmvbNp-aI/amazing-hidden-beach-on-marietas-islands-in-puerto-vallarta-mexico

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Frenzy catches on as fans head for India-Pakistan T20 World Cup clash

Taipei News.Net Sunday 30th September, 2012

The frenzy of cricket has caught on to fans in India ahead of the India-Pakistan match in the ongoing Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in Colombo.

Cricket fans in different parts of the country will catch the on- field action on Sunday evening.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni wants his batsmen to throw caution to the wind and play their natural attacking game in crucial match against Pakistan to revive their stuttering World Twenty20 campaign.

In New Delhi, fans are enthralled and hope that India would win the match.

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh's fans are looking forward to watch his first match against archrival Pakistan after his comeback from the battle against cancer.

"You all know that everybody wants to watch an India-Pakistan match and there is lot of excitement. We are very excited to watch it this evening, and we all know that India will win it for sure. India will win the match. All the best India, Yuvraj you can do it man. And do give out six sixes," Anuj Gupta, a Team India cricket fan, said.

India's performance in the tournament has been bleak, as they had lost to Australia in their opening match of the Super Eight series on Friday.

India's performance in earlier matches against teams like Afghanistan has also not been satisfactory and has raised questions on their campaign for this tournament.

The fans, however, are not perturbed by all this and are pinning their hopes on India for today's match.

"It does not matter. Everyone is hoping for India to win, so India is going to win," said Shubhangi Singh, another Team India cricket fan.

India also lost the warm-up match against Pakistan in the tournament and Dhoni was aware of the weight of expectation from the country when they play their neighbours.

Pakistan also loaded their team with spinners against South Africa on Friday, but captain Mohammad Hafeez said that the team was yet to decide on its combination against India.

Speaking to reporters, Bollywood actor Rahul Bose said that at the end of the day, one team has to lose while other emerges a winner.

"The system of T20 is a system of luck. All the teams are capable on almost the same level. But someone either wins or loses in a day. So I would appeal to the people not to take it emotionally. If India loses they are still trying their best. That is the nature of T20," he said.

Another Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu wished Team India ahead of the game.

"All the best India. India rocks," she said.

The India-Pakistan game frenzy has also caught on to fans in Dhoni's hometown Ranchi.

Fans and priests performed traditional fire sacrifice and offered prayers at a local temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman.

Priest at Acharya Krishna temple said that the sacrifice was being performed so that India emerges victorious against Pakistan.

"This sacrifice will lead to a good start of the T20 World Cup. Today India plays against archrival Pakistan. Our Dhoni is the pride of Jharkhand and India. This is so that Dhoni's team wins and there is happiness everywhere," he said.

Cricket matches between the two countries have always been a high voltage affair with emotions running high on both sides.

Compared to India's performance in the tournament so far, Pakistan has been fairing well with them crushing Australia in their last Super Eight series match.

India has never lost a match against Pakistan in any edition of the cricket World Cup or the Twenty20 World Cup version.

Between them, India and Pakistan won the first two editions of the T20 men's event in 2007 and 2009 respectively. (ANI)

Source: http://www.taipeinews.net/index.php/sid/209631634/scat/b8de8e630faf3631

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

TV overtakes PC for online videos

In the US, TV is their primary screen for viewing paid and free video streamed from the internet, according to the NPD Group.

Watching streaming video on the TV set has risen from 33% to 45%. During the same period, consumers who used a PC as the primary screen for viewing over-the-top (OTT) streamed-video content declined from 48% to 31%. This shift not only reflects a strong consumer preference for watching TV and movies on big screen TVs, but also coincides with the rapid adoption of connected TVs.

NPD?s recent Digital Video Outlook report reveals that home installation of millions of Internet-connected TVs is changing the way that consumers access and view streaming video. As of the second quarter of 2012, 12% of the installed base of consumer TVs in the US were connected TVs, totaling more than 29 million devices.

Approximately 10% of U.S. consumer households currently own at least one connected TV. NPD research conducted over the past year has found that 43% of connected TV users accessed online entertainment directly from their TVs, including online video, music, and cloud services.

?The growth in connected TVs is another sign that online video is maturing,? said Russ Crupnick, SVP of industry analysis for the NPD Group. ?Streaming video has moved from the dorm room to the living room; and, as more households obtain and connect TVs to the Web, we predict increased trial and engagement for video distribution services.?

Netflix Watch Instantly is the dominant application for Web-to-TV video. Of those viewing online video on the TV, 40% use their connected TVs to stream video via Netflix, 12% access HuluPlus, and 4% connect to Vudu. Connected TVs, which offer direct access to these and other popular online video services via TV apps, represent a convenient alternative to PCs, or the use of other Internet-connected peripheral devices.

NPD?s study also found that nearly one in five connected-TV installations resulted in consumers no longer using peripheral devices, such as streaming media players, video game consoles, and Blu-ray Disc players, to access streaming video on the TV. This decline in usage could impact the usage models and utility of peripheral devices.

NPD?s ?Digital Video Outlook? report is based on data collected from multiple sources, including two electronic surveys. The quarterly survey includes approximately 1,200 U.S. broadband households. Survey data was weighted to represent U.S. population (age 13 and older) and tested for statistical significance at the 95% confidence level. The semi-annual survey includes approximately 10,000 respondents. Data from this survey has a 97% level of confidence, with a +/- 0.7% margin of error.

Source: http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/09/28/tv-overtakes-pc-for-online-videos/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tv-overtakes-pc-for-online-videos

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Combatarts: What is MMA

Combatarts: What is MMA

What is MMA


MIXED MARTIAL ARTS & GRAPPLING Three of the most popular Combat Sports throughout GB are Sombo, MMA and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ yet out of the three there is only one of them that has a governing body, that is recognised by UKSport and has an International Body recognised by Sport Accord and that is the British Sombo Federation. This I believe will changing in the very near future as the very well respected F.I.L.A has included the two on their list of Wrestling Sports and they call it Amateur MMA and Grappling. F.I.L.A have been responsible for Free Style and Greco Roman since the Olympics began so they are the obvious choice for running these sports. It is important that we put some legitimisation into MMA as there are so many unqualified, inexperience clubs teaching these Combat Skills. I recently heard of a karate Club who numbers had been dwindling changing there name to an MMA club and their membership quadrupled, when they were questioned they said they had mixed several Karate Styles together hence MMA Mixed Martial Arts. Although those in the know realise that is not what MMA is, but the Public do not know. I have strong doubts that you would be able to register MMA Mixed Martial Arts as a ?Service Mark? because of the nature of the name Mixed Martial Arts can mean anything it is not specific. Maybe MMA could have been registered but now because it has been widely used I doubt it. When I registered ?CombatSombo? a Grappling Self Defence System in 1988 as a service mark no one had used a combination on the name in any other form, since then the International body has come with a very successful Full Contact Jacket Strike and Grapple called Combat Sambo. In Some countries many use the same words for a self-defence system. The main advantage of registering COMBATSOMBO is I have total control of the name in this country and only Grades certificates with my signature or my authorisation can justify you saying you do COMBATSOMBO. Sadly at the time I did not get it registered World Wide but because everyone knows that CombatSombo is my style that they can still check to see if the Coach is registered with me. A Couple of years ago I was invited along with others to a meeting with the British Wrestling Association at the Wrestling Academy in Salford to discuss MMA and they came up with two very useful and unique names. For MMA Grappling and Submission Wrestling with or with out Jackets they would use the name FILA Grappling for MMA strike and grapple they would use the words FILA Combat. These two name are easily defined and can be easily regulated, I believe this is the way forward, I for one have no objections affiliating to the BWA in fact our Warriors Grappling Academy is a member Those who enjoy true MMA need to break away from the name because the name is slowing become ridiculed Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that incorporates striking (both standing and on the ground) and wrestling/grappling techniques. As governed by FILA, it is practiced within a safe and regulated environment, which relies on a fair and objective scoring system and competition procedures similar to those in force in Olympic wrestling. Despite its tremendous popularity, MMA is facing various legitimacy issues due to the lack of sanctioning by the national sports authorities and the lack of universal rules that would protect the athletes' physical and psychological integrity. FILA considers that?the implementation of an amateur variant that could guarantee a safe training environment and a competition systems complying with the Olympic standards has become an urgent necessity for all athletes wishing to engage in a professional career. Through the mandatory use of protection gear and limited impact rules (especially regarding ground and pound), FILA intends to offer a safe and educational sport that can satisfy athletes with both recreational or professional goals.?
With its combination of stand up and ground techniques, amateur MMA represents a great form of self-defense, which is particularly recommended for the training of police, security, and military forces. Amateur MMA is practiced with board shorts and an optional rashguard along with approved protection gear that includes head gear, shin protectors, and gloves that allow grabbing and holding the opponent for a comfortable application of grappling techniques.
Amateur MMA counts 7 weight categories for men and 5 weight categories for women. No absolute category is considered in order to avoid potentially harmful situations. ?
??????? Men: 60-65-70-75-80-90-110kg? ??????? Women: 50-55-60-65-75kg ? Licence and insurance: The FILA licence is mandatory for all international amateur MMA competitions with more than two participating countries. Every international competition shall be anounced to FILA and added to its official calendar. The FILA insurance will only apply to competitions which appear in its calendar. The FILA licence allows its holder to take part in all wrestling styles ruled by FILA. Grappling is a non-striking hybrid sport formed of wrestling, jiu jitsu, sambo, and many other submission fighting styles which consists in applying submission holds and choking techniques in order to make the opponent abandon the fight. Grappling plays an important role in the practice of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and is considered an effective form of self-defense.
When including grappling into its field of activities, FILA had the vision to unite the grappling community under standard international rules and offer a generic discipline that would go beyond the specificities of each submission fighting discipline. Straight forward and easy to understand rules were thus created to facilitate the participation of athletes coming from different fighting backgrounds in international competitions.
The FILA grappling regulations are based on a progressive point system that encourages submissions over technical points. Points are awarded for takedowns and dominant control positions according to the following progression: side mount > full mount > back mount. Once having reached a position and secured it for 3 seconds, additional points can only be scored if a higher position is achieved. The progression is reset if the opponent manages to bring the fight back to neutral (be it standing or on the ground) or to score a dominant control position in his/her turn.

Since submission fighting is traditionally practiced with and without kimono (Gi), FILA has decided to implement both trends in order to cover the full spectrum of techniques associated to each particular style. If some athletes prefer one style over the other, most of them enjoy practicing and competing in both. Therefore, the FILA tournaments generally take place in Gi and No-Gi divisions to enable all submission fighters to compete to their highest ability no matter what their fighting background might be.
In order to unify the rules and participation in Grappling, Pankration, and Combat Grappling competitions, FILA has adopted common weight categories for all three styles. The lighter categories have a smaller increase in weight due to the the bigger effect weight differences have on lighter athletes' performances. An absolute category open to competitors of all weight classes has also been added to allow heavier athletes to compete and to demonstrate that grappling techniques can sometimes overcome weight and strength, creating an exciting and spectator-friendly addition to the sport.
??????? Men: 60-65-70-75-80-90-110kg and Absolute? ??????? Women: 50-55-60-65-75kg and Absolute Licence and insurance: The FILA licence is mandatory for all international grappling competitions with more than two participating countries. Every international competition shall be anounced to FILA and added to its official calendar. The FILA insurance will only apply to competitions which appear in its calendar. The FILA licence allows its holder to take part in all wrestling styles ruled by FILA.

Source: http://combatarts.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-is-mma.html

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Albania Empowers Agencies to Monitor Internet :: Balkan Insight

The bill presented to Wednesday's cabinet by Prime Minister Sali Berisha gives intelligence and law enforcement agencies broad powers to work with private companies to share information on Internet users.

?If the current law provides for the interception of vocal communications, meaning telephone lines or GSM networks, the new bill will add interceptions that pass through Internet protocol, including voice, navigation and electronic mail,? Arjan Dyrmishi, head of the Center for European & Security Affairs at the Tirana Institute of Mediation and Democracy, IDM, explained.

Dyrmishi said the bill will oblige service providers to install capacities at their own cost to enable government agencies to gain access to electronic communications.? ?

The bill also allows for the decentralization of the wiretapping process on criminal cases from the general prosecutor?s office to regional prosecutors' offices.

Dyrmishi underlines that although such decentralization has nothing wrong about it from a legal point of view, it opens up a number of technical challenges concerning the oversight of such interceptions.

?As in any democratic country, the courts must order interceptions [to be valid in criminal cases], but decentralization of interceptions will make the process of oversight difficult,? he said.?

?Only about 1 per cent of all interceptions end up in court as part of a criminal proceeding, so the question is what happens with the rest,? he added.

The law on the interception of communications was last amended in October 2009. The changes increased the number of government agencies with competencies to intercept communications.

An IDM study in 2010 noted that several Albanian institutions currently have the power to intercept communications.

These include the State Security Agency, SHISH, the General Prosecutor?s Office, the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence.

The 2009 amendment also granted wiretapping capabilities to the Internal Audit Service of the Ministry of Interior. ?

Dyrmishi said that both the current and past amendments to the law had expanded the scope of agencies empowered to carry out interceptions - but without setting in place a proper watchdog system or control mechanism for the oversight of the law.

This increases the risk of illegal wiretapping, he says.

?It is widely accepted that implementation of laws is poor in Albania, and this law is no exception,? Dyrmishi said.

?The problem with all these [spying] capacities is that no independent supervisory body exists to monitor them,? he concluded.

Source: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-government-pushes-internet-spying-bill

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RIM posts big loss but not as bad as expected

TORONTO (AP) ? BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion posted another large quarterly loss on Thursday, but the hemorrhaging was not as bad expected.

The Canadian company is still losing market share in North America, where it struggles to compete with Apple's iPhone and phones that run Google's Android software. But it has stepped up sales in developing markets and actually increased its subscriber base and cash position.

RIM's stock surged more than 20 percent in after-market trading on the news.

The company reported Thursday that it lost $235 million, or 45 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter, which ended Sept 1. That compares with a profit of $419 million, or 80 cents per share, a year ago.

RIM reported revenue of $2.9 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 47 cents on revenue of $2.49 billion.

RIM said it shipped 7.4 million BlackBerry smartphones in the quarter, down from 10.6 million in the same period last year. Some analysts predicted RIM would ship only 6.4 million devices as the company prepares to launch much-delayed new BlackBerrys that have been deemed critical to its survival.

RIM pioneered the smartphone in 1999 but North American consumers have been abandoning BlackBerrys for flashier, touchscreen phones in recent years. RIM is banking its future on its much-delayed BlackBerry 10 platform, which is meant to offer the multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that users now demand.

Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on a conference call with analysts that BlackBerry 10 is still on track to be released in the first quarter of 2013 ? several months after the release of Apple's iPhone 5, which came out earlier this month. Heins said competitors have released strong products recently but vowed BlackBerry 10 "will advance the operating system environment to a whole new level."

Heins replaced co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis in January after the company lost tens of billions in market value. He surprised many this week when he said at a conference for mobile applications developers that RIM has 80 million subscribers, up from 78 million in early June. Many analysts had expected RIM to start losing subscribers in the second quarter.

The results show that RIM is making progress as it transitions to its next generation of BlackBerry smartphones and completes its cost reduction plan, Heins said.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said RIM did a great job in the quarter, considering the challenges it faced. He noted, however, that doesn't account for much because its new smartphones are not out yet.

"They are driving sales in emerging markets and we think they will continue to lose subscribers in developed markets," Misek said. "It doesn't tell you anything about the long-term success of the platform or the company."

RIM's sales outside the United States, United Kingdom and Canada were about 58 percent of total revenue, said Brian Bidulka, the company's chief financial officer. He noted sales were strong in Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela, but declined in the U.S.

Sales in the U.S. represented 22 percent of revenue, down from 25 percent in the first quarter and 27 percent in the second quarter last year. Bidulka said RIM's business will continue to be challenged until the new BlackBerrys are launched.

Research firm IDC says BlackBerry's U.S. market share has plummeted from 45.8 percent in 2008 to 2.7 percent in 2012.

RIM has been laying off thousands of workers to offset the losses.

Heins noted RIM's cash position stood at $2.3 billion at Sept. 1, up from $2.2 billion at the end of the previous quarter. The company is very focused on maintaining a strong financial position as it transitions to the new platform, he said.

Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial, said RIM's ability to grow the subscriber base while not hurting its cash position is encouraging.

"It does give them more time. The talk of bankruptcy has probably dissipated right now," Gillis said. "These are all the right moves, but does it change that their position is still bleak?"

RIM's stock rose $1.46 cents to $8.60 in extended U.S. trading Thursday. It had ended the regular trading session up 14 cents at $7.14. RIM's struggles have wiped out some $80 billion in shareholder wealth since 2008, a drop of over 90 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rim-posts-big-loss-not-bad-expected-204253199--finance.html

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Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form Factor

  • Pros Tools not required to open chassis and swap components. Solid multimedia performance.
  • Cons Cramped interior. USB 3.0 ports aren't color-coded.
  • Bottom Line With an easily accessible, IT-friendly chassis that can pop open without any tools, the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form-Factor is a solid choice for businesses looking to save space without necessarily compromising performance, though more nimble systems in the same price range are readily available.
By Ahmer Kazi As its name suggests, the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form Factor (9010 SFF) ($1,618 direct) falls toward the smaller side of Dell's OptiPlex 9010 commercial desktop lineup, landing between the Ultra Small Form-Factor and the full-tower desktop models. Despite its compact size, though, it packs solid hardware into an IT-friendly system that doesn't require any tools to open the chassis or swap components. For businesses looking to preserve space without necessarily compromising performance, it's a good option. That said, it's fairly pricey, and both similarly sized systems and better performers are readily available.

Design and Features
The 9010 SFF is housed in a compact chassis that measures 11.4 by 3.7 by 12.3 inches (HWD). Overall, it's not nearly as small as either the Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T or the Alienware X51 , but those systems are arguably too small, as neither can accommodate any internal expansion whatsoever. The 9010 SFF can be positioned vertically or horizontally, as demonstrated by the four rubber feet on its right side. The left side of the chassis, meanwhile, can easily be removed by pulling on the built-in handle?a convenient feature that lets your IT staff open the system up and swap out components without any tools.

The front panel is primarily covered by a gray plastic grille and features a slot-loading DVD burner, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and headphone and microphone jacks. The rear sports even more USB ports, with a pair of USB 3.0 ports alongside four USB 2.0 ports. Additionally, there's an RJ-45 port, a VGA port, three DisplayPorts, and two PS/2 ports. It's a healthy serving of ports, though it's worth nothing that two of the USB ports will be occupied by the included wired mouse and keyboard. On a related note, the 9010 SFF's USB 3.0 ports don't sport the familiar blue that's typically used to distinguish speedier USB 3.0 ports from their slower USB 2.0 counterparts. Instead, Dell has opted to place a barely noticeable "SS" (Super Speed) insignia above the USB 3.0 ports; it's not a major design flaw by any measure, but it will require your IT staff to do an extra bit of squinting when plugging in USB 3.0 peripherals.

As mentioned earlier, the real draw of the 9010 SFF is its ability to be upgraded and maintained without the use of any tools. Simply pull the handle on the left side of the chassis and you'll be greeted with an easily accessible?though densely packed?arrangement of hardware accented by easy-to-see light blue handles and grip points. Sliding out the optical drive allows for access to the 3.5-inch 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD that's encased in a metallic bay, which one removes by pulling on a circular blue lever. Removing the HDD reveals four DIMM slots on the 9010 SFF's motherboard, two of which are occupied by 4GB DDR3 SDRAM. Beneath the discrete 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7470 card is an empty half-height PCIe x16 slot, which can be outfitted with something along the lines of a low-powered graphics card or a WLAN 802.11n card after you swing out a plastic hinge that, in turn, allows you to pop out the metallic grille locked into the chassis. Overall, the 9010 SFF is remarkably easy to service and maintain despite its somewhat cramped interior.

Performance
Dell OptiPlex 9010 SFF

The 9010 SFF performed admirably against other small form-factor desktops, though it was handily outclassed by the larger enterprise-class HP Z220 CMT Workstation nearly across the board. Its PCMark 7 score of 2,980 landed at the bottom of the pack, coming within striking distance of the Alienware X51 (3,055 points) but trailed the rest of its peers, including the Shuttle X6100 (4,514 points). On the other hand, the 9010 SFF led the pack in our multimedia benchmark tests. It completed our Handbrake video encoding test in a brief 1 minute 4 seconds, edging past both the HP Z220 (1:05) and the Poly i1000A-3770T (1:11) by a thin margin. Likewise, it completed our Photoshop CS5 in 2 minutes 48 seconds, breezing past the Shuttle X6100 (3:00) and the Alienware X51 (3:36) without breaking a sweat. And while the 9010 SFF's Cinebench R11.5 score of 7.48 points fell a little short of the HP Z220 (7.55), it nonetheless muscled past the rest of the group, especially the Shuttle X6100 (5.68) as well as the Alienware X51 (4.91).

Despite its discrete 1GB AMD Radeon HP 7470 GPU, the 9010 SFF had difficulty breaching the 30 frames per second (fps) playability barrier in our gaming tests. To nobody's surprise, the X51 dominated the group in this arena, leaving the rest of the group gasping for air. In our Crysis benchmark tests, the 9010 SFF's performance (40 frames per second or fps in medium quality at 1,280-by-720 resolution; 4fps in high quality at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution) fell way below that of other systems, especially the HP Z220 (84fps and 11fps, respectively) and, to a more pronounced extent, the class-leading X51 (88fps and 22fps, respectively). Similarly, the 9010 SFF struggled in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark tests (16fps in middle quality at 1,280-by-720 resolution; 4fps in high quality at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution), missing the Poly i1000A-3770T by a narrow margin (18fps and 5fps, respectively) while, once again, being thoroughly outgunned by the X51 (86fps and 35fps, respectively). As far as 3D rendering goes, the 9010 SFF's 3DMark 11 scores (1,094 in Entry mode, 185 in Extreme mode) came close to that of the Poly i1000A-3770T (1,200 and 201, respectively), but, unsurprisingly, fell below both the HP Z220 (3,097 and 570, respectively) and the Alienware X51 (5,184 and 1,059, respectively).

Dell OptiPlex 9010 SFF

Overall, the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form-Factor is a good system whose shortcomings are tempered by its remarkable accessibility and expandability despite its compact profile. It doesn't perform with unbridled power like some of its peers, but its IT-friendly design makes it an appealing choice for businesses. Still, its high price tag is difficult to justify in the face of more nimble competitors, and, moreover, businesses that are purely interested in sheer computing power would be better off with our current Editors' Choice for single-processor workstations, the HP Z220 CMT Workstation.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form-Factor with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? Dell OptiPlex 9010 Small Form Factor
??? Toshiba LX835-D3230
??? Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p Tiny
??? Vizio 27-inch All-in-One PC (CA27-A1)
??? HP Z220 CMT Workstation
?? more

Ahmer Kazi By Ahmer Kazi

Ahmer Kazi is a junior analyst for the PCMag Hardware team. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Television and Film from St. John's University, where he also minored in English. He additionally holds a Juris...

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Check Out Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom's Next Project: Megabox [Video]

We've sort of known that Kim Dotcom was launching Megabox from the remains of Megaupload but we didn't know exactly what it was. Now that Dotcom has leaked a video about the service, we have an idea: a music service that wants to destroy labels and put the artist in charge. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FkQtEzSr8e4/check-out-megaupload-founder-kim-dotcoms-next-project-megabox

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Western Digital My Book VelociRaptor Duo


The Western Digital My Book VelociRaptor Duo ($899.99 list) isn't inexpensive, but speed seldom comes cheap. It's one of the fastest drives available without dropping $1,500-2,000 on a six-drive array, and it won't dominate your workspace. The drive comes with a pair of 10,000rpm drives, which together rival the speed of SSD-equipped external drives. If you're on a graphic or scientific deadline, the VelociRaptor Duo will be your best companion.

Design and Features
The Western Digital My Book VelociRaptor Duo comes in a charcoal-colored desktop drive enclosure that measures 6.5-by-4-by-6.25 inches (HWD). It looks very much like the Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II 6TB ($499.99 list, 4 stars) , aside from the color and the fact that the Studio Edition II has a capacity gauge its front panel. Instead, the VelociRaptor Duo has a simpler power/drive use LED. In the back, there is a pair of 10Gbps dual channel Thunderbolt ports, the jack for the AC adapter, and a Kensington lock port.

Unfortunately, the VelociRaptor Duo lacks a USB 3.0 port or FireWire 800 port, both of which would be helpful if you ever needed to transfer files with a PC or Mac that lacks a Thunderbolt port. You can get around this limitation with a Apple Thunderbolt Display , which lets you hook up USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 drives simultaneously to your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac or PC.

The VelociRaptor Duo comes with two speedy 1TB, 10,000rpm Western Digital VelociRaptor hard drives pre-installed, and configured for RAID 0 (striping). This gives you 2TB of storage that rivals the speed of SSDs (more on that below). You can use the included WD Drive ultilities to reconfigure the VelociRaptor Duo as a RAID 1 array (protected 1TB drive) or as a pair of individual 1TB drives (JBOD). You can pop the top panel open with a touch, exposing the drive cage. After unscrewing a thumbscrew and lifting out another panel, you can access the VelociRaptor Duo's two drives. This is handy for the sorts of folks that burn out hard drive mechanisms often, like video editors. You can ask Western Digital for replacements during the drives' three-year warranty. The drives come pre-equipped with slide-in sleds, so you can replace them a few minutes without using a screwdriver.

The drive comes with an installer for WD Drive Utilities, which lets you register the drive, set drive security (256-bit encryption), run diagnostics, format the drive, set the RAID level, and set a sleep timer for the drive. The sleep timer is important, since you don't want the drive to run 24/7 and risk burn out unnecessarily. The drive comes formatted for HFS+ (native Mac format), which means you can use it with Time Machine out of the box. The two Thunderbolt ports on the back are interchangeable: you can connect your Mac to one port, then daisy chain other drives or a display to the other port. Thankfully, the VelociRaptor Duo comes with one Thunderbolt cable, so you don't have to shell out an extra $49 for Apple's cable.

Performance
The VelociRaptor Duo's speed rivals that of an SSD. The drive took a short 11 seconds to transfer our 1.2GB test folder, a bit faster than the SSD-powered LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt (120GB SSD) ($299.99 list, 4.5 stars) (17 seconds), equal to the LaCie's Little Big Disk Thunderbolt (240GB SSD) ($899.99 list, 4 stars) (11 sec), and roughly equal to the LaCie 2big Thunderbolt Series (6 TB) ($749 list, 4 stars) (12 seconds). It's at the AJA System test where the VelociRaptor Duo really shines. The AJA System test simulates the sort of drive transfers that are commonplace in the video editing world. The VelociRaptor Duo speeds along with a 374 MBps read speed and 343 MBps write speed, handily beating the 2big drive (320MBps Read, 304MBps Write) and the Little Big Disk at write speeds (476MBps read, 252MBps Write). Therefore, the Little big Disk and Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt (380 MBps read, 200 MBps Write) are better when all you need to do is read large blocks of data, but the VelociRaptor Duo is best when you need to move large chunks of data back and forth to the drive. This makes the VelociRaptor Duo speedier overall for creative content creators like graphic designers, video editors, and scientific professionals.

The Western Digital My Book VelociRaptor Duo comes in as a high-speed drive for graphics and scientific professionals. While not as capacious as the LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt, it is significantly faster. It's also faster on write operations and has much more capacity than SSD-powered solutions like the LaCie Little Big Disk and Rugged Thunderbolt solutions. The Promise Pegasus R6 ($1,999 list, 3.5 stars) has a larger capacity and greater speed, but my goodness look at the price tag. The current external drive EC, the IoSafe Solo G3 (1TB) ($299 direct, 4.5 stars) holds on to its title, thanks to its rugged, fire-proof construction and included data recovery service, but the VelociRaptor Duo is a great choice for Mac professionals and any specialized PC user that needs the speed of Thunderbolt enough to seek out and buy one of the few Thunderbolt-equipped PCs.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Buffalo MiniStation Cobalt USB 3.0 with several other hard drive side by side.

More hard drive reviews:
??? Western Digital My Book VelociRaptor Duo
??? LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt (120GB SSD)
??? Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt Portable HDD (HD-PA1.0TU3)
??? CRU-DataPort ToughTech Duo 3SR
??? Western Digital My Passport (2TB)
?? more

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SHAPE Shares: Celebrate National Women' s Health and Fitness Day!

Today marks the 11th annual National Women's Health and Fitness Day. While we'd like to think that every day in the SHAPE office is about health and fitness, we couldn't ignore this important national holiday. We know you're busy, but whether you're a working mom, a college student, or a working professional (or a combination of all three), we encourage you to make time for your health. Although women tend to take care of those around them, they often end up neglecting their own health. And that can lead to some scary stuff?for example, though heart attacks, stroke, and cardiovascular disease strike both men and women, women are more likely to die from them.

The good news is that the road to health doesn't have to begin with a monumental change. Here are some of our favorite small changes you can make today for a better life:

1. The 15-minute total-body kettlebell circuit. Short on time? No problem! Ten or 15 minutes is still plenty of time to get in a total-body workout. For example, the average kettlebell routine melts away 20 calories per minute. Try this killer kettlebell program at home to blast 300 calories in just 15 minutes. If you're not one for getting sweaty (we feel ya), try one of these no-sweat workouts. They'll get results without leaving you completely drenched!

2. Make a simple swap. It can be hard to stick to a healthy diet, especially if you're operating within a tight budget. But even a change as simple as drinking more water, having a handful of almonds, or sitting down specifically when you drink alcohol at a party can all pay off in big ways. If weight loss is your goal, check out these 15 small expert-approved diet tips.

3. Skip the energy drinks. Lots of late nights? Feeling like you're running yourself ragged? We've all been there! Pass over the candy bar or even the coffee when you need an instant boost and try these expert tips to revitalize yourself instantly instead.

4. Put yourself on snooze control. Make it a priority to get more zzzz! Most adults don't nearly enough sleep, and that's bad: A lack of sleep has been linked to everything from an increased risk of diabetes to weight gain to decreased performance at work or school. Conversely, getting at least seven hours of sleep a night can lead to better memory, more energy, an improved immune system, and curbed cravings. Burning the midnight oil? Nosh on one of these healthy snacks before bedtime or try these tips for powering down so that you can relax at night.

5. Give yourself a break. What's your personal goal? Do you want to lose five pounds? Run a mile? Run a marathon? Whatever it is, you're bound to have discouraging days. Just remember that whatever you're doing, you're doing something good for yourself.

Tell us! What are you doing to celebrate National Women's Health and Fitness Day? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/shape-shares-celebrate-national-womens-health-and-fitness-day

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Ready for your close-up? Distance at which facial photos are taken influences perception, study shows

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) ? As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." For people in certain professions -- acting, modeling, and even politics -- this phrase rings particularly true. Previous studies have examined how our social judgments of pictures of people are influenced by factors such as whether the person is smiling or frowning, but until now one factor has never been investigated: the distance between the photographer and the subject. According to a new study by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), this turns out to make a difference -- close-up photo subjects, the study found, are judged to look less trustworthy, less competent, and less attractive.

The new finding is described in this week's issue of the open-access journal PLoS ONE.

Pietro Perona, the Allen E. Puckett Professor of Electrical Engineering at Caltech, came up with the initial idea for the study. Perona, an art history enthusiast, suspected that Renaissance portrait paintings often featured subtle geometric warping of faces to make the viewer feel closer or more distant to a subject. Perona wondered if the same sort of warping might affect photographic portraits -- with a similar effect on their viewers -- so he collaborated with Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and professor of biology, and CNS graduate student Ronnie Bryan (PhD '12) to gather opinions on 36 photographs representing two different images of 18 individuals. One of each pair of images was taken at close range and the second at a distance of about seven feet.

"It turns out that faces photographed quite close-up are geometrically warped, compared to photos taken at a larger distance," explains Bryan. "Of course, the close picture would also normally be larger, higher resolution and have different lighting -- but we controlled for all of that in our study. What you're left with is a warping effect that is so subtle that nobody in our study actually noticed it. Nonetheless, it's a perceptual clue that influenced their judgments."

That subtle distance warping, however, had a big effect: close-up photos made people look less trustworthy, according to study participants. The close-up photo subjects were also judged to look less attractive and competent.

"This was a surprising, and surprisingly reliable, effect," says Adolphs. "We went through a bunch of experiments, some testing people in the lab, and some even over the Internet; we asked participants to rate trustworthiness of faces, and in some experiments we asked them to invest real money in unfamiliar people whose faces they saw as a direct measure of how much they trusted them."

Across all of the studies, the researchers saw the same effect, Adolphs says: in photos taken from a distance of around two feet, a person looked untrustworthy, compared to photos taken seven feet away. These two distances were chosen by the researchers because one is within, and the other outside of, personal space -- which on average is about three to four feet from the body.

In some of the studies, the researchers digitally warped images of faces taken at a distance to artificially manipulate how trustworthy they would appear. "Once you know the relation between the distance warp and the trustworthiness judgment, you could manipulate photos of faces and change the perceived trustworthiness,'' notes Perona.

He says that the group is now planning to build on these findings, using machine-vision techniques -- technologies that can automatically analyze data in images. For example, one application would be for a computer program to have the ability to evaluate any face image in a magazine or on the Internet and to estimate the distance at which the photo was taken.

"The work might also allow us to estimate the perceived trustworthiness of a particular face image," says Perona. "You could imagine that many people would be interested in such applications -- particularly in the political arena."

The study, "Perspective Distortion from Interpersonal Distance Is an Implicit Visual Cue for Social Judgments of Faces," was funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by California Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Katie Neith.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Ronnie Bryan, Pietro Perona, Ralph Adolphs. Perspective Distortion from Interpersonal Distance Is an Implicit Visual Cue for Social Judgments of Faces. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (9): e45301 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045301

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/1sy62PxYMKc/120926153030.htm

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The L.A Complex

The L.A Complex

The L.A. Complex follows the lives of twenty year olds living in the same apartment complex in L.A. trying to make it as actors, dancers, producers and comedians. Relationships begin and end, and the characters are pushed to their limits.

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

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hanybanany
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I would like to reserve the dancer :)

Do you have a character sheet?

An artist is a neurotic who cures herself with art.


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KiraArsenic
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YES! Both girls reserved! Try to get your guy Rp friends to join!

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hanybanany
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I'm sorry but i'm going to have to cancel my reservation. Too much going on lol I'm addicted to role playing.

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KiraArsenic
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