LA Delta Hosts Legendary Coach in Black History Program

A legend will come to call this week at Louisiana Delta Community College as the school celebrates Black History Month with its Annual Black History program.

Influential coach Herman Boone will be the keynote speaker at this year's program, titled "At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington." The program is set for 11 a.m. on Monday, February 4 in LA Delta's Theater.

Boone is best known for his role as head coach of the T.C. Williams High School football team in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. His story, and that of the changing times, is depicted in Disney's "Remember The Titans."

As speaker for the Black History program, Boone will address the issues he faced and overcame during a time when diversity was not the norm, and discuss his experiences as an advocate for self-respect, teamwork and community involvement.

For more information about this event, contact Raquel Banner, at (318) 345-9146 or at relder@ladelta.edu.

Source: http://myarklamiss.com/fulltext?nxd_id=186172

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Motorola RAZR HD Receiving Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean at Rogers and Fido

Although Rogers confirmed a Jelly Bean upgrade for Motorola RAZR HD was scheduled to arrive in ?early February,? it looks like the update is available for download one week ahead of the initial timeframe.

MobileSyrup reports that some Motorola RAZR HD users who bought their devices from Rogers and Fido have already received the long-awaited update.

It appears that the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update is about 308MB in size and is pushed OTA (over-the-air) in waves, so not all RAZR HD owners might receive it at the same time.

Those who have yet to be notified on the update can manually check for it by going to Settings / About phone / Software update.

As we mentioned earlier, the Jelly Bean upgrade might not be available right away, but it?s likely to arrive on all RAZR HD devices in Canada in the next few weeks.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Motorola-RAZR-HD-Receiving-Android-4-1-2-Jelly-Bean-at-Rogers-and-Fido-325179.shtml

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Scientists trick iron-eating bacteria into breathing electrons instead

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Scientists have developed a way to grow iron-oxidizing bacteria using electricity instead of iron, an advance that will allow them to better study the organisms and could one day be used to turn electricity into fuel. The study will be published on January 29 in mBio?, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

The method, called electrochemical cultivation, supplies these bacteria with a steady supply of electrons that the bacteria use to respire, or "breathe". It opens the possibility that one day electricity generated from renewable sources like wind or solar could be funneled to iron oxidizing bacteria that combine it with carbon dioxide to create biofuels, capturing the energy as a useful, storable substance.

"It's a new way to cultivate a microorganism that's been very difficult to study. But the fact that these organisms can synthesize everything they need using only electricity makes us very interested in their abilities," says Daniel Bond of the BioTechnology Institute at the University of Minnesota ? Twin Cities, who co-authored the paper with Zarath Summers and Jeffrey Gralnick.

To "breathe", iron oxidizers take electrons off of dissolved iron, called Fe(II) ? a process that produces copious amounts of rust, called Fe(III). Iron-oxidizing bacteria are found around the world, almost anywhere an aerobic environment (with plenty of oxygen) meets an anaerobic environment (which lacks oxygen). They play a big role in the global cycling of iron and contribute to the corrosion of steel pipelines, bridges, piers, and ships, but their lifestyle at the interface of two very different habitats and the accumulation of cell-trapping Fe(III) makes iron oxidizers difficult to grow and study in the lab.

Scientists think these bacteria must carry out the iron oxidation step on their surfaces. If that's true, Bond reasoned, the outsides of the organisms should be covered with proteins that interact with Fe(II), so you should be able to provide a stream of pure electrons to the outsides of the bacteria and get them to grow.

Bond and his colleagues added the marine iron oxidizer Mariprofundus ferrooxydans PV-1, along with some nutrient medium, to an electrode carefully tuned to provide electrons at the same energy level, or potential, as Fe(II) would provide. The idea, says Bond, was to "fool the bacteria into thinking they're at the world's best buffet of Fe(II) atoms."

It worked. The bacteria multiplied and formed a film on the electrode, Bond says, and eventually they were able to grow M. ferrooxydans with no iron in the medium, proof that the bacteria were living off the electrons they absorbed from the electrode to capture carbon dioxide and replicate. And since the electron donor is a solid surface, say the authors, it's pretty likely that the bacterial electron-harvesting machinery is exposed on the outer membrane of the cell.

It's this capture of carbon dioxide that could enable electrochemical cultivation to create biofuels or other useful products one day, Bond says.

"Bacteria are experts at the capture of carbon dioxide. They build cells and compounds" with the carbon, he says. They might one day be exploited as microscopic energy packagers: bacteria like M. ferrooxydans could capture electricity from an electrode, combine it with carbon dioxide, and package it as a carbon-rich compound we could use as fuel. This would take the energy in electricity, which is ephemeral, and convert it into a tangible product that could be stored in a tank. But that kind of work is a long way off, cautions Bond.

"If there are 100 steps to making this work ? this is step one," he says.

###

Article: http://mBio.asm.org

American Society for Microbiology: http://www.asm.org

Thanks to American Society for Microbiology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126516/Scientists_trick_iron_eating_bacteria_into_breathing_electrons_instead

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Mass extinction? Man may still have time to catalog Earth's species.

A trio of respected biologists and zoologists concludes that Earth's sixth mass extinction may be unfolding slower than feared, giving time for the valuable work of cataloging the planet's species.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / January 25, 2013

This file photo shows two jaguar cubs born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in November. Jaguars are an endangered species.

Milwaukee County Zoo/AP

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For years, ecologists and biologists have warned that the planet is sliding into a mass extinction event comparable to the one that did in the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

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But Earth?s species may not be vanishing as fast as previously believed ? providing a fresh opportunity to catalog and conserve more of them before global warming and habitat loss take a higher toll on the planet?s biodiversity.

That's the conclusion a trio of respected biologists and zoologists has reached after reviewing recent studies on extinction, the pace at which new species are being reported, estimates of undiscovered species, and the human and technological capital available for building the catalog.

When it comes to discovering and preserving biodiversity, "things aren't hopeless," says Mark Costello, a University of Auckland marine zoologist and the lead author of the analysis, which appeared in this week?s issue of Science.

Three years ago, another, larger team of biologists and zoologists estimated that if collectively countries devoted $500 million to $1 billion a year to the project of cataloging nonbacterial life on Earth, the project could be complete within 50 years.

Dr. Costello and colleagues renew that call. And their lower estimate of the number of species and a higher estimate of the people available than many thought implies the job could be done more quickly.

The stakes are high, many researchers say. Human population growth and activities ? from altering landscapes and oceans to altering climate ? are widely seen as the drivers behind the current mass-extinction event, the planet?s sixth.

"We are the asteroid," says Michael Novacek, provost and curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, referring to the event widely held to have triggered the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

"This may be the most important century in our evolutionary history, where the environment is really transformed to a level where the nature of life on Earth is redefined," says Dr. Novacek, who was not part of the team performing the new analysis.

Getting a handle on the full range of nonbacterial species the planet hosts is important for a number of reasons, researchers say. A full listing of what lives where would provide important information for maintaining the health of ecosystems on which humans rely for food, clean water, and other so-called ecosystem services. And undiscovered species could represent new sources of compounds for pharmaceuticals or appear as novel structures human engineers could mimic for lighter, stronger materials.

At its broadest, the widespread loss of biodiversity before anyone has a chance to take the full measure of what's out there makes it difficult to fully grasp the ecological consequences of its loss.

Novacek and others say they are a bit surprised at the relatively low number of nonbacterial species the team estimates as living on the planet ? about half the 10 million that others estimate as realistic. And the trio's estimate for a global extinction rate ? less than 1 percent per decade ? is far below the worst-case scenario of 5 percent per decade some have estimated.

Still, Costello and colleagues acknowledge that if extinction rates are on the high side, say 5 percent per decade, half the 5 million nonbacterial species he and his colleagues estimate as currently inhabiting Earth will have vanished within 150 years.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/KBKdZw2rdqY/Mass-extinction-Man-may-still-have-time-to-catalog-Earth-s-species

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China's Lenovo sets sights overseas in smartphone push

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Lenovo Group Ltd is stepping up its overseas expansion in the smartphone business after enjoying solid growth at home in China, as the world's No.2 maker of personal computers seeks to offset slowing growth in the traditional PC sector.

Lenovo, also the second-biggest smartphone vendor in China, has begun selling smartphones in countries including Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, although analysts said it faced stiff competition from major players like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc.

In its October-to-December third quarter, Lenovo shipped 9.4 million phones, including 9 million smartphones, mainly in China, where its smartphone business turned profitable for the first time.

"For the rest of the emerging markets, we will continue to invest in the smartphone business to drive market share," Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo's chief executive, told a media briefing after announcing its best-ever quarterly profit. "When we have enough market share, we can shift to (focusing on) profitability."

The ThinkPad maker reported on Wednesday a quarterly profit of $204.9 million, up by a third from a year earlier. That beat the average estimate of $178.4 million in a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll of 11 analysts, and exceeded its previous record of around $172 million in the three months that ended in December 2007.

In the third quarter, overall revenue grew 12 percent from a year earlier to $9.4 billion, but the bulk of that still came from its PC business.

Lenovo has rapidly gained market share in the PC sector on the back of acquisitions over the past few years. The company trails Hewlett Packard Co by a slim margin in PC shipments, according to technology research group IDC.

As PC demand growth slows, Lenovo has been diversifying into the mobile device sector to tap robust demand for smartphones and tablets, particularly at home in China, the world's biggest market for mobile phones and personal computers.

About a tenth of its third-quarter revenue came from its mobile internet and digital home (MIDH) business - mainly consisting of its smartphone sales in China, which jumped 77 percent to $998 million.

"In my opinion, Lenovo's strategy in mobile devices is that it will focus initially on the overseas markets that it's most familiar with and this includes emerging markets," Eve Jung, an analyst at Nomura Equity Research.

"However, it will face challenges in the sector as companies like Acer and Asustek roll out cheaper tablet PC models to aggressively target markets, such as China, which is Lenovo's traditional stronghold," she said.

In smartphones, Lenovo will have to compete head-on not only with major global players, but also with Chinese rivals like Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, which are already among the top five smartphone players globally.

"Its strategy in diversifying into smartphones has proved quite successful in China, but it'll be quite difficult for Lenovo to be as successful as say, Samsung, in overseas markets," said Audrey Chiu, a manager at the investment and research division of Truswell Securities Investment Trust, which invests in Lenovo's shares.

Shares of Lenovo rose 36 percent in 2012, outpacing a 23 percent rise in the Hang Seng Index and beating rivals Hewlett Packard, Dell Inc and Acer Inc, whose stocks fell last year.

On Wednesday, Lenovo shares closed down 2.7 percent prior to the results announcement, compared with the Hang Seng's 0.7 percent rise.

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lenovo-logs-record-quarterly-profit-q3-tops-market-083025136--finance.html

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Israel Commemorates the Columbia Disaster and the Death of Ilan Ramon

The 10th anniversary of the Columbia disaster is felt particularly keenly in Israel. The disaster took the life of Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who was among the crew of the last flight of the space shuttle Columbia.

Various events are being conducted in Israel and by Israelis to commemorate the disaster.

Israel opens space and science center in Herzliya

According to the Jewish Press, NASA administrator Charles Bolden was on hand to commemorate the establishment of a space and science center in the Israeli town of Herzliya, in Galilee between the Haifa coast and the Kinneret. The center is currently engaged in the processing and tracking of Israeli satellites as well as the education of local students. Bolden was one of 14 space agency heads who were present for the occasion, which also kicked off a several-day "space week" in the Jewish state, according to the Times of Israel. Bolden suggested that the next Israeli astronaut would likely be included in one of NASA's planned deep space missions and not on a mission to the International Space Station, since Israel is not a partner in the ISS.

Israeli students visit the Florida space coast

Florida Today reports that a group of Israeli students and their teachers visited the Kennedy Space Center and other destinations on the Florida space coast on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the loss of Columbia. All attend the same school that Ilan Ramon attended. Because of Ramon's sacrifice, there is an upsurge in interest on aerospace subjects in Israel.

Israeli space program

A recent article in Space Quarterly notes that Israel's space effort has largely been military-driven, with a number of reconnaissance and communications satellites launched from a base on the Mediterranean coast, To avoid diplomatic complications with its neighbors, some of them still hostile, Israel launches its satellites in a westerly, retrograde orbit. Israel is currently searching for a foreign launch site to lease in order to launch larger payloads in the traditional easterly direction that takes advantage of the rotation of the Earth.

Unlike its main Middle Eastern enemy, Iran, Israel has not expressed any ambitions for its own native crewed space program. A private Israeli group is a competitor for the Google Lunar X Prize for the first private rover to land on the lunar surface. In the meantime Israel is starting to slowly ramp up a civil space effort, leveraging agreements with other space agencies such as NASA and the European Space Agency.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-commemorates-columbia-disaster-death-ilan-ramon-202700253.html

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Labor union chief vows ?full-fledged campaign? for immigration overhaul

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (Carolyn Kaster/AP)Organized labor is ?entirely behind? comprehensive immigration reform and will mount a ?full-fledged? campaign to help drive it through Congress, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told Yahoo News on Tuesday.

Trumka, whose federation comprises 57 unions representing some 12 million people, called the planned overhaul ?one of our top priorities right now.? He spoke by telephone from Las Vegas, Nev., where he was to attend President Barack Obama?s speech on immigration reform.

?We think everybody ought to have the right to work hard and to progress to citizenship,? Trumka said.

White House officials cite robust support from organized labor?which at times in recent history has opposed giving the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants on U.S. soil a path to citizenship?as a key factor in their optimism about getting a comprehensive bill through Congress. They also point to the expansion of support among Christians, notably evangelicals. And they joke that the difficulty of managing a broad coalition is the kind of problem they like having.

Unions ?did have at one point some differences? on the issue, but ?the entire labor movement is entirely behind this now,? Trumka said. ?We?ll be at the table the whole time this thing is being developed to make sure it meets the needs of workers.? Once it?s drafted, he continued, ?we?ll be pushing this thing [with a] full-fledged campaign? aimed at both public opinion and wary lawmakers.

?We?ll be targeting those in the House or the Senate that either are recalcitrant and don?t want to do anything or aren?t where they need to be," he said.

Labor wants to see a comprehensive overhaul?"It can?t just be hit and miss," Trumka added?that does a better job of managing legal immigration to meet labor market needs, ensures employers are not exploiting undocumented immigrants, gives those on U.S. soil illegally a path to citizenship and makes sure that families are not broken up, he said.

Trumka also noted that unions are ?a little concerned? about a proposed provision in the bipartisan Senate framework requiring that undocumented immigrants seeking legal status provide ?a proven history of employment.? That could be difficult?employers may not want to admit that they hired such workers?but it could ?be defined in a very broad sense,? he said.

?The system is clearly broken right now, doesn?t work for anybody, doesn?t work for the country,? he added.

The AFL-CIO, the country's largest labor federation, isn't exactly a newcomer to the debate. It produced an outline of its own in August 2009. While organized labor's national clout has diminished along with shrinking membership, unions remain a core constituency for Democrats, and much of the party's backbone, providing cash and voter outreach.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/afl-cio-chief-vows-full-fledged-campaign-immigration-171525302--politics.html

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Amazon posts $21.27 billion in 2012 Q4 revenues, makes tinier profit of $97 million

It's still the same old story, really. Amazon pulls in revenues equal to a small nation's GDP and makes a small profit for itself in the process. In this case, particularly small. Jeff Bezos' little company that could has posted fourth-quarter turnover of $21.27 billion, a 22 percent increase, but a net profit of $97 million that's down 45 percent from a year earlier. The discrepancy is attributed to a shift in reading habits that Bezos claims the company was expecting. Kindle downloads have been growing quickly, but old-fashioned paper book sales grew just 5 percent in December -- the lowest in company history, Bezos says. That's not surprising when you look at Amazon's bestseller charts, as the Kindle Fire HD and three other Kindle devices led the ranks. Most of the concern centers on the future. Amazon expects its operating income to dip from $405 million to anywhere between a $285 million loss and a $65 million profit, which doesn't exactly set a high bar for post-holiday performance.

Daniel Cooper contributed to this report.

Show full PR text

Amazon.com Announces Fourth Quarter Sales up 22% to $21.27 Billion
Operating income up 56% year-over-year - above high end of guidance

SEATTLE, Jan 29, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN +11.16% today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Operating cash flow increased 7% to $4.18 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.90 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2011. Free cash flow decreased 81% to $395 million for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.09 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2011. Free cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2012 includes fourth quarter cash outflows for purchases of corporate office space and property in Seattle, Washington, of $1.4 billion.

Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 470 million on December 31, 2012, compared with 468 million one year ago.

Net sales increased 22% to $21.27 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $17.43 billion in fourth quarter 2011. Excluding the $178 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 23% compared with fourth quarter 2011.

Operating income increased 56% to $405 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $260 million in fourth quarter 2011. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $2 million.

Net income decreased 45% to $97 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared with $177 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2011.

"We're now seeing the transition we've been expecting," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast - up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5%. We're excited and very grateful to our customers for their response to Kindle and our ever expanding ecosystem and selection."

Full Year 2012

Net sales increased 27% to $61.09 billion, compared with $48.08 billion in 2011. Excluding the $854 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, net sales grew 29% compared with 2011.

Operating income decreased 22% to $676 million, compared with $862 million in 2011. The unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year on operating income was $14 million.

Net loss was $39 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared with net income of $631 million, or $1.37 per diluted share, in 2011.

Highlights

-- For the second year in a row, Amazon's tablet was the most popular item for customers - Kindle Fire HD continued its run as the #1 best-selling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon worldwide. At year-end, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle held the top four spots on the Amazon worldwide best seller charts since launch.

-- Amazon announced the launch of AutoRip, a new service that gives customers free MP3 versions of CDs they purchase from Amazon. Additionally, customers who have purchased AutoRip CDs at any time since Amazon first opened its Music Store in 1998 will find MP3 versions of those albums in their Cloud Player libraries - also automatically and for free.

-- Amazon introduced Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, bringing together for the first time all of the types of content kids and parents love - books, games, educational apps, movies and TV shows - into one simple, unlimited, easy-to-use service for kids ages 3-8.

-- Amazon's digital media selection has grown to over 23 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games in 2012, an increase from 19 million at year-end 2011.

-- Amazon.com announced new licensing agreements with Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, and A+E Networks, for popular television series including Falling Skies, The Closer, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, and Dance Moms, expanding its catalog of title offerings for Prime Instant Video to more than 36,000 movies and television episodes.

-- Amazon launched Kindle Stores for Brazil, Canada, China, and Japan, with a large selection of the most popular books, including thousands of local-language books.

-- Amazon announced that 23 KDP authors each sold over 250,000 copies of their books in 2012, and that over 500 KDP Select books have reached the top 100 Kindle best seller lists around the world.

-- Amazon announced that for the eighth consecutive year, the company ranks #1 in customer satisfaction during the holiday shopping season according to the ForeSee annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index. ForeSee surveyed over 24,000 customers between Thanksgiving and Christmas, asking them to rate their satisfaction with the top 100 retailers. For the second year in a row, Amazon's score of 88 is the highest ever attained by any retailer in the study.

-- Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its newest Asia Pacific Region in Sydney, Australia, now available for multiple services including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), and Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS). Sydney joins Singapore and Tokyo as the third Region in Asia Pacific and the ninth Region worldwide.

-- AWS announced that SAP Business Suite is now certified to run on the AWS cloud platform. Enterprises running SAP Business Suite can now leverage the on-demand, pay as you go AWS platform to support thousands of concurrent users in production without making costly capital expenditures for their underlying infrastructure. AWS also announced that SAP HANA, SAP's in-memory database and platform, is certified to run on AWS and is available for purchase via AWS Marketplace.

-- AWS continued its rapid pace of innovation by launching 159 new services and features in 2012. This is nearly double the services and features launched in 2011.

-- AWS has lowered prices 24 times since it launched in 2006, including 10 price reductions in 2012.

Financial Guidance

The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com's expectations as of January 29, 2013. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce and the various factors detailed below.

First Quarter 2013 Guidance

-- Net sales are expected to be between $15.0 billion and $16.6 billion, or to grow between 14% and 26% compared with first quarter 2012.

-- Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(285) million and $65 million, compared to $192 million in the prior year period.

-- This guidance includes approximately $285 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

A conference call will be webcast live today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months at www.amazon.com/ir . This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company's financial and operating results.

These forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Our investor relations website is www.amazon.com/ir and we encourage investors to use it as a way of easily finding information about us. We promptly make available on this website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), and select press releases and social media postings.

Filed under: Amazon

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/amazon-calendar-q4-2012-earnings/

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Supersonic Ping-Pong gun fires balls at Mach 1.2

19 hrs.

John Roach , NBC News

Few things capture the attention of physics students like a gun that fires Ping-Pong balls, according to a mechanical engineer who just built one that accelerates the balls to supersonic speeds.?

?You can shoot Ping-Pong balls through pop cans and it is great, it is so captivating, it is so compelling that you can get kids? attention and once you?ve got their attention, you can teach them something,? Mark French, the Purdue University assistant professor who built the gun, told NBC News.

The guns typically work by sealing a slightly-larger-than?Ping-Pong-ball-diameter tube with packaging tape and sucking all the air out to create a vacuum. Once the seal is broken on one end, air rushes into the tube and pushes the ball down the barrel.

?The ball doesn?t fit tightly in the tube, a little bit of air gets past the ball and when it gets to the seal at the other end, that little puff of air gets compressed and blows the seal out of the way so the ball can come out at 600 or 700 feet a second,? French explained.

After getting tons of mileage in class over the past few years ? as well as a divot or two in his classroom wall ??with a gun he built based on a design in scientific journal, he started thinking that he could make the ball come out even faster. And, well, faster is better.

The trick, he figured, was to get the air that pushes the ball out the tube (gun barrel) to move faster. To do this, French borrowed a nozzle design with a pinch in the middle that aerospace engineers use to get air moving at supersonic speeds in their wind tunnels.

As air enters the so-called convergent-divergent or de Laval nozzle, it accelerates as it is compressed, reaching supersonic speeds as the nozzle expands.?

?I thought, okay, I?m going to treat this thing like a little wind tunnel,? he said.?

To do so, he put a convergent-divergent nozzle at the opposite end of the tube from where the ball exists and behind that, a pressure chamber made out of PVC tubing.?

When the chamber is pumped up to about 45 pounds per square inch, it breaks the?seal.

?That pressurized air goes through the nozzle just like it does in a supersonic wind tunnel and accelerates to supersonic speed out the other end and pushes the ball ahead of it,? he said.?

?At least, that?s what we think is going on,? he added. ?We haven?t done any analyses on this ? we are still doing some more tests ? but whatever is going on, it is definitely coming out at Mach 1.23.?

Yes, that?s fast; faster than F-16 flying at top speed at sea level, noted MIT?s Physics xrXiv Blog.?

French and colleagues Craig Zehrung and Jim Stratton describe the gun in a paper posted Jan. 22?on arXiv.org, a server where pre-prints of scientific papers are posted.?

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/supersonic-ping-pong-gun-fires-balls-mach-1-2-1C8150690

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ELSA Dance Asia and Performing Arts: Malaysia Belly Dance ...

MY Belly Dance performers performed for Corporate Business Partners Appreciation Night on 02 December 2012 (Tuesday) at Jaya One, Petaling Jaya.

Belly Dance Performers: Eli and Shirley (MY Belly Dance Malaysia).

Choreography: Inspiration, by Eli.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at +6012 266 3859 or +6012 306 9723 or email to: elsadance1711@gmail.com for reservation of your corporate or private events, wedding, birthday party performances, dance workshops, dance conferences, and dance lessons. Thank you for your support.

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Source: http://elsadance.blogspot.com/2013/01/malaysia-belly-dance-entertainment-for.html

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Troubled smartphone pioneer RIM prepares to raise the curtain on BlackBerry 10

NEW YORK, N.Y. - After several technical blunders, two unexpected delays and one major shakeup in its leadership, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is about to raise the curtain for its new smartphone devices in hopes that consumers share the excitement.

The unveiling of the phones and operating system on Wednesday marks the start of an advertising blitz that will stretch to social media, the Super Bowl and beyond as RIM tries to regain the cool factor that was once firmly in its grasp.

If all goes according to plan, the event will also mark the end of a troublesome 12 months that has seen RIM try to stay afloat while its future was constantly in question by outsiders, and its stock price tumbled to the lowest level in about a decade.

While the first hurdles to overcome on Wednesday are the opinions of tech analysts and investor reaction, the true measure of success ? actual sales of the phones ? is still weeks away.

As a crowd of thousands gathers Wednesday at Pier 36, a massive entertainment venue on the shores of Manhattan, chief executive Thorsten Heins will step onto the stage holding the BlackBerry that has been at once considered the company's last hope, but also its biggest hurdle.

Just over a year ago, when Heins took over the top spot at RIM, the smartphone maker was in a state of flux as its marketshare tumbled in North America against growing competition from Apple's iPhone and various devices on the Android operating system.

Analysts had widely blamed the lack of leadership from former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as the reasons that RIM failed to innovate its way out of trouble, but they also said that Heins had much to prove in hardly any time.

The company was in a bubble, insisting that it hadn't lost its footing in the smartphone industry, even though from the outside their downfall was indisputable.

But as the dust settled from Balsillie's exit in March 2012, Heins began to face the realities of RIM's problems and launched a major overhaul of its middle management and deep cuts to its operations.

While Heins preferred to call it removing a "little fat on the hips," the changes at RIM were a far more strategic and complex surgery.

The company closed some of its manufacturing facilities and announced plans to lay off about 5,000 workers, as it aimed to save $1 billion across RIM's operations by February 2013. Heins reached that savings goal, and he did it three months ahead of schedule.

"He is probably one of the least dogmatic people at RIM," said Carl Howe, vice-president of consumer research at Yankee Group.

"I think he learned from his predecessors."

Despite all of the changes, Heins was still up against the fact that development of the BlackBerry 10 operating system was woefully behind schedule. Already delayed from a launch in 2011, the CEO was forced in June to further push the debut into 2013, missing crucial sales periods like the back-to-school and Christmas holiday shopping seasons.

While analysts hated the idea of another delay, it also bought the company some extra time to tweak the software to capitalize on the weaknesses of competitors' smartphones.

One of those features is the BlackBerry Balance technology, which allows one phone to operate as both a business and personal device entirely separate from each other. Another one lets users seamlessly shift between the phone's applications like they're flipping between pages on a desk.

The BlackBerry Messenger chat program will also get an update that includes video chat and screen sharing options.

RIM's executives also began an aggressive campaign last year to win the developer community. Under its previous leadership, the BlackBerry had practically ignored the growing popularity of smartphone applications for services like Netflix, Skype and Instagram.

A sea of change was coming under its new leaders, and Heins had managed to at least steady a company that was swaying on its pillars by coming up with unconventional ideas.

As the BlackBerry lost steam in North America and Europe, he turned to developing countries like Indonesia and Nigeria to keep revenues flowing in the near term. In those places, consumers were hungry for low-cost smartphones and the BlackBerry was still considered a status symbol.

The decision helped RIM keep its subscriber base steady, and maintain its $2-billion cash reserve, which was set aside for emergencies. It will use some of that money to promote the new phones.

"Up until now I think everything (Heins) laid out in terms of his plan ... he's shown that he's executed on it," said Richard Tse, an analyst at Cormark Securities Inc.

"In terms of what they've done on the development side, in terms of streamlining the operations and preserving the cash, I think he's done a very good job to date."

Investors aren't satisfied with all of his decisions, however, especially when Heins unveiled a rough plan in December that will likely eat into the lucrative service fees charged to BlackBerry subscribers.

Heins told analysts on its most recent earnings conference call that RIM plans to launch an a la carte menu of services where both enterprise customers and casual smartphone users can pick their packages. The change would likely mean reduced revenues in one of the most lucrative areas of its business.

Even on the dawn of the new BlackBerry unveiling, there are still questions about whether RIM will exist in its current form this time next year. Some analysts have said the company will eventually be forced to sell off at least its hardware division, if not more.

"They're in such a difficult position that I can't think of a management change that would help them get out of it," Tim Long of BMO Capital Markets.

"Clearly there are people out there that think the BlackBerry 10 is going to be something that gets them back on the map. We don't think so."

Long said his checks within the mobile phone industry have shown that carriers aren't particularly interested in RIM's touchscreen smartphone, but they're more anxious for the keypad version, or QWERTY phone, due sometime after the initial launch.

"We think that's an issue," he said.

If the stock price is any sign, RIM's investors are at least more confident this month then they've been in a long time. As of Monday's closing price, RIM's shares have risen 167 per cent from its lowest level in about a decade, reached in September, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Several analysts have boosted their target prices for the company's stock in the past two weeks.

Whatever happens after the new BlackBerrys are unveiled, it's certain that RIM isn't in the clear yet.

"Product transitions are always pretty ugly," said Howe.

"The good news is if you can get yourself through to the other side ... you have an opportunity to disrupt the market yourself."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/troubled-smartphone-pioneer-rim-prepares-raise-curtain-blackberry-103705414.html

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Studies are a gift for wedding tactical PR to strategic ... - PR News

Posted on January 28, 2013?
Filed Under General

A couple of PR-related studies released earlier this month underscore two major challenges that PR pros now face, one that is tactical in nature and the other that is in a more strategic vein.

The first study is another reminder that, in a digital age, every company is a media company and PR pros must now add ?quasi network programming executive? to their job description.

The study, which was conducted by PR agency Weber Shandwick, found that the percentage of CEOs using online video to promote their company narratives grew to 40% in 2012, compared with just 18% in 2010.

Growth in video is nearly evenly divided between CEOs appearing in videos on company websites and on corporate YouTube channels, according to the study, which is based on publicly visible activities of CEOs in the world?s largest 50 companies

Indeed, as a growing number of ?CEOs get ready for their close-up the onus is on?communications execs to create and/or produce the kind of online-video programming that will put their boss in the best possible light.

Does the CEO manage by walking the floor? Produce an online-video that shows how he or she interacts with employees and focus on the sense of camaraderie that the CEO strives on. Maybe your CEO tells great anecdotes about your company?s products and services? Pick a cozy, inviting setting for the CEO to tell a story, and splice the video with some B-roll of customer testimonials.

The creative in producing online videos is wide open (depending on how much budget you can commit). But that should be the easy part once you get buy-in from the CEO. The more salient ?question is whether PR pros can seize the momentum within online video while simultaneously building on their relationships with C-level execs.

The other study presents more nettlesome challenges for PR pros: how to make their companies more trustworthy and transparent. According to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, which was released last week, business leaders are trusted by less than 50% in 16 of 26 markets, while government leaders are trusted by less than half in 21 of 26 markets.

The online survey sampled 26,000 general population respondents with an oversample of 5,800 informed publics ages 25-64 across 26 countries.

?We?re clearly experiencing a crisis in leadership,? said Richard Edelman, president-CEO, Edelman, in a statement. ?Business and governmental leaders must change their management approach and become more inclusive by seeking the input of employees, consumers, activists and experts such as academics, and adapting to their feedback. They must also pass the test of radical transparency.?

?Radical transparency? is something that PR pros need to aspire to; they?re in a position to develop and execute the communications strategy among all of the people (management, employees, customers and prospects) who have a stake in making sure their companies are more transparent and trustworthy.

PR pros can find many different routes to convince the public that they?re in the business of doing the right thing. Heck, one vehicle ?could be an online video featuring your CEO explaining what your company is doing to be more transparent. Talk about the perfect PR marriage of the tactical and the strategic.

Follow Matthew Schwartz: @mpsjourno1

Comments

Source: http://www.prnewsonline.com/prnewsblog/index.php/2013/01/28/studies-are-a-gift-for-wedding-tactical-pr-to-strategic-communications/

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Gingrich: Republicans "clearly have to change" (cbsnews)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279876209?client_source=feed&format=rss

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American pastor sentenced to 8 years in Iran

BOISE, Idaho (AP) ? An American pastor who has been jailed in Iran since September has been sentenced to eight years in prison, the U.S. State Department said Sunday.

Spokesman Darby Holladay said the department is calling on Iran to respect Saeed Abedini's human rights and release him.

Earlier this month, Iran's semi-official news agency, ISNA, quoted Abedini's attorney, Nasser Sarbazi, as saying his client stood trial in the Revolutionary Court on charges of attempting to undermine state security by creating a network of Christian churches in private homes.

The pastor, who is of Iranian origin but lives in Boise, Idaho, has rejected the charges.

"Mr. Abedini's attorney had only one day (Jan. 21) to present his defense, so we remain deeply concerned about the fairness and transparency of Mr. Abedini's trial," Holladay said.

Following the court presentation, ISNA quoted Sarbazi as saying the court would issue its verdict later, and that Abedini would be allowed to leave Iran and meet his family in the U.S. after posting bail.

"The promise of his release was a lie," said the pastor's wife, Naghmeh. "With today's development, I am devastated for my husband and my family. We must now pursue every effort, turn every rock, and not stop until Saeed is safely on American soil."

Her comments were provided by the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice, which focuses on constitutional and human rights law around the world. The center is representing the pastor's family in the United States.

Holladay said the State Department is in close contact with Abedini's family and actively engaged in the case. Abedini and his wife have two children.

"We condemn Iran's continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion," Holladay said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-27-US-Iran-Pastor/id-5bb4cbdfcc3b4f7787702c3b5b20aea3

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Job Opening: Become Israel's Next Finance Minister

?Zvi Zrahiya reports for?Haaretz:

The job of finance minister, highly-prized during the term of the outgoing Knesset, has turned into a hot potato in the coalition that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to form. At the moment, no one is angling to grab the post other than the incumbent finance minister, Yuval Steinitz ?(Likud?).

Whoever is finance minister in the next government must present plans to cut the budget by NIS 15 billion.There may also be no alternative to increasing taxes to generate additional revenue. By deciding what should be cut, the new finance minister could become a ready target of the public?s wrath, perhaps damaging a budding political career.

Sound like serious budget problems in the 51st state. I wonder if Rand Paul considers an attack by bond vigilantes on?Israeli?debt ?an attack on US Treasury debt?

Source: http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/01/job-opening-become-israels-next-finance.html

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BlackBerry World music and video offerings detailed, next day downloads for TV

We're just a few short days away from the official debut of BlackBerry 10 -- RIM's effort to remain relevant in a market it helped pioneer. With the move to a next-gen platform, it also became clear that media would need to be added to marketplace offerings. When it launches, the revamped BlackBerry World will feature DRM-free music, as well as TV shows and movies available for purchase or rent. While prices aren't set in stone, you can expect them to to fall in line with industry norms. Best of all, most movies should be available the same day as their DVD release and TV shows the day after airing. And, lest you think RIM was going to half-ass the content part of the equation with nothing more than a few CTV and Japandroids offerings (we'd get tired of watching Degrassi: TNG eventually), the slew of partners is pretty impressive. Record labels signed on include 4AD, Matador, Warner and Sony and will be available in 18 countries at launch, while the BBC, Fox, CBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and Warner Bros. are among those offering TV shows in the US, UK and Canada. For a complete list of partners and countries check out the PR after the break.

Show full PR text

New BlackBerry World for BlackBerry 10 to Include Extensive Catalogue of Songs, Latest Movies and TV Shows

January 28, 2013

Unified Multimedia Storefront Will Carry Music and Video Content from All Major Studios, Labels and Broadcasters

Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX:RIM) today announced that the new BlackBerry(R) World[TM] storefront (formally BlackBerry App World[TM]) for BlackBerry 10 will offer one of the most robust music and video catalogs in mobile today. The new BlackBerry World will include an extensive catalog of songs as well as movies and TV shows, with most movies coming to the store the same day they are released on DVD, and next day availability of many current TV series. The competitive offering will feature content from all major studios, music labels and top local broadcast networks. Customers will be able to preview tracks and access the content using multiple payment options.*

"Music and video content is an integral part of a rich mobile experience. People want easy and convenient access to their favorite music, movies and TV shows wherever they are," said Frank Boulben, Chief Marketing Officer at Research In Motion. "RIM is committed to working with content providers to bring the best, most up-to-date content to our customers with BlackBerry 10, and to make it easy for them to get what they want."

The video download and rental section in BlackBerry World will initially be available in the US, UK and Canada. Varying by region and distributor, customers will have access to movies from the following studios and independents: 20th Century Fox, Entertainment One (eOne), Lionsgate, MGM, National Film Board of Canada, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (US), Starz Digital Media, STUDIOCANAL, The Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures (UK), Warner Bros. Customers will also have access to TV shows from the following broadcasters and studios: ABC Studios, BBC Worldwide, CBC/Radio-Canada, CBS, DHX Media, ITV, National Geographic, NBCUniversal (UK), Nelvana, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (US), Starz Digital Media, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Univision Communications Inc, and Warner Bros.
The BlackBerry World storefront's DRM-free music download section will feature an extensive catalog from all major and independent labels including: 4AD Records, Domino Recording Company, finetunes, Matador Records, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, Rough Trade Records, Sony Music Entertainment, The Orchard, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, XL Recordings and Zebralution. The music section will initially be available in 18 countries: Canada, USA, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Useful Links

BlackBerry World http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/

BlackBerry 10 Sign Up Page http://global.blackberry.com/blackberry-10.html

* BlackBerry(R) ID required. For more information please visit http://www.blackberry.com/bbid/

Filed under: Misc, HD, Mobile, RIM

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/28/blackberry-world-music-and-video-offerings-detailed/

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Rodriguez Playing 2013 Coachella Music Festival With Fellow Detroit Musician Danny Brown

A movie based on his musical career, "Searching For Sugar Man," is nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar, and he's just been announced on the lineup for California's massive Coachella Music Festival. Not a bad year for Detroit singer/songwriter Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, once a star in South Africa who lived for decades in relative obscurity in Detroit, will play on the third day of the Indio, Calif. concert series. In other Michigan connections, Detroit rapper Danny Brown will perform on the second day after appearing briefly at last year's festival when rapper Childish Gambino brought him on stage. Brown has received more and more acclaim in the last year.

And there's the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have been named as headliners for the Sunday shows -- drummer Chad Smith hails from a Detroit suburb. But while Motor City music lovers might be pleased by the additions of local talent, there's many more who are disappointed with the lineup.

The Coachella Festival's lineup will perform over two weekends, April 12 to 14 and April 19 to 21. Also headlining the festival are Blur, Phoenix and The Stone Roses, plus the returns of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Postal Service. Look below for the full lineup and get all the details of the 2013 festival.

• Blur

• The Stone Roses

• The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

• Modest Mouse

• Lou Reed

• Jurassic 5

• Passion Pit

• Tegan And Sara

• Band Of Horses

• Metric

• Local Natives

• Of Monsters And Men

• Phoenix

• The xx

• The Postal Service

• Sigur Ros

• New Order

• Hot Chip

• Grizzly Bear

• The Red Hot Chili Peppers

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

• Vampire Weekend

• Social Distortion

• Wu-Tang Clan

• La Roux

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/rodriguez-coachella-2013-danny-brown_n_2550534.html

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Exxon passes Apple as most valuable company

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012 photo, people line up to enter a newly-opened Apple Store in Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012 photo, people line up to enter a newly-opened Apple Store in Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - This Jan. 30, 2012 photo shows the sign for the ExxonMobil Torerance Refinery in Torrance, Calif. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2009 file photo, the Apple logo is seen on an Apple store in San Francisco. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels, File)

FILE - This Oct. 26, 2006 file photo shows an Exxon logo seen at a Dallas gas station. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter.

Apple Inc.'s stock has been on the decline since the company's quarterly earnings report Wednesday suggested that its fast growth phase, rare for a company of its size, may be coming to an end.

Apple's stock fell 2.6 percent to $438.76 in afternoon trading Friday for a market capitalization of $412 billion. That followed a 12 percent drop on Thursday, the biggest one-day percentage drop for the company since 2008.

Exxon Mobil Corp. gained 10 cents Friday to $91.45 for a market capitalization of $417 billion.

Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011, displacing the oil company from a perch it had held since 2005. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012 ? at least until Friday.

China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than either Exxon's or Apple's, but only based on prices on the Shanghai stock exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange. Based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500 billion.

Apple and Exxon are among only a half dozen U.S. companies to have ever reached $500 billion in market value. Apple and Microsoft Corp. are the only ones to have ever hit $600 billion.

Apple's stock price peaked in September at $705.07 on the day the iPhone 5 was released. Exxon, in the meantime, has been trading steady. Its business ? oil ? seems less prone to stock market ups and downs than the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech darling.

Exxon, which is based in Irving, Texas, set a record in 2008 for the highest quarterly earnings by any company. In the first nine months of 2012, Exxon earned nearly $35 billion, or 10 percent more than the same period in 2011, on revenue of $367 billion. Results for the fourth quarter are due Feb. 1.

Exxon, the biggest investor-owned energy company in the world, predicted in December that oil will continue to be the most important source of energy. That's because cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and ships will still depend heavily on oil-derived fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

This year, investors seem unforgiving with Apple, looking for perfection and punishing the stock for anything less. The company's stock price slipped below $500 for the first time last week, as investors saw signs that the iPhone 5 was falling behind competition from phones running Google's Android software, especially those from Samsung Electronics Co.

The latest quarterly report added to the concerns. Apple warned that its revenue growth, which had been running at a speed more reminiscent of promising startups than multi-national corporations, is slowing down considerably.

A big reason: It has been nearly three years since a new product has come from a company still seen as the embodiment of innovation. That last product, the iPad, came in 2010, when its CEO Steve Jobs was still alive. Some analysts question whether Apple can keep growing by just releasing new versions of its old products. The long-rumored Apple TV, is still just that, a rumor.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-01-25-Apple-Stock/id-038ec10b3558402995556c9f90420622

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Weekly Personal Finance Blog RoundUp ? 1/25/2013 | Debt RoundUp

Jan
25
2013

Happy Friday, fellow debt wranglers! ?I don?t know about you, but it has been a long week this week. ?I have been sleeping?sporadically (if you have a child, you know what I am talking about) and it is starting to affect my thought processes. ?I am usually one that people come to in order to solve problems at work. ?This is a job that I love, but lately, I feel that I have been slipping. ?Something that should take me a few moments to figure out is now taking me hours. ?I know that it is just due to the extreme lack of sleep, but it irritates me. ? On top of that, my wife told me today that she read in a couple of books that babies go through a crazy crying spell when they are about 6 weeks old. ?My son is turning one month old this Sunday, so I hope this is just not true. ?I don?t think I can take anymore crying!

On other news, Debt RoundUp is doing well. ?Traffic has remained steady with small, but incremental increases in traffic. ?I have been a little slow getting things done this week and I want to apologize to anyone that has asked me for something. ?I plan on catching up this weekend, but who knows.

My regular readers may have noticed that we have a new advertiser. ?Innovative Debt Solutions is a debt consolidation company that helps out many people with getting their debt under control. ?If you know someone in debt or in debt yourself, they offer free quotes for your consolidation. ?You can get to their site either from the link above or by using their banner in the sidebar. ?Let them know that Debt Roundup sent you!

Website of the Week

Frugal Rules

John over at Frugal Rules has done a fantastic job with his blog in such a short amount of time. ?If you have gone to any of the personal finance blogs on my blog list, then you have probably seen either a guest post from John or a great/insightful comment. ?This man is extremely active in the personal finance community and he continues to provide extremely useful information. ?If you have not checked out Frugal Rules, then I would highly recommend it.

?

Giveaways

There are still some days left to win some serious cash. ?I am co-hosting two giveaways that are giving you cash just for entering to win. ?You just have to follow some great bloggers on twitter or facebook. ?Is there an easier way to win $1000? or $100? ?I don?t think so!

$1000 Cash Giveaway

$100 Cash Giveaway

Search Term of the Week

This week?s term is actually money related, so that is nice. ?I have actually had a hard time finding crazy terms the past two weeks. ?My search terms are getting very targeted, so that is a good thing.

?where did the money go? ? If you have to ask Google where your money went, then you seriously need to create a budget. ?Stop searching Google and go open a spreadsheet. ?Seriously?..

Weekly Top 12

There were a good amount of comments and emails about my Top 12 list last week. ?Many of you enjoyed it and thought it was much better than listing a ton of articles to read. ?I think I am going to keep this format from week to week. ?I hope you enjoy and make sure to take some time to visit and read of these great articles. These people put a lot of time and effort into writing quality stuff. ?These are in no particular order.

I realize that I added an extra, but Jana from Daily Money Shot?s post made me think of a few times when people laughed at my dreams. ?What gives people the right to laugh at your dreams? ?They are yours, right?

I hope everyone enjoyed this week?s roundup and have a fantastic weekend. ?I will see you back here next week.

Related Posts

About the Author: Grayson

I am an average Joe, who built up over $50,000 worth of credit card debt and had to learn how to break it back down. It took 4 years of learning budgets, secrets, and many other personal finance tricks in order to cut the debt to $0. Now, I push to teach others the tips and tricks in order to live a debt free lifestyle. There are many ways to get out of debt, but the first step is to stop spending more than you make. Once you create a budget, it will be time to get frugal. Feeling Social? Connect with me on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

Source: http://www.debtroundup.com/weekly-personal-finance-blog-roundup-1252013/

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Court says Obama recess appointments invalid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday invalidated President Barack Obama's "recess" appointments to a labor board last year, ruling that the move was unconstitutional and dealing a blow to Obama's strategy of bypassing Senate Republicans.

The three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012 were made while the Senate was out of town but potentially available to act on them.

"Considering the text, history, and structure of the Constitution, these appointments were invalid from their inception," the panel said.

Obama also used such a "recess" appointment last January to install Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, although his appointment was not part of the lawsuit.

The suit started as a routine dispute between soda bottling company Noel Canning and the labor board, but lawyers for Senate Republicans seized on the suit as a chance to challenge the appointments.

The case was seen as a test of the limits of the president's ability to make appointments during a Senate recess, a power that bypasses the Senate's usual ability to block nominees and that dates to the U.S. Constitution of 1787.

At the time, the Senate was not officially in recess, meeting every few days for minutes at a time but accomplishing no work and with few senators present. Meanwhile, Obama's nominees remained on the Senate's calendar, blocked by Republicans from up or down votes on their confirmation.

Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the NLRB, had no immediate comment.

Cordray's appointment was challenged in a separate lawsuit brought in June by the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, and other institutions. That suit presented a similar argument that the recess appointment was invalid because the Senate was technically in session.

Cordray's appointment followed months of rancorous debate over the new consumer bureau, which was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law to police markets for products such as credit cards and home loans.

Once rare, recess appointments became more common in the late 1970s as a way to bypass the confirmation process, which senators have used increasingly to block nominees of both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Recent presidents pushed the boundaries. George W. Bush took the rare step of filling a judgeship during a recess, while Obama appointed the NLRB members while the Senate was holding "skeleton" sessions set up to keep it from going into recess.

(Reporting By Aruna Viswanatha, with additional reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-says-obama-recess-appointments-invalid-164811301.html

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Exxon passes Apple as most valuable company

NEW YORK (AP) ? Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter.

Apple Inc.'s stock has been on the decline since the company's quarterly earnings report Wednesday suggested that its fast growth phase, rare for a company of its size, may be coming to an end.

Apple's stock fell 2.6 percent to $438.76 in afternoon trading Friday for a market capitalization of $412 billion. That followed a 12 percent drop on Thursday, the biggest one-day percentage drop for the company since 2008.

Exxon Mobil Corp. gained 10 cents Friday to $91.45 for a market capitalization of $417 billion.

Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011, displacing the oil company from a perch it had held since 2005. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012 ? at least until Friday.

China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than either Exxon's or Apple's, but only based on prices on the Shanghai stock exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange. Based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500 billion.

Apple and Exxon are among only a half dozen U.S. companies to have ever reached $500 billion in market value. Apple and Microsoft Corp. are the only ones to have ever hit $600 billion.

Apple's stock price peaked in September at $705.07 on the day the iPhone 5 was released. Exxon, in the meantime, has been trading steady. Its business ? oil ? seems less prone to stock market ups and downs than the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech darling.

Exxon, which is based in Irving, Texas, set a record in 2008 for the highest quarterly earnings by any company. In the first nine months of 2012, Exxon earned nearly $35 billion, or 10 percent more than the same period in 2011, on revenue of $367 billion. Results for the fourth quarter are due Feb. 1.

Exxon, the biggest investor-owned energy company in the world, predicted in December that oil will continue to be the most important source of energy. That's because cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and ships will still depend heavily on oil-derived fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

This year, investors seem unforgiving with Apple, looking for perfection and punishing the stock for anything less. The company's stock price slipped below $500 for the first time last week, as investors saw signs that the iPhone 5 was falling behind competition from phones running Google's Android software, especially those from Samsung Electronics Co.

The latest quarterly report added to the concerns. Apple warned that its revenue growth, which had been running at a speed more reminiscent of promising startups than multi-national corporations, is slowing down considerably.

A big reason: It has been nearly three years since a new product has come from a company still seen as the embodiment of innovation. That last product, the iPad, came in 2010, when its CEO Steve Jobs was still alive. Some analysts question whether Apple can keep growing by just releasing new versions of its old products. The long-rumored Apple TV, is still just that, a rumor.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-passes-apple-most-valuable-company-174308345--finance.html

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