The Windows Phone 8S by HTC is now available online at www.three.co.uk and in all Three stores.
Packed with great features that make everyday tasks easier and more enjoyable, the 8S comes with a 5 megapixel camera which means you're always ready to capture special moments, a 1 GHz dual-core processor making browsing and switching between apps a breeze and built in Beats Audio? technology so you can enjoy the most authentic sound no matter if you're listening to music, playing a game or watching a video.
The stylish, compact 8S runs on the Windows Phone 8 operating system and includes the very latest features such as personalised Live Tiles on the vibrant 4" screen plus access to over 100,000 apps through the Windows Phone Store.
Sylvia Chind, Head of Devices at Three said, "The 8S offers great all-round performance and coupled with our straightforward and affordable plans with no surprise-out of-bundle data charges, you'll be able to enjoy the best experience on Three".
The Windows Phone 8S by HTC is available for ?19 a month with no upfront cost on the Ultimate Internet 100 plan and for ?17 a month with no upfront cost on the Essential Internet 100 plan - both with a guarantee of no surprise out-of-bundle data charges.
The device is also available on Pay As You Go for ?179.99 plus a top up. All in One 15 costs ?15 and gives 30-day access to all-you-can-eat data along with 300 any-network minutes and 3,000 texts. Or All in One 25 costs ?25 and offers 500 minutes, 3,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data for a 30-day period.
Israel's army fired tank shells into Syria on Monday and scored "direct hits" on ?Syrian mobile artillery? in response to a Syrian mortar shell that struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, the Israeli military said in a statement.
It was the second time in two days that Israel has responded to what it said was errant Syrian fire. On Sunday the military said it had a fired a "warning shot" across the disengagement line, while on Monday it said it had fired back at "the source".
The Syrian shell landed on Monday in an open area of the Golan Heights without causing any damage or injuries. It was not immediately clear if anyone was hit by the Israeli response.
The strikes on Sunday and Monday were the first direct shots Israel has taken at Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It comes amid increased rocket fire from Gaza over the past few days.?
PhotoBlog:?Syrians flee into Turkey after Syrian plane bombs border town
Israel has feared that the instability in Syria over the past 19 months could spill across the border, particularly as President Bashar Assad's grip on power grows increasingly precarious. It has little love for Assad, who has provided refuge and support to Israel's bitterest enemies through the years. But the Syrian leader ? and his father before him ? have kept the frontier quiet for nearly four decades, providing a rare source of stability in the volatile region.
In recent weeks, incidents of errant fire from Syria have multiplied, leading Israel to warn that it holds Syria responsible. Israeli officials believe most of the fire has come from Syrian government forces, although they think it has been inadvertent and not been aimed at Israel.
Israel drawn into Syria conflict, fires missile across?
U.N. complaint After responding to Sunday's mortar strike, the Israeli military moved quickly to defuse tensions.
"We understand this was a mistake and was not meant to target Israel, and then that is why we fired a warning shot in retaliation," said Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman. Defense officials said an anti-tank missile was fired, and there were no reports of casualties in Syria.
The Israeli military also said it filed a complaint through United Nations forces operating in the area, stating that "fire emanating from Syria into Israel will not be tolerated and shall be responded to with severity."
Ann Curry
Ann Curry photographs Syrian rebels and others affected by the conflict.
Israeli defense officials said the incident was not considered a serious military threat, but Israel felt the need to respond in order to set clear limits for the Syrians.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israeli defense forces have been instructed "to prevent the battles from spilling over into our territory."
Nineteen months of fighting and the mounting chaos engulfing the Assad regime have already shaken the region, spilling into Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. The entry of Israel into the fighting would take the violence to a new level. Although Israel has a more powerful military, both countries have air forces and significant arsenals of tanks, missiles and other weapons. Israel is especially concerned about Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons.
An Israeli war on Syria could also draw in Syria's ally, Hezbollah, further destabilizing the region. Hezbollah, which possesses tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, battled Israel to a stalemate during a month-long war in 2006.
Soft-spoken preacher Mouaz al-Khatib is chosen to lead new united Syrian opposition
For Assad, a war with Israel could bring the end of his teetering regime. Israeli officials have said for months that it is only a matter of time before he is ousted.
Thousands have fled violence in Syria in the last 24 hours, with many Syrian refugees now sheltering in Turkish camps. In his latest interview, Syrian President Assad says his army is trying to avoid civilian deaths. NBC's John Ray reports.
Fears of multi-front battle
The Israeli air force has repeatedly demonstrated its superiority over Assad's outdated military, buzzing his residence in one famous instance to protest attacks by Syrian-backed militants and carrying out an airstrike on what the U.S. later said was an unfinished nuclear reactor.
Nonetheless, Israel worries the fall of Assad could have a range of grave consequences.
Officials have repeatedly warned that Assad may attack Israel in a final act of desperation if he fears his days are numbered. Israel also fears Syria could fall into the hands of Islamic extremists or descend into sectarian warfare.
NBC News
People resisting the army of President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.
The aftermath of Egypt's revolution has provided Israel with reason to worry about its frontier region with Syria: Egypt's Sinai desert on Israel's southern border has turned even more lawless since longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011, and Islamic militants are now more easily able to use it as a launching ground for strikes against southern Israel.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that Israel is "closely monitoring" the border with Syria and is "ready for any development."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement from his New York office that the shelling was reported in the U.N.-monitored zone between Israel and Syria, but no injuries to civilians or U.N. personnel were reported.
Ban called "for the utmost restraint" and urged Syria and Israel to uphold their cease-fire agreement and halt any exchange of fire.
Thousands have fled violence in Syria in the last 24 hours, with many Syrian refugees now sheltering in Turkish camps. In his latest interview, Syrian President Assad says his army is trying to avoid civilian deaths. NBC's John Ray reports.
The violence in Syria has killed more than 36,000 people in the uprising that began in March 2011. Hundreds of thousands have fled the fighting into neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Another 11,000 escaped Friday into Turkey following the surge of fighting at Ras al-Ayn.
Activists reported clashes and shelling in different parts of Syria, killing almost 60 people, nearly two-thirds of them civilians.
The violence spread in most provinces around the country from Diaraa and Quneitra in the south to Idlib and Aleppo in the north to Homs and Hama in the center and Deir el-Zour in the east.
The United States has become increasingly frustrated with the opposition's inability to form a common front and present a single conduit for foreign support.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
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does 1.3 GB WAIK need to be installed for vlite? Rate Topic:
#1 ? vsrawat?
Posted Yesterday, 01:08 PM
does 1.3 GB download of WAIK needs to be installed for vlite?
otherwise vlite will not run?
what a foolishness really. Sad to download such senseless offering. developers must be having 3g-4g free connections.
good bye.
-- Rawat India
#2 ? jaclaz?
Posted Yesterday, 01:37 PM
vsrawat, on Yesterday, 01:08 PM, said:
what a foolishness really. Sad to download such senseless offering. developers must be having 3g-4g free connections.
Or maybe those that have not such a fast connection INSTEAD of whining find workarounds.... You know, like: http://reboot.pro/13049/ http://www.msfn.org/...-the-huge-isos/
jaclaz
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I have hosted my family's Thanksgiving dinner for the last four years. I don't claim to be Martha Stewart. I don't make themed place card holders or pilgrim hats for the youngest attendees (my kid is the only young child in the family, and he's not likely wearing any paper hats by choice), I have had people tell me they enjoyed themselves and the food served and felt "relaxed" in our home, which is exactly what I was going for.
A very sweet reader asked if I would post a few pointers on holiday hosting, and I'm happy to do so. Please, again, keep in mind -- I don't claim to be Martha or a professional party planner, but this is what's worked for me.
7 Steps to Hosting a Relaxed and Pleasant Holiday?
1. Make sure you have seating, table space, silverware, cups/glasses and plates for everyone attending. One year, I ran out of forks, and a few adults ended up using plastic toddler forks. It worked, but it wasn't ideal. My mom was kind enough to pick up some inexpensive extra sets of forks for us, and they've come in handy on many occasions. You don't have to own folding tables, but be sure to plan to borrow some or rent them. This time of year, they are frequently on sale at Target, WalMart and Costco.
2. Decide what dishes you'd like to prepare, then ask others to fill in the rest. Most families enjoy a good potluck meal, and most guests are happy to show off a favorite dish. If you want to cook the entire meal yourself, go for it! However, in our family, it's always worked well to have the host make the main dish and a few sides and maybe a dessert and request favorite recipes from others. Everyone likes to know that you enjoy eating something they make -- ask them to bring your favorite from their repertoire. My mother-in-law makes a delicious salad with crisp apples in it, my mom makes the best candied yams. My sister makes the greatest gingersnaps and my aunts always know how to make a good cranberry sauce. Everyone loves these dishes, so when I'm hosting, I just request them (with plenty of polite, advance notice). By requesting specific dishes, you'll know which meal pieces are still needed too.
Another thing to consider: How many dishes will require simultaneous baking/cooking? If you've got four stove burners and one oven, you may want to dole out a number of the baked dishes (and request your guests bring them serve-ready if possible) to avoid an oven traffic jam. Or, consider buying a stacking oven rack*, such as this one: Oven rack ($24.99) *Please note, while a tiered oven rack will increase your oven's capacity, it may slow cooking time some, due to the number of dishes baking -- prepare to add a few additional minutes to all baking times.
3. Make a list of all dishes for the meal, then create a shopping list of the items you need for your contributions. Shop a few days in advance of the holiday, not the day before. Everything will still be fresh but you bypass the crowds and picked over aisles. Here's a helpful chart, by Good Housekeeping that provides information on quantity needs based on the number of people you're serving: Servings chart
4. Prep everything you can the night before the holiday. Chop vegetables, prep casseroles to the final step before baking, cover, and keep in the fridge. Make cookie doughs, prepare pies to the point just before baking -- do anything you can do, the day before. This is absolutely key to enjoying a relaxing holiday. Be sure to read the defrosting directions on the turkey if you're roasting one that's been frozen. Some will take days or almost a week in the refrigerator -- you need to prepare for this -- you can't just nuke it! ;-) 5. Use recipes you know are winners. If you're making anything for the first time, be sure you read the recipe all the way through to account for any unexpected issues (do you need hours to allow dough to rise? overnight refrigeration? a rare ingredient or kitchen tool?) and if you're using a recipe from the internet, read the comments and reviews first to be sure you're working with a winner and not a dud. No one wants to serve failed food to guests. A few classics that I personally love (and that have wowed guests): 6. Plan ahead for space in the fridge, on counters and for desserts. For me, clutter = chaos and stress. Having a bunch of pies shoved in my prep space makes me twitch a little bit. It's not that I don't appreciate the pies, because I really, truly do! But, I really don't want to risk dripping turkey juices on one, ya know? If you plan ahead places you'd like people to place desserts, emptied serving dishes, and other items, as well as space in your fridge for storing leftovers after the meal, everything will simply go smoother.
7. Adjust your post meal space to be conducive to the rest of the evening's activities. Eating typically requires more space and more room on tables than post-meal relaxing. Once everyone's done eating, assess the continued need for all folding tables and such, and eliminate anything blocking the flow of rooms and post-meal couch lounging or Wii playing. (Or whatever it is your family enjoys post-giant feast.) Leave a stack of board games and cards out, set up a dessert buffet, and use thermal carafes to keep coffee warm so you can leave the kitchen and spend time with your guests.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ? Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli jeep patrolling the border with Gaza and the Israelis fired back into the Palestinian territory, killing four civilians, officials and witnesses said.
Israel's military said four of its soldiers were wounded in the missile attack, including one seriously. Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health ministry spokesman, said all four Palestinians killed were civilians between the ages of 16 and 18 and that among the 25 wounded were children.
The military wing of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine took responsibility but it still remains unclear whom in fact was behind the attack. The PFLP often takes credit for attacks that later turn out to be the work of Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants.
Gaza militants often fire rockets from the Israel-Gaza border area toward nearby Israeli communities and low-level clashes with the Israeli military are common. But when casualties are involved, particularly civilians, the potential for escalation grows significantly.
Both sides threatened retaliation, and previous such incidents have unfolded into days of Palestinian rocket attacks and retaliatory Israeli strikes.
Later Saturday, a pair of Palestinian rockets landed in an open field in southern Israel. The Israeli military informed residents to stay close to home in case of further rocket attacks.
Witnesses said that following the large explosion that started the incident, Israel retaliated with tank and machine gun fire toward residential areas at the al-Muntar hill in the central part of the territory, hitting people who were returning from a funeral east of Gaza City.
Rami Harra said his 17-year-old brother Muhammad Harra was killed in the strike.
"He was at home when the explosion took place. He went out to see what happened and when he started to help evacuating wounded people who were on the ground another shell hit the place and killed him," he said outside the morgue. "Why did they kill him? I can't believe my eyes that I am seeing his dead body."
In a first response to Saturday's incident, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the military had responded aggressively to the attack and will "consider further reaction in the coming days."
"We will not allow the escalation on the fence to go unanswered," he said.
The Israeli military said it holds Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for the attack and that it "will not tolerate" such incidents.
In a text message to reporters, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum threatened to respond.
"Targeting civilians is a dangerous escalation that cannot be tolerated. The resistance has the full right to respond to the Israeli crimes," he said.
Israel carried out a broad military offensive in Gaza nearly four years ago in response to years of near daily rocket fire. Major salvos from Gaza have subsided since then, but sporadic rocket fire has continued.
Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers have largely refrained from rocket attacks since the devastating Israeli military offensive that killed hundreds of Palestinians.
Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks, remains virulently anti-Israel in its rhetoric but has sought to keep things quiet as it consolidates control of Gaza, which it seized five years ago during a brief civil war against the rival Fatah movement.
Still, it is under pressure from smaller groups to prove that it remains in confrontation with the Jewish state.
The territory is home to numerous militant groups, including murky al-Qaida-inspired organizations that do not answer to Hamas. Gaza has also been flooded with weapons in recent years, many of them believed to have been smuggled from northern Africa and into Gaza through tunnels under the Egyptian border.
dryriver sends this excerpt from the Guardian: "Scientists have pinpointed a new treasure trove in our oceans: micro-organisms that contain millions of previously unknown genes and thousands of new families of proteins. These tiny marine wonders offer a chance to exploit a vast pool of material that could be used to create innovative medicines, industrial solvents, chemical treatments and other processes, scientists say. Researchers have already created new enzymes for treating sewage and chemicals for making soaps from material they have found in ocean organisms. 'The potential for marine biotechnology is almost infinite,' says Curtis Suttle, professor of earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences at the University of British Columbia. 'It has become clear that most of the biological and genetic diversity on Earth is ? by far ? tied up in marine ecosystems, and in particular in their microbial components. By weight, more than 95% of all living organisms found in the oceans are microbial. This is an incredible resource.'"
Latest Version - NIX X08D 8 inch Hi-Res Digital Photo Frame with Motion Sensor by NIX (7) Date first available at Amazon.com: September 18, 2012 Buy new: $99.99 $49.99 (Visit the Hot New Releases in Accessories list for authoritative information on this product?s current rank.)
Looking Price: #4: Latest Version - NIX X08D 8 inch Hi-Res Digital Photo Frame with Motion Sensor
FILE -In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, file photo, cars are submerged at the entrance to a parking garage in New York's Financial District in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy. Alarming claims that hundreds of thousands of flood-damaged cars from Superstorm Sandy will inundate the used car market aren?t backed up by insurance company claim data, The Associated Press has found. The dire predictions come mostly from companies that track vehicle title and repair histories and sell those reports.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FILE -In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, file photo, cars are submerged at the entrance to a parking garage in New York's Financial District in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy. Alarming claims that hundreds of thousands of flood-damaged cars from Superstorm Sandy will inundate the used car market aren?t backed up by insurance company claim data, The Associated Press has found. The dire predictions come mostly from companies that track vehicle title and repair histories and sell those reports.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FILE-In this Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, file photo, a vehicle is submerged on 14th Street near the Consolidated Edison power plant, in New York. Alarming claims that hundreds of thousands of flood-damaged cars from Superstorm Sandy will inundate the used car market aren?t backed up by insurance company claim data, The Associated Press has found. The dire predictions come mostly from companies that track vehicle title and repair histories and sell those reports. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo, File)
DETROIT (AP) ? In the days since Superstorm Sandy, an alarming prediction has flashed across the Internet: Hundreds of thousands of flood-damaged vehicles will inundate the nation's used-car market, and buyers might not be told which cars have been marred.
Not true, according to insurance-claims data reviewed by The Associated Press. The actual number of affected vehicles is far smaller, and some of those cars will be repaired and kept by their owners. The dire predictions are being spread by a company that sells vehicle title and repair histories and by the largest group representing American car dealers.
They claim the number of cars damaged by Sandy could be larger than when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 and marred more than 600,000 vehicles. But an AP analysis of claims data supplied by major insurance companies shows the number of cars reported damaged so far is a fraction of that.
The companies ? State Farm, Progressive, New Jersey Manufacturers, Nationwide and USAA ? have received about 38,000 car-damage claims.
"It's not anything near what we're talking about in the Katrina situation," said James Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, a statewide association of more than 500 dealers.
Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, an insurance company group that monitors fraud and other trends, concurred, saying insurers watched by his group are logging far fewer claims than they did with Katrina.
"It doesn't translate to there's going to be 2, 3, 400,000 cars out of this thing just because this is such a huge geographic storm," Scafidi said.
Other large insurers, such as Farmers, Allstate, Geico and Liberty Mutual, either did not return calls or declined to release claims information.
Because many communities are still cleaning up from the superstorm, more claims are bound to come in. But the total is not likely to grow significantly. Ten days after Sandy, the rate of claim submissions is already starting to slow. And many of those cars will have relatively minor damage unrelated to water, meaning they can be fixed and returned to their owners.
About 14,000 new cars were also damaged by Sandy while they sat on docks in the New York area awaiting shipment to dealers. But most of those vehicles won't end up on sales lots. Automakers will have severely damaged cars crushed because they don't want their brand name hurt by substandard vehicles circulating in the marketplace.
To be sure, flood-damaged cars can be a serious problem. Once a vehicle is dried out, the damage may not be immediately apparent, so the car can often be sold to an unsuspecting buyer.
Beneath the surface, the water can damage computers that control everything from the gas pedal to the entertainment system. Saltwater, like that from Sandy's storm surge, is especially harmful, causing corrosion in electrical and mechanical parts that can pose problems for years.
Companies like Carfax, a Centreville, Va., provider of vehicle-history reports, stand to benefit if more buyers are worried about the risk of purchasing a flooded car. The company charges $39.99 for a single report, although it also contracts with dealers and manufacturers, so many reports cost less. About 170 million reports are viewed each year.
Carfax, a privately held subsidiary of the R.L. Polk & Co. automotive data firm, put out a news release Tuesday speculating that Sandy's toll on cars would exceed the damage left by Katrina.
In an interview, company spokesman Larry Gamache said early indications were that more vehicles could have been damaged in the densely populated Northeast than were damaged by Katrina in 2005 along the more sparsely populated Gulf Coast. He estimated that half of them, more than 300,000, would find their way back onto the market as used cars.
"I think it's partly due to the breadth of the storm and the intensity of the storm and where the storm hit," Gamache said.
A spokeswoman for Experian, which runs a Carfax competitor called AutoCheck, said the area that got blasted by Sandy has 9 million registered cars, far more than in the Gulf region struck by Katrina.
On Wednesday, the National Automobile Dealers Association put out a statement estimating that 200,000 or more flooded cars could be resold as used.
The trade organization warned that the storm could crimp the supply of clean used cars, potentially driving up prices. But its estimate was based on reports from third parties that showed 600,000 cars were damaged in Katrina and that Sandy would cause about one-third of the dollar damage from Katrina.
"There was not an incredible amount of science behind it," conceded Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst with the NADA Used Car Guide.
Katrina overwhelmed low-lying areas of the Gulf Coast, including New Orleans, which is below sea level, causing widespread flooding. Many people in Katrina's path didn't evacuate, and car dealers didn't have many options to protect inventories.
In hard-hit New Jersey, flooding from Sandy was mainly confined to a strip along the coast from Atlantic City to New York, and most people evacuated those areas, Appleton said.
In the western part of the state, "unless a tree fell on your car, your car wasn't even at risk," he said.
Chris Basso, another Carfax spokesman, said the company relied on an estimate from a trusted industry source in putting out its news release. He said it was just an estimate, and the final number won't be known for a while.
"All we're trying to do is make sure people are looking out for these cars," he said. "Because eventually they're going to make their way back onto the road."
Regardless of the predictions, thousands of flood-damaged cars will certainly be resold, and buyers need to be cautious.
Unlike the automakers who destroy badly damaged inventory, dealers, insurance companies and others often resell flooded cars to recoup their losses.
If the cars were declared total losses by insurance companies, states require them to get new titles branding them as flood-damaged vehicles. But some sellers don't disclose that, and some even move the cars from state to state to wash the branding off the titles.
So even if the numbers are far smaller than the estimates, anyone buying a used car in the coming months should check the title and repair history and have the car inspected by a mechanic. Buyers can also do their own inspection, sniffing for musty odors and checking for mud and debris under the dashboard.
"People just have to be a little smart about this," said Scafidi, of the insurance company group. But he added, "We don't want to sit here and say the sky is falling."
___
Seven tips for avoiding a flood-damaged car:
? Run the car's vehicle identification number through Carfax at www.carfax.com, AutoCheck at www.autocheck.com, or VinCheck at www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck. The services can usually tell you if a car's been damaged or if it's been totaled by an insurance company.
? Have the car inspected by a mechanic, who can put it on a lift and check the undercarriage for water damage or debris from flood waters.
? Check the interior yourself for signs of water damage. Sniff for a musty smell. Look for signs of freshly shampooed carpet. Check under the floorboard carpet for water residue, rust, or water stain marks. Look under the dashboard for dried mud or other flood residue. Check for rust on screws in the console and other areas where water wouldn't normally be present.
? Check the trunk for moldy smells, water stains, rust or debris.
? Look under the hood for mud or grit in the alternator, behind wires and around small openings in starter motors and power steering pumps.
? Follow wires to check for signs of rust, water residue or corrosion.
? Check the undercarriage for evidence of rust or flaking metal that wouldn't normally be on newer vehicles.
Multiple sources confirmed to Yahoo! Sports Thursday that Zuffa has reached a deal with Showtime to end the Strikeforce promotion sometime early in 2013, a move that will bring superstar Ronda Rousey into the UFC.
Neither UFC president Dana White nor UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta could be reached for comment on Strikeforce's demise, which was first reported Thursday by TMZ. Chris DeBlasio, a spokesman for Showtime, which has broadcast Strikeforce events since 2009, declined comment.
The plan is for the promotion to fold after a Jan. 12 card in Oklahoma City, in which all of the Strikeforce men's champions will defend their belts. A source stressed that nothing has been signed and, thus, things could change.
Zuffa purchased Strikeforce from Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment in March 2011, reportedly for more than $40 million. Given that Zuffa had previously purchased competitors PRIDE, World Fighting Alliance and World Extreme Cagefighting and merged them into the UFC, speculation mounted almost instantly about Strikeforce's future.
Strikeforce cards in September and November were canceled as the tensions between the sides heated.
White told Yahoo! Sports late last month that Rousey, Strikeforce's bantamweight champion, would fight in the UFC one day, a statement that marked an abrupt change of position. White had previously said there weren't enough quality women to form a division in the UFC and that he saw no sense doing what he termed "one-off" fights.
But Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo who has become a sensation with her meteoric rise in MMA, changed his mind. He said he was blown away by Rousey's ability to both fight and promote.
Look, I know a lot of people are going to say we're doing this because she's pretty. But [ex-Strikeforce star] Gina [Carano] was pretty, too. Ronda is a whole other story. She's nasty. She's a real fighter. She not only likes to win, she likes to finish. Think about this: Everyone she fights knows what is coming, that armbar of hers, and no one can stop it. They have a whole [expletive] training camp to prepare for that one move and nobody has been able to stop it yet.
People who are nasty and technically sound and have that attitude, I love them. She's an Olympic medalist and she's got a great history, but she's in the gym all the time. She's a dude in a girl's body. She loves to beat the [expletive] out of people and she's serious about getting better. She's not saying, 'I'm the champ and I've beaten everyone in the first round,' and taking a victory tour. She's up there in Stockton working with the Diaz brothers, trying to get better.
Details are sparse about how the merger will work and when Strikeforce fighters will begin appearing on UFC cards.
White, though, likes to do things in a major way and it wouldn't be a shock to see Rousey defend her belt in February in Las Vegas on the UFC's annual Super Bowl weekend card. That's one of the company's biggest shows of the year and, given that Rousey hasn't fought since defeating Sarah Kaufman on Aug. 18, would be a perfect launching point for her career.
Whether she will be the first woman to actually fight in the cage is questionable. When Strikeforce ends, the UFC will assume the contracts of its women's fighters. White told Yahoo! Sports last month that women such as ex-champions Miesha Tate and Cris "Cyborg" Santos and Sara McMann, a wrestling silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics, would also fight in the UFC.
Other elite fighters in Strikeforce who would be headed to the UFC include heavyweight Daniel Cormier, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez and welterweight champion Nate Marquardt. Melendez is rated seventh in the current Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound ratings.
Several fighters took to social media Thursday evening to comment. Tate wrote on Twitter, "So Stoked to be fighting for the @ufc it's been a dream of mine for along time! SO happy it's finally come true:-D" UFC middleweight contender Brian Stann also seemed to tweet confirmation of the news.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2012) ? In the world of agriculture, climate protection and intensive farming are generally assumed to be a contradiction in terms. At Technische Universit?t M?nchen (TUM), however, scientists have come up with a new land development concept that could change this view. The new model is tailored to medium-sized farms in South America and sees farmers transitioning from large-scale monoculture to more diverse crop mixtures spread over smaller plots interspersed with wooded areas -- a switch that can bring significant financial benefits.
Each year, huge carbon stores are lost as a result of deforestation. In South America, around four million hectares of forest are cut down every year. As a result, international climate protection programs are planning to financially compensate farmers who preserve forests or plant new trees. Demand for land is rising, however. And growing need for food and energy crops will inevitably lead to conflicts of interest over fertile land in countries such as Brazil and Ecuador.
Thomas Knoke and Michael Weber at Technische Universit?t M?nchen (TUM) firmly believe that intensive, high-yield agricultural practices can go hand-in-hand with climate and environmental protection. The two scientists and their colleagues have developed a "diversified land-use" concept for medium-sized holdings in South America based on an idea originally developed by retired TUM professor, Wolfgang Haber. The new concept encourages farmers to move away from large-scale monocropping and plant a mix of field crops on smaller plots, while at the same time setting aside part of their land for forests and hedges. Any unused land will be reforested. The smaller plots of farmland will still be large enough for intensive farming practices using fertilizers, planting machines and harvesters. The interspersed wooded areas and hedges will protect the soil from erosion and serve as long-term carbon stores.
Knoke and Weber have evaluated the economic viability of their concept based on a typical medium-sized agricultural holding. This model hacienda comprises an area of over 116 hectares and includes croplands, wooded areas and unused land. There are around five million family-owned farms of this size on the South American continent.
Adopting this sustainable method of intensive farming initially means higher costs for farmers due to reforestation and the division of land into individual plots. However, the combination of woodland management and smaller plots of land pays off in the long term. Working lots of individual plots enables farmers to diversify and spread risk -- in much the same way as smart investors. By growing a broader portfolio of crops such as soya, sugar cane, corn and coffee, they can reduce their dependency on price fluctuations. The wooded areas also provide extra income. Smaller material from forest thinning can be used as firewood, while larger logs can be sold as building material. Depending on the crops harvested, a farm modeled on the diversified land-use method will achieve higher returns than a monocrop farm in eight years at the latest. Farmers working this new model can achieve between 19 and 25 percent more yield than they would with large-scale monoculture.
To ease the transition to diversified land development, Knoke and Weber are lobbying for start-up funding and knowledge sharing. "The associated costs, however, are the same or less than comparable measures aimed at reducing CO2 levels," explains Professor Knoke from the TUM's Institute of Forest Management. "Which makes diversified land development in line with local dynamics an effective approach to ensuring highly productive yet climate-friendly agriculture."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Technische Universitaet Muenchen.
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Journal Reference:
Thomas Knoke, Rosa M Rom?n-Cuesta, Michael Weber, Wolfgang Haber. How can climate policy benefit from comprehensive land-use approaches?Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2012; 10 (8): 438 DOI: 10.1890/110203
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If someone wants buy a vehicle, there are two most common areas to go which is probably the only identified places exactly where people can buy vehicles: new car dealers and used car dealers. The fact is, there are several, not so well-liked options to these two locations. And one of those is getting repo vehicle.
What are repo automobiles?
Repo cars are privately owned vehicles that have been seized either by the bank, monetary institutions or the government. Reasons differ why these cars have been repossessed. It might be since the owner fails to pay for the car mortgage or the automobile has been employed as a lien for another loan, almost certainly a house mortgage. Either way, these cars will grow to be a bank?s, monetary institution, or government?s property.
These cars are not so much of a use to their new owners so they will be sold to the highest bidder, by means of auction.
Why are repo automobiles so low-cost?
Repo vehicles occupy so much real property which equates to money lost. So, as an alternative of storing these useless automobiles, it would be much cost-effective to sell it off converting them into liquid assets at the identical time saving the actual house. Dependent on the seller, the vehicle can expense as tiny as $one hundred.
The query now is: Is it okay to buy repo vehicle?
This is not a straightforward question with an instant ?yes? or ?no? response, because there are several factors to take into consideration, plus the truth that various individuals have distinct requirements and priorities when it comes to purchasing a vehicle. Nonetheless, there are some items you should know about repo automobiles which ought to aid you choose whether or not or not to buy a single.
Tiny do folks know that when it comes to quality pre-owned automobiles, a good place to discover them is at repo vehicle auction. High quality is not the only factor that makes repo cars so easy to enjoy, you can definitely own a vehicle at a extremely affordable price tag. You can even acquire a automobile with as much as 90% cost savings. Some repo automobiles can be a tiny over (or beneath) a year old. Some may be as great as brand new. Others can be a good old car waiting for its new owner for a fantastic deal.
Discovering repo vehicle sellers/auctions is easy. Most bank sites publish a list of repo cars on sale. Government repo vehicles on the other hand are announced publicly by means of listings and announcements. There are also specific sites that offer great collection repo vehicles that are up for bid. Usually, repo car web sites need you to pay a membership fee to gain access to their database and some helpful information about the car for sale. Membership fee has other advantages. It eliminates ?joybidders? and reduces the danger of fraud (however asking for a membership fee is not an assurance of the legitimacy of a repo automobile web site).
When you locate a repo automobile seller, realize the terms and situation of buying be it via auction or non-auction buy.
In the finish, the selection whether or not acquire a repo car is up to you but come to feel of it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying repo vehicles. They are legal, exact same as other pre-owned vehicles, and most of all cheap.
While pregnant, lots of focus is centered on the way your jumping bundle of delight brings modifications for your family?s life. The nine months well before that momentous occasion, though, may also be a time of numerous modifications. This information has helpful tips regarding the modifications and concerns which you may have when you?re anticipating.
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When simply being expecting a baby, anything that is taken up in to the mother?s physique, the baby will receive some of that. This is the reason it is essential that you do not uptake over the encouraged allowance of alcoholic drinks and to not do any prescription drugs or smoke cigarettes cigarettes. The baby might get serious health conditions through your insolence.
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Traveling for a hockey game in SoCAL (Huntington Beach precisely) and our return flight is tomorrow morning. So I'm looking to go bar hoping for a bit.
Yelp has too many contradicting opinions - what do you have for me CP?? I prefer regular, rock or dive bars.
ExlService Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:EXLS), a leading provider of outsourcing and transformation services, today announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2012.
Rohit Kapoor, Vice Chairman and CEO, commented: ?In the third quarter, EXL posted strong 4% sequential revenue growth led by client expansions in our insurance and healthcare and our utilities practices. In addition, our transformation business has continued to grow. In particular, we are capitalizing on the secular growth opportunity in analytics, where among other assets we have built a world-class banking practice. This practice is generating robust new business with several of the largest global banks.
I am pleased to announce that we won a new strategic client account for our finance and accounting outsourcing practice with a leading specialty insurer. This new client win is a validation of our domain expertise both in insurance and finance and accounting, and was won against significant competition. Finally, as we discussed in October, our Landacorp acquisition adds a critical piece to our rapidly growing healthcare offering providing comprehensive operations, analytics, and technology solutions.?
Vishal Chhibbar, CFO, commented: ?In the third quarter, EXL achieved revenue of $112.6 million, up 13% year-over-year, driven by 11% growth in outsourcing and 23% growth in transformation services. On a constant currency basis, revenue grew 17% year over year. This quarter we delivered adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.42, up 21% year over year and 17% quarter over quarter. This growth was driven by strong revenue growth, operating efficiencies and operating leverage.
For 2012, we are updating our revenue guidance to $442 million to $444 million, and updating our adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $1.54 to $1.57 to account for a rupee to dollar exchange rate of 53.5, third quarter results and the recent acquisition of Landacorp.?
Financial Highlights ? Third Quarter 2012
Reconciliations of adjusted financial measures to GAAP are included at the end of this release.
Revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 were $112.6 million compared to $100.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and $108.0 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. Outsourcing services revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 were $92.0 million compared to $83.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and $88.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. Transformation services revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 were $20.7 million compared to $16.9 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and $19.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.
Gross margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was 39.1% compared to 38.3% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and 38.9% for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. Outsourcing services gross margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was 39.5% compared to 38.7% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and 38.7% for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. Transformation services gross margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was 37.1% compared to 35.9% for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 and 39.6% for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.
Operating margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was 15.0% compared to 11.7% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and 13.3% for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. Adjusted operating margin for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 was 17.8% compared to 15.2% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 and 17.1% for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.
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ORONO, Maine ? The Maine Freeze Midget Minors? fundraiser to benefit the Eastern Maine Medical Center Breast and Osteoporosis Center turned out to be a resounding success.
The team members collected contributions at their final four home games of October while also collecting pledges and adding additional money by allowing parents to purchase the pink jerseys their sons wore during those games. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The 20 players tripled their goal and will present a check for more than $1,500 to Terri Sleeper, the philanthropy officer at EMMC, before the team?s final practice at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday at Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer.
Tobin Trautz, coach of the Freeze Midget Minors (Under-16), came up with the fundraising idea and is expanding it. Now, the teams currently in season (Squirts, Peewees, Bantams and Girls) in the Freeze organization will take part.
?I have taken the opportunity as the Coaching Coordinator for the Maine Freeze to put together a program that we are dubbing ?Community Outreach? where each month the teams in the organization will work together toward a common charitable cause,? said Trautz in an email.
The November program, partnered with BBI Waste Industries, is a food drive to fill Thanksgiving baskets through the Salvation Army.
BBI Waste Industries will donate up to 100 turkeys, and the food drive will collect nonperishable items to fill out each basket. The items will be delivered to the Salvation Army on Nov. 19 in order for them to be presented to families by Thanksgiving on Nov. 22.
Can you patent a rectangle with rounded corners? Absolutely, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has done it again, granting Apple a design patent for the original iPad Tuesday.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2012) ? A research team that includes a University of California, Davis, plant scientist has identified a source of carbon emissions that could play a role in understanding past and future global change.
While earlier studies have found that erosion can bury carbon in the soil, acting as a carbon sink, or storage, the new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that part of that sink is only temporary.
"It's all part of figuring out the global carbon cycle," said co-author Johan Six, professor of plant sciences at UC Davis. "Where are the sources, and where are the sinks? Erosion is in some ways a sink, but, as we found out, it can also become a source."
The researchers estimated that roughly half of the carbon buried in soil by erosion will be re-released into the atmosphere within about 500 years, and possibly faster due to climate change. Climate change can speed the rate of decomposition, aiding the release of the buried carbon.
As a case study, the researchers used radiocarbon and optical dating to calculate the amount of carbon emissions captured in soils and released to the atmosphere during the past 6,000 years along the Dijle River in Belgium.
The study's long time scope -- from 4000 BC to AD 2000 -- allowed the researchers to notice the gradual reintroduction of buried carbon to the atmosphere. Significant agricultural land conversion -- historically the largest source of global erosion -- began primarily in the past 150 years, well under the researchers' time frame of 500 years. Therefore, most carbon sequestered in the soil during the past 150 years of agricultural history has not been released yet but may become a significant carbon source in the future, with implications for soil management, the study said.
"Our results showed that half of the carbon initially present in the soil and vegetation was lost to the atmosphere as a result of agricultural conversion," said study co-author Gert Verstraeten, a professor at KU Leaven, Belgium.
Six noted that erosion could be minimized by no-till and low-till agricultural methods, as well as by cover cropping, which can ensure that soil is not left bare.
"We need to know where and how much carbon is being released or captured in order to develop sensible and cost-effective measures to curb climate change," said lead author, Kristof Van Oost, of the Universite catholique de Louvain in Belgium.
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A study estimating the death rate from heart and circulatory disease in each electoral ward in England has found that despite considerable improvements since the 1980s, the difference between the wealthiest and poorest communities has widened for people over 65.
Mortality from heart and circulatory disease ? the leading cause of death in the UK ? declined in most places between 1982 and 2006, but for men and women aged 65 or older, the decline was smaller in the most deprived communities, resulting in a wider gap between rich and poor.
The authors, from Imperial College London, warn that the declining trend in heart disease mortality could be threatened in some areas if the economic downturn and austerity measures affect poor communities disproportionately. Changes in the health system, such as the devolution of public health responsibilities to local authorities, might also put some communities at risk of falling behind, they suggest.
"It's clear that both social conditions and the quality of the health service strongly affect heart disease mortality," said study author Dr Perviz Asaria. "The Health and Social Care Act, which allows private companies to provide care under the NHS, and the extraordinary pressure on the NHS to make savings might jeopardise health services, including the crucial role of GPs, in poor communities. And if people's jobs are less stable, they may be forced to change their diet, or drink and smoke more. So we need to be concerned about these issues if we are going to carry on bringing death rates down.
"As public health gets taken up by local authorities, there's a danger that health budgets will have to compete with other services such as schools. It's essential that cardiovascular screening and prevention programmes don't get cut as a result."
The study is published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology. Heart disease mortality showed a strong correlation with the socioeconomic status of the ward, including income, employment and education levels. The correlation was strongest for young and middle-aged people up to age 65.
Broadly, the places with the highest death rates were in areas around Manchester and Liverpool, in parts of Yorkshire, around Birmingham and in deprived boroughs of London. Outside of London, death rates were generally low in southern England. Although heart and circulatory disease mortality fell from 1982 to 2006 in almost every area, it increased for women aged 65 or over in 186 out of 7932 wards.
Co-author Professor Majid Ezzati said: "These results are a valuable measure of the performance of the health system at a local level, which includes the NHS and public health services as well as other prevention strategies. We know how to reduce cardiovascular mortality: we have to reduce major risk factors like smoking, and provide good health services that help both with prevention through high-quality GP services and with treatment. We need to focus on putting these into practice in places that are behind."
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Imperial College London: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/press
Thanks to Imperial College London for this article.
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vsrawat, on Yesterday, 01:08 PM, said:
Multiple sources confirmed to Yahoo! Sports Thursday that Zuffa has reached a deal with Showtime to end the Strikeforce promotion sometime early in 2013, a move that will bring superstar Ronda Rousey into the UFC.
White
blish a list of repo cars on sale. Government repo vehicles on the other hand are announced publicly by means of listings and announcements. There are also specific sites that offer great collection repo vehicles that are up for bid. Usually, repo car web sites need you to pay a membership fee to gain access to their database and some helpful information about the car for sale. Membership fee has other advantages. It eliminates ?joybidders? and reduces the danger of fraud (however asking for a membership fee is not an assurance of the legitimacy of a repo automobile web site).
