J.C. Penney revamp: Lower prices, fewer sales

By Msnbc.com staff and wire

No more waiting for?sales. That's the word from retailer J.C. Penney, which announced Tuesday a revamp that would mark down prices on all of its merchandise?by at least 40 percent.

The company said?the move would simplify pricing for consumers, who may have been confused by its constant promotions and discounts.

"The customer knows the right price. To think you can fool a customer is kind of crazy,"?chief executive Ron Johnson said at an event in New York to present?Penney's plans to reinvent itself, boost revenues and catch up with rivals such as Macy's and Kohl's.

He said that only 0.2 percent of sales came from full price items. He also said Penney's 590 unique promotions a year were confusing and failed to draw shoppers. Some 72 percent of Penney revenue came last year from items discounted at least 50 percent.

"At some point, you seem desperate," said Johnson, who become CEO in November after 11 years at Apple Inc, where he built that company's retail chain.

Starring Feb. 1, Penney will offer three types of pricing -- everyday pricing, best prices and month-long deals -- and do away with clearance.

Johnson said the barrage of promotional emails from Penney was "confusing," leading him to see the need for simpler pricing.

The plan is similar to Wal-Mart Store Inc.'s iconic everyday low pricing strategy except that Penney's goal isn't to undercut competitors. Instead, Penney aims to take the guesswork out of shopping in its stores by offering customers fewer sales and more predictable pricing.

Penney's plan comes at a time when stores are struggling to wean shoppers off the profit-busting bargains that they have come to expect in the weak economy. The move is risky because shoppers who love to bargain-hunt may be turned off by the absence of sales.

"The big question on investors' minds will be how customers will react to a single price point versus a perceived discount under the old strategy," says Citi Investment Research analyst Deborah L. Weinswig.

Here's how Penney's pricing will be different:

• Sale prices become everyday prices. The company will use sales data from last year to slash prices on all merchandise at least 40 percent or lower than the previous year's prices. So, a woman's St. John's Bay blouse regularly priced at $14.99 could have the "Every Day" price of $7.
• Fewer sales. The retailer will pick items to go on sale each month for a "Monthly Value." For instance, in February, it might be jewelry for Valentine's Day and in December it could be Christmas decorations. Items that don't sell well would go on clearance and be tagged "Best Price," signaling to customers that's the cheapest price.
• New tags. The retailer used to pile stickers on price tags to indicate each time an item was marked down. But now each time an item gets a new price, it gets a new tag too. A red tag indicates an "Every Day" price, a white tag a "Monthly Value" and a blue tag a "Best Price."
• Simpler pricing. Penney will use whole figures when pricing items. In other words, you won't see jeans with a price tag of $19.99, but rather $20.
• New advertising. There will be an ad that shows shoppers screaming "No" to discounts as they look in their mailboxes, a pile of coupons and big sales signs. A 96-page colorful catalog that highlights "Monthly Value" items will be mailed each month to 14 million customers, along with other promotional efforts.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CNBC's Courtney Reagan has the details on J.C. Penney's plans to revive itself with a new look.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10233945-jc-penney-revamp-lower-prices-fewer-sales

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How to Make Cheap Whiskey Taste Like Fancy Whiskey [Video]

You like whiskey. You looooove good whiskey. You can't afford to drop hundreds of dollars on a high-end bottle. You stick with rotgut, right? Nope. There's a new process of hyper-aging booze that apparently turns run-of-the-mill whiskey into dark and delicious firewater of the gods. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9MTn2sTIIzU/how-to-make-cheap-whiskey-taste-like-fancy-whiskey

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"Forensic" Seismology

On July 25, 1946 the United States detonated the first underwater nuclear weapon in history ? code name ?Baker? ? at the Bikini Atoll. The explosion generated a gas bubble that pushed against the water, generating a supersonic shock wave which crushed the hulls of nearby target ships as it spread out. Seismic waves of this test were observed at seismograph stations around the globe and it was realized that these waves could be used to detect and potentially characterize a nuclear explosion.

Fig.1. Photography of the underwater ?Baker? nuclear explosion of July 25, 1946 showing the white sphere of water and vapour formed by the second shock wave of the explosion (image in public domain).

The U.S. performed also the first fully underground explosion ? code name ?Ranier? ? that was detected by about 50 seismic stations; however, it was confused in part with a ?normal? earthquake.
With the ban of nuclear weapon (well, sort of?) testing in the year 1958 it became necessary to install an effective worldwide monitoring system. Three years later the set-up of the WorldWide Standardized Seismographic Network (WWSSN) began and in 1966 almost 112 stations were working in the monitoring project ?Vela?. Vela provided a large quantity of supplementary seismic data used to answer three questions: Where is the seismic event located? What is the source type (artificial or natural) of the event? How large is the event?

The signature of a natural earthquake shows a distinct pattern: a seismometer will first detect the Primary and Secondary Waves, followed by the more destructive Surface or Rayleigh Waves.
Seismic P Waves are compressional waves, similar to sound waves in the air. Secondary or Shear (S) Waves are transverse waves, like those that propagate along a rope. A sudden explosion generates a ?sphere? of compressional waves travelling in all directions. In contrast an earthquake is caused by the sliding of rocks along a fracture and it will generate shear waves concentrated in a certain direction. Therefore an explosion will show a strong and sudden signal of P-waves, with a similar signal recorded by all the seismometers collocated around the explosion. An earthquake will show a more complex pattern, depending of the position of the seismometer, characterized by strong S-Waves.
Also an underground explosion does not generate very strong surface waves as a natural earthquake does.

Fig.2. Schematic seismogram with Primary (P; compressional waves), Secondary (S; shear waves), and Rayleigh (R; surface waves) phases for an artificial blast and a natural earthquake.

As every atomic explosion will generate a unique pattern, distinct from natural earthquakes, seismology is a reliable tool to control the ban of nuclear test and to supervise countries that still test atomic weapons.

Seismic waves can be generated not only by shear movements along faults or by the expansion of plasma or gas during an explosion, but also by the impact of objects with the ground.
Seismic signals were already used to identify the location of rock-falls and recent research suggests that the signals can help to characterize the dynamics and volume of a landslide, Dave Petley discusses the significance and use of seismograms in various posts published on his ?Landslide blog?.

The analysis of seismic waves provided also insights on what happened September 11, 2001 in New York. Seismograph stations around the city recorded the signals generated by the aircraft impacts and the subsequent collapse of the two towers of the World Trade Center (the Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network provides a rich collection of datasets of the seismic activity around N.Y.). The collapse of the south tower generated a signal with a magnitude of 2.1 and the collapse of the north tower, whit a signal of magnitude 2.3, was recorded by 13 stations ranging in distance from 34 to 428km.
Also these seismograms show a distinct pattern if compared to the pattern caused by a natural earthquake. There are no P or S Waves, but the impacts of the buildings on the ground generated a sudden peak of short-period Rayleigh Waves.

Fig.3. Seismic recordings at the seismograph station Palisades (N.Y.) for events at World Trade Center on September 11, distance of station from Ground Zero ~ 34km. Note that impact 1 and collapse 2 relate to the north tower, and impact 2 and collapse 1 apply to the south tower. Expanded views of the first impact and first collapse shown in red. Figure from KIM et al. 2001, published here according to the Usage Permissions granted by AGU & authors.

The seismograms show also that the impact and explosion of the two airplanes generated a relative small amount of seismic energy. This confirms the observation that the collapses of the two towers were not a direct result of the impacts, but caused by the weakening of the supporting structures of the buildings due the subsequent fires.

Most energy of the collapses was dispersed into the deformation of the buildings and the formation of rubble and dust, only a small portion of potential energy was converted into seismic waves. The generated 2.1 and 2.3 earthquakes were too weak to destabilize nearby buildings, most damage was done by the kinetic energy of the debris and the displaced air.

Also the collision of the cruise ship ?Costa Concordia? on January 13, 2012 was recorded by the seismograph station ?Monte Argentario?, situated on the Italian mainland. From the eyewitness testimony and the Automatic System of the ship the time of collision with a submerged rock was estimated at 20:45 (UTC). This time is confirmed by a sudden peak in the seismogram at 20:45:10 (the seismograph station is distant 18km from the site of the collision, the seismic waves needed almost 3-4 seconds to travel this distance). The seismogram shows also after the impact the ?noise? generated by the hull of the ship grinding along the rocky substrate.

Fig.4. Seismogram recorded at the station ?Monte Argentario? (Italy) showing the seismic waves generated by the impact of the ?Costa Concordia? on January 13, 2012 20:45 (UTC).
Figure used with permission and taken from the post ?The earthquake of the Costa Concordia? by Italian seismologist Marco Mucciarelli, published on January 21, 2012 on his blog ?terremoti, sismologia ed altre sciocchezze?

Bibliography:

ANDERSON, D.N.; RANDALL, G.E.; WHITAKER, R.W.; ARROWSMITH, S.J.; ARROWSMITH, M.D.; FAGAN, D.K.; TAYLOR, S.R.; SELBY, N.D.; SCHULT, F.R.; KRAFT, G.D. & WALTER, W.R. (2010): Seismic event identification. WIREs Computational Statistics Vol.2, July/August: 414-432
KIM, W.-Y.; SYKES, L.R.; ARMITAGE, J.H.; XIE, J.K.; JACOB, K.H.; RICHARDS, P.G.; WEST, M.; WALDHAUSER, F.; ARMBRUSTER, J.; SEEBER, L.; DU, W.X. & LERNER-LAM, A. (2001): Seismic Waves Generated by Aircraft Impacts and Building Collapses at World Trade Center, New York City. EOS Vol.82 (47)

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5f0e9e0ae0fbb52fd2559afc30b331e9

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Senator Rand Paul Has Been Detained By The ... - Business Insider

On the list of stupid things the Transportation Security Administration could do for their public image: detaining Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the politician most anxious to abolish them, is probably right near the top.?

But that's exactly what just happened, his Communications Director, Moira Bagley has confirmed it in a tweet.?

Kelly O'Donnell is reporting that aides say Paul was detained when he refused a full-body pat-down, after the scanner went off.?Paul lifted his pant-leg to show he had no metal, and asked to be re-screened. He was denied this request.?

O'Donnell further reports that U.S. officials say that they didn't 'detain' him, though that is the word Paul's office is using.?

Bagley has now told Politico,??I spoke with him five minutes ago and he was being detained indefinitely... The image scan went off, he refused patdown.?

UPDATE: 11:33 AM: CNN's Dana Bash is reports a response from the TSA, saying Paul walked away willing.

"When an irregularity is found during the TSA screening process, it must be resolved prior to allowing a passenger to proceed to the secure area of the airport," TSA spokesman Greg Soule said. "Passengers who refuse to complete the screening process cannot be granted access to the secure area in order to ensure the safety of others traveling."

A TSA official said Paul was "not detained" and left the checkpoint willingly. The official was not authorized to speak for attribution.

I think we can safely say that the liberty-loving Senator may not have been a threat to board the airplane but he is likely to be a threat to the TSA from now on.?

Paul was scheduled to speak to the March for Life today in Washington D.C., an annual rally by anti-abortion rights activists held on the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling Roe w. Wade. It looks like that won't happen.?

Update 12:59 pPM?: The TSA now says that Senator Paul was never detained. Instead, the agency says he "triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process in order to resolve the issue... Passengers, as in this case, who refuse to comply with security procedures are denied access to the secure gate area. He was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement.?

Further, the TSA said in a statement, "The passenger was screened by millimeter wave imaging technology using automated target recognition. This technology uses the same generic image for all passengers to further protect passengers privacy. When an alarm occurs a yellow box indicates where an anomaly is. A targeted pat down is used to resolve the alarm."

UPDATE: 1:50 PM: Paul has arrived in DC, having caught another flight. (Via Evan Mcmorris-Santoro on Twitter_

Here is a video of Rand Paul speaking against full-body searches by the TSA at a meeting of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in June of last year.?

?

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and from his father, Ron Paul, on Twitter.?

?

Rand Paul?s Facebook post reads. ?We will update you as the situation develops.?

DEVELOPING

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/breaking-rand-paul-has-been-detained-by-the-tsa-at-nashville-airport-2012-1

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Video: Romney, Super PAC spends $7.3 million in Florida ads

>> next up for the presidential candidates , florida , where early voting is under way right now in the critical state . the primary is not until i should say january 3 1st. but mitt romney and the super pac supporting him have spent $73 million on ads. in fact, this ad where romney is praising his family and work ethic has already run in iowa and new hampshire. joining me now live is florida congressman. congressman, thank you for your time.

>> it's good to be with you.

>> so you are supporting mitt romney . let me talk to you about south carolina and how it may or may not set the stage for you state if he doesn't pull out a victory. you see the polls showing newt gingrich closing the gap or ahead of romney .

>> well, i think we're getting to the end of the nomination process. thank goodness. i think people have probably heard enough. but last week i made a decision to for for governor romney . if you look at all the the people with all the political rhetoric , what it boils down to is we want someone that can get our economy out of the ditch and provide some opportunity for our children and for the future, and somebody who has had elected executive experience. and when you go through them all, we have great candidates. south carolina and floridians and the rest of the nation will settle on mitt romney .

>> i'm intrigue that had you think it's wrapping up. iowa went to rick santorum . new hampshire went to governor romney . and today south carolina could go to newt gingrich . that would be the first time that all three -- the caucus and the two primaries went to a different candidate. why does that make you feel this is wrapping up? many people see that as being quite the opposite. rick santorum says win or lose, which it appears he probably won't eke out a victory. he says he's still in it.

>> some people have left the race. i've served with them. they have wonderful people. we all share a very similar political philosophy . but when this boils down to who are we going to get to give our children and the future of america back you want somebody who has had some business experience. i think you just look at the romney experience. he's a self made man. he has the experience, not only as far as business -- i mean, again if you're going to get unique experience, he has it taking businesses that were going down the tubes and making them work. you can't make everyone work in a free market society , but he did it. and then, again, and again, i love to hear the rhetoric and the debate and all the cliches. we need an elected executive.

>> i think people will debate whether or not he's self made, but i'll move onto that and ask you this, does mitt romney need to release his tax returns , and how soon? he wants to wait until april. chris christie says he needs to do it now. what do you say?

>> well, i think that's a nonissue.

>> really? why?

>> because, we know he has substantial income. we know he's made money.

>> so why not release it?

>> he can release them, i think, any time he feels it's appropriate. if he becomes the nominee, he should release them. he said he would in april. and i feel pretty confident he'll be the nominee by then and he'll do that. but the issues i hear when i'm home. we had president obama come to florida this week, and he's desperate in florida trying to make it look like he's doing something, we have 10% unemployment in florida . people aren't interested in tax returns , they want the opportunity --

>> yeah, those people unemployed -- we're almost out of time. on the last point, you say people aren't interested. they are --

>> not one person are talking about tax returns .

>> if they believe that the nominee is for the so called 1% who would greatly benefit from a 15% tax rate , that is a part of the narrative. it is a part of the have and the have not, and what kind of people would the president if it is mitt romney , who would he look out for? would he look out for the corporations that he refers to as people or would he look out for the people of south carolina who make an average income of $30,000 and many of the people i have spoken with and spent time with in your state of florida , desperately trying to find work. they did not lose their jobs under the obama administration. they were out of work under the prior administration, which was president bush .

>> you know, everything starts pretty close to home here. i look at newt gingrich , we have some fine people and they talk good political games. but again you start with the family and then you look at how people conduct themselves, then you look at business. and you look at have they run a business? have they gotten a business out of the ditch?

>> congressman --

>> the other thing, do you have elected executive experience to get this country moving.

>> i get your point. we'll see what they get. thank you so much, congressman. this monday, by the way, don't miss the nbc news presidential debate moderated by brian williams live from the university of

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46083265/

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More than 20 homes destroyed by Reno wildfire

A house burns just south of the Old 395 Gas Station Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Washoe Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Liz Margerum) NEVADA APPEAL OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

A house burns just south of the Old 395 Gas Station Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Washoe Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Liz Margerum) NEVADA APPEAL OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

Firefighters battle a fast-moving brush fire burns in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire through a valley south of Reno on Thursday, burning several homes, threatening dozens more and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev. smolders as firefighters battle a wind-driven brush fire on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev. smolders as firefighters battle a wind-driven brush fire on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

Firefighters wait for water before attacking an outbuilding adjacent to a home Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Pleasant Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Tim Dunn) NEVADA APPEAL OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

RENO, Nev. (AP) ? Firefighters worked early Friday to hold the line on a fast-moving brush fire that tore through the Reno area, destroying more than 20 homes and forcing thousands of residents to flee.

The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by wind gusts reaching 82 mph, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles in size before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno.

More than 10,000 people were told to leave their homes during the height of the blaze, and about 2,000 of them remained under evacuation orders late Thursday, Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said. About 250 firefighters were battling the blaze.

Hernandez said that 20 homes were destroyed but a full assessment might reveal even more damage. There was one fatality in the fire area, Hernandez said, but he declined to provide more details, saying an autopsy would be needed to determine the cause of death.

The blaze was "almost a carbon copy" of a huge wild fire on the edge of the Sierra foothills that destroyed 30 homes in southwest Reno in November, the fire chief said. It burned about 3 square miles and also forced the evacuation of 10,000 people.

"It's inconceivable that this community has been struck by tragedy again," said Gov. Brian Sandoval, who declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon.

Wet weather was forecast Friday, and snow was forecast Friday night. But high winds were expected to continue, with gusts up to 40 mph.

The fire, of unknown origin, broke out in a valley along U.S. Highway 395. By nightfall, the fire had burned to the city's southern outskirts. Flames were visible from the downtown casino district, about 10 miles away.

The flames, up to 40 feet high, raced through sage brush, grass and pines in an area where small neighborhoods are dispersed among an otherwise rural landscape.

"The area burned is absolutely devastated," Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley said.

About 300 elementary school students were taken to an evacuation center, and deputies went door to door asking people to leave their homes in Pleasant Valley, Old Washoe Valley and Saint James Village, Washoe County sheriff's Deputy Armando Avina said.

Erika Minnberry, 28, said she didn't become concerned at first because smoke from the fire appeared far enough away.

"Probably 30 minutes later, it was up to our house because of the high winds," she said. "I felt pure survival adrenaline. When we drove away, the smoke was so thick, we could barely see ahead of us. Now I feel anxiety. I couldn't find my two cats at the time and I hope they're OK."

The wind died down after nightfall and rain started falling, much to the delight of fire crews who stopped the flames' forward progress at Galena High School, where Vice President Joe Biden had been speaking just a few hours earlier.

The strong winds coming across the Sierra ahead of a winter storm had already delayed Biden's visit to the school on the south end of town.

With the smell of smoke in the air, Biden was about 25 minutes into his address when aides summoned him off stage. He told the audience he would have to move onto a question-and-answer period before officials "made me get out of here."

Hernandez later held a briefing at the high school, but it was evacuated along with surrounding neighborhoods shortly afterward.

With zero containment, firefighters were concentrating on using crews and trucks to protect homes in the path of the flames, Hernandez said earlier Thursday.

He estimated firefighters had saved about 1,000 structures.

"To say we are in the thick of battle is an understatement," he told reporters.

As with the November fire, which was sparked by downed power lines, strong winds and dry conditions helped fuel the latest blaze. The Reno area had gone a winter-record 56 days without any precipitation until light snow fell earlier this week.

Washoe County animal services officials helped round up horses and other livestock for evacuation.

Part of U.S. 395 was closed as heavy smoke reduced visibility to zero, and an 11-mile stretch of the highway would remain closed indefinitely, Hernandez said.

About 2,300 homes in the area were without power Thursday night.

Thomas Young, 48, a freelance writer, said he had just gotten out of the shower at his Pleasant Valley home when the power went out. Draped in only a towel, he looked out a window and saw his barn on fire and flames up to his backyard.

"Right away the flames went up a power line, and I said, 'We have to get out of here,'" Young said. "We put two dogs and two kids in the car and drove away about three minutes later. Unfortunately, I think my house is burned down from what I saw."

___

Associated Press writers Martin Griffith in Reno and Sandra Chereb in Carson City contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-Reno%20Brush%20Fire/id-b7812e72b66e4abbbb998c7b5aa1e270

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EU states still divided over details of Iran oil (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union envoys failed to agree details of a planned embargo on Iranian crude on Thursday, but diplomats said governments still sought to finalize the ban at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.

The bloc's 27 countries have agreed in principle in recent weeks to ban oil imports from Iran in order to put more pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

But they remain divided over several issues, primarily the length of a planned grace period that would allow states heavily dependent on Iranian oil to fulfill existing contracts for a period after the ban went into place.

At a meeting on Thursday, senior EU diplomats had been expected to agree to a plan allowing for a grace period until the end of June.

Under this compromise proposal, EU governments would be prohibited from making new contracts with Iran from the time the embargo was imposed, but could purchase crude previously contracted. This exemption would end on July 1.

"No agreement was reached today but we are confident it will be reached on Monday. Not everybody agreed to the compromise," one EU diplomat said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said some EU states continued to push for a shorter grace period while others wanted more time to secure alternative supplies of crude.

Tehran denies wanting bombs, as the West alleges, saying it is refining uranium only for electricity generation and medical applications.

EU governments are divided between the desire to ratchet up pressure on Tehran quickly and economic considerations. States such as Greece are concerned about financial costs at a time when Europe is struggling with a two-year debt crisis.

Athens depends heavily on Iranian supplies because Tehran has been offering it preferential credit terms for its crude.

But others say a grace period would significantly blunt the impact of sanctions, because some 80 percent of EU purchases are covered by long-term contracts.

The EU embargo follows stringent new U.S. sanctions signed into law by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, which are being gradually implemented but if fully enforced would make it impossible for most countries to pay for Iranian oil.

The unprecedented effort to take Iran's 2.6 million barrels of oil per day off international markets has kept global prices higher and helped cause a sharp fall in Iran's rial currency and a surge in the cost of basic goods for Iranians.

EU diplomats said more discussions will be held in Brussels in coming days, in time for the foreign ministers of the EU's 27 states to make a formal decision. EU policies such as sanctions require unanimity and have to be finalized by ministers.

Other issues remain outstanding. EU states have yet to agree whether to review the economic costs of the embargo before the grace period expires, to check whether countries like Greece had been able to secure sufficient amount of alternative supplies of crude.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/wl_nm/us_iran_eu_sanctions

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At least 143 killed in north Nigeria sect attacks

KANO, Nigeria (AP) ? Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 143 people in north Nigeria's largest city, a hospital official said Saturday, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city.

Soldiers and police officers swarmed over streets Saturday in Kano, a city of more than 9 million people that remains an important political and religious hub in Nigeria's Muslim north. But their effectiveness remains in question, as the uniformed bodies of many of their colleagues lay in the overflowing mortuary of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano's largest hospital.

A hospital official there said at least 143 people died in the attacks Friday. The count included some bodies already claimed by families for immediate burial per Islamic law, the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to disclose the figure to journalists.

Other bodies could be lying at other clinics and hospitals in the city.

In a statement issued late Friday, federal police spokesman Olusola Amore said attackers targeted five police buildings, two immigration offices and the local headquarters of the State Security Service, Nigeria's secret police.

Nwakpa O. Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said volunteers offered first aid to the wounded, and evacuated those seriously injured to local hospitals. He said officials continued to collect corpses scattered around sites of the attacks. A survey of two hospitals by the Red Cross showed at least 50 people were injured in Friday's attack, he said.

State authorities declared a 24-hour curfew late Friday as residents hid inside their homes amid the fighting.

A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists. He said the attack came as the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the police.

Boko Haram has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an AP count. So far this year, the group has been blamed for at least 219 killings, according to an AP count.

The sect's targets have included both Muslims and Christians. However, the group has begun specifically targeting Christians after promising it will kill any Christians living in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. That has further inflamed religious and ethnic tensions in Nigeria, which has seen ethnic violence kill thousands in recent years along the divide between the north and the largely Christian south.

Friday's attacks also could cause more unrest, as violence in Kano has set off attacks throughout the north in the past, including postelection violence in April that saw 800 people killed. Kano, an ancient city, remains important in the history of Islam in Nigeria and has important religious figures there today.

Amid the recent unrest and attacks, at least two journalists have been killed in Nigeria. Journalist Enenche Akogwu, who worked as a correspondent in Kano for private news station Channels Television, was shot and killed Friday while reporting on the attacks, colleagues said. In central Nigeria's city of Jos, Nansok Sallah, a news editor for a government-owned radio station called Highland FM, was found dead in a shallow stream Thursday, the victim of an apparent murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

___

Associated Press writer Salisu Rabiu in Kano, Nigeria contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria and can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-21-AF-Nigeria-Violence/id-35dd5bae2931402c9dc40f12dcd7ffad

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HP appoints Bill Veghte as chief strategy officer, will lead 'cloud and webOS open source initiatives'

Bill Veghte was already having his checks cut by HP (after cutting ties with Microsoft), but now he'll be filling a slightly different corner office. The company today announced that he has been appointed chief strategy officer, but somehow, he'll also have enough time to hold onto his current role as executive vice president of HP Software. We're told that he'll be working with HP's senior business and technology brass in order to innovate in ways that perhaps it hasn't lately, with newly-appointed CEO Meg Whitman saying the following: "Every 10 to 15 years, fundamental shifts occur in the IT industry that redefine how technology is delivered. From mainframes to client/server to the internet, companies that identified the opportunity first and developed the right strategy came out on top. As we move forward, HP intends to stay on top, and I believe Bill has the knowledge and vision to keep us there." Strangely, the release (embedded in full after the break) mentions that Bill will be leading HP's "cloud and webOS open source initiatives," but it fails to elaborate on what exactly those "initiatives" may be.

Continue reading HP appoints Bill Veghte as chief strategy officer, will lead 'cloud and webOS open source initiatives'

HP appoints Bill Veghte as chief strategy officer, will lead 'cloud and webOS open source initiatives' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FPQrcetH9W4/

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Witcher 2 dev CD Project RED ceases legal action against pirates ...

An Open Letter to the Gaming Community from CD Projekt RED

In early December, an article was published about a law firm acting on behalf of CD Projekt RED, contacting individuals who had downloaded The Witcher 2 illegally and seeking financial compensation for copyright infringement. The news about our decision to combat piracy directly, instead of with DRM, spread quickly and with it came a number of concerns from the community. Repeatedly, gamers just like you have said that our methods might wrongly accuse people who have never violated our copyright and expressed serious concern about our actions.

Being part of a community is a give-and-take process. We only succeed because you have faith in us, and we have worked hard over the years to build up that trust. We were sorry to see that many gamers felt that our actions didn't respect the faith that they have put into CD Projekt RED. Our fans always have been and remain our greatest concern, and we pride ourselves on the fact that you all know that we listen to you and take your opinions to heart. While we are confident that no one who legally owns one of our games has been required to compensate us for copyright infringement, we value our fans, our supporters, and our community too highly to take the chance that we might ever falsely accuse even one individual.

So we've decided that we will immediately cease identifying and contacting pirates.

Let's make this clear: we don't support piracy. It hurts us, the developers. It hurts the industry as a whole. Though we are staunch opponents of DRM because we don't believe it has any effect on reducing piracy, we still do not condone copying games illegally. We're doing our part to keep our relationship with you, our gaming audience, a positive one. We've heard your concerns, listened to your voices, and we're responding to them. But you need to help us and do your part: don't be indifferent to piracy. If you see a friend playing an illegal copy of a game--any game--tell your friend that they're undermining the possible success of the developer who created the very game that they are enjoying. Unless you support the developers who make the games you play, unless you pay for those games, we won't be able to produce new excellent titles for you.

Keep on playing,

Marcin Iwinski
co-founder
CD Projekt RED

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/witcher-2-dev-cd-project-red-ceases-legal-action-against-pirates/

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Simple website helps Facebook, Twitter users with security

Emiley Morgan??|? posted 32 minutes ago

A Utah doctor facing murder charges in Maryland stemming from late-term abortions she is accused of helping perform waived extradition from Utah Monday.

Shara Park??|? posted 38 minutes ago

Details of a settlement between Salt Lake County and the family of a man who starved to death in the Salt Lake County jail are being made public.

Randall Jeppesen??|? posted Jan 9th - 12:31pm

A Provo resident collecting donations for the poor, Sunday, learned the hard way that thieves are always watching for an easy target.

Becky Bruce??|? posted Jan 9th - 12:04pm

A state lawmaker hopes to make Utah the second state in the country to make it illegal for teens to use tanning salons.

Stephanie Grimes??|? posted Jan 9th - 11:02am

A controversial homework assignment is throwing slavery back into the spotlight in Georgia -- nearly a century and a half after the conclusion of the Civil War.

Jared Page??|? posted Jan 9th - 10:15am

Douglas Martin, an auctioneer from nearby Sandown, said Jon Huntsman Jr. is a candidate who knows how to campaign in the Granite State.

ksl.com??|? posted Jan 9th - 7:50am

Police are looking for a man who entered a Dominos pizza shop in Murray, pulled a white bandanna over his face, showed a gun and robbed the place.

Richard Piatt and John Daley??|? posted Jan 8th - 10:14pm

As the nation's presidential primary approaches, the gloves are off, as candidates attacked frontrunner Mitt Romney from all sides in the final debate Sunday in New Hampshire.

Dennis Romboy??|? posted Jan 8th - 8:23pm

A St. George lawyer will replace former Utah House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, in the Utah Legislature.

Emiley Morgan??|? posted Jan 8th - 8:10pm

The Utah Court of Appeals has refused to dismiss charges against a South Jordan couple accused of killing their baby in 2006 by sleeping with him - their second child to die in bed with them.

ksl.com??|? posted Jan 8th - 7:49pm

Ann Taylor, the women's apparel store, will open a new store at the soon-to-be-completed City Creek Center in Salt Lake City.

Dennis Romboy??|? posted Jan 8th - 6:42pm

Rep. Chris Herrod recalled the anxiety he felt when he ventured into East Berlin while studying abroad 30 years ago.

Steve Fidel??|? posted Jan 8th - 5:34pm

Neil Uemura spent a year and a half in Iraq with the Army and then spent the year after returning home looking for work.

Jared Page and Sandra Yi??|? posted Jan 8th - 3:56pm

Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Nate Hutchinson, one of six officers shot during a drug raid last week, has been released from the hospital.

ksl.com??|? posted Jan 8th - 3:47pm

The Utah Court of Appeals has a new presiding judge in Carolyn McHugh, who began her two-year term on Jan. 1.

Lisa Riley Roche??|? posted Jan 8th - 3:27pm

Sparks flew this morning in the final debate before New Hampshire's Tuesday presidential primary between the two candidates with Utah ties in the race.

Steve Fidel??|? posted Jan 8th - 2:48pm

Officials in two city halls suggest "Much Ado About Nothing" would be a more fitting description of the saga portraying Sandy as being in a fierce contest with Salt Lake City over the location of a Broadway-style theater.

Jasen Lee??|? posted Jan 8th - 1:29pm

One of Utah's top tea party leaders is throwing his hat into the gubernatorial ring to challenge Gov. Gary Herbert in November ? well, sort of.

Jared Page??|? posted Jan 8th - 12:00pm

A 35-year-old Layton man was injured during an apparent drive-by shooting at an apartment complex Friday night.

Associated Press??|? posted Jan 8th - 9:33am

A nonprofit therapeutic equine riding program for children with special needs and behavior problems is seeking funding for its move to a new home in Utah.

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Source: http://www.ksl.com?nid=968&sid=18798435&s_cid=rss-968

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Drones now account for one third of U.S. warplanes (Yahoo! News)

More than 7,000 remotely piloted aircraft are in service, Army has the most

There's a reason that drone aircraft have become so closely associated with military action, and it's not just because the idea of remotely piloted planes makes the U.S. armed forces seem really high-tech. The truth is that, over the last six years, America's military has grown its number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from 5% to more than 30% of its total aircraft.

According to a new Congressional report, the country's military now has 7,494 drone aircraft in use, compared to 10,767 traditional, manned planes. The Army accounts for most of the drones: 5,346 of the tiny (4 lb) RQ-11 Raven, pictured, to be specific. Most of the others are the infamous Predator and its larger sibling, the Reaper, although there are a few specialized vehicles ? such as the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone captured by Iran ? in service.

The report also says that accidents involving drones are down since 2005, from 20 per 100,000 hours of flight to 7.5 during the same period ? this despite incidents like the one that saw some drones infected by a computer virus. Despite their reliability, the report indicates that drones will likely see their use for reconnaissance drop in coming years as blimps capable of carrying more (and heavier) spy equipment come into wider use.

The need for faster and more nimble combat drones will likely only climb, though, with the Air Force specifically mentioned as having a sound barrier smashing "super/hypersonic" remote fighter already in development.

[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]

(Source)

This article was written by Randy Nelson and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120110/tc_yblog_technews/drones-now-account-for-one-third-of-u-s-warplanes

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Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 all-in-one hands-on (video)

Lenovo announced the IdeaCentre A720 at CES: an all-in-one touchscreen desktop that transforms into a surface-like device by just pushing the display down. The 27-inch, 10-point multitouch display is a little bit wider than a finger and connects via a moveable armature to the base where the various ports are -- including HDMI in and out. The surface's response was still a little flaky, but with half a year ahead of them we hope Lenovo will nail it. Feel free to watch us play Pong with elastic bands and poke at bugs.

Gallery: Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 all-in-one hands-on

Continue reading Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 all-in-one hands-on (video)

Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 all-in-one hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/lenovo-ideacentre-a720-all-in-one-hands-on-video/

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[St. Petersburg Times] - Barry Larkin elected to Baseball Hall of Fame, Fred McGriff makes slight gains

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

Source: http://sportspyder.com/teams/tampa-bay-rays/articles/5588316

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Video: Cee Lo Green sings 'Amazing Grace'

Dateline NBC

'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/45935035#45935035

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Inside Mobile Apps ? Moblyng's Shutdown: Enthusiasm For HTML5 ...

Moblyng, an early player in HTML5-based mobile games, has reportedly shut down ? a sign that it?s still tough out there for companies that want to build a profitable gaming business without relying on native apps.

The company, which raised around $17 million in several venture rounds plus an investment of an undisclosed size from Motorola Mobility, is shutting down and laying off its 20 employees, according to VentureBeat.?We reached out to chief executive Stewart Putney who hasn?t yet replied for comment.

?We did not monetize enough to stay in business,? he told VentureBeat. He added, ?I remain very confident HTML5 will be a great platform for social games and media, it is simply a question of when.?

Moblyng, which started life as slideshow-creation company Fliptrack around five years ago, later pivoted to HTML5-based mobile gaming.

With so much funding behind it, it put much of its chips into the launch of Facebook?s HTML5-centric mobile platform this year.

Moblyng was one of Facebook?s launch partners when the company unveiled new viral channels for mobile apps in October.?It unveiled Social Poker Live and Word Racer alongside much bigger gaming partners like Zynga, Wooga and Storm8.?Both games had a slow start, not the explosive rush out of the gate that the very first Facebook developers saw when Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the original platform in 2007.

Both games saw more momentum in recent weeks, however. Social Poker Live and Word Racer Live have racked up 280,000 monthly actives and 120,000 monthly active users respectively.?Still, it?s far from the hundreds of thousands of daily active users a company would need to operate in the casual space successfully, let alone the fact that paid conversion rates on HTML5 are still probably lower than they are in native apps. Facebook still likely only has a fraction of the more than 225 million users that Apple has payments information on through iTunes.

Secondly, many of the HTML5-based games that debuted on Facebook?s mobile platform had usability and latency issues. Even the HTML5-based version of Zynga?s Words With Friends wasn?t so responsive when we tested it.

Because the technology is still a ways away, many of the HTML5-based gaming companies we?ve seen have gone for talent acquisition-style exits like Rocket Pack (which Disney bought) and Dextrose (which Zynga acquired).

?

Source: http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2012/01/09/moblyngs-shutdown-enthusiasm-for-html5-gaming-is-still-a-little-premature/

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