For the health sector in Uttar Pradesh, the last few years have been mired in controversies and graft during the previous BSP government where a multi crore scam in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) caught national headlines. Last week when the state was awarded the 'Most Improved State' award by the union government, not only was the infamous past washed away but a new beginning was ushered in.
With Smart Cards made for 48 lakh families under the National Health Insurance Scheme, many feel this was a 360 degree turnaround in the health sector of Uttar Pradesh. Officials say, the success run was largely reached due to the leadership of the Chief Minister Mr. Akhilesh Yadav and the clear cut message of deliverance given from the State's Health Minister Mr. Ahmad Hasan.
The reward is a huge recognition to the efforts of thousands of workers in the state government who let this milestone happen. Under the scheme, the UPRIMSR in Saifai, Etawah has been rewarded for its good and laudable work as an independent hospital. Compared to the first phase of the scheme, more than 25% of the below poverty line (BPL) population has been assimilated and smart cards for 48, 65,692 families have been made.
As part of course correction, taken as part of the inferences drawn from the first phase of the scheme where the claims were not attended to by listed hospitals due to tardy payment schedules, for the first time the anomalies were weeded out by the help of technique and weekly reviews and a server was established at the state level. The intervention and initiative saw miraculous results and of the claims made by listed hospitals, as many as 74% were settled within 30 days.
To ensure and enhance transparency in listing of hospitals, a district insurance committee was formed under the chairmanship of the district magistrate at district levels. This committee comprised of the district magistrate, the chief medical officer/DKMA and the representatives of the selected insurance company and after due deliberations, the recommendations to list hospitals was sent for approval to SACHI.
Owing to the prompt process and quick decision making, 1486 hospitals have been listed so far, of which 823 are private hospitals while 663 are government hospitals. Aware of road blocks for the first time a two tier complaint redressal system was set rolling in which claimants dissatisfied with decisions could appeal to district and then to the state level committee.
The scheme, kick started to benefit the BPL families, as per the 2002 census provides a smart card at a basic fee of Rs 30 which is used to meet all administrative expenses incurred in the scheme. The field key officer (FKO) is named for the completion of the nomination process in which a family, with considered unit of five, is listed on the smart card. The hitherto used 32 kb card has been replaced by a 64 kb card so that the beneficiaries can avail the benefits of both the state and central schemes.
To smart card holding families a sum of Rs 30,000 is entitled on floater basis for one year and a total of 1090 pre decided diseases/packages is available through indoor patient facilities. The scheme also entails giving of food and Rs 100 per day for transport on discharge from hospital but a maximum of Rs 1,000 in a year. 75% of the annual premium on the scheme is borne by the central government and the remaining 25% by the state government.
The cost of a smart card (Rs 60) is separately borne by the union government. Till March 31, 2013 48 lakh smart cards have been made in Uttar Pradesh and nomination process is underway in 21 districts, by the end of which 58 lakh beneficiary families are likely to be assimilated in the scheme. The scheme is an added benefit for residents of the state who are already availing the 108 ambulance service for emergency services.
I have no views on the musical abilities of Canadian-born pop star Justin Bieber. But I do have strong views about the new prepaid debit card he has recently endorsed, called the SpendSmart Prepaid Mastercard. Although Justin Bieber says this prepaid card will help teenagers learn how to manage their personal finances, it will ultimately teach teenagers only one fundamental truth: Prepaid debit cards are not a good product. Teenagers and anyone else — including college students — are better off getting a savings and checking account with a local credit union than buying a prepaid debit card.
In the abstract, prepaid debit cards sound like a great idea. A person doesn’t have to worry about opening up a savings or checking account with a bank or another analogous financial institution to use plastic. But the abstract benefits of prepaid debit cards don’t coincide with the basic reality of the harms they inflict on average American consumers. As Mitchell Weiss, co-founder of the University of Hartford’s Center for Personal Financial Responsibility, said to U.S. News, “These cards prey on the under- and unbanked, who mistakenly believe they’re more economical than having a traditional checking account.”
Weiss is entirely correct. These prepaid debit cards don’t help consumers. This is evident from the multitude of fees these cards charge their users. For example, let’s look at the SpendSmart prepaid debit card that Justin Bieber is so enthusiastic about. It charges a monthly fee of $3.95, a $1.50 fee each time a card user withdraws funds from an ATM, a $0.50 fee each time a card user checks his or her card balance using an ATM and a $3 fee each time a card user does not use his or her card for a 30-day period.
The SpendSmart card is not the only prepaid debit card to charge exorbitant and excessive fees. Of 15 prepaid debit cards that Consumer Reports examined, five charged card users for not using their debit cards during a certain time period, 13 charged card users monthly fees and 14 charged card users for withdrawing funds from an ATM. Thus, it seems obvious from the empirical evidence that these prepaid debit cards do not serve the interests of consumers. Instead, they mainly serve the interests of wealthy corporations. As Michelle Jun, a lawyer with Consumers Union, said to The New York Times, “We would not recommend that parents use prepaid cards for their teens. It doesn’t help your teen establish a credit history or a relationship with a financial institution, so we recommend going the traditional route and opening up a checking account at your bank or credit union of choice.”
Recently, some of the biggest American financial conglomerates — including JP Morgan — have gotten into the prepaid debit card business, an activity these institutions avoided in the past. Why are these institutions suddenly so interested in the prepaid debit card business? The biggest reasons are the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and regulations subsequently enacted pursuant to Dodd-Frank and the Credit CARD Act of 2009, which include new restrictions on how much financial institutions can earn from debit card fees.
Showing posts with label premature mortality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label premature mortality. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Is one-click shopping too easy?
American Express recently partnered with Twitter to launch Amex Sync, which lets users store their credit-card information online and buy promoted products instantly by tweeting special hashtags.
After a successful limited launch last March, the credit-card company brought out an expanded version for 2013, enabling users to buy promoted items from Amazon, Sony, Xbox, and others with a single tweet.
Such purchasing ease is great for retailers and convenient for consumers – perhaps too convenient, experts warn. As one-touch purchasing expands, retailers may be making it too easy for people to shop, boosting impulse buying and overspending. For incautious consumers, it could be financially dangerous.
"It can be a tricky way to pay," says Farnoosh Torabi, a personal finance coach and host of the "Financially Fit" Web series on Yahoo. "Money is abstract as it is, and it's why a lot of us have a hard time managing it. If you have to see money leave your wallet, overspending is harder. But with things like Google Wallet, it's very easy, a lot quicker. And we already tend to overspend with credit cards."
Online retailers have been streamlining purchases for years. What began with one-click purchasing on iTunes and Amazon has expanded to payment platforms with multiple retailers. Google Wallet lets users make online and in-store purchases with the click of a button or the wave of a phone at participating merchants. Visa has V.me, a Pay-Pal-like service that allies with banks to sync major credit cards (MasterCard, American Express, and Discover) to an ever-growing list of stores. MasterCard is planning its own virtual wallet.
"Where V.me is accepted, you'll never have to enter your card number or shipping preferences again," the website boasts.
The move to Twitter is the latest move in this expansion. So far, Amex Sync is limited to special promotions – the Twitter equivalent of flash sales. But the technology could lead to more.
"The underlying capability of using Card Sync to make purchases could translate across a variety of platforms, partners, and markets," American Express spokesman Bradley Minor writes via e-mail. "We wanted to bring this new experience to Twitter first because we think this is the most dramatic manifestation of what our technology can do."
The advent of smart phones has also increased the efficiency of purchasing. Not long ago, shoppers had to sit at their computers to shop online, but now, "more people have access via smart phones and tablets," says Chris Christopher, an economist with IHS Global Insight based in Lexington, Mass.
"Changing the environment to be so frictionless can make the money nonapparent," says Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and the author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions." At least "when you [enter credit-card information], you think about the money you are giving up."
The Twitter connection is even more problematic, because it occurs outside a traditional shopping venue and in an environment that encourages instantaneous expression of thought and emotions, according to Ms. Torabi. "If emotions are high, things can get out of hand very easily," she says, noting that users are constantly getting into trouble for hastily writing tweets they later regret. "As a financial coach, I wouldn't recommend this."
But a more user-friendly shopping environment has its upsides, too. It clears any obstacles to helpful purchases and aids the impulse to do good things online, like giving to charity.
To maximize the benefits while minimizing the risk of getting into financial trouble, Torabi recommends a few guidelines: Avoid items with a limited availability that are associated with a window of opportunity – coupons on Groupon, or "flash sales" on sites like gilt.com. "Don't fall for the marketing gimmick of 'you must act now.' You can act whenever," she says.
Second, create a decisionmaking process for yourself that involves reflecting on a purchase before pulling the trigger. Bookmark an item online and come back to it in an hour, or call up a friend to talk about it. Read the fine print: Many applications, for instance, come with annual service fees. What's worse, you can't return them.
Third, fight fire with fire: Arm yourself with tools to make checking your finances easier and more automatic. Download a mobile banking app and monitor it. "If you know you only have $50 left in your savings account for the month, you're probably going to hold off on making that purchase until next month," Torabi says.
Reward credit card users play a difficult game. With many cards, points or miles are earned from the bank, but those points and miles are entrusted to a third party’s loyalty program such as an airline or hotel program. The bank has purchased the points or miles from the third party, and awards them to their credit card customers.
But as with all loyalty programs, these points are only worth as much as the awards they can be redeemed for. And the fact is that these loyalty programs always reserve the right to make changes to their program at any time. These changes can sometimes be improvements, but more often, these changes have the effect of reducing the value of the member’s points or miles. For example, the Hilton HHonors program recently announced a new award chart that massively increases the amount of points needed to redeem free nights at their properties. As a result, Hilton HHonors points are now worth far less than they had been.
After a successful limited launch last March, the credit-card company brought out an expanded version for 2013, enabling users to buy promoted items from Amazon, Sony, Xbox, and others with a single tweet.
Such purchasing ease is great for retailers and convenient for consumers – perhaps too convenient, experts warn. As one-touch purchasing expands, retailers may be making it too easy for people to shop, boosting impulse buying and overspending. For incautious consumers, it could be financially dangerous.
"It can be a tricky way to pay," says Farnoosh Torabi, a personal finance coach and host of the "Financially Fit" Web series on Yahoo. "Money is abstract as it is, and it's why a lot of us have a hard time managing it. If you have to see money leave your wallet, overspending is harder. But with things like Google Wallet, it's very easy, a lot quicker. And we already tend to overspend with credit cards."
Online retailers have been streamlining purchases for years. What began with one-click purchasing on iTunes and Amazon has expanded to payment platforms with multiple retailers. Google Wallet lets users make online and in-store purchases with the click of a button or the wave of a phone at participating merchants. Visa has V.me, a Pay-Pal-like service that allies with banks to sync major credit cards (MasterCard, American Express, and Discover) to an ever-growing list of stores. MasterCard is planning its own virtual wallet.
"Where V.me is accepted, you'll never have to enter your card number or shipping preferences again," the website boasts.
The move to Twitter is the latest move in this expansion. So far, Amex Sync is limited to special promotions – the Twitter equivalent of flash sales. But the technology could lead to more.
"The underlying capability of using Card Sync to make purchases could translate across a variety of platforms, partners, and markets," American Express spokesman Bradley Minor writes via e-mail. "We wanted to bring this new experience to Twitter first because we think this is the most dramatic manifestation of what our technology can do."
The advent of smart phones has also increased the efficiency of purchasing. Not long ago, shoppers had to sit at their computers to shop online, but now, "more people have access via smart phones and tablets," says Chris Christopher, an economist with IHS Global Insight based in Lexington, Mass.
"Changing the environment to be so frictionless can make the money nonapparent," says Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and the author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions." At least "when you [enter credit-card information], you think about the money you are giving up."
The Twitter connection is even more problematic, because it occurs outside a traditional shopping venue and in an environment that encourages instantaneous expression of thought and emotions, according to Ms. Torabi. "If emotions are high, things can get out of hand very easily," she says, noting that users are constantly getting into trouble for hastily writing tweets they later regret. "As a financial coach, I wouldn't recommend this."
But a more user-friendly shopping environment has its upsides, too. It clears any obstacles to helpful purchases and aids the impulse to do good things online, like giving to charity.
To maximize the benefits while minimizing the risk of getting into financial trouble, Torabi recommends a few guidelines: Avoid items with a limited availability that are associated with a window of opportunity – coupons on Groupon, or "flash sales" on sites like gilt.com. "Don't fall for the marketing gimmick of 'you must act now.' You can act whenever," she says.
Second, create a decisionmaking process for yourself that involves reflecting on a purchase before pulling the trigger. Bookmark an item online and come back to it in an hour, or call up a friend to talk about it. Read the fine print: Many applications, for instance, come with annual service fees. What's worse, you can't return them.
Third, fight fire with fire: Arm yourself with tools to make checking your finances easier and more automatic. Download a mobile banking app and monitor it. "If you know you only have $50 left in your savings account for the month, you're probably going to hold off on making that purchase until next month," Torabi says.
Reward credit card users play a difficult game. With many cards, points or miles are earned from the bank, but those points and miles are entrusted to a third party’s loyalty program such as an airline or hotel program. The bank has purchased the points or miles from the third party, and awards them to their credit card customers.
But as with all loyalty programs, these points are only worth as much as the awards they can be redeemed for. And the fact is that these loyalty programs always reserve the right to make changes to their program at any time. These changes can sometimes be improvements, but more often, these changes have the effect of reducing the value of the member’s points or miles. For example, the Hilton HHonors program recently announced a new award chart that massively increases the amount of points needed to redeem free nights at their properties. As a result, Hilton HHonors points are now worth far less than they had been.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Bridger 'probably killed' April
Former lifeguard Mark Bridger is "probably responsible" for the death of five-year-old April Jones but denies her abduction and murder, a court has been told.
Bridger, of Mount Pleasant farmhouse in the village of Ceinws, near Machynlleth, will stand trial later this year accused of murdering April, who went missing in mid-Wales last year.
April was last seen playing out on her bike on Machynlleth's Bryn-y-Gog estate, where she lived, on the evening of October 1. Bridger was arrested the following day, but the search for April's body goes on.
Bridger entered not guilty pleas to abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice at Mold Crown Court.
But Brendan Kelly, defending, told the court his client's defence involves him "conceding that he probably killed the child".
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams said: "That matter can be reported. You have indicated that the defendant's case is that he was probably responsible for the death of April." The judge ordered that no other evidence in the case can be reported.
April's parents Coral and Paul Jones were in court as Bridger, 46, entered his not guilty pleas. The case sparked an outpouring of support for April's family, with hundreds of people joining the search. April's parents were led into the court before Bridger was brought up. Mrs Jones, wearing a black cardigan, pink T-shirt and black trousers, and Mr Jones, wearing a salmon pink shirt, sat to the side of the dock, just 10ft away from Bridger. The defendant, with short cropped hair and goatee beard, was then brought in and confirmed his name to the court.
Both parents stared at Bridger as the charges were read to him. Bridger stood, his arms behind his back, and looked forward as he entered not guilty pleas to abducting and murdering April and a further charge of perverting the course of public justice. At one point Bridger, wearing a navy blue jumper with a pair of spectacles tucked into his collar, appeared to be making an effort to compose himself as he entered his pleas and looked up towards the ceiling as he entered his final not guilty plea. At one point during the hearing, Mrs Jones wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue.
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams refused an application from the defence to move the trial out of the North Wales area. Mr Kelly said the defendant was of the belief that his right to a fair trial "would be better served elsewhere". But the judge said Mold Crown Court was an appropriate venue for the trial and that he was satisfied the jury system was "more than sufficient" to address any concerns about prejudice to the defendant.
Each prize is a 24-karat-gold-plated statuette atop a marble pedestal, and since 2009, the production of this iconic trophy has been the business of Society Awards, a New York-based design and manufacturing company catering to the awards industry.
David Moritz, CEO of Society Awards, founded the company in 2007 and has since become something of a trophy tycoon, manufacturing prizes for the American Music Awards, MTV Movie and Video Music Awards, the Sundance Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards, among many others. His company also makes the awards for some of reality television’s most famous competitions, such as “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
Despite his busy pre-award-season schedule, Moritz took some time to talk with BusinessNewsDaily about his role in creating one of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards and how a one-time entertainment lawyer found his niche in an antiquated industry in need of an upgrade.
Moritz said it took some doing to persuade the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the awards show, to put its trust in his young company. But after many months of unrelenting salesmanship, the association agreed to give Society Awards a shot.
“I promised them that I would always personally take care of their every need and always think of new ways to make things better, and I work hard every year coming through on that promise for them,” Moritz said.
The first thing Moritz did was to provide the statuette with a much-needed face lift. The design of the globe, which features the earth encircled by a film strip atop a marble pedestal, didn’t change, but the process of making the statue underwent serious improvement. The award is now more lustrous and as durable as a car engine part.
Moritz, who is involved in every aspect of his company’s design and manufacturing process, explained the finer points of making a Golden Globe. The core of the globe is die-cast zinc. The zinc is injected under heat and pressure into a tool steel mold. The globe gets its gold sheen once a 24-karat electroplating is applied over the core. The globe is then hand-polished and lacquered and placed atop a base. The base, made of muted brown marble, comes from Eastern Europe.
Moritz said that before Society Awards came along, no one in the industry would have gone to so much trouble to produce so few statues. But one of the secrets to Moritz’s success seems to be his willingness to go out of his way to make clients happy.
Moritz has a grand vision for his company, and this is reflected in all of his business decisions, from the industrial production of every award to the immaculate interior of his offices.
Committed to excellent service, Moritz said he considers himself and his employees to be the awards' “custodians,” responsible not only for manufacturing each award but for personalizing it and storing it until the ceremony.
Society Awards also works with its clients on marketing initiatives, collaborations with product designers, and ideas for new projects. While all these extra services clearly represent an effort to create the best possible relationship with clients, they also do a lot to further Society Awards' image as a luxury brand.
Bridger, of Mount Pleasant farmhouse in the village of Ceinws, near Machynlleth, will stand trial later this year accused of murdering April, who went missing in mid-Wales last year.
April was last seen playing out on her bike on Machynlleth's Bryn-y-Gog estate, where she lived, on the evening of October 1. Bridger was arrested the following day, but the search for April's body goes on.
Bridger entered not guilty pleas to abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice at Mold Crown Court.
But Brendan Kelly, defending, told the court his client's defence involves him "conceding that he probably killed the child".
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams said: "That matter can be reported. You have indicated that the defendant's case is that he was probably responsible for the death of April." The judge ordered that no other evidence in the case can be reported.
April's parents Coral and Paul Jones were in court as Bridger, 46, entered his not guilty pleas. The case sparked an outpouring of support for April's family, with hundreds of people joining the search. April's parents were led into the court before Bridger was brought up. Mrs Jones, wearing a black cardigan, pink T-shirt and black trousers, and Mr Jones, wearing a salmon pink shirt, sat to the side of the dock, just 10ft away from Bridger. The defendant, with short cropped hair and goatee beard, was then brought in and confirmed his name to the court.
Both parents stared at Bridger as the charges were read to him. Bridger stood, his arms behind his back, and looked forward as he entered not guilty pleas to abducting and murdering April and a further charge of perverting the course of public justice. At one point Bridger, wearing a navy blue jumper with a pair of spectacles tucked into his collar, appeared to be making an effort to compose himself as he entered his pleas and looked up towards the ceiling as he entered his final not guilty plea. At one point during the hearing, Mrs Jones wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue.
Mr Justice Griffith-Williams refused an application from the defence to move the trial out of the North Wales area. Mr Kelly said the defendant was of the belief that his right to a fair trial "would be better served elsewhere". But the judge said Mold Crown Court was an appropriate venue for the trial and that he was satisfied the jury system was "more than sufficient" to address any concerns about prejudice to the defendant.
Each prize is a 24-karat-gold-plated statuette atop a marble pedestal, and since 2009, the production of this iconic trophy has been the business of Society Awards, a New York-based design and manufacturing company catering to the awards industry.
David Moritz, CEO of Society Awards, founded the company in 2007 and has since become something of a trophy tycoon, manufacturing prizes for the American Music Awards, MTV Movie and Video Music Awards, the Sundance Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards, among many others. His company also makes the awards for some of reality television’s most famous competitions, such as “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
Despite his busy pre-award-season schedule, Moritz took some time to talk with BusinessNewsDaily about his role in creating one of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards and how a one-time entertainment lawyer found his niche in an antiquated industry in need of an upgrade.
Moritz said it took some doing to persuade the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the awards show, to put its trust in his young company. But after many months of unrelenting salesmanship, the association agreed to give Society Awards a shot.
“I promised them that I would always personally take care of their every need and always think of new ways to make things better, and I work hard every year coming through on that promise for them,” Moritz said.
The first thing Moritz did was to provide the statuette with a much-needed face lift. The design of the globe, which features the earth encircled by a film strip atop a marble pedestal, didn’t change, but the process of making the statue underwent serious improvement. The award is now more lustrous and as durable as a car engine part.
Moritz, who is involved in every aspect of his company’s design and manufacturing process, explained the finer points of making a Golden Globe. The core of the globe is die-cast zinc. The zinc is injected under heat and pressure into a tool steel mold. The globe gets its gold sheen once a 24-karat electroplating is applied over the core. The globe is then hand-polished and lacquered and placed atop a base. The base, made of muted brown marble, comes from Eastern Europe.
Moritz said that before Society Awards came along, no one in the industry would have gone to so much trouble to produce so few statues. But one of the secrets to Moritz’s success seems to be his willingness to go out of his way to make clients happy.
Moritz has a grand vision for his company, and this is reflected in all of his business decisions, from the industrial production of every award to the immaculate interior of his offices.
Committed to excellent service, Moritz said he considers himself and his employees to be the awards' “custodians,” responsible not only for manufacturing each award but for personalizing it and storing it until the ceremony.
Society Awards also works with its clients on marketing initiatives, collaborations with product designers, and ideas for new projects. While all these extra services clearly represent an effort to create the best possible relationship with clients, they also do a lot to further Society Awards' image as a luxury brand.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
What is going wrong with Indian society?
Without doubt, one is compelled to salute the manner in which thousands across the country have protested against gang rape of a 23-year-old woman, earlier this month in India’s capital city. At the same time, one cannot but speculate on whether this actually spells an end to heinous crimes of this nature.
Sadly, even demonstrations at Delhi’s India Gate have not been tension-free. Attempts made by some factions to politicise the issue and perpetuate violence have led to clashes between the police and demonstrators. And this brings us to square one. Demonstrations can attract media attention and create some political pressure but cannot be expected to end such crimes. Rather, they can also provoke tension, social as well as political.
Besides, how can it be forgotten that this is not the first time that women in India have been victimised in such a brutal manner. During Gujarat carnage, hundreds of Muslim women faced sexual assaults, murders of their family members, including that of unborn children carried by pregnant ones. The surviving ones have yet to recover from that trauma.
Criminals in only a handful of these cases have been imprisoned. Capital punishment has not been announced for any of the accused, even though many were guilty of committing crimes such as rape, murder, causing injury, damaging property and riotous behaviour repeatedly over a considerable stretch of time. It would be fair if the respected protesters move beyond demanding justice for the victim and capital punishment for criminals only in case of this 23-year-old girl.
It is shameful that the girl was subjected to this heinous crime in a public transport. No less shameful is the fact that criminals, during Gujarat carnage, attacked women in their places of residence. Why there is no demand for similar punishments for crimes of the same nature?
Assuring punishment, however, does not guarantee that crimes of this nature will cease occurring in India. The heinous manner in which the 23-year-old girl was gang-raped and wounded reflects the degree to which the country’s polity, society and administration are afflicted by several evils. It is a tragedy that the country which till date has been hailed for its cultural values and norms is now being looked down upon by its own citizens because of the shameful act. And this demands introspection into what has really wrong. The incident may not have taken place if even one or two of the gang had objected and prevented others from moving ahead.
True, the local police cannot be absolved of their responsibility of not being on patrol in the area. Yet, simply passing on the blame onto the police, government and other officials does not remove the malaise from where it really begins. Even capital punishment for criminals does not guarantee this.
The malaise is increasing frenzy with which people, particularly new generations, have become callous toward what was once viewed as their social and cultural duty as well as obligation. They have started giving more importance to abusing the same. This appears to be trend, among those for whom values such as respect for women and elders carry no importance. What has led men in Indian society to this stage? What is responsible for a certain number of them turning to crime?
Here, it may be noted, urban areas have in recent years reflected an increase in criminal activities such as murder, drunken-driving and also rapes. Should neo-rich culture be to a degree blamed for this? Or does the actual fault lie in certain basic values being absolutely ignored by new generation, particularly males? There is no denying that tendency prevails among males of poorer sections to start earning as soon as possible. The earning is needed to partly supplement the family income. With the additional earning, the new generation of males also have tendency to adopt fast track, “fashionable” habits. Apart from dress, the latter include cell phones, having a good time and being with “girl friends.”
Superficially, nothing seems wrong with this trend. Yet, this also marks a break in this generation’s desire to spend more time at home with their family members thus abandoning socio-cultural values literally for the lust to be the “modern,” “fast-moving” type.
One may note here, little importance is given in several Indian sections to ensure that male children imbibe strong values. Their being money-earners is assumed to be enough.
A male child is still given greater preference than a female. While the former is viewed as two extra hands to earn, the latter is regarded as an extra mouth to feed and also a dowry burden. Despite dowry being illegal, the trend continues. The dowry is now linked with fashion and socioeconomic stature of involved parties. The male, in comparison with female, has the right and authority to lead his life as he wants to, with the latter viewed as a secondary citizen, submissive to desires of the former. True, there is no denying that there is nothing surprising or new about this trend in India. This needs to be linked with increasing aggressiveness in new generations of males to care little about rules and laws when it comes to fulfilling their desires.
Let us accept it. The Indian society is afflicted by a deep-rooted malaise which needs to be checked. The 23-year-old medical intern was not simply a victim of gang rapists, but of a deep-rooted ailment that led the latter view and uses her as nothing more than a sex commodity. Of course, it is great that young ones across the country have risen in protest against this incident. But till substantial efforts are undertaken to change the mindset of Indian males, females cannot be assured absolute security in India. The age-old belief, education begins at home, needs to be given greater importance. Education is not confined to simply learning how to read and write but also includes adhering to basic socio-cultural values, being mannered with respect for all, particularly elderly and women!
Sadly, even demonstrations at Delhi’s India Gate have not been tension-free. Attempts made by some factions to politicise the issue and perpetuate violence have led to clashes between the police and demonstrators. And this brings us to square one. Demonstrations can attract media attention and create some political pressure but cannot be expected to end such crimes. Rather, they can also provoke tension, social as well as political.
Besides, how can it be forgotten that this is not the first time that women in India have been victimised in such a brutal manner. During Gujarat carnage, hundreds of Muslim women faced sexual assaults, murders of their family members, including that of unborn children carried by pregnant ones. The surviving ones have yet to recover from that trauma.
Criminals in only a handful of these cases have been imprisoned. Capital punishment has not been announced for any of the accused, even though many were guilty of committing crimes such as rape, murder, causing injury, damaging property and riotous behaviour repeatedly over a considerable stretch of time. It would be fair if the respected protesters move beyond demanding justice for the victim and capital punishment for criminals only in case of this 23-year-old girl.
It is shameful that the girl was subjected to this heinous crime in a public transport. No less shameful is the fact that criminals, during Gujarat carnage, attacked women in their places of residence. Why there is no demand for similar punishments for crimes of the same nature?
Assuring punishment, however, does not guarantee that crimes of this nature will cease occurring in India. The heinous manner in which the 23-year-old girl was gang-raped and wounded reflects the degree to which the country’s polity, society and administration are afflicted by several evils. It is a tragedy that the country which till date has been hailed for its cultural values and norms is now being looked down upon by its own citizens because of the shameful act. And this demands introspection into what has really wrong. The incident may not have taken place if even one or two of the gang had objected and prevented others from moving ahead.
True, the local police cannot be absolved of their responsibility of not being on patrol in the area. Yet, simply passing on the blame onto the police, government and other officials does not remove the malaise from where it really begins. Even capital punishment for criminals does not guarantee this.
The malaise is increasing frenzy with which people, particularly new generations, have become callous toward what was once viewed as their social and cultural duty as well as obligation. They have started giving more importance to abusing the same. This appears to be trend, among those for whom values such as respect for women and elders carry no importance. What has led men in Indian society to this stage? What is responsible for a certain number of them turning to crime?
Here, it may be noted, urban areas have in recent years reflected an increase in criminal activities such as murder, drunken-driving and also rapes. Should neo-rich culture be to a degree blamed for this? Or does the actual fault lie in certain basic values being absolutely ignored by new generation, particularly males? There is no denying that tendency prevails among males of poorer sections to start earning as soon as possible. The earning is needed to partly supplement the family income. With the additional earning, the new generation of males also have tendency to adopt fast track, “fashionable” habits. Apart from dress, the latter include cell phones, having a good time and being with “girl friends.”
Superficially, nothing seems wrong with this trend. Yet, this also marks a break in this generation’s desire to spend more time at home with their family members thus abandoning socio-cultural values literally for the lust to be the “modern,” “fast-moving” type.
One may note here, little importance is given in several Indian sections to ensure that male children imbibe strong values. Their being money-earners is assumed to be enough.
A male child is still given greater preference than a female. While the former is viewed as two extra hands to earn, the latter is regarded as an extra mouth to feed and also a dowry burden. Despite dowry being illegal, the trend continues. The dowry is now linked with fashion and socioeconomic stature of involved parties. The male, in comparison with female, has the right and authority to lead his life as he wants to, with the latter viewed as a secondary citizen, submissive to desires of the former. True, there is no denying that there is nothing surprising or new about this trend in India. This needs to be linked with increasing aggressiveness in new generations of males to care little about rules and laws when it comes to fulfilling their desires.
Let us accept it. The Indian society is afflicted by a deep-rooted malaise which needs to be checked. The 23-year-old medical intern was not simply a victim of gang rapists, but of a deep-rooted ailment that led the latter view and uses her as nothing more than a sex commodity. Of course, it is great that young ones across the country have risen in protest against this incident. But till substantial efforts are undertaken to change the mindset of Indian males, females cannot be assured absolute security in India. The age-old belief, education begins at home, needs to be given greater importance. Education is not confined to simply learning how to read and write but also includes adhering to basic socio-cultural values, being mannered with respect for all, particularly elderly and women!
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Lines Blur as Texas Gives Industries a Bonanza
Along with the huge job growth, the state has the third-highest proportion of hourly jobs paying at or below minimum wage. And despite its low level of unemployment, Texas has the 11th-highest poverty rate among states.
“While economic development is the mantra of most officials, there’s a question of when does economic development end and corporate welfare begin,” said Dale Craymer, the president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a group supported by business that favors incentives programs.
In a state that markets itself as “wide open for business,” the lines are often blurred between decision makers and beneficiaries, according to interviews with dozens of state and local officials and corporate representatives. The government in many instances is relying on businesses and consultants like Mr. Ryan for suggestions on what incentives to grant and which companies should receive them, as well as on other factors that directly affect public spending and budgets, the interviews show.
Mr. Ryan does not claim to be neutral on where the money should go. “It’s widely known that I represent a lot of taxpayers,” he said in an interview. “I have client relationships with people who hopefully, if they invest in Texas, they’ll receive incentives.”
Granting corporate incentives has become standard operating procedure for state and local governments across the country. The Times investigation found that the governments collectively give incentives worth at least $80 billion a year.
The free flow of tax breaks and subsidies in Texas makes it particularly fertile ground to examine these economic development deals and the fundamental trade-off behind them: the more states give to businesses, the less they have available in the short term to spend on basic services, a calculation made more stark by the recession.
To help balance its budget last year, Texas cut public education spending by $5.4 billion — a significant decrease considering that it already ranked 11th from the bottom among all states in per-pupil financing, according to recent data from the Census Bureau. Yet highly profitable companies like Dow Chemical and Texas Instruments continue to enjoy hefty discounts on their school tax bills through one of the state’s economic development programs.
In the Manor school district, which comprises the town and part of Austin, Samsung has been awarded more than $231 million in incentives from state and local officials. But the recent budget cuts have left the district with crowded classes and fewer programs.
Mr. Perry, who took office at the end of 2000, has been a longtime proponent of lowering taxes. He said in an interview that companies could put the money to better use than the government and would spend it in ways that would create jobs and help Texans.
“Facebook, eBay, Apple — all of those within the last two years have announced major expansions in Texas,” Mr. Perry said. “They’re coming because it is given, it is covenant, in these boardrooms across America, that our tax structure, regulatory climate and legal environment are very positive to those businesses.”
He acknowledged that the state’s job growth was not erasing persistent poverty, saying that “we are going to have people that fall through the cracks.” He said creating jobs was the best way to help Texans, who “don’t want government assistance when they can do it themselves.”
But relying on companies does not always turn out well. When Amazon set up a distribution center outside Dallas, it received incentives from the state. Six years later, when the company got into a tax dispute with the state, it shut the warehouse, which employed as many as 2,000 people during its peak season.
Nationwide, a whole industry of consultants has grown up around state efforts to lure companies with incentives. Companies like Ernst & Young, Deloitte and Automatic Data Processing, a payroll company, have divisions dedicated to helping companies search for the best deals.
Mr. Ryan’s Dallas-based firm, Ryan LLC, operates in 27 states and seven countries and represents numerous Fortune 500 companies. Texas alone is a big source of business for Mr. Ryan, who has won tax refunds of more than $20 million each for ExxonMobil and Raytheon. This year, he sought similar amounts for Verizon, Freescale Semiconductor and several other companies, according to state documents obtained through an open records request.
At the same time, Mr. Ryan has become one of the state’s most generous political donors. He co-founded a political action committee last year that supported Mr. Perry’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination and donated $250,000.
Even as business leaders press local governments to give out more incentives, they warn against requiring too much in return.
In Travis County, which includes Austin, commissioners recently passed new rules for companies that receive tax abatements. One requires paying employees $11 an hour, an amount the county considers to be a living wage.
The rules had been contested by the business community. “The more stipulations you put into an agreement, the more complicated it becomes and the less competitive we become,” Gary Farmer, a local business leader who runs an insurance company, told the county commissioners at a hearing. “We’re concerned about including a living wage into the policy, as we believe that could have a chilling effect on certain companies.”
When Mr. Perry became governor in 2000, Texas was not a major player in the incentives game. He quickly got his first taste during a bidding war among states when Boeing was hunting for a new location for its headquarters.
Texas ultimately lost to Illinois, which awarded Boeing $52.5 million in incentives, but the episode was a turning point. “We came back in here after we lost that,” Mr. Perry said, “and we analyzed our economic development efforts, and that’s when we started making some changes.”
Mr. Perry got the money flowing through two new cash funds created to recruit businesses. One, the Texas Enterprise Fund, awarded more than $410 million over eight years, according to the governor’s office, and the recipients said they would create more than 54,000 jobs. The fund requires companies that do not meet their job targets to return incentive money.
The arrest of a Baltimore blogger this weekend showed how a normally mundane bit of police work — the serving of a warrant — can be complicated in an age of Twitter and Internet radio. It briefly put a national spotlight on what normally wouldn't even make the local news.
Frank James MacArthur, 47, a steady presence as an observer at city crime scenes and a cab driver by trade, took to Twitter and an online radio service to stream his dealings with police at his home Saturday to execute an arrest warrant connected to 2009 weapons charges for which he had received probation before judgment.
A spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services confirmed that MacArthur was being held without bond, after being taken into custody late Saturday.
MacArthur's case tested the standard approach for crisis negotiators who aim to contain a situation, cutting off the subject from outside voices, something that was easy to do in the era of land line phones but much harder now, when almost anyone can get involved in the dialogue between police and a suspect.
"You don't want this person communicating with a lot of outside people who are going to get them riled up," said Justin P. Borowsky, who has studied the relationship between hostage takers and negotiators. "Social media is going to undermine the officer's ability to do that as effectively as police have been able to do in the past."
Police said they serve dozens of warrants a week. Taking MacArthur into custody should have been routine, but in the days leading up to his eventual peaceful arrest, he had been using threatening language toward police online and suggesting that he would not go quietly.
"Poor guy I take out might have a family. He probably just following orders..." MacArthur posted as police approached his Waverly home.
Police were cautious carrying out the job Saturday night and confirmed Sunday that they had found a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition at MacArthur's home. Police also said they are recommending new gun possession charges because MacArthur is disqualified from owning firearms following a 2002 weapon conviction.
With a helicopter watching the situation unfold from above, police sent in a SWAT team and closed down the block of McKewin Ave. where MacArthur lives. For his part, the blogger took to an online radio platform he has been using in recent weeks and streamed live his conversation with a police negotiator, making public what is usually a private conversation in which an officer tries to build a rapport with his subject.
Francesco Baschieri, chief executive of Spreaker, the radio platform, said at the peak of MacArthur's broadcast 1,000 were tuned in and a total 10,000 people heard at least part of it. Late Saturday, the MacArthur case was a trending topic nationally among on users on Twitter. At one point, he exchanged Twitter messages with CNN commentator Roland Martin who urged him to give himself up.
MacArthur has complained online about the effectiveness of the Baltimore Police, and questioned its use of resources, but his hours-long standoff consumed police resources on a night when two people were shot elsewhere in the city.
“While economic development is the mantra of most officials, there’s a question of when does economic development end and corporate welfare begin,” said Dale Craymer, the president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a group supported by business that favors incentives programs.
In a state that markets itself as “wide open for business,” the lines are often blurred between decision makers and beneficiaries, according to interviews with dozens of state and local officials and corporate representatives. The government in many instances is relying on businesses and consultants like Mr. Ryan for suggestions on what incentives to grant and which companies should receive them, as well as on other factors that directly affect public spending and budgets, the interviews show.
Mr. Ryan does not claim to be neutral on where the money should go. “It’s widely known that I represent a lot of taxpayers,” he said in an interview. “I have client relationships with people who hopefully, if they invest in Texas, they’ll receive incentives.”
Granting corporate incentives has become standard operating procedure for state and local governments across the country. The Times investigation found that the governments collectively give incentives worth at least $80 billion a year.
The free flow of tax breaks and subsidies in Texas makes it particularly fertile ground to examine these economic development deals and the fundamental trade-off behind them: the more states give to businesses, the less they have available in the short term to spend on basic services, a calculation made more stark by the recession.
To help balance its budget last year, Texas cut public education spending by $5.4 billion — a significant decrease considering that it already ranked 11th from the bottom among all states in per-pupil financing, according to recent data from the Census Bureau. Yet highly profitable companies like Dow Chemical and Texas Instruments continue to enjoy hefty discounts on their school tax bills through one of the state’s economic development programs.
In the Manor school district, which comprises the town and part of Austin, Samsung has been awarded more than $231 million in incentives from state and local officials. But the recent budget cuts have left the district with crowded classes and fewer programs.
Mr. Perry, who took office at the end of 2000, has been a longtime proponent of lowering taxes. He said in an interview that companies could put the money to better use than the government and would spend it in ways that would create jobs and help Texans.
“Facebook, eBay, Apple — all of those within the last two years have announced major expansions in Texas,” Mr. Perry said. “They’re coming because it is given, it is covenant, in these boardrooms across America, that our tax structure, regulatory climate and legal environment are very positive to those businesses.”
He acknowledged that the state’s job growth was not erasing persistent poverty, saying that “we are going to have people that fall through the cracks.” He said creating jobs was the best way to help Texans, who “don’t want government assistance when they can do it themselves.”
But relying on companies does not always turn out well. When Amazon set up a distribution center outside Dallas, it received incentives from the state. Six years later, when the company got into a tax dispute with the state, it shut the warehouse, which employed as many as 2,000 people during its peak season.
Nationwide, a whole industry of consultants has grown up around state efforts to lure companies with incentives. Companies like Ernst & Young, Deloitte and Automatic Data Processing, a payroll company, have divisions dedicated to helping companies search for the best deals.
Mr. Ryan’s Dallas-based firm, Ryan LLC, operates in 27 states and seven countries and represents numerous Fortune 500 companies. Texas alone is a big source of business for Mr. Ryan, who has won tax refunds of more than $20 million each for ExxonMobil and Raytheon. This year, he sought similar amounts for Verizon, Freescale Semiconductor and several other companies, according to state documents obtained through an open records request.
At the same time, Mr. Ryan has become one of the state’s most generous political donors. He co-founded a political action committee last year that supported Mr. Perry’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination and donated $250,000.
Even as business leaders press local governments to give out more incentives, they warn against requiring too much in return.
In Travis County, which includes Austin, commissioners recently passed new rules for companies that receive tax abatements. One requires paying employees $11 an hour, an amount the county considers to be a living wage.
The rules had been contested by the business community. “The more stipulations you put into an agreement, the more complicated it becomes and the less competitive we become,” Gary Farmer, a local business leader who runs an insurance company, told the county commissioners at a hearing. “We’re concerned about including a living wage into the policy, as we believe that could have a chilling effect on certain companies.”
When Mr. Perry became governor in 2000, Texas was not a major player in the incentives game. He quickly got his first taste during a bidding war among states when Boeing was hunting for a new location for its headquarters.
Texas ultimately lost to Illinois, which awarded Boeing $52.5 million in incentives, but the episode was a turning point. “We came back in here after we lost that,” Mr. Perry said, “and we analyzed our economic development efforts, and that’s when we started making some changes.”
Mr. Perry got the money flowing through two new cash funds created to recruit businesses. One, the Texas Enterprise Fund, awarded more than $410 million over eight years, according to the governor’s office, and the recipients said they would create more than 54,000 jobs. The fund requires companies that do not meet their job targets to return incentive money.
The arrest of a Baltimore blogger this weekend showed how a normally mundane bit of police work — the serving of a warrant — can be complicated in an age of Twitter and Internet radio. It briefly put a national spotlight on what normally wouldn't even make the local news.
Frank James MacArthur, 47, a steady presence as an observer at city crime scenes and a cab driver by trade, took to Twitter and an online radio service to stream his dealings with police at his home Saturday to execute an arrest warrant connected to 2009 weapons charges for which he had received probation before judgment.
A spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services confirmed that MacArthur was being held without bond, after being taken into custody late Saturday.
MacArthur's case tested the standard approach for crisis negotiators who aim to contain a situation, cutting off the subject from outside voices, something that was easy to do in the era of land line phones but much harder now, when almost anyone can get involved in the dialogue between police and a suspect.
"You don't want this person communicating with a lot of outside people who are going to get them riled up," said Justin P. Borowsky, who has studied the relationship between hostage takers and negotiators. "Social media is going to undermine the officer's ability to do that as effectively as police have been able to do in the past."
Police said they serve dozens of warrants a week. Taking MacArthur into custody should have been routine, but in the days leading up to his eventual peaceful arrest, he had been using threatening language toward police online and suggesting that he would not go quietly.
"Poor guy I take out might have a family. He probably just following orders..." MacArthur posted as police approached his Waverly home.
Police were cautious carrying out the job Saturday night and confirmed Sunday that they had found a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition at MacArthur's home. Police also said they are recommending new gun possession charges because MacArthur is disqualified from owning firearms following a 2002 weapon conviction.
With a helicopter watching the situation unfold from above, police sent in a SWAT team and closed down the block of McKewin Ave. where MacArthur lives. For his part, the blogger took to an online radio platform he has been using in recent weeks and streamed live his conversation with a police negotiator, making public what is usually a private conversation in which an officer tries to build a rapport with his subject.
Francesco Baschieri, chief executive of Spreaker, the radio platform, said at the peak of MacArthur's broadcast 1,000 were tuned in and a total 10,000 people heard at least part of it. Late Saturday, the MacArthur case was a trending topic nationally among on users on Twitter. At one point, he exchanged Twitter messages with CNN commentator Roland Martin who urged him to give himself up.
MacArthur has complained online about the effectiveness of the Baltimore Police, and questioned its use of resources, but his hours-long standoff consumed police resources on a night when two people were shot elsewhere in the city.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Emergency planning
CHAIRMAN of the National Disaster Management Committee, the deputy prime minister, has voiced his hope that flood victims will obey any and all advice and instructions issued by the authorities, especially orders to evacuate. This is the only caveat left that can unhinge the success of flood relief management in the country. As he noted, the government has done all that is physically possible to ensure that nothing untoward happens, including, for example, making sure that the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations proceed without interruption, but cooperation from victims is integral if no lives are to be lost unnecessarily. This observation is truer in flood-prone areas where the annual threat is almost a given despite the already extant Integrated Flood Management approach adopted by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) working together with other related government agencies.
Nevertheless, the start of the rainy season in recent days has shown that this time round, it might be a little different as demonstrated by the devastating flash floods occurring in areas not prone to flooding, such as Butterworth and some Klang Valley suburbs. These areas will require greater vigilance on the part of residents -- a challenging thought. And, according to the Meteorological Department, continuous rains over several days are expected to last into March next year because of a weak El Nino, a prospect that will lead to more burst low-lying river banks and overflowing suburban clogged drains. In the case of the latter, a lack of civic awareness is the culprit. Malaysians must learn that every negative action has its horrible consequence: in this respect indiscriminate waste disposal causes flash floods, sometimes severe.
However, for those in low-lying areas subject to the downpour of the northeast monsoons that have gotten worse, due partly to global environmental degradation, they confront life-threatening situations through no fault of their own. While preparedness can help prevent unnecessary loss to property, which is estimated to cost hundreds of millions every year, it, too, is the key to survival. The affected populace must have emergency contact numbers and location of the closest evacuation centres always ready at hand. They must also keep themselves informed of the imminent danger -- rising river levels, expected heavy rains and bad weather conditions in general. Towards this end, the DID has set up InfoBajir, recently upgraded to the PublicInfoBanjir website, where almost real-time information is available. For their part, flood-prone families should have emergency plans and practice flood evacuation procedures, remembering always to follow the instructions of rescuers without protest.
Nevertheless, the start of the rainy season in recent days has shown that this time round, it might be a little different as demonstrated by the devastating flash floods occurring in areas not prone to flooding, such as Butterworth and some Klang Valley suburbs. These areas will require greater vigilance on the part of residents -- a challenging thought. And, according to the Meteorological Department, continuous rains over several days are expected to last into March next year because of a weak El Nino, a prospect that will lead to more burst low-lying river banks and overflowing suburban clogged drains. In the case of the latter, a lack of civic awareness is the culprit. Malaysians must learn that every negative action has its horrible consequence: in this respect indiscriminate waste disposal causes flash floods, sometimes severe.
However, for those in low-lying areas subject to the downpour of the northeast monsoons that have gotten worse, due partly to global environmental degradation, they confront life-threatening situations through no fault of their own. While preparedness can help prevent unnecessary loss to property, which is estimated to cost hundreds of millions every year, it, too, is the key to survival. The affected populace must have emergency contact numbers and location of the closest evacuation centres always ready at hand. They must also keep themselves informed of the imminent danger -- rising river levels, expected heavy rains and bad weather conditions in general. Towards this end, the DID has set up InfoBajir, recently upgraded to the PublicInfoBanjir website, where almost real-time information is available. For their part, flood-prone families should have emergency plans and practice flood evacuation procedures, remembering always to follow the instructions of rescuers without protest.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Malaysia – the Islamic state
The Muslims in this country have certainly come of age. Lovingly protected by the government against the pitfalls of sin and eternal damnation, today a growing majority of Muslims are attracted to the beautiful notion of being governed by the hudud penal code and becoming a true Islamic nation.
It is wonderful to know that a Muslim NGO has called for the banning of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan” movie which confuses Muslims as it promotes liberal Islam and religious pluralism. It has also warned Malaysian broadcasters against airing the hit film and called for the blocking of the distribution of the film CD.
Malay right-wing group Perkasa also called for Muslims nationwide to boycott award-winning singer Jaclyn Victor for singing the Malay-language Christian song “Harapan Bangsa”.
PAS Youth has done its bit to ban Valentine’s Day, a well-known Western celebration and live concerts which promote a loose lifestyle. And now it wants to meet the King, because the MCA president refuses to apologise for purportedly insulting Islam.
PAS is also ready to hold a discussion with former Perlis mufti Prof Madya Mohd Aszri Zainul Abidin on the “Ayatollah” issue should it ever come to power.
Malay bibles have been banned in the Peninsula and the government is serious to disallow Allah’s name to be uttered by non-Muslims.
Umno has been instrumental in the past to Islamise this nation, and it is satisfied that Malaysia is already a thriving Islamic state. It has even planned a mandatory mosque law to build a mosque in every new housing estate.
PAS, however, feels that more should be done and that the hudud penal code be part and parcel of an Islamic state.
Both parties agree that Muslims in Malaysia are weak and open to the temptations of the world. Some form of “state control” is needed to ensure that Muslims do not breach religious etiquette or go over the line.
Weak Muslims cannot be allowed to go through life without the state monitoring their progress and to provide them spiritual guidance.
Many believe that only an Islamic state will pave the way for them to exercise and exert control over the Muslims’ social, mental and spiritual upbringing.
Muslims cannot carry on living a liberal and pluralistic lifestyle like what they are doing now. Something must be done to arrest the hedonistic lifestyle of the current Muslims and a puritanical Islamic way of life must be implemented.
Of course, it is not political. Islam is above politics. Whoever wins the election will still ensure that the Islamic agenda is on course.
One day in the future, PAS may have no choice but to reunite with Umno to form an Islamic state and enforce an Islamic way of life which includes the hudud penal code.
The idea of a Malaysia for Malaysians, where the various races coexist together in peace and harmony and striving to become a developed first world nation, will not be part of this equation.
To prevent further Muslim confusion, an affirmative Muslim Agenda is necessary to ensure that Muslims in this country conform fully to the Islamic code.
Muslim men will be able to contain their sexual desires and concentrate on their work and their religious obligations without any distraction.
Muslim men may never see the face of another Muslim woman again for the rest of their lives, except for their wives. The need to spend on expensive cosmetics and latest fashion will be void.
Muslims will abandon the silly art of dating, or subscribing to love and romance. Women of child- bearing age will be encouraged to get married without delay. If they find difficulties in getting a partner, the option of being second wives should be considered. Women should not be subjected to sexual urges and impure thoughts unnecessarily while remaining single.
It will be apt to follow Saudi Arabia’s policies to disallow women from appearing in public without a related male accompaniment. Women should also be discouraged from driving or working in public.
It is wonderful to know that a Muslim NGO has called for the banning of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan” movie which confuses Muslims as it promotes liberal Islam and religious pluralism. It has also warned Malaysian broadcasters against airing the hit film and called for the blocking of the distribution of the film CD.
Malay right-wing group Perkasa also called for Muslims nationwide to boycott award-winning singer Jaclyn Victor for singing the Malay-language Christian song “Harapan Bangsa”.
PAS Youth has done its bit to ban Valentine’s Day, a well-known Western celebration and live concerts which promote a loose lifestyle. And now it wants to meet the King, because the MCA president refuses to apologise for purportedly insulting Islam.
PAS is also ready to hold a discussion with former Perlis mufti Prof Madya Mohd Aszri Zainul Abidin on the “Ayatollah” issue should it ever come to power.
Malay bibles have been banned in the Peninsula and the government is serious to disallow Allah’s name to be uttered by non-Muslims.
Umno has been instrumental in the past to Islamise this nation, and it is satisfied that Malaysia is already a thriving Islamic state. It has even planned a mandatory mosque law to build a mosque in every new housing estate.
PAS, however, feels that more should be done and that the hudud penal code be part and parcel of an Islamic state.
Both parties agree that Muslims in Malaysia are weak and open to the temptations of the world. Some form of “state control” is needed to ensure that Muslims do not breach religious etiquette or go over the line.
Weak Muslims cannot be allowed to go through life without the state monitoring their progress and to provide them spiritual guidance.
Many believe that only an Islamic state will pave the way for them to exercise and exert control over the Muslims’ social, mental and spiritual upbringing.
Muslims cannot carry on living a liberal and pluralistic lifestyle like what they are doing now. Something must be done to arrest the hedonistic lifestyle of the current Muslims and a puritanical Islamic way of life must be implemented.
Of course, it is not political. Islam is above politics. Whoever wins the election will still ensure that the Islamic agenda is on course.
One day in the future, PAS may have no choice but to reunite with Umno to form an Islamic state and enforce an Islamic way of life which includes the hudud penal code.
The idea of a Malaysia for Malaysians, where the various races coexist together in peace and harmony and striving to become a developed first world nation, will not be part of this equation.
To prevent further Muslim confusion, an affirmative Muslim Agenda is necessary to ensure that Muslims in this country conform fully to the Islamic code.
Muslim men will be able to contain their sexual desires and concentrate on their work and their religious obligations without any distraction.
Muslim men may never see the face of another Muslim woman again for the rest of their lives, except for their wives. The need to spend on expensive cosmetics and latest fashion will be void.
Muslims will abandon the silly art of dating, or subscribing to love and romance. Women of child- bearing age will be encouraged to get married without delay. If they find difficulties in getting a partner, the option of being second wives should be considered. Women should not be subjected to sexual urges and impure thoughts unnecessarily while remaining single.
It will be apt to follow Saudi Arabia’s policies to disallow women from appearing in public without a related male accompaniment. Women should also be discouraged from driving or working in public.
Malaysia – the Islamic state
The Muslims in this country have certainly come of age. Lovingly protected by the government against the pitfalls of sin and eternal damnation, today a growing majority of Muslims are attracted to the beautiful notion of being governed by the hudud penal code and becoming a true Islamic nation.
It is wonderful to know that a Muslim NGO has called for the banning of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan” movie which confuses Muslims as it promotes liberal Islam and religious pluralism. It has also warned Malaysian broadcasters against airing the hit film and called for the blocking of the distribution of the film CD.
Malay right-wing group Perkasa also called for Muslims nationwide to boycott award-winning singer Jaclyn Victor for singing the Malay-language Christian song “Harapan Bangsa”.
PAS Youth has done its bit to ban Valentine’s Day, a well-known Western celebration and live concerts which promote a loose lifestyle. And now it wants to meet the King, because the MCA president refuses to apologise for purportedly insulting Islam.
PAS is also ready to hold a discussion with former Perlis mufti Prof Madya Mohd Aszri Zainul Abidin on the “Ayatollah” issue should it ever come to power.
Malay bibles have been banned in the Peninsula and the government is serious to disallow Allah’s name to be uttered by non-Muslims.
Umno has been instrumental in the past to Islamise this nation, and it is satisfied that Malaysia is already a thriving Islamic state. It has even planned a mandatory mosque law to build a mosque in every new housing estate.
PAS, however, feels that more should be done and that the hudud penal code be part and parcel of an Islamic state.
Both parties agree that Muslims in Malaysia are weak and open to the temptations of the world. Some form of “state control” is needed to ensure that Muslims do not breach religious etiquette or go over the line.
Weak Muslims cannot be allowed to go through life without the state monitoring their progress and to provide them spiritual guidance.
Many believe that only an Islamic state will pave the way for them to exercise and exert control over the Muslims’ social, mental and spiritual upbringing.
Muslims cannot carry on living a liberal and pluralistic lifestyle like what they are doing now. Something must be done to arrest the hedonistic lifestyle of the current Muslims and a puritanical Islamic way of life must be implemented.
Of course, it is not political. Islam is above politics. Whoever wins the election will still ensure that the Islamic agenda is on course.
One day in the future, PAS may have no choice but to reunite with Umno to form an Islamic state and enforce an Islamic way of life which includes the hudud penal code.
The idea of a Malaysia for Malaysians, where the various races coexist together in peace and harmony and striving to become a developed first world nation, will not be part of this equation.
To prevent further Muslim confusion, an affirmative Muslim Agenda is necessary to ensure that Muslims in this country conform fully to the Islamic code.
Muslim men will be able to contain their sexual desires and concentrate on their work and their religious obligations without any distraction.
Muslim men may never see the face of another Muslim woman again for the rest of their lives, except for their wives. The need to spend on expensive cosmetics and latest fashion will be void.
Muslims will abandon the silly art of dating, or subscribing to love and romance. Women of child- bearing age will be encouraged to get married without delay. If they find difficulties in getting a partner, the option of being second wives should be considered. Women should not be subjected to sexual urges and impure thoughts unnecessarily while remaining single.
It will be apt to follow Saudi Arabia’s policies to disallow women from appearing in public without a related male accompaniment. Women should also be discouraged from driving or working in public.
It is wonderful to know that a Muslim NGO has called for the banning of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan” movie which confuses Muslims as it promotes liberal Islam and religious pluralism. It has also warned Malaysian broadcasters against airing the hit film and called for the blocking of the distribution of the film CD.
Malay right-wing group Perkasa also called for Muslims nationwide to boycott award-winning singer Jaclyn Victor for singing the Malay-language Christian song “Harapan Bangsa”.
PAS Youth has done its bit to ban Valentine’s Day, a well-known Western celebration and live concerts which promote a loose lifestyle. And now it wants to meet the King, because the MCA president refuses to apologise for purportedly insulting Islam.
PAS is also ready to hold a discussion with former Perlis mufti Prof Madya Mohd Aszri Zainul Abidin on the “Ayatollah” issue should it ever come to power.
Malay bibles have been banned in the Peninsula and the government is serious to disallow Allah’s name to be uttered by non-Muslims.
Umno has been instrumental in the past to Islamise this nation, and it is satisfied that Malaysia is already a thriving Islamic state. It has even planned a mandatory mosque law to build a mosque in every new housing estate.
PAS, however, feels that more should be done and that the hudud penal code be part and parcel of an Islamic state.
Both parties agree that Muslims in Malaysia are weak and open to the temptations of the world. Some form of “state control” is needed to ensure that Muslims do not breach religious etiquette or go over the line.
Weak Muslims cannot be allowed to go through life without the state monitoring their progress and to provide them spiritual guidance.
Many believe that only an Islamic state will pave the way for them to exercise and exert control over the Muslims’ social, mental and spiritual upbringing.
Muslims cannot carry on living a liberal and pluralistic lifestyle like what they are doing now. Something must be done to arrest the hedonistic lifestyle of the current Muslims and a puritanical Islamic way of life must be implemented.
Of course, it is not political. Islam is above politics. Whoever wins the election will still ensure that the Islamic agenda is on course.
One day in the future, PAS may have no choice but to reunite with Umno to form an Islamic state and enforce an Islamic way of life which includes the hudud penal code.
The idea of a Malaysia for Malaysians, where the various races coexist together in peace and harmony and striving to become a developed first world nation, will not be part of this equation.
To prevent further Muslim confusion, an affirmative Muslim Agenda is necessary to ensure that Muslims in this country conform fully to the Islamic code.
Muslim men will be able to contain their sexual desires and concentrate on their work and their religious obligations without any distraction.
Muslim men may never see the face of another Muslim woman again for the rest of their lives, except for their wives. The need to spend on expensive cosmetics and latest fashion will be void.
Muslims will abandon the silly art of dating, or subscribing to love and romance. Women of child- bearing age will be encouraged to get married without delay. If they find difficulties in getting a partner, the option of being second wives should be considered. Women should not be subjected to sexual urges and impure thoughts unnecessarily while remaining single.
It will be apt to follow Saudi Arabia’s policies to disallow women from appearing in public without a related male accompaniment. Women should also be discouraged from driving or working in public.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Flying car takes out MAX TransitTracker
Everything was in a metal box. It was just sitting there –completely exposed – at a busy Northeast Portland intersection.
On Tuesday, TriMet officials said they never imagined that a car traveling 80 mph would literally fly over the curb and destroy aging equipment needed to send out real-time arrival information used daily by tens of thousands of MAX commuters.
But that's exactly what happened at the Rose Quarter station last Thursday. As a result, Oregon's largest transit agency says it could be three or more weeks before the popular TransitTracker service for light-rail riders is back online.
MAX riders, meanwhile, are asking why TriMet didn't do a better job of protecting crucial communications gear, especially since replacement parts for the 16-year-old device are no longer available.
On Twitter, the comments were scathing: "Bad planning." " "Need bollards maybe?" "A single point of failure taken out by a car crash? Did the Galactic Empire build this?"
Rider Matt Seeman tweeted directly to TriMet: "So basically your systems are so fragile that one accident takes them out for 3 weeks? Classic."
Of course, it was an extraordinary crash. Police say the driver of the car suffered a "medical situation" after exiting I-84 west and taking the freeway ramp leading to the Rose Quarter.
Approaching Northeast First Avenue and Holladay Street, the car flipped end over end, TriMet said. It crossed through a pedestrian walkway in the middle of the Rose Quarter MAX station. The vehicle then flew across the MAX tracks, over the curb on the north platform, knocked out a pedestrian railing and smashed into the TransitTracker box.
Still, images taken by Google Maps last fall show the TransitTracker equipment box was completely exposed to any vehicle jumping the curb from the street. "The box was in a location believed to be far enough removed from automobile traffic that no one ever expected a car could get into that area," said TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt.
Now, the transit agency is scrambling to find new equipment that will work with the system. In the meantime, TriMet's online trip planner will display scheduled arrival times for all MAX stops. It will not, however, adjust for variations, as does TransitTracker.
It could be worse. In 2005, a homeless man pushed a flaming shopping cart into an analog relay room on the New York City Subway, damaging archaic 80-year-old wires and cables beyond repair. Initially, the city said it could take five years before the A and C trains would run normally again.
On Tuesday, TriMet officials said they never imagined that a car traveling 80 mph would literally fly over the curb and destroy aging equipment needed to send out real-time arrival information used daily by tens of thousands of MAX commuters.
But that's exactly what happened at the Rose Quarter station last Thursday. As a result, Oregon's largest transit agency says it could be three or more weeks before the popular TransitTracker service for light-rail riders is back online.
MAX riders, meanwhile, are asking why TriMet didn't do a better job of protecting crucial communications gear, especially since replacement parts for the 16-year-old device are no longer available.
On Twitter, the comments were scathing: "Bad planning." " "Need bollards maybe?" "A single point of failure taken out by a car crash? Did the Galactic Empire build this?"
Rider Matt Seeman tweeted directly to TriMet: "So basically your systems are so fragile that one accident takes them out for 3 weeks? Classic."
Of course, it was an extraordinary crash. Police say the driver of the car suffered a "medical situation" after exiting I-84 west and taking the freeway ramp leading to the Rose Quarter.
Approaching Northeast First Avenue and Holladay Street, the car flipped end over end, TriMet said. It crossed through a pedestrian walkway in the middle of the Rose Quarter MAX station. The vehicle then flew across the MAX tracks, over the curb on the north platform, knocked out a pedestrian railing and smashed into the TransitTracker box.
Still, images taken by Google Maps last fall show the TransitTracker equipment box was completely exposed to any vehicle jumping the curb from the street. "The box was in a location believed to be far enough removed from automobile traffic that no one ever expected a car could get into that area," said TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt.
Now, the transit agency is scrambling to find new equipment that will work with the system. In the meantime, TriMet's online trip planner will display scheduled arrival times for all MAX stops. It will not, however, adjust for variations, as does TransitTracker.
It could be worse. In 2005, a homeless man pushed a flaming shopping cart into an analog relay room on the New York City Subway, damaging archaic 80-year-old wires and cables beyond repair. Initially, the city said it could take five years before the A and C trains would run normally again.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Google’s New Hyper-Local City Guide Is a Real Trip
Google launched a new local search app for Android smartphones Thursday. It’s called Field Trip, and it’s a mixture of a hyper-local discovery tool and one of those city guidebooks you buy in tourist shops.
Field Trip grabs your location (via cell tower, Wi-Fi or GPS) and shows you nearby points of interest: restaurants, parks, art shows, cool shops, and historical factoids about the area you’re in.
It’s the latest exemplar of Google’s continuing investment in local search, from the company’s acquisition of Zagat a year ago, to May’s launch of Google Now, its voice-powered local search tool (and Siri competitor) that’s built into the latest Android OS. It also comes at a time when the company is scrambling to recover from Apple’s ceremonious dumping of its mapping partnership in iOS 6.
I tested it on a Galaxy Nexus. It’s Android-only for now, with an iOS version “coming soon,” and it’s not optimized for tablets, so it’s clear Field Trip is meant to be a phone thing. You’re given three choices for how to consume the information: a list, a map and instant notifications. You can also leave it on as you drive around, and it will talk to you, reading the local highlights aloud as you cruise through a city.
After giving it permission to access my location data (more on that later), Field Trip started filling up.
There’s an interesting-looking rock show happening tonight at Hotel Utah saloon, which is one block away. Jack London’s birthplace is a block in the other direction, at 615 Third St. (Woah, really?) HRD, the restaurant across the street, has awesome Mongolian cheesesteaks. Cool stuff to know if I was visiting the neighborhood.
Other information wasn’t so useful. FieldTrip’s lead item was a news story about Reddit users’ plan to buy a tropical island, which was likely given priority because Reddit’s office is 100 feet down the hall from my Wi-Fi router. Also, nestled between the restaurant and the nightclub was an item detailing the history of San Francisco’s original “F” streetcar line, which was discontinued in 1951. Uh, thanks.
So it’s a mix of the tantalizing and the trivial. But overall, I think it’s filled with enough useful stuff for visitors to get their bearings. If you’re pickier than me, you can upvote or downvote each item it serves, which supposedly helps tune the recommendation engine.
The app is populated using data from “dozens” of content partners, according to Google. Songkick (show information), Eater (restaurants), Flavorpill (events of all kinds), and Thrillist (hot cafes and shops) are there to tell you where to go and what to eat. Architizer (public art, interesting buildings), Remodelista (designy boutiques), and Inhabitat (a designy blog) are there for the nerdier stuff. You can turn any of these services on or off, or ask to see more or less of the items from each partner.
Also served to you are Google Offers, which show up as coupons and deals for nearby businesses, and restaurant reviews from Zagat, Google’s crown jewel in this space. These can also be turned on and off. The New York Times has an in-depth look at what Field Trip means for Google’s emerging play in the augmented reality and local search businesses.
More about those location-sharing options: In order for the app to work, of course, you have to agree to share your phone’s whereabouts with Google. There’s no in-app language about how and where this information is stored, or for how long — all valid concerns. I asked Google, and the company confirmed that Field Trip is covered under its standard privacy policy.
To test it, I turned off the most intrusive of Jelly Bean’s location settings, allowing GPS access and the the anonymous cellular and Wi-Fi location reporting, but turning off the permission for Google to use my location “to improve search results and other services.” All of my tests were performed with the last setting switched off, and the app remained useful even without it.
One feature suggestion — a morality slider, a setting you can adjust to alter the sauciness of the recommendations. That way, mom and dad can use it to find all the wonderful landmarks when they visit our beautiful city. But then I can use the same app when I’m out with the boys on a Saturday night, looking for trouble.
Field Trip grabs your location (via cell tower, Wi-Fi or GPS) and shows you nearby points of interest: restaurants, parks, art shows, cool shops, and historical factoids about the area you’re in.
It’s the latest exemplar of Google’s continuing investment in local search, from the company’s acquisition of Zagat a year ago, to May’s launch of Google Now, its voice-powered local search tool (and Siri competitor) that’s built into the latest Android OS. It also comes at a time when the company is scrambling to recover from Apple’s ceremonious dumping of its mapping partnership in iOS 6.
I tested it on a Galaxy Nexus. It’s Android-only for now, with an iOS version “coming soon,” and it’s not optimized for tablets, so it’s clear Field Trip is meant to be a phone thing. You’re given three choices for how to consume the information: a list, a map and instant notifications. You can also leave it on as you drive around, and it will talk to you, reading the local highlights aloud as you cruise through a city.
After giving it permission to access my location data (more on that later), Field Trip started filling up.
There’s an interesting-looking rock show happening tonight at Hotel Utah saloon, which is one block away. Jack London’s birthplace is a block in the other direction, at 615 Third St. (Woah, really?) HRD, the restaurant across the street, has awesome Mongolian cheesesteaks. Cool stuff to know if I was visiting the neighborhood.
Other information wasn’t so useful. FieldTrip’s lead item was a news story about Reddit users’ plan to buy a tropical island, which was likely given priority because Reddit’s office is 100 feet down the hall from my Wi-Fi router. Also, nestled between the restaurant and the nightclub was an item detailing the history of San Francisco’s original “F” streetcar line, which was discontinued in 1951. Uh, thanks.
So it’s a mix of the tantalizing and the trivial. But overall, I think it’s filled with enough useful stuff for visitors to get their bearings. If you’re pickier than me, you can upvote or downvote each item it serves, which supposedly helps tune the recommendation engine.
The app is populated using data from “dozens” of content partners, according to Google. Songkick (show information), Eater (restaurants), Flavorpill (events of all kinds), and Thrillist (hot cafes and shops) are there to tell you where to go and what to eat. Architizer (public art, interesting buildings), Remodelista (designy boutiques), and Inhabitat (a designy blog) are there for the nerdier stuff. You can turn any of these services on or off, or ask to see more or less of the items from each partner.
Also served to you are Google Offers, which show up as coupons and deals for nearby businesses, and restaurant reviews from Zagat, Google’s crown jewel in this space. These can also be turned on and off. The New York Times has an in-depth look at what Field Trip means for Google’s emerging play in the augmented reality and local search businesses.
More about those location-sharing options: In order for the app to work, of course, you have to agree to share your phone’s whereabouts with Google. There’s no in-app language about how and where this information is stored, or for how long — all valid concerns. I asked Google, and the company confirmed that Field Trip is covered under its standard privacy policy.
To test it, I turned off the most intrusive of Jelly Bean’s location settings, allowing GPS access and the the anonymous cellular and Wi-Fi location reporting, but turning off the permission for Google to use my location “to improve search results and other services.” All of my tests were performed with the last setting switched off, and the app remained useful even without it.
One feature suggestion — a morality slider, a setting you can adjust to alter the sauciness of the recommendations. That way, mom and dad can use it to find all the wonderful landmarks when they visit our beautiful city. But then I can use the same app when I’m out with the boys on a Saturday night, looking for trouble.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Vail Resorts guarantees lowest Epic Pass
Vail Resorts’ entire season pass line-up offers something for every type of skier and snowboarder, including four different season pass options in Colorado ranging in price from $419 to $659. These pass prices are only guaranteed through September 3.
This unparalleled mountain resort access on one pass features 30 bowls, 29 terrain parks and 23,610 acres of the best terrain in the world at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in California and Nevada. Ski or ride six days in one season and, priced at $659, the Epic Pass pays for itself, then ski or ride for free the rest of the season.
The Epic Local Pass, for $509, pays for itself in less than five days and is perfect for locals who can navigate a few more restrictions. The Epic Local Pass offers unlimited and unrestricted skiing or riding at Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin with limited holiday restrictions at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood. It also includes a total of 10 days at Vail or Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions. $50 pass holder tickets are also available for purchase during blackout dates at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood.
Summit Value Pass pays for itself in less than four days and is a great option for people who only plan to ski and ride Summit County. The Summit Value Pass is available for $419 and provides unlimited and unrestricted lift access to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, as well as access to Breckenridge with limited holiday restrictions. Pass holders can purchase access to Breckenridge on restricted days for $50 per day.
Epic 7-Day pays for itself in less than five days and is ideal for people who don’t plan to ski more than seven days. The Epic 7-Day gives skiers and snowboarders a total of seven unrestricted days of skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar, plus Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season for a price of $509.
The Epic Pass, the best season pass deal in the ski industry offering unlimited, unrestricted skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Arapahoe Basin is available for $659. It pays for itself in less than six days.
While the camera does a fine job of simply converting the note to a digital note for filing away in Evernote, what I really like are the stickers. Inside the app, I can customize each sticker by selecting the notebook to which a new note will be added. I’ve got a DIY notebook that I keep in Evernote, and the app not only files it automatically into the DIY notebook, but it also adds tags that I can configure in the app to be applied to notes for future searches.
The Smart Notebook comes in a two sizes — 3.5″ x 5.5″ and 5″ x 8.25″ – each size comes in either Ruled format or Squared format paper and the prices are $24.95 and $29.95 respectively. The price is a bit higher for these than the basic Moleskines, but remember that it comes with 3 months of Premium membership. Premium membership runs $5 per month , so figure you’re getting $15 of Premium membership that’s included in the price. They’ll be available October 1, but you can pre-order them here.
If you’re an Evernote Premium user as well as a Moleskine fan, this is a pretty slick deal, especially if you can fill up a notebook every three months or so. If you’re not a Premium user, be sure to check out all the benefits of converting your free account here. For me, the upload size increase,larger allowable note size and the ability to access my notebooks offline makes the Premium account worthwhile.
As someone who just isn’t that big a fan of paper, I’ve got to admit that I love the look of the Smart Notebook and after a number of tests taking photos of old engineer notebook pages and comparing them to the ones taken using the Smart page, there’s no arguing that the scanned pages from the Smart Notebook just look better. I could achieve the same thing by doing some photo manipulation, but I hate photo editing, and the Smart Notebook camera feature is just faster. Add in the fact that the Evernote servers will take my images and apply OCR to them so that I can later use keywords to find them fast… and I’m sold.
And please don’t take offense that I refer to pen and paper as old school. I’m using it as just a figure of speech here. My 5 year old has graduated from crayons to a real pencil and he’s quite proud of that and the little Moleskine sketchbook that I’ve provided to him. I’m a long-time fan of Moleskine and have filled many up over the years and hope to fill many more.
Well, that’s it for my little Efficiency Ninja series. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and maybe discovered something that can make your work and/or personal life a little more efficient, organized, less-stressful, or all three. I’m always on the lookout for new software, new tips, new techniques, and new products and services that exist to make my work and home life operate more smoothly. I’d love to hear from you about your own Efficiency Ninja solutions, so please leave a comment if you’ve got something to share!
This unparalleled mountain resort access on one pass features 30 bowls, 29 terrain parks and 23,610 acres of the best terrain in the world at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in California and Nevada. Ski or ride six days in one season and, priced at $659, the Epic Pass pays for itself, then ski or ride for free the rest of the season.
The Epic Local Pass, for $509, pays for itself in less than five days and is perfect for locals who can navigate a few more restrictions. The Epic Local Pass offers unlimited and unrestricted skiing or riding at Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin with limited holiday restrictions at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood. It also includes a total of 10 days at Vail or Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions. $50 pass holder tickets are also available for purchase during blackout dates at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood.
Summit Value Pass pays for itself in less than four days and is a great option for people who only plan to ski and ride Summit County. The Summit Value Pass is available for $419 and provides unlimited and unrestricted lift access to Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, as well as access to Breckenridge with limited holiday restrictions. Pass holders can purchase access to Breckenridge on restricted days for $50 per day.
Epic 7-Day pays for itself in less than five days and is ideal for people who don’t plan to ski more than seven days. The Epic 7-Day gives skiers and snowboarders a total of seven unrestricted days of skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar, plus Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season for a price of $509.
The Epic Pass, the best season pass deal in the ski industry offering unlimited, unrestricted skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Arapahoe Basin is available for $659. It pays for itself in less than six days.
While the camera does a fine job of simply converting the note to a digital note for filing away in Evernote, what I really like are the stickers. Inside the app, I can customize each sticker by selecting the notebook to which a new note will be added. I’ve got a DIY notebook that I keep in Evernote, and the app not only files it automatically into the DIY notebook, but it also adds tags that I can configure in the app to be applied to notes for future searches.
The Smart Notebook comes in a two sizes — 3.5″ x 5.5″ and 5″ x 8.25″ – each size comes in either Ruled format or Squared format paper and the prices are $24.95 and $29.95 respectively. The price is a bit higher for these than the basic Moleskines, but remember that it comes with 3 months of Premium membership. Premium membership runs $5 per month , so figure you’re getting $15 of Premium membership that’s included in the price. They’ll be available October 1, but you can pre-order them here.
If you’re an Evernote Premium user as well as a Moleskine fan, this is a pretty slick deal, especially if you can fill up a notebook every three months or so. If you’re not a Premium user, be sure to check out all the benefits of converting your free account here. For me, the upload size increase,larger allowable note size and the ability to access my notebooks offline makes the Premium account worthwhile.
As someone who just isn’t that big a fan of paper, I’ve got to admit that I love the look of the Smart Notebook and after a number of tests taking photos of old engineer notebook pages and comparing them to the ones taken using the Smart page, there’s no arguing that the scanned pages from the Smart Notebook just look better. I could achieve the same thing by doing some photo manipulation, but I hate photo editing, and the Smart Notebook camera feature is just faster. Add in the fact that the Evernote servers will take my images and apply OCR to them so that I can later use keywords to find them fast… and I’m sold.
And please don’t take offense that I refer to pen and paper as old school. I’m using it as just a figure of speech here. My 5 year old has graduated from crayons to a real pencil and he’s quite proud of that and the little Moleskine sketchbook that I’ve provided to him. I’m a long-time fan of Moleskine and have filled many up over the years and hope to fill many more.
Well, that’s it for my little Efficiency Ninja series. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and maybe discovered something that can make your work and/or personal life a little more efficient, organized, less-stressful, or all three. I’m always on the lookout for new software, new tips, new techniques, and new products and services that exist to make my work and home life operate more smoothly. I’d love to hear from you about your own Efficiency Ninja solutions, so please leave a comment if you’ve got something to share!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Jawbone Jambox Portable Speaker
A few years back the Bluetooth portable speaker market was a small one that mainly consisted of tiny, underpowered speakers with mediocre sound. Then along came the original Jambox by Jawbone and consumers realized it was possible to get high quality sound in a small, yet stylish, package. Since then, the company has continued to refine the product, offering new features and updates. Their latest innovation even allows customers to personalize the look of their Jambox by selecting from literally hundreds of different color patterns.
Starting tomorrow, Jambox customers are invited to Remix their speakers by selecting from a variety of grill colors and styles, and matching them with their choice of body color. This allows you to choose exactly how your Jambox will look and gives you the option to create one using the colors of your favorite sports team, alma mater or what ever else appeals. The process is fun, easy and doesn't add any additional costs to the Jambox's $199 price. Once you've selected your personal look, Jawbone will custom build your Jambox and ship out in about a week.
I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the new Remix process and after spending a little time on the Jawbone website, I was able to order my own custom Jambox. It took just a few days to get it in my hands and like previous models, the speaker features great build quality and sounds fantastic. The diminutive device is just 6 inches in length and weighs about 12 ounces, which makes it an excellent travel companion. An included soft case helps to keep the speaker well protected when not in use.
For those who haven't used a wireless speaker like the Jambox before, it pairs via Bluetooth with your smartphone, tablet or laptop and allows you to stream audio from any source. That means you can listen to music, podcasts, movies or just about anything else. Considering its size, the Jambox is capable of putting out an impressively big sound and it can easily fill a room with your favorite tunes. While putting the device through its paces, I enjoyed listening to Pandora, Last.fm and Spotify, both at home and on the go, and was constantly impressed with how loud and clear the audio was. In fact, be careful when using it for the first time. When I started jamming tunes on mine it actually scared the heck out of my cat.
The Jambox has built in voice cues that are actually quite helpful. For instance, it'll let you know when it has powered on, when it's in discovery mode for Bluetooth pairing and even how much battery life remains. The pre-programmed voice works well, but Jambox users can download a number of other unique voices from the Jawbone MyTalk website. MyTalk also has some installable apps to extend the functionality of your Jambox, and when connecting to the site, it'll even check to be sure you're running the most recent firmware.
As if being a great portable sound system wasn't enough, the Jambox also works as a hands free speakerphone too. While testing it in this mode, calls were clear both on my end and those that I was chatting with, which isn't always the case with similar speakers from competitors. Speakerphone mode not only works with your favorite cellphone, but also Skype, Facetime and just about anything else that uses a microphone. A round button on top of the device not only activates the mic but also grants access to Siri.
All in all, the Jambox is a great portable speaker that travelers will love to have with them. Its ability to wirelessly play back audio of just about any type makes it a great option for entertainment on the go and its ability to act as a quality speakerphone is a welcome addition. With a battery life of about ten hours, you won't need to worry about charging it often and its rugged construction makes it more than road ready. The fact that you can now order one custom built in your favorite colors is simply icing on the cake. It makes an already excellent product even better.
Starting tomorrow, Jambox customers are invited to Remix their speakers by selecting from a variety of grill colors and styles, and matching them with their choice of body color. This allows you to choose exactly how your Jambox will look and gives you the option to create one using the colors of your favorite sports team, alma mater or what ever else appeals. The process is fun, easy and doesn't add any additional costs to the Jambox's $199 price. Once you've selected your personal look, Jawbone will custom build your Jambox and ship out in about a week.
I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the new Remix process and after spending a little time on the Jawbone website, I was able to order my own custom Jambox. It took just a few days to get it in my hands and like previous models, the speaker features great build quality and sounds fantastic. The diminutive device is just 6 inches in length and weighs about 12 ounces, which makes it an excellent travel companion. An included soft case helps to keep the speaker well protected when not in use.
For those who haven't used a wireless speaker like the Jambox before, it pairs via Bluetooth with your smartphone, tablet or laptop and allows you to stream audio from any source. That means you can listen to music, podcasts, movies or just about anything else. Considering its size, the Jambox is capable of putting out an impressively big sound and it can easily fill a room with your favorite tunes. While putting the device through its paces, I enjoyed listening to Pandora, Last.fm and Spotify, both at home and on the go, and was constantly impressed with how loud and clear the audio was. In fact, be careful when using it for the first time. When I started jamming tunes on mine it actually scared the heck out of my cat.
The Jambox has built in voice cues that are actually quite helpful. For instance, it'll let you know when it has powered on, when it's in discovery mode for Bluetooth pairing and even how much battery life remains. The pre-programmed voice works well, but Jambox users can download a number of other unique voices from the Jawbone MyTalk website. MyTalk also has some installable apps to extend the functionality of your Jambox, and when connecting to the site, it'll even check to be sure you're running the most recent firmware.
As if being a great portable sound system wasn't enough, the Jambox also works as a hands free speakerphone too. While testing it in this mode, calls were clear both on my end and those that I was chatting with, which isn't always the case with similar speakers from competitors. Speakerphone mode not only works with your favorite cellphone, but also Skype, Facetime and just about anything else that uses a microphone. A round button on top of the device not only activates the mic but also grants access to Siri.
All in all, the Jambox is a great portable speaker that travelers will love to have with them. Its ability to wirelessly play back audio of just about any type makes it a great option for entertainment on the go and its ability to act as a quality speakerphone is a welcome addition. With a battery life of about ten hours, you won't need to worry about charging it often and its rugged construction makes it more than road ready. The fact that you can now order one custom built in your favorite colors is simply icing on the cake. It makes an already excellent product even better.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tennessee Titans' Kendall Wright works on blocking
As the Titans watched Kendall Wright on blur arch up to the NFL Draft, several things stood out.
He was a accustomed receiver. He’s what coaches alarm a “hands catcher” because he snatches the brawl out of the air afore it hits his body.
He was awfully quick. At Baylor he consistently angry abbreviate plays into connected ones by authoritative the aboriginal apostle absence — a accomplishment that aswell fabricated him an able acknowledgment man.
So how was Wright’s blocking? Afterwards all, it’s a claim for NFL wideouts.
“Of all the plays I watched,” Titans receivers drillmaster Dave Ragone said with a smile, “I was added absorbed with him communicable the football.”
Stating the obvious, the Titans didn’t abstract Wright in the aboriginal annular to be a blocker. They best him to be a playmaker afterwards a 4,000-yard, 30-touchdown academy career.
But now he’s allotment of a aggregation that has invested heavily in active aback Chris Johnson and is traveling to run the brawl plenty. How bound Wright is able to advance his blocking abilities will play a role in the offense’s potency.
“(Receivers) absolutely didn’t block at Baylor,” wideout Damian Williams said with a cackle as he glanced in Wright’s direction. “In the NFL, it’s not what we get paid to do, but I anticipate we all apperceive we accept to be able to advice accomplish activity easier for the active aback to accomplish plays. It’s allotment of the job for sure.”
Coaches like Wright’s advance so far, but they accept his blocking abilities are still evolving.
“He is not traveling to go in there and annihilate anybody, but he is accommodating to get in the way, and that is what you want,” drillmaster Mike Munchak said. “He has an attitude that he is not abashed to do it, not an attitude of ‘that’s not what I am actuality for.’ I don’t anticipate you’ll be seeing a lot of replays of big blocks he has, but I anticipate he’ll be accommodating to do what he is declared to do.”
At Baylor, the 5-foot-10, 196-pound Wright was far added acclimated to authoritative big plays than blocking. Communicable passes from Heisman Trophy champ Robert Griffin III, the advanced receiver racked up 1,663 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior.
“I like blocking,” Wright said. “We just didn’t accept abounding passes area we blocked. But it is abundant to block, abnormally if you accept a abundant active back, aback there.”
During training camp, Wright has been a apprentice in Blocking 101. Ragone, a above academy and NFL quarterback, has talked with the amateur about the accent of duke placement, how to yield acceptable blocking angles, area to aim on defenders.
Wright’s accomplishments as a basketball amateur — he was all-state in top academy and played for Baylor as a apprentice — should advice him, Ragone said.
“Blocking is about two things: angles and effort. And he is such a abundant amateur that he understands area he needs to be. You don’t necessarily wish to drillmaster effort, you wish to advance it, and it is all about want-to at that point,” Ragone said.
“In agreement of Kendall’s basketball background, in my opinion, one of the toughest things to do is to be able to block in space. And with his basketball accomplishments and with his crabbed quickness, it allows him to break aboveboard on defenders. It is just a amount of time afore he abstracts it out here. He has done a appealing appropriate job so far.”
The Titans accede Williams and adept Nate Washington to be their best blocking receivers.
Williams was a well-schooled acquaintance if he accustomed in the NFL. During his apprentice division at Arkansas, the Razorback active backs were approaching NFL players Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis. Williams connected to hone his blocking abilities afterwards appointment to USC.
Washington accepted he was raw advancing out of a casual breach at Tiffin University, but with his aboriginal NFL team, the Steelers, he bound abstruse the accent of getting a acceptable blocker. Teammate Hines Ward was one of the best blocking wideouts in the game.
For a advanced receiver, Washington said blocking is beneath about technique, added about demography on the appropriate guy and accomplishing so with an attitude.
“I accept been watching Kendall and … it is absolutely just authoritative abiding he is blocking the appropriate guy, because if he gets next to his guy, he is accomplishing a appealing acceptable job,” Washington said.
“Surprisingly, advancing from the breach he is advancing from at Baylor with all the casual that they did, he has been accomplishing a absolutely acceptable job of blocking. And in this offense, that is something he’ll accept to prove he can do and be acceptable at.”
He was a accustomed receiver. He’s what coaches alarm a “hands catcher” because he snatches the brawl out of the air afore it hits his body.
He was awfully quick. At Baylor he consistently angry abbreviate plays into connected ones by authoritative the aboriginal apostle absence — a accomplishment that aswell fabricated him an able acknowledgment man.
So how was Wright’s blocking? Afterwards all, it’s a claim for NFL wideouts.
“Of all the plays I watched,” Titans receivers drillmaster Dave Ragone said with a smile, “I was added absorbed with him communicable the football.”
Stating the obvious, the Titans didn’t abstract Wright in the aboriginal annular to be a blocker. They best him to be a playmaker afterwards a 4,000-yard, 30-touchdown academy career.
But now he’s allotment of a aggregation that has invested heavily in active aback Chris Johnson and is traveling to run the brawl plenty. How bound Wright is able to advance his blocking abilities will play a role in the offense’s potency.
“(Receivers) absolutely didn’t block at Baylor,” wideout Damian Williams said with a cackle as he glanced in Wright’s direction. “In the NFL, it’s not what we get paid to do, but I anticipate we all apperceive we accept to be able to advice accomplish activity easier for the active aback to accomplish plays. It’s allotment of the job for sure.”
Coaches like Wright’s advance so far, but they accept his blocking abilities are still evolving.
“He is not traveling to go in there and annihilate anybody, but he is accommodating to get in the way, and that is what you want,” drillmaster Mike Munchak said. “He has an attitude that he is not abashed to do it, not an attitude of ‘that’s not what I am actuality for.’ I don’t anticipate you’ll be seeing a lot of replays of big blocks he has, but I anticipate he’ll be accommodating to do what he is declared to do.”
At Baylor, the 5-foot-10, 196-pound Wright was far added acclimated to authoritative big plays than blocking. Communicable passes from Heisman Trophy champ Robert Griffin III, the advanced receiver racked up 1,663 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior.
“I like blocking,” Wright said. “We just didn’t accept abounding passes area we blocked. But it is abundant to block, abnormally if you accept a abundant active back, aback there.”
During training camp, Wright has been a apprentice in Blocking 101. Ragone, a above academy and NFL quarterback, has talked with the amateur about the accent of duke placement, how to yield acceptable blocking angles, area to aim on defenders.
Wright’s accomplishments as a basketball amateur — he was all-state in top academy and played for Baylor as a apprentice — should advice him, Ragone said.
“Blocking is about two things: angles and effort. And he is such a abundant amateur that he understands area he needs to be. You don’t necessarily wish to drillmaster effort, you wish to advance it, and it is all about want-to at that point,” Ragone said.
“In agreement of Kendall’s basketball background, in my opinion, one of the toughest things to do is to be able to block in space. And with his basketball accomplishments and with his crabbed quickness, it allows him to break aboveboard on defenders. It is just a amount of time afore he abstracts it out here. He has done a appealing appropriate job so far.”
The Titans accede Williams and adept Nate Washington to be their best blocking receivers.
Williams was a well-schooled acquaintance if he accustomed in the NFL. During his apprentice division at Arkansas, the Razorback active backs were approaching NFL players Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis. Williams connected to hone his blocking abilities afterwards appointment to USC.
Washington accepted he was raw advancing out of a casual breach at Tiffin University, but with his aboriginal NFL team, the Steelers, he bound abstruse the accent of getting a acceptable blocker. Teammate Hines Ward was one of the best blocking wideouts in the game.
For a advanced receiver, Washington said blocking is beneath about technique, added about demography on the appropriate guy and accomplishing so with an attitude.
“I accept been watching Kendall and … it is absolutely just authoritative abiding he is blocking the appropriate guy, because if he gets next to his guy, he is accomplishing a appealing acceptable job,” Washington said.
“Surprisingly, advancing from the breach he is advancing from at Baylor with all the casual that they did, he has been accomplishing a absolutely acceptable job of blocking. And in this offense, that is something he’ll accept to prove he can do and be acceptable at.”
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Afghan Army Remains Far From Accessible to Go it Alone
Among the huge challenges it faces in demography over from the abandonment U.S. and NATO armies, Afghanistan’s new army is up adjoin the allegory that its troops aren’t Muslims.
Taliban advertising has approved to bulb the angle that because it works with adopted forces, the Afghan National Army accept to be a agnostic one. So if villagers see his soldiers bead to their knees in mid-patrol and recite the circadian prayer, they’re surprised, said Lt. Col. Abdul Wakil Warzajy, a army commander. “Until they see us praying,” he said, “they anticipate that we are like the foreigners – infidels.”
From the Soviet aggression of 1979 through the after civilian wars, from the acceleration of the warlords and their militias to the U.S.-led aggression that followed the 9/11 attacks, accustomed Afghans can almost bethink accepting had an army they could alarm their own.
Once the adopted troops are gone in 2014, Afghanistan’s defenses will depend absolutely on a force getting molded from ailing accomplished recruits, abounding of whom accuse of activity under-armed, undertrained and up adjoin an ambiguous enemy.
An Associated Press anchorman and columnist afresh spent two weeks with four altered units in ambit breadth the Taliban is strong, and heard of accessories shortages, rifles that jam, and fears that already the U.S. and NATO aircraft are gone, limited and important outposts will become aloof and accept to close.
And alongside abounding affirmation that Afghan commanders are alive harder to brainwash conduct and a faculty of mission in the new force, there are fears that already the Westerners accept left, the country will afresh splinter into militias disqualified by warlords.
At 203 Thunder Corps in eastern Afghanistan’s Gardez Province, soldiers accept to leave their weapons at the gate. That’s because renegades a part of them could advance NATO soldiers – 26 dead in 19 incidents this year, by an AP calculation – but aswell because in an army that reflects the country’s circuitous of battling ethnicities, an altercation could amplify into a firefight.
Abdul Haleem Noori, a colonel in his 60s who remembers the Afghan army of the 1980s, said training acclimated to endure months. Now it’s six weeks.
“Today we accept no discipline. If a soldier doesn’t wish to go about he doesn’t,” he said in an account at the Thunder Corps base. “We should not accept been searching for quantity. We should accept been searching at the superior of our soldiers but we had to attach to the calendar of the foreigners and now we are not ready.”
U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top administrator of U.S. and NATO forces, told the AP that the Afghan army and badge force were proving added able in action. About 90 percent of affiliation operations now are partnered with Afghan forces, and Afghan armament are in the advance added than 40 percent of the time, he said in an account July 22.
The army is acceptable to amount about 200,000 by year’s end, but that’s not enough, said Lt. Yaldash Roasoli, an Afghan soldier continuing alfresco the 203 Thunder Corps battlefront range.
“Even in 30 years we cannot be ready,” he complained. “If you asked me what a appropriate action is I couldn’t acquaint you. That is the affectionate of training we accept had.”
The new force’s commando units accept been activated in high-profile Taliban attacks in the accomplished year, including one on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and accept won top acclaim from the Afghan government and the U.S. ANA commanders say they are alpha to win the assurance of villagers, who adopt the soldiers to police.
But Mark Schneider, chief carnality admiral of the International Crisis Group that is tracking Afghanistan’s aegis effort, says overall, a decade of training and $35 billion accept collapsed abbreviate of expectations. “It is traveling to be a difficult action to accredit them to be the hand-off partner” for the abandonment Western forces, he said in a blast interview.
For the Afghan army, just anecdotic the adversary is a difficult task.
As a force moves into the apple of Noor Khiel in eastern Logar province, Warzajy, the army commander, is wary. A adept of the civilian wars, a above babysitter to a fabulous warlord, he knows if he’s in Taliban country, and this is an breadth area troops accept appear beneath rocket blaze and automated rifles are accursed from central apple homes.
For now there are no insurgents in evidence, but as Warzajy credibility out, if his troops move in, the Taliban move out. “Sometimes they don’t even leave. They aces up a advertise and say they’re just innocent farmers.”
Taliban advertising has approved to bulb the angle that because it works with adopted forces, the Afghan National Army accept to be a agnostic one. So if villagers see his soldiers bead to their knees in mid-patrol and recite the circadian prayer, they’re surprised, said Lt. Col. Abdul Wakil Warzajy, a army commander. “Until they see us praying,” he said, “they anticipate that we are like the foreigners – infidels.”
From the Soviet aggression of 1979 through the after civilian wars, from the acceleration of the warlords and their militias to the U.S.-led aggression that followed the 9/11 attacks, accustomed Afghans can almost bethink accepting had an army they could alarm their own.
Once the adopted troops are gone in 2014, Afghanistan’s defenses will depend absolutely on a force getting molded from ailing accomplished recruits, abounding of whom accuse of activity under-armed, undertrained and up adjoin an ambiguous enemy.
An Associated Press anchorman and columnist afresh spent two weeks with four altered units in ambit breadth the Taliban is strong, and heard of accessories shortages, rifles that jam, and fears that already the U.S. and NATO aircraft are gone, limited and important outposts will become aloof and accept to close.
And alongside abounding affirmation that Afghan commanders are alive harder to brainwash conduct and a faculty of mission in the new force, there are fears that already the Westerners accept left, the country will afresh splinter into militias disqualified by warlords.
At 203 Thunder Corps in eastern Afghanistan’s Gardez Province, soldiers accept to leave their weapons at the gate. That’s because renegades a part of them could advance NATO soldiers – 26 dead in 19 incidents this year, by an AP calculation – but aswell because in an army that reflects the country’s circuitous of battling ethnicities, an altercation could amplify into a firefight.
Abdul Haleem Noori, a colonel in his 60s who remembers the Afghan army of the 1980s, said training acclimated to endure months. Now it’s six weeks.
“Today we accept no discipline. If a soldier doesn’t wish to go about he doesn’t,” he said in an account at the Thunder Corps base. “We should not accept been searching for quantity. We should accept been searching at the superior of our soldiers but we had to attach to the calendar of the foreigners and now we are not ready.”
U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top administrator of U.S. and NATO forces, told the AP that the Afghan army and badge force were proving added able in action. About 90 percent of affiliation operations now are partnered with Afghan forces, and Afghan armament are in the advance added than 40 percent of the time, he said in an account July 22.
The army is acceptable to amount about 200,000 by year’s end, but that’s not enough, said Lt. Yaldash Roasoli, an Afghan soldier continuing alfresco the 203 Thunder Corps battlefront range.
“Even in 30 years we cannot be ready,” he complained. “If you asked me what a appropriate action is I couldn’t acquaint you. That is the affectionate of training we accept had.”
The new force’s commando units accept been activated in high-profile Taliban attacks in the accomplished year, including one on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and accept won top acclaim from the Afghan government and the U.S. ANA commanders say they are alpha to win the assurance of villagers, who adopt the soldiers to police.
But Mark Schneider, chief carnality admiral of the International Crisis Group that is tracking Afghanistan’s aegis effort, says overall, a decade of training and $35 billion accept collapsed abbreviate of expectations. “It is traveling to be a difficult action to accredit them to be the hand-off partner” for the abandonment Western forces, he said in a blast interview.
For the Afghan army, just anecdotic the adversary is a difficult task.
As a force moves into the apple of Noor Khiel in eastern Logar province, Warzajy, the army commander, is wary. A adept of the civilian wars, a above babysitter to a fabulous warlord, he knows if he’s in Taliban country, and this is an breadth area troops accept appear beneath rocket blaze and automated rifles are accursed from central apple homes.
For now there are no insurgents in evidence, but as Warzajy credibility out, if his troops move in, the Taliban move out. “Sometimes they don’t even leave. They aces up a advertise and say they’re just innocent farmers.”
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Boston Children’s Museum Introduces New Discount
Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) is introducing a new affairs that invites all Massachusetts association with Electronic Allowances Transfer (EBT) cards to appearance their agenda to get a discounted $2 per being banknote admission. The abatement applies for up to four humans per card, per visit. The Museum does not action EBT transactions; banknote or added transaction accept to be provided for admission.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
Boston Children’s Museum Introduces New Discount
Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) is introducing a new affairs that invites all Massachusetts association with Electronic Allowances Transfer (EBT) cards to appearance their agenda to get a discounted $2 per being banknote admission. The abatement applies for up to four humans per card, per visit. The Museum does not action EBT transactions; banknote or added transaction accept to be provided for admission.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
Boston Children’s Museum Introduces New Discount
Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) is introducing a new affairs that invites all Massachusetts association with Electronic Allowances Transfer (EBT) cards to appearance their agenda to get a discounted $2 per being banknote admission. The abatement applies for up to four humans per card, per visit. The Museum does not action EBT transactions; banknote or added transaction accept to be provided for admission.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
Boston Children’s Museum Introduces New Discount
Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) is introducing a new affairs that invites all Massachusetts association with Electronic Allowances Transfer (EBT) cards to appearance their agenda to get a discounted $2 per being banknote admission. The abatement applies for up to four humans per card, per visit. The Museum does not action EBT transactions; banknote or added transaction accept to be provided for admission.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
BCM hopes to accompany acquaintance to this action which allows all families and their accouchement to adore one of the region’s a lot of important aboriginal adolescence educational and cultural institutions at an acutely affordable price. The Museum is an invaluable ability in that it provides alluringly alternate arts, science, bloom and multicultural adventures that appoint the accomplished family. Accouchement ages 0-10 with their developed caregivers explore, discover, and acquisition blithesome adventures that brainwash an acknowledgment of our world, advance basal skills, and atom a constant adulation of learning.
“As allotment of Boston Children’s Museum’s charge to the community, we are bent to accumulate acceptance affordable for all. To do this, we accept adapted and bigger our Abatement acceptance program,” said Carole Charnow President & CEO.
The Massachusetts Department of Capricious Abetment (DTA) administers allowances through EBT cards to advice low-income individuals and families accommodated their basal needs, admission their incomes and advance their superior of life. Serving one out of every eight humans in the Commonwealth, DTA is an bureau aural the Executive Office of Bloom and Human Services and ensures that the emergency and capricious needs of the individuals and families of the Commonwealth are met through a aggregate of accompaniment and federally-funded programs.
“This abatement is a abundant befalling to accomplish the Museum’s admirable exhibits and activities attainable for the humans we serve, including families accepting capricious assistance,” said Bloom and Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Boston Children’s Museum welcomes about 600,000 visitors annually, including added than 29% who acceptance the Museum through chargeless or discounted programs.
Boston Children’s Museum aswell offers a chargeless Sponsored Visits Program. This affairs opens the Museum’s doors to kids who would not be able to allow a appointment so that they, too, can yield advantage of the opportunities for fun and hands-on learning. The programs and exhibits allure kids to appoint with the apple they reside in through programming and exhibits in beheld and assuming arts, science, math, concrete fitness, and assortment in Boston as they play with their accompany and families. As schools and after-care programs face allotment challenges, Boston Children's Museum continues to aggrandize the amount of chargeless visits to kids in charge with an according arena field.
The Sponsored Visits Affairs is fabricated accessible with the advice of donor companies whose constant charge to the Museum’s mission, programs and accessories accompany calm the best assets of aboriginal adolescence apprenticeship and a different burghal ambiance to account Boston's kids. This accomplished year 19,288 individuals and 333 groups abounding the Museum for free, acknowledgment to our Sponsored Visits Program.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
New Mac software able-bodied account $20 upgrade
I didn't charge to absorb a lot of time with the new Mac operating arrangement to see that phones and book computers accept won out over claimed computers at Apple.
Mobile accessories are already amenable for the aggregate of Apple's sales and profits. Now, Apple is authoritative the new Mac arrangement even added like the iOS software that admiral its iPhones and iPads. It's aswell accidentally bottomward the "Mac" name from the Mac OS X operating software, admitting computers will still be alleged Macs, not "Super-sized iPads."
The new system, formally OS X 10.8 and dubbed Mountain Lion, went on auction Wednesday as a $19.99 download from Apple's App Store. It builds on the antecedent system, Lion, which came out endure July.
Mountain Lion is fabricated for a apple area your computer is just one of your accretion devices, forth with your iPhone and your iPad. Apple wants to accomplish it easier to about-face from one to the other, several times a day.
It's already simple to about-face amid iPhone and iPad. For instance, songs and apps you buy on an iPad will automatically pop up on your iPhone through Apple's iCloud online-storage service. Lion has some iCloud features, but Mountain Lion absolutely brings the Mac into the iPhone-iPad family.
That's what I like a lot of about Mountain Lion. It borrows a lot from its adaptable cousin.
The Mac already had such mobile-like appearance as the adeptness to zoom in or out on a MacBook by avidity your fingers on its touchpad. Mountain Lion goes a lot further:
- A notification centermost slides out from the appropriate of the awning to action agenda reminders and the latest mail items. It mimics, down to the accomplishments color, blueprint and font, the way you get Facebook updates, account alerts and added notices on your iPhone.
- The Mac's iChat app has been scrapped in favor of Messages, which is fabricated buzz affable by accumulation the iMessage account for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to barter texts, photos and video. Now you can forward letters from your Mountain Lion computer to your adaptable friends, or adeptness addition Mountain Lion user from your phone. The way conversations are presented feels added like texting than burning messaging.
- Mountain Lion borrows a "Share" button from iPhone and iPad apps. The iPhoto angel organizer on Lion had that, but it's now congenital into added apps such as the Safari Web browser and the Preview certificate reader. The options change depending on the app. In Safari, for instance, you can forward a Web page by email or column a hotlink on Twitter. In Preview, you can allotment a photo on Flickr or add it to iPhoto.
Facebook affiliation is advancing this fall. You'll be able to absolute who sees your column and add your accepted area through that allotment button. No best will you accept to cut and adhesive links. Mountain Lion will aswell accompany acquaintance advice on Facebook accompany with your Mac's abode book. You charge to assurance on to Facebook alone once, and Mountain Lion takes affliction of the rest.
That "single sign-on" affection is accessible appropriate abroad for added services, including Twitter and Flickr. Already you're active in, you don't charge to admission your username and countersign afresh if accessing that account from addition app.
Mountain Lion brings over addition abstract change from the iPhone.
For the longest time, claimed computers let you install annihilation after question. But with Apple's adaptable devices, you are bound to pre-approved software from the company's App Store. Apple wants to assure you from bad experiences, but it has aswell alone some allegedly controllable apps for abstruse reasons.
Mountain Lion adopts that attendant philosophy, admitting the restrictions aren't as severe. If software you try to install doesn't appear from the App Store, it has to be from a software developer who has registered with Apple for $99. The aggregation doesn't analysis software unless it goes through the App Store, but the Mac checks to accomplish abiding the allotment is valid. A allotment can be yanked if a developer turns out to be evil.
I was denied the adeptness to install Google's photo-editing software, Picasa, acceptable because it was accounting afore the allotment affairs began. It took some sleuthing to amount out how to override that.
Now aback to iCloud, my admired allotment about Mountain Lion. All you charge is an Internet affiliation and an Apple ID - the aforementioned one you actualize for chargeless to buy songs and apps on iTunes. That Apple ID links your acquaintance beyond the assorted devices. The iCloud account comes with 5 gigabytes of chargeless storage; you can pay for more.
Consider Pages, Numbers and Keynote - Apple's versions of Microsoft's accepted Office programs for chat processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Abstracts are automatically stored online through iCloud, unless you change the area to a binder on your computer. It's a tactic Microsoft affairs with its just-announced Office upgrade.
That agency your abstracts chase you wherever you go. Type a book in a certificate on your MacBook and see the changes on the iPad a half-minute or so later. You can admission your files even if you don't accept an Internet connection. Copies are stored on your computer, and changes will be replicated to the iCloud binder already you're aback online.
Mobile accessories are already amenable for the aggregate of Apple's sales and profits. Now, Apple is authoritative the new Mac arrangement even added like the iOS software that admiral its iPhones and iPads. It's aswell accidentally bottomward the "Mac" name from the Mac OS X operating software, admitting computers will still be alleged Macs, not "Super-sized iPads."
The new system, formally OS X 10.8 and dubbed Mountain Lion, went on auction Wednesday as a $19.99 download from Apple's App Store. It builds on the antecedent system, Lion, which came out endure July.
Mountain Lion is fabricated for a apple area your computer is just one of your accretion devices, forth with your iPhone and your iPad. Apple wants to accomplish it easier to about-face from one to the other, several times a day.
It's already simple to about-face amid iPhone and iPad. For instance, songs and apps you buy on an iPad will automatically pop up on your iPhone through Apple's iCloud online-storage service. Lion has some iCloud features, but Mountain Lion absolutely brings the Mac into the iPhone-iPad family.
That's what I like a lot of about Mountain Lion. It borrows a lot from its adaptable cousin.
The Mac already had such mobile-like appearance as the adeptness to zoom in or out on a MacBook by avidity your fingers on its touchpad. Mountain Lion goes a lot further:
- A notification centermost slides out from the appropriate of the awning to action agenda reminders and the latest mail items. It mimics, down to the accomplishments color, blueprint and font, the way you get Facebook updates, account alerts and added notices on your iPhone.
- The Mac's iChat app has been scrapped in favor of Messages, which is fabricated buzz affable by accumulation the iMessage account for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to barter texts, photos and video. Now you can forward letters from your Mountain Lion computer to your adaptable friends, or adeptness addition Mountain Lion user from your phone. The way conversations are presented feels added like texting than burning messaging.
- Mountain Lion borrows a "Share" button from iPhone and iPad apps. The iPhoto angel organizer on Lion had that, but it's now congenital into added apps such as the Safari Web browser and the Preview certificate reader. The options change depending on the app. In Safari, for instance, you can forward a Web page by email or column a hotlink on Twitter. In Preview, you can allotment a photo on Flickr or add it to iPhoto.
Facebook affiliation is advancing this fall. You'll be able to absolute who sees your column and add your accepted area through that allotment button. No best will you accept to cut and adhesive links. Mountain Lion will aswell accompany acquaintance advice on Facebook accompany with your Mac's abode book. You charge to assurance on to Facebook alone once, and Mountain Lion takes affliction of the rest.
That "single sign-on" affection is accessible appropriate abroad for added services, including Twitter and Flickr. Already you're active in, you don't charge to admission your username and countersign afresh if accessing that account from addition app.
Mountain Lion brings over addition abstract change from the iPhone.
For the longest time, claimed computers let you install annihilation after question. But with Apple's adaptable devices, you are bound to pre-approved software from the company's App Store. Apple wants to assure you from bad experiences, but it has aswell alone some allegedly controllable apps for abstruse reasons.
Mountain Lion adopts that attendant philosophy, admitting the restrictions aren't as severe. If software you try to install doesn't appear from the App Store, it has to be from a software developer who has registered with Apple for $99. The aggregation doesn't analysis software unless it goes through the App Store, but the Mac checks to accomplish abiding the allotment is valid. A allotment can be yanked if a developer turns out to be evil.
I was denied the adeptness to install Google's photo-editing software, Picasa, acceptable because it was accounting afore the allotment affairs began. It took some sleuthing to amount out how to override that.
Now aback to iCloud, my admired allotment about Mountain Lion. All you charge is an Internet affiliation and an Apple ID - the aforementioned one you actualize for chargeless to buy songs and apps on iTunes. That Apple ID links your acquaintance beyond the assorted devices. The iCloud account comes with 5 gigabytes of chargeless storage; you can pay for more.
Consider Pages, Numbers and Keynote - Apple's versions of Microsoft's accepted Office programs for chat processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Abstracts are automatically stored online through iCloud, unless you change the area to a binder on your computer. It's a tactic Microsoft affairs with its just-announced Office upgrade.
That agency your abstracts chase you wherever you go. Type a book in a certificate on your MacBook and see the changes on the iPad a half-minute or so later. You can admission your files even if you don't accept an Internet connection. Copies are stored on your computer, and changes will be replicated to the iCloud binder already you're aback online.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tesla's Model S is fast and fun
I am now a affiliate of a baddest club: I’m one of the actual few who has apprenticed Tesla’s new all-electric Model S affluence sedan.
Last week, the aggregation accustomed a few associates of the bounded columnist to analysis drive the car for about 15 account each. That’s not abundant time for a absolute evaluation, but it is abundant for some able antecedent impressions.
The aboriginal words that appear to apperception about the Model S are “fast” and “fun.” The car I drove, which is a higher-end, $77,400 version, has some austere pickup. Tesla says it will ability 60 afar per hour in 5.9 abnormal and is governor-limited to 130 afar per hour.
Those aren’t world-beating numbers — Tesla is affairs a “performance” adaptation of the Model S that will get to 60 mph in 4.4 abnormal — but they’re affluence fast for a lot of drivers.
When you bite the accelerator, you don’t get the clear barrage of a V-8 engine, but there’s something aberrant and blood-tingling about activity a car rapidly ability artery speeds and above with no sounds added than a little alley and wind noise. It about feels like getting on the Starship Enterprise as it goes into bastardize drive.
And the nice affair about that ability is that it’s instantaneous. You don’t accept to downshift or delay for the manual to do so for you, because basically there is no accessory box. Also, the ability is accessible even at artery speeds — instantly — if you wish to canyon someone.
The Model S feels solid and takes curves tightly. The car’s array backpack is below the cockpit rather than in the block or in the front, giving it a low centermost of force and bigger stability. And its onboard computers automatically lower its abeyance as you get up to artery speeds.
One acute affair about active the car is the amount to which you can personalize the experience. You can acclimatize the abeyance up or down to abstain boring the cowl if you dip into a driveway, say. You can acclimatize the council to accomplish it tighter, like that in a sports car, or looser, like that in a acceptable American affluence car.
And you can acclimatize the feel of the accelerator. The accepted setting, which provides a big recharge addition to the battery, gives the car the activity of accepting a accepted transmission; as you let up on the accelerator, the car slows markedly, as if you had downshifted into a lower gear. But you can change it so the accelerator feels added like one in a car with an automated transmission, area there’s beneath deceleration if you let up the pedal. The accommodation is that you aswell forward beneath allegation aback to the batteries.
On the outside, the Model S looks like a cantankerous amid a Jaguar and a Maserati. It may be the latest in high-tech automobiles, but it doesn’t scream “electric car!” And that’s a acceptable thing.
On the inside, the car feels a bit Spartan. It has covering seats and copse trim, but the berth is a bit bland, basal and utilitarian.
What stands out in the Model S berth is the 17-inch touch-screen affectation that serves as its centermost console. Through it, you can acclimatize the radio, the active acquaintance and the altitude control. You aswell use it to appearance video from the rear-facing camera, maps from Google Maps and even cream the Web through its congenital browser. The affectation is ample abundant to acquiesce you to appearance its card controls, a map and radio buttons all at the aforementioned time.
The car has a congenital cellular abstracts radio, which allows users not alone to cream the Web, but aswell get turn-by-turn aeronautics and admission Internet radio. But the “connectivity package” that allows you to do all that is optional. Tesla isn’t yet advice the price.
Unfortunately, the animate is somewhat limited. In agreement of its ball capabilities, for example, users can admission TuneIn radio and Slacker radio through the blow screen, but not Pandora, Spotify, Google Music or any added Internet radio service. You can beck music from such casework to the animate from your smartphone, but you can’t ascendancy those apps through the animate itself. Tesla assembly said they plan on abacus that adequacy eventually.
The animate aswell doesn’t abutment articulation control. So you can’t columnist a button and acquaint it to punch a buzz amount for you or change the channel. Tesla’s arch technology officer, J.B. Straubel, said the aggregation affairs to add articulation ascendancy application Google Voice, but it’s not accessible at launch. And sorry, iPhone fans, the aggregation doesn’t yet plan to abutment the new hands-free capabilities Apple is abacus to its Siri feature.
Last week, the aggregation accustomed a few associates of the bounded columnist to analysis drive the car for about 15 account each. That’s not abundant time for a absolute evaluation, but it is abundant for some able antecedent impressions.
The aboriginal words that appear to apperception about the Model S are “fast” and “fun.” The car I drove, which is a higher-end, $77,400 version, has some austere pickup. Tesla says it will ability 60 afar per hour in 5.9 abnormal and is governor-limited to 130 afar per hour.
Those aren’t world-beating numbers — Tesla is affairs a “performance” adaptation of the Model S that will get to 60 mph in 4.4 abnormal — but they’re affluence fast for a lot of drivers.
When you bite the accelerator, you don’t get the clear barrage of a V-8 engine, but there’s something aberrant and blood-tingling about activity a car rapidly ability artery speeds and above with no sounds added than a little alley and wind noise. It about feels like getting on the Starship Enterprise as it goes into bastardize drive.
And the nice affair about that ability is that it’s instantaneous. You don’t accept to downshift or delay for the manual to do so for you, because basically there is no accessory box. Also, the ability is accessible even at artery speeds — instantly — if you wish to canyon someone.
The Model S feels solid and takes curves tightly. The car’s array backpack is below the cockpit rather than in the block or in the front, giving it a low centermost of force and bigger stability. And its onboard computers automatically lower its abeyance as you get up to artery speeds.
One acute affair about active the car is the amount to which you can personalize the experience. You can acclimatize the abeyance up or down to abstain boring the cowl if you dip into a driveway, say. You can acclimatize the council to accomplish it tighter, like that in a sports car, or looser, like that in a acceptable American affluence car.
And you can acclimatize the feel of the accelerator. The accepted setting, which provides a big recharge addition to the battery, gives the car the activity of accepting a accepted transmission; as you let up on the accelerator, the car slows markedly, as if you had downshifted into a lower gear. But you can change it so the accelerator feels added like one in a car with an automated transmission, area there’s beneath deceleration if you let up the pedal. The accommodation is that you aswell forward beneath allegation aback to the batteries.
On the outside, the Model S looks like a cantankerous amid a Jaguar and a Maserati. It may be the latest in high-tech automobiles, but it doesn’t scream “electric car!” And that’s a acceptable thing.
On the inside, the car feels a bit Spartan. It has covering seats and copse trim, but the berth is a bit bland, basal and utilitarian.
What stands out in the Model S berth is the 17-inch touch-screen affectation that serves as its centermost console. Through it, you can acclimatize the radio, the active acquaintance and the altitude control. You aswell use it to appearance video from the rear-facing camera, maps from Google Maps and even cream the Web through its congenital browser. The affectation is ample abundant to acquiesce you to appearance its card controls, a map and radio buttons all at the aforementioned time.
The car has a congenital cellular abstracts radio, which allows users not alone to cream the Web, but aswell get turn-by-turn aeronautics and admission Internet radio. But the “connectivity package” that allows you to do all that is optional. Tesla isn’t yet advice the price.
Unfortunately, the animate is somewhat limited. In agreement of its ball capabilities, for example, users can admission TuneIn radio and Slacker radio through the blow screen, but not Pandora, Spotify, Google Music or any added Internet radio service. You can beck music from such casework to the animate from your smartphone, but you can’t ascendancy those apps through the animate itself. Tesla assembly said they plan on abacus that adequacy eventually.
The animate aswell doesn’t abutment articulation control. So you can’t columnist a button and acquaint it to punch a buzz amount for you or change the channel. Tesla’s arch technology officer, J.B. Straubel, said the aggregation affairs to add articulation ascendancy application Google Voice, but it’s not accessible at launch. And sorry, iPhone fans, the aggregation doesn’t yet plan to abutment the new hands-free capabilities Apple is abacus to its Siri feature.
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