Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Poland denies explosives found on wreck of crashed jet

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish prosecutors denied a newspaper report that investigators found traces of explosives on the wreckage of the government jet that crashed in Russia two years ago, killing Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others.

Rzeczpospolita daily said on Tuesday that Polish investigators who examined the remains of the plane in Russia found signs of TNT and nitro-glycerine on the wings and in the cabin, including on 30 seats.

The report strengthened accusations by rightists groups that investigators ignored evidence of outside involvement and prompted opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Lech, to call for the government to resign.

But Polish military prosecutors said they were sticking to their finding that the crash was not an assassination and no explosives were found on the remains of the government Tu-154 that crashed during its approach to a small airport near the Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010.

"It is not true that investigators found traces of TNT or nitro-glycerine," said Colonel Ireneusz Szelag from the military prosecutors' office.

"Evidence and opinions collected so far have in no way provided support to the belief that the crash was a result of actions by third parties, that is to say an assassination," he told a news conference.

Russian investigators had blamed the Polish crew for trying to land in heavy fog, while their Polish counterparts also said the airport controllers should not have allowed the plane to attempt an approach.

Moscow and Warsaw have faced renewed criticism over their handling of the Smolensk investigation after Polish prosecutors admitted last month that families of two of the victims received and buried the wrong remains.

On Tuesday, Szelag said two more bodies were misidentified and lawyers for families of other victims feared more remains may need to be exhumed.

Before the denial by prosecutors, Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the newspaper report was proof that his twin brother and the other passengers of the presidential plane were murdered.

"We demand the resignation of the government of (Prime Minister) Donald Tusk," Kaczynski told reporters. "It cannot be that Poland is governed by people who have obfuscated for 30 months in the matter of what we can now say is a heinous crime."

(Reporting by Chris Borowski; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/poland-denies-explosives-found-wreck-crashed-jet-144747588.html

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OPEC output rises, offsets more Iran shrinkage: survey

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC oil output has risen slightly in October as extra supplies from Iraq, Angola and Libya have offset disruptions in Nigeria and a further decline in Iran to its lowest in two decades, a Reuters survey found on Wednesday.

The survey indicates Iraq's expansion in export capacity and continued high output from top exporter Saudi Arabia are helping to compensate for reduced supply from Iran, whose output has fallen sharply due to Western sanctions.

Supply from the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has averaged 31.15 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 31.09 million bpd in September, the survey of sources at oil companies, OPEC officials and analysts found.

Iranian output is unlikely to post further large declines for now, one analyst said, although more buyers could scale back purchases in 2013. Earlier this month, the European Union approved new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

"We see relative stability through the fourth quarter at current levels," said analyst Sam Ciszuk of KBC Energy Economics. "But as U.S.-given sanction exceptions expire around new year, we're expecting some further cuts to purchases from Iran's main remaining buyers, possibly save China."

September's OPEC total was the lowest since January 2012, when the group pumped 30.95 million bpd, according to Reuters surveys. Still, production remains just over 1 million bpd more than OPEC's output target of 30 million bpd.

The biggest increase came from Iraq, which has overtaken Iran to become OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, even though bad weather slowed exports from the country's south in the second half of October.

Weather permitting, a further increase from Iraq is possible in November. Loading schedules signal higher shipments of Kirkuk crude from northern Iraq and record-high exports of Basra crude in the south.

"Exports are good," said a source with a company that buys Iraq's crude, referring to Kirkuk shipments. "There are some two to three days' delays, but that's it."

Smaller increases came from Libya, as its oil industry recovers from a shutdown during the 2011 civil war, and from Angola, where exports have edged up from September's rate, the lowest since July 2011.

Venezuela increased production slightly in October, helped by the start-up of a project involving state oil firm PDVSA and Russian companies to extract heavy crude in the Orinoco.

Oil prices gave up most of an earlier gain on Wednesday to trade around $109 a barrel. Crude has fallen from a peak for the year of $128 in March.

IRANIAN FALL

Iran and Nigeria posted declines in output this month, according to the survey.

Iranian supply fell by 30,000 bpd to 2.67 million bpd, the survey found. That would be its lowest since 1988, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Output from Iran has dropped sharply this year due to the U.S. and European sanctions on the country. The embargo bars EU insurance firms from covering Iran's exports, which has hindered imports by some non-EU buyers.

The insurance ban means Iran is increasingly reliant on its own tanker fleet to supply customers, and it has been struggling to meet delivery schedules, slowing down exports.

Iran sent more crude in Very Large Crude Carriers to South Korea in October, but at the cost of delaying some shipments to its biggest customer China, sources in the survey said.

Disruptions to supply in Nigeria limited the increase in OPEC supply this month. Nigerian exports were scheduled to rise in October, but supply declined because of flooding and damage to pipelines caused by oil theft.

Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian venture on October 19 declared force majeure on exports of Bonny and Forcados crudes, citing damage caused by oil theft. Total stopped some onshore production due to flooding.

There was no sign of any substantial reduction in supply from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies, which have kept output high all year to keep oil prices in check during the reduction in Iranian exports.

Saudi Arabia pumped almost 10 million bpd in October, near the highest rate in decades, the survey found. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on October 9 Riyadh was satisfied prices had fallen to a level that does not hamper global growth.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler; Editing by William Hardy and Jane Baird)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/opec-output-rises-offsets-more-iran-shrinkage-survey-170756273--finance.html

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Resume Cover Letters: How To Use A "Thanksgiving" Cover Letter

? Written By Jimmy Sweeney

President of CareerJimmy.com



Hungry job seekers focus their cover letters on what they want, what they expect, and what they can do. Then they wait for the phone to ring to book an interview. That's one way to approach the job search market.?

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Essential as these points are, however, they're not nearly as effective as opening and closing a cover letter with two simple words?THANK YOU.

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Why say thank you when you don't know the hiring manager and you don't have the job yet? Here's why. Behind every desk in every company sits a human being just like you, a person with hopes and dreams, plans and challenges, and a desire to be acknowledged and appreciated.

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One day your cover letter will land on his or her desk. Will you jump off the page as a person ideal for the job, a team player, someone who'll be a great addition to the staff? I hope so, but more important, will you come across as someone who has a humble and grateful attitude, an individual who recognizes the value of an opportunity, the privilege of holding a job and working with others toward a common goal? That profile is what every hiring manager is looking for.

Giving Thanks Could Land You a Job!


Thank you. These two simple words seem to be in hiding because they so rarely appear in public! But they are golden, even more so than your resume, skills, and qualifications?because they set the stage for what is to come. What man or woman wouldn't respond to someone who is polite, personal, and professional?

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Following are examples of how to express your thanks at the beginning of your cover letter and at the end.

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Dear Mr. Hiring Manager:

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Thank you for taking a moment to read my cover letter. I'm pleased to meet you here and hope to do so in person. I was happy to see on careerjimmy.com your listing for an administrative assistant?a position for which I feel qualified and eager to fill.??

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Thank you again for reading my letter and resume and for considering me for the job. May I come in for an interview so I can hear your perspective on this position and the qualities you're looking for in the person you hire? I can be available any time that works for you. I appreciate this opportunity very much.

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Example #2:


Dear Mr. Hiring Manager:

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Thank you for posting on careerjimmy.com such a clear description of the opening for an administrative assistant now available at your company. I was able to tell at a glance that this job is just what I've been looking for and feel qualified to fill.

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You must receive hundreds of cover letters every week??all the more reason for me to thank you again for taking time to read mine and for considering me for the position of executive secretary on your administrative staff. I'd welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person for an interview so we can discuss what I can bring to the job and what you expect from the person you hire.

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After sending off your cover letter, take a moment to expand your thanks silently.?

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??????? For the job that is waiting for you, even if you haven't landed it yet


??????? For the person who will hire you when the time comes

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??????? For the experience, talent, and skill you have to earn a living

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??????? For the people in your life who love and support you

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Thanksgiving Day is not the only time to give thanks. Move gratitude to the top of your list at home, at work, and in the community and you will find what you're looking for in the job market and in your relationships.

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Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the brand new, "Amazing Cover Letter Creator." Jimmy is also the author of several career related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Job Search Secrets."?

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Visit our friends at AmazingCover Letters for your "instant" cover letter today. "In just 3? minutes you will have an amazing cover letter guaranteed to cut through YOUR competition like a hot knife through butter!"

?

Source: http://cover-letter-blog.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-use-thanksgiving-cover-letter.html

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Scholastic Snake Oil: Things Aren't OK In This School

Scholastic Snake Oil: Things Aren't OK In This School

Things Aren't OK In This School

All right. ?Now I'm going to sound like a crotchety old lady--which, in fact, some people believe I am. ?

But I have to wonder what kind of a world we're living in, and what kinds of "educational" systems we have, when stories about teachers and administrators changing students' wrong answers on standardized tests doesn't even raise eyebrows anymore. ?Or when nobody expresses surprise, much less outrage, when school superintendents move potentially low-scoring students from one grade or school or another so they can't take the standardized tests. ?(Also see this.) Or when people start to think that education administrators' misappropriation of funds or cozying-up to politicians and business moguls is par for the course.

The things I've mentioned--and discussed in previous posts--may have been going on before No Child Left Behind started to dictate "education" policy. ?But they seem to have become more frequent, and the fraud seems to have grown in intensity and complexity, since NCLB was signed into law.

Even after hearing and reading about such things, I was taken aback when I saw this:

"During the school term 2010-2011, both fall and spring, I did not have a 12th grade English class. This class is a requirement for graduation. Dr. Brian Staples gave me a C both semesters for my 12th grade English class. Dr. Brian Staples suggested a student to take my Algebra class online for me. This was a difficult class for me. The Assistant Principal Ms. Cox called her into her office. I paid her $100 and $150 more after completion. My freshman math grades had been switched previous from two F?s to two C?s by Dr. Staples. ..."


Dr. Brian Staples is the principal of Douglass Mid-High School in Oklahoma City. ?The account comes from Kanda Barnes, who got her diploma from that school last year. ?Hers is not the only account of wrongdoing. ?Other students and teachers said Staples forbade teachers from giving students homework and had--Is anyone surprised?--students' grades changed.

Former Assistant Principal Marcia Muhammad became suspicious when a number of students, whom she suspected were failing, had transcripts in which all of their grades were C's. ?

A science teacher said she gave one of the students in question a D, not a C. ?Then Ms. Muhammad started to ask around, and found out that teacher wasn't the only one whose grades were changed by administrators.

Ms. Muhammad was fired. ?But she wasn't the only one whose life was affected by the scandal. ?Her son, who graduated with honors from the school, went on to college but couldn't hack it. She says the failure was "humiliating" and "hurtful" for him, and even worse for other students. ?"They're coming out of school, they're getting in trouble and then they're in jail," she said. ?"It's a pipeline from the classroom to the cell block."

In other words, NCLB is one way in which the Educational-Financial Complex supports the Prison-Industrial Complex




Source: http://scholasticsnakeoil.blogspot.com/2012/10/things-arent-ok-in-this-school.html

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Save Money When Performing Lingerie Shopping Online ...

Number of View: 76

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There are many reasons why you should night gown designs shop lingerie online at this store rather than offline. Convenience is one major reason to shop those products online. While shopping online at this store, you will get the convenience to shop anytime and from anywhere, with the access of the internet connection.

Cost is another reason why you should shop for lingerie online. Lingerie available at this store are cheaper as compared to the costs available in physical stores. As most of the women look for La Senza lingerie at the discounted prices and this store will help them grab trendy and designer products at lower prices. Over the internet, you will come across the various designs in lingerie at the best possible prices. So no night gown designs matter whether you are looking for transparent bra, strapless bra, backless bra, push up bra, nightwear for women, cotton underwear, thong underwear or any other lingerie product, you will be able to find on this store at reasonable prices. All you need to do is choose the mode payment that you are convenient with, pay for your choices and then wait for your purchases to be delivered to your doorstep within a matter of days.

Short URL: http://aayahanolosha.net/?p=4152

Source: http://aayahanolosha.net/archives/4152

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Fantasy Football Injury Report Week Eight: Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson

Get the top 10 Yardbarker stories delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday. You can also personalize your newsletter to receive even more stories about the teams and sports that matter to you most. And the best part? It's free!

* Not a Vikings fan? Choose another sport or team

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/fantasy_football_injury_report_week_eight_minnesota_vikings_rb_adrian_peterson/12041785

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Study reveals impact of public DNS services; researchers develop tool to help

Study reveals impact of public DNS services; researchers develop tool to help [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Megan Fellman
fellman@northwestern.edu
847-491-3115
Northwestern University

A new study by Northwestern University researchers has revealed that public DNS services could actually slow down users' web-surfing experience. As a result, researchers have developed a solution to help avoid such an impact: a tool called namehelp that could speed web performance by 40 percent.

Through a large-scale study involving more than 10,000 hosts across nearly 100 countries, Fabin Bustamante, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and his team found that one cause of slow web performance is a growing trend toward public Domain Name Systems (DNS), a form of database that translates Internet domain and host names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

DNS services play a vital role in the Internet: every time a user visits a website, chats with friends, or sends email, his computer performs DNS look-ups before setting up a connection. Complex web pages often require multiple DNS look-ups before they start loading, so users' computers may perform hundreds of DNS look-ups a day. Most users are unaware of DNS, since Internet Service Providers (ISP) typically offer the service transparently.

Over the last few years, companies such as Google, OpenDNS, and Norton DNS have begun offering "public" DNS services. While "private" DNS services, such as those offered by ISPs, may be misconfigured, respond slowly to queries, and go down more often, public DNS services offer increased security and privacy, and quicker resolution time. The arrangement is also beneficial for public DNS providers, who gain access to information about users' web habits.

Bustamante and his team found that while using public DNS services may provide many benefits, users' web performance can suffer due to the hidden interaction of DNS with Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), another useful and equally transparent service in the web.

CDNs help performance by offering exact replicas of website content in hundreds or thousands of computer servers around the world; when a user types in a web address, he is directed to the copy geographically closest to him. Most popular websites more than 70 percent of the top 1,000 most popular sites, according to the Northwestern study rely on CDNs to deliver their content quickly to users around the world.

But researchers found that using public DNS services can result in bad redirections, sending users to content from CDN replicas that are three times farther away than necessary.

Public DNS and CDN services are working to address the problem, but current users are left with two mediocre options bad web performance through public DNS services or bad security and privacy support through private DNS services.

Now Bustamante and his group have developed a tool called namehelp that may let users have their cake and eat it, too by using public DNS services without compromising on web performance.

namehelp runs personalized benchmarks in the background, from within users' computers, to determine their optimal DNS configuration and improve their web experience by helping sites load faster. If it finds that a user is receiving less than optimal web performance, namehelp automatically fixes it by cleverly interacting with DNS services and CDNs to ensure the user gets his content from the nearest possible copy.

###

You can download namehelp today from: http://aqualab.cs.northwestern.edu/projects/namehelp.

The paper describing the research is titled "Content Delivery and the Natural Evolution of DNS: Remote DNS Trends, Performance Issues and Alternative Solutions." The team's findings will be presented at the Internet Measurement Conference (IMC 2012) in Boston this November. In addition to Bustamante, authors on the paper are lead author John S. Otto, Mario A. Sanchez, and John P. Rula, all of Northwestern.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Study reveals impact of public DNS services; researchers develop tool to help [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Megan Fellman
fellman@northwestern.edu
847-491-3115
Northwestern University

A new study by Northwestern University researchers has revealed that public DNS services could actually slow down users' web-surfing experience. As a result, researchers have developed a solution to help avoid such an impact: a tool called namehelp that could speed web performance by 40 percent.

Through a large-scale study involving more than 10,000 hosts across nearly 100 countries, Fabin Bustamante, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and his team found that one cause of slow web performance is a growing trend toward public Domain Name Systems (DNS), a form of database that translates Internet domain and host names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

DNS services play a vital role in the Internet: every time a user visits a website, chats with friends, or sends email, his computer performs DNS look-ups before setting up a connection. Complex web pages often require multiple DNS look-ups before they start loading, so users' computers may perform hundreds of DNS look-ups a day. Most users are unaware of DNS, since Internet Service Providers (ISP) typically offer the service transparently.

Over the last few years, companies such as Google, OpenDNS, and Norton DNS have begun offering "public" DNS services. While "private" DNS services, such as those offered by ISPs, may be misconfigured, respond slowly to queries, and go down more often, public DNS services offer increased security and privacy, and quicker resolution time. The arrangement is also beneficial for public DNS providers, who gain access to information about users' web habits.

Bustamante and his team found that while using public DNS services may provide many benefits, users' web performance can suffer due to the hidden interaction of DNS with Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), another useful and equally transparent service in the web.

CDNs help performance by offering exact replicas of website content in hundreds or thousands of computer servers around the world; when a user types in a web address, he is directed to the copy geographically closest to him. Most popular websites more than 70 percent of the top 1,000 most popular sites, according to the Northwestern study rely on CDNs to deliver their content quickly to users around the world.

But researchers found that using public DNS services can result in bad redirections, sending users to content from CDN replicas that are three times farther away than necessary.

Public DNS and CDN services are working to address the problem, but current users are left with two mediocre options bad web performance through public DNS services or bad security and privacy support through private DNS services.

Now Bustamante and his group have developed a tool called namehelp that may let users have their cake and eat it, too by using public DNS services without compromising on web performance.

namehelp runs personalized benchmarks in the background, from within users' computers, to determine their optimal DNS configuration and improve their web experience by helping sites load faster. If it finds that a user is receiving less than optimal web performance, namehelp automatically fixes it by cleverly interacting with DNS services and CDNs to ensure the user gets his content from the nearest possible copy.

###

You can download namehelp today from: http://aqualab.cs.northwestern.edu/projects/namehelp.

The paper describing the research is titled "Content Delivery and the Natural Evolution of DNS: Remote DNS Trends, Performance Issues and Alternative Solutions." The team's findings will be presented at the Internet Measurement Conference (IMC 2012) in Boston this November. In addition to Bustamante, authors on the paper are lead author John S. Otto, Mario A. Sanchez, and John P. Rula, all of Northwestern.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/nu-sri102512.php

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Daytrading, Stock Trading, Investing and Forex Trading ? Share ...

I have always done O.K, it was not till I learned about Fibonacci numbers that I began to see consistent gains. In the current day's uncertain market, I have found the simple way to invest is with FOREX trading. But what a large number of individuals do not know is that the stock exchange shows these same relations between its trends and counter trends. Developed in the thirtheenth century by Leonardo Fibonacci, the Fibonacci sequence is a means of expressing certain relations that are relentless across the universe. I have used this system with success during the past half a year.

Despite the doubtful commercial environment, there?s a large amount of potential still left for profit as well as expansion for trained and smart financier who use well proved trading of stock tips and not to mention a good stock trading method.

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Source: http://traders101.com/2012/10/25/share-trading-systems/

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Being Brahms

Johannes Brahms around 1853.

Johannes Brahms around 1853. Meister Raro/Wikimedia Commons.

In 1883, Johannes Brahms made another of his summer working sojourns in country towns and spas. He generally composed in the warm months and left the rest of the year for performing and copying out the summer's production. Much influenced by landscape in his work, he may have chosen this town for its setting: Wiesbaden on the Rhine. There he found a high airy studio looking toward the river and got to work on his Third Symphony.

His First Symphony had taken over 15 years to finish, probably because of his uncertainty about how to proceed after its searing first movement, but definitely because of his anxiety over taking on this genre: "I'll never write a symphony!" he?d once groaned. "You have no idea how the likes of me feels with the tramp of a giant like him behind you!" By "him" Brahms meant Beethoven. But the First had gotten done finally, and soon after that he completed the warm and pastoral Second in a single summer. With the Third, which he finished in that summer of 1883, he wrote in many ways his most personal symphony.

Before leaving for Wiesbaden, Brahms had celebrated his 50th birthday in Vienna with two friends, surgeon Theodore Billroth and Eduard Hanslick. The latter was the most powerful music critic in Europe's capital of music. Hanslick is mainly remembered for his regular lambasting of Richard Wagner and his "Music of the Future" agenda, shared with Franz Liszt and other composers of the time who rejected the forms of Mozart, Beethoven, et al., and based much of their work on stories. Wagner wrote what he called "music dramas"; Liszt invented the orchestral "tone poem" built on literary models. The other side of the musical equation in the 19th century were those like Brahms who upheld the old "abstract" formal models and allied musical genres: sonata and rondo forms, also symphonies, string quartets, and the like.

The upholders of old forms constituted the Brahms faction in theory, but its practical and intellectual leader was Hanslick. Brahms stayed away from overt politicking. Early in his career Hanslick wrote a treatise called "Beauty in Music," in which he declared, "Definite feelings and emotions are unsusceptible of being embodied in music." This was the doctrine of "pure," aka "abstract" music. It was held up against the Wagner/Liszt school and associated with Brahms in his time and later.

What did Brahms himself think of all this? To begin with, he admired Wagner's work and said so?if only in private conversations?without being the least interested in Wagner's ideas. As for Hanslick's treatise, Brahms once told Clara Schumann he had tried to read it but, "I found such a number of stupid things in it that I gave it up." But Brahms and Hanslick needed one another; the composer needed a champion, the critic needed a bastion against Wagnerism. They became friends and let their differences lie.

To this day, Brahms is associated with the idea of abstract music, free of literary models, free of autobiography. But that's not his doing; clearly a good deal of his music came out of his life. For all his intense privacy, now and then he let something slip, usually in his oblique fashion. Once he wrote his publisher a supposedly joking suggestion that the cover of his C-Minor Piano Quartet might have a picture of himself dressed in the famous outfit of Goethe's fictional Young Werther, who killed himself for love of another man's betrothed. That quartet had first been drafted years before, in a time when the young Brahms was in a similar situation. He fell in love with Clara Schumann while her husband Robert, Brahms's discoverer and mentor, wasted away in an asylum. Later he fell for Clara Schumann's daughter Julie. When he heard Julie was getting married he wrote the despairing Alto Rhapsody, which he told Clara was his nuptial song. His friends knew that a theme in the G-Major String Sextet spelled out in notes the name of a woman he had jilted after they exchanged rings.

But Brahms was a guarded man, and most of the time he did not talk about the inspiration of a piece. In the same spirit, he destroyed most of his working sketches for pieces. He had, however, picked up from Robert Schumann the idea of symbolizing people in notes. Besides the above example in Brahms's Sextet, another is Robert's "Clara theme," which incorporates C A A, the musical letters of her name. Brahms used that theme several times, the last in one of his late Four Serious Songs that he explained, privately, "have to do with Frau Schumann." For Brahms as for both Schumanns, to use a theme evoking a person made that person part of the music. In works of both Brahms and Robert Schumann, Clara was present in her theme.

This brings us back to the Third Symphony, which opens memorably like this:

1

Brahms never talked about it, but that theme is Robert Schumann's, from the first movement of his Symphony No. 3. Brahms borrowed not Schumann's main theme, but rather a derivation of it that appears in the middle of the movement2. By way of his theme, Schumann is present in Brahms' Third Symphony. Why?

2

To answer that question we have to recall the most dramatic period in Brahms' life. In Wiesbaden, when he looked out his window to the Rhine, he had to have thought of his friend Robert Schumann, who in a famous article written when Brahms was 20 and Schumann 43, proclaimed this young man to be the future of German music. There followed Robert's suicide attempt in a fit of madness, his lockup in an asylum, and the helpless love Brahms came to feel for Robert's wife Clara, one of the great pianists of her time. When Robert finally died in the asylum, Brahms fled Clara. He was not cut out for marriage, but she remained the love of his life. Those years of Robert's mentoring, his madness, and death, and Brahms' passion for Clara, remained in Brahms' mind for the rest of his life.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=4d33a3c09304a8a7b026220a0ee08dc7

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Government to delay badger cull

House of Commons live

The government has announced it will delay a planned cull of badgers in England until next summer, after widespread protests against the scheme.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said this was necessary to "get it right" and the "optimal time" for this year had passed.

Under the coalition's plans, several thousand badgers could be shot by trained marksmen, in an effort to reduce levels of bovine tuberculosis.

Opponents say this is unnecessary.

Ministers have given approval for a cull in two areas, Gloucestershire and west Somerset, as part of efforts to control bovine TB.

Under the plans, badgers will be shot in the open without first being trapped in cages, which is current practice.

Opponents, including the RSPCA, say that is inhumane. An e-petition to the government, created by Queen guitarist Brian May, has attracted more than 160,000 signatures.

'Convinced'

In a statement to MPs, Mr Paterson said the cull "should have begun" earlier this summer but had been delayed until after the Olympics and Paralympics, with recent bad weather also hampering preparations.

But he said that the alternative - a vaccine - was only 50% to 60% effective, adding: "I'm entirely convinced that the badger cull is the right thing to do."

The NFU is leading the preparations for the scheme, but Mr Paterson said it had written to him, asking for a delay, as this was not the best time of year to go ahead.

But he said: "It's crucial that we get this right."

The government's plan is based on the results of a nine-year trial which showed the spread of the disease could be slowed slightly if more than 70% of badgers in an area could be eradicated. But if it was less than 70%, the spread of TB could increase, it found.

Mr Paterson said: "It would be wrong to go ahead if those on the ground cannot be confident of removing at least 70% of the population."

He added: "By starting the pilots next summer, we can build on the work that's already been done and ensure that the cull will conform to the scientific criteria and the evidence base."

'No answer'

For Labour Mary Creagh, shadow environment secretary, called the government's handling of the badger cull "incompetent and shambolic".

"Labour has warned the Government for two years that a cull was bad for farmers, bad for taxpayers and bad for wildlife, and it is right that it has been delayed," she said.

RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant said: "We welcome this postponement, but this must not be a temporary reprieve, but must mark an end to all cull plans.

"Science, the public and MPs from all parties had said very clearly that a cull is no answer to bovine TB."

But Peter Jones, president of the British Veterinary Association, said: "The science has not changed. Scientists agree that culling badgers does reduce the levels of infection in cattle herds, and we know that no country has dealt with bovine TB without tackling the disease in wildlife."

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says the cull is necessary to protect cattle from bovine TB.

Last year, 26,000 cattle in England had to be slaughtered after contracting the disease.

The Welsh government has opted for a system of vaccination while Scotland is officially TB-free.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20039697#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

When Microsoft unveiled its Surface tablets with a flashy, top secret Los Angeles event, it didn't just mark the beginning of a new (and utterly critical) phase for the history of the company. It marked the repurposing of a name that was already quite familiar to us -- though in the guise of a big table. That device lives on as PixelSense, thus putting a period at the end of on one definition of the word, a definition Microsoft kindly requests we put behind us as we move on to something that is wholly different.

This new Surface device could be said to relate more closely to the active form of the word in question. That is, the verb: to rise up -- for something to appear that was not there before. It's a very apt definition for what Microsoft is doing, attempting to go from zero to hero on the tablet hardware front in just one shot. Is this, the Surface for Windows RT, good enough to erase decades of mediocre touchscreen Windows devices? Will it help Microsoft and its latest operating systems float up to the top of the tablet hierarchy? Your answers lie just below the break.

Hardware

It's not an easy feat to make a tablet that looks or feels different from those hundreds of slabs that have come before, yet this Surface is indeed quite distinctive on both fronts. It's genuinely hard to differentiate our visual impressions from our tactile ones.

The exterior of the slate is a cool, matte surface that looks dark and feels quite strong and durable.

The exterior of the slate is a cool, matte surface that looks dark and feels quite strong and durable. It's constructed using Microsoft's Vapor Mg process, which relies on vapor deposition to create this distinctive tactility, which we found ourselves quite drawn to. The material feels amazing in the hand and here it's used to create a structure that is quite complex, flat on the front and back of course but with the sides angling outward, connecting a facade slightly wider than the rear.

This inclination makes for a very reassuring feel when walking around carrying this tablet under one arm, and also gives room for a display that is slightly larger than your average 9.7- or 10.1-inch slates. In fact, its display clocks in at 10.6 inches, nearly a full notch greater than the new iPad, but its resolution is far lower, at just 1,366 x 768. As we saw when we got to go behind the scenes of the device's design and development, that 16:9 display and size were custom-crafted to make the most of Windows RT's ideal orientation and, as we'll detail in the next section, the quality of this panel mostly makes up for its relative lack of resolution.

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

That rim around the edge is perforated in many places, much more than your average tablet, including two new proprietary magnetic connectors. The first, and biggest, is on the bottom of the tablet. It has six contacts, providing power and data connectivity for Microsoft's first party keyboard covers and, hopefully, more peripherals down the road. On the lower-right is another, similar but incompatible magnetic connector, this one with only five pins. It's here that the device's AC adapter plugs in, that custom plug meaning you'll have to bring it with you whenever you hit the road, but this does at least mean it pushes more juice through than your average USB connector and therefore charges faster. We do, though, wish that connector was a bit more grabby. With MagSafe it seems like if you get the plug anywhere near the connector the two pull themselves together. Microsoft's option requires a good bit more precision and doesn't hold nearly as tightly.

Following up the right edge the next port you'll find is a full-size USB 2.0 connector that's ready and waiting for thumb drives, keyboards, hubs, mice and anything else you can throw at it. We can't help but be slightly disappointed it isn't USB 3.0, but having this port is incredibly useful -- as is the micro-HDMI connector that sits above. Then comes the right speaker, with its mate to be found over on the other side. Up top you'll find a pair of microphones along with the power button, which can be found toward the right edge. On the left side is the 3.5mm headphone jack positioned just above a volume rocker. Finally, tucked behind the fold-out kickstand on the rear is a microSDHC port, which means near-infinitely expandable storage is just one tiny little chip away.

Fitting all those ports means this slate is on the large side, and not just because of the display. Full dimensions are 10.81 x 6.77 x 0.37 inches (275 x 172 x 9.4mm), considerably wider and taller than the new iPad, but only 0.2mm thicker -- not bad, considering you get that full-sized USB port out of the equation. Its 1.5 pounds means it hits the scales at 0.1 pounds greater than the latest iPad, but for some reason it feels heavier still.

When combined with either of the keyboards that Microsoft offers at launch, this becomes a surprisingly capable laptop replacement. Or surrogate, at least.

It's around the back that one of the most distinctive hardware features is found -- the kickstand. While useful, we typically find ourselves deriding the presence of such appendages when they spring out of phones and tablets. Here, though, it comprises a major part of the DNA of the device. Yes, it can be used to prop this thing up and watch a movie, but when combined with either of the keyboards that Microsoft offers at launch, the $120 Touch Cover or $130 Type Cover, this becomes a surprisingly capable laptop replacement. Or surrogate, at least. Its hinge is complex but feels durable, though we do wish Microsoft had put a notch on either side of the stand, instead of just the one on the left. Flipping it out with your right hand can be a little tricky at times.

And while we're focusing on look and feel, we'd be remiss if we didn't discuss the sounds of the device, too -- if only because Microsoft is making such a big deal out of the acoustic nature of the thing in its commercial. Indeed, the kickstand flips out with a very satisfying click and the Touch Cover magnetically pops on to the bottom with a reassuring "thunk." Reassuring, because that magnetic connection is strong enough to comfortably support the weight of the tablet dangling below -- though we wouldn't recommend swinging it around with too much verve.

When it comes to the other sounds this thing can make, those that you might actually want to listen to through the built-in stereo speakers, the Surface is merely adequate. Despite having twice as many speakers as the iPad, it actually can't match that product's maximum volume output. But, it does at least offer stereo separation, and overall audio quality is average for tablets -- that is to say, completely lacking in bass.

And when it's time to reach out and get this thing online, as it is, of course, of limited use when disconnected, you have WiFi and... that's it. Microsoft is not offering a 3G- or LTE-equipped model, at least not yet, but you do get a comprehensive suite of 802.11 interconnects: a/b/g/n with 2x2 MIMO sending and receiving. There's Bluetooth 4.0, too.

Display

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

As any digital camera aficionado will tell you, there's more to image quality than resolution.

Back when Surface for RT was first revealed, Microsoft shied away from confirming the tablet's screen resolution. We can now understand why: if people knew then that it had a 1,366 x 768 pixel count, they might have pooh-poohed it for not having a 1,920 x 1,200 panel, or better. And that would have been a shame; as any digital camera aficionado will tell you, there's more to image quality than resolution. For starters, Surface uses Microsoft's ClearType sub-pixel rendering technology to help smooth out jagged edges. Additionally, the Surface has an optically bonded display, in which the touch panel and LCD comprise a single layer, all protected behind Gorilla Glass. A technique already used in smartphone manufacturing, this allows for the panel to be thinner, and also creates fewer opportunities for light to refract. As a result, there are some pleasantly versatile viewing angles here.

It helps, too, that the screen has an impressively high 400-nit brightness rating; thanks to that spec, in particular, outdoor visibility won't be a problem. (And with such robust battery life, as you'll see below, you needn't worry about temporarily cranking up that brightness slider; you'll still have plenty of charge to spare.) Viewing angles are also world-class. You could watch a movie with this slate lying face-up on a table in front of you, but that kickstand means you'll probably have an easy time keeping it perpendicular to your gaze.

All told, the Surface's display stands up well against the competition. We still consider the new iPad panel to be the best on the market, but there is noticeably less glare on Microsoft's latest and, when placed side by side, the Surface also shows slightly deeper blacks. (The color temperature is generally cooler, too -- we're not sure that's good, per se, just different.)

That said, there's no escaping that this is indeed a lower-resolution tablet. In viewing an eye chart on the Surface and the new iPad, the smaller text elements (the ones you may find yourself squinting hopefully at while standing at the DMV) are noticeably cleaner on the iPad's 2,048 x 1,536 display. Still, since the iPad scales up all its content to match the older, lower-res tablets, much of that resolution is going to waste. In fact, load up the same webpage on both tablets and you'll see far more content on the Surface than the iPad, thanks at least in part to the 16:9 aspect ratio here.

Keyboard covers

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

You wouldn't think a 3mm-thick piece of polyurethane could make for a comfy keyboard, but the pressure-sensitive Touch Cover is a compelling companion to your written missives.

You wouldn't think a 3mm-thick piece of polyurethane could make for a comfy keyboard, but the pressure-sensitive Touch Cover is a compelling companion to your written missives. Just give yourself a little time to get used to it. Microsoft warns it could take four to five days to reach your peak touch-typing speed. That sounds about right to us, which is a bit unfortunate; you'll need to pay up to buy one before you know for sure whether you'll really like it, even if you get a chance to sample Surface at a Microsoft Store.

But, if you're on the fence, we'd recommend making the extra investment for the cover. The first 30 seconds or so will feel mighty disorienting, a sensation that evolves into uneasiness over the next few minutes as you figure out how to successfully insert an exclamation point and experiment with how much pressure is really necessary. It's also a matter of trust: think about how gingerly you used your first BlackBerry's keyboard, or how carefully you typed out text messages on your first touchscreen phone. It took time to figure those typing systems out, and there's another learning curve to ride here.

It's worth it, though. Within minutes we were typing at a brisk clip, making surprisingly few errors along the way. It helps that there are small indentations on the F and J keys just like a proper keyboard, marking the home position for each of your index fingers. The keys are also spaced well enough that you're unlikely to hit the wrong letter by mistake. It's no sweat if you do: the backspace and spacebar keys are easily found without looking down. In fact, as Microsoft was developing the product, it gradually widened the spacebar after some large-handed focus group testers found themselves mistakenly striking the touchpad instead.

We're inclined to think that touch typists will come to grips with the Touch Cover more quickly than with a more tactile keyboard on another tablet OS.

It's the familiar layout and functionality that's the best part of the Touch Cover. If you're a regular PC user you'll quickly and happily find that all your typical keyboard shortcuts work exactly as you'd expect them. Arrow keys make for quick and easy navigation through text files, like the one in which this review was written. We're inclined to think that touch typists will come to grips with the Touch Cover more quickly than with a more tactile keyboard on another tablet OS.

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

Still, that tactility is something to overcome. The biggest challenge we had in acclimating to the Touch Cover was learning just how much pressure to apply. Use it for a few minutes and you'll realize you can tap the "keys" lightly and quickly while watching as full, perfectly spelled sentences flow onto the screen. Get too cavalier, though, and a letter will fail to register, forcing you to back up and try again with a little more force. Again, though, you'll likely overcome such missteps after practicing for the prescribed business week.

Because the Touch Cover is so photogenic -- it is available in five colors, after all -- you might not have known about the Surface's other keyboard, the Type Cover, so named for its tactile, conventional-looking keys. Here, too, there's a slight learning curve, though perhaps gentler than the Touch Cover's. Once again, we found we could type quickly with a low error rate, though we never totally got used to the closeness of the keys -- they're packed very tightly and feature flat caps, meaning they very nearly bleed into one another. We wouldn't be surprised if you came to prefer the Touch Cover once you got used to it -- provided, of course, you were willing to spend an extra $130 on a spare keyboard for comparison's sake. It's a bit of a shame that there aren't more Microsoft Stores: the ideal solution would be to wander in, play with both keyboards and see if you're a more of a Touch or a Type fan.

In either case, you'll find a small elf of a touchpad sitting beneath the spacebar. Our prediction: you won't bother with it much. It comes in handy if you're working in a desktop app like Explorer or Microsoft Word and need the kind of precision finger input can't offer. Most of the time, though, we followed our intuition and just tapped on the far more responsive touchscreen. The trackpad does support two-finger scrolls, which you might use if you're looking at a website and don't want to get your finger in the way while you're reading -- or if you're a stickler for staying as close to the home row as possible. Just don't expect such gestures to be recognized in the smoothest of manners.

And, in case you were wondering, closing either cover will disable the display on the Surface, much like the magnetic iPad covers from Apple. But, we were rather disappointed by the lag here. There's a good three seconds wait before the display pops back on after flipping open the cover. That compares unfavorably to the one second or less time on Apple's option. Not the end of the world, but a bit annoying if you're just flipping it open to take a quick peek at something.

Performance and battery life

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

Under the hood, the Surface purrs along on 2GB of RAM and a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra T30 chip, the same SoC powering other Windows RT tablets, like the ASUS VivoTab RT. Since we're not yet aware of any benchmarks tailored to this operating system, we'll stand on this: Tegra 3 is more than capable of handling Windows RT's Live Tiles and Modern UI. The tablet cold-boots in just under 25 seconds and launches apps briskly. It responds smoothly to taps and swipes, and we also found that the tablet is quick to respond if you open an app, change your mind and hit the home button before the app is finished loading.

That said, we did notice some occasional pauses when quickly swiping the left side of the screen to toggle between open apps. To be clear, it didn't matter how many apps we had open: in fact, we frequently lost count of how many were running. We rarely bothered to manually close any and the machine never seemed to suffer for it. In short, the performance has a few limitations, but overall, Surface is fast, responsive and stable.

Battery Life
Microsoft Surface for Windows RT 9:36
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 12:01
Apple iPad 2 10:26
Acer Iconia Tab A510 10:23
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime 10:17 / 16:34 (keyboard dock)
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 9:57
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 9:55
Apple iPad (2012) 9:52 (HSPA) / 9:37 (LTE)
Apple iPad 9:33
ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 9:25 / 14:43 (keyboard dock)
Motorola Xoom 2 8:57
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) 8:56
HP TouchPad 8:33
ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 8:29 / 12:04 (keyboard dock)
Acer Iconia Tab A700 8:22
Acer Iconia Tab A200 8:16
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus 8:09
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 8:00
Amazon Kindle Fire 7:42
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 7:38
Acer Iconia Tab A500 6:55
Archos 101 XS 5:36

The only benchmark we felt comfortable running is the browser-based and platform-agnostic SunSpider JavaScript benchmark. Here the Surface returned a very, very healthy average score of 994ms. That's nearly twice as fast as the latest iPad and nearly as quick as our record holder, the iPhone 5, which burned through the test in 924ms when we reviewed it. Indeed, the initial rendering of webpages is far faster than the iPad, with the main content and text popping in earlier. But, if you wait for all the content to filter in, overall page load times are comparable between the two.

You caught the part earlier where we said this thing has robust battery life, right? How does nearly 10 hours sound? In our standard battery rundown test for tablets, which involves looping a locally stored video with WiFi on and brightness fixed at 50 percent, the Surface's 31.5 watt-hour battery held out nine hours and 36 minutes, which puts it just short of the new iPad (9:52) and just ahead of ASUS' high-end Transformer Pad Infinity (9:25).

Software

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

We're still a little unclear on how Microsoft plans to educate consumers on the difference between Windows RT and Windows 8.

We'll be honest: we're still a little unclear on how Microsoft plans to educate consumers on the difference between Windows RT (for ARM-based devices) and Windows 8 (for full x86 machines), especially since there's going to be a whole lot of similar-looking tablet / laptop hybrids running Windows 8. Case-in-point? The Surface with Windows Professional, which comes out in a few months andwill cost a bunch more than the RT, but looks nigh-identical, both on the outside and in the OS.

So, it might be useful, then, to start by addressing some common misconceptions about Windows RT. First of all, contrary to what some readers might believe, it does, indeed, have a desktop, just like regular Windows. Pinned to the Taskbar are various apps from Office Home & Student 2013 RT: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

That said, you won't be spending much time down here on the desktop, since Windows RT can't run legacy programs written for traditional, x86-based Windows systems. In other words, while you can install an app like Photoshop on a full Windows 8 machine, you can't do it here, nor any other Windows application written since the dawn of the OS. Additionally, we have our doubts about whether anyone going forward will bother to write desktop apps versus those more optimized for running in the de facto Live Tile interface.

It really is lovely to plug in a USB drive and start dragging and dropping files.

Still, the desktop can be a godsend in certain situations. For one, that USB port is a perfect match for Windows RT. Though this isn't "full" Windows, per se, it's still compatible with almost any USB-powered storage device or peripheral that you'd normally use with a Windows machine, a massive pile of legacy devices. It really is lovely to plug in a USB drive and start dragging and dropping files. Or, feel free to connect that comfortable keyboard you've been using for a decade, or that old tank of an HP LaserJet that's still doing the business after all these years. These are the sorts of luxuries you might take for granted but will appreciate more as you start comparing the Surface to other tablets. In short, that USB connection isn't just a spec or a talking point: it means you can use this Windows tablet like a PC, whenever it's convenient for you.

Other than the fact that Windows RT can't run legacy apps, it looks and feels like Windows 8. As you probably know, there's no Start button, and the Start Menu is comprised of Windows Phone-esque Live Tiles. Here, you'll find all the usual native apps, such as Mail, Calendar, People, Camera and Internet Explorer 10. (There are two versions of IE, by the way: one on the desktop, and a more touch-friendly one that exists as a Live Tile. They do, at least, share bookmarks now.) The desktop, too, is an app unto itself on the Start screen. What's more, all the same gestures apply: swipe from the right to expose the Charm Bar, which contains options for searching content and adjusting system settings. Swipe from the left to toggle apps, and swipe from the top or bottom to view certain app-specific options, like playing a movie on loop. That these options are all hidden means there is a bit of learning users will have to do before making the best use of their tablets, but once mastered you'll find options and commands are usually just a few taps away.

From the Start Screen, you can just start typing to begin a search for something -- a trick you can use on the Windows Store home screen, too. On the desktop, windows have a flatter, two-dimensional feel, meaning the old transparent bordering is a thing of the past. Things are, by default, a bit more finger-friendly than your average Windows desktop, with bigger buttons and menu options.

There's nothing stopping you from downloading legacy apps from the browser, but none will run on Windows RT.

Video playback support is rather limited at this point. The system will play WMV and MK4 files, but the system has no idea what to do with MKV files by default, and even an old AVI file we tried to play failed miserably. So, if you were hoping this machine would be as adept at playing back video files in any 'ol format you throw at it, like the x86 version of Windows is, you're bound for disappointment. At least, until someone ports VLC over to ARM.

When they do, you'll have to download it from the Windows Store. In fact, you'll be getting everything from the Windows Store. Mind you, there's nothing stopping you from downloading legacy apps from the browser, but none will run on Windows RT. As we discovered, you can go so far as to create desktop shortcuts for apps. But when you try and load them, a banner will stretch across the screen, telling you the app won't run on your device. As for apps you can run, the selection is small, but growing. Netflix, for instance, just arrived in the Windows Store, and we expect plenty more soon (including our own app). So far, there's a comforting group of heavy hitters, including Skitch, Box.net, Associated Press, Evernote, eBay, StumbleUpon, Pandora and Slacker Radio. We'd like to believe that bodes well for other major apps that still haven't arrived on the platform.

There is, at least, a Kindle app, but it's decidedly less than optimal at this point. Page-turning is sometimes done very quickly, sometimes met with five seconds of a spinning progress indicator. Voice playback (and, therefore, Whispersync for Voice) are unsupported and we got an error whenever we tried to open a comic, and what's the point of having such a nice display if you can't read Watchmen?

We searched on for other popular apps, more often than not coming up empty-handed. Notables we're still waiting for include: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Dropbox, Mint, PageOnce, TripIt, NPR, NYTimes, Angry Birds, Draw Something, Words with Friends, Temple Run, Spotify, Springpad, Remember the Milk, Amazon, Instapaper, Pocket (formerly Read it Later), Flipboard, Steam, Instagram, Nook, Zinio and Rdio. You can't even install Microsoft's own Silverlight browser plugin, which should be the final nail in that platform's coffin.

We also couldn't find any airline apps. Now, we can't make any guarantees, but it seems to us that Twitter, Foursquare and Rovio would be nuts not to develop for Windows RT and Windows 8. This is, basically, a new ecosystem and it will certainly grow -- we're just advising patience if you insist on buying the Surface as an early adopter.

Cameras

The Surface has dual 720p cameras, but unless you're in the mood for video chatting, you probably won't be using them much. Even by tablet standards, the image quality here is pretty poor. Our full-res, 1,280 x 720 shots look awfully pixelated, even in brightly lit environments that shouldn't have yielded any noise. You'll also notice a good deal of color saturation (take a look at those fire-engine-red peppers in the sample gallery to see what we mean). As for the Surface's 720p video recording, we noticed some motion blur, but we were pleasantly surprised by how gentle the audio rendering was. Too often, our clips taken with tablets have a buzzing, distorted quality. In this case, the tablet didn't pick up any stray gusts of wind that might have otherwise spoiled our recording.

Configuration options and the competition

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

The Surface is available in just two flavors, one with 32GB of built-in storage and the other with 64 gigs. The 32GB version starts at $499. That entry-level kit doesn't include a keyboard, but for $599, you can get one in the box. As for that 64GB model, Microsoft is selling it as a bundle with the Touch Cover keyboard for $699. If you do buy the tablet by itself and later decide you want a keyboard to go with it, the Touch will sell for $120, while the Type Cover (the one with physical keys) will retail for $130. As a side note, Microsoft will only ever bundle the black Touch Cover, so start saving your pennies if you just have to have it in blue.

The Surface arrives in lockstep with several other tablets running Windows RT. We've been testing the ASUS VivoTab RT, which is priced identically to the Surface with a thinner, lighter design but slightly shorter battery life and a less comfortable typing experience. Dell's XPS 10 should also go on sale soon, though we unfortunately don't know yet how much it will cost. We're also intensely curious about the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, which has a screen that folds all the way backward, but that won't go on sale until December. When it does, it will come at a premium: it will start at $799.

As an ARM-based tablet promising healthy battery life, the Surface goes to toe-to-toe with the iPad.

As an ARM-based tablet promising healthy battery life, the Surface goes to toe-to-toe with the iPad, along with a handful of high-end Android tablets. Starting with the iPad, both tablets start at $499, though for that price the Surface offers twice as much built-in storage (not to mention a memory card slot and support for USB storage). The iPad is thinner and lighter, but perceived build quality is comparable. (Besides, if you dig the Surface's kickstand and USB port, it probably couldn't have been much skinnier anyway.) As we've said, the displays are both nice, though neither completely bests the other: the iPad looks crisper and cleaner while the Surface is less prone to glare. When it comes to typing, Surface has the advantage of full keyboard support built into the OS and two keyboards designed by Microsoft itself. They're comfortable -- more so than many of the third-party offerings for iPad -- but it remains to be seen how many tablet buyers will truly value the typing experience.

Other than that, the key difference between the two isn't about millimeters or pixels. It's about software. We've already established, we hope, that Windows RT is easy to use, and well-suited for this form factor as well as for designs of productivity. The problem is app selection: as of this writing, the iPad has over 250,000 available that are optimized for its display. Don't get us wrong: Windows 8 and Windows RT are quickly gaining momentum, but until your favorites do show up in the Windows Store you'll have to show a little patience -- or be willing to find new favorites.

Finally, on the Android front you've obviously got many more choices, including a bunch offered with optional keyboard docks. If you're looking for something with just as nice a display as the Surface, we'd recommend the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity, a 10-inch tablet with a 1,920 x 1,200 IPS panel, excellent battery life and a solid spun metal build. Be warned, though, that ASUS' keyboard docks tend to have relatively cramped layouts. For a better typing experience, we'd suggest the new Lenovo IdeaTab S2210 ($430), though as a mid-range tablet it makes do with a lower-res screen than the Infinity. It also offers shorter battery life than ASUS' Transformer tablets, and most 10-inch slates, really.

Wrap-up

DNP Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review

The Microsoft Surface with Windows RT's $499 starting MSRP means those thinking about making the investment here will be carefully cross-shopping against same-priced offerings from Apple, ASUS and others. Where does this one rate? Very well -- but very differently. While those devices are primarily targeted at content-hungry consumers, the Surface is a slate upon which you can get some serious work done, and do so comfortably. You can't always say that of the competition.

It's in the other half of the equation, that of the content consumption and entertainment, where the Surface is currently lacking. It needs a bigger pile of apps and games to make up for that and, while we're sure they're coming, we don't know when. If those apps arrive soon, then early adopters will feel vindicated. If, however, the Windows RT market is slow to mature, not truly getting hot for another six months or so, holding off will prove to have been the smarter option.

So, if gaming and music and movies and reading are what you're looking to enjoy, then we might advise sitting this one out for a few months just to make sure that all your bases will indeed be covered. If, however, you're looking for an impeccably engineered tablet upon which you can do some serious work, a device that doesn't look, feel or act like a toy, then you should get yourself a Surface with Windows RT.

Dana Wollman contributed to this review.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/23/microsoft-surface-rt-review/

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Obamacare Taxes: How the Changes Will Impact Your Income ...

The new taxes are aimed at boosting and extend the reach of Medicare payroll taxes for taxpayers above certain income levels.

Under current law, the government charges a tax of 2.9% on wages and self-employment income. For employees, your employer covers half of that tax, and the other half is withheld automatically from your paycheck.

That rate will soon be raised to 3.8% for single filers who have earnings of more than $200,000. For joint filers, the limit is $250,000. Moreover, the entire additional 0.9% will come out of your pocket.

Single filers can expect their withholding to be done correctly by their employers, but joint filers may need to pay additional tax out-of-pocket because their respective employers won?t know how much the couple earned in total.

The other new tax, known as the Unearned Income Medicare Contributions tax, extends the 3.8% Medicare tax beyond wages and earnings to include investment income. In this case, the IRS will look at all of your income and determine how much of it pushed your income above the $200,000 limit for singles or the $250,000 limit for joint filers. To the extent that investment income reaches above those limits, you?ll have to pay the new 3.8% tax on that amount. For instance, if you?re single and had income of $205,000, $15,000 of which came from investment income, then you?d pay the new investment-income tax on the $5,000 that pushed your income beyond the $200,000 limit.

Don?t Expect Romney to Save You

Of course, the presidential election could play a pivotal role in the future of health-care reform, as Republican candidate Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal Obamacare if elected. Yet unless Democrats lose not only the Oval Office but also their control of the Senate, Romney won?t have the power to fulfill his promise unilaterally. And even with GOP control of Congress and the White House, a filibustering Democrat minority in the Senate might make repeal a tall order.

High-income taxpayers need to assume that the new Obamacare taxes will take effect as planned and use favorable provisions like retirement accounts to protect their incomes from the tax.

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Source: http://g7finance.com/global-news/obamacare-taxes-how-the-changes-will-impact-your-income/

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