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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Fun.'s 'Some Nights' Video: Frame By Frame

'Let's go on record saying it was life or death,' Jack Antonoff tells MTV News about lightning storm while filming Civil War-themed clip.
By Rya Backer

fun.'s "Some Nights" video
Photo: Fueled by Ramen

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1688824/fun-some-nights-music-video-frame-by-frame.jhtml

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iPhone Apps to Repair Your Car ~ www.popgive.com

Have you ever wished you could more easily find auto body shops or auto repair shops in your local area through your smart phone?? How about finding an auto repair shop that will not try to take advantage of you and over charge for an otherwise inexpensive repair?? Have you ever wanted to know more about how to fix your own car so you do not have to rely on auto mechanics for simple repairs you could do in your own garage?? Here is a collection of cool iPhone apps that helps you with all things automotive.? Whether you want to find a good mechanic in a pinch, be your own mechanic, or just change a tire, these iPhone apps will help you out.

CrashSpace

CrashSpace is the epitome of a Mobile Web 2.0 app.? CrashSpace allows local auto body shops to bid on your automobile repair.? You begin by taking pictures of your dented bumper, shattered tail light, crumpled hood, whatever your auto body ill may be, and then uploading them to the CrashSpace servers through the mobile app along with a description of the damage and your contact information.? Local auto body shops then bid on the work for your repairs.? Once a auto body repair shop bids on your potential business, their bid details are sent directly to your email.

RepairPal: Auto Repair Expert

If you ever find yourself on a relaxing vacation only to have your car break down on the side of the road, RepairPal could reduce some of the unwanted hassle.? RepairPal will help you find local repair shops in whatever town you find are in.?? Not only can you search for local repair shops, you can also find a local tow service and get fair market estimates on your needed repair.? Another plus about this app is that you can get all of this for free.

TuneyFish

Would you rather do the work yourself?? For all of you budding or amateur mechanics out ther, TuneyFish allows you to find tutorials in video and print format for how to repair and perform maintenance on several specific areas of your car.? From changing tires, changing your oil, to replacing electrical fuses and pop starting your engine, TuneyFish has hundreds of tutorials all for free.

ExpertVideo: Car Repair Basics

Part of the ExpertVideo series, this car repair tutorial app gets down and dirty with videos that allow you to perform basic maintenance and troubleshooting on your vehicle.

Mechanic Exam

If you are serious about moving beyond an amateur gearhead to a certified automotive mechanic, Mechanic Exam provides hundreds of practice questions and other text preparation tools to prepare you to take your ASE mechanics exam.? This is the first in the series and offers assistance in test areas such as automatic transmission, engine repair, axles and more.

iLocate ? Automobile Parts

If you know what auto parts you are looking for, iLocate ? Automobile Parts is a nice directory app to get you what you need in a hurry.? iLocate uses your GPS to find local auto part stores in your nearby vicinity and give you prices for comparison, along with store directions and phone numbers.

Auto ? Fix a Flat

For the less automotive savvy among us, the Auto ? Fix a Flat app will guide us through the process of fixing a flat tire.? Whether you are stuck on the side of the road in a sporty mini coop or a full sized family van, Fix a Flat covers most makes and models to provide instructions for your specific automobile.

AutoZone

With the AutoZone app, you can track your AutoZone rewards, create shopping lists, find nearby stores, check availability, and several other features you would expect from this app.? The AutoZone app also gives you access to their handy troubleshooting guides.

Author box
The article is written by Jason Phillips he works for rockville auto body, a car company known for repair and maintenance.

Source: http://www.popgive.com/2012/06/iphone-apps-to-repair-your-car.html

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Business Accounting Software How It Has Made the World of ...

by Chris Alexander
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Business Accounting Software More Details about Business Accounting Software here.

Business accounting software is one of the most popular business products of today's time. Accounting is defined as the activity of keeping detailed records of the different transactions of a business. This is very important for any business because this process helps them evaluate whether or not their business is profitable, whether or not they should make a move that could improve their business, and whether or not the business should shut down operations. All these are important questions to which the accounting process provides answers. The accounting process is a very strenuous task and requires a lot of time and paperwork. The accounting process is usually done with a journal and ledger wherein the accountant is given receipts and notifications of the different transactions of the business. The accountant then proceeds to the analysis of each transaction and places each one in the proper account title. After, the accountant prepares the financial statements of the company. This usually takes up a lot of time and increases the amount of paperwork that an accountant must maintain. The amount of paperwork reduces the reliability of the information that the accountant provides because of the increase in the chance that there might be a mistake. That is why this type of software has become one of the most important items that a business must have.

Business accounting software reduces the amount of work that an accountant does. It has a database wherein all the transactions of the business can be organized and maintained. The database allows for accountants to keep track of the transactions and once they are able to do this, they can then proceed to the analysis of those transactions. In the past, when an accountant analyzes transactions, they had to make use of ledgers, journals and receipts. Now, with the use of the software, all they have to do is input the different amounts into the proper account titles and the system does the rest. It is able to compute the businesses revenue, expenses, assets and liabilities. These four are used by accountants to create the different financial statements of a company such as the balance sheet, income statement and statement of shareholders equity. The software also allows for the accountant to easily determine the accounts that need to be placed in each financial statement.

There are many companies that provide businesses with this type of software. Most of these companies are IT companies and that have developed versatile versions of the software. Majority of the software that is out there in the market not only provides businesses with the ability to maintain transactions, but also allows for them to make decisions based on the data that is generated by those transactions. Business accounting software has proven to be one of the most important business items in today's time. Businesses are developing more hi-tech ways to do business and this overwhelms their accountants at times because they have to come up with different ways to maintain the accounts of those types of transactions. The software makes both the business and the accountants lives a lot easier. They are able to provide the business with a more organized manner.

Learn More about Business Accounting Software and ERP SOftware Solutions Canada. Visit Us at: www.accsoft.ca

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More Details about Business Accounting Software here.

Keywords: Business Accounting Software, ERP SOftware Solutions Canada, Retail Solution

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Small fire temporarily displaces Lake Ave. apartment residents (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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GEDI chip sorts prostate cancer cells

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Posted: Jun 28th, 2012

Posted: Jun 27th, 2012

Posted: Jun 26th, 2012

Posted: Jun 27th, 2012
GEDI chip sorts prostate cancer cells
(Nanowerk News) The future of prostate cancer therapy may lie in a tiny, "sticky" silicon chip dubbed GEDI (Geometrically Enhanced Differential Immunocapture, pronounced like the "Star Wars" forces of good) that can identify and collect cancer cells from a patient's bloodstream.
A team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and Cornell's College of Engineering in Ithaca has built the chip into a device that captures an unprecedentedly high concentration of rare cancer cells from metastatic prostate cancer patients for a quick, noninvasive analysis to determine the efficacy of the patients' current chemotherapy. The ability to collect a relatively pure sample of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may also enable research to better understand the biology of metastasis and develop new treatments, the researchers said.

The "sticky" square patch (middle) of the GEDI device contains the purest collection of circulating tumor cells in the blood. The rest of the blood cells are discarded in the capsule.
Their work is described in a paper in the April 2012 issue of the journal PLoS ONE ("Functional Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells with a Prostate-Cancer-Specific Microfluidic Device"), and was announced in a press conference at Weill by Brian Kirby, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; David Nanus, M.D., the Mark W. Pasmantier Professor of Hematology and Oncology in Medicine; and Evi Giannakakou, associate professor of pharmacology. The team includes 12 other researchers from both campuses.
Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started -- in this case, the prostate -- to another place in the body, most commonly the lungs, bones and liver. Metastasis accounts for the majority of cancer-related deaths.
"We need to be able to match the drug to the patient and the tumor," said Nanus. But tumor cells habitually mutate and develop a resistance to a previously effective therapy. In the case of prostate cancer, three drugs are in common use, but the most effective one varies with the patient and the particular cancer.
Metastasis is believed to be caused by cells that detach from the primary prostate tumor, circulate in the bloodstream and seed new tumors. Extensive clinical research shows that a reliable CTC count is a strong predictor of overall survival in metastatic prostate cancer patients. However, since the incidence of CTCs can be very small -- one CTC per 100 million blood cells -- pure CTC capture is difficult.
"This really is a needle in a haystack," Kirby emphasized.

On the GEDI chip, blood flows through an array of posts just a few millionths of a meter in diameter, coated with antibodies that stick to cancer cells. Each row of posts is offset from the one before by a distance that causes the larger cancer cells to collide with them - and stick on - more often, while other cells in the blood flow smoothly past
Cell-capture devices now in use contain antibodies that bind to an antigen found on the surface of nearly all malignant prostate cancer cells. But these antibodies also bind to other cells in the bloodstream and can collect a highly impure sample.
On the GEDI chip, a milliliter (mL, one-thousandth of a liter) of blood is pumped through a nanoscale channel filled with tiny posts just a few microns (millionths of a meter) in diameter, coated with antibodies. Successive rows of posts are offset in a carefully calculated way so that only cells larger than 15 microns will collide with the posts and stick to them, while most smaller cells flow smoothly around them.
"Most cancer cells are bigger and more rigid than normal cells, so it's about tricking these cancer cells into colliding with the sticky walls," Kirby explained.
After the test the chip is removed from the device and the captured cells extracted for analysis. In an experiment with a blood sample containing 200 mL of CTCs and 5 billion blood cells, the device captured a whopping 170mL of CTCs and only 91mL of irrelevant blood cells.
The GEDI device is scheduled to go into clinical trial this year. Meanwhile, the researchers are actively working on detectors for breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.
The research is one of several joint Ithaca-New York City projects associated with the Cornell Center for Microenvironment and Metastasis, a $13 million National Institutes of Health-funded Physical Sciences-Oncology Center created to use physical techniques and processes to improve understanding and care of metastatic cancer in patients.

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Budget Travel ? Eat Out without Busting Out on Vacation | Internet ...

You can find good food to suit your travel budget as long as you are open to doing things slightly out of your normal routine. Also you often need to do a little research before diving into the first cafe or restaurant that you see. Drinks and snacks can be the biggest cost, and are not always available in smaller resorts. A travel kettle will pay for itself in no time ? take sachets of coffee, tea and sugar and buy milk and biscuits locally.

If you are in a budget hotel, guest house or hostel, breakfast may be included in your package. Make sure you check out the meals, do not be put off by other guests. Plain simple food is fine if it is served properly, a freshly baked roll with jam and coffee or tea will cost you nothing. That same meal in a cafe overlooking a piazza would cost up to half your daily food budget!

Budget Travel breakfast could be in a local basic cafe ? if it is full of hungry workers then you are likely to find a good value meal. And remember to eat what the locals eat. If you order an imported drink the cost could be three times the local equivalent. This is also a chance to meet people and get tips on the best place for lunch.

If you are still ready to experiment at lunch, again look for cafes without a ?tourist? image. The basic budget travel rule when dining in a city is to avoid the restaurants overlooking a major attraction. Not only are these the most expensive, they charge extra for sitting on the terrace and the waiters can be very fierce in demanding tips. One street away you can stumble on a small cafe with the menu chalked up on a board, and local people eating there. It may offer just a few dishes but they are freshly cooked and good value.

Or you can choose the easy option for budget eating and save time by using one of the international chains ? or a local fast food outlet. Many cities offer takeaway pizza and bakes, sold by the piece or weight, teamed with a quick coffee or cola to prepare you for an afternoon of new experiences. Third option really applies if you have a vehicle ? stock up with bread, cheese or cold meat and drinks, and stop at a beauty spot where you can dine al fresco. You should always buy plenty of bottled water when you see a supermarket ? the cost difference buying water in small bottles can be more than five times the price!

Making yourself known to other guests, the receptionist and locals, is another way to find the best way to eat within your travel budget. Most people are proud to share the best points of their city and will happily direct you to a favourite restaurant.

When you want to enjoy a really top restaurant meal, the low cost option is to eat lunch. The best deals are on offer as most customers want to eat in the evening. The same rules apply when choosing the place. If there is a waiter outside to entice customers in, it is probably a tourist trap. If the menu is painted up permanently and offers 100 dishes, they come from the freezer. Usually the set menu or table d?hote is best for budget travel: this is sometimes served up till 8pm so look out for it. The chef puts the best food on the set menu and there is no shame in choosing it. The same rule applies to drink. House wine, often in a carafe, is the best value and they sell lots of it so it will be fresh. Local produce rules again ? an imported spirit will be triple the cost of the local tipple, so why not try that instead?

Finally, coffee in a smart restaurant is an expensive item. If you settle your bill, take a post prandial stroll and keep your eyes open you should find a friendly bar where you can get a drink, local color and usually music thrown in. You are on vacation, budget travel does not stop you enjoying it.

Budget Travel - Eat Out without Busting Out on Vacation

Adrienne Davis runs Budget Travel Tips with help and tips for a great vacation to suit your budget. She has extensive experience in marketing and business start up and publishes a FREE http://www.brilliant4biz.com Internet Business Tips Ezine

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Study on fungi helps explain coal formation and may advance future biofuels production

ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) ? A new study--which includes the first large-scale comparison of fungi that cause rot decay--suggests that the evolution of a type of fungi known as white rot may have brought an end to a 60-million-year-long period of coal deposition known as the Carboniferous period. Coal deposits that accumulated during the Carboniferous, which ended about 300 million years ago, have historically fueled about 50 percent of U.S. electric power generation.

In addition, the study provides insights about diverse fungal enzymes that might be used in the future to help generate biofuels, which are currently among the most promising and attractive alternatives to fossil fuels for powering vehicles.

The study, which was conducted by a team of 71 researchers from 12 countries, appears in the June 29, 2012 issue of Science and was partially funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

There are almost 1.5 million fungi species on Earth. They perform essential ecological roles that include decomposing organisms and serving as food for many insect species and larger organisms.

However, only about five percent of fungi species have, thus far, been classified. The new study is part of an effort--supported by NSF's Assembling the Tree of Life and Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy programs--to resolve evolutionary relationships between fungi species, define the diversity of fungi, and explain the early evolutionary history of fungi. Information produced by this effort is integral to the story of life on Earth and the evolution of its varied ecosystems.

The end of a geologic era

Coal is composed of the fossilized remains of plants--mostly lignin, which is a complex polymer that is an important component of the cell walls of plants and helps give wood its strength and rigidity. The study indicates that white rot fungi, which are the only types of microorganisms that can break down lignin, evolved at the end of the Carboniferous green period, and that the synchrony between the rise of white rot fungi and the close of the Carboniferous was no coincidence.

According to the study, once white rot, which breaks down lignin via enzymatic activity, became an ecological force, it destroyed huge accumulations of woody debris that would have otherwise escaped decay to ultimately be fossilized as coal.

So if not for the advent of white rot, large coal deposits may have continued to form long after the end of the Carboniferous period. This study supports a paper published in 1990 by Jennifer M. Robinson that pegged the evolution of white rot as a potential contributing factor to the end of the Carboniferous period.

The matrix

Lignin exists in cell walls as part of a tough matrix with cellulose, which is a carbohydrate composed of sugar subunits. But once white rot attacks and destroys lignin, the matrix collapses, and the cellulose is freed--to be devoured by the white rot as food.

The ability of white rot fungi to decay lignin may ultimately be used to help conquer what is among the world's most longstanding and vexing problems associated with the large-scale production of biofuels: that is, obtaining plant carbohydrates that could be converted into biofuels via fermentation processes.

It may ultimately be feasible to use white rot to break down lignin to release cellulose from cell walls, which could then be broken down into sugars. Next, the sugars would be fed to yeast that would be fermented into alcohols that would provide the bases for new biofuels.

In addition, because enzymes from white rot fungi are able to break down complex organic molecules, they have been investigated for use in bioremediation operations that involve breaking down contaminants to remove them from the environment.

Genomic comparisons

"Our study was designed to reconstruct the evolution of lignin decay mechanisms in fungi, analyze the distribution of enzymes that enable fungi to break down lignin, and better define the evolution of the gene families that encode those enzymes," said David Hibbett of Clark University, who led the study.

Hibbett and his team focused on a large group of fungi known as Agaricomycetes, which include white rot fungi as well as mushroom species that have the familiar cap-and-stem shape. The Agaricomycetes group also includes brown rot fungi that can destroy wood by breaking down cellulose and hemicellulose, which is another component of cell walls--all the while without breaking down lignin.

The researchers compared 31 fungal genomes--26 of which were sequenced at the Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, including 12 that were sequenced at the DOE JGI specifically for the study, and were then annotated and analyzed by NSF-funded researchers in collaboration with JGI and other partners.

"The 12 new genome sequences could serve as potential resources for industrial microbiologists aiming to develop new tools for producing biofuels, bioremediation or other products, perhaps by using recombinant DNA methods or by selecting new organisms for fermentation," said Hibbett.

"This study exemplifies the tremendous gains we can make in understanding complicated biologic processes such as lignin decomposition when we learn about the genealogical relationships of organisms," said Charles Lydeard, an NSF program director.

The evolution of white rot

The study also involved tracking the evolution of lignin-decomposing enzymes back through time. This was done via so-called "molecular clock analyses." Such analyses are based on the assumption that genes accumulate mutations through evolution at fairly predictable rates--similar to the way that the hands of a clock advance around a clock at predictable rates. The ability to estimate these mutation rates enables researchers to trace mutations back in time and estimate how recently fungal lineages shared a common ancestor but then diverged from one another.

Results of molecular clock analyses suggest that the oldest ancestor of the Agaricomcyetes was a white rot species that possessed multiple lignin-degrading enzymes and lived roughly 300 million years ago. Many surviving lineages of Agaricomycetes-including fungi species known as wood-decaying polypores and bracket fungi-produce lignin-degrading enzymes. "Our results suggest that the ability of fungi to break down lignin evolved only once," said Hibbett.

In addition, Hibbett said, "This study underscores the adaptability of fungi." This adapatability is underscored by the fact that some Agaricomycete lineages have maintained their lignin-degrading enzymes. By contrast, other Agaricomycete lineages, including brown rot and mycorrhizal species, which survive via symbiotic relationships with the roots of certain trees without decaying them, ultimately lost their lignin-degrading enzymes as they developed alternative methods of obtaining nutrition, said Hibbett.

Potential payback

The economic value of fungi is already almost incalculable: fungi currently impact diverse applied disciplines, including agriculture, medicine and drug discovery. The more scientists learn about these important organisms, the more likely they will be to identify additional uses for them that will benefit the economy, the environment, and human welfare, as well as to develop new ways to fight wood rot that, at great costs, kills trees and destroys wood structures, including homes and ships.

Joseph Spatafora of Oregon State University who is a co-author on the study said, "It's a really exciting time in fungal biology, and part of that is due to the technology today that allows us to address the really longstanding questions."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Science Foundation.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

D. Floudas, M. Binder, R. Riley, K. Barry, R. A. Blanchette, B. Henrissat, A. T. Martinez, R. Otillar, J. W. Spatafora, J. S. Yadav, A. Aerts, I. Benoit, A. Boyd, A. Carlson, A. Copeland, P. M. Coutinho, R. P. de Vries, P. Ferreira, K. Findley, B. Foster, J. Gaskell, D. Glotzer, P. Gorecki, J. Heitman, C. Hesse, C. Hori, K. Igarashi, J. A. Jurgens, N. Kallen, P. Kersten, A. Kohler, U. Kues, T. K. A. Kumar, A. Kuo, K. LaButti, L. F. Larrondo, E. Lindquist, A. Ling, V. Lombard, S. Lucas, T. Lundell, R. Martin, D. J. McLaughlin, I. Morgenstern, E. Morin, C. Murat, L. G. Nagy, M. Nolan, R. A. Ohm, A. Patyshakuliyeva, A. Rokas, F. J. Ruiz-Duenas, G. Sabat, A. Salamov, M. Samejima, J. Schmutz, J. C. Slot, F. St. John, J. Stenlid, H. Sun, S. Sun, K. Syed, A. Tsang, A. Wiebenga, D. Young, A. Pisabarro, D. C. Eastwood, F. Martin, D. Cullen, I. V. Grigoriev, D. S. Hibbett. The Paleozoic Origin of Enzymatic Lignin Decomposition Reconstructed from 31 Fungal Genomes. Science, 2012; 336 (6089): 1715 DOI: 10.1126/science.1221748

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Debt Negotiation Company Selection Tips - Business Negotiation

The author has many years of experience writing articles on debt negotiation, debt settlement and credit debt settlement. He also guides people on how to lead a debt-free life.

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whereby the original author's information and copyright must be included.

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Just how to produce a professional business presentation utilizing ...

Posted by TopezSorells663 on June 28, 2012

Microsoft PowerPoint is content presentation software developed by Microsoft. Its current version is Microsoft PowerPoint 2010, which is compatible with the current windows operating systems like Windows 7 and Windows Vista. PowerPoint 2011 is the version released for MAC operating systems.

PowerPoint is a part of the Microsoft office suite of products which also includes Word, Excel and Access. Microsoft has been successfully selling this as a suite for the last 15 years with great success. The word PowerPoint was actually coined in the year 1987 when Microsoft took over the company Forethought. While it was with Forethought, the software was called Presenter. Microsoft PowerPoint has become the chosen presentation platform for most companies that are running the Windows operating system. It has totally replaced prior presentation methods including overhead projection using film slides.

PowerPoint has a number of features to present visuals aids. Images and Video clippings can be embedded on slides. The movement from one slide to another can be made more interesting by using the animation options provided by PowerPoint. Within a slide, the various elements such as the text, images and animations can be made to appear in a particular sequence and certain transition elements can also be introduced between the appearances of the various objects within the slide.

Though many new features have been added to the PowerPoint software, the basic templates containing the slides and the associated in-built slide patterns had remained the same since it was introduced by Microsoft in 1997. The number of patterns available in the slide templates though has increased to a great extent, thereby giving the customers a wide variety of slide design patterns.

Though PowerPoint has become the medium of presenting information in formal meetings, there are still some people who continue to use overhead projectors. These people actually feel that the PowerPoint software dilutes the importance of the message that is being communicated. They feel that this software can provide information at a very broad level and is difficult to use to present specific details. Hence they have decided to stick to the older method of making film slide presentation and manual drawings on white boards. But those who want to quickly transfer the message in an efficient manner; they continue to use power point software. These power point slides can ultimately be saved as ppt. files and can be distributed easily over the web.

Learn more about Power point alternative or Sales presentation

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Nick Offerman Reads Tweets From Young Female Celebrities on Conan

Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman loves working in his wood shop. He also revels in reading Tweets from female celebs. Combining those passions? Pure magic.

If you're at all familiar with Ron Swanson quotes, you will find this hilarious. If not ... 1. What is wrong with you, and 2. You'll probably still get a kick out of it.

What's not to love about a gruff character actor and the manliest of men reciting Tweets by Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato while woodworking?

Enough said. Enjoy this segment from Conan:

Nick Offerman Reads Tweets

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Syria: TV station attacked, 7 staffers killed

In this image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Tuesday, June 26, 2012, smoke rises from buildings following purported shelling in Homs, Syria. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

This citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, purports to show anti-Syrian regime mourners carrying the coffins of Syrian citizens wrapped with Syrian revolutionary flags who were killed by the Syrian forces shelling, in Daraa, southern Syria, Tuesday June 26, 2012. Syria's elite Republican Guard forces clashed with rebels just outside Damascus Tuesday in some of the most intense fighting involving the special forces guarding the capital since an uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began last year, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

This citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, purports to show an anti-Syrian regime man, center, spraying water over mourners to cool them from the heat as they carry the coffins of Syrian citizens who were killed by the Syrian forces shelling during heir funeral procession, in Daraa, southern Syria, Tuesday June 26, 2012. Syria's elite Republican Guard forces clashed with rebels just outside Damascus Tuesday in some of the most intense fighting involving the special forces guarding the capital since an uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began last year, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Gunmen raided the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV station early Wednesday, killing seven employees, kidnapping others and demolishing buildings, officials said. The government blamed terrorists and described the killings as a "massacre."

An Associated Press photographer who visited the Al-Ikhbariya station's compound said five portable buildings used for offices and studios had collapsed, with blood on the floor and wooden partitions still on fire. Some walls had bullet holes.

Al-Ikhbariya is privately-owned but strongly supports President Bashar Assad's regime. Pro-government journalists have been attacked on several previous occasions during the country's 15-month uprising, although such incidents are comparatively rare.

Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi said the killings were "a massacre against the freedom of the press" in remarks broadcast on state TV. He later told reporters that it had been carried out by terrorists ? the same word the government uses for rebels.

Rebels deny they target the media.

Much of the violence that has gripped Syria over the past 15 months has been sanctioned by the government to crush dissent. But rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.

Many in the opposition consider the media an arm of the regime. Syria does not have a free press and most news organizations are either state-run or private bodies that carry the government's point of view. Most of the private TV stations and newspapers are owned by politicians or wealthy businessmen who have close links to the regime.

Assad denies that there is any popular will behind the uprising, saying terrorists are behind a conspiracy to destroy the country.

Al-Zoebi, the information minister, said gunmen stormed the station's compound in the town of Drousha, about 20 kilometers (14 miles) south of the capital Damascus, and detonated explosives. He said the attackers killed seven people and kidnapped others.

Restrictions on the media make it difficult to verify accounts of events on the ground.

An employee at the station said several other staffers were wounded in the attack, which happened just before 4 a.m. local time. He said the gunmen kidnapped him along with several station guards. He was released but the guards were not.

The employee, who did not give his name for fear of repercussions, said the gunmen drove him about 200 meters (yards) away, and then he heard the explosion of the station being demolished.

"I was terrified when they blindfolded me and took me away," the man said by telephone.

Earlier this month, two Al-Ikhbariya employees were shot and seriously wounded by gunmen in the northwestern town of Haffa while covering clashes between government troops and insurgents.

Hours after the attack, the station was still on the air, broadcasting a rally in Damascus' main square against the station raid.

Also Wednesday, Burhan Ghalioun, the former leader of Syria's main opposition group, said he briefly entered rebel-held areas in the north of the country in a rare trip by the exiled political opposition to the country. Ghalioun told Al-Jazeera TV that the areas he visited in Idlib province are ruling themselves, without any regime presence.

Ghalioun, former head of the Syrian National Council, did not say when the visit happened.

"I went to see the war that the Syrian regime is staging," Ghalioun said. "The regime continues to shell and kill." Ghalioun said he spoke with wounded Syrians including some who lost limbs and others who were paralyzed.

He added that he was able to drive about freely and that "part of the country is liberated."

Activists reported violence throughout Syria on Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist network, said at least 10 government soldiers were killed in an ambush in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

The group said that rebels on Tuesday were able to shoot down a helicopter gunship in Idlib province. Amateur videos showed a helicopter burning in a field but the report could not be independently confirmed.

Activists reported other clashes, mostly in Idlib and nearby Aleppo province as well as rebel-held areas in the central city of Homs that have been under government attack for nearly three weeks.

In neighboring Turkey, some 30 more Syrian soldiers defected with their families overnight, the country's state-run Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday. It was not clear if the group included any senior officers.

Assad's regime has suffered an embarrassing string of high-ranking defections this week, with dozens of soldiers, including senior officers, reported to have fled to Turkey.

Associated Press

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Happy 38th Birthday, Derek Jeter!

One of the greatest, most successful athletes of our generation turns 38 years old today.

Yes, folks, Derek Jeter is celebrating a birthday, along with a 7-1 New York Yankees win over the Cleveland Indians last night.

The five-time world champion got his 3,000th career hit last year and kicked off 2012 on a blistering pace. He's since slowed down and is currently batting just .304.

But the Yankees are 44-28 and in first place by three games, and we all know Derek Jeter is simply about winning. He's also seen 2010's Sexiest Woman Alive naked on many occasions. That talented, lucky bastard.

Also celebrating birthdays today: Michael Vick (32), Nick Offerman (42), Chris O'Donnell (42), Chris Isaak (56).

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Most valuable movie poster could sell for $1M

Samuel Dietz / Getty Images

By Reuters

The film was silent, but the poster roared. When German artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm created a poster for the Fritz Lang's 1927 German science-fiction dystopian "Metropolis," he probably didn't imagine it would fetch a record $690,000 nearly a century later.

The poster's selling price in 2005 is still a record. And it's slated to set a new one.

Earlier this year the illustration, with its jagged lettering, stoic skyscrapers and blank-faced femme-robot has been appraised at $250,000 in a bankruptcy filing by owner Kenneth Schacter, a collector.

But in March, it went up for sale with an $850,000 list price, and some appraisers estimate it could be the first poster to sell for $1 million.

The painting is centered around an animatronic woman, called the Robot, used by a mad scientist to seduce oppressed workers living in a futuristic city where the wealthy rule from chic, towering buildings. Filmed during the pre-Nazi period of the Weimar Republic, "Metropolis" was written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou.

Poster dealer Sean Linkenback told the Guardian that Schulz-Neudamm's poster is "the crown jewel of the poster world."

Slow sharks snack on sleeping seals

The Greenland sleeper shark has just been tagged the slowest fish in the sea relative to its size, according to a new study that also found the sharks have a sneaky way to still nab live prey ? they attack sleeping seals.

The results may explain how these sluggish sharks (Somniosus microcephalus), also called sleeper sharks for their slowness, manage a diet that includes seals. Reports have shown this slowpoke of the Arctic and North Atlantic consumes ringed seals (Pusa hispida), harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus).

Scientists have known that cold water can slow down fish as it depresses their metabolisms. To find out if the cold waters put the brakes on the Greenland sharks and whether they still have the speed to catch seals, three researchers studied six of the sharks in the waters of Svalbard, Norway. [ Gallery: Seals of the World ]

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They equipped the free-swimming sharks with data-logging tags to measure swim speed and tail-beat frequency, which indicates the speed of contraction of their locomotion muscles that can be slowed down in chilly waters. The average water temperature was 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2.3 degrees Celsius).

They compared the results with about 20 wild fish species weighing 0.4 to 8,600 pounds (0.2 to 3,900 kilograms); the Greenland sharks studied weighed 450 to 756 pounds (204 to 343 kg).

The Greenland sharks showed cruising speeds of about 0.76 miles per hour (0.34 meters per second) and a tail-beat frequency of 0.15 Hertz, both of which were lowest for their size across fish species examined.

The chilly waters may explain the slow tail-beating, the researchers suggest. Sharks and other animals can partially compensate for the slowing effect of cold waters by recruiting more muscle fibers to certain tasks or by having cold-adapted muscle fibers.

However, the fact that Greenland sharks were found to be so slow despite living in Arctic waters suggests the sharks don't seem to fully compensate for the depressing effects of the chill on muscle function.

But perhaps the sharks could rev up some speed when going after a seal meal, but the researchers found this wasn't the case; the sharks' maximum speeds (1.7 mph, or 0.74 m/s) and acceleration during burst swimming were much lower than those of seals.

It's likely the sharks are attacking sleeping seals. Unlike cetaceans, which keep half of their brains alert while the other half "sleeps," seals seem to wholly go to sleep, either at the surface or underwater.

"Arctic seals sleep in water to avoid predation by polar bears Ursus maritimus, which may leave them vulnerable to this cryptic slow-swimming predator," the researchers write in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook? and Google+.

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Wildfires leave Colorado tourism high and dry

On Monday FEMA authorized the use of federal funds to fight the fires in Colorado that are burning across the state. The most recent fire, in Colorado Springs, resulted in 11,000 evacuations over the weekend. Miguel Almaguer reports.

By Jack Chesnutt
NBC News

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- ?After two weeks of around-the-clock work, firefighters are starting to gain the upper hand on the High Park fire near Fort Collins, Colo. But even as some of the residents are allowed to return to their homes, there is another casualty from the 100-square-mile blaze: Northern Colorado?s annual influx of summer visitors seeking clean air and whitewater rivers.

Jim Clark, executive director of the Ft. Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau, can see a smoky haze over the Roosevelt National Forest from his location downtown.

?The bad news is...we?re known for our outdoor recreation," he said. "A lot of that at the present time is closed.?

Clark?s office is handling many out-of-state calls from people who have questions about the smoke from the fire.? For the past several?weeks?the Colorado Department of Public Health has issued air quality health alerts because of the dense smoke along a 200-mile corridor from Colorado Springs in the south up to the Wyoming border. This week, the smoke has been less of an issue.

?We have lots of things for them in town -- breweries, shops ... everything is still open," Clark said. "But, there are some folks who would have visited us that probably will stay away.?

Over the weekend, new flames near Colorado Springs forced thousands to evacuate -- one of several fires emptying campgrounds and hotels across the parched state.?

Preston Harrington and Darrel Sellers,?of?Lake Charles, La., had planned to climb nearby Pikes Peak. Then they got evacuated from their hotel.?

"We're used to the hurricanes and evacuating and what not. And we come up here and expect good weather and since we've been here they've had hailstorms, and now forest fires -- it just reminds us of being back home," Harrington said.?

Bill Fee, shopkeeper at the Nature of Things Chainsaw Art in Manitou Springs, Colo., said it's devastating for local businesses, especially the weekend before the Fourth of July when they tend to have the most customers.?

"I do worry for Colorado this year for tourism through the whole entire state -- not just the small town of Manitou, which relies completely on tourism -- it affects [businesses] across the board."

Clark says it will be weeks or even months before any hard numbers are available to calculate the loss of visitors due to the fire.

Rafting companies offer refunds

The losses have already started for Pat Legel, owner of Wanderlust Adventure Rafting in Bellevue, Colo. Legel has spent what should have been a busy start to the rafting season dusting off his rafts and life jackets. ?This is historical. This is the longest we?ve been out of business.?

Legel?s company offers trips down the Cache la Poudre River, one of the most popular whitewater rivers in Colorado. The fire has cut off access to the river where it runs through the burn zone. Wanderlust is one of six local outfitters which have suspended rafting on the Poudre since June 9.

Legel said his heart goes out to the more than 200 residents who have lost their homes to the fire.? But, for his business, the hardest part is making the daily calls to customers to let them know the river canyon is closed and to arrange refunds on their rafting fees.

?It?ll be a survival season, if we can get back some time early July. If not, we?ll have to maybe lay some people off and get a loan to carry us through next year.?

Legel started the company in 1982. He?s now 65.

"I don?t think I will see the landscape along the river recover in my lifetime,? he said.?

Tourists changing plans

Jane Servi had house guests for the weekend at her Larimer County home and had to?scramble to make new plans for weekend activities. ?She was looking forward to showing the visitors from Boston a Colorado whitewater adventure. But her Poudre River rafting trip was one of hundreds cancelled by the fire. Eventually she found an alternative rafting location nearly 70 miles away.?It was disappointing, she said, but she's more concerned "about the people who are up there whose houses have been destroyed, and people who have been displaced."

Last week "NBC Nightly News" found Grant Houx, owner of St. Peter?s Fly shop in Fort Collins, standing thigh-deep in the Poudre River about 10 miles downstream from the fire. He was whipping a seven-foot-long fly rod through air that tastes like smoke. The water runs clear and cool here, for now. But when late summer rains come, the soot, ash and charred underbrush from 70,000 scorched acres will wash down the Poudre and smaller streams like a black tide.? Not good for trout and other native fish.

?'Concern? is one word. We don?t know exactly what the effects of that soot will be,? he said.?

Houx?s fishing guide service has had ?a few? fire-related cancellations. He explains that fishing is still good on several other rivers in the area unaffected by the fire.

Fires of 2012 follow record year for Colorado tourism?

According to the Colorado Tourism Office, 59.7 million visitors came to the state in 2011. They spent $10.7 billion. Larimer County, where the High Park Fire continues to burn, represents 2.7 percent of statewide visitor spending.

Colorado Tourism Office chief Al White says statewide reservations are up ?double-digits over last summer? but acknowledges the impact of the fires in northern Colorado and Fort Collins. The hope is that tourists understand that even a 100 square mile fire represents less than one tenth of one percent of the state of Colorado.

?The High Park fire is a tragedy, but there is still a lot to see and do in Colorado," White said. "And for now, people are still making plans to come here.?

NBC's Vicky Collins contributed to this report.

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Factbox: U.S. state laws targeting illegal immigration

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Breaking Bad News

Dr. Heiko Jessen, at his family practice in Berlin

In an exam room in his modern clinic in Berlin, Dr. Heiko Jessen takes his patient?s hand; ?I don?t have good news for you? he begins, giving what he calls a warning shot before delivering the bad news. He looks into the young man?s eyes, ?Your HIV test came back positive.? The patient, Joseph, a twenty-three year old American living in Germany, asks a few questions and then breaks down in tears. Jessen rubs his back, his quiet embrace giving him space for the larger emotional release.

The doctor patient relationship is a unique one, a precarious balance of trust and influence. Physicians must ultimately find a compassionate way to give their patients difficult news. Yet, this is not so easy. A study published in February found that physicians struggle with honesty, with over half admitting that they?ve been inappropriately optimistic when diagnosing their patients. Physicians have difficulty giving their patients the open, honest dialogue they need.

To address this, medical schools are adding courses in patient communication. Two decades ago, only a minority of schools taught communication skills, today, almost all of them do, including mock-patient workshops, where students can directly test their ability to talk with patients about complicated issues. One of the first of these courses was at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. This course, termed ?breaking bad news,? started in 2000 as a tiny group of only six students practicing role-playing. A decade later, the course has become a mandatory part of the curriculum and a model for physician communication classes worldwide.

Jessen, who has wide experience in giving poor diagnoses, has been part of the ?breaking bad news? course since the beginning. He teaches an especially popular session, where he brings in patients with whom he has had to make particularly difficult diagnoses, allowing students to directly speak to the patient. These conversations get to the heart of which parts of the diagnosis are most difficult for patients and what communication tactics are ultimately effective.

This evening, Jessen has brought Joseph, the young American man he diagnosed as HIV positive, seven years earlier. The setting is intimate, ten students gather about Jessen and his patient. The atmosphere is casual as Joseph begins to tell his story, the students gradually warming up, asking questions. Jessen is there to direct the course but mostly he lets the patient speak, preferring the informal nature of the session. To his surprise, Joseph becomes emotional. Although it has been almost a decade since his diagnosis, the patient begins to break down in front of the class, tears mixing into his difficult story and his memory of what it was like to be told he was HIV positive.

He met Jessen when he was just twenty years old at a club in Berlin. Like many of Jessen?s patients, their relationship encompasses trust and friendship, a bond that makes the difficult business of breaking bad news easier for the patient. In fact, Jessen argues that getting a difficult diagnosis is far easier from a family doctor, a person who has built a relationship with their patient and will be there for the long run, rather than a specialist.

Studies indicate that empathy plays a significant role in the clinical outcome for patients, further underlining the importance of the patient-doctor relationship. Physicians have a connection with their patients unlike any other profession. Doctors touch their patients, both physically laying hands on their heart and head, but also emotionally, representing a safe place to speak about hidden fears. A poor diagnosis involves intricate communication skills: the ability to explain as well as listen, to lead the patient into complex decision-making, and to involve those people the patient is closest to. Predictably, physicians trained in these communication skills are far less likely to suffer from ?burn-out? and psychiatric distress.

As Joseph speaks to the medical students he realizes that he has not entirely accepted his own difficult diagnosis. Despite the support and resources he?s received, the difficulty of his disease still weighs on him. Bad news may forever change the doctor-patient relationship but, at its core, giving patients the honesty and empathy they need is as critical to a diagnosis as any PCR test.

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How Animals Can Help With Senior Care

When it comes to senior care, animal therapy can provide significant benefits that few types of medical or other therapeutic strategies can rival. However, a large amount of the recorded improvements observed during interactions between seniors and animals remain unexplained. Nevertheless, it's not something that needs explaining; for many people, animal therapy just works, and it might work for your elderly family members as well. The following are 5 ways that pet therapy for seniors can improve their quality of life.

1.) Companionship

One of the biggest difficulties facing the elderly is loneliness. In fact, many people believe that because humans are such highly social creatures, loneliness can actually lead to a decline in emotional and physical health. Animal companionship fills this empty gap in a senior's life. If cared for properly, animals can provide constant companionship, affection, and in some cases even improve mobility issues by helping a person stay active.

2.) Keep Busy/Distraction

Elderly people with dementia or chronic pain can benefit from animal therapy because the interaction with a pet can help to distract them from their discomfort and focus their mind on other things. Animals provide plenty of reason to do more than just watch television, stare out the window or sleep. In fact, because animals are sometimes known to be able to sense emotional upset or physical discomfort, they may actively seek to engage their owners when they sense this, providing reassurance and a warm, welcome distraction.

3.) Healthy Routines

As we age the routines that we keep tend to change. With kids no longer in the home and in some cases no spouse or other family to care for, the elderly sometimes stop following any routine at all -- an unhealthy choice as the mind and body need to stay active in order to maintain their functions.

Like humans, animals also function well with a routine. They need to be taken out to relieve themselves, fed, groomed and interacted with on a regular, several-times-a-day basis. When an elderly person has a pet, they often find it much easier to maintain a routine because they MUST do so in order to care for their animals.

The need to care for other living beings is a critical human need, so a pet-related routine shouldn't be looked at as a hindrance or bother -- it could prove extremely beneficial because it will allow the pet owner to have something to care about/for again, giving new meaning to their life.

4.) Emotional & Physical Connection

A common problem with many seniors is withdrawal from relationships and social interaction; especially when dementia is present. Having an animal or taking part in pet therapy can help to mitigate this serious concern, as seniors often take readily to animals whereas they may withdraw even from people they have known their entire lives. Having emotional connections is critical for sound mental health.

Additionally, just the act of petting or playing with a pet can provide that critical need that all humans have for physical affection with a being that they care about.

5.) Longer Life

Many studies and a great deal of anecdotal evidence suggest that people who have pets live longer. This seems to be especially true in the case of elderly people, as keeping a routine, having companionship and an emotional connection with an animal can help to improve their physical health. And if their health improves, then it's likely that they'll live longer, better-quality lives.

Click here to speak to a professional provider of senior care services. Click here for the original source of this article: http://www.pittsburghseniorcare.org/how-animals-can-help-senior-care/

Keywords: senior care,in home care,Pittsburgh senior care,senior care in Pittsburgh

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