Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302197721?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Obama jokes about aging during second term
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not "the strapping young Muslim socialist" he used to be.
Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his political adversaries during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by politicians, members of the media and Hollywood celebrities.
Entering to the rap track "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of "Senior Leisure."
"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter Egg hunt.
But Obama's most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.
"So we borrowed one of Michelle's tricks," Obama said. "I thought this looked pretty good, but no bounce."
Obama closed by noting the nation's recent tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas, praising Americans of all stripes from first responders to local journalists for serving the public good.
Saturday night's banquet not far from the White House attracted the usual assortment of stars from Hollywood and beyond. Actors Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Claire Danes, who play government characters on series, were among the attendees, as was Korean entertainer Psy. Several Cabinet members, governors and members of Congress were present.
And despite coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, the president and political allies and rivals alike took the opportunity to enjoy some humor. Late-night talk-show host Conan O'Brien headlined the event.
Some of Obama's jokes came at his Republican rivals' expense. He asked that the GOP's minority outreach begin with him as a "trial run" and said he'd take his recent charm offensive with Republicans on the road, including events with conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Michele Bachmann.
"In fact, I'm taking my charm offensive on the road -- a Texas barbeque with Ted Cruz, a Kentucky bluegrass concert with Rand Paul, and a book-burning with Michele Bachmann," Obama joked.
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson would have had better success getting Obama out of office if he simply offered the president $100 million to drop out of last year's race, Obama quipped.
And on the 2016 election, the president noted in self-referential irony that potential Republican candidate Sen. Marco Rubio wasn't qualified because he hasn't even served a full term in the Senate. Obama served less than four years of his six-year Senate term before he was elected president in 2008.
"I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be President," Obama joked.
The gala also was an opportunity for six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, to be honored for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.
The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.
Pace won the Merriman Smith Award for a print journalist for coverage on deadline.
ABC's Terry Moran was the winner of the broadcast Merriman Smith Award for deadline reporting.
Reporters Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-jokes-aging-during-2nd-term-072516199.html
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Negotiation Expert To Present Public Lecture | Bernews.com
Admission is free, please register here.
We are pleased to share with Bermuda insights from one of the world?s leading experts in negotiations, business strategy, and collaboration. Everyone is welcome to join Dr. Moussa?s presentation to build skills at using negotiations to create win-wins and get what you want.
Dr. Mario Moussa is a Senior Fellow at Wharton Executive Education, University of Pennsylvania. He teaches negotiation, influence, strategy, change, and corporate culture and is co-director of the Wharton School?s Strategic Persuasion Workshop: The Art and Science of Selling Ideas. A specialist in large-scale organizational change initiatives, he has consulted to many of the world?s leading corporations, universities, and foundations. He is co-author of The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas.
The University of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest universities in America and, as a member of the Ivy League, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the world. Approximately 35 Penn alumni currently live in Bermuda. www.upenn.edu
Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education, including undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral programs. www.wharton.upenn.edu
For more information please contact PennBermuda@gmail.com
Category: All, Business
Source: http://bernews.com/2013/04/negotiation-expert-to-present-public-lecture/
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The World?s First Handheld Movie Camera Was Shaped Like a Gun
You may have expected the first ever portable motion picture camera to be housed in some form of stuffy box?but in fact it was shaped like a rifle, which lends a new accuracy to the idea of shooting some film.
Invented by scientist ?tienne-Jules Marey, the Fusil Photographique?that means photographic rifle if your French isn't so hot?was first revealed back in 1882. It was made to capture images of birds in flight, and it acquired 12 images in a second, each exposed for 1/720th of a second.
The length of the gun's barrel was adjusted to change focus, before it was?quite literally?aimed at animals to shoot 12 images. Interestingly, because this device was light enough to carry by hand, Marey was able to track his subject as it moved. In a way, then, the scientists accidentally invented the concept of panning. [The History of The Discovery of Cinematography via DIY Photography via Peta Pixel]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5995495/the-worlds-first-handheld-movie-camera-was-shaped-like-a-gun
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BYD Launches Green-Hybrid Technologies Across Entire Car Line ...
SHANGHAI?()?This week, BYD
unveiled several exciting technologies to improve fuel efficiencies by
greater than 20% in all their 2014 vehicle line-up. They are calling it
the ?Green Hybrid? initiative with ?Insta-Pure? cabin
filtering systems and were well aligned with this year?s Auto Show theme
? ?innovation, better life?. There are several breakthroughs tied to the
?Green Hybrid? initiative; first BYD becomes the first vehicle OEM to
implement the higher-efficiency 48VDC vehicle voltage platforms using
BYD?s internally developed Iron-Phosphate batteries (versus older
heavy-metal-laden, 12VDC Lead-Acid technologies). This new technology
allows the battery life to be extended to the expected life of the car ?
no more worrisome starter-battery replacements. Vehicles transition to
all-LED lighting, Electronic Parking Systems, Hybrid and regenerative
braking, idle start-stop energy management, automatic engine starts, low
rolling resistance and advanced aero-dynamic designs. 48VDC systems are
not hindered by the line/harness power losses experienced with normal
lower-voltage systems (saving important energy for batteries). BYD then
implemented low-voltage, large-torque, double-winding motor technologies
for battery-acceleration-assist and regenerative braking. These changes
have been shown to save as much as 1.5 litres of fuel/ 100km (on a 30
mpg car, that?s as much as a 7 mpg
improvement!).
BYD?s ?Insta-Pure? cabin filtering technology help protect drivers and
passengers from dangerous city PM2.5 issues (Particulate Matter up to
2.5 micrometers in size), by quickly rotating cabin air, scrubbing and
filtering it, all in less than 3-5 minutes. The first production
vehicles launching with this advanced cabin purification system are the
new BYD S6 Premier models ?debuting at this year?s show. This level-4
purification technology is integrated into the vehicle?s air
conditioning system and detects the inside and outside particulate
matter levels, triggering auto-air-filtering equipment, sterilizing,
deodorizing and purifying all PM2.5 levels to below 12. This technology
not only gives consumer families a cleaner driving sphere, but also
provides a feasible scheme for improving all urban environments.
While the ?Suri? (featuring the break-through ?Remote Driving
Controller? technology) was announced at the 2012 Beijing International
Auto Show, it was also on display again in Shanghai and has been selling
an average of 10,000 units per month in the China market, exceeding
BYD?s expectations. The second model debuting last year in the 2012 auto
show was the advanced BYD Dual Mode ?Qin? (pronounced ?Chin?).
Two models of Qin were on display at the Auto show though Qin officially
launches in mass-production later this year in China. Qin is the
next-generation dual-mode
electric vehicle ?flagship? using BYD?s innovative Dual Mode
II system. The Qin can travel 50 km (31 miles) on a single 10 KWh
charge and in hybrid mode output 223 KW of power and a whopping 440 Nm
of torque ? accelerating from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in only 5.9
seconds (this was previously advertised as 6.9 sec, but BYD has
improved it over the last year). Qin also has a top speed of 185 km/h
(115mph). In hybrid mode, the Qin requires just 16 RMB (~$ 2.50 USD) of
energy per 100 Km (equating to a little less than 2 liters of fuel per
100 km or 118 mpg). For more information, visit BYD at www.facebook.com/bydcompany
and www.byd.com.
About BYD
BYD is ranked #1 at
the top of Bloomberg?s and BusinessWeek?s 2009 Tech 100 List (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100520006751/en/BYD-Tops-Bloomberg-Businessweek%E2%80%99s-12th-Annual-Tech
) and is the leading manufacturer of advanced, environmentally-friendly
battery technologies like the BYD?s Iron
Phosphate battery used in BYD electric
vehicles and electric
busses. BYD?s solar
panels and LED
Lighting systems have CEC, TUV/CE and UL listings, and the
company enjoys rapid growth in consumer electronics space and electrified
transportation sector manufacturing under its BYD brand. BYD is the
fastest-growing Chinese automotive and green energy technology
enterprise. The Company trades on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKE) under the
ticker numbers (HK.0285 ? BYD Electronics) and (HK.1211 ? BYD Company
Ltd.), as well as on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the ticker number
(002594 ? BYD Company Ltd.). For more information, visit www.byd.com
, www.facebook.com/bydcompany
or email [email?protected].
Business Wire Environment News
from your own site.
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Ergotech VersaStand
There's an endless array of stands and cases made for protecting and propping up the Apple iPad. The ErgoTech VersaStand ($99 list) happens to be a combination of both, with a snap-on case and a sturdy aluminum stand. The slick collapsible stand looks great and offers a nearly infinite variety of angles, and it's a cinch to get the iPad on and off the stand. You're paying a premium for design here, as there are plenty of more affordable, generic stands available, but if you use your iPad primarily as a desktop display, the VersaStand is a more-than-capable option.
With a black soft-touch plastic body, the snap-on case is pretty standard, but around back there's an aluminum ring that protrudes about a quarter inch. There are cutouts for the iPad's ports and buttons, with a cutout along the left edge so you can use Apple's Smart Cover with the case. The VersaStand is compatible with the iPad 2, the third-gen iPad, and the most recent fourth-gen iPad. I tested the VersaStand with both the iPad 2 and fourth-gen iPad and each fit perfectly.
The stand is made almost entirely from hinged, brushed aluminum segments, with a small disk at the end of the articulating arm that attaches to the ring on the case. There are two buttons on either side of the disc, which you press down to attach and remove the iPad. The case and stand are similar to the Wallee case system, which has an optional aluminum Pivot stand.?
You can turn the tablet Pad a full 360 degrees once snapped in, but the stand itself does not swivel left or right. The articulating arm allows for any viewing angle imaginable, and the stand feels sturdy when placed on a flat surface. While it's not difficult to adjust the stand, you will have to hold the base down with your free hand. The stand unit also neatly collapses down for transport.
You have a lot of options when it comes to iPad stands, and while the VersaStand is an attractive combination of form and function, it's not cheap. It's also clearly suited for desk use, whereas something like the Speck HandyShell?would make a better choice if you want to move the stand around frequently. The VersaStand is also on the tall side for stands, which makes it a good option for those who want to use their iPads next to, say, a desktop monitor.?And if function trumps form, there are plenty of inexpensive generic plastic stands that will do the same things as the VersaStand.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ZAP6cC942t8/0,2817,2418153,00.asp
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Greg Laurie On Prayer In Times Of Grief
By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service
(RNS) Pastor Greg Laurie knows a thing or two about prayer in tough times.
The honorary chairman of this year's National Day of Prayer (May 2) says prayer was the only thing that got him through his son's death five years ago. When fellow megachurch pastor Rick Warren lost his son Matthew to suicide, Laurie was the man he most wanted to hear from.
Laurie, 60, who leads the evangelical Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., talked about prayer, grief and what not to say when a friend's loved one dies. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: The prayer you wrote for the National Day of Prayer mentions "random acts of horrific violence." How did you pray after the Boston Marathon bombings?
A: I prayed that comfort would be extended to those who had lost loved ones. I prayed for those who were injured. And I prayed for no more of these attacks to happen.
Q: Then there was an explosion at the Texas fertilizer plant. How did you pray about that?
A: Anytime there's human suffering and anytime people have lost loved ones, I pray that God will extend comfort to them because, having had our own son die five years ago, I've been up close and personal with grief and I know the very real pain that it brings into a person's life.
Q: It's been a difficult month for the nation with these back-to-back tragedies. Do you think people should be more drawn to prayer in times like this, or is it wrong to mostly call on God when we're in need?
A: I don't think it's ever wrong to call on God. Certainly it's far better if we're calling on him all the time. Quite frankly, sometimes crisis is what shows us a need that we had all along, which was the need to pray.
Q: Can you discuss your role in talking to Rick Warren after he lost his son to suicide?
A: I called him the day after it happened and he said, "You're the one person I've been waiting to hear from." We talked for a while about it. We prayed. I shared some things that I learned over the years after losing our own son and then I spoke just last Sunday at Saddleback Church. I brought a message of hope and encouragement to his congregation.
Q: What was your major piece of advice for them?
A: I said, I just want you to know that Rick is going to come through this. He's going to come through this stronger but I also want you to know this is the hardest thing that can happen to a parent -- to lose a child.
Q: What should people not say when a friend is grieving the loss of a child?
A: Don't say, "I know what you're going through" because you probably don't.
I've had people come up to me and say, "I know what you're going through. My grandmother just died." And I pointed out that everyone's grandmother and grandfather will die, then their parents, then them. But no one expects their child to die before them.
Or saying things like "Well, just rejoice and smile they're in heaven." Understand that though that is technically true, it is also true that that person is in deep pain and that can come off almost glib and uncaring.
Q: Can you talk briefly about your son's death?
A: He was 33. He was actually working for our church as our lead designer and was on his way to work and had an automobile accident and died.
Q: Has that experience changed the way you approach prayer?
A: It has shown me how much I need to pray. When it was all said and done, being a preacher didn't give me a leg up on this. I still was a grieving father missing a son. And in the initial moments after it happens, and the hours and the days after that, one wonders if you can even survive such a thing. I've found that prayer is what got me through the day. Sometimes it wasn't so much day by day, it was even hour by hour.
Q: So what's the message you're going to bring to Capitol Hill on the National Day of Prayer?
A: I am going to talk about how God promises to heal a nation if we will pray. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 he says, "If my people which are called by name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I'll forgive their sin and heal their land."
What I find interesting about that verse is God is not pointing his finger at the White House, so to speak, but at his house. I think that it's very easy for people in the church to point their fingers at Washington or Hollywood. In effect, God points his finger at his own people.
Also on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/26/greg-laurie-on-prayer-in-times-of-grief_n_3167284.html
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Bill to end airport delays headed for House vote
A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Legislation to end furloughs of air traffic controllers and delays for millions of travelers is headed to a House vote after a dark-of-night vote in the Senate that took place after most lawmakers had left the Capitol for a weeklong vacation.
The bill passed late Thursday without even a roll call vote, and House officials indicated it likely would be brought up for quick approval there.
Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.
In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, Senate officials said the available funds should be ample enough to prevent the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA has said it will shut the facilities as it makes its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts ? known as the sequester ? that took effect last month at numerous government agencies.
The Senate acted as the FAA said there had been at least 863 flights delayed on Wednesday "attributable to staffing reductions resulting from the furlough."
Administration officials participated in the negotiations that led to the deal and evidently registered no objections.
After the vote, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "It will be good news for America's traveling public if Congress spares them these unnecessary delays. But ultimately, this is no more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails to address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequester's mindless, across-the-board cuts."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key participant in the talks, said the legislation would "prevent what otherwise would have been intolerable delays in the air travel system, inconveniencing travelers and hurting the economy."
Senate approval followed several hours of pressure-filled, closed-door negotiations, and came after most senators had departed the Capitol on the assumption that the talks had fallen short.
Officials said a small group of senators insisted on a last-ditch effort at an agreement before Congress adjourned for a vacation that could have become politically problematic if the flight delays continued.
"I want to do it right now. There are other senators you'd have to ask what the hang-up is," Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said at a point when it appeared no compromise would emerge.
For the White House and Senate Democrats, the discussions on legislation relating to one relatively small slice of the $85 billion in spending cuts marked a shift in position in a long-running struggle with Republicans over budget issues. Similarly, the turn of events marked at least modest vindication of a decision by the House GOP last winter to finesse some budget struggles in order to focus public attention on the across-the-board cuts in hopes they would gain leverage over President Barack Obama.
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union that represents FAA employees, reported a number of incidents it said were due to the furloughs.
In one case, it said several flights headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York were diverted on Wednesday when a piece of equipment failed. "While the policy for this equipment is immediate restoral, due to sequestration and furloughs it was changed to next-day restoral," the union said.
It added it was "learning of additional impacts nationwide, including open watches, increased restoration times, delays resulting from insufficient funding for parts and equipment, modernization delays, missed or deferred preventative maintenance, and reduced redundancy."
The airlines, too, were pressing Congress to restore the FAA to full staffing.
In an interview Wednesday, Robert Isom, chief operations officer of US Airways, likened the furloughs to a "wildcat regulatory action."
He added, "In the airline business, you try to eliminate uncertainty. Some factors you can't control, like weather. It (the FAA issue) is worse than the weather."
In a shift, first the White House and then senior Democratic lawmakers have signaled a willingness in the past two days to support legislation that alleviates the budget crunch at the FAA, while leaving the balance of the $85 billion to remain in effect.
Obama favors a comprehensive agreement that replaces the entire $85 billion in across-the-board cuts as part of a broader deficit-reduction deal that includes higher taxes and spending cuts.
One Senate Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, noted that without the type of comprehensive deficit deal that Obama favors, a bill that eases the spending crunch at the FAA would inevitably be followed by other single-issue measures. She listed funding at the National Institutes of Health as one example, and cuts that cause furloughs of civilians who work at military hospitals as a second.
At the same time, Democratic aides said resolve had crumbled under the weight of widespread delays for the traveling public and pressure from the airlines.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., involved in the discussions, said the issue was big enough so "most people want to find a solution as long as it doesn't spend any more money."
Officials estimate it would cost slightly more than $200 million to restore air traffic controllers to full staffing, and an additional $50 million to keep open smaller air traffic towers around the country that the FAA has proposed closing.
Across the Capitol, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said, "We're willing to look at what the Senate's going to propose."
He said he believes the FAA has the authority it needs under existing law to shift funds and end the furloughs of air traffic controllers, and any legislation should be "very, very limited" and direct the agency to use the flexibility it already has.
In a reflection of the political undercurrents, another House Republican, Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma, said FAA employees "are being used as pawns by this (Obama) administration to be able to implement the maximum amount of pain on the American people when it does not have to be this way."
The White House and congressional Democrats vociferously dispute such claims.
___
Associated Press writers Joan Lowy, Henry C. Jackson and Alan Fram in Washington and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Discs reveal phone pioneer's voice
25 April 2013
Last updated at 07:45 ET
The voice of Alexander Graham Bell has been identified for the first time, in a recording from 1885.
On the wax-disc recording, the telephone inventor says: "Hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell."
The recording is among the earliest held by the Smithsonian Institution, which runs the National Museum of American History.
Bell's voice was recorded on to the disc on 15 April 1885 at his Volta laboratory in Washington.
As well as saying his name, he also recites a series of numbers and lines from several Shakespeare plays. The sound clip has been posted online.
"Identifying the voice of Alexander Graham Bell, the man who brought us everyone else's voice, is a major moment in the study of history," said museum director John Gray.
"It enriches what we know about the late 1800s, who spoke, what they said and how they said it."
The disc was too fragile to play using a needle so the museum, along with researchers at the US Library of Congress and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, developed an alternative play-back system that used light and a 3D camera to turn its bumps and grooves into sounds.
Also identified was the voice of Alexander Melville Bell, the inventor's father, in a recording from 1881.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22294017#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Engadget's laptop buyer's guide: spring 2013 edition
You asked; you got it. When we ran our first-ever laptop buyer's guide earlier this year, many of you wrote in, requesting that we include more affordable picks (not just, you know, twelve-hundred-dollar Ultrabooks). So with this latest seasonal guide, we've added budget and mid-range options, some with touchscreens, some without. The only unfortunate thing? We're expecting Intel to drop its new Haswell chips sometime this summer, so it should go without saying that it might be worth waiting for the various PC giants to refresh their lineups before committing to anything. If you absolutely can't wait, though, we've picked our favorites, with a particular emphasis on models we don't think will be going anywhere anytime soon.
Filed under: Laptops, Samsung, Sony, ASUS, HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/8yQv2GIa-9U/
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Rockets up intensity, but lose 105-102 to Thunder
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) gestures in the third quarter of Game 2 in their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Oklahoma City won 105-102. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) gestures in the third quarter of Game 2 in their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Oklahoma City won 105-102. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) bumps chests with teammate Russell Westbrook (0) in the third quarter of Game 2 in their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Oklahoma City won 105-102. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha (2) shoots over Houston Rockets guard Aaron Brooks in the third quarter of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Oklahoma City won 105-102. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) is fouled by Houston Rockets center Omer Asik as he shoots in the fourth quarter of Game 2 in their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Oklahoma City won 105-102. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reaches for a loose ball in front of Houston Rockets center Omer Asik (3) in the third quarter of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Oklahoma City won 105-102. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Russell Westbrook slammed his hand on the scorer's table in anger. He had been slowing down to call a timeout when rookie Patrick Beverley came careening in to try for a steal and crashed into Westbrook's knee.
Oklahoma City's guard shook off the pain and the Thunder withstood a challenge from an energized Houston Rockets team looking to bounce back from a Game 1 blowout.
Westbrook and Kevin Durant scored 29 points apiece, and Oklahoma City recovered after squandering a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead to beat Houston 105-102 on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.
"It's the playoffs," Westbrook said. "You can't help it. You can't help but get excited."
Oklahoma City's big lead melted away with nine straight scoreless possessions as the Rockets mixed in a zone defense. James Harden spearheaded a 21-2 Houston comeback by getting into the lane to create his own opportunities, and he also kicked the ball out to set up two 3-pointers by Carlos Delfino. His second 3, from the right wing, provided a 95-91 lead with 3:27 to go.
But the Rockets couldn't keep it up.
Oklahoma City came back to tie it before Harden knifed to the basket for a layup to give Houston its last lead at 97-95 with 2:42 to play.
Durant answered 14 seconds later with a deep 3 from the left wing, and the Thunder wouldn't give up the lead again. Oklahoma City came up with back-to-back stops before Thabo Sefolosha's 3 provided a little breathing room at 101-97.
Chandler Parsons, who went tumbling to the court as Sefolosha shot, said Oklahoma City center Kendrick Perkins prevented him from closing out on the shooter.
"It was obvious what Perkins did to me. He grabbed me with two hands and I couldn't go out there and contest Sefolosha," Parsons said. "It's part of the game."
Serge Ibaka added a long jumper to make it 103-98 after the Rockets forced Durant to give up the ball. Durant and Kevin Martin, both in the top five in the league in free-throw percentage, both went 1 for 2 at the foul line in the final 12 seconds to give the Rockets one last chance.
Houston didn't have any timeouts left after Durant's miss with 1 second left, and Delfino couldn't connect on a desperation shot at the buzzer.
"It's frustrating and it hurts really bad right now," said Parsons, who scored 17. "But you've got to take some positives out of it. It's a long series."
Game 3 is Saturday night in Houston.
Harden finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds, and Beverley had 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Houston. The Rockets made up for a 40 percent shooting mark with a 57-40 advantage on the boards and a 50-30 scoring edge in the paint, engineering a massive turnaround after getting blown out 120-91 in Game 1.
And they did it without starting point guard Jeremy Lin, who didn't play in the second half because of a muscle contusion in his chest. Lin said X-rays were negative and he could play in Game 3 if spasms stop.
"Our team is a young team and we're not a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination, but they'll fight," coach Kevin McHale said. "They're a bunch of scrappers. They'll go out and fight you for it. So, I knew our team would play well today. That's who they are."
Beverley moved into the starting lineup as Houston went with a three-guard unit, and it didn't take long for the rookie to get under Westbrook's skin with his lunge for the steal.
Later in the half, Beverley knocked Westbrook down on a foul and then reached out to help him up. Westbrook slapped his hand away.
"It's part of basketball, playoff basketball. Everyone wants to go out there and win," Beverley said. "Anyone who knows me, knows my character, that I'm not going to back down from anyone, Russell Westbrook or anybody else."
Westbrook said he relishes those moments when he gets challenged by an opponent.
"It's fun. During this time of the year, as a team we've got one goal and we can't let nobody get in the way," Westbrook said. "That's how I feel and that's how I want my team to respond as well."
Another rookie, Greg Smith, drew a technical foul when he jawed at Ibaka after dunking on the NBA's top shot-blocker and Houston was within 57-55 at halftime.
Just after Harden's driving throwdown put Houston ahead 63-61, Oklahoma City roared back with Ibaka keying a 13-0 run. He swatted Omer Asik's dunk attempt, hit two free throws and grabbed an offensive rebound that set up Westbrook's three-point play. The Thunder started the fourth quarter with an 11-2 to run to push their lead to 89-74 after Martin's 3-pointer with 9:22 to go.
McHale called time out, and the Rockets immediately responded with Beverley's 3-pointer off a set play beginning the comeback.
"We were down 15, we could have just given up the game and said, 'Let's go to Game 3,' but we fought back and took the lead," Harden said. "So, we definitely have some confidence going into Game 3 and going back home."
NOTES: Beverley had not started any games during his rookie season, moving into the rotation midway through the season and playing 41 games. ... After finishing second to Tyson Chandler in last year's voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Ibaka was third this year behind Marc Gasol and LeBron James. Ibaka has led the NBA in total blocks the past three seasons. "He led the league three years in blocks. I guess that don't mean nothing nowadays," frontcourt partner Perkins said. "At the end of the day, I think he deserves it. He should have won the thing. But it's over with, so we're just going to move on."
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Keaton has a giggle fit with her wine on 'Ellen'
By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor
You could say that Diane Keaton has made a career out of appearing, well, endearingly goofy. She's a smart, successful, Oscar-winning actress to be sure -- but on talk shows and in movie roles alike, she often comes across as being at least metaphorically pixilated.
On "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Tuesday, that may have been literal: She held a big glass of red wine on ice while discussing her new film, "The Big Wedding," and things got goofier from there.
Her character in the film is interested in Tantric sex, and Keaton was hesitant about talking about that on the show, but DeGeneres encouraged her: "Let's try it. Let's see how far you're going."
"I don't want to get taken off the air," said Keaton.
DeGeneres laughed. "You're going to be in jail for profanity, public drunkenness...."
Keaton began: "The character I played was somebody else, so I'm not going to be blamed for this," she said, noting that her "Wedding" character had an interest in Tantric sex. "The definition is something like when you have Tantric sex you go for a long time and you have that thing called the orgasm for nine hours.... That's ridiculous!"
It may have been a bit of a strain on the 67-year-old actress: "I'm glad this movie is over," she laughed. "It's too weird." Then she had to fan herself "to calm down" and noted "the wine is not helping. I think I gotta go.?
But Ellen DeGeneres wasn't letting her get away with that so easily, asking her about her relationships and the fact that she's never been married. "Oh, I'd like to get married," said Keaton. "What happened was nobody ever asked me."
It's not likely to change, either, she added, giggling: "I don't think so -- not after this show!"
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WHO: New flu passes more easily from bird to human
BEIJING (AP) ? A new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month is one of the "most lethal" flu viruses so far, worrying health officials because it can jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.
Scientists are watching the virus closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic but say there is little evidence so far that it can spread easily from human to human.
WHO's top influenza expert, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, told reporters at a briefing in Beijing that people seem to catch the H7N9 virus from birds more easily than the H5N1 strain that began ravaging poultry across Asia in 2003. The H5N1 strain has since killed 360 people worldwide, mostly after contact with infected fowl.
Health experts are concerned about H7N9's ability to jump to humans, and about the strain's capacity to infect birds without causing noticeable symptoms, which makes it difficult to monitor its spread.
"This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far," Fukuda said. But he added that experts are still trying to understand the virus, and that there might be a large number of mild infections that are going undetected.
The H7N9 bird flu virus has infected more than 100 people in China, seriously sickening most of them and killing more than 20, mostly near the eastern coast around Shanghai. Taiwan on Wednesday confirmed its first case, a 53-year-old man who became sick after returning from a visit to the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu.
In comparison, the earlier bird flu strain, H5N1, is known to kill up to 60 of every 100 people it infects.
Wednesday's briefing came at the end of a weeklong joint investigation by WHO and Chinese authorities in Beijing and Shanghai.
Experts said they still aren't sure how people are getting infected but said evidence points to infections at live poultry markets, particularly through ducks and chickens. They said it was encouraging that reported infections appeared to slow down after the closure of live poultry markets in affected areas.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flu-passes-more-easily-bird-human-073635353.html
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Clenching right fist may give better grip on memory
Apr. 24, 2013 ? Clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an event or action, and clenching your left may help you recollect the memory later, according to research published April 24 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University.
Participants in the research study were split into groups and asked to first memorize, and later recall words from a list of 72 words. There were 4 groups who clenched their hands; One group clenched their right fist for about 90 seconds immediately prior to memorizing the list and then did the same immediately prior to recollecting the words. Another group clenched their left hand prior to both memorizing and recollecting. Two other groups clenched one hand prior to memorizing (either the left or right hand) and the opposite hand prior to recollecting. A control group did not clench their fists at any point.
The group that clenched their right fist when memorizing the list and then clenched the left when recollecting the words performed better than all the other hand clenching groups. This group also did better than the group that did not clench their fists at all, though this difference was not statistically 'significant'.
"The findings suggest that some simple body movements -- by temporarily changing the way the brain functions- can improve memory. Future research will examine whether hand clenching can also improve other forms of cognition, for example verbal or spatial abilities," says Ruth Propper, lead scientist on the study.
The authors clarify that further work is needed to test whether their results with word lists also extend to memories of visual stimuli like remembering a face, or spatial tasks, such as remembering where keys were placed. Based on previous work, the authors suggest that this effect of hand-clenching on memory may be because clenching a fist activates specific brain regions that are also associated with memory formation.
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Journal Reference:
- Ruth E. Propper, Sean E. McGraw, Tad T. Bruny?, Michael Weiss. Getting a Grip on Memory: Unilateral Hand Clenching Alters Episodic Recall. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e62474 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062474
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/_QYBoZyfE3E/130424185159.htm
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Paytouch lets your fingerprints make purchases, hopes to expand into Europe and America next year
The business of commerce is alive and well, and while there's far too much noise for anyone to stand on the mobile side, Paytouch is hoping to add a new wrinkle on the conventional end. The Barcelona-based outfit was on hand here at The Next Web Conference, showcasing its biometric payment terminal and setting the stage for what's to come. For those unfamiliar, the Paytouch terminal is currently being used at Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel -- users with a Paytouch account simply link their credit card to their fingerprints, and a two-finger press is all it takes to order another glass of sangria. The benefits are fairly obvious for all parties involved. For the consumer, there's no longer a need to carry a credit card that can be skimmed, lost or stolen; for the retailer, it's able to encourage impulse buying in an entirely new way; for Paytouch, there's a commission paid on each purchase.
Filed under: Software
Source: Paytouch
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Max Baucus's Sudden Retirement Puts Pressure on Former Montana Governor
Rarely has a senator done so much to prepare for reelection only to, in the end, retire instead. But that?s what happened with Sen. Max Baucus, and now Democrats are scrambling to recruit the one candidate who can prevent the Montana Senate seat from falling into Republican hands.
Baucus?s sudden retirement announcement Tuesday is such a surprise because he had worked so diligently to prepare for reelection?one far from assured given Montana?s conservative bent. (As one former campaign hand put it, ?Left field? This is out of the bleachers.?) The preparation was most evident in his fundraising: The six-term incumbent raised more than $1.5 million in the first three months of 2013, a prodigious total for any lawmaker but especially for one in a relatively inexpensive state for TV advertising. He had almost $5 million cash on hand.
In his votes and rhetoric, Baucus also looked like a lawmaker bent on courting red-state voters. He was one of four Democrats to oppose his colleagues? own budget proposal and the tax increases included in it. He voted against compromise gun-control legislation that expanded background checks despite it attracting the support of four Republican senators. Even two fellow Democrats up for reelection in red states next year?Kay Hagan and Mary Landrieu?backed the measure.
And just last week, Baucus called the implementation of Obama?s health care law a ?train wreck,? even though he helped shepherd the legislation through Congress, ?That caused a tizzy among many Senate Republican officials, who speculated the senator was attempting to save his own reelection campaign by performing early damage control on a politically toxic issue. ??
But even if retirement talk has been off the public?s radar, it?s been something the senator has been considering, according to one former Baucus aide. A contributing factor, according to the source, was the septuagenarian was not eager to balance legislative fights, fundraisers and another tough reelection battle.
Although the senator?s path to reelection was always going to be difficult in a state Mitt Romney won by double digits last year, he didn?t appear as endangered as colleagues such as Landrieu in Louisiana, Mark Begich in Alaska, and Mark Pryor in Arkansas. He had yet to draw a first-tier challenger?only state Senate Majority Leader Corey Stapleton and state Rep. Champ Edmunds had declared they were running. Just last year, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester won reelection in Montana.
Baucus is the fourth consequential Democratic retirement this year, joining Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. As with those previous retirements, his departure could give Republicans a golden opportunity to win a Senate seat and boost for their hopes of retaking the chamber.
But Democrats have been quick to suggest that former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who left office this year, is interested in running. The popular former statewide official, who doesn?t possess a potentially harmful voting record like Baucus has, might even be a stronger candidate than the incumbent.
?Democrats have had a great deal of electoral success in Montana over the last decade, and I am confident that will continue,? Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Michael Bennet said in a statement. ?Democrats built an unprecedented ground game in Montana in 2012 when Senator Tester was reelected, and we will continue to invest all the resources necessary to hold this seat.?
Schweitzer, who won reelection as the state?s governor in 2008 with more than 60 percent of the vote, fits the model of the kind of candidate Senate Democrats like to recruit?someone who can carve out the necessary independent image for Democrats to win in red states.? He helped elect a Democratic successor, former state Attorney General Steve Bullock, into the governor?s mansion last year.
Some Montana Democrats are also floating the name of Stephanie Schriock, the president of EMILY?s List and a Montana native. The former chief of staff to Tester doesn't have the ideal background for the red-state race, but she would command a national fundraising base.?
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Early Childhood Education Importance, 85 | Kindermusik Kids
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Source: http://kindermusikkids.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/early-childhood-education-importance-85/
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Bobcats fire coach Mike Dunlap after 1 season
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? Mike Dunlap is one and done with the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Bobcats fired Dunlap as coach Tuesday after a single season.
The Bobcats went 21-61 under Dunlap, finishing with the second-worst record in the NBA ahead of only the Orlando Magic. Charlotte won just seven games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, but tripling last season's victory total and a three-game winning streak to close the season weren't enough to save Dunlap's job.
Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said he and general manager Rich Cho met with players and Dunlap before approaching owner Michael Jordan and asking him to make a coaching change.
"The change was allowed," Higgins said.
Dunlap struggled at times with game management, transitioning from the college game to the NBA and handling professional athletes, often benching veteran players for weeks at a time after they'd irritated him in some way.
Higgins said player input was "a part of the process, but not the only indicator."
During one point in the season Dunlap feuded with veteran guard Ben Gordon during a practice, and his micromanaging approach didn't always sit well with some of the more experienced players on the roster.
"I just don't think he was a great fit," general manager Rich Cho said. "Probably best that we go in a different direction."
In a statement Tuesday night, Dunlap took the high road, thanking Jordan and the entire organization for the opportunity as well as the fans for their support.
"I am very proud of the effort and hard work that the players demonstrated throughout the season," Dunlap said. "I am looking forward to the next chapter in my coaching career."
The move means the Bobcats will have a third head coach in three seasons.
The Bobcats hired Dunlap last June after he had been working as an assistant at St. John's, the first person to make a direct move from an assistant coach at the college level to a head coaching position in the NBA.
Dunlap replaced Paul Silas, who was fired after the Bobcats went 7-59 in 2011-12, the worst winning percentage in NBA history (.106).
The Bobcats got off to a surprising 7-5 start, but even Dunlap said at the time he "didn't trust" the record. The Bobcats would go on to lose 18 straight games and quickly regain their spot at the bottom of the NBA standings, where they would remain until closing with three wins and moving ahead of the Magic.
Higgins cited the team's inconsistent play as one of the reasons Dunlap was released.
"You can characterize the season in different buckets," Higgins said. "We started pretty strong and we finished pretty strong. But through the middle part of those two buckets we had some inconsistencies. So when Rich and I reviewed the season we came to the conclusion we needed a change."
Dunlap entered training camp with a desire to push his young players physically, and three- and four-hour practices became the norm. Dunlap talked early in the season about disrupting teams with three-quarter presses, but those plans were quickly abandoned.
The Bobcats were outscored by 757 points this season, more than any team in the NBA.
Defensively, the Bobcats allowed 102.6 points per game, the second-most in the league, and they were the NBA's worst shooting team at 42.5 percent.
After the season, Dunlap sounded like a man politicking to keep his job.
"I never thought that we were going to blink our eyes and have 35 wins," Dunlap said last week. "I thought it was always going to be a slog. We're slowly moving this thing around and again, what's perspective? The worst team in the history of the NBA (last season), all right, so how do you go from seven wins to, say, 40 wins? That's pretty tough to do."
The Bobcats interviewed 10 candidates last summer for the job.
Now that process will start all over.
"In the NBA, you're not surprised by a lot because so many different things happen," Higgins said of the decision. "It's the business."
With the Bobcats getting another top-five draft pick this year and having up to $21 million to spend under the salary cap, Higgins and Cho don't believe there will be a lack of interested candidates in the position.
"Since the release our cellphones have been blowing up," Higgins said. "It lets you know that there is interest in this job, a high level of interest."
Higgins said it's too early for a list of candidates but indicated he wants a coach who's a great leader, able to develop players and great with Xs and Os.
When asked if the team is looking for a candidate with more NBA experience this time around, Cho was non-committal.
"I don't want to pigeonhole ourselves," Cho said. "We want to find out the best fit."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bobcats-fire-coach-mike-dunlap-1-season-173839265--spt.html
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3 Doors Down bassist out of jail on bond
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? The bassist for rock band 3 Doors Down is out of jail after being charged in a fatal interstate crash in Nashville.
Police said 41-year-old Todd Harrell was driving under the influence and speeding Friday night when his car clipped a pickup truck that lost control and flipped, killing the driver.
Police said Harrell acknowledged drinking and taking the prescription drugs Lortab and Xanax.
He is also accused of bringing Xanax, oxycodone and oxymorphone pills into the jail concealed in his sock.
Harrell was released on $100,000 bond Tuesday afternoon. He has a court appearance on Thursday. Charges include vehicular homicide by intoxication.
An attorney for Harrell did not immediately respond to a message left at his office.
On Monday, the band canceled its U.S. appearances for April and May.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-doors-down-bassist-jail-bond-220700245.html
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Apple?s Next Big Thing
Fourth-generation Apple iPadsPhoto by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The iPad has always labored under the shadow of its little brother the iPhone. When Apple launched the tablet back in the spring of 2010, everyone thought it was derivative?it?s just a big iPhone! Even now, after proving itself a worthy alternative to personal computers, the iPad rarely gets its due. When investors and financial analysts think about Apple?s future, they tend to focus on the iPhone, which remains the company?s cash cow. It has been estimated that Apple keeps about 50 to 60 cents in profit from ever dollar it makes on iPhone sales. This makes the iPhone the most profitable product in the world. In its 2012 fiscal year, Apple sold 125 million iPhones, generating $80 billion in revenue and probably around $35?$40 billion in profits. To put that in perspective, Apple likely made as much in profit from the iPhone in 2012 alone as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Samsung combined made from each and every one of their products.
Poor iPad. Set against the iPhone?s monster numbers, the few billion that tablet sales generate for Apple seem insubstantial. What?s more, nobody gives the iPad credit for launching Apple?s touchscreen fortunes. If only the iPad could explain to the world that it came first?that Apple?s tablet project began in 2003, long before the company started thinking about a phone, and that Apple?s multi-touch operating system was originally developed for the tablet and only then transported to the iPhone. (Apple considered using an iPod-like click-wheel on the iPhone but ultimately changed course.)
But don?t frown, iPad. Your future looks very bright. In fact, I suspect that within a couple years, you?ll reclaim your rightful place at the top of Apple?s product hierarchy. For one thing, your brother?s dominance is on the wane. The iPhone will likely remain one of the most popular tech products in the world, but it?s been buffeted by lots of cheaper competitors, and it?s reasonable to expect its revenue- and profit-growth to slow. That?s because the global smartphone market is growing at the low end?through customers in the developing world who are switching from cheap dumbphones to cheap smartphones?and the only way Apple will do well in that market is if it releases a cheaper, less profitable phone. (It has long been rumored to be working on such a thing, but we?ll see what happens.)
Meanwhile, you, Mr. iPad, aren?t nearly as vulnerable to the competition. Thanks to the launch of the $329 iPad Mini, you?re relatively cheap. You?ve also got 350,000 apps that have been designed just for you?something that no other tablet can come close to claiming. And you keep getting better. Every year, before other tablet makers even have a chance to catch up, Apple releases a new iPad that?s faster and slightly better than any rival. In an earnings report released yesterday, Apple said that it sold 19 million iPads during the first three months of the year. That?s an increase of 65 percent from the same quarter last year. By comparison, the company sold 37 million iPhones, about 7 percent more than the previous year. If this trend continues, the iPad will eclipse the iPhone as the company?s best-selling product by 2015, if not sooner. After that, our picture of Apple will change. It will be the world?s biggest tablet company, one that also dabbles in phones and Macs.
Why am I so sure that the iPad will come to reign supreme at Apple? Because, as I wrote last year, the company?s iPad strategy follows the same script as that of the iPod. In that business?unlike in the phone market?Apple began by creating a category-defining product and then constantly expanded its lineup to cover every price point and usage scenario: The original iPod was followed by the iPod Mini, the Nano, the Shuffle, and the Touch. Apple didn?t make much money on some of those very cheap models, but it was willing to sacrifice profits because it had another trick up its sleeve: consumer lock-in. Because you stored your music in?and even purchased it from?iTunes, once you entered the iPod ecosystem, you had little incentive to leave. If your first iPod was a cheap Shuffle, you?d eventually graduate to the more expensive Touch, because?no matter how good some rival music player might be?it just made sense to stick with the iTunes universe. As a result, the iPod was indomitable. Years after it was first launched, it still claimed three-quarters of the digital music player market.
It?s the same story with the iPad. Over the last three years, Apple diversified its tablet lineup: The company now sells a 9.7-inch high-definition tablet for $499, a non-high-def 9.7-inch model for $399, and the $329 iPad Mini. Yes, that?s still not dirt cheap?you can buy one of Amazon?s Kindle tablets for $159, and Google?s Nexus 7 sells for $199. Indeed, the iPad?s sales do seem to have been hit by these very cheap rivals. According to the research firm IDC, Apple claimed 44 percent of the tablet market in the last quarter of 2012, down from 52 percent during the same time in 2011. IDC predicts that in 2013, Apple will account for 46 percent of the tablet market, while a slew of cheap Android tablets will account for 48 percent of sales.
But it?s important to note that those rivals are selling their devices at cost?neither Amazon nor Google makes any profit on sub-$200 tablets. This is a testament to the iPad?s imperviousness to competition: The iPad?s year-over-year sales surged by 65 percent?and its market share dipped only slightly?when it was pitted against rivals that weren?t making any money on their devices.
This raises a more basic question: Why are people willing to spend $329 on an iPad when they can get an Android tablet for $200? It?s not because the iPad is prettier or more powerful. It?s because the iPad is more useful?because its App Store is packed with an order of magnitude more apps than you?ll find for any other tablet. Apple says it has 350,000 tablet-specific apps in its store; Google has never disclosed the number of tablet-specific Android apps, but anyone who?s ever perused the Play store knows the number is tiny. This is a crucial advantage, because unlike for a phone, a tablet is pretty useless without great apps. You can see the iPad?s utility in usage stats: According to the research firm Chitika, the iPad accounts for almost 82 percent of all Web traffic generated by tablet devices. The next most-used tablet is the Kindle Fire, which accounts for just about 8 percent of tablet Web traffic.
By releasing the cheap iPad Mini, Apple has lowered its overall profitability, one of the factors dragging down its stock price. But, as in the iPod business, the short-term profit loss will help solidify long-term dominance. Here?s the lock-in story again: Apple is certain that people who jump on the iPad bandwagon today will stick with it for life. Even if your iPad Mini purchase doesn?t help Apple?s bottom line very much, you?ll buy lots and lots of apps for your device. Then, when the time comes to buy a new tablet, you?ll have little incentive to switch to Android and have to buy all new apps. All those users will create a network-effects advantage, too?developers will keep creating apps for the iPad because that?s where the users are, which will help attract more users to the iPad, which increases developer interest, and so on.
The tech industry has been waiting for Apple to release the next big thing for several years now. The clamoring is annoying and irrational?nobody knows what they want from Apple, exactly, just that they want something new, whether it?s a watch, a TV, a phablet, smart glasses, or who knows what. But I wonder if this is a giant distraction from the real story at Apple. In our obsession with the new, we?re missing the potential of the old. It?s very likely that Apple?s next big thing is already out there. The iPad is going to be huge. Just watch.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=cac92e7b73d0e8ac6cf4c8cd45536d06
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