Monday, May 28, 2012

Edible Oil Polluted With Animal Fat In China

A lot more than 130 tonnes of edible oil in southwestern China's Yunnan province has been discovered to be contaminated with animal fat meant for industrial use and would be recalled.

A local oil manufacturer, the Yunnan Fengrui Oil and Fat Company, was suspected to be producing three types of cooking oil with animal fat, China Daily reported.

The use of industrial animal fat in production of food products is prohibited, as it cannot meet the hygienic standards required for cooking oil. Animal fat contains high levels of chemical pollutants such as paraffin, said Dong Jinshi, executive vice-president of the International Food Packaging Association in Beijing.

Industrial animal fat is mainly used to make soap, he said.

People can tell the difference between animal fat and cooking oil from their colour and smell, said Wang Ruiyuan, vice-chairman of the oil branch of the Chinese Cereals and Oils Association.

Food safety authorities have investigated thousands of local markets and restaurants, and had asked the oil company to recall more than 136 tonnes of inferior quality oil, said Liu Yunfeng, head of the food production supervision division in Yunnan.

Source-IANS

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Learning Ping Pong On a Spending budget Via Table Tennis Video ...

Practically all sports have their instructional movies. Basketball videos can educate you the best way to shoot a ball right into a hoop though evading oncoming opponents; soccer video clips can instruct you how to kick a ball right into an aim though skirting fearlessly and readily previous coming defense, ala Diego Maradona; and desk tennis videos can display you ways to ship just a little hollow ball hurtling and spinning through the air, so that it can get into your opponent?s play but without your opponent hitting it. Tutorial videos will present you ways to rating and succeed, and can even educate you a thing or two of one?s activity of choice?s background, to ensure that you are able to appreciate the sport better.

Numerous sports activities tutorial videos, nonetheless, can be highly-priced. This has prompted a lot of business people, at the same time as skilled gamers, to launch their own websites and give free educational video clips. Desk tennis isn?t any exclusion: you?ll be able to obtain desk tennis video clip clips on line, and whether they?re absolutely free or paid-per-view, they are able to make it easier to comprehend table tennis and perform the game nicely.

Some desk tennis video clip clips will simply demonstrate you the history in the activity, in addition to its guidelines and regulations, and using the present leaders in the sport. Even though this might be dull to get a participant who?s not into lectures and classes, it can make it easier to realize why particular guidelines are produced in particular approaches. Video clip clips of table tennis guidelines can also make you visualize rule violations superior, in order that you can rating games properly in the future. Additionally, should you see the sport?s present finest gamers in motion, you can have some individuals to appear up to in an effort to improve your recreation.

Some desk tennis video clip clips will demonstrate you the physics behind the sport. They?ll explain how different taking part in surfaces can influence the trajectory of the ball, or even the ability of gamers to perform a match effectively. They?re going to explain how the two diverse paddle surfaces can ship the ball flying in different instructions, and with various spins. Observe this kind of video clip clips quite carefully, as they are going to show you all the points you?ll want to strategize effectively to get a wonderful activity of table tennis.

Other desk tennis video clip clips will display you the best way to play the game: you should know the distinctive methods of dealing with the table tennis paddle, and the way every single dealing with system impacts your perform; additionally you have to know how certain postures and movements on your component can result in harm if you?re not careful in the course of your desk tennis video game. Have a paddle available while you are viewing desk tennis video clips. As this is an tutorial video, you might want to watch it in your ft, and in player?s place, as although you had been prepared to perform an activity.

Still other desk tennis video clips will demonstrate desk tennis games in action. Observe how the game swiftly changes, and the way the pace is frenetic throughout. You need to maintain this amount of power in your desk tennis match, so watch how the gamers utilize their power in order that it stays up throughout their play. If you can, decelerate the video so you are able to see how particular successful pictures are produced. Using this method, you may completely appreciate the trouble in the match, and possibly be pressed to mastering even more about tips on how to play table tennis even improved.

Desk tennis video clip clips provide a less expensive alternative to purchasing entire videos. You could skip parts that you simply completely have an understanding of and appreciate, and you are able to view the parts that you simply like and have to have more than and more than again. There are lots of resources of table tennis video clips on the web: all you must do is search for them via your favorite online search engine, and look for web-sites that give credible table tennis video clip clips for free, or for the lowest value. With practice and observation, you?ll be able to flip your desk tennis video game about, due to desk tennis video clip clips.

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Canon Vixia HF M50


In a time when most high-end smartphones and point-and-shoot cameras can capture HD video, the consumer camcorder lies in a precarious position. The Canon Vixia HF M50 ($649.99 direct) represents the company's midrange model, offering a variety of useful features, like Wi-Fi and built-in flash memory, and high-quality video, all in a compact and familiar form-factor. However, the question remains: Who is this camcorder meant for and is it worth the rather steep asking price?

Design and Features
One of the advantages of a dedicated camcorder over a smartphone or digital camera is the comfortable form factor. The M50 is a perfect cylinder, measuring 2.5 by 2.7 by 4.8 inches (HWD) and weighing 10.9 ounces. It's neither too big nor too small, and fits nicely into the palm of the hand. A typical point and shoot, like our Editors' Choice Canon PowerShot S100 ($429.99, 4.5 stars), weighs around 5 to 7 ounces, making it a bit more difficult to hold steady when recording.

The body is constructed from glossy and matte black plastics, with some metal highlights and elements. The Record button sits to the right of the removable, rechargeable battery, and is easily accessible by thumb. The zoom rocker is positioned on top, in front of the mini advanced accessory shoe. To the left of the zoom rocker is the power button, and in the recess behind the LCD are Home, Video Snap (to take a quick 4-second video), and Playback buttons. Below those buttons are a mini USB and mini HDMI port, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack and 3.5mm mic jack. Below the hand strap is a single card slot that accepts SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards. The M50 comes with 8GB of built-in memory.

The 3-inch LCD is touch enabled, and all the controls can be accessed through a series of touch menus. The 230k-dot screen resolution is too grainy to appreciate the HD video being captured, and it was a bit dim in bright sunlight. Touch input is decent, though it's difficult to be precise with some of the smaller virtual buttons?for example, setting up Wi-Fi is a pain due to the cramped virtual keyboard. The built-in Wi-Fi is a nice touch, though, as you can wirelessly transfer video from the camcorder to your computer or to YouTube and Facebook through a free app for iOS devices.?The lack of physical controls makes it a bit cumbersome to make advanced changes to exposure, white balance, or focus.

Performance
Canon equipped the M50 with a?1/3-inch HD CMOS Pro sensor with a 10x optical zoom lens that covers a 43.4-436mm focal length (35mm equivalent). The "Pro" tag denotes greater low light performance, with an f/1.8 aperture at its widest point, which narrows down to f/3 when zoomed all the way in. The lower-end Vixia HF R300?($349.99, 3.5 stars) packs a 32x optical zoom factor, with a 38.5-1,232mm focal length (35mm equivalent), but uses a 1/4.85-inch CMOS sensor. The larger sensor on the M50 means larger pixels, which equates to better low light performance. The R300 is a bit more versatile, both at its widest and most zoomed in, but the low light performance is vastly superior with the M50. ?

There are a number of recording modes, with the highest quality set at 24Mbps and full HD video in MXP mode. It's not true progressive video, but rather uses 60 interlaced fields per second that are then encoded to 30 frames per second. There is a Cinema Mode that artificially makes the video appear to move at 24 frames per second, the standard for film projects, but it still isn't truly progressive. At its highest setting, video is recorded in AVCHD, while lower quality clips can be saved as MP4s, but those are limited to 30 minutes each. ?

For most, the full Auto mode should suffice, as navigating the touch screen menus and adjusting settings is not especially intuitive or precise. In my tests, the autofocus was accurate, but it had some trouble keeping a lock on objects when fully zoomed in, switching focus to the background intermittently. Auto white balance and exposure were surprisingly fast and accurate, though panning across a room with varied lighting caused very noticeable shifts in color?though that's pretty typical with Auto modes. The M50 has a Powered Image Stabilization mode and a Dynamic auto mode. Both worked well, though I would keep it in Powered mode if you're planning on using the zoom extensively. One minor gripe: When at its telephoto reach, the image stabilization gave the video a bit of a dreamy wobble effect, reminiscent of HDTVs with high refresh rates.

Video looked sharp in MXP mode, with the M50 capturing fine details and textures at both its widest angle and telephoto reach. Image noise is kept to a minimum, and even in low-light settings, the quality was good. Dynamic range was acceptable, though the dark spots of shadows were a bit too dark, losing too much detail, while bright spots remained properly exposed. The lower-priced R300 was able to capture comparably sharp video, though its low-light performance lagged behind the M50. Color accuracy was also a bit more problematic on the R300, as colors tended to appear cooler than in real life.

Audio quality was decent, though not entirely impressive. The microphone picked up voices loud and clear from reasonable distances, but was also prone to wind interference. Luckily, there are microphone and headphone jacks for better audio quality and more precise monitoring.

Many people will consider their smartphones or point-and-shoots to be capable replacements for a standalone camcorder. When compared with our Editors' Choice high-end point-and-shoot, the Canon PowerShot S100, the M50 is in the same realm on sharpness, but the real advantage with the M50 is smoother looking video in moving shots. The S100's video is choppier through movements, even slow pans, and the auto-exposure can cause instances of overexposure that appear as quick flashes. That same choppiness plagues smartphone and tablet video, while neither of those is really suited for anything but ideal lighting situations. In terms of still photos, the M50 can capture JPEG images, but at 2-megapixel resolution,?the quality is mediocre. The S100 pumps out beautiful photos, and smartphone cameras are starting to take great stills too.

Conclusions
The Canon Vixia HF M50 captures pleasantly crisp, fluid video in a variety of lighting situations, with an easy-to-use and accurate fully automatic mode. Extras like built-in flash memory and Wi-Fi connectivity sweeten the deal, but the $649.99 price tag is a bit steep when you consider that good compact interchangeable lens cameras can be had for the same price. The lower priced Vixia HF R300 can capture similarly good-looking video, but suffers a bit in terms of lighting range. The R300 does, however, have the advantage of a wider angle lens and 32x optical zoom. With such a compact body, some sacrifices in manual controls had to be made. Luckily, the fully automatic mode is fast and accurate, though more advanced shooters may find the touch-screen navigation too cumbersome and imprecise. An interchangeable lens digital camera like our Editors' Choice Sony Alpha NEX-C3?($649.99, 4.5 stars) takes some truly stunning still images, but its video capture tops out at 720p. If you plan on playing your home movies or video projects on large HDTVs it might make sense to pony up the extra cash for a dedicated camcorder. However, unless the familiar camcorder form factor is a must-have, a solid digital camera like the NEX-C3 or the Olympus PEN E-PM1?($499.99, 4 stars) are more versatile.

More Digital Camcorder reviews:
??? Canon Vixia HF M50
??? Canon Vixia HF R300
??? Ion Air Pro WiFi
??? Looxcie 2
??? GoPro HD Hero2 Outdoor Edition
?? more

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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Breathing Smog While Pregnant May Worsen Asthma in Offspring ...

Breathing Smog While Pregnant May Worsen Asthma in Offspring
MSN Health & Fitness
SUNDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) ? Exposure to air pollution while in the womb might harm the lung-function development of children with asthma, a new study finds. Researchers conducted repeated evaluations of 162 asthmatic children between the ages of ?
Prenatal Pollution Exposure Dangerous for Children with AsthmaNewswise (press release)

all 4 news articles??

View full post on asthma ? Google News

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Camilla Hook: Sam Holland?s Wife!

Meet Camilla Hook, Sam Holland?s wife! The couple married this weekend and none other than Pippa Middleton and her derriere stole the show! Pippa is very close friends with Camilla Hook who got married in a lavish and beautiful ceremony this weekend. She married Sam Holland who is the grandson of Oscar-winning film director Lord Attenborough, and also an Indian Ocean tsunami survivor. Though Sam survived, he lost several family members including his mother, his youngest sister and grandmother. His older sister was seriously injured but survived. Holland gives Camilla credit for helping him through the obviously difficult time in his life, saying she helped him cope with the loss: ?Camilla has been a great source of comfort to me over the years. We?re very happy.? As for the wedding details, Pippa recited Bob Dylan lyrics as a tribute to her friend that she has known for over ten years, and she even helped plan the wedding! But that is not why people were starring and giving her so much attention. Pippa stole the show in a gorgeous rose colored dress, the same ?Forever? dress by Issa, that Kate wore when she announced her engagement to the Prince! Camilla looked [...]

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Friday, May 18, 2012

diploma study management . Accelerated Nursing Diploma Top 25 ...

An accelerated nursing college degree island associated with absolutely everyone between bachelor's education our god at the moment call for when it comes to go in pursuit of a nursing career.Below area some help and advice around the brim rated educative offerings: 1.University of Pennsylvania.The present technologies hail very easily available, ranks all-around accurate for successful federal government funding.2.College of California.#1 NIH Analysis Funding, stimulate instantly furthermore specializes beneath it segment coursework.3.University of North Carolina.Nursing college degree beneath 14 months, tri-fold aspiration of flawlessness under education, studies in addition to practice.4.College of Illinois.The cuurriculum focuses on top traditionalistic experience, scholoarly activity, also evidence-based practice.5.Columbia College.It was the premature concerning that owned an international classes nursing assisting plan, singular hundred in addition to seventeen their age of record underneath educating nursing leaders.

6.Texas A&M.This region a nurse-run clinic, amid ten concentrate areas near accessory on; it's the on its own University listed below usa that island identified into the future it truly is contain island.7.College of Pittsburgh.Many research opportunities, still access is really highly competitive.8.Johns Hopkins University.Accelerated thirteen in addition to a half month program, it of the islands supplemental than a century older common excellence.9.Yale University.There come distinctive collaborative opportunities a sign students towards come across as with your life as healthy leaders underneath the health and fitness industry; sole of the ahead of time schooling that readily available an instructional nursing program.10.University of Maryland.Focused ahead of time section wellness and fitness guidance by simply their phone clinic, as well as rheir research-intensive environment.

11.College of Michigan.12-month Second Career nursing program, respected facility middle towards attain conventional experience.12.Rush College.Clinical give underneath action; graduating older people gain a 100 ratio NCLEX distribute rate.13.College of Colorado.School destination apprehensive under limitless examination projects, among never-ending ranging specialties.14.Emory University.Superb examine program, activated hip dab environment.15.College of Virginia.It isle a founder beneath geriatrics in addition oncology research.

16.University of Washington.The feature is cast in advance construction packed simple critical confidence skills.17.Oregon Health & Science College.It tropical isle a space organization oriented job application that focuses ahead academics as alive as examination in the direction of teach.18.College of Missouri.It area determined by way of individual of the top rated study nursing learning 19.Quinnipiac College.Students here operate tightly amid a nurse stage specialist.It has excess than seventy clubs and organizations 20.University of Delaware.Focused forward Family Nurse Practitioner/Adult Nurse Practitioner plus Clinical Nurse Specialist.There originate quite possibly some teaching institution located listed below London also Paris.

21.Georgetown University.Immediate everyone into Advanced Practice Nursing.It is individual of the oldest Catholic additionally Jesuit college around the country.22.University of Texas.It offers seven focus areas; it is simple of the main evaluation institutions.23.University of Washington.19 master's stage specialties; it addresses stylish problems under workout care, that hail up-to-date not by yourself locally nevertheless sometimes by simply worldwide initiatives.24.Samford University.Provides an power when it comes to evaluate below both England plus Italy; it was classical within 1841 and was celebrated as Howard College.25.University of Arizona.

It has two world-wide-web doctoral programs, and also remote island a Member of Association of American Universities.

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Family tree ? limbs retainer splint Manufacturer ? Medical Bandage ...

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Family tree representations Genealogical data can be represented in several formats, for example as a pedigree or ancestor chart. Family trees are often presented with the oldest generations at the top and the newer generations at the bottom. An ancestry chart, which is a tree showing the ancestors of an individual, will more closely resemble a tree in shape, being wider at the top than the bottom. In some ancestry charts, an individual appears on the left and his or her ancestors appear to the right. A descendancy chart, which depicts all the descendants of an individual will be narrowest at the top. Family tree displaying an ancestor chart of Sigmund Christoph von Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg Family trees can have many themes. One might encompass all direct descendants of a single figure, or all known ancestors of a living person. Another might include all members of a particular surname (e.g. male-line descendants). Yet another approach is to construct a tree including all holders of a certain office, such as kings of Germany. This relies on dynastic marriage to hold together the links between dynasties. The image of the tree probably originated with one in medieval art of the Tree of Jesse[citation needed], used to illustrate the Genealogy of Christ in terms of a prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah, 11, 1). Possibly the first non-Biblical use, and the first to show full family relationships rather than a purely patrilineal scheme, was that involving family trees of the classical gods in Boccaccio?s Genealogia deorum gentilium (On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles), whose first version dates to 1360.[citation needed] Ahnenblatt Family Tree The longest family tree in the world today is that of the Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), and he is the descendant of King Tang (1675 BC-1646 BC). The tree spans more than 80 generations, and includes more than 2 million members. An international effort involving more than 450 branches around the world was started in 1998 to retrace and revise this family tree. The latest findings will be published in 2009 by the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee to coincide with the 2560th anniversary of the birth of the Chinese thinker. This latest edition is expected to include some 1.3 million living members who are scattered around the world today. Another very old and extensive tree is that of the Lurie lineage which includes Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, Rashi, Hezekiah and traces at least back to King David born c.1037 BC . See also Ahnentafel Genealogy software Cousin chart (Table of consanguinity) Genetic genealogy#Genetic similarity among relatives (for general genetic similarity) Genealogical numbering systems Genogram List of family trees Pedigree chart Wikipedia:Family trees References ^ Confucius family tree has two million members from China Daily ^ Bill Gladstone (October 24, 2004). ?The oldest family in the world?. JTA. http://jta.org/news/article/2004/10/24/12092/FromKingDavidtoF. ^ Neil Rosenstein, Ranan R. Lurie. The Lurie Legacy: The House of Davidic Royal Descent. ISBN 9781886223172. External links Media related to Family trees at Wikimedia Commons v d e Family trees Monarchies of the Americas Aztec emperors Hawaii Monarchies of Asia Ancient China Early China Middle China Late China Japan Mongolian Khans Korea Vietnam Monarchies of Europe Bosnia Wessex Mercia East Anglia England Scotland Britain after 1603 France Holy Roman Empire/Germany Netherlands Belgium Spain Navarre Portugal Denmark Norway Sweden (partial) Greece Russia House of Habsburg Byzantine emperors Monarchies of the Middle East Sassanid Safavid Jerusalem Ottoman (simplified) House of Muhammad Ali Kuwait Dukedoms, princes and counts Norfolk Brittany Aquitaine Brabant Lorraine Burgundy Bourbon Cond Monaco Conti Holland Flanders Swabia Antioch La Fayette Monarchies of the ancient world 4th dynasty of Egypt 12th 18th 19th 20th 21st 26th Achaemenid Ptolemies Seleucids Roman Emperors Caecilii Metelli Scipio-Paullus-Gracchus Julio-Claudian dynasty Severan dynasty v d e Family Household Nuclear family Complex family Immediate family Spouse (Husband | Wife) Parent (Father | Mother) Child (Son | Daughter) Sibling (Brother | Sister) Extended family Grandparent Uncle Aunt Cousin Nephew Niece Common ancestor Family-in-law Father-in-law Mother-in-law Son-in-law Daughter-in-law Brother-in-law Sister-in-law Kinship Consanguinity Affinity Fictive kinship Marriage Adoption Divorce Disownment Lineage Genealogy Patrilineality Matrilineality Bilateral descent Family tree Pedigree Family name Heredity Inheritance Heirloom Relationships Familial love Parental love Marital love Brotherly love Filial piety Veneration Categories: GenealogyHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from February 2009

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Global mobile phone sales now in decline

Despite some vendors?seeing?record smartphone sales, worldwide sales of mobile phones declined 2% year-over-year to 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, according to research firm Gartner. The decline represents the first of its kind since the second quarter of 2009. ?Global sales of mobile devices declined more than expected due to a slowdown in demand from the Asia/Pacific region,? said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. ?The first quarter, traditionally the strongest quarter for Asia ? which is driven by Chinese New Year, saw a lack of new product launches from leading manufacturers, and users delayed upgrades in the hope of better smartphone deals arriving later in the year.?

In the smartphone market, Android accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales, with a 56.1% market share in the first quarter of 2012. Apple?s iOS captured second place with an increase from 16.9% in 2011 to 22.9%. ?Samsung?s Android-based smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2012 represented more than 40 percent of Android-based smartphone sales worldwide,? the firm highlighted. ?No other vendors achieved more than a 10 percent share of the market.? Gartner?s press release follows below.

Gartner Says Worldwide Sales of Mobile Phones Declined 2 Percent in First Quarter of 2012; Previous Year-over-Year Decline Occurred in Second Quarter of 2009

Samsung?s Android-Based Smartphone Sales in First Quarter of 2012 Represented More Than 40 Percent of Android-Based Smartphone Sales Globally; No Other Vendors Achieved More Than a 10 Percent Market Share

Egham, UK, May 16, 2012? Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, a 2 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market exhibited a decline.

?Global sales of mobile devices declined more than expected due to a slowdown in demand from the Asia/Pacific region,? said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. ?The first quarter, traditionally the strongest quarter for Asia ? which is driven by Chinese New Year, saw a lack of new product launches from leading manufacturers, and users delayed upgrades in the hope of better smartphone deals arriving later in the year.?

All vendors were impacted at different levels; however, white-box vendors seem to have suffered the most. While tier one players such as Nokia were negatively impacted on sell-in numbers (sold into retail), white-box vendors were unable to adjust production and were left with a build-up in inventory by the end of the quarter. Gartner expects some of this volume to be sold during the next couple of quarters, because the channel is likely to lower the prices to dispose of the stock.

?The lower results in the first quarter of 2012 have led us to be cautious about sales for the remainder of the year,? said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner. ?The continued roll-out of third generation (3G)-based smartphones by local and regional manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Yulong and TCL Communication should help spur demand in China. In addition, the arrival of new products in mature markets based on new versions of the Android and Windows Phone operating systems (OSs), and the launch of the Apple iPhone 5 will help drive a stronger second half in Western Europe and North America. However, as we are starting to update our market forecast we feel a downward adjustment to our 2012 figures, in the range of 20 million units, is unavoidable.?

Samsung became the world?s top mobile handset vendor during the quarter, displacing Nokia which had held the No. 1 spot since 1998. Samsung?s mobile phone sales reached 86.6 million units (see Table 1), a 25.9 percent increase from last year. Samsung took back the world?s No. 1 smartphone position from Apple, selling 38 million smartphones worldwide. In addition, Samsung?s Android-based smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2012 represented more than 40 percent of Android-based smartphone sales worldwide; no other vendors achieved more than a 10 percent share of the market.

Sales of smartphones continued to drive mobile device market growth, reaching 144.4 million units in the first quarter of 2012, up 44.7 percent year-over-year. This quarter also saw the top two smartphone vendors, Apple and Samsung, raising their combined share to 49.3 percent, up from 29.3 percent in the first quarter of 2011, and widening their lead over Nokia ? which saw its smartphone market share drop to 9.2 percent.

Nokia?s mobile handset sales reached 83.2 million units, a 22.7 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2011. ?Smartphone sales are becoming of paramount importance at a worldwide level. For example, smartphone volumes contributed to approximately 43.9 per cent of overall sales for Samsung as opposed to 16 per cent for Nokia,? Mr. Gupta said.

Driven by the continued success of the iPhone 4S, Apple?s sales grew 96.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 as the new model expanded into new markets and carriers. Sales in China were particularly strong this quarter. With more than 5 million units, China became the second-largest market for Apple after the U.S. On top of the sales through official carriers? channels, there was an increase in transshipments from Hong Kong where volume has been growing over the past few quarters to reach a sell-in of more than 3 million units.

RIM sold 9.9 million mobile handsets in the first quarter of 2012, with its global share declining to 2.4 percent as competition increased in its international market strongholds. ?RIM desperately needs to deliver winning BB10 products to retain users and stay competitive. This will be very challenging, because BB10 lacks strong developer support, and a new BB10 device will only be available in the fourth quarter of 2012,? said Mr. Gupta.

In the smartphone OS market, Android accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales (56.1 percent) in the first quarter of 2012 (see Table 2). Gartner analysts said the smartphone market has become highly commoditized and differentiation is becoming a challenge for manufacturers.

?This is particularly true for smartphones based on the Android OS, where a strong commoditization trend is at work and most players are finding it hard to break the mould,? Mr. Gupta said. ?At the high end, hardware features coupled with applications and services are helping differentiation, but this is restricted to major players with intellectual property assets. However, in the mid to low-end segment, price is increasingly becoming the sole differentiator. This will only worsen with the entry of new players and the dominance of Chinese manufacturers, leading to increased competition, low profitability and scattered market share.?

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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Erotic Novel Based On Britney Spears' Sexual Past?

britjason1_wide.jpg
Britney Spears book club alert! Pop Baby Krissy Doucet, an erotic novel by Kevin Federline?s aunt Diane Story, is the tale of a lonely pop princess who falls for dancer Keenan Fazio, but must compete sexually with a woman from his past. ?Would sharing Keenan in Tara?s bed be their only option for love?? the steamy copy asks. ?Kevin?s nervous about the book,? aunt Diane tells In Touch. And Britney? ?If she blows a cog about it, fans may think she's more like Krissy than they thought!?

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Microsoft SkyDrive impressions: a look at features and functionality

Microsoft SkyDrive impressions: a look at features and functionality

You may remember a certain, somewhat anticipated cloud service finally coming in to land in recent days. That wasn't the only news in nebular computing last week, however: perhaps in anticipation of Google's long-rumored Drive service, Microsoft made some updates to the Windows Phone app for its own offering, SkyDrive. This comes not long after the release of desktop SkyDrive applications for Windows and OSX, all suggesting that Redmond's hoping to cut itself as large a slice of the cloud-storage pie as it can, preferably while others are still taking their seats at the table. We spent some time with the latest quiver of tools from Microsoft, to see how they've progressed.

Continue reading Microsoft SkyDrive impressions: a look at features and functionality

Microsoft SkyDrive impressions: a look at features and functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rihanna 'Intimidated' By 'Battleship' Role

'I was walking into this as a complete amateur,' singer reveals in 'MTV First: Battleship.'
By Fallon Prinzivalli, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Rihanna
Photo: MTV News

As Rihanna begins her foray into the film industry, she's quickly becoming the queen of pop culture. She's a musical icon with millions of fans who worship her singing abilities and can't wait to see her acting debut in Peter Berg's "Battleship." But her devotees aren't the only ones itching to see what the musician has up her sleeve. During "MTV First: Battleship," her co-star Taylor Kitsch said he was excited to see her take on the role.

"Yeah, there's an excitement behind [working with Rihanna]. I was excited to see what you were going to do with [the part]," Kitsch said to the singer.

Rihanna chimed in, "I'll answer this, because it's probably uncomfortable for them to say no, but I was the one that was intimidated."

Wait, what? It's hard to imagine the singer intimidated by anything. With songs like "Rockstar 101" and "Who's That Chick?" and equally fiery music videos, Rihanna gives off a fierce persona and owns any project that comes her way. But she revealed that despite her ever-present nerves, she learned from the cast — particularly Kitsch, who offered advice as they worked on scenes.

"You know, we have a mutual respect for each other's industry," she said. "I was walking into this as an amateur — a complete amateur. I didn't know anything and I had a good team to learn from. I watched them, and especially Taylor, 'cause we did a lot of scenes together and he would always offer me advice."

And as for Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker and Kitsch having nerves around the successful chart-topper, Rihanna waves it off.

"There was nothing for them to be intimidated about. I was the wreck. I was a wreck, just like, scared to sh--," she said. "Especially when Liam Neeson showed up to set."

Let's see, Neeson has voiced an all-powerful lion for "Narnia," played Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables," was a Jedi Master in the "Star Wars" prequels and kicked some serious ass as he raced around Europe to save his daughter from sex trafficking in "Taken." Why would she ever be intimidated?

"He was intimidated by me," Rihanna joked.

Check out everything we've got on "Battleship."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Abandoned ships a rusting hazard in Nigeria waters

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2012, The rusting hulk of an abandoned petroleum ship is beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria, as the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the ships that lay beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city. Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways outside of Lagos with the resulting environmental and navigational hazards, as well as highlighting the lawlessness and corruption surrounding daily life in Nigeria. (AP Photos/Sunday Alamba)

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2012, The rusting hulk of an abandoned petroleum ship is beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria, as the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the ships that lay beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city. Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways outside of Lagos with the resulting environmental and navigational hazards, as well as highlighting the lawlessness and corruption surrounding daily life in Nigeria. (AP Photos/Sunday Alamba)

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2012, workers salvage parts from the rusting hulk of an abandoned ship beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria, as the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the ships that lay beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city. Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways outside of Lagos with the resulting environmental and navigational hazards, as well as highlighting the lawlessness and corruption surrounding daily life in Nigeria. (AP Photos/Sunday Alamba)

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2012, a fisherman tends to his nets on the beach near to the rusting hulk of an abandoned ship beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria, as the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the ships that lay beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city. Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways outside of Lagos with the resulting environmental and navigational hazards, as well as highlighting the lawlessness and corruption surrounding daily life in Nigeria. (AP Photos/Sunday Alamba)

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2012, workers salvage parts from the rusting hulk of an abandoned ship beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria, as the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the ships that lay beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city. Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways outside of Lagos with the resulting environmental and navigational hazards, as well as highlighting the lawlessness and corruption surrounding daily life in Nigeria. (AP Photos/Sunday Alamba)

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2012, people walk past the rusting hulks of abandoned ships beached on the coastline in Lagos, Nigeria, as the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against the ships that lay beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city. Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways outside of Lagos with the resulting environmental and navigational hazards, as well as highlighting the lawlessness and corruption surrounding daily life in Nigeria. (AP Photos/Sunday Alamba)

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? The powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash against rusting hulks beached along the coastline just outside of Nigeria's largest city, as lines of cargo ships waiting to come to port stretch across the western horizon.

Government officials say they don't know how many abandoned ships choke Nigeria's waterways, but they cause tremendous environmental and navigational hazards. And as more wash ashore daily, the massive vessels cause fast-moving erosion along Nigeria's beaches that can tear away a kilometer of shoreline in a matter of days, experts say.

"Shorelines are supposed to seasonally increase and decrease," said Ikenna C. Onyema, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Lagos. "When a manmade structure comes in between, it cuts out its life."

Forgotten ships rust across Nigeria's roughly 850-kilometer (525-mile) coastline, while others can been seen partially submerged on inland waterways and creeks. Some have been there for decades, while others only days.

Many, abandoned after the lucrative theft of crude oil, serve as hulking metaphors for the lawlessness that plagues Nigeria.

The history of abandoned ships in Nigeria is intertwined with the slowly growing, strangling grip of corruption that nation has faced since it gained its independence from Britain in 1960. The first such ships came amid the booming trade of importing cement into the country during the massive projects of former military ruler Gen. Yakubu "Jack" Gowon in the early 1970s.

Ships backed up for miles with cement, awaiting for up to a year trying to come into the country. Only later did officials acknowledge much of the cement was inferior and companies put their ships in line to collect fees for being kept waiting. Some of the cement hardened in ships' holds, sinking the vessels.

Today, it appears many of the boats left to rust along the coast belong to the increasingly lucrative industry known locally as "bunkering" ? stealing the crude oil pumped out of Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta by foreign companies. The CEO of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the dominant firm in Nigeria, has estimated that thieves steal about 150,000 barrels of oil a day from the region by drilling or sawing into pipelines to install their own spigots.

From the air, one can see the wooden ships that carry crude through the Niger Delta's winding creeks to makeshift refineries to cook into crude diesel and kerosene. Much of the oil, however, makes it to large tankers that then carry the oil out to sea and into the black market.

Those tankers are later discarded along the coast. Outside of Lagos at Tarkwa Bay, about a dozen abandoned vessels dot the coastline, including one from Zenon Petroleum & Gas Ltd., run by billionaire Femi Otedola, a supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Coves in the area are being rapidly destroyed by ships, which deflect the force of waves in a different way, causing massive erosion, said Onyema, the professor. Oil from the ship and other debris, visible along the sandy beaches of Tarkwa Bay, cause damage as well, he said.

Yet the ships remain on the beaches. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, told The Associated Press in a recent interview the ships would be removed ? but could not say when or exactly how many abandoned vessels there actually are. Last August, Nigeria's Transport Minister Yusuf Suleiman promised to remove the wrecks within weeks, though nothing was done.

"No sane-minded man or person should be happy with such a situation when abandoned vessels can cause environmental problems, when they can cause navigation problems, when they can aid and abet criminal activity," Akpobolokemi said. "Why should you be happy?"

While the government hasn't begun removing the ships, others have. Groups of salvagers move along the coast, removing whatever electronics and communication gear remaining inside. Gas tanks and blow torches follow, leaving behind exposed metal skeletons along the beach.

But that scavenging takes months, as the heavy waves carry in new ships all the time.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap.

Associated Press

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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Afghans aim for the Kabul stars

A campaign is being launched to take astronomy to schools, orphanages and refugee camps throughout Afghanistan.

Amateur astronomers, government officials and science communicators are behind the project, which will dole out star-gazing kits first around Kabul.

The Reach for the Stars project will establish the country's first astronomy curriculum for young children.

Drawing on the rich heritage of astronomy under Islam, the campaign hopes to expand to other countries too.

"During the so called 'dark ages' in Europe, Islamic civilisation championed both astronomy and physics, shaping our modern science," said Christopher Phillips, who is leading the project.

"In more recent times this has been suppressed; it was taught that the skies were the realm of Allah, and astronomical study and investigation were un-Islamic and forbidden.

"Now we want to help Afghan children regain ownership of their astronomical heritage and take advantage of its educational opportunities."

Kit form

The joint initiative of the international organisation Astronomers Without Borders and the Afghanistan Astronomy Association, with support from Afghanistan's Ministry of Education, will send astronomy kits to schools, orphanages and refugee camps around Kabul.

The kits will include The Little Book of Stars, a specially written introductory text for young Afghan children.

It will cover astronomical topics from A-Z accompanied by cartoon illustrations, in English and Pashto, the language spoken by Afghanistan's largest ethnic group.

As many schools lack even the most basic classroom materials, the kits will also include pencils, pens and paper.

Solar viewing glasses, star charts and simple astronomy learning exercises will teach children the movements of the Sun and planets.

"The kits are designed to familiarise children with the Universe on a basic level," said Mr Phillips.

"They're a guide to our own stellar backyard."

The book and the kits will be designed to avoid cultural controversies - for example, avoiding picturing boys and girls playing together.

Once established around Kabul, the programme will expand to cover the rest of Afghanistan.

The eventual aim is to reach other parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

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Occupy Wall Street: Report Criticizes Police Response To Oakland Protests In 2010

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