Concept Android smartphone Sony XTRUD lets users customize its hardware and software

Product designer Rybarczyk Francois offers his vision of an Android-based smartphone with an architecture that allows users to replace its hardware components. Dubbed as the Sony XTRUD, the concept handset would be an environmentally-friendly product that would allow users to upgrade components to better ones, or replace broken parts without needing to shell out money for a brand-new smartphone. Beyond the hardware, supposedly, even the XTRUD?s software will be upgradeable to keep the device up-to-date.

Despite the fact that Francois uses the Sony brand on the product renders of his concept handset, he clarifies that the device is only a personal project, and may not necessarily be in line with Sony?s ideas.

The Sony XTRUD, according to the artist?s description, follows Sony?s aesthetic concepts. It has a simple plastic or aluminum exterior with a geometric pattern and round shaped buttons for user input. It would also come with a slim profile.

Screws on the top part of the handset would permit users to open the device easily to access and replace its internal parts, such as the battery, camera, and even the screen. The Sony XTRUD also does not need a case to change the color of the device. It can easily be personalized according to a user?s color preferences, or customized to promote the company brand. On the bottom of the device, one finds a volume control wheel that appears to double as a zoom ring, and even as an audio jack.

Francois also illustrates the possible smart manufacturing process of the concept handset. The process would involve CMF exploration, followed by extrusion, cutting, machining, and finally, anodizing.

The Sony XTRUD would support Android operating system and offer a dedicated website. Francois creates a packaging render for the device, as well, and proposes a selling price starting at $199.

Some consumers would certainly appreciate having more control over their smartphone. On the part of manufacturers, however, the customizable handset would mean that consumers would not need to purchase new phones every so often to replace outdated models. On the other hand, such a product would allow them to sell individual components.

Would you want to buy a customizable smartphone?

via androidauthority

Tags: concept handset, concept smartphone, Design, sony xtrud

Category: Smartphones, Tech News

Source: http://thedroidguy.com/2013/06/concept-android-smartphone-sony-xtrud-lets-users-customize-its-hardware-and-software/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=concept-android-smartphone-sony-xtrud-lets-users-customize-its-hardware-and-software

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Gomes' pinch-hit lifts Red Sox against Blue Jays

BOSTON ? Before Friday night, Jonny Gomes? last appearance in a game was June 23, when he played a complete game in left field in the Red Sox loss in Detroit. He had appeared in just 57 of the Sox? first 82 games this season. So, he?s accustomed to being used sparingly, but also being used in high-leverage, high-pressure situations, coming off the bench to pinch-hit with the game on the line.
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His approach doesn?t change.
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?I?m a grinder. I?m willing to take one off the neck for the team,? Gomes said after the Sox? 7-5 win over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
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Gomes didn?t have to take one off the neck this time. Instead, his pinch-hit RBI single with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning proved to be the difference in the game.
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Gomes has reached base in seven of 15 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter this season, going 4-for-12 (.333) with a double, two home runs, three RBI, a walks, getting hit by a pitch twice, and scoring five runs.
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With runners in scoring position this season he is now 9-for-28, batting .321, with 13 RBI. He?s at a loss, though, to explain his success in those situations.
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Facing Jays lefty Brett Cecil Friday night, Gomes laced a 3-and-1 fastball into left field.
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?I don?t know,? he said. ?I kind of strive and hope I can get better every day, every month, every year. To tell you the truth, where some of my numbers are succeeding right now, you might have been able to call rock bottom early on in my career, like really bad at it. That just comes with wanting and having to stick in the big leagues. Some of the things I?ve failed at, I?m just kind of turning around now.
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?[Manager] John [Farrell] does a good job of putting us in situations where we can succeed. I don?t hit into many double plays, so that?s really all I was looking to do is get a pitch to elevate. Just kind of a line drive, scared me for a second, but once it got through [into left field], it was all right. Just not ground into a double play, and I have some success against lefties, so it was a good matchup.?
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And, better than taking a ball off his neck?
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?The game still would have been over. We still would have won,? Gomes said with a laugh.

Source: http://www.csnne.com/blog/red-sox-talk/gomes-pinch-hit-single-saves-day

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Four Vanderbilt football players dismissed

Four Vanderbilt University football players were dismissed from the team and suspended from the school as sex crime detectives look into an alleged incident in a dormitory, the college and police said Saturday.

The school and police declined to release further details about the team rule violations.

Vanderbilt University Police reported the incident to Nashville, Tennessee, police on Wednesday, authorities said. The school said it's cooperating with investigators.

The city's sex crime investigators are looking into "a matter that is alleged to have occurred at a Vanderbilt University dormitory," Nashville Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said Saturday.

The investigation is ongoing, Aaron said.

While on interim suspension from the school, the four players can't be on campus without explicit permission from the school's office of student conduct and academic integrity, the university said.

"The well-being of our students is of paramount concern to us, and we will not tolerate any actions that threaten student safety and security," Vanderbilt vice chancellor for public affairs Beth Fortune said in a statement.

Last season, Vanderbilt finished 9-4 for its best record since 1915 when it was 9-1. The team won the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, beating North Carolina State 38-24.

Source: http://www.wdsu.com/news/national/Four-Vanderbilt-football-players-dismissed/-/9853500/20773234/-/dx5cm6/-/index.html?absolute=true

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Firewalls keep cybercriminals out | IT-Online

In March this year, Internet users across the world experienced slowed down service due to what has been called the biggest cyber attack in history. Although the attack was specifically aimed at European spam fighting group The Spamhaus Project, Web sites around the whole world were affected.

Security experts say this is because the hackers used more sophisticated techniques than those that are usually seen in most DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, since it targeted the infrastructure of the entire Web.

While this major attack grabbed headlines around the world due to its massive scope, cybercrime in all forms, shapes and sizes against companies and organisations of all types is also on the increase. In fact, while attacks against large corporations are the ones that usually end up in the news, a recent report reveals that small businesses are the targets of cyber attacks more frequently.

According to Jayson O?Reilly, Director: Sales and Innovation at security solutions provider DRS, hackers are honing in on small businesses due to a number of reasons.

?Small businesses don?t have the same budgets to invest in IT security as larger corporations do, which is why many of them still skimp on it. They also think that since they are ?small fry?, they?re too insignificant to be on the attack radar of cyber criminals.

?However, their banking details and customer information are just as valuable to crooks as those found on the databases of larger companies and corporations. With small companies and their often lax security measures, the criminals don?t have to work as hard to get their hands on that information, so they simply go for it.?

Last year, a survey among small businesses revealed that only about 52% of the businesses surveyed had a plan in place for keeping their business secure against cyber threats, while 40% admitted to having no contingency plan for responding or reporting a data breach, and loss of customer or employee information, credit card information or intellectual property.

O?Reilly says no business owner would ever dream of having their company in an open space where anyone can just wander in at any time.

?Just as you need a walled space with doors that can be locked to protect your business, you need security measures such as firewalls to guard your business?s network.

?Firewalls are software or hardware-based network security systems that monitor traffic between a user?s computer or network, and the Internet,? O?Reilly explains. ?Using a firewall is as crucial as having anti-virus software, because it filters out malware and viruses and prevent it from entering your network.?

Yet findings in a recent report released by information technology research and advisory company Gartner, Inc. show that less than 10% of Internet connections today are using next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) to secure themselves.

The report, entitled Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Fireworks, does predict that this will eventually increase, saying: ?? by the end of 2014, this [figure] will rise to 35% of the installed base, with 60% of new purchases being NGFWs.?

?With attacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and malware becoming more complex, IT security is something that companies simply cannot afford to skimp on anymore,? O?Reilly concludes.

Source: http://www.it-online.co.za/2013/06/28/firewalls-keep-cybercriminals-out/

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Spinning Obama?s Climate Change Plan

President Barack Obama?s climate change plan had both sides busy spinning data:

• Rep. Eric Cantor, in warning that the president?s plan would hurt the economy, said Americans are increasingly ?losing faith in their economy.? But the Consumer Confidence Index, released a day before Cantor spoke, showed consumer confidence ?is now at its highest level since January 2008.?
• Obama said that ?since 2006, no country on Earth has reduced its total carbon pollution by as much as the United States of America.? That?s accurate in terms of the amount of emissions reduced. But dozens of nations have reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by a larger percentage than the U.S., which is second only to China in total emissions.

The president gave a major speech on climate change on June 25, outlining a broad plan to use his executive powers to reduce greenhouse gases. A day later, House Republican leaders ? including Cantor, the House majority leader ? held a press conference to denounce the potential economic impact of the plan.

Cantor, June 26: Increasingly, the American people are losing trust in their government and losing faith in their economy, and these are the problems that House Republicans are trying to address and trying to fix. But ? yesterday, the president took time out to announce that he will unilaterally introduce new rules and regulations that will impose higher energy costs on our small businesses and our working families, depressing growth in our economy.

Cantor ignores the most recent results from the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index.

The Conference Board, an independent economic research organization founded in 1916, produces monthly reports that are closely watched by businesses and economists and widely reported by business media. The board released its June report a day before the GOP press conference. The results were positive, with the index increasing to 81.4 from 74.3 in May:

Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, June 25: Consumer Confidence increased for the third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since January 2008 (Index 87.3). Consumers are considerably more positive about current business and labor market conditions than they were at the beginning of the year. Expectations have also improved considerably over the past several months, suggesting that the pace of growth is unlikely to slow in the short-term, and may even moderately pick up.

Days before the release of the most recent CCI, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited ?increases in consumer confidence? as a reason that the Fed may start to slow its bond buying program ? an announcement?that immediately drove down the markets. Canadian Business magazine reported that Bernanke ?returned to that theme? ? of consumer confidence ? ?several times? in his June 19 press conference.

Canadian Business, June 19: The chairman returned to that theme several times again during Wednesday?s press conference. He cited the latest reading on the University of Michigan Survey of Consumer Sentiment, which showed that Americans haven?t felt so good since July 2007.

We contacted Cantor?s office for data supporting his statement. His spokeswoman, Megan Whittemoore, directed us to the June 18 Gallup Economic Confidence Index (a weekly poll) and the June 26 Rasmussen Consumer Index (a daily survey). The Rasmussen Consumer Index, as of June 26, was 100.4 ? a drop of 11 points from a six-year high of 111.3 recorded on June 19. Gallup?s June 18 report showed a dip of two points, from -7 to -9, from the previous week. The most recent Gallup report, which was published June 25, showed economic confidence edged up 1 point from the report Whittemoore cited.

Both the June 25 Gallup report and the June 26 Rasmussen Consumer Index report noted that consumer confidence remains relatively high. Rasmussen said it remained ?unchanged from three months ago,? despite the recent dip. Gallup reported, ?Confidence remains on the higher end of what Gallup has measured the last five years,? as is partly illustrated in the chart below that was included in Gallup?s recent report.

gallup economic confidence

Despite improvements, the surveys do show that most Americans are not optimistic about the economy. Negative Gallup scores ?indicate Americans are more negative than positive? about the economy. That?s true, too, of the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which showed more consumers believe business conditions are ?bad? than ?good.?

Conference Board, June 25: Consumers? assessment of current conditions continued to improve in June. Those stating business conditions are ?good? held steady at 19.1 percent, while those saying business conditions are ?bad? decreased to 24.9 percent from 26.0 percent. Consumers? appraisal of the job market was also more positive. Those claiming jobs are ?plentiful? increased to 11.7 percent from 9.9 percent, while those claiming jobs are ?hard to get? edged up to 36.9 percent from 36.4 percent.

In short, data from multiple sources suggest consumers feel the economy is not good, but getting better ? contrary to Cantor?s claim that ?increasingly? Americans are ?losing faith in their economy.?

U.S. Leader in CO2 Reductions?

In the speech that triggered Cantor?s remarks, Obama did some spinning of his own.

The president?s remark that ?no country on Earth has reduced its total carbon pollution by as much as the United States of America? since 2006 is supported by a May 2012 news release from the International Energy Agency on global carbon dioxide emissions in 2011. While global emissions edged up, U.S. emissions went down.

IEA, May 24, 2012: CO2 emissions in the United States in 2011 fell by 92 Mt, or 1.7%, primarily due to ongoing switching from coal to natural gas in power generation and an exceptionally mild winter, which reduced the demand for space heating. US emissions have now fallen by 430 Mt (7.7%) since 2006, the largest reduction of all countries or regions.

However, it should be noted that there are few countries that even come close to emitting the amount of carbon dioxide that the U.S. does. The results are different when the reduction amount is calculated as a percentage.

In 2011, the U.S. emitted 5,490.63 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That was second only to China, which emitted 8,715.31 million metric tons. In fact, the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions reduction of over 430 million metric tons since 2006 is more than most countries emit in a single year. Only 14 countries, including the U.S. and China, emitted more than that amount of carbon dioxide in 2011.

The U.S. wouldn?t be tops if emissions reductions were measured by the percentage change.

The U.S. reduced its CO2 emissions by 7.32 percent from 2006 to 2011, according to the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration. The EIA cited ?slower economic growth, weather,? higher gasoline prices and an increasing shift from coal to natural gas as reasons for the emissions decline in 2011.

But more than 40 nations had a larger percentage reduction than the U.S., including France (10.10 percent), Germany (12.01 percent), Italy (14.24 percent), Spain (14.41 percent) and the United Kingdom (15.15 percent) ? all of which committed to reducing emissions under the Kyoto Protocol that took effect in 2005 and has since been extended through 2020.

The EU-15 countries ? the 15 countries that were members of the European Union before 2004 ? were ?committed to reducing their collective emissions to 8% below 1990 levels by the years 2008-2012,? the EU says on its ?climate action? website. The United States did not ratify the treaty.

The nation with the largest reduction as a percentage since 2006 is the Republic of Tajikistan, which reduced its emissions by 64.71 percent. Its emissions dropped from 7.418 million metric tons in 2006 to 2.618 million metric tons in 2011.

? Madeleine Stevens, D?Angelo Gore and Justin Cohen

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spinning-obama-climate-change-plan-201603903.html

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Gandolfini: A big man and everyman is eulogized

NEW YORK (AP) ? The funeral of James Gandolfini took place in one of the largest churches in the world and didn't stint on ceremony.

Still, the estimated 1,500 mourners who gathered Thursday in New York's Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine seemed part of an intimate affair. They came to pay their respects to a plain but complex man whose sudden death eight days before had left all of them feeling a loss.

During the service, Gandolfini was remembered by the creator of "The Sopranos" as an actor who had brought a key element to mob boss Tony Soprano: Tony's inner child-like quality.

For a man who, in so many ways, was an unrepentant brute, that underlying purity was what gave viewers permission to love him.

"You brought ALL of that to it," said David Chase in remarks he delivered as if an open letter to his fallen friend and "Sopranos" star.

Even though Gandolfini was indisputably a formidable man both on and off the screen, Chase also saw him as a boy ? "sad, amazed, confused and loving," he summed up, addressing his subject: "You could see it in your eyes. And that's why you are a great actor."

Susan Aston, who for decades was Gandolfini's dialogue coach and collaborator, spoke of how he wrestled to find truth in his performances.

"He worked hard," she said. "He was disciplined. He studied his roles and did his homework." But then, when the cameras rolled, his performance took over and, "through an act of faith, he allowed himself to go to an uncharted place. ... He remained vulnerable, and kept his heart open in his life and in his work."

The 51-year-old actor died of a heart attack last week while vacationing with his 13-year-old son in Italy. It was cruel end to a holiday meant to be part of a summer that Gandolfini was devoting to his family ? including his son and his 9-month-old daughter ? by even turning down a movie role, according to Aston, citing what she said was her final conversation with him.

Aston said he told her "I don't want to lose any of the time I have with Michael and Lily this summer."

The actor's widow, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, also spoke at the ceremony, as did longtime friend Thomas Richardson, who affectionately described Gandolfini as a man "who hugged too tight and held too long." But now facing a world without hugs from Gandolfini, Richardson invited the congregation to stand and share hugs with their neighbors.

"It is in hugging that we are hugged," he declared.

A private family wake was held for the actor Wednesday in New Jersey.

Broadway theaters paid tribute by dimming their lights briefly Wednesday night. Gandolfini was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 as an actor in "God of Carnage."

For Thursday's service, celebrities and fellow actors helped make up the capacity audience.

Those from "The Sopranos" included Edie Falco, Joe Pantoliano, Dominic Chianese, Steve Schirripa, Aida Turturro, Vincent Curatola, Tony Sirico, Lorraine Bracco, Steve Buscemi and Michael Imperioli.

Others from the entertainment community included Julianna Margulies, Alec Baldwin, Chris Noth, Marcia Gay Harden, Dick Cavett and Steve Carell.

NBC News' Brian Williams was in attendance. So was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

So was Saul Stein, 60, a resident of Harlem.

"I came to pay my respects today because he's a character I identify with, a family man," Stein said as he waited in line outside the church.

New Jersey accents were easy to hear among those hoping for a chance to get in. A few people spoke in Italian.

Of course, both New Jersey and Italian-Americans played a big part of "The Sopranos," which originally ran on HBO from 1999 to 2007.

Chase recalled a hot Jersey day early in the show's production that bonded him with Gandolfini ? with whom he shared Italian-American working-class roots ? for all times.

Waiting to shoot the next scene, Gandolfini was seated in an aluminum lawn chair with his slacks rolled up, black socks and black shoes exposed, and a damp cloth on his head in an effort to find some relief from the heat.

"I hadn't seen that done since my father used to do it, and my Italian uncle, and my grandfather," said Chase. "They were laborers in the hot sun of New Jersey."

"I was filled with love," Chase said, struggling to keep his composure, as he described the sight of Gandolfini in the broiling sun.

"I always felt we are brothers," he said, "based on that day."

___

Associated Press correspondent Bethan McKernan and Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gandolfini-big-man-everyman-eulogized-205655387.html

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Mozilla Opens Its Firefox Social API To Developers

With the release of the first public beta of Firefox 23, Mozilla didn't just introduce a new logo and kill the <blink> element, it also opened up its Social API for developers. This feature allows them to create new ways for users to interact with their favorite web apps through a persistent sidebar, notifications or toolbar buttons in the browser. With this release, Mozilla also adds a share panel to the mix.

Mozilla first launched this feature in cooperation with Facebook in Firefox 17 last year. Since then, it added a number of new partners, including Cliqz, Mixi (for users in Japan) and msnNOW.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/RWF0e0eG5JI/

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Lazy Shoppers, Rejoice!

How do you know whether the popular toy you want to buy is in stock at a store near you? Used to be, you had to go to the store. No more.

Courtesy of victorsounds/Flickr

I?m one of those great dads who decide, late on a Friday afternoon, to do something special for the kids over the weekend. I?m also one of those dads whose imagination for special activities to make the kids happy rarely extends beyond buying them stuff. So there we were last week, looking at Amazon for something for my 2-year-old son. He likes cars, and he?s lately been interested in creating elaborate scenarios for his toy vehicles. As I browsed I came upon something called BluTrack, a long, flexible race-car track that can be assembled into a variety of shapes. It seemed like a toy we could play with together and good for at least 20 minutes of fun, which for a 2-year-old is pretty much all the time in the world.

The only trouble was how to get it. I?d missed Amazon?s one-day shipping deadline, so I?d have to find the item in a store. But how do you find a specific item in a local store? And how do you find the store nearest you with the lowest price on said item, or the store with the most in stock? There aren?t any good ways. You can try Googling for an item and your city, but unless it?s a product of widespread interest, you won?t find much. You can use a product search engine like Google Shopping, but those focus mainly on online stores, not places near your house. (Google Shopping does include some physical retailers, but mostly the big ones that don?t include hard-to-find toys like BluTrack.)

Sometimes, if you?re lucky, the item you want for will have a Web page listing stores that carry it. This worked for BluTrack?through the toy?s site, I found a toy store about 20 miles away that supposedly carried it. But it won?t work for most products, especially food. (Good luck trying to find Sichuan peppercorns nearby.) Even if you do find a local store that carries what you?re looking for, you?ve got to do some more legwork before leaving the house: calling the store to check that the item is actually in stock, confirming how much it costs, and, if it?s popular, asking if they can set one aside for you.

This is such a hassle. People frequently accuse me of hating locally owned stores?not without some justification, I guess?but how could you blame me? Discovery is the soul of shopping; you can?t buy something if you can?t find it. But the inventory at most local stores?especially the non-chain mom-and-pops, from toy shops to stationery shops to bookstores to cafes?is completely hidden. Their stuff is not online, not searchable, not Tweetable, not reviewable, not orderable, and not price-checkable. Today, that?s a fatal commercial sin; when most shopping decisions begin online, an item on a store shelf with no corresponding online presence might as well not even exist.?

Someone is trying to fix this problem. This week the mobile-payment startup Square launched a brilliant new service, Square Market, that allows merchants to put their inventory online at the flip of a switch. Stores that use Square as their point-of-sale registers have already entered their inventory information into the software; they use the system to keep track of what?s selling well, what?s not, and when they?ve got to restock. Now, Square is letting the stores turn that information into online item pages.

Say I run a local coffee shop where, in addition to drinks, I sell a variety of fresh-roasted beans. In my Square Register, I can now turn on the e-commerce switch for each bag of beans. This creates a Square Market page for each bag?a well-designed, easy-to-navigate page where shoppers can buy the beans (for shipping or pickup). The page can be passed around on social networks, pops up in Google searches, and shows customers how awesome my store is so that they can come by to take a look.

In an interview, Square founder Jack Dorsey told me that many Square merchants had been requesting this feature. ?I flip a switch and suddenly everything I sell is online,? Dorsey says. ?I have this online presence that elevates and amplifies everything that I do." For small businesses, it?s a drop-dead easy way to get on the Web: They don?t have to sign up for a Web hosting service and don?t have to pay a Web designer. The only fee is Square?s 2.75 percent cut of online purchases, the same fee it charges for in-store purchases. The service greatly increases a local store?s reach, for no extra money and no extra work.

But the best thing about Square Market is its potential for lazy shoppers like me. When a Square merchant turns on the e-commerce switch for an item, that item goes into Square?s directory of products, making it searchable by location. If I go to Square Market and search for coffee beans or BluTracks or Sichuan peppercorns, I?ll be shown all the nearby stores that have them in stock. I can make my purchase online and pick it up later. ?There?s this great Amazon-like experience we can bring to local merchants,? says Ajit Varma, Square?s director of discovery.

One small problem: At the moment, the results page for a search like ?coffee beans? will bring up the shops that carry beans. That?s helpful, but not as handy as showing you a list of various kinds of beans from many different local stores. Square says that kind of item-by-item results page will come soon, after it gets more items in its e-commerce inventory.

And that gets to the bigger issue with Square Market?it?s very spare. There are a lot of Square merchants in big cities, but once you head out to less dense areas, you won?t find many Square-enabled stores. I live in the heart of Silicon Valley and I?m Square-deprived?if I search for local coffee shops on Square, I get two or three within a few miles, and the rest are in San Francisco, about 30 miles away. This is a chicken-and-egg problem: Stores would get more out of services like Square Market if there were more shoppers using it, but more shoppers won?t come until there are more stores.

So it?s going to take time for Square?s service to become truly useful for most people. It might never happen. But I hope that Square Market at least lights a fire under Google?whose mission, after all, is to make the world?s information searchable. The stuff on store shelves is valuable information. It should be online. And Google, more than anyone else, could do it really well. Get to it, Larry Page!

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/06/square_market_launches_an_amazon_like_online_presence_for_local_stores.html

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Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Edition Hands-On: The Best Got Better

For years, one of Android's biggest problems has been Android skins that weigh down the best hardware the platform has to offer. But now the two best Android phones in the world?the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4?come in pure, stock Google Editions. And after spending some time with both, we can confirm that ditching the skins has made them better than ever.

Since you can buy them as of today, we've broken down how the two compare with each other, and with the skinned versions of themselves.

HTC One: Stock Android vs. Sense

The One with Sense enabled was already pretty much the snappiest phone we've ever used. With stock Android, it's even faster. Apps open just a little bit quicker and swiping around the UI is just a little bit smoother. The biggest difference you'll notice, though, is that it's just cleaner. Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) is a very minimal OS. Apps like the calendar, the clock, and even the apps drawer are more pared-back and easier to use. Desktop customization, for example, is much simpler.

You still get the same great phone on the hardware side. From a design standpoint it's still our favorite phone ever, and it's by far the most satisfying to hold. The screen is incredibly sharp and looks just as good as it did on the skinned version. The dual, front-facing speakers still sound incredible (best sounding phone ever), and when you have headphones in you have that same Beats by Dre EQ, which focuses on the bass a little more and sounds very good (the HTC One has a dedicated pre-amp to help with this). Unfortunately, it's not all good news.

The only significant drawback in the Google Edition unit we tested is that the camera doesn't work nearly as well anymore. You might recall how the HTC One's "ultrapixel" sensor took the win in our smartphone camera battle. Clearly, HTC's camera software had something to do with balancing that rather unique sensor, because the stock Android camera app doesn't do nearly as good of a job. Photos tend to be washed out, over-exposed, and under-saturated. Even in low light, it isn't as good.

The new camera app itself is very cleanly laid-out and easy to use, but you lose a lot of the advanced shooting features found in the Sense camera app (though many of these reappear in the editing menu in stock Android's Gallery app), in addition to the specialty modes, though you do gain Google's mega-panoramic PhotoSphere, which is fun but is ultimately a small consolation.

There's a chance, though, that the fault may lie in our unit. A Google spokesperson responded to our inquiries about it as follows:

"The camera hardware and underlying software (image processing, etc.) are the exact same between the Stock and Sense UX versions of HTC One, so there should not be any differences. Our camera tests show that the quality is consistent between the two."

That said, the Google engineers saw what we were talking about in our photos, and they are doing more testing, but they believe we have a faulty device. So who knows! Hopefully it's just a glitch with our One. We'll be getting a new one shortly and will update.

There are a few other quibbles, too, some small things you may have taken for granted with Sense that you don't get with stock. In HTC Sense's dialer app, you can start punching a friend's name into the number pad (using the superscript letters) and it will quickly pull up contacts. The stock dialer doesn't do this, so you have to scroll through your long list of contacts.

HTC Sense also offers built-in profiles?an easy way to switch between Normal, Vibrate, and Silent modes. Not so in stock. Also, the HTC One has a built-in IR blaster for using your phone as a remote control. Not only does the stock version not come with a preinstalled app that lets you use it, but as of right now there are no apps in the Play Store that can take advantage of it, either. We were told that capability would be coming in the next software build, though APIs will still have to be released, and someone will still have to make an app that uses them.

There's also the rather steep sticker price of $600, but that sounds like a bigger number than it actually is. For an unlocked, unsubsidized phone it's pretty standard. If you're used to paying $200 for a high-end phone and have your wireless carrier subsidize the rest (as a part of a two-year contract, typically) may experience some sticker-shock.

That might sound like it all adds up to a lot of negative, but it's really negligible, especially assuming we were dealing with an abnormal camera. And we haven't even mentioned the biggest advantage of a Google Edition phone yet: Updates. The stock version of the HTC One will all but certainly be upgraded to the newest version of Android right along with (or at least close to) the Nexus program. The One with Sense, by contrast, is still running Android version 4.1.2, which is now more than a year old. For people who want the latest and greatest coming out of Google HQ, this is huge. And trust us, you want the latest and greatest.

The stock HTC One runs on AT&T, T-Mobile, and other GSM carriers (i.e. not Verizon or Sprint), and yes, LTE works. We tested it on AT&T's network in NYC, and when we had four bars of LTE we averaged download speeds of over 20Mbps and upload speeds of over 12Mbps. We did have some problems with our radio, initially, but after talking with Google it appears that was unique to our particular test unit. And once we worked out the bug (it chose the wrong APN, for you geeks out there), it performed flawlessly. So, really, our only major gripe here is the camera. We've reached out to Google about it, and will update if we hear anything back.

Galaxy S4: Stock vs. TouchWiz

In our initial review of the Galaxy S4, almost all of our complaints about it were software-related. So you would think that replacing TouchWiz with stock Android would fix almost all of its problems, right?

Yep. That's pretty much true.

Samsung's TouchWiz is such a heavy skin that it slows things down despite the super-fast 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor in its belly. But while stock Android makes the HTC One a little faster, it's a serious change in the Galaxy S4. Scrolling through menus and across screens is faster and smoother. Apps generally open more quickly, and most importantly, there is now almost zero shutter lag on the camera, whereas the TouchWiz version can lag behind by as much as a second.

TouchWiz is also just a clusterfrak of settings and bells and whistles, most of which sit there unused, clogging up menus. Stock Android is starkly minimalist by comparison. The stock apps look better and are more intuitive to use almost without exception. Desktop customization is way simpler. We were also able to install and use Google Wallet on it (not so on the HTC One Google Edition), which is typically blocked by AT&T. Why it worked on the S4 and not the One despite using the same SIM card for both, we do not know.

On the hardware side, thankfully, photos the 13MP camera took look almost identical to those on the TouchWiz version. Again, the camera app is much simplified, and though you gain PhotoSphere and easier access to HDR, you do lose a lot of the fun camera modes that Samsung came up with, like Drama Shot (which superimposes several images of a subject in motion into a single shot) and animated GIFs. As you know, the Galaxy S4 features a micro SD card slot, and while you can read files off of it (photos, etc.) you can't take full advantage of it. For example, there is no native way to move apps over to your SD card, as there is in the skinned versions of Android.

There are, of course, things you lose that you will miss. Again, TouchWiz's dialer lets you punch in numbers to get to your contacts quickly, stock Android's dialer doesn't (please fix this, guys!), and you lose TouchWiz's profiles feature as well. TouchWiz has some handy shortcuts to settings within the notification screen and some people may miss those, but for our money, the way stock Android handles it is better, and keeps your notification panel looking cleaner and easier to read. Also, while the IR blaster is technically ready to be used, the API hasn't been released yet, and so there are no downloadable apps that can take advantage of it yet. And, the S4 too, will only work on GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile (not Verizon or Sprint).

And as with the HTC One, the sticker price might be tough to swallow. At $650, it ain't exactly cheap, but again, that's not bad for a high-end, unlocked, unsubsidized phone. As we suspected, putting stock Android on the Galaxy S4 made one of the very best smartphones even better.

Stock Galaxy S4 vs. Stock HTC One

So, if you've decided you're going to go with one of these stock phones. Now that the software is essentially identical, here's how they compare.

Build

• The HTC One is still arguably the best-designed phone we've ever used, and its build quality is unmatched. It was cut from a solid block of aluminum and it feels amazing. The Galaxy S4 is by no means bad, but with its slippery plastic back, there's no comparison. The One is slightly narrower and is a bit easier to handle, too.

Winner: HTC One

Screen

• The screens are definitely two different looks, as you can see in the video above. They're both 1080p. The S4 is a full 5 inches which gives you a little more real estate, whereas the One's 4.7-inch screen means the pixel density is every so slightly higher, making it look very slightly sharper.
  
• In the whites HTC One skew a bit on the rosy side, whereas the whites on the Galaxy S4 skew blueish-green. Which is "better" is more a matter of personal preference, though we slightly prefer the One.
• In the blacks, there's no contest. The Galaxy S4 is like looking into the cold, black vacuum of space, even at full brightness. At full brightness, the HTC One's blacks are very slightly gray. It's still very good, but it's definitely not as good as the S4.

Winner: Tie

Camera

• As you can see in the video above, the stock HTC One locks focus and snaps shots faster than stock Galaxy S4. But, as we mentioned above, the camera on the stock HTC One was under-performing compared to the original. As a result, the camera on the Galaxy S4 is much sharper, has better color, and better contrast. The One does, however, still stomp the S4 in low light. Hopefully we just got a bum HTC unit, but for now the Galaxy S4's camera is better. Click here for a gallery of comparison shots.

Winner: Galaxy S4 (pending)

Audio

• The HTC One is the hands down winner here. It's not even close. The stereo front-facing speakers are loud and clear. The S4's external speaker (on the back) is quiet and terrible by comparison. Also, the pre-amp in the HTC One makes listening to music through headphones noticeably better.

Winner: HTC One

User Interface

• Unlike full on Nexus phones, the One and the S4 both have hardware navigation buttons. The One has two capacitive buttons: One for Home, and one for Back. You double-tap home to bring up the task-switcher, and you long-press it to bring up Google Now.
• The Galaxy S4 on the other hand has three navigation buttons: Back and Menu are both capitative and there's a home button in the center which is press-able. You press it once to go home, twice quickly for multitasking, and long press for Google Now.
• The capacitive buttons on the HTC (for home and task switching) are simply faster and easier to use. Also, because there is no physical menu button, that puts the menu options on screen in apps, which we find to be more intuitive.

Winner: HTC One

Speed

• Navigating around the OS, the HTC One is just a hair quicker. Considering it has the same software and the same processor but it's clocked 0.2 GHz slower than the S4, that shouldn't be the case. But it is. Go figure. We're talking about a very small difference, though. Even in benchmarks, the two were dead even, with one or the other coming out a hundred or two hundred points ahead of the other in both Quadrant and Geekbench 2 tests, but the One came out ahead two out of three times. Go figure.

Winner: HTC One

Battery Life

Too soon to tell. More testing required.

Winner: TBD

Options

• You want expandable storage? The S4's got it, the HTC One doesn't. Want a removable battery? Ditto. If you like to tinker, you're going to get frustrated fast with the HTC One's lack of fungibility.
• Similarly, while there are some accessories available for the One, Samsung has built itself a much more robust third-party ecosystem. If you want your phone with a side of stuff, the S4 is the way to go.

Winner: Galaxy S4

Price

• Last but not least, the price. The HTC One is $600, and the Galaxy S4 is $650.

Winner: HTC One

Overall

Honestly, these are both terrific phones, and you'd be happy with either. If an SD card slot and removable battery are a big deal for you, go ahead and get the Galaxy S4. Otherwise, the HTC One is our favorite by a nose. Most of all, though, just be glad that you can finally get the best possible versions of the best possible phones on Android. It's about time.

You can get the stock Android HTC One here and you can get the stock Android Samsung Galaxy S4 here. They should ship out by July 9th.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/galaxy-s4-and-htc-one-google-edition-hands-on-the-best-586723181

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Jets of molten rock push Earth's tectonic plates

plate-tectonics

Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Contributor

8 hours ago

Clint Conrad / University of Hawaii

A diagram of large areas of upwelling in the mantle that a 2013 study found may drive the movements of Earth's tectonic plates.

Giant fountains of hot rock under central Africa and the central Pacific that have apparently remained stationary for at least 250 million years are helping drive the movements of the massive tectonic plates making up Earth's surface, researchers say.

Below the rocky layer that makes up Earth's outermost skin, known as the lithosphere, is the searing hot rock of the mantle layer. The way this viscous rock flows drives movements in Earth's surface, resulting in the birth and death of supercontinents and the building of mountains when tectonic plates smash together.

Pinpointing what patterns might exist in mantle flow has proved difficult because of uncertainty in how to interpret scans of the inner Earth. Now researchers find they can deduce mantle flow patterns through another route ? by looking at the way tectonic plates have drifted over the eons, as this drift is based on how the viscous innards of the planet have flowed.

"This knowledge will help us understand how mantle dynamics affect processes such as mountain-building and volcanism that have shaped our planet over geologic time," researcher Clinton Conrad, a geophysicist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

'Fascinating' flow
Conrad and his team analyzed past models of the motions of tectonic plates for the past 250 million years, when Earth's landmasses were combined into the supercontinent Pangaea. They next inferred how the mantle should have churned underneath those plates to produce those movements.

The investigators discovered tectonic plates are diverging away from points beneath central Africa and the central Pacific. These points have apparently remained stationary for the past quarter-billion years despite continuing formation and destruction of seafloor and supercontinents at the surface.

"I found it fascinating that the basic flow patterns in such a complicated and obscure place such as the mantle could be so simple and stable over geologic time," Conrad said.

The researchers suggest these points are essentially giant stable upwellings of hot rock that rise up from the lowermost mantle and drive mantle flow and plate tectonics.

"The dynamics of these giant upwellings are not well understood ? their stability is thus an interesting feature that helps to define them," Conrad said. "Typically, upwellings in the mantle form very thin 'plumes' that are only a few hundred kilometers across, such as the plume that is thought to be rising beneath Hawaii. Giant plumes, on the other hand, which are thousands of kilometers across, tend not to be as stable as smaller plumes."

Giant upwellings apparently result from the interactions of two different materials in the mantle ? "a dense one below and a lighter one above," Conrad said. "Models do not typically show these upwellings to remain stably positioned, so that is something new."

'Uncertain mechanism'
One factor that might help keep these upwellings stable over long times "is that they may be chemically different than the surrounding mantle ? they may be chemically a little bit denser, which keeps them from fully rising to the top of the mantle," Conrad said. However, this requires some as-yet-uncertain mechanism to keep such material separate from the rest of the mantle over millions of years, he said.

Some have speculated the location of these upwellings might have something to do with the rotation of the Earth, which is adjusting itself to position these relatively dense spots on its equator, much like how tightrope walkers might hold their arms out to keep more stable.

"However, the details of this have not been well worked out yet," Conrad said.

Incidentally, the so-called plate tectonic dipole, "the one point on the Earth toward which all the plates are on average converging, happens to be in North Korea!" Conrad wrote in an email.

In the future, Conrad and his colleagues would like to peer even further back in time, "to 500 million years or so," he said, to see if the upwellings were in place then as well.

The scientists will detail their findings in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Follow OurAmazingPlanet @OAPlanet, Facebook and Google+. Original article at LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2dd79a25/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cscience0Cjets0Emolten0Erock0Epush0Eearths0Etectonic0Eplates0E6C10A460A517/story01.htm

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Facebook Injects Buddhism Into Business - Business Insider

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

?

Facebook is experimenting with ways to make the site a little more compassionate.?

It's no secret that Facebook can serve as a platform for bullying.?In fact, cyber bullying occurs on Facebook more than any other site, according to a study last year by Internet security company McAfee. It turns out that 92% of the teenagers surveyed have witnessed bullying on Facebook.?

But in Facebook's earlier days, the tools for reporting malicious behavior were subpar.?

So back in 2010, Facebook Engineering Director Arturo Bejar decided to do something about it, Noah Shachtman of Wired reports. After attending a talk about kindness at the Wisdom 2.0 conference, Bejar felt inspired to implement compassion into the core of Facebook's business.?

Bejar set up "compassion research days" and brought in academics from Berkeley, Yale, and Stanford to teach them the Buddhist-inspired concept of compassion.

They suggested Facebook make its reporting tools more personal, conversational, and emotional. So instead of tagging something as "Embarrassing," users could say "It's embarrassing."

The changes were small at first, but they ultimately increased usage by 30%. Later changes included more personalized messages and even culture-specific pleas.?

The basis of Buddhist compassion is that we're all interconnected, and as Shactman notes, there's no other place where that is more obvious than on Facebook.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-injects-buddhism-into-business-2013-6

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PFT: Gators AD angry over Hernandez misreporting

AP

All the draft picks at this week?s NFL Rookie Symposium are learning about the pitfalls that can come with their new opportunities.

But as the first quarterback taken, and the guy expected to lead the Bills out of a generation of mediocrity-at-best, there?s an extra burden on E.J. Manuel.

Manuel said that the Symposium was an introduction into what he can expect as the guy the Bills expect to become the face of the franchise.

?It?s a great responsibility,? Manuel said, via Tim Graham of the Buffalo News. ?You?re always going to be watched, always going to be evaluated each and every day. You?ve got to take that responsibility and respect it. . . .

?I had high expectations no matter where I went in the draft. I?m a natural competitor. I mean, that?s something I was going to work toward anyway. So I don?t feel any added pressure.?

Of course, the first thing Manuel has to do to reach his goal is to prove more able than Kevin Kolb. While that shouldn?t be the most difficult thing in the world, being in a setting where setting up their future is the main topic of discussion had Manuel thinking about what his legacy as a player would be.

?I?ve always been taught that a good name is more important than great treasure,? Manuel said. ?So just keeping that respect for yourself and keeping your name clean, I think that?s what adds to your legacy.

?Obviously, when you play well you have a football legacy. But at the end of the day, I still want to be known as more than a football player. I want to be remembered as a great man.?

If he can deliver the Bills to the playoffs for the first time since 1999, he?ll have the first half of that taken care of.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/25/florida-a-d-takes-issue-with-reports-on-aaron-hernandezs-past/related/

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First Trailer And Photos From 'The Counselor' Starring Michael Fassbender And Brad Pitt

When Ridley Scott snatched up Cormac McCarthy's first feature-length screenplay essentially the instant people knew it existed, we knew that "The Counselor" was a project worth playing attention to. That was all before it started attracting talent like Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, and Penelope Cruz. This was definitely something that wasn't [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/06/26/counselor-trailer-photos/

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Edward Snowden: On the Run, Seeking Asylum in Ecuador With WikiLeaks' Aid

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/edward-snowden-on-the-run-in-moscow-seeking-asylum-in-ecuador/

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The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Mundo

If Kang and Kodos are really serious about enslaving the Earth, they're going to need a bigger invasion fleet than three clones of Portugues elecetronica artist Paulo Z? Pimenta and a couple of orbiting potatoes. Just sayin'

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9MuxGuoGKKg/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-tonight-mundo-535844626

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Business Highlights

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AP IMPACT: Post-recession, higher education paths diverge

CHONGQING, China (AP) -- Determined to learn their way out of the Great Recession ? or eager to rise above the deprivation of developing lands ? unprecedented millions of people have enrolled in colleges and universities around the world in the past five years.

What they're finding is an educational landscape turning upside down.

In the United States ? where top schools have long championed a liberal style of learning and broad education before specialization ? higher education's focus is shifting to getting students that first job in a still-shaky economy. Tuition is so high and the lingering economic distress so great that an education not directly tied to an occupation is increasingly seen as a luxury.

Elsewhere in the world, there is a growing emphasis on broader learning as an economic necessity.

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China slump, higher bond yields weigh on markets

More uncertainty about China's economy and rising bond yields led to a broad sell-off in stocks Monday, leaving the market down 5.7 percent from its all-time high last month.

It's the first pullback of 5 percent or more since November.

U.S. trading started with a slump Monday. The market recovered much of its loss, then fell back again. By the close of trading the big stock indexes were clinging to modest gains for the second quarter. The last trading day of the quarter is Friday.

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Boost for cars or bust? Ethanol debate heats up

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's a dilemma for drivers: Do they choose a gasoline that's cheaper and cleaner even if, as opponents say, it could damage older cars and motorcycles?

That's the peril and promise of a high-ethanol blend of gasoline known as E15. The fuel contains 15 percent ethanol, compared with the current 10 percent norm sold at most U.S. gas stations.

The higher ethanol blend is currently sold at fewer than two dozen stations in the Midwest, but could spread to other regions as the Obama administration considers whether to require more ethanol in gasoline.

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Neiman Marcus plans to raise up to $100 million in IPO

NEW YORK (AP) -- Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus plans to raise up to $100 million by returning to the stock market with an initial public offering.

That amount is likely to change, though, as bankers gauge investor interest. The plan to go public, announced in a regulatory filing Monday, comes about eight years after private equity firms TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus bought Neiman Marcus for $5.1 billion.

Neiman Marcus has benefited from affluent shoppers who are willing to drop $1,000 for a pair of shoes. During the recession, Neiman Marcus was not as hurt by the consumer spending pullback as other retailers, because the wealthy suffered less in the poor economy.

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New Samsung tablets mimic Galaxy phones

NEW YORK (AP) -- Samsung is expanding its lineup of tablet computers and making them look more like its Galaxy smartphones, as it hopes to translate its success in phones to the tablet market, where Apple is dominant.

Samsung Electronics Co., the second-largest maker of tablets after Apple, on Monday said it is putting three new tablets in the Galaxy Tab 3 series on sale in the U.S. on July 7. The cheapest, a $199 device, will have a screen that measures 7 inches diagonally. An 8-inch model will go for $299 and a 10-inch one for $399.

The "Tab" line is Samsung's value brand, undercutting the price of similar Apple models. Samsung's premium tablets are in the "Note" line, which include styluses. The 7-inch and 10-inch tablets had "Tab 2" equivalents, but the 8-inch model is new, and coincides closely in size with Apple's iPad Mini, which came out late last year.

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Promise of price cut on hospital bills is in limbo

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Huge list prices charged by hospitals are drawing increased attention, but a federal law meant to limit what the most financially vulnerable patients can be billed doesn't seem to be making much difference.

A provision in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul says most hospitals must charge uninsured patients no more than what people with health insurance are billed.

The goal is to protect patients from medical bankruptcy, a problem that will not go away next year when Obama's law expands coverage for millions.

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Studies find methane in Pennsylvania drinking water

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- New research in Pennsylvania demonstrates that it's hard to nail down how often natural gas drilling is contaminating drinking water: One study found high levels of methane in some water wells near gas wells, while another found some serious methane pollution occurring naturally, far away from drilling.

The findings represent a middle ground between critics of the drilling technique, known as hydraulic fracturing, who claim it causes widespread contamination, and an industry that suggests contamination is rare or nonexistent.

The contamination from drilling is "not an epidemic. It's a minority of cases," said Rob Jackson, a Duke University researcher and co-author of the study released Monday. But he added the team found that serious contamination from bubbly methane is "much more" prevalent in some water wells within about half a mile of gas drilling sites.

Methane is an odorless gas that in high concentrations can be explosive and deadly.

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Dissension and fiscal woes beset the Girl Scouts

NEW YORK (AP) -- Given the friction and financial woes facing the Girl Scouts these days, perhaps it's time for a giant friendship circle. Under that long-standing tradition, a ring of Scouts clasp hands and give a little squeeze, accompanied by a silent wish of good will.

Just a year after its centennial celebrations, the Girl Scouts of the USA finds itself in a different sort of squeeze. Its interconnected problems include declining membership and revenues, a dearth of volunteers, rifts between leadership and grassroots members, a pension plan with a $347 million deficit, and an uproar over efforts by many local councils to sell venerable summer camps.

The tangle of difficulties has prompted one congressman to request an inquiry by the House Ways and Means Committee into the pension liabilities and the sale of camps.

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Vodafone launches bid for Kabel Deutschland

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Vodafone PLC has launched a takeover bid for Germany's biggest cable operator, Kabel Deutschland, as part of its push to dominate media services in its biggest market.

The British cellphone company with wide international interests on Monday confirmed the 7.7 billion euros ($10.2 billion) deal.

Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said the deal aims to tap growing German demand for fast broadband and data services.

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Ousted Men's Wearhouse exec. chairman quits board

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ousted Men's Wearhouse founder George Zimmer has quit the company's board.

Zimmer was fired as the company's executive chairman last week. On Monday he submitted a letter resigning from the board.

Zimmer said in the letter that it's clear from his firing that the board is determined to avoid addressing his growing concerns with recent board decisions and the company's direction.

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By The Associated Press=

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 139.84 points, or 0.9 percent, at 14,659.56. The S&P 500 index fell 19.34 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,573.09. The Nasdaq dropped 36.49 points, or 1.1 percent, to 3,320.76.

Benchmark oil for August delivery rose $1.49 to close at $95.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which is used to price oil used by many U.S. refineries to make gasoline, rose 25 cents to finish at $101.16 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline lost 2 cents to end at $2.74 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1 cent to finish at $2.85 per gallon. Natural gas slipped 3 cents to finish at $3.74 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-highlights-221928528.html

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Do Not Finance with Dealerships = Lots of Interest and Fees!

Finance with Credit Unions and Not Dealerships

If possible, consumers of all credit types should avoid doing the auto loan financing, with any car dealership. This is because the car dealerships have relationships with financial institutions, to which they forward consumers seeking to purchase automobiles. The financial institutions will likely pay a commission or some type of incentive, to the car dealerships for forwarding them the consumers. As a result, the financial institution is going to make up for the commission that they paid by charging the consumer a higher than average interest rate; and/or auto loan origination fees, sometimes called the closing costs. Before purchasing the automobile, consumers should go to a community bank or credit union to get the auto loan, because in most cases, they will offer cheaper interest rates and loan terms. After approving the consumer and the consumer decides on which automobile they want, the car dealership and credit union or community bank will then communicate about how much loan money is needed for the purchase. The financial institution will release the loan money to the car dealership and the consumer is free to take their car. Consumers need to be careful of car dealerships; they will try their best to convince the consumers to do the auto loan financing with them; due to the fact they make much more profit.

0% Promotion ? Does It Really Save Money?

Consumers need to be careful of the 0%, no payments, until a certain month and year, and cash back financing offers that they have on television, the internet, the newspapers, or hear on the radio stations. These offers sometimes have schemes that will allow for the car dealerships to make high profits; off of the consumers. The car dealerships announce these offers with the intention of luring consumers, to their dealerships. It is likely a greater number of consumers will agree to do financing with the dealership, because they will be eager to purchase a car after test driving it. The financial promotions are not available on all vehicles; they are only available on certain models and this is likely because those particular automobiles are being sold for, higher than average prices, than what consumers would normally pay for an automobile. By selling those particular car models, the car dealerships will be able to make the same amount of profit, if not more, as they would if they sold another automobile to a consumer; with an average auto loan interest rate. Another reason why certain promotions may be offered on particular automobile models is because those models are not selling quickly and it is costly too much money for the car dealerships to pay for the maintenance, of those cars. Certain car models do not usually sell quickly, because they have higher than average insurance costs consumers; would have to pay or the consumer reviews of the models are poor. For this reason, consumers need to check with their insurance company and ask what the monthly insurance payment of the car would be, if they purchased it. Consumers should go to http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/ for the purpose of reviewing the flaws, if any, associated with the particular car model. If a consumer purchases a car that has bad reviews then the consumer may struggle in selling it; if they choose to do so in the future. Consumers cannot get fooled into purchasing an automobile; that will be too expensive for them to afford considering there will be a monthly auto loan and insurance payment otherwise they run the risk of the automobile being repossessed thus damaging their credit profile and their chances at getting a job.

Some car dealerships, offering the 0% interest promotion, may want that the consumer pay an expensive upfront fee, for the financing such $500 or more. In this sense, the car dealership is asking to get paid interest upfront; so they will not bill the consumer extra interest throughout the course of the auto loan. Consumers should only agree to the 0% promotion offer if it lasts through 60 months or longer; and only if there are no upfront fees, that they have to pay in order for them to get the promotion. Finally, consumers should not fall prey to the auto loan promotions indicating there are no payments required, for a certain number of months. Consumers should make payments anyway on their auto loans because the intention of the car dealerships is to make a great deal of profit through charging interest, which will compound more aggressively if the consumers do not make payments during the promotional time frame in which no payments are required. Making payments early will help raise the credit scores of the consumer because the overall levels of debt will be decreasing and in the eyes of the financial institutions, this lowers their likelihood of defaulting on the loans. The debt-to-income ratio and liabilities of the consumer are dropping by making payments on the loans; even when no payments are required. As a result, consumers can potentially get cheaper insurance premiums and interest rates, on their current and future loans; such as credit cards.

Repossessed and Used Cars = Risky Purchases

Consumers should be very careful when purchasing used or repossessed cars. Some financial experts think used cars are financially smarter to purchase because they already depreciated meaning they fell in value and for this reason, they are cheaper compared to most brand new cars. Used cars can have cheaper insurance premiums than brand new cars, because it costs less money for the insurance companies to replace or fix the parts of the used car and pay the consumer the value of the used car in the event it is completely wrecked. In some cases, used cars can eventually become more expensive than brand new cars, due to the fact some car dealerships over exaggerate about their used cars being in stable condition or being fully functional. Their only goal is to make a sale, because consumers cannot return the car after purchasing it. The consumers may end up paying money several times to get the used car repaired. Used cars, depending upon how old they are, can be more dangerous to drive than new cars because they do not have the most up-to-date security features. Such increases the likelihood of getting into an accident, which will result in the consumer paying expensive medical bills. Before purchasing a used car, consumers should always check its history on www.carfax.com using the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the car. The website will present a report that shows any accidents in which the vehicle was involved, any repairs or modifications that were made to the vehicle, and all the previous owners. Consumers cannot assume that the car dealer telling them; that the used car is in great condition, is the truth. Honestly, consumers do not know how the used cars were maintained; and the car dealers or current owners are going to say anything to sell the cars. They want to make money. Credit unions often sell used and repossessed automobiles, as well as boats, and so consumers should check the deals with them before going to car dealerships, because they also give extra financial incentives; such as a low auto loan interest rate.

For consumers that get an auto loan, used cars tend to have higher interest rate; than auto loans for new cars, because the used cars usually have a low market value, which means if the financial institution repossessed the used car in the event the consumer stopped making payments then they could not significantly make up for their loan loss. They have to sell the repossessed car cheaper; than the amount of loan money that the previous consumer borrowed to purchase it.

Example:

Jasmine has a Hyundai Sonata on which she owes an $18,583 auto loan. The auto loan is issued by Wells Fargo Bank. Jasmine stops paying and Wells Fargo repossesses the car. The market value of the Hyundai Sonata is about $12,000, which is the price at which Wells Fargo would need to sell the car or a price that is close to it. $18,583 auto loan - $12,000 market value = $6,583.00 is the amount of loss Wells Fargo has had due to Jasmine and they cannot make up for this loss.

For this reason, the financial institutions need to make the maximum amount of profit available off of the consumers; that purchase used cars and they can only do so by charging high interest rates. Another reason why financial institutions charge higher auto loan interest on used cars, than they do on new cars, is because they think due to the fact the used cars are not worth a great deal of money; then the consumer is more likely to one day stop making payments on the used car, because they will not have a major loss if the used car is repossessed. For this reason, some financial institutions and car dealerships may grant cheaper auto loan interest rates; to consumers who make a large down payment on the used car, because they are less likely to stop paying on the auto loan. This is because if they stop paying then they lose the car and all their down payment money. Consumers that get auto loans for used cars; should make large down payments if the financial institution or dealership will give them a discount and if there is no additional fee then the consumer should use their credit card to make the down payment so they save money through the rewards program and then immediately pay off the credit card.

Source: http://www.educationbubbleandscamreport.com/2013/06/do-not-finance-with-dealerships-lots-of.html

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Bengal Cat Breeder Speaks Out | WNEP.com - Wnep Tv

Posted on: 4:31 pm, June 21, 2013, by Jon Meyer, updated on: 07:27pm, June 21, 2013

HALLSTEAD ? The owners of a certain breed of cat are coming to the animals? defense.

After Newswatch 16 reports this week about two bengal cats biting an owner then escaping in Shamokin, WNEP has been bombarded by Bengal cat lovers throughout the world.

They say the cats are not wild animals and are very safe pets.

Breeders of the animals say while the cats may be decendents of an Asian Leopard Cat, there?s nothing wild about them, and certainly nothing to fear.

A breeder of Bengal cats in Susquehanna County said they are just like any other pet cat.

The Bengals have the spots of a leopard on what appears to be any other pet cat. Joy Powell of Temptaition Bengals near Hallstead says that?s the point.

?They have been bred to resemble a wild animal but give people the intelligent alternative that is truely a domestic pet,? said Powell. ?It?s for people who want an exotic look without an exotic personality.?

For seven years, Powell has been breeding the Bengal cats here near Hallstead, she says they are at least four generations away from their Asian Leopard Cat ancestors.

?Bengals are not wild animals,? added Powell. ?They are 100 percent domestic kitty cats and they are bred to be 100 percent pets.?

Many bengal cat lovers were outraged when they saw the story about two bengals that escaped in Shamokin after the owner says one bit her husband.

Some in Shamokin feared wild animals were on the loose. Police even called them potentially dangerous.

But Powell says any animal can bite if they?re raised wrong.

?A feral cat is a feral cat,? she said. ?It doesn?t matter whether it?s Siamese, Maine Coon or your local barn cat.? If it?s not raised around people and given the appropriate attention, it is going to be feral.?

Powell points out Bengal kittens are as lovable as any other kitten.? She raises them to fit right in with families.

?They are just like another cat,? added Powell.? ?They get along with people and dogs and cats.? They play and they sleep and they eat and use the litter. Everything a regular cat does, these cats do.?

Powell?s daughter Kyra grew up playing with the Bengals and the family?s regular pet cat.

She says Bengals certainly aren?t scary.

?They?re amazing,? said Kyra.? ?It?s just like living with any other cat except they?re Bengals.?

She said it is tough not to get attached to all the kittens born at her home.

?I cried every time one went home,? added Kyra. ?I grew so attached to them.? They?re so sweet.?

Bengal cat owners say don?t let the action of one tarnish a whole breed.

?They?re sweet companions they get along with all other pets and all other people,? said Joy.? ?They?re very friendly animals.? They?re not anything anyone needs to be afraid of by no means.?

Bengal cats can be very expensive. At Joy Powell?s Temptation Bengals in Susuquehanna County the cost can range from $600 a kitten to more than $2,000.

They come with paperwork, just like top breeds of dogs.

As for those Bengals in Shamokin, they still haven?t bee

Source: http://wnep.com/2013/06/21/bengal-cat-breeder-speaks-out/

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