VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VP

The VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VP ($100 street) sounds like something that should be on the Hogwarts back-to-school recommended purchase list. But in reality (pun unavoidable), it's a portable scanner?one of the most portable available. If you need to scan on the go, and don't want to be weighted down with hardware, that alone makes it worth considering.

At 1.2 by 10.1 by 1.1 inches (HWD) and 0.4 pounds, you could argue that the PDS-ST415-VP is too big to call a magic wand. It certainly doesn't look as much like one as the PlanOn DocuPen Xtreme X05 ($369.99 direct 3.5 stars). However, both work essentially the same way for scanning. The sensor and rollers in both cases define the bottom. To scan, you start at the top of a page and sweep down, or start on the side and sweep across.

One other feature the two scanners share is that they don't need a computer to scan to. Instead they scan to memory and let you move the files to a computer later. Connect the PDS-ST415-VP by the supplied USB cable, and it will look like a USB drive to your computer so you can copy the files.

Setup and Scanning
There is not much to set up with this scanner. Just put in the two supplied AA batteries and insert a microSD or microSDHC card as memory to scan to. The only potential issue is that the scanner doesn't come with a memory card and there's no internal memory, so be sure you have one handy. According to the company, you can use cards with up to 32GB capacity.

Scanning is easy. The scanner offers one button to set it to color or black and white mode and another to set it to 300 or 600 pixels per inch (ppi). Simply choose your settings, and then scan. Just as important, there isn't much of a learning curve. I got acceptable scans starting with my first try, both for recognizing text, and for scanning photos well enough for, say, scanning an article and winding up with recognizable images in the photos.

Recognizing Text
In addition to setting up the hardware, you can optionally install Abbyy Screenshot Reader, which comes with the scanner and offers a limited ability to translate images of text into editable text. However, it's important to understand that Screenshot Reader is an OCR (optical character recognition) utility rather than a full-fledged OCR program.

The PDS-ST415-VP scans to JPG image file format. An OCR program would be able to recognize the text for at least one full file at a time. Screenshot Reader recognizes text showing on screen, and it can recognize only as much text as can fit on the screen.

Depending on your screen resolution, you may need to recognize a letter-size page of text in two or more pieces. In my tests using a 1,280 by 1024 screen resolution, for example, with the image zoomed in Photoshop to 33 percent and the text just fitting within the screen width, I had to recognize each page in three sections.

At smaller zoom sizes I could recognize more of the page, but the recognition accuracy dropped. At 33 percent zoom, the program read our Arial test page at font sizes as small as 8 points without a mistake and our Times New Roman test page at 12 points. At 12.5 percent, which is the largest zoom size that showed the full page at once, it couldn't read any font size without mistakes.

Other Issues
It's worth mention that although not needing a computer for scanning has the advantage of giving you less to carry with you, it has a disadvantage too. You can't see the scan and confirm that it's good enough to be usable until you connect to a computer, at which point you may no longer have the original handy to rescan. Depending on the situation, you may be better off skipping the scanner and taking a photo instead, so you can check the image quality on your camera or cameraphone's screen.

You can't count this too heavily against the PDS-ST415-VP, because it's pretty much standard today for portable scanners that don't need a computer, including, for example, the IRIScan anywhere 2 ($199, 3 stars) from I.R.I.S. and the Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter PanScn06 ($149.99, 3 stars). One the few exceptions is the Editors' Choice Visioneer Mobility ($199.99 direct, 4 stars), which lets you scan to a smartphone and see the results on the spot.

Despite this limitation, if you want to use a scanner rather than a camera, and you want one that's portable enough to carry with you virtually all the time, the PDS-ST415-VP is definitely in the running. When you compare prices with the alternatives, keep in mind that you'll need to buy a memory card and may want a more capable OCR program or a document management program as well. Even so, the VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VP is a more than reasonable choice. It has little to no learning curve, it's easy to use, and its scan quality is up to the task.

More Scanner Reviews:
??? VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand Jr. PDS-ST510-VP
??? VuPoint Solutions Magic Wand PDS-ST415-VP
??? Pandigital Personal Scanner/Converter-5x7 PanScn04
??? IRISphoto 4
??? Kodak i2600
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/xQiiGP8FN8c/0,2817,2397986,00.asp

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North Korea declares new 'supreme leader'

PYONGYANG, North Korea?? North Korea declared Kim Jong Il's son and successor "supreme leader" of the ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the government's first public endorsement of his leadership.

Kim Jong Un, head bowed and somber in a dark overcoat, stood on a balcony at the Grand People's Study House overlooking Kim Il Sung Square watching the memorial, which also served as a show of support for North Korea's next leader. He was flanked by top party and military officials, including Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, and her husband Jang Song Thaek, who are expected to serve as mentors of their young nephew.

Solemn and grimacing, the younger Kim stood motionless throughout the ceremony.

Video: Farewell for North Korea?s ?dear leader? (on this page)

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Given Kim Jong Un's inexperience and age ? he is in his late 20s ? there are questions outside North Korea about whether he is equipped to lead a nation engaged in long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear program and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.

But support among North Korea's power brokers was unequivocal at the memorial service, attended by hundreds of thousands of people filling Kim Il Sung Square and other plazas in central Pyongyang.

Video: North Korea and hot zones to watch in 2012 (on this page)

"The fact that he completely resolved the succession matter is Great Comrade Kim Jong Il's most noble achievement," Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, told the massive audience at the square.

"Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is our party, military and country's supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong Il's ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage," said Kim, considered North Korea's ceremonial head of state. "Kim Jong Il laid a red silk carpet, and Kim Jong Un only needs to walk on it."

Thursday's memorial "was an event to publicly reconfirm and solidify" Kim Jong Un's status, said Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, South Korea.

"Kim Jong Un is already the leader of the party, military and country," he said.

'World-class military power'
Life in the North Korean capital came to a standstill as a mourners blanketed the plaza from the Grand People's Study to the Taedong River for the second day of funeral ceremonies for the late leader.

Reuters reported that temperatures that stood at about 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius) during the event. State TV showed a delegation of foreigners attending the memorial.

During the eulogy, Kim Yong Nam also said that Kim Jong Il "laid the foundation for our people to live on as autonomous people of a world-class military power and a proud nuclear state."

The North has conducted two nuclear tests.

The eulogies were short on boasts about economic achievements from a strongman who used his "military first" policy to divert resources to build a conventional and weapons of mass destruction program.

The North's economic output is now smaller than in the 1990s under the rule of his father Kim Il Sung, who founded the state in 1948, and it has been squeezed harder under international sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.

Kim Jong Il, who led his 24 million people with absolute power for 17 years, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 aged 69 , according to state media. He inherited power from his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, who died of a heart attack in 1994, in what was the communist world's first hereditary succession.

Attention turned to Kim Jong Un after he was revealed last year as his father's choice among three known sons to carry the Kim dynasty into a third generation.

Kim Jong Il's two other sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol, were not spotted at either the funeral or memorial.

The process to groom Kim Jong Un was rushed compared to the 20 years Kim Jong Il had to prepare to take over from his father, and relied heavily on the Kim family bloodline and legacy as guerrilla fighters and the nation's founders.

Interactive: Meet North Korea?s first family (on this page)

Kim Il Sung is North Korea's first and only president; he retains the title "Eternal President" even after his death.

Kim Jong Il held three main positions: chairman of the National Defense Commission, general secretary of the Workers' Party and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army.

According to the constitution, his position as chairman of the National Defense Commission makes him "supreme leader" of North Korea.

However, it may take Kim Jong Un some months to assume the full panoply of official titles held by his father.

"The real question is whether the new Kim has the cruelty and cunning, qualities that his father and grandfather Kim Il Sung possessed in plenty, to preserve in the long run the essential engine of the destitute dynasty he inherits," wrote Sung-Yoon Lee of Tufts University, a leading North Korea watcher.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45813667/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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Iran navy chief says closing Gulf "really easy"

TEHRAN?? Closing off the Gulf to oil tankers will be "easier than drinking a glass of water" for Iran if the Islamic state deems it necessary, state television reported on Wednesday, ratcheting up fears over the world's most important oil chokepoint.

"Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say it will be easier than drinking a glass of water," Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayyari told Iran's English language Press TV.

"But right now, we don't need to shut it as we have the Sea of Oman under control and we can control the transit," said Sayyari, who is leading 10 days of exercises in the Strait.

Tension has increased between Iran and the West after EU foreign ministers decided three weeks ago to tighten sanctions on the world's No. 5 crude exporter over what the U.N. nuclear watchdog says is an attempt to design an atomic bomb, but left open the idea of an embargo on Iranian oil.

Iran, which says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, warned on Tuesday it would stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.

The announcement over the possible closure of the only access channel for eight U.S.-aligned, Gulf Arab states to foreign markets, pushed up international oil prices on Tuesday although they slipped back on Wednesday in thin trade and as the market dismissed it as rhetoric.

"The threat by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz supported the oil market yesterday, but the effect is fading today as it will probably be empty threats as they cannot stop the flow for a longer period due to the amount of U.S. hardware in the area," said Thorbjoern bak Jensen, an oil analyst with Global Risk Management.

"WILL NOT YIELD"

The Strait of Hormuz is "the world's most important oil chokepoint," according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The State Department said there was an "element of bluster" in the threat, but underscored that the United States, whose warships patrol in the area, would support the free flow of oil.

France urged Iran on Wednesday to adhere to international law that allows all ships freedom of transit in the Strait.

It was not immediately clear what Sayyari meant by controlling the Sea of Oman, but the Iranian navy has been developing its presence in international waters since 2010 for counter-piracy operations and also to show off its naval power.

Iran's international isolation over its defiant nuclear stance is hurting the country's oil-dependent economy, but Iranian officials has shown no sign of willingness to compromise.

Iran dismisses the impact of these penalties, saying trade and other measures imposed since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah have made the country stronger.

During a public speech in Iran's western province of Ilam on Wednesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implied Tehran had no intention of changing course.

"We will not yield to pressure to abandon our rights ... The Iranian nation will not withdraw from its right (to nuclear technology) even one iota because of the pressures," said Ahmadinejad, whose firm nuclear stance has stoked many ordinary Iranians' sense of national dignity.

Some Iranian oil officials admitted have that foreign sanctions were hurting the key energy sector that was in desperate need of foreign investment.

Though four rounds of the U.N. sanctions do not forbid the purchase of Iranian oil, many international oil firms and trading companies have stopped trading with Iran.

"SHOWING TEETH"

So far, big trade partners of Tehran - Russia and China -have blocked a ban on Iran's oil exports at the United Nations.

Iran's arch-foes Israel and the United States have not ruled out military action if diplomacy and sanctions fail to rein in Iran's nuclear work.

The presence of U.S. naval forces in the Gulf to secure a free passage for oil has increased concerns over a possible military conflict if Iran tries to block the waterway.

Analysts say Tehran could retaliate against any military strike by launching hit-and-run attacks in the Gulf and by closing the Strait of Hormuz. About 40 percent of all traded oil leaves the Gulf region through the strategic waterway.

An Iranian analyst who declined to be named said the leadership could not reach a compromise with the West over its nuclear activities as it "would harm its prestige among its core supporters."

"Iranian officials are showing their teeth to prevent a military strike," said the analyst.

"Closing off the Strait of Hormuz will harm Iran's economy that will be very dangerous for the establishment ahead of the parliamentary vote."

Iran will hold its parliamentary election in March, the first litmus test of the clerical establishment's popularity since the 2009 disputed presidential vote, that the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.

The vote was followed by eight months of anti-government street protests and created a deepening political rift among the hardline rulers.

With the opposition leaders under house arrest since February and the main reformist political parties banned since the vote, Iranian hardline rulers are concerned a low turnout would question the establishment's legitimacy.

Frustration is simmering among lower- and middle-class Iranians over Ahmadinejad's economic policies. Prices of most consumer goods have risen substantially and many Iranians struggle to make ends meet.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45803084/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

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Women with celiac disease suffer from depression, disordered eating, study finds

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2011) ? Women with celiac disease -- an autoimmune disorder associated with a negative reaction to eating gluten -- are more likely than the general population to report symptoms of depression and disordered eating, even when they adhere to a gluten-free diet, according to researchers at Penn State, Syracuse University and Drexel University.

People with celiac disease often suffer from abdominal pain, constipation, decreased appetite, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting in response to ingesting gluten. The disease affects somewhere between one in 105 to one in 1,750 people in the United States and is typically controlled by avoiding gluten-containing foods such as those made with wheat, barley and rye.

"It is easy to see how people who are not managing their disease well can frequently feel unwell and, therefore, be more stressed and have higher rates of depression," said Josh Smyth, professor of biobehavioral health and medicine, Penn State, "But researchers had not carefully looked at whether people who are effectively managing celiac disease exhibit a greater risk for such difficulties."

Smyth and his colleagues used a Web-mediated survey to assess a range of physical, behavioral and emotional experiences in 177 American women over the age of 18 who reported a physician-provided diagnosis of celiac disease. The survey questions explored respondents' levels of adherence to a gluten-free diet and assessed various symptoms of celiac disease, how physical symptoms interfere with functioning, the respondents' experience and management of stressful situations, symptoms of clinical depression, and frequency of negative thoughts and behaviors associated with eating and body image.

The results are posted online and will appear in a future issue of Chronic Illness.

"We found that most participants frequently adhered to a gluten-free diet, and this greater compliance with diet was related to increased vitality, lower stress, decreased depressive symptoms and greater overall emotional health," said Smyth. "However, even those people who were managing their illness very well reported higher rates of stress, depression and a range of issues clustered around body dissatisfaction, weight and shape when compared to the general population."

Smyth noted that he and his colleagues did not survey people without celiac disease; rather, they compared their results to those previously determined for the non-celiac population.

It is understandable to find that women with celiac disease tend to suffer from what is typically characterized as disordered eating, given that the focus of celiac-disease management is to pay careful attention to what and how one eats, said Smyth.

"What we don't know is what leads to what and under what circumstances," he said. "It's likely that the disease, stress, weight, shape and eating issues, and depression are interconnected. But we don't know if women with both higher stress and have celiac disease are more likely to develop symptoms of disordered eating and then become depressed, or if women with celiac disease are depressed and then become stressed, which leads to disordered eating. In the future, we plan to investigate the temporal sequence of these symptoms."

The team's results may have implications for people with food allergies, diabetes and Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, as well as celiac disease, according to Smyth.

"Going out to eat with friends or to a holiday potluck is a much different experience for these people because they have to be vigilant and monitor their diets," he said. "They may feel that they are a burden on a host or hostess. In many cases the only treatment option they are given is to manage their diets. I think we need to educate patients at diagnosis or post-diagnosis about some of the other associated difficulties they might experience and provide strategies for how to better manage those things. I am a proponent of elaborating our treatment models to not just address diseases, but also to address the psychological, social and behavioral aspects of disease as well, as they can influence disease outcomes and the well being of patients."

Other researchers on this project include Danielle Arigo, graduate student, Syracuse University, and Alicia Anskis, graduate student, Drexel University.

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Journal Reference:

1. D. Arigo, A. M. Anskis, J. M. Smyth. Psychiatric comorbidities in women with Celiac Disease. Chronic Illness, 2011; DOI: 10.1177/1742395311417639

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111227093059.htm

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Rescue group in crisis mode after cat euthanized (AP)

PHOENIX ? Animal lovers threatened to pull donations to an animal rescue group and the public flooded the agency with scathing comments and calls after a man's cat was euthanized when he couldn't afford its medical care, prompting the Arizona Humane Society to go into damage-control mode Wednesday.

The group has hired a publicist, removed dozens of comments on its Facebook page and directed a team of five volunteers to respond to the overwhelming calls and emails it has received since The Arizona Republic published a weekend story about Daniel Dockery and his 9-month-old cat, Scruffy.

Dockery, a 49-year-old recovering heroin addict, told the Phoenix newspaper that he took Scruffy to a Humane Society center on Dec. 8 because she had a cut from a barbed-wire fence, an injury that he described as non-life-threatening. The agency said it would cost $400 to treat Scruffy, money he didn't have.

The Humane Society cited policy when it declined to accept a credit card over the phone from Dockery's mother in Michigan or to wait for her to wire the money. The staff said if he signed papers surrendering the cat, Scruffy would be treated and put in foster care, he said.

Instead, Scruffy was euthanized several hours later.

Dockery told the Republic that he was devastated.

"Now I've got to think about how I failed that beautiful animal," Dockery said. "I failed her. ... That's so wrong. There was no reason for her not to be treated."

He described the cat as helping him stay off drugs for more than a year, the longest he had ever been clean. He hand-fed the feline before she opened her eyes at 4 days old, giving her fresh tuna and letting her sleep on his pillow.

Stacy Pearson, who was hired by the agency specifically to deal with media questions about the cat, said Dockery's case has led to two changes. The Arizona Humane Society has set up an account, funded through donations, that would cover the costs of emergency treatment of animals whose owners need a day or two to come up with money for payments. And the group is now accepting credit card payments by phone, Pearson said.

Dozens of scathing comments have since inundated the group's Facebook page, with animal lovers demanding to know why the cat was put down. Pearson said angry comments were removed because of their content: One called for the staff to be euthanized, while another said what happened to Scruffy was murder.

Pearson said Scruffy was put down over a number of reasons, including Dockery's lack of immediate funds, a lack of veterinarians to treat her and what Pearson described as a very serious cut on Scruffy from her abdomen to her knee that went to the muscle.

She said the Arizona Humane Society at the time didn't accept credit card payments over the phone because of possible fraud and can't treat pets with only a promise from owners that they can pay the next day. She said staff had every intention of getting Scruffy the help she needed but the number of animals requiring help at the group's second-chance clinic was too much for the resources available.

If Dockery had been able to pay, Scruffy would have been treated at the facility where he brought her, Pearson said.

"There was no malicious intent to take Scruffy away from her father," Pearson said. "Pulling funding is only going to make a problem like this worse."

On Facebook, where only the agency's executive director is allowed to post comments now, Guy Collison wrote that "Scruffy's story is heartbreaking, and underscores the worst-case-scenario of need eclipsing resources available." He said that his agency has always done what's best for animals.

In less than an hour after his statement was posted, more than 100 people responded, with most slamming the agency and some defending it as doing the best it can with available resources.

Pearson said the group told Dockery on Tuesday that when he's ready for another pet, he could come in and pick one out, but he declined, telling them: "No thanks."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_re_us/us_euthanized_cat_outrage

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Can You Believe the Sticks on This Guy's Face Are Actually Bugs? [Gross]

Hey crazy people, don't you ever stop being crazy. Even though I don't understand you, you give me so much joy. Like this guy! Look how happy he is! Happy to have his face covered with a bunch of stick bugs. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_Xm6kSjDQHQ/can-you-believe-the-sticks-on-this-guys-face-are-actually-bugs

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Live chat: Canada Vs. Finland

By QMI Agency

Posted 2 hours ago

EDMONTON - QMI Agency's Dave Cameron and Terry Jones are set to take you through the action during Team Canada's opening game at the 2011 world juniors.

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Source: http://www.kingstonthisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3416751

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The Engadget Show - 028: Boeing's 787, the Tokyo Motor Show and the year in review

It's been a crazy year for the Engadget Show, but don't count us out just yet. We've got one more exciting episode to hit you with before the year's up. This time out, Tim travels to San Francisco, to check out the high performance BRD RedShift SM electric motorcycle and Zach H. takes a trip to Japan to tour the Tokyo Motor Show with Autoblog's Damon Lavrinc and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Darren joins Tim and Brian in-studio to talk the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the Motorola Xyboard and the Asus Transformer Prime and Engadget founder Peter Rojas pops by the show to discuss the year that was. We close the episode and the year with an Engadget Show highlights reel and a performance by Brooklyn's own My Best Fiend.

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Special guests: Peter Rojas, Darren Murph, Damon Lavrinc
Producer: Guy Streit
Director: Michelle Stahl
Executive Producers: Joshua Fruhlinger, Brian Heater and Michael Rubens
Music by: My Best Fiend

Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 028 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 028 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 028 (Small)

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The Engadget Show - 028: Boeing's 787, the Tokyo Motor Show and the year in review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/the-engadget-show-028-boeings-787-the-tokyo-motor-show-and/

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Magnitude 5.6 quake hits off Japan (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? A magnitude 5.6 quake struck off Japan shortly after midnight at a depth of 15 (10 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It said it hit 219 km southeast of Hachijo-jima, in the Izu Islands, at 1512 GMT. It earlier gave the magnitude as 6. It was not immediately clear whether it had caused any damage.

Japan, situated on the "Ring of Fire" arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches which partly encircles the Pacific Basin, accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

(Writing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/wl_nm/us_quake_japan

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CEOs see slow, uneven recovery: Roundtable (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Chief executives expect the U.S. economy to continue its slow, uneven recovery over the next few months and are concerned about the rising costs of raw materials and the expense of complying with regulations, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

One in four CEOs polled by the Business Roundtable cited materials as their main cost worry, followed by the cost of complying with regulations, which worried 24 percent.

"There are old fashioned regular business pressures. Commodity prices, oil prices, challenges with health care costs," said James McNerney, CEO of Boeing Co (BA.N) , who serves as chairman of the Roundtable.

The group's quarterly CEO Economic Outlook index was little changed. It inched up to 77.9, from 77.6 in the third quarter. Any number above 50 represents growth. They estimated real U.S. gross domestic product would rise 2 percent next year.

"We continue to see strengthened fundamentals in American business but it's combined with an uneven and slow recovery and reflects continued uncertainty by CEOs over the next six months," McNerney said on a conference call with reporters.

"We're right at the point where the economy is growing but not enough to offset productivity and create jobs," McNerney said.

Of the Business Roundtable CEOs polled, 35 percent said they expected to add jobs in the United States over the next six months, down from 36 percent who expected that in October. Sixty-eight percent expected their companies' sales to rise in the next six months, up from 65 percent last quarter.

Corporate America has taken a cautious but generally positive view of 2012, despite the worries posed by the European debt crisis. General Electric Co (GE.N) on Tuesday forecast double-digit percentage growth in profit next year, and DuPont (DD.N) said earnings per share could rise 12 to 17 percent next year.

The Roundtable, which represents businesses that collectively generate $6 trillion in annual revenue, surveyed its members between October 31 and November 18.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Gerald E. McCormick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_roundtable

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'Matrix'-Style Learning Implants New Skills in Brain (LiveScience.com)

Hollywood science fiction stories such as "The Matrix" and "Inception" have suggested how virtual worlds or dreams could manipulate human learning or create new memories. Now, a new experiment has shown how scientists could someday implant new skills or memories in the waking life ? without people even being aware of what they're learning.

Traditional learning has always required conscious effort and practice ? whether it's dribbling a basketball or playing the piano ? so that the physical or mental practice translates into certain brain activities repeated again and again. But U.S. and Japanese researchers found that just repeating the related brain activity in the head can allow people to improve performance on certain skills.

"It can 'incept' a person to acquire new learning, skills or memory, or possibly to restore skills or knowledge that has been damaged through accident, disease or aging, without a person?s awareness of what is learned or memorized," according to the new study.

The researchers used fMRI brain scans to first identify patterns of brain activity related to seeing a visual shape oriented in three different directions. They then trained volunteers to activate brain-activity patterns related to one of the three shape orientations, but masked the learning behind an arbitrary task by asking the volunteers to try making a green disc appear bigger on a computer screen.

The size of the green disc was linked ? without the volunteers knowing ? to activating the correct brain- activity pattern. Volunteers were free to randomly try all sorts of different ways to concentrate their minds, such as remembering scenes from a famous animated film or simply trying to imagine a bigger green disc.

Once trained, the volunteers took a new series of tests aimed at consciously identifying the orientation of visual shapes. They performed better at visually identifying the orientations related to the brain-activity patterns that they had unconsciously learned.

"The most surprising thing in this study is that mere inductions of neural activation patterns corresponding to a specific visual feature led to visual performance improvement on the visual feature, without presenting the feature or subjects' awareness of what was to be learned," said Takeo Watanabe, a neuroscientist at Boston University.

The experiment has only worked for training the early visual cortex ? a back part of the brain that recognizes patterns as well as moving and non-moving visual objects. But the 'fMRI neurofeedback method" developed in the study might eventually work for different types of memory skills, learning muscle movements for sports, or rehabilitation after a serious injury.

"In theory, hypnosis or a type of automated learning is a potential outcome," said Mitsuo Kawato, director of the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan.? "However, in this study we confirmed the validity of our method only in visual perceptual learning. So we have to test if the method works in other types of learning in the future."

Kawato also cautioned that researchers must avoid using the method in an "unethical way." Presumably they're still OK with Neo learning kung fu or Trinity getting the pilot skills to fly a helicopter.

The study is detailed in the Dec. 9 issue of the journal Science.

This story was provided by InnovationNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter @News_Innovation, or on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111213/sc_livescience/matrixstylelearningimplantsnewskillsinbrain

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Kate Gosselin Runs Marathon, Mouth

She used to running after her eight children and used to chase Jon Gosselin around like a grating banshee, so it's no surprise that Kate Gosselin finished a marathon Sunday.

The reality mom, who bundled up on an unusually chilly night in Las Vegas, with a top that said "Finishing Is Winning," ran it in just 4 hours, 59 minutes and 21 seconds.

"I'm not one to do anything lightly," Gosselin said prior to the race. "I either do it or I kill it. I guess this is considered killing it." Does that include her marriage? Ohhhh ...

The 36-year-old Gosselin, who's been a runner for three years, trained for the marathon on the roads near her Wernersville, Pa., home, often in below-freezing temps.

And by finishing 26.2 miles in the Las Vegas Rock N' Roll marathon, Kate Gosselin hopes to set an example for her kids besides exploiting them on reality TV for cash.

"I am running because I want to show that with dedication and determination anything is possible," she said. "I want them to remember the moment when their mom completed a marathon, knowing that nothing should stop them from attaining their goals."

That includes milking face lift rumors. Never let the truth stand in the way!

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/kate-gosselin-runs-marathon-mouth/

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Samsung BD-D5500

The Samsung BD-D5500 Blu-ray player is the scaled-back version of the Editors' Choice BD-D5700 ($199.99, 4 stars). The two are very similar, but at $159.99 (direct), the BD-D5500 adds 3D support at the expense of integrated Wi-Fi and performance. You do get a nice selection of Web apps and services, and the player handles Blu-ray discs well, but mediocre DVD-upconversion performance and slower speeds hold it back. If you want a good Blu-ray player but don't want to spend much, consider the Editors' Choice?Panasonic DMP-BDT110 ($134.99, 4 stars), which is less expensive and faster than the BD-D5500.

Design
When unplugged, the 1.5-by-16.9-by-8.3-inch (HWD), 3.8-pound player's front panel has no distinguishing markings or buttons save for a silver Samsung logo on the left side and a covered USB port to the right. When plugged in but not turned on, it only shows a touch-sensitive power symbol next to the disc tray. When you power the player up, however, it comes to life and lights up an LED information display and touch-sensitive Stop, Play/Pause, Menu, and Eject buttons. The back panel holds an HDMI output, another USB port, component and composite video outputs, an optical audio output, and an Ethernet port.

The remote is an 8.5-inch-long slab with large, flat buttons in a logical layout. The playback buttons glow in the dark, but the remote is otherwise unlit. Volume and Channel rockers are located at the bottom of the remote, above that, but below the navigation pad, are dedicated Netflix and Smart Hub buttons that offer instant access to the BD-D5500's streaming media services.

Samsung offers dozens of online services and apps through its Smart Hub, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, YouTube, and Pandora. The most commonly used media services are free (or paid through the services' individual accounts), but a handful of apps and services are "premium," and can cost a few dollars to download or access content, like the Mobiscope webcam browser or Bejeweled 2, both available for $4.99.

Performance
The BD-D5500 was sluggish in our lab tests, especially with startup times. The player took an average of 22.4 seconds to boot up, much longer than many Blu-ray players, like the BD-D5500's bigger brother, the Editors' Choice Samsung BD-D5700 ($199.99, 4 stars). It loads non-BD-Live discs in just 13.4 seconds. For standard Blu-ray discs, it took an average of 18.8 seconds to get to the disclaimer screen. For BD-Live Blu-ray discs, the player began loading online content in an average of 29 seconds, and started playing video in an average of 1 minute, 3.6 seconds. For a faster experience, the Editors' Choice Panasonic DMP-BDT110 starts up in just 2.4 seconds, and loads BD-Live discs in an average of 53.2 seconds. Also, the even-less-expensive Sony BDP-S380 ($109.99, 3.5 stars) starts up in 3.3 seconds and loads BD-Live discs in just 43.6 seconds.

We test Blu-ray players using the HQV benchmark Blu-ray, and in our trials, the BD-D5500 fared quite well, despite some minor film issues. 30 frames-per-second (fps) video looked fine, with few artifacts or motion problems. The player showed some judder with 24 fps film footage, however, especially with horizontal movement. This is a typical problem for Blu-ray players, though, and won't likely seriously impact playback.

The BD-D5500 played Blu-ray discs well. In 2D, the Blu-ray release of The Big Lebowski looked clear and smooth, but there was notable choppiness with the horizontally flying pin in the Gutterball sequence. The IMAX Under the Sea 3D Blu-ray looked good, and the player showed the 3D content with no issues. DVD upconversion was decent but unimpressive, with the player doing little to reduce the noise (or, granted, the nearly 30-year-old film grain) in Scarface. The BD-D5700 offers much-better upconversion, not to mention faster start-up times and built-in Wi-fi, but you won't get 3D support.

Samsung's BD-D5500 isn't a bad Blu-ray player, but it's a bit sluggish for the $160 price. If you're a Samsung fan and you can live without 3D support, go for the $200 version of the player, the BD-D5700. Even better, the Editors' Choice 3D-ready Panasonic DMP-BDT110 is both faster and less expensive.?

More Blu-ray Player reviews:

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??? Panasonic DMP-BDT110
??? Oppo BDP-93
??? Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player (NSZ-GT1)
??? Sony BDP-S780
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/cXGyiHQKhz4/0,2817,2396123,00.asp

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Senseg's tactile display gets demoed on a tablet, products anticipated within 24 months

We've seen Senseg's tactile display technology demoed on a few different devices in the past, but CNET has now gotten a quick look of the company's latest tech on a tablet, along with some additional word on its future. As with previous prototypes, the screen doesn't rely on any moving parts as some other tactile displays do, but instead employs an electrostatic field-based system that allows different parts of the screen to produce varying degrees of friction. As Senseg notes, that opens up a number of interesting possibilities for gaming, as well as other applications where you may not always want to look at the screen. Of course, that tablet is still very much a prototype, but Senseg's Dave Rice says that he's "optimistic" we'll see actual products using it "within the next year," although he notes that could extend to 24 months. See the video after the break or at the source link below.

Continue reading Senseg's tactile display gets demoed on a tablet, products anticipated within 24 months

Senseg's tactile display gets demoed on a tablet, products anticipated within 24 months originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/sensegs-tactile-display-gets-demoed-on-a-tablet-products-antic/

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Taylor Swift Gets a Haircut!

Taylor Swift found a unique way to celebrate her multiple Grammy nominations this week: a haircut!

The blonde superstar Tweeted a photo of her new style yesterday, as you can see the addition of bangs and a few layers below. Take a close look now:

Is it an improvement? A step in the wrong direction? Speak now, T Swizzle fans. What do you think?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/taylor-swift-gets-a-haircut/

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Novak Djokovic Cast In 'Expendables 2'

The already impossibly badass cast of "The Expendables 2" just got even more badass, albeit in a rather unexpected way.
Instead of tapping a new action movie hero to join the star-studded likes of Sly Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, it's an athlete who's joining the "Expendables" ranks. Specifically, the currently number one-ranked tennis player [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/11/30/novak-djokovic-cast-in-expendables-2/

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