American Institute for Stuttering Honors Baseball Legend, Former NJ Governor

$0The American Institute for Stuttering (AIS) hosted its 6th Annual Freeing Voices, Changing Lives Benefit Gala on Monday, June 11, at the Tribeca Rooftop in Manhattan. The Gala honored baseball legend Tommy John, and 9/11 Commission Chair and former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean for rising above their stuttering and going on to have rewarding and influential careers. Renowned actor Sam Waterston was the master of ceremonies and Barbara Walters and Good Morning America news anchor Josh Elliott, long time friends of AIS, were on hand to present awards.$0 $0AIS' mission is to help the 3 million individuals with a stuttering communication disorder gain the skills and confidence to speak anywhere at any time. Stuttering is a genetic and neurological disorder that is not, as many assume, caused by anxiety. As a tribute to its founder, Catherine Montgomery, this year the Institute initiated an Advocacy Award in her name to acknowledge a person or company who has displayed a dedicated alliance to the stuttering community even though the award recipient does not stutter. The first award was presented to media icons Sir Harold Evans and Tina Brown. The couple has provided emotional, spiritual and financial support to AIS.$0 $0Many individuals have overcome a stuttering problem and gone on to excel in all professional fields, including those that call for public speaking. Well-known stutterers include Vice President Joseph Biden, NBA star Kenyon Martin, business executive Jack Welch, singer Carly Simon, actor Harvey Keitel, cosmetics magnate Leonard Lauder and AIS board member, actress Emily Blunt.$0
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Matthew Morrison Buzz Cut: Hair Do or Hair Don't?

He hasn't gone all Charlize Theron on us, but Matthew Morrison will be sporting a new look this summer.

The Glee star - who is working on his second solo album - Tweeted a photo of himself yesterday with a buzz cut, a startling change for an actor well known for his curly hair.

What do you think of the move? Are you still watching Glee? Or do you think it's become a painful weekly PSA wrapped in a number of iTunes-friendly singles that totally ignores the concepts of character development and logic? Sorry. We got carried away there.

But vote now on Matthew's new locks!

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In autocratic NKorea, inequality assigned at birth

FILE - In this April 18, 2012 file photo, North Koreans enjoy a picnic on a hilltop park overlooking Pyongyang on a national holiday celebrating the birthday period of the late leader Kim Il Sung. In the supposed workers' paradise of North Korea, inequality is assigned at birth, according to a study released Wednesday, June 6, 2012, by a U.S.-based human rights group. Education, jobs, access to scarce food and health care and even whom you marry all hinge on how loyal your forebears are viewed to have been to the Kim dynasty that took power six decades ago. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this April 18, 2012 file photo, North Koreans enjoy a picnic on a hilltop park overlooking Pyongyang on a national holiday celebrating the birthday period of the late leader Kim Il Sung. In the supposed workers' paradise of North Korea, inequality is assigned at birth, according to a study released Wednesday, June 6, 2012, by a U.S.-based human rights group. Education, jobs, access to scarce food and health care and even whom you marry all hinge on how loyal your forebears are viewed to have been to the Kim dynasty that took power six decades ago. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this May 15, 2012 file photo, a North Korean bride and groom are cheered by their friends and family upon their arrival at Kyonghung, a restaurant where they will hold a wedding party in Pyongyang, North Korea. In the supposed workers' paradise of North Korea, inequality is assigned at birth, according to a study released Wednesday, June 6, 2012, by a U.S.-based human rights group. Education, jobs, access to scarce food and health care and even whom you marry all hinge on how loyal your forebears are viewed to have been to the Kim dynasty that took power six decades ago. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon, File)

FILE- In this April 25, 2012 file photo, North Koreans pay tribute to the statues of late leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, during a holiday in honor of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Army in Pyongyang, North Korea. In the supposed workers' paradise of North Korea, inequality is assigned at birth, according to a study released Wednesday, June 6, 2012, by a U.S.-based human rights group. Education, jobs, access to scarce food and health care and even whom you marry all hinge on how loyal your forebears are viewed to have been to the Kim dynasty that took power six decades ago. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, farmers stand in a field outside the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea. In the supposed workers' paradise of North Korea, inequality is assigned at birth, according to a study released Wednesday, June 6, 2012, by a U.S.-based human rights group. Education, jobs, access to scarce food and health care and even whom you marry all hinge on how loyal your forebears are viewed to have been to the Kim dynasty that took power six decades ago. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In the supposed workers' paradise of North Korea, inequality is assigned at birth, a study

by a U.S.-based human rights group says.

Education, job, access to scarce food and health care, and even whom you marry all hinge on how loyal your forebears are viewed to have been to the Kim dynasty that took power six decades ago.

The study released Wednesday by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea says all adults in the socialist state are categorized as one of three classes: loyal, wavering or hostile.

The nongovernment human rights group says it amounts to a caste system.

Despite the emergence of informal markets since the late 1990s challenging state control, the study says the class system persists and is behind the discrimination and abuses faced by the lowest echelons of the North's closed society.

"Throughout its 64-year existence, the Kim regime has claimed that North Korea is an egalitarian workers' paradise," said the committee's executive director, Greg Scarlatoiu. "Yet, inequality is assigned at birth, perpetuated throughout a person's lifetime and cruelly enforced by those in power to benefit themselves and their supporters."

Lee Sung-min, a North Korean defector living in Seoul, said in an interview with The Associated Press that because his late grandfather was accused of collaborating with the Japanese during the 35 years Japan ruled South Korea as a colony, his family was stigmatized by North Korean authorities and he was blocked from joining the Workers' Party or entering the school he wanted to attend.

"No one is free from songbun in North Korea," Lee said.

The North Korean government denies such a discriminatory class system exists.

The study, titled "Marked for Life," is based on interviews with 75 North Korean defectors, including as recently as 2011. It also cites a 1993 manual issued by North Korea's Ministry of Public Security to guide its officials on how to investigate a citizen's socio-political classification, or "songbun," which translates in Korean as "ingredients."

The ministry maintains a file on everyone from the age of 17 that is updated every two years, the study says.

Numerous defectors' interviews show that those who are young when they leave North Korea see songbun as decreasingly important, while older defectors say songbun still matters, the report said.

The songbun system has its origins in social class restructuring enforced by the North's communist founders, led by Kim Il Sung, that began even before the state's formal creation in 1948, to elevate peasants and laborers at the expense of landlords, businessmen and religious leaders.

Those considered most loyal had fought alongside Kim against Japanese colonialists and then against U.S.-backed forces in the 1950-53 Korean War. Those deemed hostile collaborated with the enemy or had family members who fled to South Korea.

Moving up a songbun category is rare and requires a lifetime of devotion to the Kim family regime and ruling Workers' Party of Korea. But songbun can be downgraded for political or criminal offenses or failing to cooperate with authorities.

When an individual is sentenced to the North's gulag of political prison camps ? estimated to hold 150,000-200,000 people ? family members are considered guilty by association and generally accompany them, the study says.

Today the loyal class, which makes up about a quarter of the 24 million population, still dominates the powerful military and the Workers' Party. They alone are entitled to live in the relatively prosperous capital Pyongyang and monopolize the prestige universities and best jobs, the study says.

Marrying someone with poor songbun likely would exclude that individual from party membership, causing severe consequences for employment opportunities and quality of life, it says.

Many in the hostile class inhabit the most impoverished northeastern provinces, often in isolated mountain villages where they perform hard labor at mines and farms. They have been most vulnerable to failures since the 1990s in North Korea's public food distribution system and resulting malnutrition.

Roberta Cohen, co-chairman of the rights group, says money, bribery and corruption recently have begun to erode the songbun system because of the emergence of informal markets and the scope for paying officials for favors. But she said songbun's main elements remain in place, "guaranteed by a complete absence of political freedom."

The study says a slang has developed around the songbun system, wherein the loyal class are referred to as "tomatoes" that are red on both the inside and outside, so are good socialists. Those of the wavering class are "apples" that are only red on the outside, and the hostile class is known as "grapes" ? considered politically unredeemable.

There's no sign that new ruler Kim Jong Un, the third in the dynasty, will change the policy. The study concludes that would be a direct threat to the North Korean elite and could undermine his consolidation of power.

___

Online:

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea: http://hrnk.org

Associated Press

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Ban: UN monitors shot at trying to reach massacre

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After jubilee success, monarchy faces the future

From left Britain's Prince Charles Queen Elizabeth Prince William, and his wife Kate Duchess of Cambridge, stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London Tuesday June 5, 2012. Four days of nationwide celebrations during which millions of people have turned out to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee conclude on Tuesday with a church service and carriage procession through central London. (AP Photo/Stefan Wermuth, Pool)

From left Britain's Prince Charles Queen Elizabeth Prince William, and his wife Kate Duchess of Cambridge, stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London Tuesday June 5, 2012. Four days of nationwide celebrations during which millions of people have turned out to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee conclude on Tuesday with a church service and carriage procession through central London. (AP Photo/Stefan Wermuth, Pool)

Britain's Prince Charles, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London Tuesday June 5, 2012. Four days of nationwide celebrations during which millions of people have turned out to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee conclude on Tuesday with a church service and carriage procession through central London. (AP Photo/Stefan Wermuth, Pool)

Revelers on the Mall in London watch Britain Queen Elizabeth II appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony as part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II departs after a service of thanksgiving with the Dean of St Paul's David Ison, left, at St Paul's Cathedral, London as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations Tuesday June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Hales, Pool)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II holds a bouquet of flowers as she returns to Buckingham Palace after attending a service of thanksgiving and a lunch in honour of the Diamond Jubilee in London,Tuesday June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Carl Cort, Pool)

LONDON (AP) ? There were six figures on the balcony, three generations of royalty ? and one large absence.

Queen Elizabeth II's appearance at Buckingham Palace with her family on Tuesday capped a triumphant Diamond Jubilee weekend for a British monarchy that has overcome years of crisis and seems secure in its subjects' hearts.

But the absence of 90-year-old Prince Philip ? hospitalized Monday with a bladder infection ? was a poignant reminder that the queen's 60-year reign won't last forever. And the presence of divisive heir to the throne Prince Charles alongside the wildly popular Prince William and his wife Catherine hinted at an uncertain future.

"What we forget is that monarchy is just the people doing the job," said royal historian Robert Lacey. "In a sense this jubilee looks to the future rather sadly. It could be the queen's last jubilee, and it is a jubilee in which she has relegated many of her public duties" to younger family members.

Yet the royal family will be overjoyed with the public response to the jubilee, which the queen, in a televised address, called "a humbling experience."

Fears that the celebrations would be met with apathy in an anxious, recession-afflicted Britain were unfounded. Enormous crowds greeted the queen over the four-day celebration. More than 1 million people lined the Thames on Sunday for a river pageant, despite dismal weather, and hundreds of thousands packed the Mall outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday for a glimpse of the royal family.

Republican protesters did their best to dissent, staging demonstrations bearing placards demanding "Make Monarchy History," but they were vastly outnumbered ? and drowned out by choruses of "God Save the Queen."

The well-wishers came in all ages, from across Britain and around the world, and many seemed genuinely moved.

Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand ? one of 16 countries in which the queen is head of state ? said the jubilee had brought a "natural outpouring" of popular feeling.

"People wanted to show their admiration for the queen and their respect for the job that she has done," he told the BBC.

The jubilation was a triumph of brand renewal that has been 15 years in the making. After decades of declining deference, the modern monarchy reached its lowest ebb during the 1990s in a blaze of unflattering headlines. Three of the queen's four children got divorced ? most spectacularly, Charles from the wildly popular Princess Diana. Though both conceded infidelity, public opinion sided with Diana, generally viewed as an innocent devoured by the ruthless royal "Firm."

When Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, the royal family was criticized as aloof and unfeeling, in contrast to the wave of public mourning for "the people's princess."

Since then, the family and its staff have worked hard to turn around that image. The death of the much-loved Queen Mother Elizabeth in 2002 revived memories of World War II, a time of common purpose in which the royal family served as a unifying symbol.

In 2005, Charles married his longtime love Camilla in a low-key service, and a woman once viewed as a home wrecker has since come to be seen as a royal asset, a down-to-earth figure with a wicked sense of fun.

Last year's Westminster Abbey wedding of William and Kate Middleton was the crowning glory, an extravaganza of pomp and glamor that cemented the new couple ? young, attractive, socially at ease ? at the heart of a 21st-century monarchy.

In particular, Kate ? now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge ? brings to the family a dash of celebrity glamor unseen since Diana. Her appearances make celebrity magazines and fashion pages. The scarlet Alexander McQueen dress she wore to Sunday's river pageant caused a buzz of comment: too spicy or just right?

While the queen is the heart of the monarchy and its link to the past, the young royals have helped it appear relevant.

The monarch wore ear plugs for Monday's jubilee pop concert outside Buckingham Palace ? she is thought to prefer opera. But William and Harry could be seen singing along enthusiastically to the likes of Tom Jones, Paul McCartney and Elton John.

The image of the relaxed young royals is a sign of how much, and how cannily, the monarchy changed with the times.

Throughout the jubilee, the queen was cast as a servant of the British people, rather than their sovereign.

"I think the monarchy has always adapted itself to contemporary circumstances, and has become what I call a public service monarchy," said Vernon Bogdanor, a constitutional expert and professor at King's College London.

He said efforts by the queen to keep the monarchy in tune with contemporary Britain and her decision to prioritize the royal family's work with charities and good causes have safeguarded the institution's future.

In a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams pointedly contrasted the queen's "60 years of utterly demanding yet deeply joyful service" with the "ludicrous financial greed" and other ills of wider society.

The decision to have only the core royals ? the queen, Charles, Camilla, William, Kate and Harry ? appear on the palace balcony, rather than the extended family, gave an image of a stripped-down monarchy for austere times.

Philip's illness, however, provided a note of sadness and uncertainty amid the celebration.

The prince was said Tuesday to be doing well in a London hospital, but he will be 91 on Sunday and is increasingly frail. The queen, at 86, is already Britain's longest-lived monarch. Only her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, reigned for longer.

The queen's popularity is unassailable, but opinion polls consistently show Britons would prefer William to succeed her, rather than his father Charles. That is considered unlikely, as is any early abdication by the queen.

The 63-year-old Prince of Wales is a more divisive figure than his mother. While the queen's political views are a mystery, Charles often makes his thoughts known. (Likes: organic farming. Dislikes: most modern architecture).

But Bogdanor said Charles' support for unexpected causes, including ethnic minorities, Islamic and Hindu religious communities and young unemployed people, would see him achieve the same adulation as the queen.

"I think he will become as popular as the queen when he becomes king," Bogdanor said. "The challenge will be exactly the same, of adapting the monarchy to modern times, and I think he will respond in the same way."

___

Associated Press Writer David Stringer contributed to this report.

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Associated Press

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Video: Is Clinton's View of Fiscal Cliff Right?

Sara Fagen, former Bush senior aide and White House political director, and Robert Reich, former Clinton labor secretary, react to former President Clinton's view on the so-called fiscal cliff and the European debt crisis.

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Kings Defeat Devils, 4-0, In Game 3 Of 2012 Stanley Cup Final

LOS ANGELES ? Jonathan Quick made 22 saves in his third shutout of the postseason, Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings rolled to the brink of the franchise's first NHL title, beating the New Jersey Devils 4-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night to take a 3-0 series lead.

Alec Martinez scored the opening goal, and Jeff Carter and Justin Williams added late power-play goals as the Western Conference champion Kings moved one win away from finishing one of the most spectacular playoff runs in league history.

Eighth-seeded Los Angeles improved to 15-2 in the postseason and jumped to a 3-0 lead in its fourth straight series ? a first in NHL history.

Game 4 is Wednesday night at Los Angeles.

Martin Brodeur stopped 17 shots, but the Devils couldn't beat the spectacular Quick or his penalty-killers, who turned aside six power plays. New Jersey must accomplish just the fourth comeback from an 0-3 series deficit in NHL playoff history to win its third title.

After opening their first Stanley Cup finals appearance in 19 years with two overtime victories in New Jersey, the Kings survived another solid performance early in Game 3 by the Devils, who had ample opportunity to take an early lead.

New Jersey has been pretty good in the finals, but nothing has been able to slow down these Kings, who seem destined to become the first No. 8 seed to win the Stanley Cup.

The Devils had never lost three straight Stanley Cup finals games in the franchise's five appearances. New Jersey hadn't lost three straight games this season since late February.

The Kings had to survive their early nerves from playing in front of their title-starved fans, and they barely hung on at times against the Devils' dynamic forechecking in the first two periods. They got another peerless performance from Quick, who has allowed just 24 goals in 17 playoff games ? just two in the finals.

The Kings even got something from the power play that has been their weakest feature during the postseason, going 6 for 77 before Game 3. Carter scored his sixth goal of the postseason on a splendid setup pass from longtime teammate Mike Richards early in the third period ? and Williams followed 2:32 later with a slick goal in the slot, practically blowing the roof off the sold-out building.

Martinez scored his first career playoff goal early in the second period, and Kopitar followed about 10 minutes later with his third goal in four games off a spectacular pass from captain Dustin Brown.

The Kings could celebrate their first title at home, but their only weakness in this charmed postseason has been Game 4. They're 10-0 on the road in the postseason, but failed to close out Vancouver and Phoenix at home in Game 4s.

New Jersey largely dominated play before Martinez scored the game's first goal on a scramble in front of Brodeur, and the Devils repeatedly dominated puck possession while creating six power plays in the first two periods to none for the Kings. The Devils couldn't score against the Kings' stellar penalty-killers in front of Quick, who might have nosed ahead in the derby for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP with another shutout.

Although the Kings have been improbably dominant during the postseason, the Devils gave Los Angeles plenty of trouble in the Kings' two overtime victories in Newark last week. New Jersey's strong forechecking and Brodeur's solid goaltending nearly overwhelmed the Kings, who had to rely on Quick and their own stellar penalty-killing to reach overtime.

The Kings needed their penalty-killing again in the first period of Game 3 after Carter took a 4-minute penalty for high-sticking Adam Henrique while Los Angeles already was short-handed. Los Angeles killed one minute of 5-on-3 play before Marek Zidlicky lopped two more minutes off the power play with a penalty of his own to prevent a breakaway. New Jersey had just one shot to show for all that advantage during the scoreless first period.

The Devils again dominated the puck early in the second period, keeping it in Los Angeles' end for long stretches, but Quick made saves with everything from his blocker to his shoulder to keep the puck out.

But the Kings went ahead when Dwight King created a scoring chance with a big hit, eventually hacking at the puck underneath Brodeur's pad in front. Martinez joined the effort with Trevor Lewis and got credit for the goal when the puck finally trickled in, scoring his first goal in his 23rd career playoff games. The Devils complained play should have been stopped.

Late in the period, Kopitar extended the lead on a stellar rush by the Kings' top line. Justin Williams moved the puck into the zone and found Brown, who feathered a cross-ice pass to Kopitar for the Slovenian star's eighth goal of the postseason, giving Los Angeles its first two-goal lead since Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

The Kings finally got a power play early in the third period, and Carter found Brodeur's top shelf with a pass from Richards. Williams then caught the Devils' penalty-killers napping, and the celebration was on.

Staples Center was packed to the rafters well before Wayne Gretzky took the ice for the ceremonial opening faceoff. Los Angeles' long-suffering hockey fans hadn't seen a Stanley Cup finals game since 1993, enduring two trips to the finals by the rival Anaheim Ducks in the previous decade while the Kings moved into their 44th season of existence without a championship.

The roaring crowd gave a standing ovation to Gretzky, the driving force behind the Kings' only other finals appearance.

The Kings got another boost from the return of left wing Simon Gagne, who hadn't played since Dec. 26 while recovering from a concussion. Gagne is a seven-time 20-goal scorer in his first season in Los Angeles, carrying ample playoff experience from his decade with the Philadelphia Flyers, including a trip to the 2010 Stanley Cup finals.

NOTES: The crowd of 18,764 was the largest in Staples Center history for a Kings game. Hundreds of fans in black jerseys gathered in the plaza outside several hours before game time, chanting slogans and carrying inflatable Cup replicas. ... Gagne played just over 6 minutes on 10 shifts. ... Lakers forward Pau Gasol, David Boreanaz, LL Cool J, David Beckham and Penguins star Sidney Crosby attended the game.

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Shirakawa: Japan's Economic and Monetary Policy

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The Factors That Contribute To Increased web Traffic | Honest ...

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FREE IS MY LIFE: TECH: How a Review of a Verizon Wireless iPad ...

Technology is not always intuitive and having someone to guide you with knowledge gained from experience can be a wallet saver....

I love that I am a blogger. Because I have a blog, I get to try out lots of products and give my opinion of how they worked (or didn't work) for me. ?Thanks to my relationship with Verizon Wireless. I have had the opportunity of review a slew of smartphones, hotspots and tablets. Because I get to try out all these products and write about my experience, I sometimes forget that the average person only knows about technology from the little that they see in the traditional media and integrating technology into our lives in not as initiative as I first believed.

A few months ago, Verizon Wireless allowed me to review one of their Apple iPads. ?Although I have reviewed six android tablets (Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Verizon Motorola Xoom 10.1, Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0, ?HTC Flyer, ?Kindle Fire and the HTC Evo View 4G) this was my first time using an Apple tablet and I was overall very impressed. But this post is not really about my Verizon iPad experience as much as it is about how important it is for companies to let average people (like me) review products and then let us educate others on what we have learned.

Can an iPad be a waste of money?
About the time that I finished my review of the Verizon iPad, I was talking with my friend Bev about her new iPad that she received as a gift from her husband for Christmas. ?Bev shared with me how her kids were getting more use out of the iPad than she did. Actually the kids were keeping the iPad in their toy box since Bev did not use it. Bev felt the iPad purchase had been a waste of her family's money. I was a little shocked because I really believed people would just intuitively integrate an iPad into their lives. But what I learned from speaking with Bev is my assumption is not the case for the average person who has never used a tablet and who does not read about technology like I do.

Having reviewed lots of Verizon Android tablets and then the Verizon Apple iPad, I knew how apps running on these devices could really help with all aspects of life. So I started asking Bev about her life and how she had hoped to use her iPad.

Bev shared with me how she needed a lot more than just the ability to play games. ?She wanted to use the iPad for work to read reports, do word processing, and review presentations. ?She needed to take notes during meetings and capture her thoughts for "to do" lists. Bev also had a very old laptop and USB modem that she was using to log into work to file reports and she wanted to get rid of that laptop and use her iPad instead. Bev also loves to shop and wanted to use the iPad for online shopping and finding bargains.

I'm a Tech?Evangelist?thanks to Verizon Wireless...
From all the technology reviews that I had done courtesy of?Verizon Wireless, I knew of lots of apps and?accessories?that Bev could use to get her iPad to meet her needs.

Putting the iPad to work...
Bev hated typing on the iPad screen, so I told her about the Zaggfolio which is a very?fashionable?case and keyboard for the iPad. ?Bev immediately loved the fashionable Zaggfolio from the minute she saw it on the Zagg website and this one accessory has changed the way that she interacts with her iPad. Since?she can easily type on the iPad, she is now able to use the iPad to do work as part of her job. And because the Zaggfolio is so fashionable, Bev now loves carrying her iPad around.

I told Bev about Pages, the word processor for iPad, and that $10 purchase has enabled her to read and create reports on her iPad. ?I also told Bev about Dropbox and Skydrive, the FREE apps that enables her to keep her files in the cloud and easily access them from home and work computers and also from her iPad.

Bev needed to capture her thoughts for "to do" lists so I told her about the FREE?Dragon Dictation app for iPad?which allows her to speak her thoughts and capture them in notes for later. ?She loves using this app in situations where she does not feel like typing.

Bev works so much that she does not have time to read the newspaper so I told her about the FREE?Detroit Free Press app and now she keeps up with all the current news in Detroit right on her iPad.

After Bev started confidently using the iPad for work, she wanted to get rid of her old work laptop that she was using mainly to login to her employer to submit reports. ?She knew she could use the iPad to log in, but her employer was paying for her USB modem and she knew she could not use the modem with her iPad.

4G to the rescue...
Because I had done reviews of?Verizon mifi hotspots, I told Bev how mifi hotspots could be used for all types of devices from computers to tablets and how up to to 5 devices can share the Internet connection. I also told her how blazingly fast 4G hotspots are and how at times I could not tell that I was using a hotspot and not my Comcast data connection at home.

Even though Bev was paying for a 3G data connection from AT&T on her iPad, she did not use it because it was slow during the day. So Bev did some research and she was able to trade in her USB modem for a 4G hotspot which she loves because it is super fast. ?She was then able to get rid of her AT&T monthly bill on her iPad and just use the 4G hotspot that her employer pays for. Bev is very happy that her new 4G mifi is now saving her money.

Bargain Shopping on the iPad...
Bev is very fashionable and loves to shop, but she also loves a good bargain. ?So I showed her how she can use her iPad for bargain shopping. ?The first app that I told Bev about was the FREE?Target app which allows her to read the Target weekly ad on her iPad and it looks just like the ad booklet that you get in the store. ?This app is a must have for all Target lovers that have an iPad. For Amazon shopping, Bev installed Amazon WindowShop?which allows her to browse the items on Amazon.com in picture format. Just click on a photo and you get all the product details and product reviews. You can also view items to your cart and buy them right inside this app. I believe there is no better bargain shopping than on eBay and the FREE?eBay app?brings all that great bargain shopping right to the iPad. I have used eBay for over 10 years and I really believe the eBay app for iPad gives a better and easier experience to the the user than using eBay on the computer.

Thanks to Verizon Wireless, Bev's iPad is out of the Toy Box....
With all the new apps, Zaggfolio case and the 4G Hotspot, Bev is now a very happy iPad owner. ?She is now using?technology?to make her work and home life easier. ?She is also now a very educated technology consumer who is using her new found knowledge to help others.

It is situations like this where the importance of product reviews hit home for me. ?If companies like Verizon Wireless did not let average people like me review their products, there would be more people using trial and error for large?technology?purchases which causes wasted money and stress. Technology is not always intuitive and having someone to guide you with knowledge gained from experience can be a wallet saver.

Because of my experience reviewing the Verizon Wireless iPad, I bought an iPad of my own since I knew first hand how I could use it to make my life easier. ?And I was able to get a real deal on my iPad purchase by using another app that I told Bev about called Slickdeals.

So thanks to all the companies that understand the importance of product reviews. ?Both Bev and I applaud you and our wallets thank you too.

Enjoy!

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How a mosquito survives a raindrop hit

Lightweight insects can ride water droplets, as long as they separate in time

Web edition : 3:09 pm

View the video

A raindrop hitting a mosquito in flight is like a midair collision between a human and a bus. Except that the mosquito survives.

New experiments show how the insect?s light weight works in its favor, says engineer David Hu of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. In essence, the (relatively) huge, fast drop doesn?t transfer much of its momentum to a little wisp of an insect. Instead the falling droplet sweeps the insect along on the downward plunge. As Hu puts it, the mosquito ?just rides the drop.?

The trick is breaking away from that drop before it and the insect splash into the ground. Mosquitoes that separate themselves in time easily survive a raindrop strike, Hu and his colleagues report online the week of June 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Such studies help reveal how animals evolved to take advantage of flight, says biologist Tyson Hedrick of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mosquito tricks may also inspire engineers designing swarms of tiny flying robots, or interest physicists and mathematicians studying complex fluid dynamics at this scale.

Plenty of lab work has investigated how flying animals recover from disturbances, but there?s little work on raindrops because those collisions are very hard to study, Hu says. To mimic raindrop speed of about 9 meters per second, he and his colleagues tried dripping water off the third floor of a building toward ground-level mosquitoes. ?It?s the worst game of darts you can imagine,? he says. ?You have no hope of hitting them.?

Finally, Hu sprayed streams of water from a pump at caged lab mosquitoes and then refined the process by spraying mosquito-sized beads. His team found that mosquitoes hit with water survived using an insect version of tai chi: Move with the blow instead of resisting it. A raindrop can reach 50 times the mass of a mosquito, and after colliding, ?the mosquito becomes a stowaway,? Hu says.

The wild ride comes with danger. Mosquitoes hitchhiking on water experience acceleration 100 to 300 times the force of Earth?s gravity, the researchers found. The previous champs for surviving acceleration had been jumping fleas, at a mere 130 times Earth?s gravity.

Such studies suggest insects are making tradeoffs, Hedrick says. Mosquitoes? small mass might allow them fly through raindrops but leave them more vulnerable to other menaces, such as wind. Larger and heavier horseflies ?should have no problem with wind but might be more disturbed by raindrop impacts,? he says.

Scientists who work in the field know how readily mosquitoes can survive wet weather. ?I?ve worked in the field many rainy nights,? says entomologist Nathan Burkett-Cadena of the University of South Florida in Tampa, ?and received zero respite from mosquitoes during even heavy rains.?

Water drops slamming into insects can knock them partly or completely off course, this laboratory video shows.

Credit: Courtesy Andrew Dickerson and D. Hu/Georgia Tech

Found in: Life

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Bruce Walker | How GOP Can Sweep 2012 Elections

Posted on June 03 2012 - 7:00 PM - Posted by: Doug Brady

How? can Republicans clean Democrat clocks all over the country?? All it will? take is a simple message: Republicans can govern.? Democrats? can?t.

Think? of all the contrasts available between adroit Republican governors and flailing? Democratic ones.? For one, the surreal spectacle of Wisconsin Democrats? focusing resources on their third election campaign since the 2010 election to? defeat Scott Walker?s collective bargaining reform, even when that reform is no longer? a real issue, shows that Democrats are in election mode every moment of? every year.

This? difference has shown up elsewhere in state and local government.? Rudy? Giuliani may not have been a conservative, but as Mayor of New York, he was a? courageous and effective leader, which gained? him admiration from conservatives.? The contrast between Giuliani and? Dinkins, the hapless Democrat cipher who preceded him, is? stark.

?

More.

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President Obama Warmly Welcomes the Bush Presidents Back to the White House

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Baby Boom: Did Retained Juvenile Traits Help Birds Outlive Dinosaurs?

News | Evolution

Differences in developmental timing may have given birds their big eyes, big brains and smaller size

By Sarah Fecht ?| May 31, 2012?|

Image: Frank Ippolito, American Museum of Natural History

Why do testicles hang the way they do? Is there an adaptive function to the female orgasm? What does it feel like to want to kill yourself? Does ?free will?...

Read More??

Birds are the only dinosaurs that have survived into modern times. Why is that? Of all the dinosaur species, how did they manage to make it through the catastrophic events of 65 million years ago, whereas all their fellow dinos perished? A new study, published May 27 in Nature, hints at an evolutionary phenomenon that may have played to birds' advantage: They are, it seems, baby dinosaurs whose biology prevents them from ever growing up. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)

Bhart-Anjan Bhullar and his doctoral advisor, Arkhat Abzhanov, posit that birds may have evolved from dinosaurs by a process known as paedomorphosis, whereby an organism retains juvenile traits even after it becomes sexually mature. "They certainly look to have some paedomorphic characteristics," says Jack Horner, a Montana State University paleontologist who studies dinosaur growth and development and was not involved in the study. Paedomorphosis "is not uncommon in evolution and speciation," he adds.

Bhullar and Abzhanov reached this conclusion by comparing the skulls of birds and dinosaurs across phylogenies, or related groups, and at different developmental stages. To quantitatively compare cranial geometries, they scanned the skulls of theropod dinosaurs (which are thought to be birds' ancestors), crocodiles and alligators (dinosaurs' cousins), early transitional birds such as Archaeopteryx, and modern birds. Then they created digitized versions of each skull and mapped out cranial landmarks, such as nostril tips, eye socket dimensions and places where bones meet.

Their measurements showed that whereas a typical non-avian dinosaur began life with a round head, large eyes and a big brain (relative to the rest of the body) then later developed an elongated snout and smaller relative brain size, birds kept their baby faces.

If birds did evolve by paedomorphosis, they join species such as axolotls. These salamanders evolved to retain tadpolelike gills and fins and, unlike most other amphibians, remain aquatic into adulthood. This feature appears to be due to a hormone disruption. By adding thyroid hormone into their water, researchers have caused axolotls to metamorphose into terrestrial salamanders.

But why would it be advantageous for adult animals to look like kids? Greg Erickson, who studies evolutionary morphology at The Florida State University and was not involved in the study, says that paedomorphosis can help a species to develop new adaptations and exploit new niches. In particular, he suggests that paedomorphosis may have enabled birds to develop larger eyes, which aid in spatial assessment during flight as well as a high brain-to-body-mass ratio, which may contribute to intelligence.

An even simpler explanation is that kids are small and, in times of environmental stress, small is good. Bhullar cites an example of Temnospondyli?large primitive amphibians that were common before 120 million years ago. Catastrophic events killed off most of the temnospondyli, except for a few paedomorphic species. "The interesting thing to me is that [after the catastrophe] these little paedomorphic animals were at the base of a giant radiation," Bhullar says. He suggests that a similar phenomenon may have occurred during the catastrophic events that killed the dinosaurs?being small may have been an advantage, because smaller animals require less food and can more easily hide. "Everything that lived on land and weighed more than one kilogram perished," Bhullar says. "The only dinosaurs that survived were the paedomorphic ones." And after many of those larger species went extinct, the little dino may have been better placed to exploit the new niches that opened up.

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PFT: How good is Peyton now? Peers weigh in

Getty Images

A former NFL running back who spent 11 seasons in the game has provided some intriguing insights into the life of a former football player.? Michael Pittman, who played 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Buccaneers, and Broncos, told WDAE radio in Tampa that he suffered seven or eight concussions during his career.

?Just like the former players that are suing the NFL, I suffer from the same symptoms of course,? Pittman said, via JoeBucsFan.com.? ?The headaches, memory loss, vision loss. . . .? Sometimes you get depressed.? And there?s some times you really can?t control it, just the way you feel, your emotions.?

Pittman admitted that, at one point, he needed to see a psychiatrist ? and to his credit he had no qualms talking about a health condition that, despite the inexplicable social stigma, is no different than having a broken bone.

Pittman said that people criticizing the players who are suing the league don?t understand what the former players are going through.? ?The NFL needs to make these players that [are] playing more aware of the long-term effects of playing,? Pittman said.? ?Because when I was playing, they didn?t do that.?

He added that, if he knew more during his career the long-term effects of concussions, Pittman may have retired after only two of three.? He said he hasn?t sued yet, but he may.? (The clock is ticking on the statute of limitations; the NFL likely would argue it already has expired, even if he sued today.)

Pittman, like many former players, is concerned about how he?ll feel in his 50s, given that he?s currently having issues at only the age of 36.

Regardless of whether he chooses to join in the concussion lawsuit, here?s hoping Pittman and all other former players suffering from the effects of concussions get the medical assistance they need to lead long and normal lives.

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'Bimbo' Adam Levine loves women 'so much'

Details

By Us Weekly

Adam Levine has always been a ladies' man. In the June issue of Details, the 33-year-old "Payphone" singer attempts to explain why he's romanced everyone from Jessica Simpson to Natalie Portman.

"There's two kinds of men: There are men who are [expletive] misogynist pigs, and then there are men who just really love women, who think they're the most amazing people in the world. And that's me," Levine tells the magazine. "Maybe the reason I was promiscuous, and wanted to sleep with a lot of them, is that I love them so much."

PHOTOS: Hollywood's biggest flirts

Being linked to so many high-profile women might seem like a dream come true for some, but not Levine. "I've always felt a little misrepresented in the world," he says. "I felt like people only knew me as a singer who dated pretty girls. A little bit of a bimbo. Maybe I was kind of a bimbo."

PHOTOS: The Voice mentors, then and now

"I was the music dude that was naked all the time with the girls, and that's fine, no problem with that," he continues. "But I wanted to create a little balance. When 'The Voice' came around, I thought, 'People now know that I have a brain.'"

VIDEO: Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera duet on The Voice

Levine -- who recently split with model Anne Vyalitsyna, his girlfriend of two years -- goes on to say that he's "fiercely independent but also terrified of being alone."

Related TODAY video:

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