As 2012 comes to a close in the United States and people are preparing for celebrating New Years? Eve parties, we should consider the Chinese workers that produce Apple?s products.
In China, workers are usually given a two week Chinese New Year break but according to sources, at least two of Apple?s suppliers will be running through Chinese New Year to meet the high demand of the iPhone 5 and iPad mini.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. will run some of their production lines, while Flexium Interconnect will also keep all of their factories pumping through the New Year.
Also, students will be helping out Flexium Interconnect to help them produce the necessary devices that other countries adore. While it appears that the iPhone 5 supply has finally met demand in the U.S., the iPad mini still continues to be a scarce item to find. Apple?s online store has shrunk the shipping time of the iPad mini to one week earlier this month.
BOSTON (AP) ? Up to a foot of snow fell in parts of southern New England with the latest winter storm to move through the Northeast, national weather forecasters said Sunday.
The storm began Saturday afternoon and ended by Sunday morning, with some power outages but no reports of critical injuries or major property damage. Dry weather was expected for days in southern New England, although strong winds may chill the bones.
Meteorologist Frank Nocera of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., said southern New England appeared to be the hardest hit.
Six to 12 inches of snow fell in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts, including Foxborough where the New England Patriots play. The exception was at Boston and the Cape Cod area where rain was mixed with snow. There two to four inches fell. Many residents lost power after wet snow piled up on power lines.
The storm spread over the Northeast and parts of Ohio on Saturday, just days after the regions were hit by another storm that moved in from the nation's midsection.
New York City and Philadelphia saw a mix of rain and snow, and drivers throughout the regions were warned to be cautious. About 20 vehicles piled up in a storm-related chain-reaction crash on Interstate 93 in New Hampton, N.H., police said, and five people were injured.
Officials lowered the speed limit on much of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, about 300 miles from the Ohio state line to east-central Pennsylvania, from 65 mph to 45 mph. Flights at Philadelphia's airport, mostly arrivals, were delayed about an hour, spokeswoman Stacy Jackson said.
In Albany, N.Y., a regional jet skidded into a snow bank at the airport and became stuck, temporarily stranding passengers en route to Chicago. The 66 passengers and four crew members aboard the GoJet Airlines flight, operating as United Express, were put on a bus and sent back to the airport. There were no injuries, and the incident didn't cause any other flight delays, airport authority spokesman Doug Myers said.
In Ohio, Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati saw about 2 to 5 inches of snow by Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.
BOSTON (AP) ? Up to a foot of snow fell in parts of southern New England with the latest winter storm to move through the Northeast, national weather forecasters said Sunday.
The storm began Saturday afternoon and ended by Sunday morning, with some power outages but no reports of critical injuries or major property damage. Dry weather was expected for days in southern New England, although strong winds may chill the bones.
Meteorologist Frank Nocera of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., said southern New England appeared to be the hardest hit.
Six to 12 inches of snow fell in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts, including Foxborough where the New England Patriots play. The exception was at Boston and the Cape Cod area where rain was mixed with snow. There two to four inches fell. Many residents lost power after wet snow piled up on power lines.
The storm spread over the Northeast and parts of Ohio on Saturday, just days after the regions were hit by another storm that moved in from the nation's midsection.
New York City and Philadelphia saw a mix of rain and snow, and drivers throughout the regions were warned to be cautious. About 20 vehicles piled up in a storm-related chain-reaction crash on Interstate 93 in New Hampton, N.H., police said, and five people were injured.
Officials lowered the speed limit on much of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, about 300 miles from the Ohio state line to east-central Pennsylvania, from 65 mph to 45 mph. Flights at Philadelphia's airport, mostly arrivals, were delayed about an hour, spokeswoman Stacy Jackson said.
In Albany, N.Y., a regional jet skidded into a snow bank at the airport and became stuck, temporarily stranding passengers en route to Chicago. The 66 passengers and four crew members aboard the GoJet Airlines flight, operating as United Express, were put on a bus and sent back to the airport. There were no injuries, and the incident didn't cause any other flight delays, airport authority spokesman Doug Myers said.
In Ohio, Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati saw about 2 to 5 inches of snow by Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Efforts to prevent the economy from tumbling over a "fiscal cliff" stalled on Sunday as Democrats and Republicans remained at loggerheads over a deal that would prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day.
One hour before they had hoped to present a plan, Democratic and Republican Senate leaders said they were still unable to reach a compromise that would stop the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the U.S. economy back into recession.
"There are still serious differences between the two sides," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.
Progress still appeared possible after the two sides narrowed their differences on tax increases and Republicans indicated they would withdraw a contentious proposal to slow the growth of Social Security retirement benefits.
Failure to secure a deal would deliver a heavy blow to the U.S. economy just as it is showing signs of a quicker recovery. Planned tax increases and spending cuts would suck $600 billion out of the economy and again force up unemployment, which had shown signs of improving.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell talked several times to Vice President Joe Biden by phone in the hope of breaking the standstill. "I'm willing to get this done, but I need a dance partner," McConnell said.
Any agreement needs to be rushed through both chambers of Congress before midnight on Monday. But, even if the two sides reach a deal, procedural barriers in the Senate and the House of Representatives make quick action difficult.
Buoyed by his re-election in November, President Barack Obama has insisted that any deal must include a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, who have seen their earnings rise steadily over the past decade at a time when income has stalled for the less affluent.
Many conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives oppose a tax hike on anyone, no matter how wealthy.
The two sides were close to agreeing to raise taxes on households earning around $400,000 or $500,000 a year - higher than Obama's preferred threshold of $250,000 - several senators told reporters.
Republicans aim to pair any tax increase with government spending cuts to benefit programs that are projected to grow ever more expensive as the population ages in coming decades.
But their proposal to slow the growth of Social Security benefits by changing the way they are measured against inflation met fierce resistance from Democrats. Obama included the proposal, known as "chained CPI," in an earlier proposal, but many of his fellow Democrats remain opposed.
'POISON PILL'
"We consider it a poison pill - they know we can't accept it. It is a big step back from where we were on Friday," a Senate Democratic aide said.
Several Senate Republicans said they would support taking that idea out of the discussion. "Most of us agree the chained CPI is off the table in these negotiations," Senator John McCain said on Twitter.
In a rare appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama pressured lawmakers to reach a deal.
"If people start seeing that on January 1st this problem still hasn't been solved... then obviously that's going to have an adverse reaction in the markets," he said, adding that he had offered Republicans significant compromises that had been rejected repeatedly.
Obama said he would try to reverse the tax hikes for most Americans if Congress fails to act.
John Boehner, the House speaker, rejected Obama's accusations that Republicans were not being amenable to compromise.
"The president's comments today are ironic, as a recurring theme of our negotiations was his unwillingness to agree to anything that would require him to stand up to his own party," he said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Jeff Mason, David Lawder, Fred Barbash and Richard Cowan. Writing by Andy Sullivan; editing by Alistair Bell and Jackie Frank)
Posted on December 30, 2012 by dufttuey508 in Internet
If you ever drop by and see an online page, whatever you see on the on line browser is really just a web web page that is downloaded through the world-wide-web server on to your browser. Fundamentally, a web web-site contains most web pages. As well as a website page is essentially composed of texts and graphic images. All of these web content should be saved on the web equipment making sure that via the web customers can head to the web site. That?s why, those that plan to have a fresh online site, you want to host your website over a web site server. Small business which features the online machines to host your site is referred to as web hosting sellers.
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Investing in commercial real estate takes a great deal of effort and time. Yet the rewards can be substantial, outweighing the risks easily. Use these tips in this article carefully to help you succeed.
Be sure to negotiate on the fact of what you are, the seller or buyer. Let people know what you want and make sure you are asking for a realistic price.
Consult with your tax adviser prior to purchasing any commercial real estate property. A tax adviser can tell you what your tax liabilities are on the purchase and future income from it. Utilize the advice given to you by your tax adviser in order to locate a property in an area where your investment will incur the least taxes.
TIP! Know how to get emergency maintenance performed on a property at a moment?s notice. Ask your landlord who is in charge emergency maintenance requests for the building.
Get yourself set up online before you buy any property. These days, a website is a must as are accounts on professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Make sure that you use search engine optimization on your website so that people can find you easily. You want random people to find you through searching on search engines like google. This can increase your customers by a lot.
Standard Lease
Standard lease forms should not be signed lightly. Sometimes, a long lease contains not only standard lease clauses, but extra agreements that the real estate company sneaked into the lease without discussing with you. By reading the lease in full, you will be protecting your organization from potential problems in the future.
TIP! Find the right financing company first. Getting a commercial loan is quite different than getting a loan for a home.
There are real estate brokers who deal exclusively with commercial investments. Real estate agents will work with landlords and tenants, but there are also some that only work with tenants. You may benefit from using a broker who works exclusively with tenants, due to the singular focus.
Keep in mind that the size of a property can be very important if you?re the owner of a growing business. Look into properties that will allow your business to grow, otherwise you will be purchasing a new space in a couple of years.
Pro Forma
TIP! You need to understand that each property has for itself, a lifetime. If you don?t realize that eventually you are going to have to put money into the property for maintenance or repairs, you will be very disappointed when that times and the associated bills come.
You need to do this so that all terms match the pro forma, and also the rent roll. If you don?t read over these terms, you may find something that?s not the rent roll and it could change your pro forma.
Set up your own blog to establish yourself as an expert in your field. This can help you find people to buy what you have for sale or even those who will lease space.
Be sure to consider any kinds of environmental problems. You don?t want to start off with any problems that could?ve been prevented. As owner of the property, you must be willing and able to address these concerns, regardless of whether you were directly responsible for them.
TIP! As with other property purchases, pay attention to the three Ls: location, location, and location. Neighborhood is important, even when you are looking at commercial property.
If you are new to investing in real estate, spend some time surfing online resources that house information that seasoned investors use. There is no such thing as having too much knowledge, so it is always a good idea to learn as much as you can.
Know your goals for a potential property when you are buying commercial real estate. Do you plan to have your own company on the premises? Do you plan to lease it? Have goals that are specific and clear before going to look at properties, and you will save yourself effort, time and money.
An honest broker should be willing to answer questions about how they earn their money. Their answer should be discussed openly. Get an understanding of why they are in business and what they can do for you.
TIP! Take digital photographs of the unit. Each photograph should clearly depict the point of contention, whether that happens to be a stain, hole or other problem.
Don?t underestimate your relationship with private lenders or investors when you buy commercial real estate. For example, many commercial properties that are sold are unlisted, so having many people in your own network can help you know more and get inside scoops on some great deals.
Commercial Real Estate
As was stated near the beginning of this article, you can reap serious rewards from investing in commercial real estate. Make sure to follow the advice in this article in order to avoid traps and succeed with commercial real estate.
TIP! In order to find a reputable real estate broker who is going to suit your needs, ask your preferred choices some questions, including their idea of what constitutes a success and a failure. Ask the person what criteria is used to gauge the success of results.
This year the Star Wars franchise was sold, Nintendo released a new console, and gamers got to kill a zombie President. Does that make it a good year? You tell me.
Check out this video, from the author of the webcomics Domics, which looks back at 2012 in gaming, with a little tongue-in-cheek humor.
Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican congressman from New York who was voted into office in the 2010 Tea Party election, has come out in favor of repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and guaranteeing federal recognition of all legal marriages performed in the states.
?New York State allows all its citizens the freedom to marry the person they love,? he said. ?Under the Tenth Amendment, the federal government has a Constitutional responsibility to respect New York?s right to set its own laws. It?s my job to see that it does.
?It is right to extend equal protection under federal law to all couples who are legally married without infringing upon religious freedom and beliefs,? Hanna continued. ?This legislation does not tell states who can be married or who must be treated as married, nor does it require any religious institution to violate their own convictions.
?I respect the deeply held beliefs on both sides of this issue,? he said. ?The simple fact remains that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all legally married couples are treated equally under federal law ? and this bill would achieve that proper standard.?
He is the second Republican member of the House to do so, following Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.
With social networking and other electronic communications making employees' actions and attitudes more visible than ever to employers, it's clear that a big change in the relationship between work and private life is well underway. Yet little research has been undertaken to understand organizations' use of that information, or how the potential for increased monitoring and surveillance is perceived by workers. My colleagues Dr Brian Cooper from Monash University and Dr Rob Hecker from the University of Tasmania and I have just conducted a survey to understand workers' awareness of employer policies and the current state of what they consider to be fair and reasonable. We polled a random sample of 500 working people in our own country, Australia.
Of particular interest to us was the realm of social media. It is clear enough why employers might want to monitor employees' activities on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These can be real distractions with a negative impact on productivity. Indeed, our survey revealed that, among the many employees who access social media sites while at work, only 14% claim that use is purely work-related. Many more, 42%, say their at-work use of social media is solely for personal purposes. (Another 44% say it is both personal and work-related.) There can also be reputational damage when employees clearly affiliated with organizations share their opinions and behaviors so publicly, and even leakage of information valuable to competitors.
Yet the issues raised when employers gain information from social media and other online activity are legion. Begin with the fact that this information is housed on external sites, not the organization's proprietary systems. Certainly these sites hold different kinds of data than employers have collected before. To what extent does an employer have the right to make use of this new font of information?
Given the potential for misunderstandings and misuse, it is surprising to discover how unconcerned the typical worker seems to be. Asked whether it was appropriate for employers to monitor the web sites visited by employees, fully 78% thought it was. This makes internet activity monitoring the most acceptable of the various forms of surveillance we asked respondents to consider.
Regarding employees' ability to see what discoveries are noted in their "personnel files," 72% of respondents report that they understand their rights on this important issue. However, this also means that more than a quarter of employees (28%) do not. More significantly, only a little over half (51%) are aware of how their employer uses the personal information they hold, and only 53% know who in the organization has access to it. Nonetheless, 62% are "not at all" concerned about the use and disclosure of personal information by their employer, and a further 20% are only "a little" concerned.
Perhaps this accounts for the seeming lack of demand for policies to be clearly communicated. While a majority (57%) report that their organizations have written privacy policies or statements for employees, 23% say they do not, and 20% do not know. And on the subject of internet usage policies, 35% of respondents say their organizations do not have a policy on internet use and another 24% say a policy exists but it has not been provided to them to review?so that 59% of those surveyed are in the dark about their organization's expectations.
Employees' use of social networks to communicate about their personal and professional lives can only be expected to increase?and increasingly, we can expect this to become an area of conflict. Policies and knowledge of the issues around privacy at work do not appear to be as common or comprehensive as we might expect.
What better time than now to sound a wakeup call? The festive season is upon us, a time when people traditionally let their hair down. Employees need to be more aware than ever that a careless tweet, photo, or comment on their social website could have major ramifications when they return to work in the new year. And as for employers, there may be no better resolution you could make than deciding to develop, revisit, or update your social media policy.
Looking to see if anyone is interested in a OnexOne roleplay set into the future. I'm looking for someone who is creative enough to keep the RP alive and is a more advanced writer. Looking for a female character.
Here's a short little overview:
New Tokyo, Japan || Year 2113
Throughout the years Japan has managed to brutally shape itself into the country it is today, its history littered with blood, tears, and deceptions that lay buried underneath the rubble of old cities, old lives, and even older traditions. Technology advances and the people along with it, governments fall and new powers take over. Humans are constantly in motion, adapting without realizing they?ve lost the control over their own lives. Japan was no different than the rest. It wasn?t until after the third great war of 2062 that Japan came cracking down on its citizens, empowering police forces with more power than was deserved- power that easily corrupted and took over. Things changed, more laws were passed and the power to the people became almost nonexistent. A.W.O [Armortech Warfare Organization] was the economic powerhouse that fixed Japan from its slump after the war. A.W.O became law. And with new laws, came law breakers.
The first anti-A.W.O group was known as The Resistance. In the beginning they had been made up of a small group of maybe 30 individuals who were infamous for their violent acts of protests, which often included flooding the streets with riots, vandalism, and other small scale crimes that A.W.O took with a grain of salt. The Resistance was nothing but a band of thugs at first, they were careless, stupid, and nothing that A.W.O officers couldn't handle. The Resistance and its members had slowly begun to get picked off one by one, A.W.O was written all over the 'mysterious' deaths. They would have been completely wiped out if it wasn't for their sudden change in leadership. Akito Higurashi, Codename: Ocean. The rumors were that he had transferred from The Underground, an elite group that was so low profile that it was almost a myth.
In a matter of months, Ocean became one of the most infamous names known to A.W.O - It was no suprise that all information on him was hidden from the public and stored away in a document labled 'Top Secret'. He became the most wanted man in all of Japan, but nobody knew who he was.
Not yet.
So basically, the plot of the entire story will be that Ocean will be captured and held in an A.W.O holding facility until further questioning. Prior to his capture, an A.W.O special operative will be diagnosed with a disease that has a 80% rate of being fatal and killing the patient within months of being diagnosed.This special operative will then kind of go over the deep end and eventually let Ocean free as long as he promises to take her with him because she wants to live the rest of her life breaking the rules since she has always been one to follow them. Then their adventure begins and they go through all sorts of crazy obstacles and most likely will turn into a romance.
Here is another overview of the events that took place before Ocean's capture:
Ocean (My Character)
Neon signs flickered on and off in a struggle to stay alive, their dim light being the only source of illumination in the dilapidated and dark alley way. An overcast of thick fog hung over the tops of the nearly abandoned buildings, the smoke seeming to crawl down the sides of the old apartments and motels, until it touched the streets where it lingered like a ghost. In an almost dead part of town, four armor clad shadows stood near the outskirts of an apartment, so still that they could have be mistaken for statues if it weren?t for the faint rise and fall of their chests and the shift of lids over eyes that scanned every crack and crevice on the building in front of them.
They were waiting, waiting for a sign that what they have been looking for was in that building, waiting for a movement- a pulse. White noise changed to static in the headphones they all wore before a voice broke through, alerting them to the task at hand.
?He?s there.?
Not one hesitated as they sprung into action, years of training making them the fastest and the most battle ready. Feet shuffled and the sound of metal armor scraping against itself could be heard against the silence of the night, no doubt alerting the target inside. The head of command laid one swift kick to the apartment door, the hinges giving way at the powerful blow. They stormed in with a fury, weapons in hand and locked on the target that sat smirking almost idly on a ripped and torn couch at the corner of the room.
Weapons clicked into place. ?Target 5470D, confirmed.?
The A.W.O Operative (Female Character)
There was barely a sound in the polished office, save for the ocasional click of a pen and the rustling of paperwork. The restless silence hung down like lead, but it was soon interrupted by quick steps in the hallway just outside, and a young woman pushing through the heavy oak doors into the large room. Dressed in regulation military fatigues for respite, a faint blue light glowed through her white tank top all along her spine.
"First Lieutenant _____." she saluted briefly, "You wanted to see me, Major General, sir?"
"At ease." the man at the desk rolled his eyes at the feigned politeness, remaining slouched in his desk chair, staring over at the young woman pensively, "They're making you Captain, kiddo," he finally stated, "That stunt you pulled, managing to find Ocean, impressed them to the shits."
"I didn't do anything," the young woman grumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her cameo pockets and shrugging her shoulders absently, "Bain's unit captured him."
The General snorted, "Bain couldn't find his hand at the end of his arm, let alone a needle in a haystack."
The young woman shrugged again, earning herself a glare from the older man, "Look, kid, point is, you're going to shut up, get over your issues, work with a team, and for god's sake, you'll try to smile when they hand you your new insignia."
A twitch appeared at the corner of the newly appointed Captain's mouth, and her lips curled into a semblance of a grin, looking more like she was baring her teeth than anything else.
"Is that all, sir?" she huffed.
"Yea," the General sighed, "Well, no. Your doc's here."
The young woman narrowed her eyes, but did not protest (verbally anyway) and merely watched with undisguised hostility as a man in a white lab coat joined them in the office.
It really was too bad, she briefly thought, as she might have liked the man, if he didn't have the nasty habit of sticking sharp objects into her automail of a spinal chord with alarming frequency.
"I'm not due for a fitting for another two weeks," she stated suspiciously. The two men shared uncomfortable glances, and the doctor finally broke the newfound silence, clearing his throat and gesturing for the young woman to have a seat. She shook her head, causing a grimace to stretch the young doctor's lips.
"Well, you see miss..." he began, interrupted at once by a lifted palm, "/Captain/," the girl rectified with a raised eyebrow, daring him to continue.
"Very well, Captain, I've had time to look over your scans from last week, and I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
The rest of the speech seemed drowned out by the blood rushing through the Captain's ears. She heard words like fatal, terminal, organ failure, but they meant nothing to her. Death? Was this rat of a man was rambling on about now? She was going to die? Well, of course, she had always expected to die. But certainly not now. Certainly not like this. Certainly not slowly and agonizingly for no good cause at all.
Through the haze, she caught on the gist of the problem: the surgery from two years prior had been an innovation. She had been lucky enough to get out of it on her own two feet. Her spinal chord had been so badly damaged, that the surgeons had been forced to either give up, or attempt a graft.
She had been given the spinal chord of a dead comrade, to replace the nerves endings crushed beneath the broken bones. A series of automail pieces running on isotopic technology had served as replacement for the bone themselves.
And now, it appeared that the graft was taking over her own nervous system. It certainly explained the so-called 'antibiotics' she had been forced to ingest daily. Those, she now learned, had held back the graft's progress, but her body and its foreign object had both grown accustomed and impervious to them, building a high tolerance for the now-useless medicine.
The graft would slowly gain control over her entire body, and, combined with an unaccesible (and therefore unrepairable) leak in her automail, she was guaranteed a drawn-out and painful death, poisoned by the very thing that had saved her life.
Well, drawn out was relative. Three months, the doctor said. A few more if she came to the hospital with them. A few less if she stubbornly continued to out-do herself. They could make it painless for her, they said. Medication and painkillers and a soft bed. No more work. She was promoted. She could enjoy the raise, yelling at new recruits and generally taking things easy.
It all felt a bit too much like pity to her. Painless? Sit behind a desk? The young women clenched her fists as she nodded blindly, no longer listening. Screw that. She was going down with a fight, on the field, out there, doing... doing something, though she didn't quite know what.
She'd figure it out.
She had three months.
So yeah! If you are interested please let me know. Also, I'm really new to this site so I am still getting used to how everything works.
It?s that happy time of year again when everyone writes out their list of New Year?s resolutions. It?s time to start fresh and work to make our lives as happy and healthy as possible. If you need some inspiration to get your list started, here are some iPhone apps to make the task easier. Happy New Year!
Setting your New Year?s resolutions is the easy part, but keeping that positive attitude all year long in order to achieve your goals that is tricky. Start each of 2013 off with a positive attitude when you get the I Can Do It 2013 Calendar iPhone app from Louise L. Hay ($2.99). Each day you will get affirmations and new words of wisdoms to keep you on the right track all year long. Like a particular affirmation? Save it as your phone wallpaper to be reminded of positive thoughts all day long.
Would you like to start the New Year with more energy? Join the club. The free Juice iPhone app is ready to help you on your road to well-being. Use the Juice app to track your daily activity in order to maximize your energy sources. It doesn?t take a lot of time, just a few minutes a day with Juice to log and analyze what works best over time. The app also gives healthy tips for managing stress and sleep patterns. This is a simple app that will help almost anyone stick to at least one resolution in 2013.
Planning your weekly to-do list just got a whole lot easier with the Sooner: to do list and weekly planner app for iPhone. If your resolution involves getting more done, then this productive app is perfect for you. Sooner is great for people who like to visualize their time versus just writing a few tasks on sticky notes. Set up projects for your resolutions and manage them in your life spheres on a daily basis. The sooner you get this iPhone app, the sooner you will be on the road to productivity. Maybe you will even get promoted at work or at least impress your boss!
After an expensive holiday season, most people can afford to get their finances in order. Check out the Bdgt iPhone app to create a simple plan to save money this year. Bdgt helps you track where your money is going and set doable allowances so all your money doesn?t run out the door with your bad habits like too many cocktail hours or overly expensive work lunches.
So we made it through the Mayan apocalypse, but that doesn?t mean the zombies aren?t still coming for us. If you want to get in shape in 2013 and prepare for a real life ?The Walking Dead? scenario, then look no further than the Zombies, Run! iPhone app. It?s a mixture of fitness, video game, and training for potential doomsdays. Plus, you will get a real kick out of the looks you get when you run down the streets yelling ?The Zombies are coming! The Zombies are coming!?
The number of large US corporations with a climate, energy strategy has soared in the past five years, a new survey says. Customers, employees are the two major forces pushing change.
By David J. Unger,?Correspondent / December 26, 2012
L'Oreal Professionnel lead stylist Joseph DiMaggio preps hair backstage at the Spring 2013 Timo Weiland runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in September in New York. L'Oreal scored in the top five in Climate Counts's scorecard of major corporations because of its efforts to save energy and reduce its impact on the planet.
Charles Sykes/Invision for L'Oreal Professionnel/AP Images/File
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Minimizing waste. Reducing emissions. Conserving water. Increasingly, these are part of corporate culture as companies move to adopt sustainable business practices.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Five years ago, a quarter of corporations surveyed by Climate Counts had a publicly available climate and energy strategy. Now, two-thirds do, says the nonprofit, which ranks major companies. And in that time, their average score has improved from 30.6 to 52.1 out of 100.
"It's really become a science, almost," says Mike Bellamente, director of Climate Counts. "As recently as 10 years ago it was more compliance-based and philanthropic, and now it's, 'How do we develop our products and services in a way that aligns with sustainability?' "
The findings reflect the emergence of the "triple bottom line" ? an expanded interpretation of business success that adds environmental and social factors to what is traditionally measured only in dollars and cents.
Customers are the top group driving corporate sustainability, according to 37 percent of sustainability executives who responded to a 2011 Ernst & Young survey. Employees were second (22 percent), followed by shareholders (15 percent), and policymakers and nongovernmental organizations (7 percent apiece).
"In a lot of ways the market said, 'The heck with Washington; we're going to move ourselves,' " says Kevin Wilhelm, chief executive officer of Sustainable Business Consulting, a Seattle-based consulting firm.
The shift is also qualitative, experts say, as discussions of environmental responsibility move from the compliance office to the boardroom.
"Before, you had your business and then you had a bolt-on environmental project on the side. Triple bottom line is about incorporating it into how you do business," Mr. Wilhelm says.
Take L'Or?al's biomethanation plant in Libramont, Belgium. It uses local agricultural waste to power the factory as well as an additional 4,000 households in the area, says the cosmetics giant, which ranked in the top five on Climate Counts's scorecard.
A new line of jeans from Levi Strauss & Co., Waste<Less, will incorporate an average of eight 12- to 20-ounce recycled plastic bottles per pair of jeans, according to the apparel company, which also ranked highly on the scorecard.
Still, there is always room for improvement.
"There's evidence that firms are taking this seriously, but at the same time, does that go far enough to ameliorate our environmental problems?" asks Mike Lenox, president of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, a consortium of academic institutions.
As consumers vote with their dollars, investments, and workplace decisions, corporations seem to be listening.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) ? Samantha Grossman wasn't always thrilled with the impression that emerged when people Googled her name.
"It wasn't anything too horrible," she said. "I just have a common name. There would be pictures, college partying pictures, that weren't of me, things I wouldn't want associated with me."
So before she graduated from Syracuse University last spring, the school provided her with an online tool that allowed her to put her best Web foot forward. Now when people Google her, they go straight to a positive image ? professional photo, cum laude degree and credentials ? that she credits with helping her land a digital advertising job in New York.
"I wanted to make sure people would find the actual me and not these other people," she said.
Syracuse, Rochester, and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore are among the universities that offer such online tools to their students free of charge, realizing ill-considered Web profiles of drunken frat parties, prank videos and worse can doom graduates to a lifetime of unemployment ? even if the pages are somebody else's with the same name.
It's a growing trend based on studies showing that most employers Google prospective hires and nearly all of them won't bother to go past the first page of results. The online tools don't eliminate the embarrassing material, they just put the graduate's most flattering, professional profile front and center.
"These students have been comfortable with the intimate details of their lives on display since birth," said Lisa Severy, president-elect of the National Career Development Association and director of career services at the University of Colorado-Boulder, which does not offer the service.
"The first item on our 'five things to do before you graduate' list is 'clean up your online profile,'" she said. "We call it the grandma test ? if you don't want her to see it, you probably don't want an employer to, either."
After initially supplying BrandYourself accounts to graduating seniors, Syracuse University this year struck a deal with the company ? begun by a trio of alumni ? to offer accounts to all of its undergraduate and graduate students and alumni at no additional charge. About 25,000 people have access to it so far.
"It's becoming more and more important for students to be aware of and able to manage their online presence, to be able to have strong, positive things come up on the Internet when someone seeks them out," said Mike Cahill, Syracuse's career services director.
Online reputation repair companies have been around for at least a couple of years, often charging hundreds or thousands of dollars a year to arrange for good results on search engine result pages. BrandYourself, which normally charges $10 a month for an account, launched two years ago as a less expensive, do-it-yourself alternative after co-founder Pete Kistler ran into a problem with his own name.
"He couldn't get an internship because he was getting mistaken for a drug dealer with the same name," said co-founder Patrick Ambron. "He couldn't even get calls back and found out that was the problem."
An April survey of 2,000 hiring managers from CareerBuilder found nearly two in five companies use social networking sites to research job candidates and 11 percent said they planned to start. A third of the hiring managers who said they research candidates reported finding something like a provocative photo or evidence of drinking or drug use that cost the candidate a job.
"We want our students and alumni actively involved in shaping their online presence," said Johns Hopkins Career Center Director Mark Presnell. Students are encouraged to promote positive, professional content that's easily found by employers, he said.
BrandYourself works by analyzing search terms in a user's online profile to determine, for example, that a LinkedIn account might rank 25th on Google searches of the user's name. The program then suggests ways to boost that ranking. The software also provides alerts when an unidentified result appears on a user's first page or if any links rise or fall significantly in rank.
Nati Katz, a public relations strategist, views his presence online as a kind of virtual storefront that he began carefully tending while in graduate school at Syracuse.
Google his name and up pops his LinkedIn page with a listing of the jobs he's held in digital media and the "500+ connections" badge of honor. His Facebook account is adorned with Katz smiling over an elegant Thanksgiving dinner table. There are a couple of professional profiles and his Tumblr link, one after another on the first page of results and all highlighting his professional experience.
Before his 2011 graduation, he took the university up on its offer of the BrandYourself account and said it gave him a leg up with potential employers and internship supervisors.
"Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with anything negative under my profile," said Katz, who used the reputation website BrandYourself.com while pursuing dual degrees in public relations and international affairs. "What I was trying to form was really a nice, clean, neat page, very professional."
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Considering a home improvement project? Before you begin, safeguard yourself against disaster by learning as much as possible about your chosen plan of action. You should learn as much as you can in advance of the project you want to implement. The article below has ways that can help.
Do you feel a draft in your home? Using air as insulation is now possible. Air? Sounds strange, doesn?t it? This kind of insulation is not unlike the bubble wrap used to pack products for shipping. Air is pre-pumped into the cushions, which are then attached to your home?s walls and ceilings. This is an affordable option to insulate a drafty home.
There are many boring lampshades with no zest. Get cheap stencils at the crafts store, an ink pad or acrylic paint, and try dabbing the designs around the shade. By doing this, you will give your house a better look with more personality.
New light fixtures can brighten up bathrooms or kitchens on a budget. Track lights may be switched for lights that are sharper; these can be put in by a professional for under a grand. Try installing pendant fixtures in your kitchen.
There are many inexpensive projects that can add value to your home. You can add to the looks of your home by getting a new doorbell. People visiting your home will immediately notice your nice new doorbell.
When you are making exterior improvements, be sure to add a coat of paint and some decks. These are improvements that always add to the value of your home. A deck is a multi-purpose space. It can be used to entertain friends or relatives, or can serve as a place to relax with some bottled water after a hard day?s work.
When pre-planning your project, define a space where you are comfortable to place the resulting debris. Demolition can make quite a mess, and you will need a space for it. Your project will go more smoothly (and be safer to work on!) if you set aside a place for debris in advance instead of letting it pile up and get in the way.
Make sure to use granite tiles instead of slab when you make home improvements. A countertop slab costs more than $5,000. If you wish to use the tiles, they?re only about $300. Tiles will provide the look of granite you want for a sliver of the price.
Prior to starting an interior painting project, be sure and run a damp cloth on all walls and baseboards to get rid of dirt, grime and dust. Doing this will help the paint to properly adhere to your walls, and may even save you the trouble of applying an extra coat of paint.
Use the information you learned here to make the most of your home improvements. You can turn your home into your ideal residence with a little effort and know-how.
Rhonda Morin is the owner of MyInteriorDecorator.com and loves helping others decorate the home of their dreams through her articles, tips and tricks on her blog and through her store at http://myinteriordecorator.com/store. Rhonda wrote an ebook all about decorating your home so you can do it yourself. � This knowledge comes from thousands of homes decorated and years of perfecting her skill. � She gives this all to you in her book The Decorating Bible.
NEW YORK ? Rajon Rondo lost his cool, and any chance at history, in the second quarter when Boston last met Brooklyn.
This time, the second period featured some of the best basketball the Celtics have played this season.
Rondo scored 19 points in his first full game against the Nets this season, and the Celtics won 93-76 on Tuesday in another game with some heated moments between the division rivals.
Rondo, sidelined in the first meeting and thrown out of the second after shoving Nets forward Kris Humphries into the courtside seats, outplayed counterpart Deron Williams and helped the Celtics take control early.
"We moved the ball; we rebounded the ball," Rondo said. "They beat us pretty bad on the glass, so tonight we did an exceptional job on the glass, taking care of the defensive rebounds, and we got stops."
A month after the teams scuffled in Boston, there was another skirmish in the fourth quarter that resulted in four technical fouls. But that was the most fight the Nets put up in a disappointing performance on the national stage of the Christmas opener. They were never in the game after the first 20 minutes, and their fans headed to the exits with under 2 minutes left as a "Let's go Celtics!" chant broke out.
"It was a big game for us. It was a division rival. We were ready for a big game. It just didn't happen," Williams said.
Rookie Jared Sullinger tied a career high with 16 points and Jeff Green had 15 for the Celtics (14-13), who avoided falling under .500 with just their second victory in six games.
The Celtics took control with a 23-5 run in the second quarter of the opener of their four-game road trip. They had 11 assists on 13 baskets and outscored the Nets 34-18 in the period after dropping the previous two meetings.
"It was good to get off to this start. It was good to finally play from start to finish, especially with the way we've been playing against Brooklyn," said Paul Pierce, who had just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. "So it was a well-balanced game, but I'm happy with the start of the trip."
Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez each scored 15 for the Nets, who have lost four of five. Struggling to find anything that worked, they played Lopez and fellow center Andray Blatche together with three guards at one point, but Brooklyn shot just 41 percent and committed 20 turnovers that led to 25 points.
Williams had only 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting and Joe Johnson, his partner in a high-priced backcourt, shot 4 of 14 for his 12 points.
"This one hurts. We didn't play our game. They beat us from the opening tip," Wallace said. "We didn't make shots. We turned the ball over too easy. Our defense just wasn't there tonight. We were not ourselves tonight."
Boston's Kevin Garnett had eight points and 10 rebounds on the day he tied Charles Oakley for 15th place on the NBA's career list with his 1,282nd game. He was also front and center when things got testy.
Wallace was fouled with 9:31 remaining and appeared to hold onto Garnett's uniform to balance himself and not fall. Garnett was fine with that but then objected to how long Wallace hung on to his shorts, and they said something to each other as they tried to push themselves free. That led to technical fouls on the two, along with Blatche and Courtney Lee.
Garnett said he asked Wallace what he was doing but got no response.
"I don't know where in America you can (yank) somebody's pants off, or shorts off. I don't know what the hell was going on," Garnett said.
Sullinger delivered a flagrant foul on Wallace a few minutes later, but there was nothing further.
In the Nets' Nov. 28 victory in Boston, Rondo, Humphries and Wallace were ejected.
It was the second quarter of that game where things got away from the Celtics, and Rondo's frustrations soon followed when he shoved Humphries after the Nets forward fouled Garnett. That ruined the point guard's chance to extend what was then a 37-game streak with double-digit assists, tied for second-longest ever, by finishing with three. He had five assists and six rebounds Tuesday.
This time, the second period belonged to the guys in green.
With the Celtics down three, Green had six points in a 10-0 run that made it 36-29. After Johnson's basket, Boston answered with a 13-3 spurt. Jason Terry made a 3-pointer before Rondo converted a three-point play to push the Celtics' lead to 49-34 with 3:56 to go.
The Celtics opened a 21-point lead early in the third quarter and cruised from there. Terry finished with 11 points.
Notes: As with everyone playing on Christmas, players, coaches and referees wore green ribbons in tribute to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School. ... Humphries was out with an abdominal strain and will be re-evaluated after the Nets return from Milwaukee. He had mostly been a starter but then didn't play at all Sunday against Philadelphia. ... Feeling Avery Bradley isn't ready yet, Celtics coach Doc Rivers decided not to bring the guard on the road trip so he can continue working his way back from shoulder surgery in Boston. Rivers said the shoulder is strong but that Bradley has had only 2 1/2 practices.
Posted by mikaza on December 25, 2012 in Finance | Short Link
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Most internet marketing experts are excellent at generating traffic. And one reason that they are excellent is that they pay ALOT for the traffic that they do get. Now I?m not talking about a $100 advertising budget.
I?m talking about a $10,000 advertising budget, and MORE.
You can generate lots of traffic to your website also if you know that right ways to do it. Getting traffic is essential to your online business, and it?s a very important part of your online business success. If you can?t get traffic, you won?t get alot of sales. And without alot of sales, your business will fail very quickly.
In today?s lesson, I want to share some insights on how you can get traffic to your website the smart way. You have paid advertising and free marketing that you can choose from. Both can be extremely profitable for you. In fact, here?s the first way to get traffic to your website:
1) Run radio ads
If you?re an expert at you do, and you have identified a niche that has a pressing problem that needs to be solved, you should do any and everything that you can to go after this market. You will want to expand your marketing reach dramatically. And even though your business is online, you can still run radio ads and lead people back to your site.
Make sure you clearly state your website address. If there are any ?dashes? in your domain name, make sure to mention also. In fact, you will even want to spell it out for them just so they get it and understand it.
This way people can understand how to spell it when they type your domain name into their internet browser. Here?s another way that you can drive traffic to your website:
2) Podcasts
Podcasts are easy to make, and are free. With radio ads, you have to pay for a segment and you only have a minute or two to state your message. With a podcast, you can make it as long as you want, and have people download it from iTunes or your blog automatically. You will want to get set up with a service called ?Feedburner? if you?re going to pursue podcasting.
And the same thing applies with radio ads. When it comes time for you to state your website address, make sure you clearly state what it is, how to spell it, and to mention it at the beginning of the podcast and at the end. Podcasting is very popular and people will visit iTunes all the time just to hear your podcast.
These 2 traffic generation tips are things that are very simple and easy to do. Running radio ads will cost money, but you can reach so many people with a simple ad, and in return, get hundreds or even thousands of visitors to your website within a short period of time. I personally think that you should use both in your marketing arsenal today.
Good luck with using these 2 strategies to get more traffic to your website.
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Hot chocolate, warm clothes, and wrapped presents under a tree, ?tis once again the season to be jolly! We are familiar enough with the holidays as they are now; but what might Christmas be like in 50 years?
Of course it's impossible to predict with 100% accuracy how life will change in the next half century, but if we track today's exponentially-advancing technologies; and then add some creative possibilities, we can project a plausible scenario of what it might be like living in our high-tech wonderworld of 2062.
Humanity has much to be thankful for as we trek through the 21st Century. By 2040, scientists have unraveled many of the mysteries surrounding consciousness, which some believe will one day lead to mind-enhancement systems that lower crime rates and reduce violence, making the world a safer place.
Changes are everywhere in 2062. Driverless cars whisk us about; and stem cells, DNA editing and nanobots keep us forever healthy and youthful. Robot servants have become the most popular home acquisition; but Christmas is still our favorite time of year for socializing and exchanging gifts with friends.
Nanotechnology may help the world become a better place in 2062. Powered by personal nanofactories that help create a scarcity-free lifestyle, these nanowonders are slashing the rich-poor gap in developed nations, fighting poverty in third-world countries, and offering the beginnings of a peaceful 'global village'.
Gifts topping Santa's list include interactive 'smart' toys that come alive on voice command and virtual reality systems that provide experiences beyond our wildest dreams. For that special person who has everything, a two-week vacation at the Mars Space Colony can be purchased for $250,000.
Launched in 2050, the space elevator slashed costs of getting people into orbit. The SE has become the prime driver in the booming space tourism industry. Orbit access is now only an elevator ride away.
Trips to space hotels and space amusement parks cost $2,000-$5,000; Moon excursions, $10,000. In addition, faster-than-light hyper-drive ships can now reach the Moon in one hour, Mars in just five hours.
Virtual reality provides irresistible experiences. Neuro-bots enter our mind and replace normal input with software that creates breathtaking simulations of the program requested ? indiscernible from reality.
Entering a Holodeck-like recreation facility, people voice selections for a desired theme, such as a romantic fantasy, winning a 19th-Century American West gunfight, or any other bold scenario that one's mind can conjure up. Simulated adventures have become the rage for entertainment buffs worldwide.
Homes have changed too. Windows and doors can alter their shape, color and location, allowing fresh air and light where needed. Satellites provide house ID via Wi-Fi/thought technology; street addresses no longer necessary. Mind scans restrict access to family and guests, ending the need for locks and keys.
Turkey remains the favorite holiday dish in 2062, but messy food preparation has disappeared. Nano-replicators provide perfect meals that include the exact nutrient requirements for each family member.
With voice command, mom selects the food, which is then served by the household robot. Mom, Dad, Daughter, and Son sit down to eat. Although they live on different continents, all four Grandmas and Grandpas appear as lifelike holograms, and join the festivities for the traditional yuletide toast.
After dinner, the moment has finally arrived ? "let's open presents," Dad says. With a shriek of joy, Daughter opens her gift, a Barbie Doll resembling a mini-human with soft skin and a likable personality. Programmed to require love and attention, the intelligent robo-doll quickly snuggles up to its new owner.
Next, the Son opens his gift, Animal Reality, a 'smart' toy made of nano-components that can change into any animal imagined by its owner. Built-in safeguards prevent creating harmful or illegal objects.
Will the future unfold in this upbeat way? Clearly, the road to 2062 winds around unknown turns, but strong demands for technology improvements drives this vision forward. Happy holidays, everyone; I wish all of my readers the happiest of futures ? in today's world and tomorrow's!
New data challenge old views about evolution of early lifePublic release date: 23-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala iqbal@ucr.edu 951-827-6050 University of California - Riverside
UC Riverside-led research team rules out zinc as a factor in the delayed diversification of single-celled and multicellular organisms
RIVERSIDE, Calif. A research team led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside has tested a popular hypothesis in paleo-ocean chemistry, and proved it false.
The fossil record indicates that eukaryotes single-celled and multicellular organisms with more complex cellular structures compared to prokaryotes, such as bacteria show limited morphological and functional diversity before 800-600 million years ago. Many researchers attribute the delayed diversification and proliferation of eukaryotes, which culminated in the appearance of complex animals about 600 million years ago, to very low levels of the trace metal zinc in seawater.
As it is for humans, zinc is essential for a wide range of basic cellular processes. Zinc-binding proteins, primarily located in the cell nucleus, are involved in the regulation of gene transcription.
Eukaryotes have increasingly incorporated zinc-binding structures during the last third of their evolutionary history and still employ both early- and late-evolving zinc-binding protein structures. Zinc is, therefore, of particular importance to eukaryotic organisms. And so it is not a stretch to blame the 1-2-billion-year delay in the diversification of eukaryotes on low bioavailability of this trace metal.
But after analyzing marine black shale samples from North America, Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe, ranging in age from 2.7 billion years to 580 million years old, the researchers found that the shales reflect high seawater zinc availability and that zinc concentrations during the Proterozoic (2.5 billion to 542 million years ago) were similar to modern concentrations. Zinc, the researchers posit, was never biolimiting.
Study results appear online Dec. 23 in Nature Geoscience.
"We argue that the concentration of zinc in ancient marine black shales is directly related to the concentrations of zinc in seawater and show that zinc is abundant in these rocks throughout Earth's history," said Clint Scott, the first author of the research paper and a former UC Riverside graduate student. "We found no evidence for zinc biolimitation in seawater."
Scott, now a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explained that the connection between zinc limitation and the evolution of eukaryotes was based largely on the hypothesis that Proterozoic oceans were broadly sulfidic. Under broadly sulfidic conditions, zinc should have been scarce because it would have rapidly precipitated in the oceans, he explained.
"However, a 2011 research paper in Nature also published by our group at UCR demonstrated that Proterozoic oceans were more likely broadly ferruginous that is, low in oxygen and iron-rich and that sulfidic conditions were more restricted than previously thought," said Scott, who performed the research in the lab of Timothy Lyons, a professor of biogeochemistry and the principal investigator of the research project.
The research team argues that ferruginous deep oceans, combined with large hydrothermal fluxes of zinc via volcanic activity on the seafloor, maintained high levels of dissolved zinc throughout the oceans and provided a relatively stable marine reservoir of the trace metal over the past 2.7 billion years.
"The key challenge in understanding the early evolution of life is recognizing the environmental conditions under which that life first appeared and diversified," Lyons said. "We have taken a very direct approach that specifically tracks the availability of essential micronutrients, and, to our surprise, zinc supplies in ancient seawater were much higher and less variable than previously imagined.
"We can imagine for the first time," he quipped, "that zinc supplements were not on the shopping lists of our early eukaryotic ancestors, and so we better find another reason to explain the mysterious delay in their rise in the ocean."
###
Scott, who graduated with a doctoral degree in geological sciences from UCR in 2009, and Lyons were joined in the study by Noah J. Planavsky, a former UCR graduate student in Lyons' lab; Chris L. Dupont at the J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, Calif.; Brian Kendall and Ariel D. Anbar at Arizona State University; Benjamin C. Gill at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and also a former member of the Lyons lab; Leslie J. Robbins and Kurt O. Konhauser at the University of Alberta, Canada; Kathryn F. Husband and Simon W. Poulton at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Gail L. Arnold at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany; Boswell A. Wing at McGill University, Canada; and Andrey Bekker at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
The idea for the study was a direct consequence of the 2011 Nature paper by Planavsky, Scott, Lyons and others that challenged the hypothesis of broadly sulfidic oceans.
The international collaboration received funding for the study from numerous sources. In the U.S., funding came from the National Science Foundation, the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the Agouron Institute.
The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.
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New data challenge old views about evolution of early lifePublic release date: 23-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala iqbal@ucr.edu 951-827-6050 University of California - Riverside
UC Riverside-led research team rules out zinc as a factor in the delayed diversification of single-celled and multicellular organisms
RIVERSIDE, Calif. A research team led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside has tested a popular hypothesis in paleo-ocean chemistry, and proved it false.
The fossil record indicates that eukaryotes single-celled and multicellular organisms with more complex cellular structures compared to prokaryotes, such as bacteria show limited morphological and functional diversity before 800-600 million years ago. Many researchers attribute the delayed diversification and proliferation of eukaryotes, which culminated in the appearance of complex animals about 600 million years ago, to very low levels of the trace metal zinc in seawater.
As it is for humans, zinc is essential for a wide range of basic cellular processes. Zinc-binding proteins, primarily located in the cell nucleus, are involved in the regulation of gene transcription.
Eukaryotes have increasingly incorporated zinc-binding structures during the last third of their evolutionary history and still employ both early- and late-evolving zinc-binding protein structures. Zinc is, therefore, of particular importance to eukaryotic organisms. And so it is not a stretch to blame the 1-2-billion-year delay in the diversification of eukaryotes on low bioavailability of this trace metal.
But after analyzing marine black shale samples from North America, Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe, ranging in age from 2.7 billion years to 580 million years old, the researchers found that the shales reflect high seawater zinc availability and that zinc concentrations during the Proterozoic (2.5 billion to 542 million years ago) were similar to modern concentrations. Zinc, the researchers posit, was never biolimiting.
Study results appear online Dec. 23 in Nature Geoscience.
"We argue that the concentration of zinc in ancient marine black shales is directly related to the concentrations of zinc in seawater and show that zinc is abundant in these rocks throughout Earth's history," said Clint Scott, the first author of the research paper and a former UC Riverside graduate student. "We found no evidence for zinc biolimitation in seawater."
Scott, now a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explained that the connection between zinc limitation and the evolution of eukaryotes was based largely on the hypothesis that Proterozoic oceans were broadly sulfidic. Under broadly sulfidic conditions, zinc should have been scarce because it would have rapidly precipitated in the oceans, he explained.
"However, a 2011 research paper in Nature also published by our group at UCR demonstrated that Proterozoic oceans were more likely broadly ferruginous that is, low in oxygen and iron-rich and that sulfidic conditions were more restricted than previously thought," said Scott, who performed the research in the lab of Timothy Lyons, a professor of biogeochemistry and the principal investigator of the research project.
The research team argues that ferruginous deep oceans, combined with large hydrothermal fluxes of zinc via volcanic activity on the seafloor, maintained high levels of dissolved zinc throughout the oceans and provided a relatively stable marine reservoir of the trace metal over the past 2.7 billion years.
"The key challenge in understanding the early evolution of life is recognizing the environmental conditions under which that life first appeared and diversified," Lyons said. "We have taken a very direct approach that specifically tracks the availability of essential micronutrients, and, to our surprise, zinc supplies in ancient seawater were much higher and less variable than previously imagined.
"We can imagine for the first time," he quipped, "that zinc supplements were not on the shopping lists of our early eukaryotic ancestors, and so we better find another reason to explain the mysterious delay in their rise in the ocean."
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Scott, who graduated with a doctoral degree in geological sciences from UCR in 2009, and Lyons were joined in the study by Noah J. Planavsky, a former UCR graduate student in Lyons' lab; Chris L. Dupont at the J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, Calif.; Brian Kendall and Ariel D. Anbar at Arizona State University; Benjamin C. Gill at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and also a former member of the Lyons lab; Leslie J. Robbins and Kurt O. Konhauser at the University of Alberta, Canada; Kathryn F. Husband and Simon W. Poulton at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Gail L. Arnold at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany; Boswell A. Wing at McGill University, Canada; and Andrey Bekker at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
The idea for the study was a direct consequence of the 2011 Nature paper by Planavsky, Scott, Lyons and others that challenged the hypothesis of broadly sulfidic oceans.
The international collaboration received funding for the study from numerous sources. In the U.S., funding came from the National Science Foundation, the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the Agouron Institute.
The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.
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Public release date: 23-Dec-2012
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