Government-backed movie streaming service coming to China in Q4, bringing Paramount titles along

Jiaflix Named Exclusive Partner of China Movie Channel Web Subsidiary M1905; Venture Will Stream Films Throughout China

Jiaflix Enterprises principals Sid Ganis, Marc Ganis and Kenneth Huang, and M1905, the official internet subsidiary of China Movie Channel/CCTV6 jointly announced today an exclusive venture to stream both Chinese and international feature films on a subscription basis (SVOD), as well as international feature films on a transactional video on demand basis (TVOD) throughout China. The long term agreement names Jiaflix, a U.S./China enterprise, M1905's exclusive authorized party for the importation of international films and libraries from North America and Europe for new media, internet streaming and mobile devices.

"China has the largest number of online users in the world, and M1905.com, commonly known as China Movie Web, is SARFT's official internet movie site. The M1905.com web site is dedicated solely to movies and caters to fans of both domestic Chinese and international films. It averages more than 16 million page views and 4 million unique visitors daily, has more than 3 million registered users and has been growing rapidly, more than doubling year to year," said Jiaflix principal Marc Ganis. "This new venture will bring the best that Hollywood has to offer to viewers in China. It represents a great opportunity to enhance cultural cooperation between our two nations and we are thrilled to be part of this official bridge between the Chinese and Hollywood film industries."

Jiaflix also announced today that it has signed a multi-year licensing deal with Paramount Pictures to include titles from Paramount's extensive and renowned film library for both SVOD and TVOD.

"This is an important step for Paramount in terms of positioning our product in China," said Hal Richardson, President, Paramount Home Media Distribution. "Paramount has worked with China Movie Channel for many years and we are happy to be expanding our relationship and online movie viewership in China through our deal with Jiaflix."

M1905's Director and Vice President, Longfei Liang, adds, "We are delighted to make this announcement with our partners at Jiaflix. China has a long and storied history in films. New media distribution of films is the future and M1905 is excited to be working with Jiaflix and Paramount Pictures, an iconic Hollywood studio, in bringing great movies to our expanding online audience."

The agreement with Paramount is the first under the Jiaflix partnership with M1905 that will see licensing deals with several other North American and European content providers.

M1905 is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the China Movie Channel, which is under the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) of the People's Republic of China. China Movie Channel is that country's largest television buyer of international movies and has agreements with virtually all of the major movie studios. M1905 sub-licenses domestic Chinese films to a number of video web sites in China. In June 2012, M1905's mobile television service officially started operations with China Mobile and China Telecom's mobile video service allowing M1905 to provide officially licensed content and VOD service to the more than 100 million 3G mobile subscribers in China.

Sid Ganis' long affiliation within the film industry along with his recent role in China as Honorary Chairperson of Wuxi Studio Development and Promotion Committee, assisted in bringing this venture to fruition. He is a former President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and previously held roles as Vice Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and President of Paramount Pictures. Ganis is currently an independent producer at his company Out of the Blue Entertainment and Co-Executive Producer on last year's ABC Television series PAN AM.

Kenneth Huang is a China based entrepreneur and investor. He is active in a number of important business sectors in China including capital markets, infrastructure construction, sports and entertainment. Mr. Huang is a successful philanthropist and was voted the most popular philanthropist by Sina.com and BQ Magazine in December 2009. Mr. Huang was raised in China and educated in the United States.

Marc Ganis is President and Founder of Sportscorp Ltd., a Chicago based sports business advisory firm. Mr. Ganis has been involved in a number of the most visible and valuable sports business transactions in the U.S. He has been active in China for more than a decade in the capital markets, sports and entertainment sectors.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EngadgetHd/~3/Oz3s73zyKLo/

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What is Personal Loan | BlogTorn

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Source: http://blogtorn.com/?p=4558

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California's DMV website experiencing difficulties

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

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You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

Source: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/06/californias-dmv-website-experiencing-difficulties.html

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Exclusive: Iran grain barter deals crash; considers big buys

LONDON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Iran's attempts to secure millions of tons of wheat via sanction-beating barter deals with India and Pakistan are failing, and Tehran is poised to pay premium prices on international markets to secure food and stave off unrest.

Food is not targeted under Western sanctions aimed at deterring Iran's nuclear program, but in recent months it has paid high prices for grain to work around a freeze on financial transactions due to the measures.

Iran had turned to India and Pakistan for wheat to meet some of its needs, but international grain traders say talks with both Delhi and Islamabad are deadlocked.

"There is great doubt in the market about whether the Indian deal will happen. They are never going to get the phyto-sanitary standards worked out," one European grains trader said.

"The Indian wheat cannot reach the standards the Iranians traditionally demand."

As Iran's second-biggest crude client, India hoped to reassure Tehran on quality and secure wheat sales to help settle part of its $10 billion a year-plus oil import bill through a barter-style mechanism using rupees. India said last week it can export up to 3 million metric tonnes (3.307 million tons) of wheat if supplies are requested.

"There is an issue of Karnal bunt (a fungal disease in wheat) ... Iranians are not too keen on Indian wheat because of the quality," said a Singapore-based trader.

"All wheat cargoes have some amount of foreign matter, but India has more because the loading is not mechanized - it is done manually."

An official with France's grain lobby told Reuters after a visit to Iran that the Islamic republic needs to buy some 2 million metric tons of milling wheat in the next few months after having imported 3 million metric tons so far this year.

"Rising food prices have become a thorny political issue for the regime and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in particular," said Torbjorn Soltvedt with risk analysis firm Maplecroft.

"Given the potential for food shortages to erode support for the regime, Iranian leaders are likely to continue to take an active role in attempting to secure high volume grain shipments through bilateral agreements. Despite some deals falling through, Iran has so far been relatively successful in securing large orders using its state food buyer."

PAKISTAN DEAL FADES

Trade sources said talks between Iran and Pakistan over a 1 million metric ton wheat barter deal also had hit a growing number of snags including uncompetitive pricing.

"There is no movement on the barter proposal with Iran at the moment. Given the delay, it is difficult to say when and if anything will happen," a Pakistan commerce ministry official told Reuters on Thursday.

In May Islamabad said Iran offered $265 per metric ton for wheat, but Pakistan asked for international prices of $312 per metric ton. Benchmark Chicago July soft red wheat futures were priced at $6.11 per bushel or $224.50 per metric ton in late May.

A Middle East-based trader also cast doubt on any deal.

"The dynamics for this to work are not there, and there is more chance that the Iranians will reach an agreement with India rather than Pakistan, which shows how doubtful it is," he said.

A Pakistan-based trade source pointed to wider political factors influencing the deal, which would require the nod from the United States.

"For better or worse, these days owing to their own domestic problems, Pakistan's leaders are subservient to U.S. pressure, but outwardly they give different and hard messages for local consumption," the source said.

"Something similar applies to India, which depends on U.S. military and technology support. India seems to talk with Iran but most times does not conclude deals."

INTERNATIONAL MARKET WATCHES

Iran is constantly making enquiries in the international market for supplies, trade sources said.

"I expect Iran to re-enter the international wheat market in July, and it seems the only origins available rapidly at that time will be U.S. and Black Sea. Western European harvests will only be starting," a European grain trader said.

"I expect Iran to make 3.5 million tonnes of wheat imports for 2012/13."

Iranian companies have been cut off from much of the global banking system because of the financial measures against Tehran, making payments difficult.

The government, however, has become increasingly adept at sidestepping the restrictions, creating alternative payment systems to secure vital supplies.

"The Iranians are working around the restrictions," another European based grain trader said.

"They are constantly price checking and are using other tracks apart from exploring government-to-government deals. One way or the other, there is no doubt they will get their grain."

(1 metric ton = 1.102 tons)

(Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg, Mayank Bhardwaj in New Delhi, Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Veronica Brown and Jane Baird)

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Today on New Scientist: 28 June 2012

AI system helps spot signs of copper cable theft

The theft of copper telecoms cable cost the industry ?770 million last year - now an AI is helping stop the thieves

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Chile's icy nazarenos line up on glacial plains

Like a procession of hooded sinners, the penitentes - icy shards formed by sublimating ice at high altitude - stand guard on Chile's Chajnantor plain

Supreme Court rules healthcare bill is constitutional

Obama's healthcare bill has been declared legal - good news for those who are already implementing some of the changes

Journey into a giant magnetic tornado on the sun

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Scandal of an underfunded and undertreated cancer

Lung cancer in those who have never smoked is on the rise - but they face the same stigma as their smoking counterparts

Two faces of chatbot technology speaks volumes about us

A brief tale of two bots illustrates how humans extend our noble and negative facets into our technical endeavours

Google Now assistant knows what you need, right now

The latest Android update includes Google Now, a competitor to Apple's Siri that attempts to predict what information you need

Dancing sunflowers hide their sunlight under Brussels

A hard-to-reach exhibit at the European Commission headquarters holds promise for powering west African schools

Implanted electrodes offer clues to brain's 'thesaurus'

Electrical patterns in the brain reveal how we file and retrieve words according to what they mean, rather than, say, the time when we heard or read them

SETI chief still waiting for ET to call

After 35 years of searching, Jill Tarter is retiring as Earth's top alien hunter. She tells New Scientist why alien rule of our planet would be benign

Win tickets to Wilderness Festival

We have a pair of weekend camping tickets to give away for Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire, UK. Will you be the lucky winner?

Autism's brain activity captured in diagnostic test

A test that could be used to diagnose autism identifies characteristic patterns of electrical activity in the brain

Lawyerbot takes the drudgery out of law

Software that sifts through millions of documents for relevant information gets the green light to replace human lawyers

'Death carrot' could hold the key to new cancer drugs

Clinical trials are in the pipeline for toxic Mediterranean plant ingredient that can kill prostate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone

Silicon sirens: The naughty bots out to seduce you

Chatbots have turned to crime, using ever-slicker methods to steal cash or identities - and these cheating algorithms are passing the Turing test every day

Robot beats humans at rock-paper-scissors every time

If the robot uprising comes in the form of a rock-paper-scissors match, we're all doomed

Gene therapy curbs nicotine addiction in mice

A virus carrying an antibody against nicotine could be more effective than a nicotine vaccine at helping smokers quit - but it's a long way off

Eats bark, fruit and leaves: diet of ancient human

Australopithecus sediba, a 2-million-year-old member of the human family, had a diet unlike other known hominins

Astrophile: Solar cyclones hold fusion reactor clues

Ten thousand Europe-size tornadoes are scouring the surface of our sun in a process that could be imitated in reactors on Earth

Double rainbow all across the sky - seen from space

You wait ages for a spectacular weather pattern, and then two turn up at once. This image shows both "glories" and von Karman vortex clouds

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Iranian: Israeli agents interrogated me in Kenya

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Mexican glassmaker case may export US bankruptcy rules ? Reuters

By Tom Hals

Tue Jun 26, 2012 1:05pm EDT

(Reuters) ? Mexican glassmaker Vitro SAB is heading to a U.S. appeals court to save its restructuring at home from an assault by U.S. creditors in a case that could transport the U.S. bankruptcy code beyond that nation?s borders.

The case pits one of Monterrey, Mexico?s powerful and politically connected ?Group of 10? businesses against U.S. hedge funds, which Latin American critics have reviled as ?vultures? for their battle against Argentina?s sovereign debt restructuring.

Hanging in the balance is the use of Chapter 15. Foreign companies have used this 7-year-old piece of the U.S. bankruptcy code about 600 times to get an overseas insolvency proceeding enforced in the United States.

Many creditors have come to view Chapter 15 as little more than a rubber-stamp process that allows U.S. assets to be folded into a foreign proceeding. However, some legal experts say the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals could improperly recast it as a tool to impose U.S. bankruptcy law abroad.

Vitro?s appeal stems from a ruling this month by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale of Dallas, who refused to enforce the company?s Mexican restructuring against U.S. hedge funds led by Aurelius Capital Management and Elliott Management Corp.

The hedge fund bondholders had said the restructuring plan violated a bedrock rule of U.S. bankruptcy by rewarding shareholders before repaying creditors in full.

They also attacked Vitro for effectively engineering support for its restructuring by issuing debt, which included voting power, within its corporate family and then using these ?insider? votes to outnumber objecting outside creditors.

Hale?s ruling has won praise from financial experts and investors for giving a measure of certainty to cross-border finance.

?While it?s bad for Vitro, it?s actually good for Mexican companies because they can borrow on more stable conditions in the U.S.,? said Claudio Loser, a fellow with the Inter-American Dialogue think tank and a former International Monetary Fund director.

Rob Rauch, who manages a distressed emerging market portfolio for investment firm Gramercy, said the case could provide a positive precedent for bolstering Chapter 15.

?We have found a strong reluctance of U.S. judges to tackle the issues, especially if there are not significant assets in U.S.,? he said.

Some legal experts, however, believe Hale may have ruled the right way, but for the wrong reasons.

The ruling potentially allows anyone opposed to a foreign proceeding to attack it by pointing to a precedent in the U.S. bankruptcy code, which was not the intention of the law, said Ken Coleman, a bankruptcy lawyer with Allen & Overy.

?Now we will flyspeck every (Chapter 15) case that comes in as if it were a U.S. domestic case,? he said.

Vitro is confident of its appeal, according to its lawyer, Andrew LeBlanc of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

Elliott declined to comment, and Aurelius did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MANIFESTLY CONTRARY

Chapter 15 allows Hale to recognize and assist in Vitro?s Mexican $3.4 billion insolvency proceeding, which a Mexican court approved in February.

Other companies that have used Chapter 15 include Japan Airlines Corp, Icelandic lender Glitnir Banki HF, German alternative energy company Solar Millennium AG and Humpuss Sea Transport Pte Ltd, a unit of Indonesia?s PT Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi Tbk.

Hale refused to enforce Vitro?s plan because of what he called ?the most problematic part? of the restructuring ? the elimination of the hedge funds? claims.

Under the plan, the funds? debt, which was guaranteed by Vitro?s subsidiaries, was replaced with bonds of much lower value, while shareholders ended up with $500 million.

The subsidiaries never declared bankruptcy and so were never protected from their creditors.

The hedge funds have won judgments against Vitro?s subsidiaries in various U.S. courts for defaulting on the debt. Vitro wanted Hale to issue an injunction to prevent the funds from enforcing those judgments, granting the subsidiaries ?nondebtor releases? that would protect them from being sued.

Hale is supposed to support the Mexican restructuring without concern about how it would turn out in his court, said Rafael Zahralddin, a Wilmington bankruptcy lawyer with Elliott Greenleaf. The exception, he said, is that a judge must stop short of taking action that the bankruptcy code describes as ?manifestly contrary to the public policy of the United States.?

That bar is meant to be quite high, and Coleman of Allen & Overy said he could point to dozens of U.S. bankruptcy cases with nondebtor releases.

?How can it be manifestly contrary to U.S. public policy when it exists in our system?? Coleman said.

By contrast, he pointed to a restructuring of Muscletech Research and Development Inc, a Canadian maker of health supplements made with ephedra, which was linked to heart attacks and strokes, and which U.S. authorities have banned.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan did not find the plan ?manifestly contrary? even though it did not provide a jury trial to U.S. product liability claimants ? a constitutional right in the United States.

If the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Hale?s ruling, it would apply in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. While it would not be binding in New York or Delaware, two busy courts for Chapter 15 cases, it would set a precedent.

?This opens the door for better use of capital markets,? said Loser, the former IMF official. ?Of course, others will say it is U.S. imperialism, trying to impose its own legislation on other countries.?

(Reporting By Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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Teens surf web on computers, not smartphones ... - Tech Gadget Info

But, despite the many people seemingly glued to their smartphones , the study showed that teens are having trouble with their internet connection, they're more likely to need good old fashioned computer and laptop repair, since they reportedly access the web via these heavier ? Comparatively, out of all of individuals between 13 and 17 who took the online survey on general internet usage, only 13.48 percent went online with a smartphone and just 5 percent did so on a tablet device.

Read more:
Teens surf web on computers, not smartphones, says study | Geeks ?

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Pre-sale ticket registration starts for 2013 PGA Championship (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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Recent Impact Investing Conference Hosted By Agora Partnerships ...

The "Class of 2012," the Agora entrepreneurs who pitched at the reccent conference.

At the recent Impact Investing In Action conference that took place in Atlanta from May 22-25, various players in the field gathered to discuss possible future directions for the impact investing industry. The focus was on early-stage impact investing, which was highlighted as a critical time for creating successful ventures.

By bringing together entrepreneurs and investors, host organization Agora?Partnerships, aimed to identify some of the best impact investment opportunities out there and facilitate their evolution. Hand-picked entrepreneurs from?Agora's Accelerator Program?and?Village Capital's Atlanta cohort?pitched their ventures and investment needs to an audience from all sectors of the impact investing world, including representatives from investment funds, foundations and global development agencies, as well as those new to the field. Participants included organizations such as Toniic, Pomona Impact, the Inter-American Development Bank and The Eleos Foundation. In addition to pitches, the conference will feature panel discussions covering the art of getting deals done, building the field around impact investing, the future of early-stage investing and understanding the investor's perspective.

There were 105 attendees at the conference, and 20 investment firms represented. The entrepreneurs pitched projects focused on specific areas where they intended to have a social impact, including economic development; energy and environment; education and culture; technology; and healthcare and housing.

In many ways, Agora Partnerships viewed the conference as a success: it began a conversation about the importance of and challenges involved in early-stage impact investing, and it created a space for action by presenting investors with entrepreneurs who plan to create impact through their ventures.

"We are a long way from building the market," said Ben Powell, the CEO of Agora Partnerships (and who we've featured on Dowser before), reflecting on the conference. "We need to effectively channel resources to early-stage entrepreneurs best positioned to turn resources into long term impact."

"There is unquestionable momentum," he continued. "The industry has definitely taken notice of the simple fact that the future of impact investing depends on attracting the best entrepreneurs to launch impact-generating businesses, and then figuring out cost-effective, scalable strategies to get the right kind of capital to them."

The success of impact investing, said Powell, hinges upon "the quality of entrepreneurs we attract into the industry and the support we provide them at the most critical stage of growth."

?

?

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User:Kagrbq - Data Management Guidance

From Data Management Guidance

SMS is actually small for Short Information Assistance, and is also the particular service provided by cellphone carriers that enables people to send out sms for some other phone people. Text messages message or perhaps texting is growing since the number 1 speediest developing marketing communications development globally. More than 2.4 million customers or maybe in relation to 74% on the the planet's phone people post as well as get sms messages. That's why it is no astonish a large number of services have got sprung up on the internet presenting free of charge Text message on the internet.

Just what are these facilities that offer free SMS online?

These services are just like instant messaging services. A person generate an account, log-in towards the accounts, in addition to send out mail messages. But rather than the particular receiver having your delivered communications on the laptop or computer, they will be given this on the cellphone. You on one other side, are mailing your message employing a computer system.

Why do cost-free?

How come other things free online? Possibly the inventors are generating as a result of marketing, or even they can be generating plenty of through via shawls by hoda, probably there is a revenue-sharing arrangement together with the cellphone service providers many people support, or maybe the creators are only simply philanthropists. Yep, it may transpire. The net see the industry of free, free software, in addition to shareware applications.

Should i do one thing specific to make use of your assistance?

Apart from applying? Simply no. You might want to provide your phone range if you'd like banking account associated with the cellphone therefore it can easily get mail messages provided for your account every time you happen to be off-line. Although or else, absolutely nothing is in addition needed. Unless you want to provide your own cell phone variety or maybe if you've got no phone, you can simply make use of your email to be able to sign-up as well as create an account.

Are there different rewards in addition to transmitting cost-free Taletid on the internet?

Several on the web texting products and services provide free email in addition to free MMS forwarding. There are also several services that could faultlessly perform both being an on the net txt messaging services plus an im services enabling you to connect with your pals using other instant messaging providers including Skype, GoogleTalk, along with Aol Messenger.

Exist hidden expenses I ought to be aware of?

Nothing. That you do not even require the by using a credit card in order to sign-up for most of these solutions. However, you'll want to understand cautiously their own phrases seeing that several on the net text messaging consumer charges individuals whenever they solution your emails.

How does someone ensure the privacy can be retained and that my emails are not becoming examine simply by other individuals?

See the service's online privacy policy and also other disclaimers. To be safe, employ services from reputable internet websites or firms like pakiet sms. Try to discover all the data since you can before by using a distinct service or maybe signing-up on the distinct web page.

My pal says he/she by no means acquired our information, what's up with this?

The services are certainly not promising that every concept mailed are going to be gotten. When you have almost any issues delivering mail messages, you should primary these phones your involved cellular insurers because the issues might be taking place on his or her conclude.

The wonderful competency to be able to match the world as a result of Text message has unquestionably changed into a very strong internet marketing strategy over the 12 months; just because a meaning is actually right brought to this receiver.

For you some sort of texting can be convenient, although often high-priced. It becomes costly if your cellular phone service that you make use of gives services that is certainly too high or else you could possibly be using the providers excessively over what's necessary. Some sort of technological innovation text to some mobile phone is actually receiving well-known on this planet involving conversation technological innovation. Just about any Text messages might be right now deliver to residential phone.

Text message with a phone allows you to mail a good Text messages communication from a mobile or portable, subsequently converted to style if your device acquire his landline cell phone about the idea wedding rings. Any time someone sees the actual residential phone phone, the writing meaning that was mailed is going to be heard and can reply back using one of the disposable reactions. In the event the particular person doesn't solution the telephone, next the landline tone of voice text goes toward voicemail. To help text message to your cellphone may be easy as you are don't talk vocally. You are able to respond instantly by just speaking over the phone to help relay ones reply. A new tone of voice report within your answer is going to be sent back to the unique emailer being an Text. Furthermore, ones voice communication can even be forwarded to some others. Various instant service providers provide the written text to your mobile phone feature. In addition, it will take someone to register for the actual plan to be able to enjoy the feature.

Text message to a phone would be the solution to conversation using a wi-fi phone to transmit a good Taletid in order to land line cell phone.

The actual advancement connected with SMS or texting has taken the earth to your crest associated with interaction technology. The application of mobile phone or even mobile devices smoothens the best way to simple and one on one conversation. Almost all of the cell phones now can deliver communications by having a wording a cellular phone or maybe residential phone mobile phones. Textual content some sort of cellular phone emails are mainly only a mobile correspondence and might conserve terrific time rather than a speech mobile call. Text a cellular phone can be quite functional for promoting short problem or components of details. Yet, any mindful shift will likely be noticed as soon as revealing the portable amount for you to internet sites as well as other services you are feeling uncertain as well as don't feel relaxed having may possibly the cell phone will finish receiving junk as well as unneeded commercials by promoters.

Send the written text some sort of cell phone coming from a computer is completely totally free! Even so, you will discover network providers that impose the actual beneficiary for every single meaning that they get. Nonetheless, whenever you text to some mobile phone through your cellphone with assorted companies oahu is the sender that's charges.

The fact remains which today text messages is becoming somebody's daily routine. For you a textual content a new cellular phone on your buddies, colleagues and also family members are a grand strategy to convey any speedy meaning when a words contact just isn't handi as well as required. Many phone insurers provide methods similar to size ideas as well as pay out every meaning plans. When believe you're wide texter (individual who directs word) it can save you quite a few by simply choosing the link strategy to suit your preferences, like having to pay a compact added for a Mobiles ( space ) unrestricted bundle, that will conserve bundle of money finally. However, if you might be a holiday texter who text the cellular simply several information 30 days, then this pay-per-text communication best suits anyone.

Free Text messages Textual content

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Factbox: Quotes from Reuters Washington Summit

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[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

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AAA Predicts Increase in Travel for Independence Day Holiday from ...

According to AAA, there will be a 4.9% increase in holiday travel compared to last year with 42.3 million Americans planning to travel 50 miles or more during the Independence Day holiday weekend.

With the Fourth of July falling on a Wednesday, the traditional five-day travel period for the holiday is expanded to six days. Travelers this year have the option to include two weekdays and a weekend as part of their vacation. In fact, 54% of travelers intend to begin their trip between June 29 and July 1.

Gas prices are 16 cents lower than they were last year driving 35.5 million people to travel by car, a 4% increase from 2011. Car rental rates decreased from last year to an average $40 per day, as well.

According to AAA?s Leisure Travel Index, airfares have remained the same for the 3.2 million travelers flying to their destination this year. Hotel rates increased from a year ago with travelers spending an average of $164 per night compared to $157 last year.

?AAA?s projection for a decade high number of Independence Day travelers is being fed by Americans? appetite for travel, a mid-week holiday and lower gas prices,? said AAA Travel Services VP Bill Sutherland. ?This is the second holiday this year where travelers indicated a determination to travel while economizing by actively seeking value-added travel options and activities.?

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First Fukushima seafood sold since nuke crisis

TOKYO?? The first seafood caught off Japan's Fukushima coastline since last year's nuclear disaster went on sale Monday, but the offerings were limited to octopus and marine snails because of persisting fears about radiation.

Octopus and whelk, a kind of marine snail, were chosen for the initial shipments because testing for radioactive cesium consistently measured no detectable amounts, according to the Fukushima Prefectural (state) fishing cooperative. They were caught Friday and boiled so they last longer while being tested for radiation before they could be sold Monday.

Flounder, sea bass and other fish from Fukushima can't be sold yet because of contamination. It was unclear when they will be approved for sale as they measure above the limit in radiation set by the government. The government is testing for radioactive iodine as well, but its half-life is shorter than cesium and thus is less worrisome.

"It was crisp when I bit into it, and it tasted so good," said Yasuhiro Yoshida, who oversees the seafood section at York Benimaru supermarket in Soma, which sold out of about 30 kilograms (65 pounds) of the snails and 40 kilograms (90 pounds) of the octopus that had been shipped to the store.

Japan: Fukushima nuclear pool not unstable

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year left the coastlines of northeastern Japan devastated, and displaced tens of thousands of people. Entire towns were contaminated by the radiation leaking from Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, where three reactors went into meltdowns.

"I was filled with both uncertainty and hope today, but I was so happy when I found out the local supermarket had sold out by 3 p.m.," said Hirofumi Konno, an official in charge of sales at the fishing cooperative in Soma city in coastal Fukushima.

PhotoBlog: 36 views of the Fukushima exclusion zone

He said he hoped crabs would be next to go on sale as radiation had not been detected in them, but he acknowledged things will take time, perhaps years, especially for other kinds of fish. Radiation amounts have been decreasing, but cesium lasts years.

The octopus and snail were selling at almost half of what they fetched before the disaster, he said. But he said people were buying Fukushima seafood to show support for local fishermen. The items were available locally but not in the whole prefecture or the Tokyo area.

Interactive quiz: Seafood shuffle

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Nobuyuki Yagi, a University of Tokyo professor studying the fisheries industry after the disaster, said serious concerns remain over whether anyone would buy Fukushima fish, and the key lay in finding the types of fish that don't store radioactive elements.

"Fishing cannot survive unless people buy the fish. That may seem obvious, but Fukushima is facing up to this," he said in a statement earlier this month.

Japan to lift entry ban on nuclear no-go zones

Farmlands have also been contaminated, and every grain of rice will be tested at harvest in some areas before they can be sold. The image of Fukushima produce has been seriously tarnished, and worried consumers, especially those with children, are shunning Fukushima-grown food.

"We are in for the long haul," Konno said in a telephone interview.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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GetAFreelancer: #Freelancer #jobs http://t.co/6JY430hZ HTML stripping in joomla 2.5 need fixed #HTML $30-$250 I have a fresh install on joomla 2.5 &..

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NCAA Runner-Up Women's Golf Team Featured on CBS

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175 years, let the celebration begin! - photos by larry ligget

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Mastering College Finance: Non-public University student Loan ...

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Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

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Analysis: Sandusky's lawyer jeopardized his client's interests

By Wes Oliver, Special to msnbc.com

ANALYSIS

The law is pretty clear on a lawyer's ethical duty when he makes statements regarding his clients. The lawyer may neither divulge confidences nor make statements adverse to the client's interests.

The rule is clear enough, but it is violated all the time in innocuous ways. Lawyers go home to their wives and describe the horrifying day they had. They gather with other lawyers in corridors of courthouse or in local watering holes and tell stories about their cases. Arguably, lawyers could be seeking advice from their professional colleagues, thus including them in the attorney-client privilege, but usually they're just telling stories.

---

In short, lawyers do describe to their friends facts surrounding their cases, and those discussions often evaluate the strength of their cases. Ideally, and most often, they omit the names of their clients, but their listeners are frequently able to identify them. One very famous lawyer routinely jokes about his former client's guilt. Alan Dershowitz said to his criminal law class at Harvard: "If O.J. does it again. ... By that, I mean gets another speeding ticket."

Because few lawyers absolutely observe the prohibition on making statements against their clients' interest, it's often unclear precisely where the practically accepted line is. Part of the reason there's a gap between the categorical prohibition on lawyers' making statements against their clients' interest and the realities of lawyers' lives is enforcement. The odds of a communication between an attorney and his wife ever impairing his client's interest are remote. The odds that a client will ever learn of his lawyer's barroom discussion are slim. So for a lot of lawyers, the rule against making a statement against his client's interest has a practical exception ? if the odds are low enough that his statement could harm his client's interest, he or she will often talk.

Full coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial

Ghosts of Sandusky's dreams haunt home where charity was born

Legal analysis by Wes Oliver

It's not appropriate, and I don't teach my students that this is acceptable, but for a lot of lawyers it is the reality. And it would be difficult if not impossible to police the actual rule that forbids any negative statement.

Friday, however, Joe Amendola told a crowd of reporters in the Centre County Courthouse awaiting the verdict that he would be shocked if his client was acquitted of all the counts.

This after months of denying Sandusky's guilt. This after an impassioned and excellent closing argument in which he explained how all the alleged victims had fallen prey to investigators' coaching and then sought to cash in.

And, perhaps most significantly, after the judge issued a gag order expressing forbidding anyone in the case from commenting on Sandusky's guilt or innocence.

This wasn't a comment to fellow lawyers who are unlikely to have any reason to communicate the information to others. This wasn't a private communication to his wife. His statements were made in a mini-press conference in the courtroom where his client had stood trial and where the jury could come and announce its verdict at any time. His comments were made to reporters who have the right ? arguably the obligation ? to report his words to a national audience that has been captivated by this case.

This wasn't a comment that could never harm his client, in other words. There could be a hung jury, necessitating another trial. And there will surely be civil lawsuits. Amendola's comments, which will be heard throughout Centre County and around the country, could easily prejudice his clients' future interests.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, this isn't a comment for which there is no ready enforcement mechanism. It is unlikely that Sandusky will file a complaint with the ethics board. But Judge John Cleland, who maintained very strict control over this trial, issued a specific order forbidding comments on guilt or innocence.

Certainly, he must have anticipated the prosecution's making disparaging comments about Sandusky, but his order didn't allow an exception for Sandusky's lawyer to suggest his own client's guilt. Cleland may well regard this as a breach of the decorum he has worked so hard to maintain. And unlike an ethics board, he has the ability to act swiftly and the power to hold Amendola in contempt.

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How Do Plants Know Which Way Is Up And Which Way Is Down?

Think of a seed buried in a pot. Like this one:

It's dark down there in the potting soil. There's no light, no sunshine. So how does it know which way is up and which way is down? It does know. Seeds routinely send shoots up toward the sky, and roots the other way. Darkness doesn't confuse them. Somehow, they get it right...

More intriguing, if you turn a seedling (or a whole bunch of seedlings) upside down, as Thomas Andrew Knight of the British Royal Society did around 200 years ago, the tips and roots of the plant will sense, "Hey, I'm upside down," and will wiggle their way to the right direction, doing a double U-turn, like this:

How do they know? According to botanist Daniel Chamovitz, Thomas Knight 200 years ago assumed that plants must sense gravity. They feel the pull of the Earth. Knight proved it with a crazy experiment involving a spinning plate.

?

He attached a bunch of plant seedlings onto a disc (think of a 78 rpm record made of wood). The plate was then turned by a water wheel powered by a local stream, "at a nauseating speed of 150 revolutions per minute for several days."

If you've ever been at amusement park in a spinning tea cup, you know that because of centrifugal force you get pushed away from the center of the spinning object toward the outside.

Knight wondered, would the plants respond to the centrifugal pull of gravity and point their roots to the outside of the spinning plate? When he looked...

...that's what they'd done. Every plant on the disc had responded to the pull of gravity, and pointed its roots to the outside. The roots pointed out, the shoots pointed in. So Thomas Knight proved that plants can and do sense gravitational pull.

But he couldn't explain how.

We humans have teeny crystalline stones floating in our ear cavities that literally sink in response to gravity, telling us what's up and what's down. What do plants have?

Strangely, this is a real puzzle. We still don't know for sure how plants do it. There is a team of botanists, John Kiss and his colleagues at Miami University in Ohio, who have a promising idea, but at the moment it's just a very educated guess.

Plants have special cells right down at the tip ? the very bottom ? of their roots. And if you look closely, inside these cells there are dense, little ball like structures called "statoliths" which comes from the Greek, meaning "stationary stone." You can see them here.

I think of them as pebbles inside a jar. If the jar is upright, the pebbles, naturally, fall to the bottom.

If I put the jar on its side, the pebbles will roll to the side of the jar, the new bottom, and lie there.

If I turn the jar upside down, the pebbles will drop into the cap, which used to be the top but is now the bottom.

Basically these little pebbly things respond to gravity. In a plant cell, gravity pulls them to the "bottom," and once they find a resting place, they can send signals to neighboring cells in the plant essentially saying, "OK guys! We now know where Down is. Those of you that need to go down (root cells), go this way! Those of you who need to go up (the shoot on top), go the other way!"

This, suggests Professor Kiss, is how plants figure out where "down" is. They use little statolith balls as gravity receptors.

His idea got a boost when he sent some seedlings into space (to the space station) where the pull of gravity is close to zero, figuring if the statoliths just float randomly and don't drop to the bottom of their cells, the plants won't know which way is down. And sure enough, he reported that plants growing in space did not send their roots in any specific direction. The roots just went every which way.

So the next time you pass a tree, a flower, a grape vine, grasses, bushes, vegetables any plant that seems to be reaching for the sky, that plant may be going up not just because it wants to be kissed by the sun, but also because down at its bottom, in cells rooted in the Earth, it's got itty bitty rocks telling it, "go thattaway!"

---

Daniel Chamovitz's account of how plants tell up from down comes from his new book, What A Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. The drawings are my own, and are based on Professor Chamovitz's descriptions. If there's something wrong with them, the fault is mine, not his.

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Palestinians push Nativity church as Heritage site

PARIS ?

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is becoming the church of contention, with a bid by the Palestinians to use their position as the newest members of the U.N.'s cultural arm to obtain World Heritage status for the iconic Christian site - and perhaps boost their own campaign for legitimacy.

The effort by the Palestinian Authority, like its overall efforts for global recognition for an independent Palestinian state, is drawing resistance. And it may fail at the World Heritage Committee meeting that starts Sunday.

An experts committee has turned down the emergency bid to quickly confer on the Church of the Nativity, and its pilgrimage route, the status as an endangered World Heritage site, saying the application needs more work. Even custodians of the holy site, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches are opposed, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

The church - which drew some 2 million visitors last year and parts of which are 1,500 years old - stands above the grotto that Christians believe was the birthplace of Jesus. The Palestinians' application asks for recognition as a site of "outstanding universal value" urgently in need of attention.

There is concern by the United States and others that the Bethlehem holy site and the integrity of the World Heritage process risk falling victim to the politics that for decades have torn the region asunder, with the Palestinians using their foothold in the U.N. system to grab symbolic recognition of their elusive bid for statehood in a long-disputed land.

The World Heritage candidacy of the Church of the Nativity and the pilgrimage route is one way for the Palestinians to prove they are responsible stewards of the site which draws tourists the world over. Above all, it is part of a broader attempt by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seek international recognition for a state of Palestine after its controversial backdoor entry into the U.N. system.

Negotiations with Israel on the terms of a Palestinian state have been frozen since 2008, mainly because Abbas and Israel's hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have failed to reach enough common ground for meaningful talks.

Meantime, Abbas has tried to create new leverage, including with a quest for U.N. membership for a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel occupied in 1967. The U.N. bid has been stalled for months, but Abbas hopes to garner recognition for Palestine wherever possible, including with a nod from UNESCO for Bethlehem.

Angry at Palestinian membership in UNESCO, the United States pulled its $80 million in annual dues - 22 percent of the overall budget - from the Paris-based organization after the October vote that made the Palestinians the 195th member.

Bucking the bad feedback, the Palestinians refused to follow UNESCO custom and withdraw the candidacy - as the French did with their emergency bid for the Chauvet cave, with its hundreds of prehistoric drawings, when it got a negative recommendation from the experts.

The Palestinians now risk losing face at the World Heritage Committee meeting from Sunday until July 6 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, when 33 sites from around the world will be considered for the coveted World Heritage status.

A surprise thumbs up could feed rancor and rivalries in a volatile region, within the church itself and perhaps at the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Already, the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar, has denounced a "persistent campaign of rumors" at the organization.

Protecting the cultures of the world is among UNESCO's core missions and there is little doubt the Church of the Nativity - with a longstanding problem of leaks from the roof - is in need of repair. A program administered by the Palestinians is already in progress.

Located in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, it is managed by three churches, each jealous of its role as custodian of the site, defined under an agreement dating back to the Ottoman Empire.

With a big measure of diplomacy, the leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Armenian churches rebuffed the Palestinian proposal, politely reserving judgment on its reasons.

"In our opinion, we do not think it opportune to deal with this request that the Basilica and its entire complex be included in the list of World Heritage sites, due to different considerations," read a letter to Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas signed by the three leaders. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

Among other things, a World Heritage designation raises fears that the delicate arrangement of custodianship might be disturbed. Fights among priests using broomsticks have been known to break out in the past over a perception that boundaries are being overstepped.

"When it comes to the Church of the Nativity, no one can interfere," said Yousef Daher of the World Council of Churches in Jerusalem. "They (the Palestinian Authority) figured it wrong." He called the Palestinian bid a "surprising request."

"A church is a church, it shouldn't become a world heritage. It's a sacred place and its ownership is not for anyone," Daher said.

The Palestinian emergency application cites lack of regular restoration on the church due to the political situation since 1967 when Israel occupied the territories and difficulties procuring equipment because of lack of free movement imposed by Israeli forces.

Though Israel captured the West Bank, it turned much of Bethlehem over to the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s.

The U.S. State Department did not hide its disapproval of the Palestinians' emergency bid.

"We are disappointed by the Palestinians' intention to push through an emergency inscription against the recommendation of UNESCO's own experts and without thoroughly consulting all stakeholders," a statement said. It made clear that Washington's objection stems from the rush job that an emergency candidacy implies and which prevents a full review including by those with a stake in the outcome.

"We hope the Committee will act responsibly as good stewards of the World Heritage Convention, rather than allowing yet another U.N. forum to become a victim of politicization," the U.S. statement said. "The site is sacred to all Christians."

An experts report, conducted for UNESCO by the Rome-based International Council on Monuments and Sites, which reviews all applications, concluded that the Palestinians failed to show that damage or dangers to the Church of the Nativity "make its condition an emergency that needs to be addressed ... for immediate action necessary for the survival of the property."

It suggests the application be resubmitted under normal procedures with fuller detail. That takes about 18 months, meaning it could be re-nominated in 2014.

"Palestinians are continuing with their bid, and they are still hopeful and optimistic that they will succeed," said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. He declined to elaborate.

The Palestinian delegation to UNESCO refused any comment until after the Saint Petersburg meeting. However, a letter circulating among delegations suggested a plot was afoot.

In a letter, Ambassador Sanbar denounced a campaign of pressure against the bid from "those who do not want to see Palestine exercise its legitimate rights."

The June 11 letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, included what is purported to be a statement of support for Palestinian leader Abbas signed in type by the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox leaders, noting the Armenian was absent.

That letter "gave some delegations the impression that the churches had changed their opinion and were no longer opposed to the inscription," said one UNESCO official. "Was it designed for that purpose? I don't know."

The official asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity surrounding the Palestinian bid.

Despite fears by some that Palestinian backers on the committee will win the church the emergency designation as an endangered World Heritage site, others say it would be highly unusual for the voting committee to ignore the experts' negative recommendation.

"The committee is a sovereign body. Experts are there to give expert advice that is usually taken on board," said UNESCO spokeswoman Sue Williams.

Win or lose, the Palestinians are looking to putting their mark on other sites under their purview, including historic Bethlehem.

That gets a green light from the custodial churches at the Nativity - as long as the church itself stays off limits.

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Dalia Nammari in Jerusalem and Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank contributed to this report.

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