Thursday, October 25, 2012

Does my employer match count toward my 401(k) cap? - The Help ...

I am under 50, so my 401(k) contributions are capped annually at $17,000. My company matches 4% of my salary. Does that amount count toward the $17,000 cap? Also, can I save an additional $5,000 annually in a Roth IRA, or would that amount be under the cap as well? Can my wife do the same? ? Brian B.

Good news: Your employer's matching contribution does not count toward the $17,000 cap, so you could end up with more than $17,000 in yearly contributions if you defer enough to get the full match. "Once you reach age 50, you may also make an additional $5,500 in contributions per year," says Constance Stone, a financial planner in Chagrin Falls, OH.

The Roth IRA is a separate animal as well, but there are qualifications. "As long as your joint modified adjusted gross income is below $173,000 in 2012, you can each contribute $5,000 to a Roth IRA, in addition to your employer-sponsored plans," says Jay Hutchins, a financial planner in Lebanon, N.H. Between $173,000 and $183,000, the amount you can contribute is reduced, and if you make $183,000 or more, you cannot put money in a Roth.

Putting money into both a 401(k) and a Roth is a smart tax move if you can do it. If you save all of your retirement money into tax-deferred accounts such as your 401(k), you'll have fewer options in retirement, since you'll have to pay taxes on every penny you withdraw.

? Kate Ashford

Got a question for the Help Desk? Send it to?helpdesk@cnnmoney.com.

Source: http://helpdesk.blogs.money.cnn.com/2012/10/23/employer-match-401k-cap/

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

It Was All About the Video! (Powerlineblog)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/256923070?client_source=feed&format=rss

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"Paranormal Activity 4" scares up $4.5 million in late night showings

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Friday, October 19, 2012

Forex Methods | Dreams Come True

Every single day, hundreds of thousands of trades are created inside a currency exchange current market identified as Forex trading. The term ?Forex? immediately stems learning the forex from the start of two phrases ? ?foreign? and ?exchange?. Contrary to other investing techniques like the stock marketplace, Foreign exchange won?t entail the buying and selling of any merchandise, bodily or representative. In its place, Foreign exchange operates by way of purchasing, promoting, and investing amongst the currencies of varied economies from all over the world. As the Fx marketplace is really a worldwide investing method, trades are created twenty-four hours a day, 5 times per week. Furthermore, Foreign exchange is simply not bound by any just one command company, meaning that Currency trading is definitely the only genuine absolutely free marketplace financial investing method readily available at this time. By leaving the exchange charges outside of any 1 group?s fingers, it?s substantially much more challenging to even try to manipulate or corner the currency industry. With each of the pros related with all the Fx technique, as well as the world-wide collection of participation, the Forex trading industry could be the biggest current market inside the whole environment.

Wherever concerning one trillion and one.five trillion equivalent U.s. bucks are traded to the Foreign exchange promote every and each day.

So fairly than guideline you by way of a structured web page with extra particulars by a variety of sections; they typically make use of this pitch web page plus they commonly pack it with data along with a ton of challenging providing. It has confirmed to generally be the pattern and it can be gotten tougher and more difficult for a few EAs to industry their software package with no these kind of pitch pages. It can be typically the situation with electronic items and or/stuff you?ll be able to buy on-line. With regards to these make-money-online and Forex trading web-sites they usually have a very lots of flash to them and naturally a lot of issues to draw consumers in. In point of fact it really is not a great deal unique from almost every other kind of marketing, most definitely not the likes of other financial systems, and so forth. They really need to have some kind of attractiveness and be aggressive. My summary is whether or not it appears like it may be a rip-off, do your research in any case and it might not be. It just is dependent. Some points are indicators, but in my view net style and design and challenging offering aren?t immediate indicators of the fraud.

However within the Forex trading Marketplace anything to hope for could be charts and evidence.

Most foreign exchange possibilities buying and selling is performed by means of phone as you will find only a couple of fx brokers delivering on the net fx choice buying and selling platforms.

Currency trading Solution Defined ? A fx possibility is often a economical currency agreement supplying the currency trading possibility customer the proper, although not the obligation, to obtain or market a certain fx spot agreement (the fundamental) in a certain selling price (the strike selling price) on or prior to a certain date (the expiration date). The volume the fx selection customer pays towards the currency trading alternative seller for that forex trading solution agreement legal rights is known as the foreign exchange alternative ?premium.?

The Fx Alternative Customer ? The purchaser, or holder, of the foreign currency solution has the selection to both promote the foreign currency possibility agreement previous to expiration, or she or he can decide to maintain the foreign currency alternatives agreement right up until expiration and physical exercise their proper to get a place during the fundamental spot foreign currency. The act of doing exercises the foreign currency choice and using the subsequent fundamental place during the foreign currency spot industry is called ?assignment? or getting ?assigned? a spot place.

As I reported higher than, the foreign exchange buying and selling is regarded as among the list of most rewarding and beautiful chances for financial commitment as any man or woman can simply do in your own home or office environment and from any element of the globe.

For succeeding the Currency trading, someone is simply not needed to carry out any on the internet marketing, promotion and so on. The sole prerequisite from the Foreign currency trading could be the account that someone is needed to open up with trusted and registered brokers, a pc process and quickly net relationship.

Now, you?ve got to generally be watchful when opening a Forex trading account with any broker due to the fact some can be Rip-off. The Commodity Futures Investing Commission (CFTC) in US has jurisdiction above all Futures and Fx action. When investing inside the foreign exchange markets, men and women should really only trade which has a CFTC registered entity that?s also a member on the Country wide Futures Association (NFA) and is also controlled through the CFTC. For non-US broker/ financial institution entities, make certain the broker or financial institution is registered with that country?s acceptable regulatory bodies.

The simple most evident solution is not surprisingly ? on the web! On the web fx trading presents you immediate accessibility into the currency trading promote and there is plenty and a lot of organizations in existence that are in company in order to offer with you on the internet. Be vigilant, do expend time to acquire some great foreign currency trading education and learning, yet again this may be given on the internet and put in place your dummy account to trade previously you try to go dwell. When you choose treatment and acquire your time, you will find no explanation why you should not achieve success in foreign currency trading so, have endurance and adhere at it!

Source: http://her-era.com/finance/forex-methods/

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Plastic Surgery ? All The Info You Should Know | Jackie's Women's ...

Related eBooks

In this article I?m going to take a few minutes of my time to ensure that you can understand all of the specific details about plastic surgical treatment that you possibly have never even known about so far. You will find all different types of things that people just don?t understand regarding plastic surgery, and I am going to fill you in on a few of these details now so that you can truly get a good grasp of all things that is going on in this specified area. Therefore let us have a much closer peek at plastic surgery at this moment and explore these particulars.

The first thing that you should understand that lots of people turn out having plastic surgery for the reason that they go through various distressing injuries, and it has nothing to undertake exclusively with total pride. If someone goes through a bad car crash or a severe burn, they are definitely going to need plastic surgery in many cases in order to properly cure correctly so that there are not any ugly marks and burns covering up large portions of their skin. This is specifically true if the portion of their face has been damaged negatively because of an accident or burn.

One more thing you need to totally recognize is that plastic surgery is also here because it can help numerous medical conditions that we don?t want to live with. Say you happen to have melanoma, and it?s beginning to spread throughout your body in larger and larger parts. A cosmetic surgeon will be able to remove the melanoma from you and stop it from progressing any more. This is clearly essential and something you definitely want to have done if you are struggling with this particular problem, therefore realize the medical benefits of cosmetic surgery as well because a cosmetic surgeon just might be in a position to maintain your life.

Another thing you might not have ever even considered is that if you?ve a deviated septum, it can definitely end up interfering with your sleep patterns a lot. However, if you go through rhinoplasty, then you?ll not need to concern yourself with losing sleep all the time because the surgical treatment will correct that issue for you immediately. I guess you never possibly observed that Botox is also capable of assisting people who are struggling with migraines. This isn?t something that you often notice about for the reason that Botox injections are usually just linked to the vanity procedure. However the migraine pain victims undoubtedly appreciate Botox for the fact that it can stop those unpleasant headaches from actually ruining their lives.

The section of plastic surgery that I?m going to discuss after that is often overlooked also. There are a lot of individuals on this planet who end up dropping massive amounts of weight, and due to it their skin is very wobbly and out of shape that they have no choice but to get cosmetic surgery as a way to tighten it back again in order to appear and feel normal. These overweight people, or certainly formerly overweight people, have managed this undesirable condition for such a long time that I believe it?s a really good thing that they have cosmetic surgery available to them in order to appear as best as they can once again. They truly deserve to have this type of cosmetic surgery because it could help them like not anything else, and that is undoubtedly a good thing that will definitely support them appear good once again.

Talking over feeling good about ourselves, another thing that cosmetic surgery is very good at is helping people boost their self-esteem. I know you might not prefer having plastic surgery as a way to enhance self-esteem, but it?s more efficient if a person feels really negative about themselves because that they feel a particular disfigurement is holding them back in their life. There is nothing incorrect with feeling as good as possible about yourself and who you?re, and if plastic surgery will enable you to feel that way then I must say that you should definitely go for it because it makes a lot of sense in that case. So do not be reluctant to get cosmetic surgery if you?re going to take away the problem that?s going to help make your life a whole lot better the moment it?s gone.

These are a few of the major particulars that you really need to know about cosmetic surgery just before ever going through any kind of surgery yourself. Once you know and comprehend this specified type of plastic surgery, then you know that it?s definitely good to go under the knife if it is going to provide some sort of alleviation and make you feel significantly better about yourself and your entire situation.

If you?re searching to research more on the subject of Denver cosmetic surgeons, feel free to examine the biographer?s site, which goes over this subject matter.

Related Reading:

Dermatologic and Cosmetic Procedures in Office Practice: Expert Consult - Online and Print, 1eDermatologic and Cosmetic Procedures in Office Practice: Expert Consult - Online and Print, 1e

Dermatologic and Cosmetic Procedures in Office Practice, by Drs. Richard Usatine, John Pfenninger, Daniel Stulberg, and Rebecca Small, provides you with the clear, step-by-step guidance you need to provide these options to your patients. Full-color photographs and drawings in combination with high-definition narrated videos clearly demonstrate key procedures, including skin biopsies, cryosurgery, electrosurgery, botulinum toxin injections, and more. Access to the full text, and a downloadable image bank online at www.expertconsult.com make this an ideal reference for performing key dermatologic and cosmetic procedures in your practice.

  • Access the fully searchable contents and downloadable image bank online at www.expertconsult.com.
  • Incorporate key dermatologic and cosmetic procedures into your practice with coverage of using dermoscopy to more accurately detect skin cancer, the latest information on lasers, botulinum toxin injections and dermal fillers, the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant lesions, and more.
  • Master dermatologic and cosmetic procedures thanks to more than 40 narrated, high-definition videos on DVD, demonstrating skin biopsies, cryosurgery, electrosurgery, and excision of skin cancers, cysts, and lipomas.
  • See how to perform each procedure clearly from detailed, full-color photographs and drawings and step-by-step instructions.
  • Maximize the value of providing dermatologic and cosmetic procedures with guidance on combination treatments as well as coding and billing details.

Enhance your practice with step-by-step guidance to perform virtually any skin procedure in the office setting

The Smart Woman's Guide to Plastic SurgeryThe Smart Woman's Guide to Plastic Surgery

Whether it is for augmentation, liposuction, or a lift, women often go into plastic surgery without being aware of all the aspects. This book, written by a female plastic surgeon, gives an objective, knowledgeable overview of the different procedures and includes topics such as decision making, smart questions to ask, expectations, possible complications, and recovery.

Tags: Cosmetic Surgeons, cosmetic surgery, Denver Plastic Surgeons, Denver Plastic Surgery, plastic surgeons, plastic surgery, Self Improvement, Surgeons:, Surgery:

Source: http://www.jackiesbazaar.com/womensinterests/cosmetic-surgery/plastic-surgery-all-the-info-you-should-know

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Can Cardinals close it out?

Is everyone all geared up to see the NL?s fifth best team and the AL?s seventh best team square off in the World Series?

Of course, the Cardinals and Tigers have genuinely looked like baseball?s best teams during October. And if some would prefer neither had reached the postseason because they weren?t all that good in the regular season, well, that?s just too bad.

One win away from reaching the World Series, the Cardinals will send Lance Lynn to the mound in Friday?s Game 5 in St. Louis. The 18-game winner will be opposed by 15-game winner Barry Zito.

The Cardinals should be favored in the game, but to win, they?ll need to overcome the Giants? good luck charm. The team has won each of Zito?s last 12 starts, including Game 4 against the Reds in the NLDS when Zito lasted just 2 2/3 innings and gave up two runs. Zito himself hasn?t been all that much better than usual with a 4.04 ERA during the streak. He was 8-8 with a 4.27 ERA before it began.

Coincidentally, the Zito streak actually started in St. Louis, with the Giants winning 4-2 on Aug. 7. It was Zito?s only start versus St. Louis this year, and he allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Lynn took the loss for the Cardinals that game.

Lynn also had a bit of a rough go of it in his Game 1 start in the NLCS, surrendering four runs in 3 2/3 innings. However, the Cardinals went on to win the game 6-4.

Even if the pitching matchup isn?t necessarily a big point in the Cardinals? favor for Game 5, they?d seem to have the advantage on offense and in the pen. They used only Fernando Salas in relief in the Game 4 rout, meaning that Friday?s game will likely feature an ample helping of Trevor Rosenthal and Jason Motte if it stays close.

Also, the Cardinals are aiming to get Carlos Beltran back into a lineup that?s been the most productive of any in either league this month. Beltran left Wednesday?s game with a knee strain and didn?t play Thursday. Matt Carpenter has done a terrific job filling in, homering off the bench in Game 3 and then reaching three times and scoring twice in Game 4.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/19/cardinals-will-try-to-finish-off-the-giants-in-five/related

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

True Skate tops iPhone Games of the Week

This is a pretty solid week for releases, bringing us everything from unique skating games to old iOS revivals, creative platformers, and even a silly new jumping game from Sega. Topping our list is True Skate, from True Axis, a very well done skating game that seems more like a virtual Tech Deck. We've also got a Stupid Zombies sequel, an Alice in Wonderland platformer, a music game from Square Enix, and that silliness from Sega. Here are this week's top iPhone games.

This is the latest game from True Axis, the developers of Jet Car Stunts and other titles. It is a flat out brilliant skateboarding game, similar to Touchgrind in that it eliminates the need for a virtual person to ride the board. Here, your fingers become that person, and the gameplay is designed in such a way that you actually feel like you're developing physical skill as you play. Much like Topia: World Builder of last week's list, this game is more like a toy than a game right now. But before long, several modes and options will be added. I haven't been into skating games for years, but this one has me hooked.

The first Stupid Zombies was an insanely popular destruction physics puzzler, similar to Fragger and all the various games it inspired. It doesn't quite hold up as well today, and I'm not sure what the big deal was in the first place, but we finally get a sequel to it. You can enjoy 300 new levels with all-new violent puzzle elements, plus the art and other production values are far better now, evident by the game's icon alone. I'm not sure it'll quite stand up to the likes of Hambo or Monster Island, with all their polish, but it's probably worth a look.

This is a new puzzle platformer from Josh Presseisen, who also brought us JAM: Jets Aliens Missiles. It has an out-of-this-world art style and unique, clever mechanics the likes of which you'd only find after going down the rabbit hole. You play as the white rabbit trying to get back to the queen while avoiding Alice. The environment is made up several columns of blocks, and It's up to you to slide them as the white rabbit approaches, making pathways and defeating enemies. You can also enjoy a randomized endless mode. This game is very original, and definitely worth checking out.

This is the latest from Square Enix, and apparently, it's an "entirely new breed of music game." That seems to be the case though, as you conduct a symphony and probably eventually save the world somehow. Instead of focusing on rhythm and tapping, the game gives you some more freedom in how you conduct, allowing for a bit of creativity. Kind of like Wii Music, only with more direction and not as entirely pointless. Unfortunately, like their last few games, the pricing is episodic, with a free-to-try, but ludicrously expensive to buy system. It's also very buggy, which doesn't help. Still, fairly unique and novel.

Well, this is just ridiculous. Sega, a couple years after the whole endless jumping craze has died down, releases a Sonic the Hedgehog-based jumping game instead of a runner (which are very popular right now). Also, Sonic tends to run fast. But anyway, the shocking thing is that it's actually shockingly well executed, with solid design, and that isn't just nostalgia talking. You can play in various modes that take us through legendary worlds like Green Hill Zone, fight bosses, and unlock various members of Sonic's critter friend characters to play as. The art is pretty slick, and all in all, it's a solid jumper worth playing.

Source: http://www.appolicious.com/games/articles/12864-true-skate-tops-iphone-games-of-the-week

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Video: CEOs to employees: Vote for Romney

Multivitamin cuts men's cancer risk 8 percent

After years of research showing dietary supplements failed to prevent cancer, a new study of multivitamin use in men has a surprising message: This one worked. A daily dose of Centrum Silver multivitamins reduced the total cancer risk by 8 percent in nearly 15,000 men over 50.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49454488#49454488

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Former mayor on 'Zumba' prostitution case list

KENNEBUNK, Maine (AP) ? The first batch of men charged with being clients of a woman accused of turning her Zumba dance studio into a brothel included a former mayor and men from more than a dozen towns in Maine, as well as one each from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

After initial confusion caused by the release of names without ages or addresses, a judge on Tuesday granted a request for additional information about the first 21 names out of what's believed to be more than 150 men accused of paying a fitness instructor for sex.

The list included former South Portland Mayor James Soule, who didn't return calls to his home and business, and didn't answer his door.

Others on the list included a lawyer and a real estate appraiser. The men ranged in age from 34 to 65.

The town had been awaiting the release of the list since 29-year-old Alexis Wright was charged this month with engaging in prostitution in her dance studio and in an office across the street and secretly videotaping many of her encounters. Police said she kept meticulous records suggesting the sex acts generated $150,000 over 18 months.

Wright, from nearby Wells, has pleaded not guilty to 106 counts of prostitution and other charges. Her business partner also pleaded not guilty to 59 counts.

The Kennebunk Police Department plans to release the remaining names of clients every other week as they're issued summonses on an activity log, meaning the disclosure of names could continue until the end of the year. The next batch is due to be released Oct. 26.

The first wave of names initially created havoc for some innocent men because the lack of addresses and dates of birth made it impossible to verify exactly who was among the accused.

The addresses, ages and other identifying information of the johns were withheld after a judge ruled that state law required them to be kept confidential because the alleged sexual encounters may have been videotaped, making the men potential victims of privacy invasion.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren reversed course, ruling in favor of a request from The Portland Press Herald newspaper that sought the release of the addresses and other information.

Press Herald attorney Sigmund Schutz argued Tuesday that releasing only partial information was unfair to people not on the list.

"The fact is that by releasing names only, you're getting a lot of false positives. You're implicating people who may be completely innocent and simply share the same or similar names with people charged, and that's a real harm," Schutz told The Associated Press.

One of those men was Paul Main of Alfred, whose quiet evening was shattered Monday by a phone ringing off the hook and a half-dozen TV crews showing up on his porch. Reporters wanted to know if the retired sheriff's deputy was one of the johns.

It turns out Main's name is shared by at least 20 others in Maine, including one of the clients.

He spent Monday night and Tuesday trying to clear his name.

"I don't have a problem with releasing names. I think it's a wonderful thing, but I'll be darned if it's right to do it in a shoddy manner," said Main, a retired spokesman and head of the detective division for the York County Sheriff's Department.

Some news organizations published the initial list. Others, including the AP, declined to release any names without first verifying them.

Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, a Florida-based journalism think tank, said that just because a name becomes public doesn't mean news organizations have to race to publish it.

"What journalistic purpose is served by publishing the name, and how do you balance that against the harm that may be done to these people, their families, their children?"

Clark said the situation would be different if the name of a public figure appeared.

"If the police chief is on the list, if the school superintendent on the list, I would approach those people directly and try to determine whether their actions are not just a personal moral failure but climb to the level of social, public hypocrisy," he said.

As a former law enforcement officer, Main said releasing the names helps hold suspects accountable for their misdeeds. But, he added, other information should be released as well to protect those whose only connection to the case is having a common name.

"I don't want to see other people going through the same thing that I've been through," he said.

___

Associated Press writers David Sharp in Portland and Glenn Adams in Augusta contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/release-names-prostitution-case-stirs-debate-202420189.html

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Good news from Wisconsin (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/256377006?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Long Live The (Hybrid) Mobile Web: HTML5 Specialist Netbiscuits Raises $27M Led By Stripes Group

netbiscuits logoNetbiscuits, the mobile development platform that has worked with the likes of eBay, Google, Coca-Cola and 15,000 other developers on their mobile web services, is ramping up its game as smartphone usage continues to accelerate worldwide. The company today is announcing that it has raised $27 million in a Series C round. This also marks the first time that Netbiscuits, which says it hosts over 110,000 mobile web apps and sites, has disclosed the value of a raise since first opening for business in 2000. This latest investment was led by new investor Stripes Group, and also had participation from existing investors T-Venture (Deutsche Telekom’s VC arm) and?Creathor. Co-founder and CEO?Michael Neidhoefer tells TechCrunch that the investment is a sign of the “tipping point” that we are now seeing in mobile web usage, and how companies like his are taking investment now to meet that opportunity: “Mobile phones are in many places outselling PCs,” he notes. But with the market still showing little sign of consolidation, companies are investing to build their own businesses to grow organically. “We will be using this to invest in sales, marketing and R&D, but acquisitions are not part of our strategy.” In addition to working with brands on their B2C offerings, Netbiscuits also provides a platform for B2B enterprise mobility services. Because of Netbiscuits’ legacy — it was founded in 2000, when WAP was often still the only game in town — it has a strong tie to offering development, publishing and monetizing services on mobile web sites. Neidhoefer says that this is still the case today, as usage moves away from feature devices and on to tablets and smartphones. Although Netbiscuits was founded in Germany, Neidhoefer says that more than 50% of its business is currently in North America, with Europe a strong number two and the followed by Asia Pacific and Latin America. That also translates to a stronger market for smartphone-based applications. And while there is some evidence that app usage is pulling away from mobile web as the main way that people access content on those handheld devices, Neidhoefer says that in fact a lot of those native apps — especially on Android — are just HTML5 in native wrappers. And that is only becoming more common. “Native apps can be hard to maintain and expensive,” he says. “So there is a need to move to HTML5. Over the next

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7ibFnTUaW4o/

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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

NY evangelical college probes 'Obama' filmmaker

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Monday, October 15, 2012

After a tough few years, AbleLink rebounding | ablelink, company ...

October 14, 2012 11:49 AM

It could have been the end.

The recession threatened to deal a death blow to AbleLink Technologies, a Colorado Springs-based company that develops software to help those with cognitive disabilities live more independently. But an increased focus on applications for Internet-connected mobile devices has helped breathe new life into the company.

A dearth of federal grants ? which had provided the bulk of AbleLink?s revenue ? as the recession took hold in 2007 forced the company to reduce its 10-person staff to six and left founder and President Dan Davies wondering many times whether AbleLink would survive.
But since the U.S. economy bottomed out in 2010, AbleLink has won more than $2.8 million in federal grants to develop mobile applications to aid people with cognitive disabilities.

?It has been more challenging to get grants and to generate revenue from sales due to budget cuts. We are down from where we were in 2007, but we are moving in the right direction,? Davies said. ?There were several times in the past four years I thought that we might not make it. We hit our low point two years ago and were receiving very few grants, so we had to be creative and find new ways to sell our product to new customers by moving the technology to mobile devices and partnering with organizations that serve people with developmental disabilities.?

AbleLink has expanded its market beyond people with cognitive disabilities to include those with traumatic brain injuries and senior citizens and by forming partnerships with agencies that serve people with cognitive disabilities to finance a suite of applications ranging from audio-based email and video calling to safety alerts and reminders to complete specific tasks, Davies said. The company also has converted its existing software from desktop to mobile applications and developed applications solely for mobile devices.

The company?s most recent grant totals $500,000 over two years to develop mobile applications that can be accessed on devices ranging from iPad tablet computers to Android smartphones to provide those with cognitive disabilities step-by-step directions to accomplish routine tasks ranging from making scrambled eggs to taking a blood-pressure reading. The grant was awarded in September by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, a unit of the Department of Education?s Office of Special Education.

?We are building a growing library of tasks ? there are about 150 right now and we would like to have several thousand available on the cloud ? that are created by users and available as part of an online learning library. It is built like the iTunes library where you will be able to purchase specific task instructions and some will be free,? Davies said. ?We also want to extend this capability to more devices and with more features, such as remotely notifying a caregiver or family member that the individual has taken their medication on time, for example.?

Other grants AbleLink has received in the past year or so include:

? A $75,000 grant received a year ago to develop Endeavor Connect, a Facebook application made available in May that simplifies the social media site for those with cognitive disabilities and allows users to use Facebook entirely with voice commands to post information and comment on and like the posts of others. The Department of Education grant is under the Small Business Innovation Research program that requires federal agencies to set aside part of their research budgets for small businesses.

? Another $75,000 grant awarded in August by the Education Department to develop applications for mobile devices using the Android and Apple operating systems to help people with cognitive disabilities learn about voting. The application is expected to be tested early next year and available for download in March. The application is similar to another AbleLink has created to teach those with cognitive abilities about healthy living and will include videos, slide shows and a test that will allow users to fill out a sample ballot.

? Another $75,000 grant awarded last year by the Education Department to develop an application called Schedule Manager for Android and Apple mobile devices and desktop computers that allows caregivers to set, monitor and change scheduled appointments for people with cognitive disabilities.

? A two-year, $500,000 grant awarded by the Education Department in late 2010 to develop Accessible Testing, Learning and Assessment System (ATLAS) software that can be used by schools, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to assess the skills, living arrangements and other information about people with cognitive disabilities. The software was rolled out last month, but the company is still determining pricing, Davies said.

? A $330,000 grant awarded last year by the National Institutes of Health to develop a GPS-enabled mobile application called Route Walker that uses a scavenger hunt to encourage those with cognitive disabilities to improve fitness and lose weight by walking more frequently.

? A $1.3 million grant awarded in April 2011 by the National Institute on Aging to develop an application for mobile devices called Health Care Manager ? which can be operated solely with voice commands ? to make it easier for senior citizens to stay in their homes by helping them make health care decisions.

Davies started AbleLink in 1997 to complete a grant that had been started while he was vice president of Meeting The Challenge, a company he formed with two other partners to develop products for people with disabilities. Meeting The Challenge changed direction shortly after it was formed after winning a contract to create a clearinghouse in the Rocky Mountain region for information on complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act; that shift prompted Davies to start his company to create products for those with cognitive disabilities.

Davies has spent much of his life dedicated to helping those with cognitive disabilities. His late older brother, John Davies, was born with severe cognitive disabilities, hearing impairment and couldn?t speak. John Davies lived at home until he was 10, when he moved to a special school. He died at age 33.

Dan Davies and AbleLink Vice President Steve Stock formed the Davis-Gauthier Foundation, named for John Davies and Stock?s uncle, who also had cognitive disabilities, to provide free and low-cost computer equipment and special software to special education programs and agencies providing services to people with cognitive disabilities.
?
Contact Wayne Heilman: 636-0234 Twitter @wayneheilman
Facebook Wayne Heilman

Source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/ablelink-145888-company-connected.html

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Debate preparation trumps 2012 campaigning Sunday

President Barack Obama makes phone calls to volunteers at an Organizing for America field office, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama makes phone calls to volunteers at an Organizing for America field office, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney kisses wife Ann as he leaves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belmont, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama makes phone calls to volunteers at an Organizing for America field office with Alexa Kissinger, left, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks with wife Ann as they leaves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belmont, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., walk past the media van of the waiting motorcade at Kingsmill Resort, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(AP) ? As Mitt Romney's campaign claimed new momentum in the race for the White House, President Barack Obama's political advisers on Sunday promised the incumbent would unleash his more aggressive side in Tuesday's debate to prevent their Republican rival from delivering another "magical and theatrical performance."

Obama and Romney hunkered down in private debate preparation for much of the day as aides offered a pre-debate sparring match on television.

They disagreed on much, but agreed that Romney bested Obama in their first meeting nearly two weeks ago ? a performance that shifted the direction of a race that had favored the president but has since tightened in national and battleground state polls.

"He knows Mitt Romney had a better night at the first debate," Obama spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said of the president. "The American people should expect to see a much more energized President Obama."

Ed Gillespie, senior adviser to the Romney campaign, quipped that the former Massachusetts governor would be prepared regardless of Obama's adjustments: "The president can change his style. He can change his tactics. He can't change his record."

Obama spent the day with aides in swing state Virginia, while Romney stayed close to his Boston-area home ahead of Tuesday's prime-time, town hall-style debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., exactly three weeks before the Nov. 6 election.

Romney's advisers suggested the Republican nominee would continue to moderate his message ? in tone, if not substance ? as he did in the Oct. 3 meeting to help broaden his appeal to the narrow slice of undecided voters. In recent days, Romney has promised his tax plan would not benefit the wealthy, emphasized his work with Democrats as Massachusetts governor and downplayed plans to strengthen the nation's abortion laws.

He told an Iowa newspaper this week, for example, that he would not pursue abortion-related legislation if elected. That's in direct conflict with last year's pledge to the anti-abortion group, the Susan B. Anthony List, to cut federal funding from Planned Parenthood and support legislation to "protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion."

"I think Mitt Romney's performance was, indeed, magical and theatrical. Magical and theatrical largely because for 90 minutes he walked away from a campaign he had been running for more than six years previous to that," Obama senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said of the first debate.

While the debates have proved critical, they are one element in larger campaigns that involve extensive ground games in virtually every state across the nation and a television ad war that may consume $1 billion before Election Day.

Through Monday, either absentee or in-person early voting has begun in 43 states.

Romney on Sunday released a new television spot showcasing footage from running mate Paul Ryan's first and only faceoff with Vice President Joe Biden last week. The ad features clips of Ryan saying the government "can't keep spending money we don't have."

The comments are juxtaposed with video from the debate of Biden laughing.

Ryan returned to his home state, Wisconsin, to help raise cash for Senate candidate Tommy Thompson. Wisconsin hasn't voted for a Republican for president since Ronald Reagan in 1984, but Ryan said recent victories, including the failed recall of Gov. Scott Walker, have it poised to deliver for both Romney and Thompson in just over three weeks.

"When we do that, we will look back at this moment as the day Wisconsin completed its journey," Ryan said in Milwaukee. He planned to hold a public rally Monday morning in nearby Waukesha.

Obama aides said the president was clear-eyed about the need to have a better showing in his second debate with Romney. After a listless first performance, Obama was focused on delivering more pointed and aggressive responses.

He was ensconced in hours of debate practice Sunday at Kingsmill Resort, a luxury vacation spot in Williamsburg, Va. The president was shuttling between a house on the campus where he is staying and the resort's main building, where aides are set up for debate practice.

The campaign picked the riverfront Virginia resort in part to get the president away from distractions at the White House. Some of Obama's official duties, including the attack in Libya that led to the death of four Americans, forced the president to cancel or cut short some of his prep sessions ahead of the first debate, and aides acknowledge he entered the first face-off with less practice than they had hoped.

Virginia was also a political strategic pick for Obama. While he has no formal public events there, his mere presence in the competitive swing state is designed to drive local media coverage just over three weeks from Election Day.

Aides said Obama and his team were both studying up on policy and holding mock debates, featuring Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., playing the role of Romney. Anita Dunn, a former Obama aide brought back to help with debate preparations, was playing the role of debate moderator Candy Crowley.

For Obama, the challenge is to be more aggressive in combating his Republican rival during the town hall-style debate, which often requires candidates to also show empathy with the questioner.

Campaign officials insisted they were more focused on substance over style.

"The question is not just which candidate connects with the questioner, but who has the better policies for the American people for the next four years," Psaki said. "On that front the president has a great advantage."

But Romney's team claimed the advantage on Sunday, citing polls that suggest the race is essentially a tossup.

After attending church services Sunday morning, the Republican candidate devoted several hours to debate practice at a hotel near his suburban Boston home. Romney, who has been setting aside time for debate practice since June, was joined by his senior strategy team, including Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who has been playing Obama.

"I think the wind is at Gov. Romney's back and we're clearly on momentum," Gillespie said. "This is going to be a close race. I knew that when we were behind in the polls. I know it now when we're ahead in the polls."

Gillespie made his comments on "Fox News Sunday"; Gibbs appeared on CNN's "State of the Union."

___

Pace reported from Williamsburg, Va. Associated Press writer Scott Bauer in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

___

Follow Steve People on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sppeoples .

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-14-Presidential%20Campaign/id-b99f516d98724776b781e37c35f8ebd9

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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Tour would vacate titles if UCI strips Armstrong

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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ryan Moore wins in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Former UNLV player Ryan Moore won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title, birdieing the 16th hole to take the outright lead and finishing with a 5-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Brendon de Jonge.

Tied with de Jonge and Jonas Blixt after the third round, Moore finished at 24-under 260 at TPC Summerlin. The Las Vegas resident earned $810,000 in the Fall Series opener.

De Jonge shot a 67. Blixt had a 70 to finish third at 20 under.

Jason Day pulled within three strokes of Moore and de Jonge with a birdie on the No. 16, but closed with a double bogey on the par-4 18th. He had a 65 to finish fourth at 18 under.

Moore birdied the second and third holes to take a one-stroke lead over playing partners Blixt and de Jonge, and birdied the seventh hole to pull two shots ahead.

De Jonge pulled even with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and they remained through 15, going to the 16th tee at 23 under. Moore birdied the 560-yard, par-5 16th to regain the outright lead and parred the final two holes.

Bill Lunde was fifth at 15 under after a 66. He jumped from 157th to 131st on the money list, with the final top 125 getting full tour cards for next season.

John Daly, tied for sixth at 10 under after a season-best 63 on Friday, followed a 15-over 86 on Saturday with a 6-over 77 on Sunday to finish last at 11-over 295. He began the week 132nd on the money list.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ryan-moore-wins-las-vegas-232816018--spt.html

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Love Your Pet? Consider a Pet Trust! - Idaho Estate Planning

In a very real sense, the truest ?dependant? a person can have is their own pet. A pet is neither quite a person, so the law goes, nor is a pet quite a thing. Consequently, planning for your pet's future, if you are not in it, is an essential responsibility.

Trusts are fairly powerful legal devices, amendable to many situations, and when they primarily benefit a friend with feathers, fins or fur, then they are appropriately termed ?pet-trusts.? This special form of trust was the recent topic of an article in The Wall Street Journal titled ?Pondering a Trust for Your Pet.?

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is taking unprecedented steps to address the practical and legal considerations of ownerless but bequeathed pets. If you are an animal-lover planning your estate, then this ought to be an interesting development.

Whether a ?pet trust? is the right step for you and your animal companion may vary on your pet?s needs and your family?s commitment to the animal. Regardless, do not simply assume that your pet will have a home without you and will be cared for accordingly. A pet trust will provide you with peace of mind backed by fiduciary certitude that all will be well for your special friend.

At Idaho Estate Planning we understand your devotion to all your family members including your pets. Remember, good planning is no accident.

Source: http://blog.idahoestateplanning.com/2012/10/love-your-pet-consider-a-pet-trust.html

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Watching crystals 'heal' themselves: Novel way to remove defects in materials

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2012) ? In a paper just published in Nature Materials, a team of researchers that includes William T.M. Irvine, assistant professor in physics at the University of Chicago, has succeeded in creating a defect in the structure of a single-layer crystal by simply inserting an extra particle, and then watching as the crystal "heals" itself. The trick to this self-healing property is that the crystal, an array of microscopic particles, must be curved.

This effect, which carries important implications for improving the conductivity of electronics and other realms of materials science, was predicted six years ago by physicist Mark Bowick of Syracuse University, along with David Nelson, Homin Shin and Alex Travesset, in research supported by the National Science Foundation. NSF also funded the new study.

In order to prove their prediction experimentally, Bowick sought out Paul M. Chaikin of the Center for Soft Matter Research at New York University. Chaikin enlisted the help of Irvine while he was a postdoctoral scientist working in Chaikin's laboratory.

All three researchers specialize in the branch of materials science called "soft matter," which studies a wide range of semi-solid substances such as gels, foams and liquid crystals.

Of soft matter and salad dressing

Bowick described the soft matter microemulsions he works with as being similar to a mayonnaise-based ranch dressing.

"Mayonnaise is made from a mixture of olive oil and vinegar (which is essentially water)," he explained. "You have to beat the ingredients for a long time to disperse tiny droplets of the vinegar in the oil to make an emulsion." But keeping so many droplets mixed evenly throughout the oil requires the presence of a surfactant, a stabilizer that is equally happy in both the oil and the water.

"In ranch dressing, the surfactant used is ground-up mustard seed particles, which arrange themselves at the interface between the water and the oil," Bowick said. "The mustard seed particles collect on the surface of the water droplets."

To study curved crystals, the researchers emulated ranch dressing by adding microscopic acrylic glass particles to an emulsion of glycerol droplets mixed in a base of oil.

Like the mustard seed, the glass particles naturally collect on the surface of individual glycerol droplets. Depending on the experiment, somewhere between 100 and 10,000 particles coat each droplet.

The particles' positive electric charges repel each other, causing them to arrange themselves naturally in a honeycomb pattern, with each particle equally distant from six others.

Scarred crystals

The regular six-sided pattern doesn't fit perfectly around the spherical droplet any more than gift-wrapping a soccer ball results in a perfectly flat paper covering. Just as the paper wrinkles when molding it to the surface of the ball, the curved crystal pattern generates 12 defects, or scars, evenly spaced around the sphere.

The number and location of these scars is a fundamental structural property prescribed by the geometry of the sphere. A similar pattern can be seen on the leather cover of the soccer ball, which requires 12 five-sided pentagons (defects) evenly spaced within an overall six-sided pattern.

Bowick was a member of the team that originally discovered this 12-scar property of curved crystals in 2003. After that, he wondered what would happen if they added an extra particle, called an interstitial, right in the middle of the crystal.

"Even though the particles have self-organized into a crystal pattern, they are still free to wiggle about within that structure," Bowick said. "You'd expect that an additional particle would just push the other ones apart slightly and settle in place, as it would on a flat surface."

The result would be a defective pattern containing an area of seven- and five-sided shapes, rather than the regular six-sided hexagons. But what Bowick and colleagues predicted using computer models is that on a curved surface, an extra particle added halfway between two scars would create a defect in the pattern that splits into two parts.

They calculated that the strain on the crystalline structure caused by these two defects would "flow" away from site, like ripples on a pond, as the particles readjust their distances from one another. Eventually the defects would migrate to opposite scars, where they would disappear.

Amazingly, the scientists predicted that the original particle's mass would remain close to where it was placed, and large areas of the hexagonal pattern would have rotated slightly ? -- about 30 degrees. But the original defect would be gone.

To prove this remarkable result experimentally, however, required a special instrument.

Making it work

"William Irvine had already begun his beautiful experiments in my lab on colloidal crystals on curved surfaces," recalled NYU's Chaikin. "The present study came from a conversation that Mark Bowick and I had on a plane coming back from a meeting several years ago. Mark's experiment was a natural extension of William's work."

"For this project, we had to figure out how to add a particle to the curved crystal, while imaging the particles as they shift around in three-dimensional space," explained Irvine, who is now at UChicago's James Franck Institute. "This makes the experiment considerably more complicated."

Irvine planned to use optical tweezers to grab a microscopic particle from the surrounding emulsion and place it on the surface of a droplet using radiation pressure from a focused laser beam.

"In most experiments, you come in with the laser 'tweezers' using the same lens as you use for imaging the particle, and that's great, because you want to focus the beam on the same plane where you're looking," Irvine said.

But for this experiment, the laser tweezers and the microscope had to be separated.

"A confocal microscope selects a very thin slice of the object to be imaged, so that one slice is in focus and the rest of the image (before and after) is out of focus, like a photo of a person with their face in focus and the background blurred," he explained. "In order to create a full three-dimensional image, you move the objective up and down and bring the different slices into focus one at a time."

But moving the lens also moves the laser beam holding the particle.

"In order to hold onto a particle and watch what happens as you gradually bring it to the surface of the droplet, you have to essentially build a second microscope on top of the first one," Irvine said. "Technically, that's not trivial -- you have to get a lot of things to work at the same time."

But once Irvine had designed and built the instrument, the team tested Bowick's predictions and actually created video images showing the defects moving across the crystal surface and disappearing into the scars.

Self-healing graphene

"The study of crystals on curved surfaces is interesting and important for systems that range from geodesic domes to viruses to Buckyballs," said Chaikin, referring to symmetric molecules of carbon. "The defect structure and the 'healing' of defects are particularly important in the conductivity, heat and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes, graphene and similar materials."

Graphene, a two-dimensional sheet of carbon molecules, is a very strong material and a good conductor of electricity.

"There are always going to be defects that will decrease the conductivity of graphene," said Bowick. "Ultimately, for electronic devices, you want graphene with high conductivity and as pure as possible."

And that's where the researchers' discovery could prove an ideal solution. "You might be able to simply flex a piece of graphene, remove the defects, and improve the conductivity," Bowick said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. William T. M. Irvine, Mark J. Bowick, Paul M. Chaikin. Fractionalization of interstitials in curved colloidal crystals. Nature Materials, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3429

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/FdN1QiMeSWM/121002092841.htm

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Monday, October 1, 2012

Google?s new Field Trip app puts an Android-powered tour guide in every pocket [video]

President Barack Obama continues to lead Mitt Romney in a new round of polls released Friday. The president maintains leads in a few key states, and for the first time this week, Obama is ahead in both major national tracking polls. With the debates coming up next week, Romney is about to get his best chance to turn the race around soon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-field-trip-app-puts-android-powered-tour-173026649.html

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