Top Ten Free Apps for Your iPhone 4S

Looking to fill up your new Apple iPhone with great apps but don't have the money for it? Here are some great free apps for iPhone or iPad that will help you personalize your Apple device. Best of all they're all free to download from the App Store.

CNN. One of the best news apps for the iPhone available out there. This app offers videos and articles of the latest breaking news.

LogMeIn. If you want to access your computer from your iPhone or iPad this is the app for you. This app once cost $30 but you can now get remote access to your computer at no cost. The basic app will let you access spreadsheets, applications and other files. For more advanced features like photo management, video and audio streaming, printing and file managing, you can upgrade the app for $39.99.

?Flow. This handy little app will let you get instant reviews about books, DVDs, video games or just about anything with a UPC barcode. Just point your iPhone at the item you want to learn more about, take a picture and you get reviews, pricing and even clips. It's a great app for shopping and making lists of items you really want to have.

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Facebook.? Stay connected with your friends on the biggest social network on the planet. The Facebook iOS app will let you share with friends on the go. Keep up with status updates, tag friends' pictures and upload photos from your iPhone.

Instagram. The most popular photo software for the iOS, Instagram lets you add several filtered effects to your photos. You can now have sepia colored pics for an old-time feel and then share it with your friends and family on Facebook or Twitter. A must-have app for any shutterbug.

Kindle.? Amazon's Kindle app will let you access Amazon's huge e-book market which is better than anything you can find from Apple. Better yet the app also lets you sync the page your reading with your other iOS devices and hardware Kindles.

Evernote. One of the best note-taking apps around, Evernote will let you jot down notes, ideas, snapshots and recordings. You can even instantly sync your notes to your other iOS devices or Windows desktop.

Flipboard. Flipboard was named Apple's iPad App of the year and one of Time Magazine's Top 50 Innovations and for good reason. Flipboard creates a personalized magazine from content pulled from sources you choose including major news sources, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. ?Flipboard is now available for the iPhone.

Fast Contacts. Fast Contacts is now available for free download on a limited time. This "contact app on steroids" features alarms for birthdays and anniversaries, the ability to sort contacts and an interface that lets you flip through your contacts using cover flow technology.

Battery Go! This app will let you keep track of your battery and how much time you have to use your phone, play games, browse the web or listen to music. It's one handy time management tool.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/273895/20111229/top-ten-free-apps-iphone-4s.htm

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Brand new island rises from Red Sea depths

Andrew Purcell, online producer

(Image: NASA/Earth Observatory)

Throw away that shiny new atlas you got for Christmas - it's already out of date.

Volcanic activity in the Red Sea is causing the formation of a new island in the Zubair archipelago as lava is cooled by the surrounding seawater and solidifies. The underwater volcano responsible is located on the Red Sea Rift, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart.

Yemeni fishermen first spotted lava spewing 30 metres into the air on 19 December and this was later confirmed by satellite observations. Ash plumes were detected by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard its Terra and Aqua satellites and NASA's Advanced Land Imager aboard its Earth Observing One satellite, which produced this image. Elevated levels of sulphur dioxide in the region were also recorded by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument aboard NASA's Aura satellite.

By 23 December, the lava mass had broken the water's surface and the new island had begun to take shape. The island is currently around 500m wide and is still growing. The question now is whether or not it has staying power. It may continue to grow significantly as volcanic activity continues, or the fragile lava mass may be broken up by the action of the sea's waves.

Whatever the outcome, volcanic activity in the Red Sea region appears to be on the rise. This is the first time the volcano has erupted in over a century and follows recent eruptions in the Afar Triangle in Eritrea and Ethiopia and the volcanic fields of southern Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In 2007, the nearby Jabal al-Tair volcanic island also erupted for the first time in over a century, killing 8 people.

Read more: "Newest Canary Island pictured rising from the deep"

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1b5e116b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A110C120Cred0Esea0Eisland0Erises0Efrom0Ethe0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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What's the Most Surprising New Addition to the National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress today announced an eclectic batch of new inductees into the National Film Registry for 2011, ranging from no-brainers (Charlie Chaplin's The Kid) to fantastic finds (the 1930s-era Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies). And also: Silence of the Lambs! Forrest Gump! ... El Mariachi? Which of these 25 newly anointed selections, to be preserved on account of their cultural, historical or aesthetic significance, is the most surprising addition?

The 2011 National Film Registry Additions:

Allures (1961)

Bambi (1942)

The Big Heat (1953)

A Computer Animated Hand (1972)

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)

The Cry of the Children (1912)

A Cure for Pokeritis (1912)

El Mariachi (1992)

Faces (1968)

Fake Fruit Factory (1986)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Growing Up Female (1971)

Hester Street (1975)

I, an Actress (1977)

The Iron Horse (1924)

The Kid (1921)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

The Negro Soldier (1944)

Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies (1930s-1940s)

Norma Rae (1979)

Porgy and Bess (1959)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Stand and Deliver (1988)

Twentieth Century (1934)

War of the Worlds (1953)

I could be convinced of El Mariachi's worthiness given Robert Rodriguez's famed hardscrabble production legend and the fact that he's created a manageable cottage industry for himself working on the periphery of Hollywood. And yeah, El Mariachi's pretty good, but for my money it's the weakest new addition of the bunch.

Which is not to say it's the most surprising; Forrest Gump was well-loved and somewhat groundbreaking in its time even if it feels cringe-inducingly dated now, but many of these selections are of a distinct era or creatively, socially, or technically significant. (Ed Catmull's 3-D grad project A Computer Animated Hand is another inspired choice.) Besides, Groundhog Day made the list back in 2006. Groundhog Day. So here's what I want to know: How the heck has it taken this long for Bambi to make the list?

Read more on each selection from the Library of Congress's press release over at the Library of Congress website.

[Library of Congress]

?

?

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924215/news/1924215/

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Identification of Novel Mutations in Chinese Hans with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Abstract

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND:

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited renal disease with an incidence of 1 in 400 to 1000. The disease is genetically heterogeneous, with two genes identified: PKD1 (16p13.3) and PKD2 (4q21). Molecular diagnosis of the disease in at-risk individuals is complicated due to the structural complexity of PKD1 gene and the high diversity of the mutations. This study is the first systematic ADPKD mutation analysis of both PKD1 and PKD2 genes in Chinese patients using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC).

METHODS:

Both PKD1 and PKD2 genes were mutation screened in each proband from 65 families using DHPLC followed by DNA sequencing. Novel variations found in the probands were checked in their family members available and 100 unrelated normal controls. Then the pathogenic potential of the variations of unknown significance was examined by evolutionary comparison, effects of amino acid substitutions on protein structure, and effects of splice site alterations using online mutation prediction resources.

RESULTS:

A total of 92 variations were identified, including 27 reported previously. Definitely pathogenic mutations (ten frameshift, ten nonsense, two splicing defects and one duplication) were identified in 28 families, and probably pathogenic mutations were found in an additional six families, giving a total detection level of 52.3% (34/65). About 69% (20/29) of the mutations are first reported with a recurrent mutation rate of 31%.

CONCLUSIONS:

Mutation study of PKD1 and PKD2 genes in Chinese Hans with ADPKD may contribute to a better understanding of the genetic diversity between different ethnic groups and enrich the mutation database. Besides, evaluating the pathogenic potential of novel variations should also facilitate the clinical diagnosis and genetic counseling of the disease.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?tmpl=NoSidebarfile&db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=22185115&dopt=Abstract

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Designers develop device to elevate the iPad's keyboard

SAN FRANCISCO ? Even if you love the iPad, you?re probably not keen to write your next novel using its on-screen virtual keyboard. You may not be thrilled to type up a lengthy email with it, either.

Steven Isaac felt the same way. So the Seattle-based software designer got to work on a way to make the iPad easier to type on. Using a stretchy silicone, he invented a keyboard that sits atop the tablet?s on-screen keyboard when the device is turned on its side. He called it, TouchFire.

Isaac, who worked on an early tablet at computing startup Go in the `90s, isn?t unique in dreaming up this type of device. But his invention has garnered intense support on Kickstarter ? a website where entrepreneurs and artists solicit funding for their projects and often give rewards in exchange, such as a limited-edition poster or first version of a product.

In Isaac?s case, he turned to the site to raise money to transform his prototype into a real device, offering the first run of TouchFires to Kickstarter backers. His effort raised $201,400 by the time it ended last week. That was more than 20 times the $10,000 that he and his business partner had hoped to snag.

The TouchFire?s birth as a consumer product shows the growing importance of sites such as Kickstarter. They offer a new way to finance bright ideas and usher them to the masses. Kickstarter visitors can search through a bevy of proposals for everything from graphic novels to consumer electronics, coming from creators who must meet their stated funding goal in a specified period of time in order to actually use the money.

About 45 percent of the projects meet or exceed their goals, Kickstarter said. This year, site visitors pledged about $79 million to projects that either succeeded, including Isaac?s, or were still in the process of soliciting funds.

The response to the TouchFire in particular indicates that, despite the tough economy, people are interested in shelling out for ideas they believe in ? something that benefits both consumers and entrepreneurs.

?It sure makes us feel very good about the potential for this project and the demand for this project,? Isaac says.

It?s validation for a year and a half?s worth of work. Not long after the iPad came out in April 2010, Isaac started fashioning prototypes by cutting up transparent silicone laptop keyboard covers (the kind you use to protect a laptop?s keyboard from dirt) and thin sheets of silicone.

He had a number of stipulations for the TouchFire: It should somehow work with the iPad?s existing on-screen keyboard and have springy ?keys? that you could actually feel. It had to be small, light and unobtrusive. It needed to respond to your finger taps, but, as on a hardware keyboard, be insensitive enough that you could rest your fingers on the keys without triggering the typing of random letters.

Last September, he connected with Brad Melmon, an industrial designer who was also based in Seattle. The duo refined Isaac?s original idea and created the TouchFire company together.

A TouchFire prototype Isaac recently brought to The Associated Press? San Francisco office looked deceptively simple. On the surface, it appeared to be just a flexible keyboard cover with some rigid plastic on the sides.

But a closer look revealed small bumps on the underside of the keypad?s silicone keys ? bumps that provide typing fingers with the proper amount of resistance. Magnets on the sides and the bottom adhere it to the magnetic portions of the face of the iPad 2, allowing it to sit right on top of the on-screen virtual keyboard without sliding around. If you use the original iPad, a non-slip layer on the bottom of the TouchFire helps keep it in place.

Typing with it was fairly comfortable, though it would take some getting used to its squishy feel (a more apt name might be SquishyType).

Creating a functional prototype like this was just the first step, though. Isaac and Melmon needed funding to make their idea into a consumer product. So after briefly looking for outside investors, they turned to Kickstarter in October.

Not every idea makes it through KickStarter?s application process, which is required before you can start seeking funds through the site. The TouchFire was initially rejected ? Isaac suspects their pitch wasn?t demonstrative enough. But after adding a video that showed it in action, KickStarter approved the application and added it to the site on Oct. 20.

Isaac and Melmon hoped to raise $10,000 by the campaign?s Dec. 13 deadline by offering a TouchFire to anyone who pledged at least $45 ? about the same price they eventually hope to sell them at in stores.

This wasn?t a problem. By the fifth day of their Kickstarter campaign, they reached their goal. In the final seven days, the project had snagged more than $167,000 in funding. Isaac says he now expects to ship more than 5,000 TouchFires to Kickstarter backers.

Marci Liroff is one of the excited buyers. Liroff, a Los Angeles-based casting director and producer who successfully funded one of her own films through Kickstarter, uses an iPad for nearly everything. But she turns to a laptop if she wants to write more than a simple email ? she finds it too difficult to do so on the iPad. Liroff hopes the TouchFire changes that (and she jokes that if it does, she?ll never have to leave the couch again).

?I just thought it was a really brilliant idea,? she says.

Not everyone is convinced, though. Gartner Research analyst Ken Dulaney is skeptical that the TouchFire will appeal to the masses, saying it doesn?t really seem different from the scads of wireless keyboards already available for the tablet.

?I can tell you, you just need to go down the Apple Store to see how littered the market is for keyboards for iPads,? he says.

Indeed, there are tons of options available to iPad users, from cases with built-in keyboards to stand-alone keyboards that sit next to the iPad.

Isaac is optimistic, though. He and Melmon are deciding on a manufacturer to make the device, and Isaac said they?re likely to ship the TouchFires to donors in January. After that, they hope to make the devices available for sale as soon as possible.

Source: http://dailyherald.com/article/20111224/business/712249982/

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Obamas go to church, dine in for Christmas in Hawaii

Reuters

2:18 p.m. EST, December 26, 2011

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spent a low-key Christmas Day with his wife and daughters in Hawaii, going to church and thanking U.S. troops for their service before hosting friends for dinner at the first family's rented beach house.

The Obamas started opening gifts around 8 a.m. on Sunday and then ate breakfast and sang carols together before heading to the chapel at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii for a Christmas service, the White House said.

Far from Washington officialdom, and making the most of a bright, warm day, Obama dressed casually in a polo shirt and khaki pants to church and Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia wore summer dresses.

After a few hours back at their multi-million-dollar temporary home, the president and Michelle Obama returned to the base to shake hands, hold babies and pose for pictures with hundreds of sailors and marines stationed there.

"In the evening, the First Family and friends will celebrate with a Christmas dinner at home," a White House official said. Sam Kass, the White House chef, is spending the holidays with the Obamas and was expected to do the cooking.

(Reporting By Travis Quezon; Writing by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Todd Eastham)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/orlandosentinel/news/local/lake/~3/ICB1DEmQ8YI/sns-rt-us-usa-obamatre7bp020-20111225,0,6716717.story

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Season 6 Episode 13 - The Wedding of River Song

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.sidereel.com/Doctor_Who_(2005)/season-6/episode-13/links/11537012?rss=true

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Ward Church offers family ?home for the holidays'

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Source: hometownlife.com --- Friday, December 23, 2011
This Christmas, a single mom from Detroit and her three daughters will have a home, thanks to some hard workers with big hearts affiliated with Ward Presbyterian Church in Northville Township. ...

Source: http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20111222/NEWS12/112220419/1029/rss19

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Can Paul Allen launch rockets into space from a plane?

The company aims to build a massive aircraft that will act as an airborne launch system, releasing a booster mid-flight that ignites to send cargo, satellites and, eventually, people into orbit. When complete, it would be the biggest aircraft in history.

After conquering the technology world, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is setting his sights on the next frontier: space.

Skip to next paragraph

The billionaire entrepreneur announced a new private spaceflight venture on Tuesday (Dec. 13), called Stratolaunch Systems. The company aims to build a massive aircraft that will act as an?airborne launch system, releasing a booster mid-flight that ignites to send cargo, satellites and, eventually, people into orbit. When complete, it would be the biggest aircraft in history.

Sounds pretty cool, right? But can it really be built?

Absolutely, company officials say.

The giant twin-bodied aircraft will be constructed by Scaled Composites, a Mojave, Calif.-based aerospace design company founded by industry pioneer Burt Rutan. The carrier craft will incorporate new aircraft components as well as existing parts from two 747 jetliners.

"This is not a sketch," Rutan said. "It exists in hundreds of detailed drawings, and it's relatively close to [being built] as soon as we can get a building big enough." [Images: Paul Allen's Giant Plane for Private Launches]

The?Stratolaunch Systems aircraft?is expected to be the largest ever built. The craft's wings will span a staggering 385 feet (117 meters), which will make it longer than a football field.

Tipping the scales at 1.2 million pounds (more than 544,000 kilograms), the mammoth aircraft will need to take off and land on a runway that is at least 12,000 feet (3,600 meters) long, company officials said. But, launching rockets from in the air comes with advantages.

"It's an approach that has a long history," said former NASA administrator Mike Griffin. "We've been air-dropping manned rockets since Chuck Yeager. It's an approach that offers some very substantial operational flexibility, much reduced range requirements ? ability to deal with weather scenarios."

Griffin is a member of the Stratolaunch Systems board, and he joined Allen and Rutan in a news conference Tuesday in Seattle to announce the project.

Commercial and government payloads will ride into orbit on a booster that will be made by the California-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).

The two-stage rocket will be based on?SpaceX's existing fleet of rockets, and it will be designed to first carry cargo and satellites, and then humans, SpaceX officials said. The booster will be released at an altitude of approximately 30,000 feet (9,100 m) before igniting and journeying into space.

This type of airborne launch system will help make commercial launches safer, more flexible, efficient and affordable, Allen said.

"By the end of this decade, Stratolaunch will be putting spacecraft into orbit," Allen said.

Allen partnered with Rutan on the design and construction of?SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded vehicle to reach the edge of space. Allen bankrolled the project, which reportedly cost more than $20 million.

Allen declined to share the cost of this newly announced airborne launch system, but did say that it was a considerable amount. The importance of fostering the future of commercial spaceflight, however, is a worthwhile investment, he said.

The mammoth aircraft will be built in a special hangar that will be constructed at the Mojave Air and Space Port, company officials said. Other than early specifications, Rutan is tight-lipped about details of the project.

"Because we are announcing it very early, I don't think it's wise to give the competitors our technical numbers," Rutan said. "We have to share it after it's flying, but we don't have to now."

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter?@denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/gK_wr4kYu8Q/Can-Paul-Allen-launch-rockets-into-space-from-a-plane

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MitchWagner: RT @peymojo: So in addition to GoDaddy we're all boycotting Visa, Mastercard, The NFL, & Major League Baseball, right? Right?

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So in addition to GoDaddy we're all boycotting Visa, Mastercard, The NFL, & Major League Baseball, right? Right? Il y a environ 5 heures via TweetDeck Retweeted by 35 people

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Store makes Christmas tree from cellphones

HANOI, Vietnam?? Southeast Asia is closer to the equator than the North Pole, but an electronics store in Vietnam is ringing in the holidays with a 15-foot Christmas tree made from more than 2,500 unusable cellular phones.

Nguyen Trai, a store manager at Westcom Electronics in the southern city of My Tho, says 10 workers spent two weeks building the cellular Christmas tree that he hopes will raise awareness about hazardous waste and promote environmental responsibility.

The glittering, cone-shaped creation has been on display for about two weeks outside the store in southern Tien Giang Province.

Between 700 and 800 people visit daily, Trai told the Associated Press.

"Many of them have taken pictures with the tree," he said.

Cellphones are ubiquitous in Vietnam, where more than 60 percent of the population is under 30 and hordes of young people flaunt flashy electronics to mark their rising wealth even as the country struggles to contain one of Asia's highest inflation rates.

Although the majority of communist Vietnam's 87 million people are Buddhist, there is a sizable Catholic minority and an enthusiastic general embrace of all things Christmas. The country's two largest cities ? Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City ? are studded with holiday lights all winter long, with bright-eyed teens promenading in Santa hats and yuletide-themed electronic music blaring in sidewalk cafes.

Westcom Electronics plans to auction its cellphone tree next year and donate the proceeds to charity, said store manager Nguyen Trai, adding that staff members are already collecting unusable phones in hopes of erecting an even bigger Christmas "pine tree" next year.

There are tens of millions of cellphones in circulation in Vietnam, but it's impossible to know how many used phones are dumped each year because the government doesn't collect such data, said Nguyen Thanh Yen of Vietnam's Environment Administration.

Yen said he welcomed the idea of raising awareness about hazardous waste, but Westcom Electronics has violated Vietnamese law, which requires businesses to seek official permission before using hazardous waste for new purposes.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, people working in the informal sector collect the majority of "recyclable and reusable waste" in urban areas of Vietnam.

Solid waste management is among the "major environmental burdens" in developed and developing countries across Asia, especially in megacities, the U.N. says.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45776501/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/

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The Kindle Fire's First Major Update Should Give It Some Zip (Updated) [Kindle Fire]

Amazon's shooting back at its critics (and shooting help at its users!) with the Kindle Fire's first software update. It's free, available over the air or via download—right now. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/sND8aaqSo-g/the-kindle-fire-gets-its-first-update

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Video: Sony CEO Shares Holiday Gift Ideas, Pt. 2

Howard Stringer, Sony Chairman, President & CEO, offers some gift ideas for your holiday shopping bag.

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Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45736227/

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Samsung releases CES 2012 teaser, hints at upcoming Smart TV products (video)

It's certainly not much, but with just a few words at the end of a YouTube clip, Samsung hopes to grab your interest. The Korean electronics giant has just released a "through the years" style clip that encapsulates over 50 years of advances with its television systems (i.e., the switch to color, rabbit ears, higher resolutions, DVR, 3D TVs, etc.). The clip concludes with the words "Experience the Future of Smart TV" and highlights the company's upcoming presence at CES next month. And yes, we'll be there too. Take a gander for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Samsung releases CES 2012 teaser, hints at upcoming Smart TV products (video)

Samsung releases CES 2012 teaser, hints at upcoming Smart TV products (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/lOfFqMeQwx8/

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Stocks rise as optimism about US economy grows

In this Dec. 15, 2011 photo, specialist Patrick Kenny, left, and trader Timothy Pastina work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stocks were buoyed Friday, Dec. 16, by improving U.S. economic indicators and the expected approval in Italy of an austerity plan intended to get the country's finances under control. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Dec. 15, 2011 photo, specialist Patrick Kenny, left, and trader Timothy Pastina work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stocks were buoyed Friday, Dec. 16, by improving U.S. economic indicators and the expected approval in Italy of an austerity plan intended to get the country's finances under control. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stocks rose early Friday as spending cuts by Italy lifted traders' hopes about Europe's progress toward taming its debt crisis. A flat reading on U.S. inflation sent bond yields lower.

World markets rose Friday after Italy's lower house of parliament approved an austerity package in hopes of lowering the country's escalating borrowing costs.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 58 points, or 0.5 percent, at 11,926 in the first half-hour of trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 8, or 0.7 percent, at 1,224. The Nasdaq composite index is up 22, or 0.9 percent, at 2,563.

The gains were broad. Nine of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index rose, led by industrial and technology companies. Telecommunications was the only sector to fall, by 0.3 percent.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note plunged to 1.88 percent from 1.93 percent earlier Friday after the government said consumer prices were unchanged last month, suggesting that inflation remains low. Low inflation makes bonds more attractive because it doesn't diminish the buying power of the fixed return a bond provides over time.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. plunged 12 percent after the company said late Thursday that new phones seen as critical to the company's future will be delayed until late next year. The company is also taking a big loss on unsold tablet computers and predicted that its BlackBerry sales will fall sharply during the holiday period.

If stocks hold their gains, it will be only be the second up day this week. Indexes rose Thursday after positive economic news brought relief to choppy markets. The Dow rose 45 points after separate reports showed sharply fewer layoffs and better business conditions for factories on the Eastern seaboard.

World markets followed U.S. markets higher Friday as the European debt crisis failed to produce any worrying headlines. Bad news out of Europe has overshadowed positive economic news for months.

Italy's austerity measures are seen as a crucial step toward soothing fears about Europe. The nations' borrowing costs have risen in recent weeks to levels at which other nations, such as Greece, were forced to take bailouts.

The cuts are aimed at persuading bond traders that Italy can emerge from the widening crisis without defaulting on its debts. The nation still sits on a $2.5 trillion powder keg of debt that could cause a global economic recession if it defaults.

Stocks mostly rose in Europe following gains in Asia. Britain's FTSE added 0.5 percent and Italy's benchmark index rose 0.4 percent.

Online game developer Zynga Inc. begins trading later Friday on the Nasdaq. The San Francisco company, which specializes in Facebook games, priced its initial public offering late Thursday at $10 per share, raising $1 billion. It's the largest Internet IPO since Google Inc. went public in 2004.

Among companies making big moves:

? New York-area cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. plunged 14 percent, the most in the S&P 500, following the sudden departure of its chief operating officer, Tom Rutledge.

? Adobe Systems Inc. jumped 8.4 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after the software maker reported earnings and revenues that were far ahead of what analysts were expecting. Analyst Walter Pritchard at Citigroup said the quarter was a "blow-out when most expected weakness."

___

Follow Daniel Wagner at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-16-Wall%20Street/id-5bd628823a564d48920f53226a5135ef

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Five people dead in apparent murder-suicide in Illinois town (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Five people, including three children, have been found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide in a small Illinois town, police said on Saturday.

The five victims included a 30-year-old woman, a 29-year-old man, and three children ages eight, seven and 10 months, according to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office.

The bodies were found Friday afternoon at a home in Emington, a rural town of about 120 people located about 80 miles southwest of Chicago.

"The nature of why is still under investigation," Sheriff Martin A. Meredith said in a news release. A semi-automatic pistol was recovered at the scene. Meredith said police are not looking for any suspects.

Police did not say who they believed fired the shots.

"Our hearts go out to the family of those involved, along with residents of Emington and all of Livingston County," Meredith said.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111217/us_nm/us_crime_shooting

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Smoking Linked to Skin Cancer in Women (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- If you're a woman who smokes and you are looking for another reason to quit, consider this: A new study has found a link between tobacco use and skin cancer.

The study found that women who had squamous cell skin cancer were more likely to have smoked than those who were free from the disease. And those who smoked at least 20 years were twice as likely to develop squamous cell skin cancer, a less aggressive form of skin cancer than melanoma.

Men who smoked had a modest risk for the two types of non-melanoma skin cancer -- basal cell and squamous cell cancer -- but the results weren't statistically significant, the study authors noted.

"We don't know why," said study lead author Dana Rollison, referring to the difference between women's and men's risk. Both men and women get a lot of exposure to the sun, the main risk factor for skin cancer, she noted.

But lung cancer research may offer a clue, said Rollison, an associate member in the Moffitt Cancer Center department of cancer epidemiology, in Tampa, Fla. Hormonal differences affecting the metabolization of nicotine and the body's ability to repair damage to lung DNA caused by smoking have been noted before, suggesting that the female hormone estrogen may play a role, she said.

The study, published online in the journal Cancer Causes Control, was done at the Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida, also in Tampa.

For the study, 383 patients with skin cancer were compared to 315 people without the disease. The participants were asked how much they smoked, when they picked up the habit and the total number of years they'd smoked. A total of 355 men and 343 women were included in the study. All were white, the group most at risk for skin cancer. Risks for both types of non-melanoma skin cancer were analyzed separately, compensating for the presence of other risk factors.

The researchers found that the more people smoked, the more likely they were to have skin cancer, Rollison said. Men who had basal cell skin cancer were significantly more likely to have smoked for at least 20 years than men with no cancer, the study authors noted.

While the study found an association between smoking and skin cancer risk, it did not prove a cause and effect.

Despite the elevated smoking-related risk among women, men overall are more likely to get skin cancer, Rollison noted. She said that "it is possible men's skin is more sensitive to sun exposure than women's."

But another skin cancer expert suggested that men may be less inclined to use sunscreen or other protection when outdoors.

"Although it could just be a genetic difference (between men and women), men tend to have more unprotected sun exposure in their lives," said Dr. Jeffrey Dover, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University Medical School.

Dover said the study findings weren't surprising because "we know cigarette smoke contains carcinogens" and smokers are "blowing the smoke and ash around their faces all day."

The study is important, he added, because "although we have done well, we can do even better" at eliminating smoking as a cause of disease. "This adds more fuel to the idea that smoking has no place in our society."

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, where about 2 million cases are treated annually, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Squamous cell cancer occurs in the epidermis, the top layer of skin, and can spread to other organs. Basal cell skin cancer occurs in the dermis, the skin layer beneath the epidermis. While it does not spread to other organs, it is far more common than squamous cell cancer, according to the government agency.

More information

To learn more about skin cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111216/hl_hsn/smokinglinkedtoskincancerinwomen

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"Rudy" inspiration charged with securities fraud (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? U.S. securities regulators on Friday charged Daniel Ruettiger -- the inspiration behind the 1993 movie "Rudy" -- and 12 others with running a scheme to deceive investors into buying stock in Ruettiger's sports drink company.

Rudy Nutrition, which is no longer in business, provided false and misleading statements about the company to investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The scheme generated more than $11 million in illicit profits, the SEC said.

"Investors were lured into the scheme by Mr. Ruettiger's well-known, feel-good story but found themselves in a situation that did not have a happy ending," SEC enforcement lawyer Scott Friestad said in a statement.

Ruettiger and 10 of the scheme's other participants have agreed to settle the SEC's charges without admitting or denying the allegations. Ruettiger agreed to pay $382,866 to settle the case.

An attorney for Ruettiger could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting By Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/media_nm/us_rudy_sec

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AG Holder vows to enforce civil rights protections (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Attorney General Eric Holder vowed Tuesday to use the full power of the Justice Department to enforce civil rights protections for voters in next year's elections amid a flurry of activity by states to redraw political boundaries and impose requirements that could reduce voting by minorities who enthusiastically supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election.

In prepared remarks for a speech in Austin, Texas, the nation's chief law enforcement officer urges the country to "call on our political parties to resist the temptation to suppress certain votes in the hope of attaining electoral success."

"Instead, encourage and work with the parties to achieve this success by appealing to more voters," Holder said.

Holder was making his remarks at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. As president in 1965, Johnson was instrumental in passing the landmark law used by the Justice Department to ensure voting rights in Texas and all or parts of 15 other states, most of them in the South and all of them with a history of discrimination against blacks, American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaskan Natives or Hispanics.

Holder was appearing in a Republican-controlled state which has taken a redistricting dispute with civil rights groups all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a separate dispute, Texas also has enacted a photo ID requirement that the U.S. Justice Department is examining for possible discriminatory impact on voters. In addition, Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin have enacted more stringent voter ID laws this year.

Texas Democrats, voting-rights advocates and minority groups had harshly criticized the photo ID law, but were unable to block its passage in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

In September, the Justice Department's civil rights division said it needed the racial breakdown and counties of residence of the estimated 605,500 registered voters in Texas who do not have a state-issued license or ID. The division also asked how many of voters have Spanish surnames. Under the federal Voting Rights Act, the new Texas law needs Justice Department approval in order for it to take effect.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111213/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_holder_civil_rights

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Panetta visits Afghanistan amid rising violence

By NBC News and news services

KABUL - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Kabul on Tuesday for an unannounced visit at a time of persistent violence and as the United States and its Western allies are reducing troop levels in Afghanistan.

NBC News reported he touched down in Kabul at 4:44 p.m. local time (7:14 a.m. ET) in what is his second trip to Afghanistan as the Pentagon chief.

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He was greeted off the plane by the commander of NATO ISAF forces, General John Allen, Ambassador Crocker, and the commander of ISAF Joint Command General Scaparotti.

Panetta's visit comes on the heels of bomb attacks on Shiite Muslim ceremonies in three Afghan cities. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attacks killed 80 people.

NATO commanders say that a "surge" of more than 30,000 U.S. troops in 2009-2010 helped push the Taliban out of some areas of its southern heartland.

But the United Nations and other groups say violence nationwide is at its worst since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in late 2001.

Afghanistan's future remains unclear as the government and its Western allies race to train and expand the national police and army while foreign troops start heading home.

The Obama administration plans to withdraw its surge troops by the end of next fall, leaving about 68,000 American soldiers.

Most foreign combat troops are expected to leave by the end of 2014, when the Afghan government is due to have complete control of security across the country.

The gradual transition to Afghan control began this summer, and a second phase announced late last month will mean more than half the population is living in areas where security has been handed over officially.

NBC News said issues likely to be discussed during his visit included supply routes being cut off from Pakistan. The U.S. is still sending supplies through the air from the north and south, but the Pakistanis have cut off the ground lines.?

NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.

Read more content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/13/9414292-panetta-visits-afghanistan-amid-rising-violence

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