Monday, 29 April 2013

FBI removes boat used by Boston bombing suspect

By Karen Brooks

(Reuters) - Investigators have removed from its Watertown, Massachusetts, backyard the now-famous boat used as a hiding spot by one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, and have taken it to an evidence storage facility, the FBI said on Saturday.

The boat was the scene of high drama when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old ethnic Chechen charged with the April 15 bombing that killed three people and wounded 264, was captured by authorities on April 19 after a tense day of searching in the Boston area.

The owner of the boat called police after he lifted the tarp of the boat stored in his backyard and saw blood. Police found a wounded Tsarnaev inside the boat.

The boat was processed for evidence at the scene and then moved on Friday to an undisclosed FBI facility for storage, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, is also a suspect but was killed by police on April 18.

Also on Friday, the FBI concluded their search at a landfill in New Bedford for evidence connected to the bombings, she said. Eimiller declined to say what evidence investigators hoped to find and whether they found anything.

"We were seeking evidence but we are not commenting on the nature of what was being sought or what was found," she said. "We can confirm that we were there Thursday, Friday and left yesterday."

The landfill is near the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, attended by the younger Tsarnaev.

Local media reported the FBI were trying to find the younger Tsarnaev's laptop.

(Reporting By Karen Brooks; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-removes-boat-used-boston-bombing-suspect-storage-152132969.html

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Friday, 26 April 2013

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Netgear 802.11ac update adds beamforming, delivers up to 60 percent faster WiFi

Netgear 80211ac router update adds beamforming, hikes WiFi speeds by up to 60 percent

Although Netgear was one of the quickest out of the gates with 802.11ac WiFi hardware, that doesn't mean its hardware is the quickest today: without beamforming to optimize the signal, it risks trailing behind newcomers who've had more time to prepare. Starting with the R6300 router and A6200 USB adapter, the company will soon catch up through a firmware update that rolls in support for the beamforming standard. The upgrade targets wireless signals at devices' specific locations, offering a big speed boost at shorter distances -- Netgear estimates up to a 60 percent improvement at a 50-foot range. R6300 and A6200 owners can swing past the source links today for their tune-up, while those using Netgear's other 802.11ac devices should expect brisker speeds around the early summer.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/22/netgear-802-11ac-device-update-adds-beamforming/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Wiz Khalifa Unites A$AP Rocky, B.o.B. For Under The Influence Tour

Joey Bada$$ and Trinidad James will also join Wiz for the summer trek.
By Rob Markman


Wiz Khalifa's Under The Influence Of Music tour poster
Photo: Livenation

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706116/wiz-khalifa-asap-rocky-under-the-influence-tour.jhtml

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Monday, 22 April 2013

United in adversity: West, Texas, prays for Boston, which sends pizzas to West

As refugees in West, Texas waited to return to homes devastated by a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant, their talk, concern, and prayers turned to the terrorist attack in Boston. 'I've never been to Boston,' one Texan commented, 'but now I really want to go. It seems like a cool city.'

By Patrik Jonsson,?Staff writer / April 20, 2013

West, Texas, mayor pro tem Steve Vanek talks to the media in front of city hall Saturday, three days after an explosion at a fertilizer plant Wednesday night killed as many as 14 people and injured more than 160.

Charlie Riedel/AP

Enlarge

Lauretta Cvikel has her own problems. On Wednesday, she was knocked over by the explosion at West Fertilizer Plant, noting, "I never thought I'd be able see air move!" For another 20 minutes "that felt like forever" she didn't know the whereabouts of her pre-teen son, Allen, who was eventually found safe.

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But as Ms. Cvikel tells her dramatic story, her thoughts suddenly wander eastward and to the North, to a manhunt and citywide lock down in Boston, which ended several hours later. Even as West continued to tally its casualties and homeless residents wandered around in their trucks, she noted, "I can't imagine what people in Boston are going through. We've been praying for them too."

Such reciprocal sympathies toward the end of inarguably the worst week of the year ? terror bombs, ricin letters, rural explosions, shootouts and manhunts ? also rubbed off on President Obama, who took a few minutes during his remarks on the capture of the Boston bomb suspect to mention the residents of West, Texas, saying, "We've also seen a tight-knit community in Texas devastated by a terrible explosion."

The phenomenon was in many ways natural: Victims of circumstance and tragedy easily empathize with others going through hard times. But it also pointed to a unique sense of national solidarity wrought by chaos and resolved by a sense of hope. "We are only beginning to make sense of a series of events that moved so fast, so furiously as to almost defy attempts to figure them out," explains Jesse Washington of the Washington Post.

Some here in West wondered how CNN's Anderson Cooper could have materialized in Boston only hours after leaving West, but there was little bitterness about the drift in national attention. If anything, residents of central Texas cheered the capture of the surviving bomb suspect because it buoyed their spirits as much as those of the applauding crowds on the streets of Watertown, clapping as police drove through.

Texas State Trooper Bryan Washko toured what he called "war zone" devastation early Friday before setting up a road block into a neighborhood knocked over by the Wednesday night explosion.

But even as the Killeen-based trooper ached for the plight of fellow Texans, he said he'd spent most of his shift listening to NPR?s coverage of the Thursday night manhunt and shootout that led to one of the suspects ? two Chechen brothers ? being killed and the other one, the younger brother, somehow escaping the grasp of police.?

While repairing his family's own damaged BBQ joint and listening to stories about who was hurt or killed in West, one burly, goateed resident, using an iPhone police scanner app, followed the Boston manhunt in real-time as police commands out of Watertown echoed across the Internet and into a kitchen in West.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/SwNcLUba47Q/United-in-adversity-West-Texas-prays-for-Boston-which-sends-pizzas-to-West

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Sunday, 21 April 2013

Gillmor Gang Live 04.20.13

Gillmor Gang test patternGillmor Gang - Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor. Recording for today has concluded. Check Techcrunch soon for replay.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4fmhrqtZCe8/

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Boston nurses tell of bloody marathon aftermath

(AP) ? The screams and cries of bloody marathon bombing victims still haunt the nurses who treated them one week ago. They did their jobs as they were trained to do, putting their own fears in a box during their 12-hour shifts so they could better comfort their patients.

Only now are these nurses beginning to come to grips with what they endured ? and are still enduring as they continue to care for survivors. They are angry, sad and tired. A few confess they would have trouble caring for the surviving suspect, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, if he were at their hospital and they were assigned his room.

And they are thankful. They tick off the list of their hospital colleagues for praise: from the security officers who guarded the doors to the ER crews who mopped up trails of blood. The doctors and ? especially ? the other nurses.

Nurses from Massachusetts General Hospital, which treated 22 of the 187 victims the first day, candidly recounted their experiences in interviews with The Associated Press. Here are their memories:

THEY WERE SCREAMING

Megann Prevatt, ER nurse: "These patients were terrified. They were screaming. They were crying ... We had to fight back our own fears, hold their hands as we were wrapping their legs, hold their hands while we were putting IVs in and starting blood on them, just try to reassure them: 'We don't know what happened, but you're here. You're safe with us.' ... I didn't know if there were going to be more bombs exploding. I didn't know how many patients we'd be getting. All these thoughts are racing through your mind."

SHRAPNEL, NAILS

Adam Barrett, ICU nurse, shared the patient bedside with investigators searching for clues that might break the case. "It was kind of hard to hear somebody say, 'Don't wash that wound. You might wash evidence away.'" Barrett cleaned shrapnel and nails from the wounds of some victims, side by side with law enforcement investigators who wanted to examine wounds for blast patterns. The investigator's request took him aback at first. "I wasn't stopping to think, 'What could be in this wound that could give him a lead?'"

THEIR FACES, THEIR SMILES

Jean Acquadra, ICU nurse, keeps herself going by thinking of her patients' progress. "The strength is seeing their faces, their smiles, knowing they're getting better. They may have lost a limb, but they're ready to go on with their lives. They want to live. I don't know how they have the strength, but that's my reward: Knowing they're getting better."

She is angry and doesn't think she could take care of Tsarnaev, who is a patient at another hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: "I don't have any words for him."

THE NEED FOR JUSTICE

Christie Majocha, ICU nurse: "Even going home, I didn't get away from it," Majocha said. She is a resident of Watertown, the community paralyzed Friday by the search for the surviving suspect. She helped save the lives of maimed bombing victims on Monday. By week's end, she saw the terror come to her own neighborhood. The manhunt, she felt, was a search for justice, and was being carried out directly for the good of her patients.

"I knew these faces (of the victims). I knew what their families looked like. I saw their tears," she said. "I know those families who are so desperate to see this end."

On Friday night, she joined the throngs cheering the police officers and FBI agents, celebrating late into the night even though she had to return to the hospital at 7 a.m. the next day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-04-21-US-Boston-Marathon-Nurses/id-7beb8c5b051449d19abf69b5664bb3ec

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NASA's Hubble sees a horsehead of a different color

Apr. 19, 2013 ? Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.

Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. It is shadowy in optical light. It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light.

Hubble has been producing ground-breaking science for two decades. During that time, it has benefited from a slew of upgrades from space shuttle missions, including the 2009 addition of a new imaging workhorse, the high-resolution Wide Field Camera 3 that took the new portrait of the Horsehead.

The nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud, located about 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Orion. The cloud also contains other well-known objects such as the Great Orion Nebula (M42), the Flame Nebula, and Barnard's Loop. It is one of the nearest and most easily photographed regions in which massive stars are being formed.

In the Hubble image, the backlit wisps along the Horsehead's upper ridge are being illuminated by Sigma Orionis, a young five-star system just out of view. Along the nebula's top ridge, two fledgling stars peek out from their now-exposed nurseries.

Scientists know a harsh ultraviolet glare from one of these bright stars is slowly evaporating the nebula. Gas clouds surrounding the Horsehead already have dissipated, but the tip of the jutting pillar contains a slightly higher density of hydrogen and helium, laced with dust. This casts a shadow that protects material behind it from being stripped away by intense stellar radiation evaporating the hydrogen cloud, and a pillar structure forms.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

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


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/most_popular/~3/yHUe7y14tJM/130419094139.htm

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Saturday, 20 April 2013

Mathematical models out-perform doctors in predicting cancer patients' responses to treatment

Apr. 19, 2013 ? Mathematical prediction models are better than doctors at predicting the outcomes and responses of lung cancer patients to treatment, according to new research presented today (Saturday) at the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO).

These differences apply even after the doctor has seen the patient, which can provide extra information, and knows what the treatment plan and radiation dose will be.

"The number of treatment options available for lung cancer patients are increasing, as well as the amount of information available to the individual patient. It is evident that this will complicate the task of the doctor in the future," said the presenter, Dr Cary Oberije, a postdoctoral researcher at the MAASTRO Clinic, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands. "If models based on patient, tumour and treatment characteristics already out-perform the doctors, then it is unethical to make treatment decisions based solely on the doctors' opinions. We believe models should be implemented in clinical practice to guide decisions."

Dr Oberije and her colleagues in The Netherlands used mathematical prediction models that had already been tested and published. The models use information from previous patients to create a statistical formula that can be used to predict the probability of outcome and responses to treatment using radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy for future patients.

Having obtained predictions from the mathematical models, the researchers asked experienced radiation oncologists to predict the likelihood of lung cancer patients surviving for two years, or suffering from shortness of breath (dyspnea) and difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) at two points in time:

1) after they had seen the patient for the first time, and

2) after the treatment plan was made. At the first time point, the doctors predicted two-year survival for 121 patients, dyspnea for 139 and dysphagia for 146 patients.

At the second time point, predictions were only available for 35, 39 and 41 patients respectively.

For all three predictions and at both time points, the mathematical models substantially outperformed the doctors' predictions, with the doctors' predictions being little better than those expected by chance.

The researchers plotted the results on a special graph [1] on which the area below the plotted line is used for measuring the accuracy of predictions; 1 represents a perfect prediction, while 0.5 represents predictions that were right in 50% of cases, i.e. the same as chance. They found that the model predictions at the first time point were 0.71 for two-year survival, 0.76 for dyspnea and 0.72 for dysphagia. In contrast, the doctors' predictions were 0.56, 0.59 and 0.52 respectively.

The models had a better positive predictive value (PPV) -- a measure of the proportion of patients who were correctly assessed as being at risk of dying within two years or suffering from dyspnea and dysphagia -- than the doctors. The negative predictive value (NPV) -- a measure of the proportion of patients that would not die within two years or suffer from dyspnea and dysphagia -- was comparable between the models and the doctors.

"This indicates that the models were better at identifying high risk patients that have a very low chance of surviving or a very high chance of developing severe dyspnea or dysphagia," said Dr Oberije.

The researchers say that it is important that further research is carried out into how prediction models can be integrated into standard clinical care. In addition, further improvement of the models by incorporating all the latest advances in areas such as genetics, imaging and other factors, is important. This will make it possible to tailor treatment to the individual patient's biological make-up and tumour type

"In our opinion, individualised treatment can only succeed if prediction models are used in clinical practice. We have shown that current models already outperform doctors. Therefore, this study can be used as a strong argument in favour of using prediction models and changing current clinical practice," said Dr Oberije.

"Correct prediction of outcomes is important for several reasons," she continued. "First, it offers the possibility to discuss treatment options with patients. If survival chances are very low, some patients might opt for a less aggressive treatment with fewer side-effects and better quality of life. Second, it could be used to assess which patients are eligible for a specific clinical trial. Third, correct predictions make it possible to improve and optimise the treatment. Currently, treatment guidelines are applied to the whole lung cancer population, but we know that some patients are cured while others are not and some patients suffer from severe side-effects while others don't. We know that there are many factors that play a role in the prognosis of patients and prediction models can combine them all."

At present, prediction models are not used as widely as they could be by doctors. Dr Oberije says there are a number of reasons: some models lack clinical credibility; others have not yet been tested; the models need to be available and easy to use by doctors; and many doctors still think that seeing a patient gives them information that cannot be captured in a model. "Our study shows that it is very unlikely that a doctor can outperform a model," she concluded.

President of ESTRO, Professor Vincenzo Valentini, a radiation oncologist at the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy, commented: "The booming growth of biological, imaging and clinical information will challenge the decision capacity of every oncologist. The understanding of the knowledge management sciences is becoming a priority for radiation oncologists in order for them to tailor their choices to cure and care for individual patients."

[1] For the mathematicians among you, the graph is known as an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC).

[2] This work was partially funded by grants from the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF), the European Fund for Regional Development (INTERREG/EFRO), and the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (CTMM).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/fjbMmwCEnt4/130420110651.htm

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Most Beautiful Items: April 13-April 19, 2013

Safe to say we all need a little escape at the end of this crazy week. So rest your weary eyes on some architecture and design in the most beautiful items we found this week. More »
    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/t2waewz4waI/most-beautiful-items-april-13+april-19-2013

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Friday, 19 April 2013

You Won't Mind That This Giant Lens Is Soft

Photographers shouldn't mind adding this massive fisheye lens to their studio setups even though it's described as soft, and is made of wood. It's actually a stool designed to look like a Canon lens, but with enough changes to skirt any lawsuits or legal repercussions. More »
    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hcJ20G7qIJY/you-wont-mind-that-this-giant-lens-is-soft

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Early learning from educational media

Early learning from educational media [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Sarah Mancoll
smancoll@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development

Early mental and intellectual stimulation is important for subsequent learning. What role do electronic media play in this process? New studies are providing rigorous examinations of whether educational medial with certain features promote early learning.

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) will host a symposium during its Biennial Meeting that brings together researchers to consider educational media and early learning in global contexts. Among the questions that will be addressed:

  • Can interactive media characters affect 18-month-olds' early learning of science and math concepts?
  • Can 2- to 3-year-olds learn words using touchscreens?
  • What does a new meta-analysis of data from 10,000 children in 15 countries indicate about whether and how children learn from watching Sesame Street? What is the evidence that 3- to 7-year-olds in China learn science from such programming?

###

The symposium will take place in the Washington Convention Center, Room 3A, on Thursday, April 18, 2013, from 4:10 to 5:40 p.m.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/sfri-elf040413.php

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High-salt diet and ulcer bug combine to increase risk of cancer

Apr. 18, 2013 ? Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Now Timothy L. Cover and colleagues of Vanderbilt University show that high dietary salt combined with infection by the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori greatly increases the risk of cancer.

The study was published ahead of print in the journal Infection and Immunity.

In the study, the researchers infected Mongolian gerbils with H. pylori. One set of gerbils received a regular diet; the other, a high salt diet. At the end of the experiment the researchers analyzed the animals' stomach tissues. Every animal on the high salt diet developed cancer, compared with just 58 percent of those on the regular diet.

It appears development of gastric cancer required the presence of a particular bacterial oncoprotein, known as CagA, which is produced by H. pylori. Gastric cancer did not develop in animals on the high salt diet that were infected with a mutant H. pylori which did not produce CagA. In earlier studies, Cover and others had shown that culturing H. pylori in a high salt environment boosts production of CagA. "This was one of the driving forces that led us to undertake the current studies," says Cover.

The investigators note that while no studies, to their knowledge, have examined relationships among a high salt diet, and infection with H. pylori expressing cagA, "in several parts of the world that have high rates of gastric cancer, there is a high prevalence of cagA+ strains and a large proportion of the population consumes a high-salt diet."

The investigators also detected significantly higher levels of gastric inflammation in H. pylori-infected gerbils on a high salt diet than in those on a regular diet, a finding which Cover says is relevant to many types of cancer. They also showed that transcription of various inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 1-beta, are elevated in the former as compared to the latter, suggesting that "these factors may contribute to the increased inflammation and increased gastric risk that accompany a high salt diet," says Cover.

At least 50 percent of humans are infected with H. pylori, at least 90 percent of them without symptoms.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

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Journal Reference:

  1. J. A. Gaddy, J. N. Radin, J. T. Loh, F. Zhang, M. K. Washington, R. M. Peek, H. M. S. Algood, T. L. Cover. High dietary salt intake exacerbates Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinogenesis. Infection and Immunity, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/IAI.01271-12

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/_w01J71Ex6g/130418162314.htm

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Thursday, 18 April 2013

Bank of America revenue drops, legal settlement stings

By Rick Rothacker and Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's revenue fell across almost all its businesses in the first quarter, and the bank was hit yet again by mortgage mess cleanup costs, showing the difficulties Chief Executive Brian Moynihan faces in moving past the housing crisis.

Many of the bank's revenue generators - including consumer banking, mortgages and debt, currency and commodities trading - turned in weaker performances. All told, adjusted revenue fell 8.4 percent to $23.85 billion.

Bank of America shares closed down 4.7 percent at $11.70 on Wednesday.

The results suggest that Bank of America's purchase of Countrywide Financial at the height of the housing crisis is still haunting the bank even though Moynihan has said the end is in sight. They also show that the bank may be recovering from the financial crisis more slowly than Citigroup Inc , the other big bank that required multiple government bailouts.

"There is enormous earnings capability here, and we're certainly not seeing Bank of America perform to the extent it should be able to," said Gary Townsend, chief executive of Hill-Townsend Capital in Chevy Chase, Maryland, which owns a small position in the bank's stock. "We have great bones here, but we need more muscle to get this thing going the way it needs to go."

In a conference call with journalists, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said the drop in revenue, excluding accounting adjustments, reflected strong markets business and debt security gains a year earlier, and the tougher environment for interest rates in the first quarter of this year.

There were some bright spots at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank, too. It made more home loans, and investment banking fees increased. Revenue in its wealth management business rose, which could bode well for Morgan Stanley , due to report quarterly results on Thursday.

Net income quadrupled as expenses dropped and the bank set aside less money to cover bad loans. But Wall Street analysts were expecting an even bigger gain, and the comparison was flattered by a host of one-time items, including a year-earlier charge of $4.8 billion related to the value of the bank's debt.

MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT

The bank said on Wednesday it had settled three mortgage-backed securities lawsuits related to its Countrywide unit for $500 million, the latest in a series of mortgage settlements for Bank of America.

Moynihan hopes the end of settlements is in sight, and aims to reduce expenses in the division that handles delinquent mortgages by $1 billion per quarter by the end of 2013. He has also pledged to cut $8 billion in expenses companywide annually by mid-2015.

The bank, the last of the big four U.S. banks to report first-quarter results, said on Wednesday it expects quarterly savings on expenses of about $1.5 billion by the fourth quarter of 2013, representing 75 percent of the quarterly target. In the first quarter, expenses fell 5.2 percent to $18.15 billion.

As with other big banks this quarter, Bank of America results received a boost from reduced credit losses as borrowers did a better job of making their payments. The bank's provision for loan losses fell 29.2 percent to $1.71 billion.

TOP-LINE DISAPPOINTMENT

Net income jumped to $2.62 billion, or 20 cents a share, from $653 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected 22 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The drop in the top line was a disappointment as well. Contributing to the overall revenue decline was a sharp drop in revenue from the fixed income, currency and commodities markets, down $829 million to $3.3 billion.

Revenue in the Global Banking division stagnated at $4.23 billion, though investment banking fees rose 26 percent, driven by debt underwriting and advising on deals.

In the Global Markets arm, sales and trading revenue, excluding an accounting adjustment, fell to $4.45 billion from $5.19 billion.

Revenue from Consumer and Business Banking dropped by $208 million to $7.21 billion because of a decline in net interest income as consumer loan balances dropped and low rates held back asset yields.

Wealth management defied the overall trend. Revenue from the Global Wealth and Investment Management arm climbed 7 percent to $4.42 billion. Long-term assets under management rose by a record $20.4 billion.

MORTGAGE LENDING JUMPS

Bank of America said it extended more mortgage loans in the quarter, even as the home refinancing boom cooled. It issued $24 billion of first-lien mortgages, up 57 percent from a year earlier and up 11 percent from the 2012 fourth quarter.

The bank has missed out on much of the home lending boom because it scaled back its mortgage business after taking huge losses on its disastrous purchase of subprime lender Countrywide Financial in 2008. In recent quarters, it has been adding loan officers in an effort to win back market share.

Bank of America's litigation expenses for the first quarter fell to $881 million from $916 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and $793 million a year earlier.

The bank won permission from the Federal Reserve in March to buy back $5 billion in common stock after passing the annual stress test of big banks. The bank said stock repurchases would start in the second quarter.

(Reporting by Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, N.C., and Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore; Writing by Frank McGurty; editing by Supriya Kurane, John Wallace and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-america-profit-quadruples-expenses-provisions-fall-110708672--sector.html

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Home Staging Case Study: Almost Vacant E. 84th St. | Decoding ...

The owner and his family had moved out months ago, leaving a few chairs in the living room and some of the furniture in both both rooms.

He thought that this would be enough to give prospective buyers a good idea of how the spaces could be used. Though the apartment was large, in great shape and located in prime real estate territory, only a few feeble offers were extended.

In reality, effective home staging is an art form. The idea is to create an image of a beautiful home in such a way that a prospective buyer can see themselves living there. The rudiments of good interior styling plus a flair for making a room attractive without a personal stamp are key. Like reading a great book, the viewer?s imagination paints a picture of themselves in the attractive surroundings that could be theirs.

An offer was made and accepted within three weeks of professional staging.

Staging is the greatest marketing tool available to sell your home quickly and for the highest price.

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Entry Hall Before

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Living Room Before

Living Room Before

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Living Room After

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Master Bedroom Before

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Daughter's Bedroom Before

Daughter?s Bedroom Before

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Daughter's Bedroom After

Daughter?s Bedroom After

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Related Posts

Home Staging #1: The Smart Way To Sell Your Home

Home Staging #2: Dress Your Home Appropriately

Home Staging #3: Set The Stage

Home Staging Services

?Questions? Write to: Cindy@DecodingDecor.com

Source: http://decodingdecor.com/?p=4419

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Play N Trade Exhibiting at National Franchise and Business ...

Play N Trade Exhibiting at Booth #312

(PRWEB) April 17, 2013 - San Clemente, CA, April 15, 2013 ?- Play N Trade Inc. one of the largest video game retail franchises in the world, is excited to announce its attendance at the 2013 National Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo in Montreal, Quebec. Charles Beaupre, CEO of Play N Trade Global and Martin Tardif, President of Play N Trade Canada and EVP of Support and Training Global, will be presenting the reasons why purchasing a Play N Trade is an exciting opportunity.

Montr?al?s National Franchise and Business Opportunities Show takes place Saturday, April 20th & Sunday, April 21st, Palais des congr?s, 201, avenue Viger Ouest, Montr?al, Quebec. Hours of operation are Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm. For more information, visit http://www.montrealfranchiseshow.com.The show will showcase proven, successful full-time franchises and part-time business opportunities now available in Quebec. The event is produced by National Event Management. National Event Management is the producer of 27 annual business ownership events across North America showcasing over 1,700 businesses to 65,000 prospective business owners annually.

EVP of Support and Training for Play N Trade Global, Martin Tardif adds, "Play N Trade defines all that is exciting and revolutionary in today's gaming culture, and it provides an interactive store experience that is second to none. Play N Trade has successfully positioned itself as 'The Ultimate Consumer Entertainment Trade-In Store.' The store design, wide selection of new and used games, accessories and consoles, in-store tournaments and a 'Try-Before-You-Buy' policy creates a community atmosphere that makes Play N Trade the preferred destination for gamer participation.? Play N Trade has recently added sales and repairs of smartphones and tablets to its already excellent customer service and customer centric product mix.

Prospective franchisees can find Play N Trade at booth # 312. Stop by and learn what makes it such an exciting franchise opportunity.

About Play N Trade

Play N Trade is one of the largest video game and consumer electronics retail franchises worldwide. The company specializes in the sale, repair and trade-in of video games and consumer electronics. Play N Trade stores offer a lifestyle experience in its innovative store design that provides an emotional attachment to the consumer?s passions. Many customers say simply ?This is the best store I have ever been to!? The company?s office is located in San Clemente, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.playntrade.com or call (888) PNT-GAME.

Contact:

Jim Habig
Play N Trade
http://www.playntrade.com
949-812-7903 7903

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130417_play_n_trade_exhibiting_at_national_franchise_and_.html

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Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Suspects in teen assault were removed from team

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suspects-teen-assault-were-removed-team-193141478.html

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Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Discover the Text-Based Adventure Game Built Into Your Mac's Terminal

Discover the Text-Based Adventure Game Built Into Your Mac's Terminal Everyone seems to love "retro" 8-bit video games, but it doesn't get much more retro than a text-based adventure. If you've never tried one before, or you're just bored and have a Mac nearby, open up Terminal and give its built in MUD (multi-user dungeon) a spin.

You won't need to download anything here. Just type the following into Terminal, and the game will launch automatically.

emacs -batch -l dunnet

If you've never played a MUD before, you'll find that it's actually pretty intuitive. For example, you start the game standing on a road with a shovel nearby. Type "take shovel" to add the shovel to your inventory, and "go east" to walk down the road. Typing "Inventory" will show you what you're carrying, "save" and "restore" let you play through in multiple sessions, and "help" gives you some tips if you're stuck. I'd also recommend using some scratch paper to map out the area as you discover it. Check out the source link for a few other Terminal easter eggs to help you kill some time this weekend.

Terminal 101: 4 emacs Easter eggs | Mac|Life

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/SobRdBHJZbk/discover-the-text+based-adventure-game-built-into-your-macs-terminal

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