Sunday, September 30, 2012

Ancient streambed latest clue in Mars water mystery

The discovery suggests that water had flowed fast and relatively deep ? perhaps hip-deep, in fact ? through the area billions of years ago.

By Mike Wall,?SPACE.com / September 28, 2012

NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named 'Hottah' after Hottah Lake in Canada?s Northwest Territories. This image mosaic was taken by Curiosity's 100-millimeter Mastcam telephoto lens on its 39th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Enlarge

A NASA rover's discovery of an ancient streambed on Mars is exciting, but it?s far from the first solid evidence that the Red Planet was once a warmer and wetter place.

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On Thursday (Sept. 27), scientists announced that the Curiosity rover had found rocky outcrops containing large and rounded stones cemented in a conglomerate matrix. The discovery suggests that?water had flowed fast?and relatively deep ? perhaps hip-deep, in fact ? through the area billions of years ago.

"This is the first time we're actually seeing water-transported gravel on?Mars," Curiosity co-investigator William Dietrich, of the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement.

But?Curiosity's find didn't exactly surprise mission scientists. They chose to set the $2.5 billion robot down in the Red Planet's huge Gale Crater, after all, because Mars-orbiting spacecraft have spotted signs there of long-ago water activity ? from channels and alluvial fans to minerals that form in the presence of liquid water.

And these more recent observations build on evidence for a wet ancient Mars that goes back four decades and has been accumulating ever since. [The Search for Water on Mars (Photos)]

Eyes in the sky

Perhaps the first compelling signs that the Red Planet's surface ? a frigid and dry place today ? once harbored liquid water came from NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft.

Mariner 9 launched toward Mars in May 1971 and later that year became the first probe ever to orbit another planet. Mariner 9's images showed canyons ? including the enormous Valles Marineris, which is named after the spacecraft ? and what appeared to be riverbeds.

A succession of other NASA orbiters ? from the twin Vikings in the mid-1970s to Mars Odyssey and the?Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter?(MRO), which remain active today ? have spotted many more landforms that speak of long-ago erosion by liquid water.

MRO has observed streaks in the Red Planet's Newton Crater that shift over the course of a few months, suggesting that water might even be flowing seasonally on Mars today.

The evidence is also mineralogic as well as topographic. Instruments aboard MRO and other craft have detected water-associated minerals such as clays and sulfates in numerous locations across the Red Planet.

Ground-truthing

Over the past decade, rovers have ground-truthed some of the observations made from orbit, strengthening the case for a wet ancient Mars.

For example, NASA's Opportunity rover found multiple deposits of odd, iron-rich spherules after landing on the Red Planet in January 2004. These so-called "blueberries" are concretions created by the action of mineral-rich water inside rocks, scientists say.

Opportunity's twin, Spirit, discovered strong evidence of an ancient hydrothermal system near its landing site back in 2007. And last December, researchers announced that Opportunity had found a?thin vein of gypsum?while poking along the rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater.

"There was a fracture in the rock, water flowed through it, gypsum was precipitated from the water. End of story," Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Opportunity's principal investigator, told reporters at the time. "There's no ambiguity about this, and this is what makes it so cool."

Searching for habitable environments

Here on Earth, life thrives pretty much anywhere liquid water is found, which explains the intense interest in searching for signs of the stuff on Mars.

Indeed, the past decade or so of NASA's activities at the Red Planet have been geared toward "following the water." Curiosity's mission marks a transition to the next phase in the hunt for past or present Mars life: searching for habitable environments.

Curiosity is about 50 days into a two-year mission to determine if the Gale area can, or ever could, support microbial life. This is a long and involved process that requires more than the confirmation of an ancient streambed, researchers said.

"The question about habitability goes just beyond the simple observation of water on Mars to recreating the environments in greater detail, with an understanding of the chemistry that was going on at that time, to ask if this is the kind of place that micro-organisms could've lived," Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena, told reporters Thursday.

"That's still to be determined, and that's the research the team is working on," he added.

Curiosity's mission may also shed light on when and why Mars dried out long ago. Scientists plan to drive the 1-ton robot partway up Mount Sharp, which rises 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) into the Red Planet sky from Gale's center.

They're keen to explore Mount Sharp's base, which harbors clays and sulfates, orbital observations have shown. About 2,300 feet (700 meters) up, however, these deposits peter out. If Curiosity climbs high enough to cross this threshold, it could help scientists piece together a history of wet Mars, dry Mars and the transition between the two, researchers have said.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also onFacebook?and?Google+.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/m2WzB-SBVh8/Ancient-streambed-latest-clue-in-Mars-water-mystery

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Overpaid and lazy according to nameless, faceless on-line consumers.

Overpaid and lazy according to nameless, faceless on-line consumers.

Overpaid and lazy according to nameless, faceless on-line consumers.After reading Bill's post about 8 Ways to Tick Off Your Real Estate Agent, most of the comments after the?article?toward real estate agents were brazen and bold, painting a scathing picture of deceit, scandal or victimization.?While consumers are entitled to their opinions, they are more apt online to hide behind anonymity with a cute animal, clever avatar or pseudonym rather than show their true selves.?

Yet, we, as real estate professionals are not able to hide our true identities as we MUST DISCLOSE to the same public:

  • WHO
  • WHAT
  • WHEN
  • WHERE and
  • WHY?

Real estate is not an easy profession despite what naysayers spout?and anyone involved in this industry can attest to that! If people only knew what goes on behind the scenes to ensure each successful transaction, they may learn to appreciate the endless hours and hard work that goes into every sale.

The real estate industry is monitored by the Department of Commerce?and we are beholden to The Code of Ethics that guide us everyday. Will some push the boundaries of good business practices? Yes. That comes with every profession.

I love the real estate industry and respect the agents with whom I have had the pleasure of conducting business. As a mass, we are able to change consumer opinions one client at a time. Not all. But enough to make a positive difference.?Client satisfaction has and always will be my greatest goal.

I love what I do!

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Member of the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce

I, Wanda Kubat-Nerdin at Prado & Kramer Real Estate?am responsible for my?opinions expressed in this blog. Information herein is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed?and may change due to market conditions. Please do not take my pictures or artwork?and use them as your own, they are my property, ?Copyright ?

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Source: http://activerain.com/blogsview/3453459/overpaid-and-lazy-according-to-nameless-faceless-on-line-consumers-

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Catalysis: Optimizing water splitting

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2012) ? Computer simulations of a metal-sulfide alloy unlock the secrets to designing solar-powered catalysts that generate hydrogen fuel from water.

Partnerships can pay off when it comes to converting solar into chemical energy. By modeling a cadmium sulfide (CdS)-zinc sulfide (ZnS) alloy with special computational techniques, a Singapore-based research team has identified the key photocatalytic properties that enable this chemical duo to 'split' water molecules into a fuel, hydrogen gas (H2). The theoretical study was published by Jianwei Zheng from the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing and his co-workers.

Chemists had already identified CdS and ZnS semiconductors as promising photocatalysts for water splitting. However, both came with a drawback related to the size of their so-called 'band gap' -- the energy difference between occupied and unoccupied electronic states that determine photo-activity. While CdS can readily harvest solar energy because of its small band gap, it needs a metal co-catalyst to produce H2. On the other hand, ZnS requires high-energy ultraviolet light to initiate water splitting owing to its large band gap.

Recently chemists had overcome these problems by alloying CdS and ZnS together into a 'solid solution': a physical state where Zn ions are distributed homogenously inside the crystal lattice of CdS. Altering the proportion of ZnS in these alloys enables production of photocatalysts with tunable responses to visible light and high H2 evolution rates in water. Improving the design of a Cd-ZnS solid solution is difficult, because its underlying mechanism is poorly understood.

As a workaround, Zheng and his co-workers used a technique known as 'special quasi-random structures' (SQS) to mimic a completely random alloy with a series of small, periodic models. After carefully working to correlate experimental random hexagonal crystals with their SQS approximations, they calculated the electronic properties of the Cd-ZnS solid solution using hybrid density functional theory -- a computational method that gives accurate descriptions of band gaps.

When the researchers gradually increased the Zn content of their model alloy, they saw that the band gap deviated from a linear combination of the two components. This effect, known as band 'bowing', arises from volume deformations within the Cd-ZnS solid solution and is an essential parameter for predicting catalytic solar H2 production.

Further calculations revealed that the alloy's high catalytic activity stemmed from obvious elevation of the position of unoccupied electronic states, and a subtle change in the position of occupied electronic states, as the amount of Zn increased. But to retain strong light harvesting capabilities and to avoid premature corrosion, the team proposes an equal ratio of ZnS to CdS for optimal photocatalytic water splitting.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Jian-Chun Wu, Jianwei Zheng, Chelsey L. Zacherl, Ping Wu, Zi-Kui Liu, Rong Xu. Hybrid Functionals Study of Band Bowing, Band Edges and Electronic Structures of Cd1?xZnxS Solid Solution. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2011; 115 (40): 19741 DOI: 10.1021/jp204799q

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/top_news/top_technology/~3/p4jAhFJMb6A/120928093315.htm

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A Black Hole's Spinning Heart of Darkness

Vacuum fluctuations cause a particle-antiparticle pair to appear close to the event horizon of a black hole. One of the pair falls into the black hole whilst the other escapes. In order to preserve total energy, the particle that fell into the black hole must have had a negative energy (with respect to an observer far away from the black hole). By this process, the black hole loses mass, and, to an outside observer, it would appear that the black hole has just emitted a particle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki [wikipedia.org]

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/f1IZMuLIuxo/a-black-holes-spinning-heart-of-darkness

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Video: MTP Political Minute

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/49218039#49218039

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Man apparently shoots self on TV after Ariz. chase

(AP) ? A man apparently shot himself in the head Friday on live national television at the end of a high-speed chase that began in Phoenix.

Fox News was covering the chase that began at midday using a live helicopter shot from Phoenix affiliate KSAZ-TV when the man driving what appeared to be a crossover sedan stopped, ran into the desert and appeared to place a handgun to his head and fire.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith told viewers minutes later that the video was supposed to be on a 10-second delay so it could be cut off from airing if something went awry.

"We really messed up, and we're all very sorry," Smith said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the man survived.

The chase may have started with a carjacking near central Phoenix, but other than that police spokesman Sgt. Tommy Thompson was unable to immediately provide details.

The man then drove west on Interstate 10 at extremely high speed for more than a half hour. Fox returned repeatedly to shots showing the copper-colored four-door sedan passing big-rig trucks that typically travel at about 70 mph as if they were standing still.

Police cars did not appear to be immediately behind the car during most of the chase.

The driver finally got off the highway about 100 miles west of Phoenix near the small community of Salome and turned onto a dirt road. He drove for a while, briefly pulled onto a paved road and then turned onto another dirt road and stopped.

Shepard Smith was narrating the video and clearly had his doubts about what was being shown from the moment the man stopped the car. "This scares me," he said.

"You wait for the end of these things and you worry about how they may end up," he said. "This makes me a little nervous, I got to tell you. A little nervous."

The video showed the man running erratically in a field before putting the gun to his head and firing. He fell to the ground.

Fox's picture quickly cut to Smith, who was shouting "get off, get off, get off, get off."

After the commercial break, Smith apologized repeatedly.

"That should not have been on TV. I personally apologize to you," Smith said. "That was wrong and it won't happen again on my watch and I'm sorry."

The Phoenix station was not airing the chase live when it ended.

___

AP television writer David Bauder reported from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-28-Phoenix-Police%20Chase/id-d2665e9ba3554cfbbbaff280bfbc9dde

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US officials explain Libya attack intelligence

(AP) ? U.S. intelligence officials sought to explain Friday why the Obama administration's understanding of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is "evolving."

Facing a barrage of Republican criticism about what the administration knew and when about the attack, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement Friday that laid out how officials came to understand the assault that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. At the same time, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations issued a statement explaining her early descriptions of the attack.

In the days immediately after the attack, the administration said it believed it was a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Islamic video that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad and ignited mob protests on U.S. embassies around the Middle East and in North Africa. Now, the administration has begun to call it a terrorist attack carried out by al-Qaida-linked militants and explain that it was a planned attack distinct from the mob protests in the region.

Republicans have seized on the Obama administration's changing narrative, saying the administration was too slow to label it a terrorist attack because, they said, the White House did not want to admit its policies had failed to defeat al-Qaida, and quell anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world.

"Throughout our investigation we continued to emphasize that information gathered was preliminary and evolving," DNI spokesman Shawn Turner's statement said.

"It remains unclear if any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist group leaders directed their members to participate. However, we do assess that some of those involved were linked to groups affiliated with, or sympathetic to al-Qaida," he said.

At the same time, a spokeswoman for U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice also sought to explain comments that Rice made early in the investigation saying there was no evidence the Benghazi attack was premeditated.

"During her appearances on the Sunday talk shows Sept. 16, 2012, Ambassador Rice's comments were prefaced at every turn with a clear statement that an FBI investigation was under way that would provide the definitive accounting of the events that took place in Benghazi," said Erin Pelton, spokeswoman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. "At every turn Ambassador Rice provided ? and said she was providing ? the best information and the best assessment that the administration had at the time, based on what was provided to Ambassador Rice and other senior U.S. officials by the U.S. intelligence community."

Further intelligence may be slow to arrive. The FBI team that arrived in Libya last week to investigate the incident can't get to the scene of the attack because it is too dangerous, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.

Republicans have seen the Libya attack as an opportunity to attack President Barack Obama on one of his strengths, foreign policy.

Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said on CNN that Rice's explanation on the talk shows was "such a failure of foreign policy message and leadership" and "such a misstatement of facts" that "I believe she should resign."

In response, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement he was "deeply disturbed by efforts to find the politics instead of finding the facts in this debate." He called Rice "an enormously capable person."

GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney accused the administration of being dishonest.

"I think it's pretty clear that they haven't wanted to level with the American people. We expect candor from the president and transparency," Romney told Fox News this week.

Recent intelligence reports indicated a force of more than 50 heavily armed extremists attacked the consulate, using gun trucks for added firepower, and establishing a perimeter to limit access to the compound and catch any Americans who might try to escape. A first wave of attacks set fire to the main building, forcing the Americans to flee to a fallback building a half mile away, where a second group of extremists attacked with mortar fire. Stevens died of apparent smoke inhalation when he was caught inside the main consulate building, becoming separated from the other fleeing diplomats.

Intelligence officials have focused their attention on Ansar al-Shariah, a Libyan militant group led by a former detainee at the U.S. military-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that there has been a "thread of intelligence reporting" about groups in eastern Libya trying to coalesce but no specific threat to the consulate.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Pete Yost contributed to this report from Washington.

___

Follow Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KimberlyDozier

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-09-28-US-Libya%20Attack/id-8db640a7c4fa4600a24f81841ce348cc

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Health Activities at Cincinnati Childrens - adrianagoodwin54@gmail ...


Coordinator - Health Activities
Job Code: 60227
POSTED: Sep 25
Salary: Open Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Employer: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Type: Full Time - Experienced
Sector: Hospital, Public and Private Required Education: Masters

About Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

U.S. News & World Report ranked Cincinnati Children?s No. 3 in the nation in the magazine's 2012-2013 list of the best children's hospitals. Cincinnati Children?s was also rated in the top 10 in all pediatric specialties. We serve the medical needs of infants, children and adolescents with family-centered care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Clinical procedures and treatments pioneered at Cincinnati Children?s are used throughout the world. The impact of our medical research breakthroughs has improved pediatric health today and will for generations to come.

View all our jobs


The successful candidate will coordinate University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) activities related to health, health care access and healthy living/health promotion of individuals with disabilities across age groups through training, education, technical assistance demonstration and evaluation. Support the specific goals and objectives outlined in the UCEDD strategic plan to address health for people with disabilities through the UCEDD core functions of training/education, research, community training/technical assistance and information dissemination. www.cincinnatichildrens.org/ucedd

Training Competency: * Ability to develop, implement, and evaluate health promotion trainings and health education programs for community members with developmental and intellectual disabilities Technical Assistance for Various Audiences: * Ability to provide technical assistance regarding health promotion and health education to community agencies and providers working with citizens with developmental and intellectual disabilities * Ability to provide technical assistance regarding access to health care and health and wellness activities to health care providers and health care and health and fitness facilities * Ability to provide technical assistance regarding accessibility and People First Language Computer/Software Knowledge: * Proficiency in utilizing computer software: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher, Outlook), Adobe Acrobat and Photoshop

Communication and Social Media: * Good writing skills * Excellent communication skills * Knowledge about People First Language and accessible communication * Knowledge and skills in online communication/social media and web-based applications Collaboration: * Excellent collaboration and partnership-building skills


QUALIFICATIONS: Required: * MPH or Master?s degree in related field * 3 years? directly related experience * Valid driver?s license and own transportation for local/regional travel

Preferred: * Experience in the Public Health, health care, disability, or related fields, working with/for UCEDD/LEND networks, and working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially as a trainer or educator * Certification as a (Master) Health Education Specialist (CHES/MCHES) * Background in health education, health promotion and social & behavioral aspects of health * Experience with grant writing.

Cincinnati Children?s offers competitive compensation and a comprehensive employee benefits program. For consideration, please apply online at www.cincinnatichildrens.org/careers Job Code (60227)

EOE/AA


Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Cincinnati OH

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org "); febox .html('') .addClass('featured-employer-box') .appendTo($('body')) .css({ "height":fWin.height() - 50, "width":980 }) .overlay({ top: 20, closeOnClick:true, load: false }); feframe = $('#featured-employer-frame'); }); $('body').delegate('.fe-popup','click',function(e) { var el = $(this); feframe.contents().find('body').html(""); feframe.attr('src',el.data('url')); febox.overlay().load(); }); })(jQuery); "); febox .html('') .addClass('network-logo-box') .appendTo($('body')) .css({ "height":700, "width":700 }) .overlay({ top: 20, expose: { color: '#ffffff', closeOnClick: true }, load: false }); feframe = $('#network-logo-frame'); }); $('body').delegate('.network-logo-popup','click',function(e) { var el = $(this); feframe.contents().find('body').html(""); feframe.attr('src',el.data('url')); febox.overlay().load(); }); })(jQuery);

Source: http://careers.communityhlth.org/jobs/4930410/coordinator-health-activities

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Source: http://christos-taunting.blogspot.com/2012/09/health-activities-at-cincinnati.html

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Campbell shutters its oldest soup plant

Rich Pedroncelli / AP

This Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012, photo, shows a Campbell Soup Co. factory in Sacramento, Calif. Amid declining demand for canned soups, the world's largest soup maker said it will close the Sacramento plant, built in 1947, that has about 700 full-time workers.

By The Associated Press

Campbell Soup Co. is closing two U.S. plants and cutting more than 700 jobs as it looks to trim costs amid declining consumption of its canned soups.

The world's largest soup maker said Thursday that it will close a plant in Sacramento, Calif., that has about 700 full-time workers. The plant, which makes soups, sauces and beverages, was built in 1947 and is the company's oldest in the country. That also means it has the highest production costs of Campbell's four U.S. soup plants.

Campbell also plans to shutter a spice plant in South Plainfield, N.J., that has 27 employees. Production will be shifted to the company's other spice plant in Milwaukee.

Employees at the two closing plants were notified that there would be a meeting at 6 a.m. local time Thursday; about 400 workers showed up in California, where they were told of the closure.

"It's always difficult, even when there's a business case that is compelling," said Anthony Sanzio, a Campbell spokesman. "You're dealing with people, and this is going to impact 700 employees who've worked together closely for many years."

CEO Denise Morrison, who was been on the job for about a year, was not present at the meeting.

The announcement comes as Campbell looks to freshen up its image with dozens of new soup flavors and sauces intended to lure younger consumers. Many of the new products come in pouches designed to convey a fresher feel, rather than the iconic steel cans that have long defined the company.

Those new pouches are manufactured with another party and are not made at Campbell's soup plants.

Although Campbell makes other products such Pepperidge Farm baked goods and V8 vegetable juices, soups account for half its revenue. And the Camden, N.J.-based company has struggled to fix the soup unit amid evolving consumer tastes.

Over the past decade, overall canned soup consumption is down 13 percent, according to the research firm Euromonitor International, as fresh soups have become more widely available at supermarkets and restaurants. Campbell's share of the market has also declined to 53 percent, down from 67 percent a decade earlier.

To expand into products with more growth potential, Campbell this summer purchased Bolthouse Farms in a $1.55 billion cash deal. The company says the move will help it stake a claim in the fresh packaged food category, which is growing at a faster clip than the broader packaged food market.

Campbell Soup Co. currently has about 19,900 employees globally. The company said the California plant is expected to close by July 2013 and the New Jersey plant by March 2013.

The company expects the closings to result in about $115 million in pre-tax costs. Its actions will also require approximately $27 million in capital spending.

Annual savings are predicted to be about $30 million starting in fiscal 2016.

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Source: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/27/14126818-campbell-shutters-plant-as-canned-soup-demand-wanes?lite

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CanWeNetwork: Creating Business Relationships Through Geo ...

Find new and relevant business contacts, no matter where you're located.

Foursquare is a great app for messing around with and letting friends know where you are and what?s going on. That geo-spatial technology could be used for much more useful means, however. How about as a business networking tool for when you?re at a conference or simply flying out from LAX and want to hook up with some like minded business people? That might sound a little like a form of dating app but networking is extremely important in all walks of business. Recently released app, CanWeNetwork, hopes to take out much of the stress of meeting up with folks.

The app works using a LinkedIn login to ensure that its users can find like minded people around them, whether they happen to be. Users can then introduce themselves through the app before physically meeting up. Using some quite impressive matching algorithms, the app finds matches according to skills, experience, interests, education, location and personality.

It?s clever stuff and having used it, I can confidently say that it found some appropriate matches for me. I can only imagine how much more useful it would become in a large public arena. Besides being able to see where the person is located at the current time, it?s very simple to connect via LinkedIn through the app.

We checked in with company evangelist James Sinclair to learn more about CanWeNetwork and plans going forward.

148apps: What was the inspiration behind making the app?
James Sinclair: The inspiration behind this technology is that there are so many people that cross our paths every day that could be so relevant, so helpful, that we are just a second ? or a chance opportunity ? away from meeting. Our founders are road warriors and hardcore data scientists who looked at this as a problem to solve. They believe the evolution that this market ? of business intelligence between people ? was a great opportunity to solve a real world problem in an underserved marketplace. It?s also an incredible journey of learning why people get on or why people work well together. This has been a big evolution of ideas, a few pivots, some hurdles and all the time building an engine first, a platform first as we identify the verticals and marketplaces for which it is viable.

148apps: How long did the matchmaking algorithm take to work out?
James Sinclair: We spent nearly a year building our recommendation engine. It?s at the heart of everything we do so it had to be amazing. Whilst a majority of users only care about the answer of ?good? or ?bad? match, and technically we could have shipped earlier with a less accurate or less complex engine, we are not trying to be a social network; we are trying to be a utility/tool and that requires delivering the right answer out the gate. We are a decision science company not an app company, and the real answer is we have not worked it out, it never stops, machine learning constantly trying to better itself, learn from the data, understand the reasoning and deliver strong results to our users. Usage drives intelligence.

148apps: Are there any plans to introduce other social network integration such as Facebook or Twitter?
James Sinclair: For us, we are thrilled to be part of the LinkedIn ecosystem. It is the largest, most robust and most intelligent business network on the planet and therefore makes it the first step on this journey for us. It is currently only one of the many data sets we pull, it just happens to be the only public one. We are actively looking at other networks, cross network integration and so forth, but we are very happy with the results we are currently getting that we are not racing to add more.

CanWeNetwork is available now for free. Why not let us know how you get on with finding appropriate matches?

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Released: 2012-09-24 :: Category: Social Networking Posted in: Blog

Tagged with: Business, CanWeNetwork, Communications, free, Liaising, linkedin, networking

Review disclosure: note that the product reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note that if the developer provides the product or not, this does not impact the review or score.

Source: http://www.148apps.com/news/canwenetwork-creating-business-relationships-geospatial-awareness/

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Camera-equipped helmet gives you superhuman vision

3 hrs.

If you think of high dynamic range imaging, or HDR, you probably think of crazy panoramic?cityscapes or lighthouses where everything pops with impossible clarity ? imagine seeing the whole world that way.?These goggles let you look at everything in real-time 3-D HDR?? and it's more useful than you might think.

The HDRchitecture?project, by researchers at the University of Toronto, was presented earlier this month at the SIGGRAPH imaging convention in Los Angeles.

The most dramatic application the team could think of for showing off the capabilities of their system was welding, where the light from the torch is so bright that it can blind the welder if he doesn't wear a?leaded-glass visor. Unfortunately, this renders the rest of the world, including his immediate surroundings, quite dark. What if you could combine the two images ? the dark one that shows the torch clearly, and the light one that shows everything else?

Think of high dynamic range as wearing night-vision goggles and sunglasses at the same time, with none of the downsides.?You can see?highlights and shadows that would be blown out or too dark to see otherwise.?

To achieve this,?the team's?EyeTap helmet uses a pair of cameras?take?multiple exposures of the same view and combine them in real time, in such a way that no part is too dark and no part is?too light.?

As you can see in the video, that means that the welder can clearly see not only the super-bright torch, but the hot metal it's touching and the rest of the object as well. This could greatly improve not just the quality of the welder's work, but the safety of his workshop.

The video below demonstrates the futuristic-looking helmet in a few situations; there's a good comparison at 1:45, and more everyday situations towards the end.

It's not just for welders. If the technology were developed, a driver would never be blinded by the glare of the sun, and a soldier would never miss a mine hiding in a shadow. The possibilities are really very exciting.

Of course, the device itself will have to be adapted somewhat before you can wear it in the car; it's clearly a bit bulky at the moment. But this "mediated reality," as the narrator describes it, is potentially very powerful. More information and much supporting documentation can be found at the EyeTap site, or at Road to VR.

Devin Coldewey is a?contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/camera-equipped-high-dynamic-range-helmet-gives-you-superhuman-vision-6126562

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Crossroads at Crabapple Antiques and Art Festival Tradition ...

The tradition continues in historic Crabapple on Saturday, Oct. 6 as the Crossroads at Crabapple Antiques and Art Festival returns. More than 100 antique dealers and artists from six states will fill some of the side streets in Crabapple, drawing thousands of people to the community.

A tradition since 1969, this one-day only, rain or shine, outdoor festival features thousands of antiques, accessories and unique pieces of art in all mediums, according to a release from Milton Communications Manager Jason Wright.

Crossroads at Crapapple Antiques and Art Festival

New this year is the "Literary Pumpkin Contest," a partnership with Crabapple Crossing Elementary in which students' decorated pumpkins - inspired by their favorite books - are placed along Birmingham Highway. A team of judges, including Milton Mayor Joe Lockwood, will choose the winner, Wright wrote.

As always, rounding out the festival are the always popular roaming musicians, fantastic eats from Atlanta's hottest food trucks, plenty of children's art activities and an easy walk to the free parking areas. Handicap parking is available.

"We get quite a crowd, so shoppers need to come early for the best buys," said festival co-organizer Amanda Quintana of the Crabapple Community Association.

Her fellow organizer, Lisa Renko, agreed.

"We have thousands of antiques ? from vintage to American Country ? pottery, quilts, plus, as always, the perfect find for someone searching out that unique piece of art or jewelry," she said.

The City of Milton is a presenting sponsor of this community event coordinated by the Crabapple Community Association, Wright said.?

For more information for this event, please visit www.crabapplefestival.com or contact Amanda Quintana at 770-241-1125 or by e-mail at crossroadsatcrabapple@gmail.com.?

Source: http://alpharetta.patch.com/articles/crossroads-at-crabapple-antiques-and-art-festival-tradition-continues

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Flagstar Bank to face trial over mortgage servicing: judge

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Flagstar Bank , the ninth-largest mortgage lender in the United States, must face trial next month over allegations that it breached contracts for financial guaranty insurance on nearly $1 billion in securities backed by home equity loans. A federal judge in New York, expanding on an order he issued in February, wrote in an opinion issued on Tuesday that the plaintiff, Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp, had provided enough evidence to survive the bank?s motion to throw out the case. ?

Source: http://kashwealthsystem.com/finance/2012/09/26/flagstar-bank-to-face-trial-over-mortgage-servicing-judge/

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?One Day At A Time? Star Bonnie Franklin Battling Pancreatic Cancer

“One Day At A Time” Star Bonnie Franklin Battling Pancreatic Cancer

Bonnie Franklin, the actress who starred as Ann Romano in the sitcom “One Day At a Time,” has revealed she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/09/one-day-at-a-time-star-bonnie-franklin-battling-pancreatic-cancer/

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tax treatment of fixed asset purchased with business loan - Free ...

Hi,

I am a UK-based sole trader (i.e. self-employed) required to submit a self-assessment tax return. Since my business is very simple, I keep my own and accounts and submit my own tax returns.

In the last tax year, I purchased a new computer for business use. I took out a business loan from my bank to finance the purchase. I now need to work out how to account for this purchase in my tax return.

Having read the notes to the self-employment (full) tax return, I believe that I can claim a capital allowance for 100% of the price of the computer (which was around ?1,900 including VAT). I assume this means the full cost of the asset will effectively be deducted from my taxable income in year 1. Is this correct?

Assuming this is correct, this leaves me with the following questions:

1. I am VAT-registered, so have already claimed back the VAT on the purchase. I assume, therefore, that the amount of the capital allowance I can claim is 100% of the cost of the asset excluding VAT? (Otherwise I'd be getting tax relief on an amount of VAT that I've already claimed back.) Is this correct?

2. As I repay the loan over the next three years, I will obviously paying back more than the amount of the capital allowance I can claim on the asset (because of interest). Can I claim the interest as an expense? If so, how do I work it out and where do I claim it on the tax return? (I think the loan agreement only states the total amount of interest over the full loan term, so I'm not sure how to deal with this for each individual tax year.)

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Rob

Source: http://www.freebusinessforums.co.uk/accounts-finance-tax-affairs/32164-tax-treatment-fixed-asset-purchased-business-loan.html

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First, Do No HARM by Philip Corwin ? DomainPulse.com ? The Beat ...

Internet Commerce Association logoIs it really less than a week ago that Melbourne IT (MIT) hosted a Washington, DC forum on ?Trademarks and New gTLDs?? The calendar says that it was, but intervening events make the discussion that took place feel outdated already ? given that the one item on which there was clear consensus among almost all event participants (ICANN moving forward with implementation of Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS)) appears to be launching, while ICANN?s new CEO subsequently sent a letter to Congress throwing cold water on two key items in the brand community?s wish list.

The focus of the event was supposed to be MIT?s High At-Risk Marks (HARM) proposal, which envisioned a circumscribed set of global, non-generic word trademarks receiving a higher level of required rights protection in new gTLDs. While we had strong concerns about some aspects of the HARM trial balloon ? especially the notion that a URS brought against a HARM-listed mark would bring automatic domain suspension if the registrant did not pay a response fee within 48 hours ? we nonetheless commend MIT for putting a well-reasoned and circumscribed proposal out for consideration. But the day?s discussion ranged far beyond HARM, especially after brand representatives at the event made clear that its requirements were too restrictive for their taste. This led MIT CTO (and ICANN Vice Chair) Bruce Tonkin to remark post-event, ?There doesn?t seem to be enough support for line-drawing.? So HARM, R.I.P., we hardly knew you.

Mr. Tonkin kicked off the event with remarks that the Applicant Guidebook (AG) contained a ?minimum set of protections? and that ?now is the time to review the mechanisms in light of the TLDs applied for?. Most of the panelists chosen for the event represented brand interests and made predictable arguments for significant expansion of the breadth of listings in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMC) and the length of its operation, as well as for converting URS from a limited supplement to the existing UDRP to a full-bore substitute, at a much cheaper price for complainants at the expense of cheapening registrant rights.

But some of the comments did surprise us, such as that of Dan Jaffe of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), a group that had hoped to delay the acceptance of new gTLD applications. Mr. Jaffe declared that ?there is no URS at the present time?, which is certainly news to us as well as everyone else in the ICANN community who had debated its contours at extended length. We were also taken aback by Andrew Abrams of Google, who gave an interesting presentation on the various business models contained within its 98 gTLD applications ? but them went on to endorse changing the URS by lowering its burden of proof to the same as a UDRP, and to imposing a
?loser pays? rule on the registrant of even a single domain at issue. When the time came for audience comment ICA pointed out that this was a rather confounding endorsement from Google, which had helped lead the fight against the SOPA legislation for the exact reason that it would subject domains to suspension aka ?censorship? based upon allegations of IP violations but absent adequate due process for registrants. Our post-event conversation with Mr. Abrams indicated that Google may reexamine its URS position.

One panelist who stood out from the crowd was Jon Nevett of leading gTLD applicant Donuts, who made a strong argument that the AG should be considered closed and that any new rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) should only be considered in the context of a policy development process (PDP) applicable to all gTLDs. ICA, for its part, has long been on the record favoring initiation of a PDP for procedural UDRP reform, but it was pressure from brand interests that have deferred its start until at least mid-2015. Mr. Nevett pointed out that Donuts has additional rights protections baked into its applications, such as a Domain Protected Marks List (DPML), and made the case for allowing such experimentation by applicant groups to test the efficacy of such measures before even thinking about requiring them from all.

When the discussion was opened to the audience, ICA noted that the existing RPMs came out of a two year ICANN community debate and were unanimously endorsed by the GNSO Council and the ICANN Board, so they shouldn?t be casually tinkered with ? while not rejecting all proposals out of hand, we think there has to be a mighty high bar for any alterations.

As for the major brand rationale for performing RPM surgery ? that there were 1400 unique gTLDs being applied for ? we pointed out that by the time the Board approved the existing measures there was an expectation of at least 500-1,000 applications, and that the existing RPMs do scale for whatever number of new gTLDs come into being. We also made clear that since the URS had been adopted on the basis that it was to be a limited supplement to the UDRP, we?d strongly oppose any bait-and-switch attempt to convert it into a cut-rate UDRP substitute.

From other comments, it was also clear that many applicants, registries, and registrars were very concerned by any proposed alteration of the TMC warning system that would result in an inordinate number of false positives. The trademark for insurance company ING came in for several mentions, since any TMC registration warning system triggered by the multiple words containing such a trademark ? such as domaining ? could scare off potential registrants in droves.

As noted, the one item on which all parties seemed to agree was that ICANN was way overdue on URS implementation. Perhaps not coincidentally, the very next day an ICANN e-mail properly delegated control of URS implementation to the GNSO Council (see http://internetcommerce.org/URS_Implementation), with this to be a major discussion item at the upcoming Toronto meeting.

But other RPM expansions touted by brand owners at the HARM event got the cold shoulder in a letter sent last week by new ICANN CEO Fadi Ch?hade to Congressional leaders (letter available at http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/chehade-to-leahy-et-al-19sep12-en).

In regard to possible extension of the TMC-related claims service requirement beyond 60 days, his letter stated:

There is nothing precluding registries from electing to continue to offer the trademark claims service beyond the required 60-day period; indeed the Applicant Guidebook incentivizes registries to provide rights protections that exceed minimum requirements?.For the first round of new gTLDs, ICANN is not in a position to unilaterally require today an extension of the 60-day minimum length of the trademark claims service. The 60-day period was reached through a multi-year, extensive process within the ICANN community. One reason for this is that there are existing IP Watch services that address this needs. Those community members that designed the Trademark Claims Service were cognizant of existing protections and sought to fill gap, not replace existing services and business models. (Emphasis added)

And, on another key RPM expansion being pushed by brand owners ? going beyond exact matches of trademarks for TMC purposes ? he had this to say:

It is important to note that the Trademark Clearinghouse is intended as a repository for existing legal rights, and not an adjudicator of such rights or creator of new rights. Extending the protections offered through the Trademark Clearinghouse to any form of name (such as the mark + generic term suggested in your letter) would potentially expand rights beyond those granted under trademark law and put the Clearinghouse in the role of making determinations as to the scope of particular rights. The principle that ?rights protections ?should protect the existing rights, but neither expand those rights nor create additional legal rights by trademark law? ?was key to the work of the Implementation Recommendation Team?Though ICANN cannot mandate that the Trademark Clearinghouse provide notices beyond those required in accordance with the Registry Agreement, there is nothing to prevent the Trademark Clearinghouse or others from offering additional services that would, for example, give notice regarding various forms of a trademark. (Emphasis added)

So what is the way forward in the wake of the HARM discussion and these subsequent ICANN actions? In his opening remarks, Mr. Tonkin outlined three potential routes:

  1. 1.??? ?Best practices? implemented voluntarily by new gTLD applicants. ? This already exists in proposals from Donuts, Uniregistry, and other applicants and requires nothing from ICANN except encouragement. Registrants are free to consider whether they wish to be subject to such additional measures before acquiring a domain at any new gTLD.
  2. 2.??? ??Formal advice? to the ICANN Board from various ICANN constituencies, stakeholder groups, houses, and councils. ? In our view, advice is fine but the GNSO Council, as the ICANN entity responsible for gTLD policy, must play a central and critical role lest we see more lobbying of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) by brand interests designed to circumvent the Council, with subsequent political pressure on the ICANN Board such as that which has already resulted in some whittling down in registrants? procedural rights.
  3. 3.??? A formal PDP, the results of which would be mandatory for all gTLDs. ? As Mr. Tonkin noted, this has the strongest impact but also takes the longest time. And it?s hard to envision a PDP that would consider new RPMs for presently nonexistent gTLDs as well as for those with tens of millions of domain registrations, such as .com, that could be completed prior to the expected early 2014 launch of new gTLDs.

So that?s where things stand today, but clearly more surprises could be in store in the weeks leading up to the Toronto meeting.

As ICA prepares to fully participate in that Canadian forum, our number one priority will be, ?First, do no harm ? to registrant rights.?

This post by Philip Corwin from the Internet Commerce Association was sourced with permission from:
internetcommerce.org/Do_No_HARM

Source: http://www.domainpulse.com/2012/09/24/first-do-no-harm-by-philip-corwin/

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Monday, September 24, 2012

Giant panda cub dies at National Zoo in Washington

BEN NUCKOLS, Associated Press
10:38 a.m. EST, September 23, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The giant panda cub born a week ago at the National Zoo in Washington has died, and it was not immediately known why the animal died, zoo officials said Sunday.

Zoo officials said in a press release that the cub was found dead Sunday morning after panda keepers heard sounds of distress from its mother, Mei Xiang.

Staffers were able to retrieve the cub about an hour later. The cub appeared to be in good condition, and there were no outward signs of trauma or infection.

The cub had been a surprise at the zoo. Fourteen-year-old Mei Xiang had five failed pregnancies before giving birth, and only one panda cub has survived at the zoo in the past.

Panda cubs are born about the size of a stick of butter and are delicate infants. Panda mothers are about 1,000 times heavier than their cubs, which are born with their eyes closed. The delicate cubs have died in the past when accidentally crushed by mom. That happened in two different zoos in China in 2009 and 2010 when mothers killed their young while attempting to nurse.

The zoo's first panda couple, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, arrived from China in 1972 and had five cubs during the 1980s, but none lived more than a few days. One of the cubs was stillborn, two others died of pneumonia within a day, another died from lack of oxygen after birth, and the final cub died of an infection after four days.

Panda experts have said the first weeks of life are critical for the panda cubs as mothers have to make sure they stay warm and get enough to eat.

"It's kind of a nerve-racking period for the folks that are monitoring mom and cub," Rebecca Snyder, the curator of mammals at Atlanta's zoo, said last week. Atlanta is one of only two other American zoos to have had cubs.

Atlanta has had three cubs, and the San Diego zoo has had six, including a cub born this year. A panda couple in Memphis has yet to have a cub, despite several tries. No other U.S. zoos have pandas.

The cub had not yet been named in accordance with Chinese tradition ? it was to receive a name after 100 days on Dec. 24. Had the cub survived until then, it would have been roughly the size of a loaf of bread and weighed around 10 pounds.

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-ap-us--national-zoo-panda-20120923,0,5816587.story?track=rss

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DLind: If the panda cub has actually died, I'm blaming China. And fully endorsing the China-hawk campaign ads O&R are running.

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

Source: http://twitter.com/DLind/statuses/249900747280482304

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Netflix For Android Gets The New iOS Look, Too

android_blog-US_SA week after Netflix debuted its new iPhone application, just in time for the iPhone 5 launch, the company is today announcing it has brought a similar updated experience to users of Android devices. The new application offers an interface that's closer to what the Netflix app looks like on tablets, and, like the iPhone update, it also includes a new browse screen which lets you scroll through more titles than before, plus tweaks to the homescreen layout, and a search function accessible anywhere in the application.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BYcaHcsiE74/

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Sunday, September 23, 2012

The First Time Home Buyer&#39;s Guide to Bathroom Remodeling



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In Arizona desert, a charter school computes

Carpe Diem Collegiate High School and Middle School looks more like an office or call center than a school.

Over 200 cubicles ? not desks ? fill this modern version of a one-room schoolhouse on a quiet side street here in Yuma, a desert city near the Mexican and California borders. All students wear uniforms and have a cubicle, with their own computer, which they decorate with sketches or band stickers instead of a typical office worker?s family photos.

Carpe Diem is trying to upend the way students are taught. In just four days of instruction a week ? there?s no school on Fridays ? Carpe Diem?s five teachers and four teachers? aides supplement the concepts their 226 students have learned through a computer program. Teachers also monitor student progress through the program, which calculates grades in real time, zeroing in on the areas in which students are struggling.

?We?re going against hundreds of years of ?That?s the way it?s always been done,? ? says Chet Crain, the school?s dean of students.

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And it seems to be working. Carpe Diem?s math and reading scores on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards for every level from sixth to 12th grade outpace the average for Arizona schools. And the school is achieving these results with a student population that closely mirrors the demographics of other schools in the state, even though 46 percent of Carpe Diem students received free or reduced-price lunch during the 2011-12 school year, according to Carpe Diem COO Ryan Hackman, compared to an average of 75 percent in other Yuma schools. Carpe Diem?s success has caught the attention of education reformers across the country, and this fall the first of what could ultimately be six new schools opened in Indianapolis.

Because Carpe Diem is a charter school ? publicly funded but privately run ? there is more freedom for educators to create their own curriculum, model and vision, which Crain says is critical to the success and development of the model.

?We can turn on a dime. And not only on a dime, sometimes it?s on less than a dime,? Crain says.

Video: School preps kids for life beyond the classroom (on this page)

Charter schools in Arizona receive about $1,700 less in per-pupil funding each year than district schools, according to a 2012 progress report from the Arizona Department of Education. But because Carpe Diem?s model requires fewer teachers than traditional public schools, it?s able to spend on operations only about $5,300 of the roughly $6,300 the school receives per student, according to Hackman. Most of the rest goes toward paying off the bond on the $2.6 million facility, which was built in 2006.

'Blended learning'
Carpe Diem is at the forefront of a movement called ?blended learning,? where students receive some of their instruction online and some of it face to face. The amount of time spent online versus with traditional classroom teachers varies depending on the model, of which there are many.

In Carpe Diem?s case, students spend more than half of each school day in their cubicles, headphones plugged in, learning from an online curriculum provided by the company Education2020 (e2020), which delivers all of the core content in math, language arts, science and social studies. Four times a day, small groups of students participate in subject-specific workshops with teachers, who lead lessons that build on the e2020 curriculum and who get students to think critically about what they?re learning and apply it to class projects.

Teachers at Carpe Diem instruct students in every grade, which they say allows them over time to get to know students? strengths and weaknesses intimately.

?It?s a lot of responsibility, but the key is that except for the new students, I know all of my students from grade six up to grade 12,? says Douglas Erlemann, Carpe Diem?s lone math teacher.

The school has its critics. Professor Michael Barbour, of Wayne State University in Detroit, says that Carpe Diem?s online curriculum is specifically designed to get kids to do well on standardized tests and graduate from high school, which it does well, but that it falls short on fostering critical thinking skills.

'Digital toolkit': Seizing the digital revolution at Carpe Diem

?The nature of the curriculum and the way in which they try and provide support to the student, it?s designed to get these students through the system,? says Barbour. ?It?s designed to achieve that false belief that no child should be left behind.?

Ryan Hackmann, Carpe Diem?s chief operating officer, says that while teachers try to create more projects that promote critical thinking, it?s an area they are still strengthening as teachers adjust to their new roles in the Carpe Diem model.

Interviews with teachers, administrators and dozens of students about the type of learner who thrives at Carpe Diem all contained variations of adjectives like ?self-motivated? and ?hard-working.? Crain, Hackmann and teachers say that Carpe Diem isn?t for every student ? and that students who aren?t dedicated and comfortable taking some control of their education might not do well and end up leaving the school. Perhaps for this reason, Carpe Diem tends to lose a higher percentage of its students each year than district schools do.

Education Nation: Read more and make your voice heard

Most students say they like learning from computers and enjoy the opportunity to move at their own pace. The majority say they receive as much or more attention from their teachers at Carpe Diem as they did in their previous schools.

By design, the e2020 curriculum allows students at Carpe Diem to move ahead of their peers. And some, like 14-year-old Bineetha Aluri, are grade levels ahead. Aluri, who wants to be a neurologist, has already taken five college classes at Arizona Western College, a public community college in Yuma. In addition to studying calculus there, she receives elective credit at Carpe Diem for being a teacher?s assistant in Mr. Erlemann?s math class. She?ll likely finish high school by the end of her junior year.

?My parents thought this would be better for me, and it is,? says Aluri, ?because I can actually work faster than other people and I don?t have to stay at the same pace that everyone else is [at].?

But for all the success that Carpe Diem has enjoyed so far at its Yuma campus, its future remains uncertain. The bigger question of whether it can achieve success in other cities will be partly answered this year in Indianapolis, as students and teachers there try to seize the day.

nd teachers there try to seize the day.

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet based at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Copyright ? 2012 The Hechinger Report

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48912833/ns/us_news-education_nation/

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