WASHINGTON???Many Fortune 500 companies support the creation of federal cybersecurity standards to protect them from Internet threats like hacking as long as they are voluntary, according to a Senate survey of top U.S. chief executives released on Wednesday.?
The report resulted from letters sent to Fortune 500 companies in September by Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Democrat from West Virginia who last year authored a now-expired cybersecurity bill and is now renewing his push for such legislation.?
Better protection from cyber threats has taken on growing urgency in Washington, with top officials warning of the potentially devastating impact of cyber attacks that could undermine key infrastructure, which is mostly privately owned.?
Some 300 top companies in a variety of industries responded to the survey, according to the report compiled by the staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which Rockefeller chairs.?
Reflecting that growing interest in better securing networks, computers and data from cyber attacks, the survey showed broad support of the effort to pass new cybersecurity laws and collaborate with the federal government. But the report also showed concerns that new standards would become mandatory, inflexible or duplicative.?
"The concerns raised about the legislation were not about whether the government should have a role with respect to cybersecurity, but about the specifics of that role and what impact that role would have on how companies respond to their cybersecurity challenges," the report said.?
One Fortune 500 company, for example, responded that it had "no fundamental concerns with a voluntary U.S. program if it is indeed voluntary, as opposed to a program developed from a regulatory or compliance perspective or by the unfortunate notion that companies should be required to disclose breaches or vulnerabilities." The quote was one of dozens cited in the report, which did not identify the firms by name.?
Similar concerns helped undermine Rockefeller's efforts last year, although his bill did propose a voluntary system of rules. In particular, the influential business lobby U.S. Chamber of Commerce vehemently opposed the 2012 cyber legislation.?
Wednesday's report sought to highlight some discord between the chamber's position and the generally positive comments from Fortune 500 companies about closer collaboration with the federal government and the need to update the current system, which has been criticized as ad hoc.?
The chamber's Ann Beauchesne, vice president of national security and emergency preparedness, reiterated the lobby's concern on Wednesday.?
"Voluntary standards sound great in theory, but the devil is in the details," she said. "Whether a new cybersecurity program is labeled regulatory or 'voluntary,' the fact is, government officials will have the final word on the standards and practices that industry must adopt, which the Chamber opposes."?
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at:?http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp?
This morning the world held its collective breath as RIM BlackBerry took its sweet ass time trotting out the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 and amidst all the shenanigans, the company formerly known as RIM managed to show off a few notable new BB10 features, too. In case you missed all the live coverage this morning, you can find everything and anything related to BlackBerry 10 below. [Editor's note: you can tap and drag the above Z10 all you want thanks to Gizmodoscope.] More »
The World Wide Web or the Internet in general has lots to offer. From a simple how to guide in terms of cooking your favorite dish up to some quick fix at home or even first aid in terms of health and medical issues. Because of the vast information and help that we can get online, a fast and reliable internet connection becomes a necessity and part of our everyday lives. Below are some of the most notable benefits a fast internet service or connection can give, either at home or at the office.
Business Benefits
If you have a business that relies at online sales and inquiries, it really pays to have a fast and blazing internet speed. Why? First and foremost, you can quickly respond to any customer inquiries either via email, your social network or even live chat via your website. A fast response in terms of business inquiries and transaction can give your business a better feedback from customers. To summarize it up, it will allow your business to give the best customer service that can turn into sales or profit online.
Personal/Home Benefits
If you are student who relies so much at the information offered for free online, then a good internet connection is a must. It can save you a lot of hours (aside from the stress and headache) in terms of researching and studying online. Not only that, most of the time, you will be needing graphical representation, images, photos and videos to really get or understand the information or subject topic you are studying at. A slow internet connection can't serve you all of this simultaneously because of the internet bandwidth a multimedia will need to be fully downloaded. So, a good internet speed is what students of this generation really needs.
If you are a working at home online, internet connection speed is critical to your success. Most of the time, people or even companies who asks for your online expertise might require you to have or get a fast internet connection. The reason behind this is that, they might ask you to join online-video meetings (slow internet connection doesn't have the capability to handle online video meetings), they might give you a task or work that relies heavily at the internet speed (might be software or online work trackers), or they just really want a much better result for the online work they will give you which can only be attained if you have a faster internet connection than the others.
As you can see from the above information, a faster internet connection do have lots of benefits to offer, both business or personal wise. It can even give you the full entertainment you are looking for online, either via watching live sports or movie streaming or just playing your favorite online games.
Avallone says their sophisticated City Messenger bags are for men, but I don’t see why women wouldn’t like them, too. ?These bags are certainly not the distressed leather bags often marketed for men. ?They are made of Italian Nappa leather with cow suede accents and silver-colored metal hardware. ?The bag measures 13.5″ X 10″ X [...]
Amateur video taken from inside a Food Lion store captures a tornado as it tears through Adairsville, Georgia. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
By John Newland and Andrew Mach, NBC News
A violent tornado that ripped through Adairsville, Ga., on Wednesday, killed at least one person, overturned cars, littered Interstate 75 with debris, and forced officials to shut down a 10-mile stretch of the road, officials said.
Numerous buildings in nearby Bartow, Ga., some with people inside, were also damaged in the powerful storm, and police have received multiple calls of injuries and trauma, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
A man was killed in the state when the tornado hit his mobile home, Bartow County officials said.
Eight people went to the hospital with injuries following the storm, officials at Gordon Hospital in Calhoun, Ga., said. The storm also left at least 10,500 without power statewide, utilities providers said.
That twister was only one of a handful that touched down in the South and the Midwest Wednesday, as storms throughout the region caused widespread power outages, structural damages and were blamed for another death in the region.
The National Weather Service also confirmed another twister touched down in Sardis, Miss., heavily damaging homes in Solsberry, Ind.
Severe winds and rain threatened along a thousand-mile line stretching from Cleveland, Ohio, to New Orleans, The Weather Channel reported. Tornado warnings were issued in areas from central Tennessee and Kentucky to northern and western Georgia and were in effect until Wednesday afternoon. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches across large swaths of Georgia, as well as parts of southeastern Alabama and western portions of the Carolinas, until Wednesday night.
Earlier, a 47-year-old man in Nashville, Tenn., was killed when a tree fell on a shed he was in, according to local fire department officials.
Meanwhile, in Monticello, Ark., a woman was struck by lightning late Tuesday but only had minor injuries, according to police, and a 32-year-old woman and a 7-year-old boy were treated for minor injuries in Marion County, Ky., the emergency management division reported.
Wild weather with high winds and torrential downpours rolled through central and southern states toppling trees and leaving thousands without power. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Packing quarter-size hail and powerful winds, the storms also knocked out power to thousands of people throughout the region early Wednesday.
In Memphis, Tenn., more than 13,000 customers lost power as high winds tore down power lines and at least two tornado warnings were issued in the area, but later expired, according to the National Weather Service.
And more than 7,300 Nashville customers were without power, according to Nashville Electric. Utilities reported another 8,000 outages in Arkansas, 7,000 in Mississippi, and nearly 12,000 in Indiana.
In Arlington, Tenn., downed power lines sparked a fast-spreading grass fire that caused the evacuation of a small mental-health facility, Arlington Fire Department Lt. Chad Wiseman said.
"The wind was pushing everything really fast," Wiseman said, adding that gusts reached 50 mph as the fire was burning. "The wind feeds everything. The wind will turn a little grass fire into something that was shooting 15- or 20-foot flames in the air. It looked pretty scary."
The fire was brought under control within an hour, officials said.
A number of factors have helped build the storm system, according to meteorologists. Unseasonably warm, wet air has been pushed up from the Gulf of Mexico by southerly winds, and that is being met by cold air coming in from the Plains via Canada, The Weather Channel?s Chad Burke said, adding that the cold air is being driven eastward by unusually high winds.
"It's not a normal pattern for this time of year," said Burke. "The warm air has changed the dynamic. On the back end of the storm, you have high temperatures in the 50s and 60s in places like Chicago. By tomorrow night, they'll be at 11 (degrees)."
It's been three years since we first heard about DARPA's ARGUS-IS, but thanks to a PBS Nova special entitled "Rise of the Drones," we finally have more information about the 1.8-gigapixel camera that is supposedly the highest-resolution surveillance system in the world. The documentary showed video footage of the imaging system in action, though the camera itself remains shrouded in mystery for security reasons. Designed to be used with UAVs like the Predator, the ARGUS-IS (which stands for Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance - Imaging System) can spot a six-inch object within a ten square mile radius from 20,000 feet in the air. As shown in the clip after the break, the high-res cam doesn't quite reveal facial features, but you can spot details like a bird flying around a building and the color of someone's clothes.
The video goes on to reveal that the camera's internals are actually a collection of 368 sensors that are identical to the ones found in 5-megapixel smartphones. But the ARGUS-IS wouldn't be much without the processing power of the platform behind it. We're not entirely sure how this is done, but the camera allegedly streams around 1 million terabytes (that's an exabyte, folks) of video, which adds up to roughly 5,000 hours of HD footage per day. Thankfully, there's software that helps guys on the ground filter through the mass of data. As seen in the image above, it lets them track moving objects with up to 65 simultaneous windows. The military potential here is obvious, but DARPA is keeping mum on any future implementations of the ARGUS-IS -- or if it's been in use all this time.
In this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Tokyo by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a consultative meeting with officials in the fields of state security and foreign affairs at undisclosed location in North Korea. Credit: AP
While it?s certainly not the first allegation of cannibalism to come from North Korea, it?s equally as disturbing as those that?preceded?it. Troubling reports of a rise in starvation ? and cannibalism ? have emerged inside of a nation that continues to be?intensely-secretive and shut off from the wider global community.?According to an independent outlet called Asia Press, North Koreans are so desperate that they are increasingly turning to corpses and even murdering their own children for food.
One man allegedly dug up his grandchild?s corpse and ate it. Another purportedly killed and boiled his child for food. Of late, yet another individual has reportedly been executed for killing two of his children for the same purposes.
?In my village in May a man who killed his own two children and tried to eat them was executed by a firing squad,? one informant said of the latter incident.
According to the source, the father killed his daughter while his wife was away on business. Then, he killed the son because the latter child had witnessed his sister?s murder. When the wife came back from her trip, her husband said that they now had ?meat.? After?becoming?suspicious, she contacted authorities who later discovered?parts of the children?s bodies.
The ?hidden famine,? as it has been called in North and South?Hwanghae, is what appears to be driving this alleged horror. According to the Daily Mail, up to 10,000 individuals have lost their lives due to a lack of food ? a figure that encapsulates the extreme desperation that may be driving the unthinkable.
Of course, the secretive and insular nature of the North Korean government makes it difficult to ascertain?definitively?whether instances involving human beings consuming one another are actually on the rise as some sources have claimed. Asia Press, the independent outlet issuing these reports,?describes itself as a media venue that is?trying to be ?free from any dependence on capital and authority.?
While outlandish and unbelievable, this isn?t the first time the international community has heard similar stories. In the past, numerous reports about cannibalism have come from North Korea. The Daily Mail highlights some of these past instances:
In May last year, the South Korean state-run Korean Institute for National Unification said that one man was executed after eating part of a colleague and then trying to sell the remains as mutton.
One man killed and ate a girl and a third report of cannibalism was recorded from 2011.
Another man was executed in May after murdering 11 people and selling the bodies as pork.
In Oct. 2011, TheBlaze reported about?Kim Hye Sook and the unbearable pain and emotional suffering that she endured during her 28-year detention in a secretive North Korean concentration camp. Brutal executions, starvation ? even mothers killing and eating their children to ensure their own survival ? were regular occurrences.
In an interview with CBN News, Sook recalled a mother boiling her 9-year-old daughter. In a separate fit of desperation, a woman killed her 16-year-old son, chopped him up and took him to a butcher to obtain some corn in exchange.??
'You can party to it; you can chill to it; you can ride to it,' Atlanta MC tells Mixtape Daily of his latest project, which drops Tuesday. By Rob Markman, with reporting by FLX
After the NFC jumped out in front 10-7 in the Pro Bowl?s initial 16 minutes, Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson briefly returned the lead to the AFC by reading Giants quarterback Eli Manning?s eyes in zone coverage and picking off Eli?s pass, which was intended for Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Johnson beat everyone to the house for a 42-yard pick six, putting the AFC up 14-10 early in the second quarter.
The NFC rallied back on its next drive, keyed by a BeastMode run out of Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. Lynch shed five tackles for a vicious 12-yard gain, easily the best run of a Pro Bowl that has so far been decidedly pass happy.
Two snaps after Lynch?s run, Eli hit Giants teammate Victor Cruz for a nine-yard touchdown on an in route out of the slot, giving the NFC the lead back at 17-14. Cruz, as he is known to do, performed a quick salsa dance in the end zone to celebrate.
Trailing by three points midway through the second quarter, the AFC replaced Peyton Manning at quarterback with Matt Schaub of the Texans. On a 40-yard bomb attempt intended for Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas, Schaub was intercepted by Falcons safety William Moore. Moore returned the pick 27 yards to the NFC 28.
Eli got aggressive with under three minutes remaining in the first half. He noticed Rudolph in Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali?s coverage down the right sideline, waved Rudolph to continue his route downfield, and hit him for a deep gain of 52 behind a lumbering Hali.
The first flag of the game was called on Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey toward the end of the second quarter. When explaining the penalty, official Ed Hochuli made sure to announce that ?Yes, there are penalties in the Pro Bowl.? (Yes, Hochuli really said that.)
Bailey was covering Bucs receiver Vincent Jackson in the end zone when whistled, so the ball was placed at the AFC?s one-yard line.
Lynch punched it in from a yard out, increasing the NFC?s lead to 24-14. Eli led yet another touchdown drive to close out the half, going 75 yards in the final 68 seconds with a three-yard scoring strike to Rudolph to cap it off.
As of halftime, top performers in the 2013 Pro Bowl so far have included Rudolph (five catches, game-high 122 yards, one touchdown), Jackson (five catches, 86 yards, one touchdown) and Cruz (game-high eight catches, 66 yards, touchdown).
Through two quarters, Rudolph is the favorite for Pro Bowl MVP.
Hundreds of flights were canceled as an ice storm brought freezing rain to the Midwest before making its way toward the northeast. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.
?
By Barbara Goldberg, Reuters
A storm encased the Midwest in glistening ice on Sunday, forcing officials to cancel flights and closing roadways and threatening to tangle the start of the work week as freezing rains headed east.?
Hundreds of churches across Iowa called off Sunday services as sidewalks were turned to sheets of ice by the storm that meteorologists said had covered the Midwest in about a half-inch of ice by midday.?
Flights in and out of Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Louis were grounded on icy runways.?
The National Weather Service issued a freezing rain advisory for Chicago and the surrounding area for Sunday until 9 p.m. local time, when temperatures were expected to warm up enough to make it just rain. Until then, the weather service warned of dangerous conditions for driving and even walking.?
"Pockets of sleet, freezing rain and freezing drizzle are possible farther east late tonight into Monday morning from Buffalo, New York, to New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Roanoke, Virginia," meteorologist Brian Edwards said on Accuweather.com.?
Slick roadways were reported from South Sioux City, Nebraska, to Iowa, where numerous crashes were reported, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. In Franklin County, Iowa, Interstate 35 was blocked by tractor trailers struggling to get a grip on treacherous surfaces.?
"Instant icing of windshields and roadway surfaces (as well as driveways, sidewalks and parking lots) can be expected in the areas with freezing temperatures," the Iowa DOT said.?
In Missouri, ramps to connecting Interstate 270, which circles the St. Louis area, to Interstate 70 were closed early Sunday morning because of ice, but were later reopened, said Marie Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Transportation.?
--Additional reporting by Reuters' Tim Bross in Missouri, Kay Henderson in Iowa and David Hendee in Nebraska; Editing by Edith Honan and Bill Trott.?
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
None can deny the importance of Search engine optimization (SEO) for making a name in business with highly competitive online world. Today, internet has become a powerful tool to promote your offers or services on global scale and get exposure for grabbing more and more clients worldwide. Even with limited resources and meager staff, you can do huge advertisement for your company or brand on vast scale in an effective manner.
Search engines need quality
Recently, there has been quite a lot of work in Google?s SEO mechanism. It always shows high-quality well-designed sites in top results. Same is true for all major search engines. Besides, the content in website also matters a great deal. For instance, a web site having keyword based descriptions about products will surely get more traffic than others with general content. Smart content developers first use Adwords or other search tools to derive highly searched keywords and insert them in their web pages sensibly. Besides key words, number of monthly searches on global or local level and CPC (cost per click) are especially considered to make sure they get as much traffic as possible.
Web design increases ranking
A web layout that is masterfully designed with appropriate visuals will rank high in search engine indexes. It?s highly important to have a clear interface with high-quality content and required number of backlinks. Images and videos have primary role in attracting visitors. You might have observed, some big sites only have meaningful images with upper tabs on home screen and there are a few or no words at all.
Designer-cum-SEO expert
Whenever you?re hiring a web designer, make sure he keeps abreast of the latest techniques, tips and tricks to rank high among search engines and navigate more traffic to your website. Instead of adding art infusion, it should be decent, simple, user-friendly and attractive. Having all categories? links or tabs separately in home page is important. Email subscription options also help get more traffic.
How SEO experts work
SEO experts have a thorough knowledge about how to have more visitors to the web page or a particular link. They use these tools for this purpose:
Social media like Facebook, Twitter and so on
Ezine publishing (with backlinks in the author bio)
Content publishing to high-traffic websites
Keyword usage
Connection with social networking sites
Google analytics to check website?s progress
Blogging
Guest posting
Email alerts
Press release
Link building
Branding
Some use a few and others almost all of these tools for effective search engine optimization.
Web design impacts SEO
Companies prefer having websites that have convincing interface, vivid animations, rich visuals and concise content with catchy titles. In fact, their online presence speaks a lot about their success and image. Clients surf online, view their website and try to assess them abruptly at a very first visit. Well-designed and focused website definitely gives great impression and convinces the visitors to take interest in companies? offers and services.
Malian people welcome French soldiers as they arrive in the city of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Mali's military and French forces pushed toward Gao on Friday, in their farthest move north and east since launching an operation two weeks ago to retake land controlled by the rebels, residents and a security official said Friday. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Malian people welcome French soldiers as they arrive in the city of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Mali's military and French forces pushed toward Gao on Friday, in their farthest move north and east since launching an operation two weeks ago to retake land controlled by the rebels, residents and a security official said Friday. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
French soldiers stand at a crossroads as they arrive in the city of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Mali's military and French forces pushed toward Gao on Friday, in their farthest move north and east since launching an operation two weeks ago to retake land controlled by the rebels, residents and a security official said Friday. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
A Malian soldier stops at the Aviator's Club bar to watch an African Cup of Nations football match in Sevare, some 620 kms (400 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. One wing of Mali's Ansar Dine rebel group has split off to create its own movement, saying that they want to negotiate a solution to the crisis in Mali, in a declaration that indicates at least some of the members of the al-Qaida-linked group are searching for a way out of the extremist movement in the wake of French airstrikes. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
In this picture provided by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and taken Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, a Chad soldier for the African-led international support mission to Mali has boarded an aircraft in N'Djamena, Chad, bound for Bamako, the capital of Mali. The French currently have some 2,400 forces in Mali and have said that they will stay as long as needed in the former French colony. However, they have called for African nations to take the lead in fortifying the Malian army's efforts. (AP Photo/ECPAD,Nicolas Vissac)
In this picture provided by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and taken Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, Chad soldiers for the African-led international support mission to Mali wait to board an aircraft in N'Djamena, Chad, bound for Bamako, the capital of Mali. The French currently have some 2,400 forces in Mali and have said that they will stay as long as needed in the former French colony. However, they have called for African nations to take the lead in fortifying the Malian army's efforts. (AP Photo/ECPAD,Nicolas Vissac)
SEVARE, Mali (AP) ? French and Malian forces took control of the radical Islamist stronghold of Gao on Saturday, marking a major advance in their bid to oust al-Qaida-linked extremists who have controlled northern Mali for months.
The capture of the town comes just two weeks after France launched its military offensive in support of the shaky central government of the former French colony. It is unclear what kind of resistance French and Malian troops will face in the coming days, though French officials were already praising recent battlefield successes.
Swooping in by land and by air and under the cover of darkness, French and Malian forces came under fire Saturday morning and continued to face sporadic "acts of harassment" through the day, Col. Thierry Burkhard, a French military spokesman in Paris, said. He had no immediate estimate on casualties.
Just before evening, the French Defense Ministry issued a statement saying the whole town of Gao had been liberated, and government control was already being established ? notably with the return Saturday of the town's mayor, Sadou Diallo, who had fled to Mali's capital Bamako far to the west.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement earlier Saturday that French-led forces had captured the key bridge and airport in Gao, and jihadist fighters whom they encountered "saw their means of transport and their logistics sites destroyed."
The Islamists first seized control of Gao and two other northern provincial capitals ? Timbuktu and Kidal ? in April last year during the chaotic aftermath of a coup in the distant capital.
Before the joint air-land operations, French forces carried out "an important phase of air strikes" around Gao and Timbuktu, with nearly 30 bombs fired from fighter jets over the previous two days, France's military said in yet another statement.
More French and African troops and equipment were being sent to Gao, the military said. Troops from Chad and Niger "should arrive in the Gao area very soon," it added.
Elsewhere in Mali, French and Malian troops supported by a tactical air group carried out a night-time "reconnaissance offensive" toward Lere, "where several terrorist elements were noticed a few days earlier," the military said.
Two Rafale jets have been added to the campaign, bringing France's total deployment to 12 fighter jets as part of the code-named Operation Serval in Mali, the military said.
Nouhoum Maiga, a deputy mayor in Gao, confirmed Saturday that the French had come by land and air late Friday.
Gao has been under the control of the al-Qaida-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad, or MUJAO, for months.
On Friday in a show of might, the Islamist radicals destroyed a bridge near the Niger border with explosives, showing that the extremists still remain a nimble and daunting enemy.
Since France began its military operation Jan. 11 with a barrage of airstrikes followed by a land assault, the Islamists have retreated from three cities in central Mali: Diabaly, Konna and Douentza.
The Islamists, though, had maintained control of the majority of the territory in Mali's north, most importantly the cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
The announcement that Gao's airport had been taken marked the first official confirmation that French and Malian forces had reached the city. Previously the closest they had been was Hombori, a town some 155 miles (250 kilometers) away.
The French currently have about 2,500 forces in the country and have said that they will stay as long as needed in Mali, a former French colony. However, they have called for African nations to take the lead in fortifying the Malian army's efforts.
There are currently some 1,750 troops from neighboring African countries, including Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal, Niger and Chad.
The French-led mission began after the Islamists surged the farthest south yet and took the town of Konna. On Saturday, the Malian military allowed international journalists to enter the town for the first time since the conflict began.
Residents described the civilian casualties that took place during the French air strikes, including one that left three women and a child dead. Officials have said at least 11 Malians died in the military effort to retake the town.
Souleymane Maiga said the women were preparing food in the courtyard underneath a mango tree when he heard the helicopters overhead.
"I ran and hid between the walls of our courtyard," he said. "After it was over, I went to the house and I opened the door and that's when I saw that they were dead."
Only a toddler survived, Maiga said.
"They were one on top of the other. The baby was crying," he said. "I tried to feel for a pulse to see if there was any life, but I found that they were all dead."
___
Keaten reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Rukmini Callimachi and Baba Ahmed contributed to this report from Konna, Mali.
We were contacted by a news organization the other day, to ask our opinion on several issues regarding Franchises.? One of the fundamental questions that came up is whether franchising is really worth it?
The answer is ? as in many questions ? it depends?? In the case of franchising, it depends on you, the Buyer; and it depends highly on the Franchise, itself.
As far as you are concerned, what are your skills?? If, for example you are contemplating a Fast Food Franchise, do you know cooking?? Do you know Food Costs?? How adept are you in Estimating Food Supply questions?? How much Waste do you need to estimate?
How many Employees do you need at any one time?? Do they all need to be there at once, or can you bring in some people early and the majority of them at other times?? And what kinds of skills do they need?? (A Food Prep person does not have the same skills as a Server, who in turn is not the same as a Bartender, and so on.)
Designing the Restaurant is key.? We consulted with an Architectural Firm that was designing spaces for an intended, multi-location Restaurant chain.? The Architect put together a wonderful design for the seating area, but the Kitchen area was a mess!? He had placed equipment in such a manner that the Prep Area was at one end of the Kitchen, but when his/her foods were finished, the Prep Cook had to take physically transport the products to the Main Cooking area, which was almost at the opposite end of the Kitchen.? Then, the finished plates had to be moved to another area of the Kitchen for delivery to servers, so that people were constantly crossing each other with hot platters and knives at a rapid pace, potentially on wet and sometimes even greasy floors?if you charted it, the traffic pattern looked like a plate of linguini!
Even food presentation systems sometimes need to be thought out carefully, in terms of need and progression.? We recently saw a buffet, where the Diners were directed to one end of a food line.? The rolls and butter were at the beginning of that line, then silverware, then a huge salad bowl, THEN plates.? A diner was left either to cross in front of people who putting salad on their plates in order to get a clean dish, or stuffing rolls and butter into his/her pockets in order to free his/her hands to fill them with salad, and finally arriving at the available plates.
These sound like simple, common sense issues, but unless you have been in the business, they can escape your notice until you actually become operational, in your own Restaurant.? And then, it can be too late:? You have already designed your Restaurant, spent a lot of money on equipment and space build-out, and to change it can be cost prohibitive.? Moreover, every space you lease can be different; so even if you have owned a place before, the next one can have its own challenges, due to the amount of square footage and shape of the location.
Most Franchises can help you with all of those decisions and provide the training and support that helps you through these decisions.? They can guide you with Cost of Goods, Pricing suggestions and Expense planning and containment.? They normally even have the kind of Software and certain customized Equipment, specific to your business that can save you thousands of dollars, compared to researching, designing and buying such equipment and services on your own.? If you do not need that kind of support, then maybe franchising is not for you.
Not all Franchise Companies are created equally.? Some profess to have great training and ongoing support, when in fact they do not.? In Food, some require the Franchisee to order specific brands and ingredients, which may be far higher than the norm.
(In some cases of that kind, the Franchise Company gets a percentage of the purchases you make, from the Manufacturer or Distributor; that?s one of the reasons your Food Costs can be so high.? The same can be said for your Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment ? known collectively as FF&E. The Franchise Company may demand specific equipment that is the Rolls Royce of such equipment, when you only need a Hyundai to get you where you want to go.? And the demand may be because the Franchise Company, again gets a slice of your pie.)
Many Franchises would seem to offer innovative products and services that would appear to offer incredible earning opportunities for the Franchisee, but those earnings never seem to bear fruit.? And to be fair, sometimes the failures are the fault of the Franchisee.? The Franchisee can take a great idea and screw it up, if he/she thinks you do not have to do anything at all, in order to make it successful.? Or, the Franchisee can decide he/she knows more than the Franchisor, and ignore the Franchise proven practices, thus destroying some of the very real advantages the concept offers.? The fact that is it a Franchise does not guarantee success.? Just as with any other business, you need to critically analyze the Business Plan offered by the Franchisor, and then adapt your own to the local area you plan to serve.? Even McDonald?s has had periodic failures, due to location.
A lot of what you pay for, as a Franchisee, is the BRAND.? Brands like McDonald?s are worth an incredible amount, to a new Franchisee.? Compare the opening of a McDonald?s, where kids start screaming at their parents for a Happy Meal immediately upon seeing the Golden Arches from at least a block away, to something (as an example, we will call) Buford?s Burgers, with a poster-board sign, (because Buford did not understand how long it takes to order and install electric signage,) in the window of a small shop at the back corner of some shopping center ? and those same kids are too young to read.? Make a difference?
Brands can hurt, as well.? We know of one Franchise that suffered a scandal in one area of the Country, and it hurt all of the remaining Franchises, as a result.? The Law requires full disclosure of any legal action against a Franchise Company, and it is found in the publication the Franchisor is required by Law to provide you, in advance of any discussions you have with them.? READ THAT CAREFULLY!
And read not only that part of the disclosure, but all of it.? Know what you are agreeing to.
There is one, very successful Franchise Company that does not really sell one (1) unit.? When you sign up, you are contractually agreeing to develop one (1) location, then another three (3) over the next five (5) years.? One person we know bought into that Franchise in 2007; he could not get funding for additional locations when the recession hit and had to forfeit his Franchise to the parent Company, for defaulting on his expansion requirements.? Another chose poor locations, which then did not do well; she also had to close shop then the poor performance of the two (2) original locations did not allow her to launch the required third, which was to be located in an area that may have actually saved the others.
In another, extremely prominent and successful Franchise, the Franchisees? territory protection was threatened by the demands of the parent Company, and eventually led to costly damages to the Franchisees.
The Franchisor decided that a cooperative venture with another organization was a great idea, and the new venture operations would be located within a number of current Franchise territories.? The affected Franchisees were told they HAD to open these new locations, or the Franchisor had the right to put someone else in place, legally destroying the territorial protection ? not only in those specific locations, but completely.? The Franchisees felt they had no choice, despite attempts in court.
The problem is that the expansion was a terrible idea!? The Franchisees knew that, going into it.? But the Franchisor insisted?then four (4) years later said, ?Maybe that was not such a great concept??? But it was not the Franchisor that lost its shirt; it was the Franchisees that were coerced into the expansion that never should have been!
The moral of that story is that you need to retain an Attorney that specializes in Franchise Law, BEFORE you sign anything!? Franchisors literally have teams of Attorneys on their side.? You need at least one.? You may not be able to change the Franchise Agreement, but you at least need to know exactly what you are signing.
The Franchise Company does not have all of the offers, and is not infallible.? We know of several Franchising Companies, and one, superlative Franchisor that bought Franchises back from their Franchisees, when the Franchisees decided to retire and voluntarily sell.? In these cases, the Franchisor bought the operations back because they were particularly profitable, and the Franchise Company felt it could run the sites itself, getting far more than the 6% it had been receiving from the Franchisee, in return.
?Crash and burn?, is the best way to define the Franchise Companies management of these terrific sites.? It was so bad, they could not even re-sell the locations to another Franchisee, in order to salvage them.? They had to drag the previous Franchisee back from retirement, sell these locations back to his at a radical discount, and give him the opportunity to turn them around and then, finally sell them to another Franchisee.? The work ethic of the individual location Owner is sometimes just as important as the Brand, itself.
Moreover, in many Franchise Companies, new innovations and improvements in service are derived not by the Corporate or Franchisor Offices, but by individual Franchisee, themselves.? That does not mean the value of the Franchisor is diminished; the Franchise Company can serve as a critical link to other Franchisees, telling them of these improved methods of operation.? Or, helping the Franchisee in improving such operational techniques and perfecting new methodologies.
Finally, there are some Franchises that are simply, terrible!? There are some we refuse to list or recommend.? Invariably, these are companies where the Franchisee is never going to build any value that he/she can later sell for much of a profit.? The Franchise, in these cases, legally demands that the vast majority of the re-sale value belongs to it, and at the time of sale, the Franchisee finds that he/she is turning over the majority of the sales proceeds to the parent Company.? In buying that kind of operations, all the prospective Franchisee can hope for is to spend a lot of money in buying him/herself a job.? Nothing more.
Our perspective is that, if you took the risk going into the deal and put your own sweat and blood into the operation, you should damn well get the lion?s share of the benefit coming out of it!? Otherwise, why bother?
So again, is franchising a good thing?? Generally, we believe in franchising.? But it really depends on a lot of variables.? It can provide you with a proven product or service which CAN, but does not necessarily guarantee a much better chance for success.? The Franchise can offer training, support, advertising, branding, product/service enhancements over time?lots of advantages.
But some disadvantages also exist.? Research, research, research ? that is the only way to either validate such an opportunity, or determine it does not meet your fundamental need.
The real question for each individual is whether the cost is worth the benefit.? Those of you who have read our other blogs know:? This comes back to the Business Plan!!!
California today is announcing its intent to declare bisphenol A a reproductive hazard. Under a state law known as Proposition 65, items that contain a certain level of BPA would need warning signs for consumers. Pictured: California's Sacramento State CapitolImage: Flickr/Franco Folini
California today is announcing its intent to declare bisphenol A a reproductive hazard.
Under a state law known as Prop. 65, warning signs would be required for consumer items that contain a certain high level of BPA. BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastic, and also is found in liners of food and beverage cans and some thermal receipts.
Scientists say BPA is an estrogen-like substance that can alter reproductive hormones. California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment said it based its decision to list BPA as a Prop. 65 chemical on a 2008 report by the National Toxicology Program.
?"Bisphenol A meets the criteria for listing as known to the State to cause reproductive toxicity (developmental endpoint) under Proposition 65, based on findings of NTP [the National Toxicology Program]," according to the state agency.
"OEHHA is relying on the NTP?s conclusion in the report that there is clear evidence of adverse developmental effects in laboratory animals at 'high' levels of exposure," according to the state's decision.
The decision was based on laboratory tests by scientists that have shown effects on the body weight and reproductive development of the pups of pregnant rats and mice exposed to high levels of BPA.
The state agency is proposing to set an acceptable level of exposure that is considered fairly high, 290 micrograms per day. As a result, Sarah Janssen of the Natural Resources Defense Council wrote on her blog that the decision ?is not likely to trigger any warning labels on canned food or beverages.? The same is probably true for receipts and most other consumer products.
"However," she added, "a listing alone is quite significant and makes official what parents have known for years ? BPA is harmful and should be avoided."
Plastics and chemical manufacturers say the compound, which has been used in polycarbonate plastic for 50 years, is safe at levels people are exposed to
The intent of the law, passed by voters in 1986, is to require manufacturers to warn consumers whenever a chemical is used that has been linked to cancer or reproductive effects. In some cases, companies decide to avoid using the compound rather than put up warning signs in stores or other public places.
BPA already has been banned from baby bottles, and removed from most hard-shell water bottles. It also has been replaced with another chemical in most thermal receipts, although that chemical, known as BPS, also has been linked to estrogen-like effects.
The state agency will accept public comments for one month before making a final decision listing BPA.
This article originally ran at Environmental Health News, a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.
US Dollar Index : 79.748 US Dollar Index 18-Jan-13 : 80.030 Change : -0.282 or -0.4%
Platinum Price Close Today : 1,693.90 Platinum Price Close 18-Jan-13 : 1,672.10 Change : 21.80 or 1.3%
Palladium Price Close Today : 740.25 Palladium Price Close 18-Jan-13 : 722.00 Change : 18.25 or 2.5%
The GOLD PRICE lost $13.10 today to close near the low at $1,656.40. Silver lost 51.5 cents to 3118c.
The silver and GOLD PRICE are not at a point -- $1,655 and 3100c -- where they must either catch or fall further, to $1,640 and 2975c.
Clearly, jumping over $1,700 will take some work.
Looking at it through the optimist's lens, today's gold retreat did no more than take gold down for a final kiss good-bye to the downtrend line from the high from mid-November. That's $1,656. Final kiss good-bye, I remind y'all, occurs after a market breaks through resistance, peaks, then corrects and touches back to that resistance line before it once again takes off.
I've been through these long soul-harrowing times before. You think metals have begun to take off again, only to disappoint you again. It can last a long time. Why shouldn't silver and gold go lower? The low on 4 January was too complete from a lot of angles. Most likely outcome will see silver and gold trading sideways next week, then attempting that $1,700 mark in a week or two.
Y'all think this is bad because you weren't watching the gold and SILVER PRICE in October and November 2008. Gold dropped 32% from its 2008 peak and silver gave up 105% of its preceding gain. Brutal, but by no means the end of the bull market. From an 880 cent and $704.50 low silver and gold rallied for 3 years. As I keep on telling y'all, the bull is always working to shake off as many riders as possible.
Wise words for today: "Keep about your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars. Do not stop to stone the devil's dogs. Do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits. Do your work."
Again today stocks reached new high closes for the move. Dow added 45.42 (0.33%) to 13,870.75 while the S&P500 moved about the same, up 5.85 (0.39%) to 1,500.67. That close over 1,500 offers big round number support to morale, and never mind that it's only 2/3 of a point over 1,500.
Should you take a ruler and draw a line across the 12,875 Dow high in May 2011, the 13,238 in May 2012, and the October 2013 high at 13,662, you have an upward slope that defines the upper Jaw of Death, the upper boundary of a broadening top. (Lower boundary runs from May 2011 at 12,876 through 12,035 in June 2012.) Against that backdrop, within those Jaws of Death, all the present stock rally is playing out. Keep that in mind. (S&P500 backdrop is about the same.)
It is possible the Dow might punch through that upper jaw and reach for the 14,000 high made in October 2007. Witnessing against that is a VERY overbought RSI (75.69 today when 70 is overbought), more so than it was in 2007. MACD -- market's distance above its moving averages -- isn't quite that bad, but strongly overbought.
Stocks have also traded in a rising wedge since November, and the last three days have taken them above that wedge's point. Generally a rising wedge resolves by dropping. Stocks have also risen 8 days running.
It's also possible that stocks will break here for a correction, then renew their rise into March before their final breakdown, assuming that the next one isn't the big one.
But in the teeth of all the Fed's manipulation and the President's Plunge Protection Team and all the twitching and tweaking they can do, stocks are locked in a primary down trend (bear market), and those who have been seduced into believing that a new bull market is arrived and Dow 36,000 lies just around the corner will be undeceived in dust, sackcloth, ashes, weeping and wailing.
Dow in gold has broken above resistance and has an upward target of about 9.12 oz (G$188.53). Today it stands at 8.39 oz (G$173.44). Dow in silver was trying to break down but last two days has rallied no, gapped, above the 200 DMA and the 20 DMA and penetrated the downtrend line. Target here is about 475 oz, from today's 445.3.
US dollar index has a tee-tiny uptrend working, but today lost 23.7 basis points (0.3%) to 79.748. Euro finally burst through $1.3400 resistance to $1,3460, up 0.64%. Target now becomes $1.3486, the Feb. 2012 high. Yen made ANOTHER new low for the move today at 109.98 (-0.69%). I reckon you could take a sauna in the offices of the Federal Reserve and the ECB today, they are so mad at the Japanese for their jawboning competitive devaluation. Lower the yen falls, more it steams the other central banks. I reckon the proverb is true, there is no honor among theives.
Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.
- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger The-MoneyChanger.com 1-888-218-9226 10:00am-5:00pm CST, Monday-Friday
? 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission.
To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down.
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned:
Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures.
NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps.
NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced.
NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt.
What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands.
One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. No, I don't.
Google (GOOG) first transformed how people use the Internet.
The tech giant has started revolutionizing the auto industry with its ?driverless? cars and transforming how individuals communicate with one another (the company?s ?Google Glass? are computerized, high-tech glasses that allow the wearer to take photos, use voice commands to send instant messages and video chat with friends, among other functions).
Now the Mountain View, Calif. company may have its sights on revamping America?s wireless network.
Related: Google Will Face Greater Competition in 2013: The Economist's Daniel Franklin
Google quietly submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission last week for permission to build an ?experimental radio service.? According to BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, Google?s interest in a wireless license might mean the company has plans to construct a 50-site test wireless network at its headquarters. Google has requested to use the wireless frequencies controlled by broadband provider Clearwire.
Google?s move into the wireless space makes sense, says Piecyk. As more people have access to high-speed Internet, more online advertisements will be seen and clicked, meaning more revenue for companies like Google. Internet users will get a sneak peak of ?Google Fiber? ? Google?s broadband answer to existing Internet services -- later this year as Google engineers finish installing the fiber in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., homes and buildings. Google says its broadband service runs 100 times faster than its competitors and boasts unlimited, high-speed data: ?instant downloads? and ?crystal clear high definition TV,? according to the Google Fiber site.
Piecyk says he believes Google would expand its ultra-fast Internet service to other U.S. cities after the two-city trial. Even though the company has remained mum on its wireless intentions, Piecyk points out that Google CFO Patrick Pichette confirmed that Google Fiber is ?not a hobby? at the company?s earnings call with analysts this week.
Related: Why Your Phone, Cable & Internet Bills Cost So Much
?We really think that we should be making good business with this opportunity, and we are going to continue to look at the possibility of expanding, but right now we just got to nail ? because we are in the early days ? we just got to nail Kansas City,? Pichette said. ?It?s a perfect place for us to kind of debug all of the elements of the product and the experience for the users.?
If Google chooses to officially compete with existing wireless providers, the consumer will likely win, Piecyk says. Dominant wireless carriers are ending unlimited data and moving toward metered data plans.
?To have a guy like Google keep other operators honest and invest money to get faster speeds in this country is a great thing,? Piecyk adds. ?We should definitely be happy Google is doing what it?s doing in Kansas City.?
More from The Daily Ticker:
Google Just Got a License For Its Self-Driving Cars
All Cars Will Be Driverless in 20 Years: Bob Lutz
Microsoft Has No Business Selling Tablets: Josh Brown
Jan. 24, 2013 ? Healthy men and women show little difference in their hearts, except for small electrocardiographic disparities. But new genetic differences found by Washington University in St. Louis researchers in hearts with disease could ultimately lead to personalized treatment of various heart ailments.
Generally, men are more susceptible to developing atrial fibrillation, an irregular, rapid heartbeat that may lead to stroke, while women are more likely to develop long-QT syndrome, a rhythm disorder that can cause rapid heartbeats and sudden cardiac death.
While prior studies have clearly established differences in the development of heart disease between men and women, very few studies had looked at the molecular mechanisms behind those differences in human hearts.
Igor Efimov, PhD, the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis, and a former doctoral student, Christina Ambrosi, PhD, analyzed 34 human hearts looking for genetic differences that might explain gender differences in heart disease.
The team took advantage of the unique opportunity at the university to obtain failing human hearts at the time of transplantation from Barnes-Jewish Hospital and non-failing hearts unsuitable for transplantation from Mid-America Transplant Services, a St. Louis-based organ procurement service.
The team screened for 89 major genes in electrophysiology, ion channel subunits, calcium handling proteins and transcription factors important in cardiac conduction and in the development of arrhythmia and the left atria and ventricles in human hearts.
"What was striking in this study is that we expected very large gender differences in expression of genes in the ventricles, but we did not find such differences," says Efimov, also a professor of medicine, of radiology and of cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine. "Unexpectedly, we found huge gender differences in the atria."
The results showed that women with failing hearts have a weaker system of gene expression than men -- males showed overall higher expression levels of nearly all of the 89 genes than women.
Women showed particularly lower atrial expression levels of several important genes encoding for potassium channels, including Kv4.3, KChIP2, Kv1.5 and Kir3.1. In fact, the atria of women with heart disease had less than half of the KChIP2 mRNA than atria in men.
Results of the research were published in PLOS ONE.
Efimov says while there are still many questions that need to be answered to explain these molecular differences, one factor that could be contributing to the difference is estrogen.
"When women have the highest levels of estrogen, they are least vulnerable to arrhythmia -- women are protected by estrogen," he says. "But after menopause, women develop atrial fibrillation at the same rate as men. We don't understand this and need to study this in humans."
Another potential factor is circadian rhythm, Efimov says.
"Humans are much more likely to die suddenly from heart disease early in the morning, between 5-7 a.m.," he says. "In the cardiac system in mice, it has been shown that there is an oscillation of gene expression, so certain genes expressed at 5 a.m. could be different by threefold at 5 p.m."
Efimov says the study on human hearts is unique to Washington University, as much cardiac research elsewhere is done mostly in animal models. In the future, the team would like to expand the research into pediatric hearts, taking advantage of Washington University's leading pediatric heart transplant program to learn more about pediatric physiology.
Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (R01-HL114395) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R-01-HL085369).
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis. The original article was written by Beth Miller.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Christina M. Ambrosi, Kathryn A. Yamada, Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Igor R. Efimov. Gender Differences in Electrophysiological Gene Expression in Failing and Non-Failing Human Hearts. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e54635 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054635
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.
Okay, so we don?t have flying cars yet. But, we do have video conferencing. And, in growing numbers businesses are adopting video conferencing into their overall Unified Communications strategy. But, I?m not so bullish on the video conferencing market as most people might be. Why? Well one word??Cloud?.
Yes, Video is here to stay and will continue to be deployed more and more. But, what company in their right mind today would want to invest in a video conference or ?Telepresence? system that costs $100k +? I know, people will argue that ?you can set-up a conference room with intelligent cameras that follow the discussion, that produce high-quality HD video, that can see the entire room, etc., etc.
However, with the rapid adoption of Cloud services and the ?as a Service? model, I think you?re going to see video sold more as an add-on to Hosted PBX offerings. In fact, Polycom already recognizes this because many enterprise Hosted VoIP companies are already using their bridging equipment in their cloud environments making video bridges an ?as a Service? offer.
More and more people are becoming road warriors or work from home employees. With the advent of cloud based video bridges it makes location a moot point. That?s the beauty of the Cloud.
The discussion of image quality and intelligent cameras doesn?t outweigh the benefit of mobility. Most people would prefer to be untethered and unrestricted as opposed to sitting in a stuffy conference room.
The large players like Polycom, Cisco and LifeSize will continue to sell their equipment. I just think the face of their customer is going to change and the sales numbers will be coming more and more from the many enterprise hosted VoIP companies that are growing exponentially.
New book encourages readers to 'Know Soil, Know Life'Public release date: 24-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Madeline Fisher mfisher@sciencesocieties.org 608-268-3973 American Society of Agronomy
Madison, WI Think of all the things we need most for daily living: food, clothing, shelter, water. Have you ever considered how each of them, in turn, depends on soilthat without soil there would in fact be no life?
Unfortunately, most people haven't, says North Carolina State University soil science professor David Lindbo, although the lack of awareness is perhaps understandable. Unlike air and water, we don't take soil directly into our bodies, making it less obvious how we rely on it. Nor is it easy for us to tell when soil is polluted.
"We don't see soil. We walk on it, but we don't see it," says Lindbo, who is current president of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), an international scientific society headquartered in Madison, WI. He and a team of co-authors now hope students, teachers, and the public will take a fresh look at this hidden yet vital substance in the SSSA's new book, Know Soil Know Life.
Targeted to high schoolers and college students in introductory courses, the 206-page book tells the story of soil through engaging, accessible language and hundreds of full-color photos and illustrations. It begins with a chapter that challenges readers to view soil not as inert "dirt", but as a living material that carries out many critical functions for the environment and for people.
Soil filters our drinking water, for example, and supports the plants that feed, clothe, and shelter us. "Without soil we'd be hungry, naked, and homeless," quips co-editor Clay Robinson, a New Mexico soil scientist who has taught tens of thousands of school kids about soil as the persona, 'Dr. Dirt.'
"Also, breathless," he adds, "because it's the plants growing in soil that produce our oxygen."
Know Soil Know Life then takes readers through a traditional sequence of soil science topics, including soil chemistry, biology, and classification, before drawing a direct line between people and soils once again. In chapter 8, "Soil and Society," the authors describe the impact of soil on human endeavors ranging from art to warfare. This section also details soil's role in the collapse of past civilizations, such as the Easter Islanders, and modern-day concerns like desertification and deforestation.
The book concludes with a chapter on the soil science careers available in research, land management, education, and environmental consultingoptions that many of today's soil scientists didn't learn about until they were almost through school, Robinson says. This includes Deb Kozlowski, a soil scientist and grade school art teacher who co-edited Know Soil Know Life with Robinson and Lindbo.
"I didn't even know that there was such a thing as soil science until I went to college," Kozlowski says. "So, we want kids to grow up knowing about soil science, and that it is a bona-fide field of science you can make a living at."
Lindbo, Robinson and the other contributors to Know Soil Know Life belong to the Soil Science Society of America's K-12 education committee: a group of college professors, professional soil scientists, and educators who've devoted themselves to getting many more people to understand and appreciate soils. And this, the committee knows, means grabbing their attention early on.
Thus, the group's first book project was a text for 4th graders, SOIL! Get the Inside Scoop, which goes with the traveling exhibit for kids, "Dig It! The Secrets of Soil" (now showing at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, MN). Later, the team worked with the North American Envirothon, a national environmental education program based in Texas, to revise the learning objectives for its annual event, the Canon Envirothon.
That effort produced a detailed outline of soil-related topics, which the K-12 committee subsequently decided to expand into Know Soil Know Life, Lindbo says. The group also recently launched a website for K-12 educators, www.soils4teachers.org, and will soon launch one for children.
Where does a group of extremely busy soil science professionals and professors find the time and energy to teach young kids, too? "The pat answer is that they're our future," Lindbo says with a laugh. "I do it because I enjoy it. I enjoy working with students of all ages as well as adults because I feed off their enthusiasm."
He and the others now hope that Know Soil Know Life spreads the enthusiasm for soils far and wide. True, the relationships between soils, plants, climate, water, and humans aren't always easy for people outside the soils profession to grasp. Nevertheless, says Robinson, "Those connections can be madeif people are just asked to make them."
###
Know Soil Know Life is available for $40 in softcover from the Soil Science Society of America at www.societystore.org, or by calling 608-268-4960 or emailing books@sciencesocieties.org.
Clay Robinson is available to talk about the book at c.drdirt.robinson@gmail.com or 806-236-5956.
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New book encourages readers to 'Know Soil, Know Life'Public release date: 24-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Madeline Fisher mfisher@sciencesocieties.org 608-268-3973 American Society of Agronomy
Madison, WI Think of all the things we need most for daily living: food, clothing, shelter, water. Have you ever considered how each of them, in turn, depends on soilthat without soil there would in fact be no life?
Unfortunately, most people haven't, says North Carolina State University soil science professor David Lindbo, although the lack of awareness is perhaps understandable. Unlike air and water, we don't take soil directly into our bodies, making it less obvious how we rely on it. Nor is it easy for us to tell when soil is polluted.
"We don't see soil. We walk on it, but we don't see it," says Lindbo, who is current president of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), an international scientific society headquartered in Madison, WI. He and a team of co-authors now hope students, teachers, and the public will take a fresh look at this hidden yet vital substance in the SSSA's new book, Know Soil Know Life.
Targeted to high schoolers and college students in introductory courses, the 206-page book tells the story of soil through engaging, accessible language and hundreds of full-color photos and illustrations. It begins with a chapter that challenges readers to view soil not as inert "dirt", but as a living material that carries out many critical functions for the environment and for people.
Soil filters our drinking water, for example, and supports the plants that feed, clothe, and shelter us. "Without soil we'd be hungry, naked, and homeless," quips co-editor Clay Robinson, a New Mexico soil scientist who has taught tens of thousands of school kids about soil as the persona, 'Dr. Dirt.'
"Also, breathless," he adds, "because it's the plants growing in soil that produce our oxygen."
Know Soil Know Life then takes readers through a traditional sequence of soil science topics, including soil chemistry, biology, and classification, before drawing a direct line between people and soils once again. In chapter 8, "Soil and Society," the authors describe the impact of soil on human endeavors ranging from art to warfare. This section also details soil's role in the collapse of past civilizations, such as the Easter Islanders, and modern-day concerns like desertification and deforestation.
The book concludes with a chapter on the soil science careers available in research, land management, education, and environmental consultingoptions that many of today's soil scientists didn't learn about until they were almost through school, Robinson says. This includes Deb Kozlowski, a soil scientist and grade school art teacher who co-edited Know Soil Know Life with Robinson and Lindbo.
"I didn't even know that there was such a thing as soil science until I went to college," Kozlowski says. "So, we want kids to grow up knowing about soil science, and that it is a bona-fide field of science you can make a living at."
Lindbo, Robinson and the other contributors to Know Soil Know Life belong to the Soil Science Society of America's K-12 education committee: a group of college professors, professional soil scientists, and educators who've devoted themselves to getting many more people to understand and appreciate soils. And this, the committee knows, means grabbing their attention early on.
Thus, the group's first book project was a text for 4th graders, SOIL! Get the Inside Scoop, which goes with the traveling exhibit for kids, "Dig It! The Secrets of Soil" (now showing at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, MN). Later, the team worked with the North American Envirothon, a national environmental education program based in Texas, to revise the learning objectives for its annual event, the Canon Envirothon.
That effort produced a detailed outline of soil-related topics, which the K-12 committee subsequently decided to expand into Know Soil Know Life, Lindbo says. The group also recently launched a website for K-12 educators, www.soils4teachers.org, and will soon launch one for children.
Where does a group of extremely busy soil science professionals and professors find the time and energy to teach young kids, too? "The pat answer is that they're our future," Lindbo says with a laugh. "I do it because I enjoy it. I enjoy working with students of all ages as well as adults because I feed off their enthusiasm."
He and the others now hope that Know Soil Know Life spreads the enthusiasm for soils far and wide. True, the relationships between soils, plants, climate, water, and humans aren't always easy for people outside the soils profession to grasp. Nevertheless, says Robinson, "Those connections can be madeif people are just asked to make them."
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Know Soil Know Life is available for $40 in softcover from the Soil Science Society of America at www.societystore.org, or by calling 608-268-4960 or emailing books@sciencesocieties.org.
Clay Robinson is available to talk about the book at c.drdirt.robinson@gmail.com or 806-236-5956.
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Public release date: 24-Jan-2013
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