Knowles et. al: What ever happened to Business Ethics?

I've been mulling this post over in my head for a few weeks and I'm going to attempt to do this in such a way as to not publically call out the people I'm about to write?about, but WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO BUSINESS ETHICS? I recently received a call from a friend who works at my organization asking for my help with a project. She asked me for a write up on an event we put on in the fall. I was getting ready to leave the office and told her I could send her something I had composed in November 2012?about the event for a report which was needed by the state. I forwarded the spreadsheet to her and received a return call back almost immediately. She asked me if the report I sent her was from "someone else" (not providing the names or job titles, to protect the not-so-innocents). I told her that the report I sent her was MY work and that the other person wanted to change a couple of words in two sentences and I indicated I didn't have a problem with that. Now my friend tells me that "someone else" had claimed the report was their?own work product. My response was "you've got to be kidding." I told my friend I thought it would be odd for said person to claim the report as their own?since they weren't not involved in the event. I provided information and?statistics in this report, which I indicated could have only come from the report I sent back in November.

Fast forward to February 2012. Someone in my office received an email from someone in senior management with a write up attached, indicating?it was going to be in a?brochure which was going to be published. The email was shared with me and as I read the write-up, I started shaking my head and immediately went to my computer to print out the report I provided to "someone else" back in November. Lo and behold, more than 50% of the write-up is taken from the report I provided back in November - using my exact words verbatim. Another 25% of the write-up is taken from statistics that were in the report?previously, with some minor tweaking of the text. Imagine my surprise to learn that two people are now taking credit for my work product and don't have the decency to contact me to ask if it was okay to do this (I really didn't think it was necessary for me to copywrite my own words).

What did I learn from this experience? Going forward, I'm fairly certain that I won't trust what either of these people do. When I look at their previous work products, I wonder how much of it is original and how much has been "borrowed" from other people's work? Will I provide as in-depth a work product going forward - probably, because when asked to do something, I do it in a professional manner, providing accurate information. Do I feel that next year, when this report is needed again, the same thing will happen? Yes, I think the model for plagiarism has been established. I do know that my friend who originally requested my help stated to the two people involved that she knew the original information came from me. Not that this will matter going forward. It is my belief that these two people will continue to "borrow" other people's work products and take credit for it. As I contemplate retirement in a few short years, I'm discouraged about the lack of ethics in the work place. The longer I work, the more I observe the disappearance of the work ethic. There are so many people in our organization who take their jobs seriously, and provide great customer service to the public as well as their fellow employees. Then there are the others, who only work for the paycheck and don't care about choice and?accountability. These are the people that give our organization a bad name. Hoping I see more positive changes in the next few years (although I'm having my doubts right about now).

Source: http://hdknowles.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-ever-happened-to-business-ethics.html

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Nokia reportedly plans wave of cheap phones to combat Chinese upstarts

Katherine Webb, girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, made headlines when she was spotted by ESPN's Brent Musberger at the National Championship game earlier this year.Now, the 23-year-old model - recently featured in the pages of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and a castmember on ABC's upcoming reality diving show, "Splash" -- explains how she's handling her sudden fame.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nokia-reportedly-plans-wave-cheap-phones-combat-chinese-143515400.html

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Easy Self Help Tips For Making Things Right - Empower Network

Following a plan for personal development, including thinking positively, can make a tremendous difference in how you live your life. Read this article to discover what kind of actions you should be taking, and what kind of attitude you should have towards life to be happier.

TIP! Discover what is standing between you and your goals. Figuring this out is a tough task for most people.

Put thought into what you want to get out of life, and make a plan and go for it. Not taking action to change your life just means you?ll be stuck with your current one forever. You need to create and implement a plan of action in order to realize your desires.

TIP! How healthy your body is, affects how healthy your mind is. Have healthy meals that are full of nutrients, and be sure to exercise as much as you can.

Are you a heavy alcohol drinker? Is smoking or anything else harming your body? The human body is sacred and it is important that you treat yours right. If you want to make enhancements to your lifestyle, eliminating bad habits is a big part of this. Analyze your life and habits, and make a point to cut out any habits that are not good for you or your body.

TIP! Find something to read that provides motivation and encouragement. Whether it is a religious book or a favorite novel, find a book that inspires you.

Leadership is the first step to self improvement. Most people believe that leadership and influence are synonymous. Look at your journey of leadership. Are there events that have had major impacts on your life? How have these events transcended the life that you live? How did your leadership skills come into play during those events? You will know where your rightful position is in a team after you have answered these questions for yourself.

TIP! Be aware of your physical limitations when reaching for your goals and do not overwhelm your body. It may be important to you to do your best, but don?t ignore your limitations.

Being selfless is an important part of personal development. There are times when you may have to sacrifice something and simply care for someone else. Making self-sacrifices for others, while still feeling your best, will take you that much closer to achieving your self improvement goals.

TIP! A good character trait is being humble. We are all but tiny dots in the scope of this universe.

Unless you take care of yourself, you won?t be able to care for anyone else. If you are a huge success, but dead tired all the time, you are not properly taking care of yourself. You need to find time for rest.

TIP! Know what your core beliefs are and live by them. Your individual core beliefs are what support your sense of self.

One problem a lot of people who want to improve themselves face, is not properly defining their goals. Setting smaller, easily attainable goals prevents you from becoming discouraged. Having a specific goal will help you to get better results.

TIP! When angry, simply count to ten without speaking. Take a long, slow breath while thinking of peaceful things.

Go with a friend to see a movie you enjoy. This allows you to be in a social setting without the added pressure of talking to a lot of people. Eventually, it will be second nature to be around a large amount of people.

TIP! Research the methods other people have applied to be successful. A good way to not make mistakes with your career and personal life would be to learn how other people discovered their path to success.

Start each morning believing that it will be better that day than it was the day before. Put the effort that is needed to accomplish this. Always work towards making improvements. Whatever you did yesterday, do it that much better today.

TIP! Maximize your time for personal development to help you get more done. Some say there is a trick that involves taking frequent breaks throughout the work day.

Discipline is one of the cornerstones of a successful self improvement plan. You need to be able to control your body?s urges. Do not give into things that are bad for you such as greediness or overeating. By learning to control yourself, you can stop negative desires from impacting your body in an unhealthy way.

Seek out those with similar positive attitudes. This will help you to maintain a positive focus in your own life.

TIP! Write out a little pep talk for yourself. Make a list of all the good things about you, and put it on a postcard.

The goals you set out for your self improvement program need to be measurable and specific. The more specific your goals, the easier it will be to chart a course from where you are now to where you want to be in the future. By breaking down large goals into more manageable ones, you will be more likely to achieve them.

TIP! The first step towards personal development is learning how to be a leader. Most people believe that leadership and influence are synonymous.

A great suggestion to enhance your personal development is to make certain that value is placed on those things you think of as being the best. Therefore, you must value your best and make it an important aspect of your life.

TIP! The secret to unlocking your happiness could be taking a few short jaunts outside of your comfort zone. Most people don?t want to risk feelings of rejection or failure, so they never travel from their comfort zone, eventually causing dissatisfaction.

You must feel confident in your strengths in order to promote yourself. Each person has their own set of skills. That is what makes our planet so great. Cultivating your existing skills will always be more effective than complaining about a skill you have never acquired.

TIP! To develop as a human being, it is important to know what your ambitions and goals are. Creating long-term goals is a necessity, because it can change your perspective and increase motivation.

Create a self improvement plan that is centered around personal beliefs that you have identified. These are the areas that will have greater impact on your development instead of conflicting value areas. Instead, spend your time and energy on areas in your life you wish to develop that also synchronize with your personal values. This is the best way to make long-term changes.

TIP! Are you causing yourself unnecessary stress? Analyze the situation carefully, and deal with the stress. Even if mistakes have been made, you have the opportunity to find a fix or manage to live through it.

Always have the attitude that you are worth it when working on your self improvement plan. You must realize that doing your best is what you deserve. When your journey is complete, you will realize how important it was to give things your all.

TIP! Are you finding it hard to meet someone special? Give online dating a try. A whopping forty percent of new couples meet online.

Silence your worries. Worrying can cause you undo stress about situations that have no guarantee of ever happening, resulting in negative consequences to your well-being. Instead of worrying, think about the worst thing that could happen, and prevent it. This makes you feel prepared for the worst while still being able to focus on the best things in your life.

TIP! Create a personal development plan by determining what your personal values are. It wouldn?t make sense to work on areas in your life that contradict your values.

Leaders are strict and powerful, yet also humble. Mention the weaknesses or problems that you see, but be kind when doing so. Do not forget that being a good leader means that you must also know how and when to follow others. The best leaders are virtuous and upright, since effective leadership requires great integrity.

TIP! It is senseless to allow yourself to be consumed with worries. The scenarios in your mind that are caused by worrying are just that, only in your mind.

This article?s intention has been to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your personality and thought process and to use this reflection to improve your overall lifestyle. Apply these tips and adapt them to your unique situation to live a happier life.

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Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/evinanderson/blog/easy-self-help-tips-for-making-things-right/

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Microsoft Files Patent for Anti-Bacterial Touchscreens

With touchscreen devices becoming extremely popular these days, it was only a matter of time before some company started work on a new technology supposed to keep harmful bacteria aside.

This isn?t the first time when Microsoft makes headlines with such a patent, but the company is apparently getting closer to releasing a final version of its anti-bacterial touchscreen unit, according to a recent patent filling.

Basically, Microsoft is planning to use the UV light in order to disinfect fingerprints once the user touches the device's screen, be it a tablet, a laptop or a smartphone.

Here?s an abstract from the chapter of the patent that briefly describes Microsoft?s new technology:

?A UV and visible light transparent film material is secured onto or within a touch-based screen to automatically disinfect the external surface. UV light is emitted from a UV light source into an edge of the transparent film material in order to transfer the UV light through the transparent film material while remaining in the transparent film material through total internal reflection effect.

?Some UV light exits the transparent film material at points of contact to disinfect fingertips and immediate surrounding areas through the frustrated total internal reflection effect.?

Since Microsoft is working really hard to expand its hardware product lineup, such a technology would obviously represent a major advantage for the Redmond-based firm, especially given the fact that its tablets have failed to excite until now.

The price tag, however, would remain a big issue, as an anti-bacterial touchscreen is very likely to be a fairly expensive add-on.

It remains to be seen whether Microsoft will actually manage to bring such a project in mass production, but as far as the technology giant is concerned, it?s pretty clear that the tablet industry will be germ-free in just a few years.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Files-Patent-for-Anti-Bacterial-Touchscreens-331639.shtml

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Democrats' Drive to Turn Texas Blue May Be Harder Than it Seems

Texas Democrats, no doubt pumped up by a growing Hispanic population, have started to mull over the possibility that the Lone Star State could become Democratic for the first time since George W. Bush trounced Ann Richards in 1994.

But a close analysis suggests that may be easier said than done.

More Hispanic voters may mean a tilt toward Democrats in Texas

Newsmax, noting an increase in the Hispanic electorate nationwide, which tended to vote for Obama, suggests that the political trends in Texas will shift toward the Democrats going forward. RealClearPolitics points out that Texas is already a majority/minority state in which non-Hispanic whites make up just 45 percent of the population.

Immigration as a wedge issue

Democratic politicians in Texas point to the immigration issue as something that can be used to drive Hispanic voters to the Democrats, according to Newsmax. Mitt Romney, whose hard-line stance on the issue was noted during debates in the Republican primary, has taken the blame for a poor performance by Republicans among Hispanic voters nationwide.

Texas Republicans have been more adroit at wooing Hispanic voters

However, RealClearPolitics votes that Texas Republicans have proven more adroit at wooing Hispanic voters. Gov. Rick Perry, for instance, managed to grab close to 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in his re-election bid in 2010, according to Newsmax. Perry, whose stance toward immigration was less hard-line than Romney's, has also managed to use economic and social issues to good effect to woo Hispanic voters. Republicans have also elected their own Hispanics to public office, including Ted Cruz who, albeit Cuban and not Mexican, has won a seat in the United States Senate.

White Texans trending more Republican

One other factor that mitigates against Texas trending toward the Democrats is that white Texans have been shifting more toward the Republican Party, as the New Republic notes. While Obama did better with Hispanic voters in Texas in 2012 than he did in 2008, he did worse overall in the Lone Star State, mainly because he did worse among white voters.

Texas trending blue or staying red

Nevertheless, RealClearPolitics notes that Texas Democrats still hope that can leverage the Hispanic vote to at the very least make the Lone Star State competitive again. They believe they have a rising star in the form of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who could be competitive in the 2014 governor's race. However Texas Republicans seem to realize that the advantage they have enjoyed in statewide races for the past 20 years will not maintain itself, realizing that they will have to work to preserve it. How well they do may prove to be a model for Republicans nationwide in the task of making the Hispanic electorate competitive and not a lock, like African Americans, for the Democrats.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democrats-drive-turn-texas-blue-may-harder-seems-185900265.html

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72andSunny To Make Google Chrome Ad - Business Insider

YouTube

72andSunny ? the agency that is responsible for Samsung's humorous, Apple-bashing, sometimes star-studded commercials ? is going to start making commercials for Google Chrome.

Google worked with BBH for four years to create intimate, often sappy, consumer-centric "Chrome Stories" that involved things like a dad chronicling his daughter's childhood?and a guy trying to win back his girlfriend.?(Although Adweek noted that the latter came "dangerously close to cyber stalking.")

While 72andSunny might try to stick with the long form ads that go straight for the heart strings, we're guessing that Google is trying to capture some of the irreverent and viral humor that has put Samsung consistently on top of the charts.

BBH released a statement that,?"Our involvement with this project is coming to an end as Google has decided for operational reasons to embark on the next stage of the Chrome journey with an agency on their doorstep in California. This is [the] end of our work on Chrome but we continue to work with Google on many other projects."

Here's one of BBH's ads for Google Chrome in which a single dad sends his daughter off to college:

Take a look at 72andSunny's Super Bowl ad to see what we might have to look forward to for Chrome:

Tell us what you think of the switch in the comments.

SEE ALSO:? Heineken Likes To Play Mind Games With Hopeful Interns>

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/72andsunny-to-make-google-chrome-ad-2013-2

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Dell CEO agreed to lower shares' value to push $24 billion buyout

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc Chief Executive Michael Dell, aiming to clinch a $24.4 billion deal to take the No. 3 PC maker private, agreed to value his 16 percent stake in the company at about 2 percent below the price offered to other shareholders, company filings on Thursday showed.

The founder, who informed his board in August of his intention to remove the struggling company from Wall Street's scrutiny, agreed after extensive negotiations that his equity stake would be valued at $13.36 a share, versus the $13.65 offered eventually.

Negotiations with Silver Lake kicked off in October. Dell revealed that the private equity firm raised its proposed offer price at least once during ensuing discussions.

"To facilitate a price increase by Silver Lake, Mr. Dell and related persons agreed that their shares to be rolled over in the proposed transaction would be valued only at $13.36 per share as opposed to the $13.65 price offered to the company's unaffiliated stockholders," the filing read.

The proposed leveraged buyout, the largest private-equity backed deal since the financial crisis, is being led by Michael Dell and Silver Lake, and pits Dell's board against the company's top independent investors.

Top two shareholders, Southeastern Asset Management and T. Rowe Price, have been among the most vocal opponents of the deal, which they say severely undervalues the company, despite the challenges it faces in a shrinking PC market and intense competition in enterprise software and services.

The deal is up for a shareholder vote around June or July, the company said in Thursday's filing. It will need a majority of shareholders, excluding Michael Dell, to be approved.

Dell's board, which formed a special review committee of independent directors after the CEO informed them of his intentions, is now conducting a 45-day "go-shop" period, actively soliciting higher bids.

Analysts do not expect rival bidders to step forward.

WHERE'S DELL?

Dell reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, when analysts get their first chance to grill management on the buyout. But, in a potential disappointment for Wall Street, Michael Dell himself will not be present though he typically participates in post-earnings release calls.

The CEO recused himself from the discussion, given his leading role in the buyout, a company spokesman said.

Dell has lost 40 percent of its value since last year's peak, and is trying to reinvent itself as a seller of higher-margin services to corporations, an internal overhaul that would be conducted away from public scrutiny if the buyout goes forward.

The PC maker, whose profits fell 47 percent last quarter, is expected to report further erosion of both revenue and income next week.

Dell's revenue in the quarter is expected to slide almost 12 percent to $14.12 billion from $16.03 billion a year earlier, according to an average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company, once the world's top PC maker and a pioneer in computer supply chain management, is struggling to defend its market share against Asian rivals like Lenovo.

It was hurt also by a slide in holiday-season sales of personal computers for the first time in more than five years, despite the launch of Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system. Microsoft itself is providing $2 billion in financing for Dell's buyout.

Dell's worldwide PC shipments fell nearly 21 percent to 9.48 million in the last three months of 2012, from 11.97 million in the same period a year ago.

Shares of Dell were steady at about $13.79 at midday.

(Reporting by Edwin Chan; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dell-ceo-agreed-lower-shares-value-push-24-175435269--finance.html

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Facial structure may predict endorsement of racial prejudice

Feb. 13, 2013 ? The structure of a man's face may indicate his tendency to express racially prejudiced beliefs, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Studies have shown that facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with testosterone-related behaviors, which some researchers have linked with aggression. But psychological scientist Eric Hehman of Dartmouth College and colleagues at the University of Delaware speculated that these behaviors may have more to do with social dominance than outright aggression.

The researchers decided to examine the relationship between fWHR and dominance in the specific context of racial prejudice.

"Racial prejudice is such a sensitive issue and there are societal pressures to appear nonprejudiced. More dominant individuals might care less about appearing prejudiced, or exercise less self-regulation with regard to reporting those prejudices, should they exist," says Hehman, who conducted the research as a graduate student at the University of Delaware.

The researchers asked male participants about their willingness to express racially prejudiced beliefs and about the pressure they feel to adhere to societal norms. The results revealed that men who have higher fWHR (determined from photos of their faces) are more likely to express racist remarks and are less concerned about how others perceive those remarks.

Importantly, these results did not show that the men were necessarily more prejudiced -- men with greater fWHR did not score higher on measures that assessed implicit, or more automatic, racial prejudice. Rather, these men were simply more likely to express any prejudicial beliefs they may have had.

"Not all people with greater fWHRs are prejudiced, and not all those with smaller fWHRs are non-prejudiced," says Hehman. "You could think about it as a 'side effect' of social dominance -- men with greater fWHR may not care as much about what others think of them."

Results from a second study suggest that observers actually perceive and use fWHR when evaluating another person's degree of prejudice.

Looking at the photos from the first study, a new group of participants evaluated men with wider, shorter faces as more prejudiced, and they were able to accurately estimate the target's self-reported prejudicial beliefs just by looking at an image of his face. The results were confirmed in a third study.

The third study also showed that non-White participants, whose outcomes are more likely to be influenced by their race or ethnicity, were more motivated to accurately assess targets' prejudice. This greater motivation, in turn, was associated with increased accuracy. The finding is consistent with the idea that people allocate their attention to stimuli that can influence their outcomes.

Together, these three studies add to a growing literature exploring how people perceive and accurately infer personality characteristics based on physical appearance.

"This research provides the first evidence for a facial metric that not only predicts important and controversial social behaviors, such as reporting prejudices, but can also be used by others to make accurate judgments," says Hehman.

These studies may open up new avenues of research; Hehman and colleagues speculate that fWHR may be linked with explicit prejudice on a number of different dimensions beyond race.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. E. Hehman, J. B. Leitner, M. P. Deegan, S. L. Gaertner. Facial Structure Is Indicative of Explicit Support for Prejudicial Beliefs. Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/0956797612451467

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/9wj5wUkhCPA/130213152412.htm

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AppInit_DLL, novit? in Windows 7 e 2008 R2

Salve a tutti.

AppInit_DLL ? una delle infrastrutture disponibili nel sistema operativo per estendere le funzionalit? di un programma, aggiungendo, o meglio, ?iniettando? una dll all?interno di un processo.? La AppInit_DLL fornisce in modo semplice ed efficace la possibilit? di caricare una dll custom all?interno di tutti i processi, e di rimpiazzare per mezzo di hook, le chiamate API di sistema, aggiungendo funzionalit?, o anche solo per scopi di logging e/o tracing applicativo. Tipico esempio di questa funzionalit?, gli antivirus.

Come gli antivirus, anche i virus e i malware, hanno sfruttato questo principio, di per se molto semplice ed efficace. Per questo motivo, a partire da Windows Vista l?infrastruttura AppINit_DLL ? disabilitata per default. Questo comportamento rimane invariato per Windows 7 e 2008 R2. Ma cosa cambia quando questa viene attivata?

La configurazione della infrastruttura AppInit_DLL ? controllata e regolata attraverso le chiavi di registry disponibili sotto:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT \CurrentVersion\Windows\

La seguente tabella mostra i possibili valori delle chiavi, e il loro significato:

Valore	Descrizione	Valori di esempio
LoadAppInit_DLLs (REG_DWORD)	Valore che abilita/disabilita a livello globale AppInit_DLL	0x0 ? AppInit_DLL ? disabilitata. 0x1 ? AppInit_DLL ? abilitata.
AppInit_DLLs (REG_SZ)	Lista di dll da caricare, delimitata da spazi o virgole. Il percorso completo deve essere specificato usando lo short file name.	C:\PROGRA~1\Test\Test.dll
RequireSignedAppInit_DLLs (REG_DWORD)	Richiede DLL firmate digitalmente.	0x0 ? Carica ogni DLL. 0x1 ? Carica solo DLL firmate digitalmente.

Le AppInit_DLL non vengono caricate all?interno dei processi protetti da DRM (Digital Right Management), e questo come ? facile intuire non si pu? modificare/configurare. Inoltre, non verranno caricate in questi processi, considerati processi critici del Sistema:

? Windows Defender.

? Windows Software Licensing service.

? Microsoft Hyper-V (vmms.exe and vmwp.exe).

Durante un Upgrade da Vista a Windows 7, le dll che sono elencate nella chiave ApInit_DLL, non vengono migrate nel registry di Windows 7. Inoltre, durante Upgrade da sistemi operativi precedenti a Vista, le dll elencate non vengono nemmeno copiate nelle cartelle di sistema di Windows.

Per default, Windows 7, per motivi di compatibilit?, continuer? a caricare tutte le dll elencate in AppInit_DLL, indipendentemente dal fatto che queste siano firmate digitalmente o meno. Questo perch? per default, RequireSignedAppInit_DLLs ? impostato a 0.

Su Windows 2008 R2 invece, RequireSignedAppInit_DLLs ? impostato a 1 per default, e quindi solo le librerie firmate digitalmente verranno caricate. Bisogna anche considerare la bitness delle DLL, visto che 2008 R2 ? solo a 64 bit. Non si pu? caricare una dll a 32 bit in un processo a 64 bit e viceversa..

Microsoft raccomanda a tutti gl sviluppatori di estensioni che usano l?infrastruttura AppInit_DLL di iniziare a firmare digitalmente le librerie, perch? in futuro diventer? obbligatorio.

Developer Best Practices

Cosa devono fare gli sviluppatori per assicurarsi che le loro estensioni funzionino al meglio e siano caricate in Windows 7 (e sistemi successivi):

• Firmare digitalmente le DLL.
  Versioni successive di Windows caricheranno solo DLL firmate digitalmente, e non sar? disponibile una chiave di registry per configurare questo comportamento. Sar? obbligatorio.
• Caricare le DLL solo nel processo richiesto e non in tutti i processi indistintamente.
  L?infrastruttura AppInit_DLL carica le dll elencate nella chiave di registry in tutti i processi al loro avvio. Se la DLL ? pensata per funzonare solo all?interno di un determinato processo, allora bisogna chiamare dall?interno della DLLMain, la GetModuleFileName, per recuperare il nome del processo che ci sta caricando. Se non ? quello che ci interessa, bisogna semplicemente ritornare e non proseguire nel caricamento.
• Durante la fase di inizializzazione, chiamare solo API esportate da Kernel32.dll.
  Ricordando il fatto che questa infrastruttura consente di caricare DLL in ?TUTTI? i processi, anche durante l?avvio del sistema operativo stesso, durante la fase di inizializzazione, ci si potrebbe trovare in una fase talmente embrionale del caricamento del sistema operativo, che molte funzionalit? non saranno ancora disponibili. Per questo motivo ? buona norma chiamare solo API contenute in Kernel32.dll, che sar? probabilmente l?unica dll gi? caricata in memoria nel processo in cui stiamo venendo caricati. Nulla impedisce di inizializzare un altro thread, la cui prima operazione ? una sleep di qualche secondo, dando cos? modo alla dll di essere caricata senza problemi in qualunque processo senza causare problemi di loader lock durante l?inizializzazione, che come sempre deve essere il pi? atomica possibile.

Per tutti gli aspetti legati alla firma digitale e al testing nel sistema operativo vi rimando al documento ufficiale:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/install/AppInit-Win7.mspx

Siamo cos? arrivati in prossimit? delle festivit? natalizie. E? stata una bella corsa. I Vostri feedback ci diranno se interessante o meno. Per il momento grazie per averci seguito e mi raccomando non abbiate paura di fare domande, di dare feedback, di interagire con noi. Siamo qui per aiutarvi possibilmente.

A nome del Supporto Tecnico agli Sviluppatori di Microsoft Italia, auguro a tutti un Buon Natale e un Felice Anno nuovo!

Alla prossima!

Mario Raccagni
Senior Support Engineer
Platform Development Support Team

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/itasupport/archive/2013/02/15/mariora-draft-appinit-dll-novit-in-windows-7-e-2008-r2.aspx

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Seamless Delivers $100 Million in Sales (and PR Lessons ...

The key to winning the public?s favor is to make life easier for us. We love simplicity and convenience, and we welcome companies that deliver like long lost siblings (that would be rich, good-looking siblings, not the broke manipulative type).

Seamless, the food delivery website that connects people with local restaurants, just lived up to its catchy tagline ?We exist to make hungry people happy? by announcing that it will generate more than $100 million in revenue this year. By charging a small service fee for each transaction, Seamless has created a popular, lucrative business model poised for continued success.

As PR experts, we?re fascinated by brands that resonate so strongly with the public by offering something so simple. In principle, the old-school system of directly contacting restaurants to place a delivery or pick up order couldn?t be any easier. Adding a middle man would only complicate matters, right?

Apparently not!

Seamless saw opportunity in the public?s hunger for variety, because even the most obsessive compulsive basement-dweller doesn?t want to eat the same food every day. Human beings like diversity, especially when it comes to our palates: We want to know what our options are, and we appreciate a little guidance on the quality of those options. If only all of that information could be compiled in one simple, user-friendly place?

Hello, Seamless.com!

Seamless?s greatest achievement, however, is its revenue stream. Somehow, the brand has managed to insert itself between the customers and restaurants and make a sizeable profit without either side vocally questioning where, exactly, those profits are coming from. Do the fees cut into restaurant profits? Are they being passed onto the customer? How does the relationship between the service and the businesses that make it run work, exactly?

We don?t know! And to be honest, we don?t really care.

Industry experts know that some of the successful PR strategies focus on what not to focus on. Well done, Seamless.

Oh, and before we forget: check out this 2012 tour of the Seamless office!

Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/seamless-delivers-100-million-in-profits-and-pr-lessons_b57520

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Stocks Remain Mixed In Late Trading; Open Table ... - Investors.com

Stocks remained mixed late Tuesday afternoon as investors await President Obama's speech to Congress.

The Dow Jones industrial average led with a 0.4% gain and the S&P 500 rose 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was down 0.1%. Turnover was tracking higher in the stock market today.

Open Table (OPEN), which offers a computerized reservation system for restaurants, jumped 4% in double its average daily volume. The stock is extended 8% past a 50.59 cup-with-handle buy point.

Terex (TEX) jumped 5% to its highest level in nearly two years, putting it 16% past a 30.10 buy point from a three-weeks-tight pattern. Terex cleared a deep cup-with-handle base in December. On Monday, the company announced that it would divest some of its road-building assets and operations.

Trimble Navigation (TRMB) rose 2% and regained its 50-day moving average. The GPS device maker has headed south recently due to a mixed outlook for the current quarter. Trimble's rebound is its first test of the 50-day line since clearing a cup-with-handle base in November.

On the downside, Valspar (VAL) gapped below its 50-day moving average and tumbled 8% after missing views. Before the open, the paint maker delivered fiscal Q1 earnings of 60 cents a share, down 3% from a year ago and 7 cents below views. Sales slipped 1% to $875.2 million, missing views of about $922 million.

President Obama is due to address a joint session of Congress Wednesday evening. Investors are awaiting details on any plan to avert automatic spending cuts slated to take effect March 1.

Source: http://news.investors.com/investing-stock-market-today/021213-644134-stocks-remain-mixed-in-higher-volume.htm

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Woman falls out of SUV, hit by truck, car on Bishop Ford, police say

SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE February 12, 2013 5:35AM

Updated: February 12, 2013 5:36AM

A woman died early Tuesday after she somehow fell out of a sport utility vehicle traveling on the Bishop Ford Freeway and was hit by a semi truck and a car in south suburban Dolton, authorities said.

Jennifer Mitchell, 27, was struck sometime before 1 a.m. near 154th Street by at least two vehicles, authorities said. Mitchell, of the 9200 block of South Paxton in Chicago, was dead at the scene, authorities said.

After Mitchell fell, the white SUV she rode in continued to travel north on the Bishop Ford, Illinois State Police said. Authorities broadcasted a description of the SUV, state police said, and a trooper spotted the vehicle and followed it until the SUV crashed after exiting near 127th Street.

The 28-year-old man behind the wheel of the SUV was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for minor injuries, state police said. After being treated at the hospital, the man was taken into custody and was being questioned by investigators Tuesday morning, state police said.

Authorities said they have not determined how or why the woman ended up outside of the SUV.

The southbound lanes of the Bishop Ford were closed as investigators collected details, state police said, but all lanes are expected to be open by 5:15 a.m.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/18175905-418/woman-falls-out-of-suv-hit-by-truck-car-on-bishop-ford-police-say.html

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He Didn?t Finish What He Started

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the faithful gathered at the Colosseum during the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday April 6, 2012, in Rome.

Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Although Pope Benedict XVI?s highly unusual resignation is said to be for reasons of health, it fits the character of his papacy: All his initiatives remain incomplete. He was consciously elected to rescue the church from itself, but he failed to finish what he started.

The onrushing assessments of his papacy have so far focused on Pope Benedict?s statements on homosexuality, contraception, and other controversial church teachings. This helps us locate him (and the church) on a familiar political spectrum but tells us little beyond the fact that the Pope is a faithful Catholic. After all, these are not ?policies? that a future Pope can change with a penstroke. If we really want to understand Benedict?s papacy, we have to understand the wrecked church he inherited and his limited powers within it.

Although the New York Times describes him as a ?profoundly conservative? figure, Joseph Ratzinger made his first impression as a member of good standing in the liberal wing of ?periti? (experts) at the Second Vatican Council during the early 1960s. He wore a suit and tie rather than a clerical collar to the proceedings. He was given to the bold?and often unsubstantiated?pronouncements of his generation of theologians. The world celebrated the changes Ratzinger?s cohort helped to effect at Vatican II. And the Vatican II reforms and the charged post-Conciliar spirit were seen as the answer to a problem that was conspicuously on the mind of theologians and apologists since the late 19th century: How should the church engage with ?modern man??

Apparently, ?modern man? was unimpressed by Vatican II. He left the church. After Catholic, ?Ex-Catholic? has become the second largest ?religious affiliation? in America. Two-thirds of U.S. seminaries operating in 1965 had closed by 2002. During those same years the number of seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 4,700?nearly 90 percent. In Europe, the decline is even more dramatic.

The meaning of the council itself became subjected to enormous debate within the church. Was it, as progressive theologians like Hans Kung and Edward Schillebeeckx hoped, the first opening of a new age in the church, where previously solid dogma about the Mass, the sacraments, and the male priesthood would dissolve? Or was it the disastrous rupture with the past that should be repudiated, as traditionalists maintained? In 1972 Ratzinger founded the theological journal Communio with theologians who charted a course between those two poles. Their position was that the Thomistic theology of the late 19th century was inadequate for the times but that the more radical theologians writing in the rival journal Concilium were throwing out the baby with the baptismal font.

By the time Benedict was elected to captain the bark of Peter in 2005, the church had gone aground. Pope John Paul II?s papacy was the partial cause. After a period of activity in the 1980s, the former actor?s papacy consisted of enormously dramatic, but unexplained gestures like praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem or giving the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury a pectoral cross. John Paul II either did not understand or denied the gravity of the child-abuse crisis. He often elevated prelates who deserved to be sacked into positions of new authority within the church. But his charismatic presence and the enormous goodwill toward the Parkinson?s-afflicted pontiff overshadowed his failures of governance. Of his papacy, one would say, he traveled while Rome burned.

That Ratzinger emerged to succeed him was a shock at the time but makes sense in retrospect. A persistent theme of conversation among cardinals heading into the 2005 conclave was the need to repair the ?internal governance? of the church. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition), Ratzinger had impressed his fellow Cardinals with his handling of doctrinal dissenters (several contributors to Concilium included), as well as his move to finally centralize the handling of sexual abuse cases in his own office?a move that has been criticized but dramatically sped the process of defrocking priests and removing them from ministry. Ratzinger said at the time that he was confronting ?the filth? within the priesthood, a job no one else particularly wanted. Ratzinger also seemed more charismatic in the days after John Paul II?s death. He gave a militant homily at the papal funeral about the need for the church to face down ?the dictatorship of relativism ... that recognizes nothing definite and leaves only one's own ego and one's own desires as the final measure.? A respected and now a much more careful theologian, Ratzinger could give the church intellectual ballast once again.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=244e7da8c226f4c3f6a15b887c8512f8

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Macmillan settles e-book dispute with the Department of Justice

Macmillan has settled an antitrust lawsuit with the Department of Justice. The DOJ claimed Macmillan, along with Apple and other e-book publishers, were conspiring to raise prices.?

By Aimee Ortiz / February 8, 2013

Mary Knox Merrill/CSM staff photographer

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After almost a year of litigation, Macmillan has reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice. The DOJ was suing Macmillan for allegedly conspiring with Apple and other publishers to raise the price of e-books.

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The settlement, which still needs to be approved by a Judge in Manhattan, requires Macmillian to lift any restrictions they have on retailers discounting e-books. They will also have to report their communications with other publishers to the DOJ and are prohibited from entering new contracts that impose such restrictions until 2014. Once approved, Apple will be the only defendant left to battle against the suit.

Macmillan chief executive John Sargent posted a letter online, explaining that the settlement comes after he had received an estimate of the maximum damage.

?I cannot share the breathtaking amount with you, but it was much more than the entire equity of our company,? writes Mr. Sargent. ?We settled because the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome.?

Apple continues the case, insisting that they and the other publishers were not conspiring. Apple claims that it was instead fighting a ?monopoly? by Amazon. According to CNET, Apple says that the government has sided with Amazon. In a legal memo released in August, Apple called Amazon the ?driving force? behind the suit. Apple argued that Amazon spoke with government officials frequently throughout the investigation.

?In all, the Government met with at least fourteen Amazon employees?yet not once under oath.?The Government required that Amazon turn over a?mere 4,500 documents, a fraction of what was?required of others,? says Apple.

The DOJ released a statement today about the Macmillian settlement:

?As a result of today?s settlement, Macmillan has agreed to immediately allow retailers to lower the prices consumers pay for Macmillan?s e-books,? says Jamillia Ferris, chief of staff and counsel at the Department of Justice?s Antitrust Division, according to the official DOJ statement. ?Just as consumers are already paying lower prices for the e-book versions of many of Hachette?s, HarperCollins?, and Simon & Schuster?s new releases and best sellers, we expect the prices of many of Macmillan?s e-books will also decline.?

A New York Times article states that the reason for the settlement might be an impending merger. NYT blogger Leslie Kaufman writes, ?The publishing industry has begun to consolidate in order to respond to the threat from Amazon, and when Penguin and Random House announced last October that they would merge, it fueled speculation that more alliances would follow.?

Macmillan has not stated or given any indication that they are looking to merge with any fellow publishers.

The continued suit against Apple will culminate in a trial this coming June.?

For more tech news, follow Aimee on?Twitter,?@aimee_ortiz

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/OcppkILGzvs/Macmillan-settles-e-book-dispute-with-the-Department-of-Justice

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Chinese raucously welcome Year of the Snake

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Snake with raucous celebrations on Saturday, setting off a cacophony of firecrackers in the streets and sending fireworks blazing into the sky to bring good fortune.

Celebrations will carry on into the early hours of Sunday, officially the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Residents of Beijing braved freezing temperatures to let off brightly colored fireworks, with clouds of smoke in the air, red wrappings from firecrackers covering streets and explosions rattling windows.

A plea by the government to set off fewer fireworks to help deal with Beijing's notorious air pollution seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Every year we set off fireworks and this year will be no different," said Lao Guo, 45, a convenience store worker.

"People won't not set them off because of pollution. It's the custom."

Firecrackers are believed to scare off evil spirits and entice the god of wealth to people's doorsteps once New Year's Day arrives.

China's cosmopolitan business hub, Shanghai, saw similar scenes, though not everyone had reason for cheer.

"Business now is very weak. It's related to the financial crisis," said Chen Yongliang, who used to run a street stall. "The U.S. and other major countries have seen their economies slide and we've gone with them."

Maintaining a tradition of leaders visiting ordinary folk at this time of year, Communist Party chief Xi Jinping, who takes over as president in March from Hu Jintao, met subway construction workers in Beijing ahead of the week-long holiday.

"Migrant workers have been the labor force behind China's reform and opening up ... so we must look after you properly," Xi said in comments carried on state television.

"I hope the construction firm has organized some new year entertainment for you so you can have a happy holiday," added Xi, who has tried to cultivate an easy-going, man-of-the-people image since becoming party boss in November.

People born in the year of the snake, including Xi, are believed to be thoughtful and stylish yet complex characters.

Practitioners of the ancient art of feng shui say the year ahead will see financial markets slither higher as optimism grows, though the risk of disasters and territorial disputes in Asia also looms.

The lunar new year is marked by the largest annual mass migration on earth, as hundreds of millions of migrant workers pack trains, buses, aircraft and boats to spend the festival with their families.

For many Chinese people, this is their only holiday of the year.

Almost half of Beijing's population of 20 million have left the city for the holiday, according to state media.

Taboos abound over this period. Crying on New Year's Day means you will cry for the rest of the year, and washing your hair signifies washing away good luck.

Woe betide those who clean on new year's day, for you will be sweeping away good fortune in the year ahead.

(Additional reporting by Sally Huang and Beijing newsroom, and John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-snake-raucous-colorful-welcome-131312654.html

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Insight: Iran nuclear fuel move may avert mid-year crisis

LONDON/VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran appears to have resumed converting small amounts of its higher-grade enriched uranium into reactor fuel, diplomats say, a process which if expanded could buy time for negotiations between Washington and Tehran on its disputed nuclear program.

The possibility of Iran converting enriched uranium into fuel - slowing a growth in stockpiles of material that could be used to make weapons - is one of the few ways in which the nuclear dispute could avoid hitting a crisis by the summer.

Tehran could otherwise have amassed sufficient stock by June to hit a "red line" set by Israel after which it has indicated it could attack to prevent Iran acquiring enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. Yet few expect progress in talks until after the Iranian presidential election in June - a formula for a potentially explosive clash of timetables.

Diplomats accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna told Reuters that Iran had apparently resumed converting into fuel small amounts of higher-grade enriched uranium - thereby reducing the amount potentially available for nuclear weapons - though they had few details and one told Reuters that "very, very little had been done" so far.

A fuller picture is unlikely until a new IAEA report on Iran's nuclear activity, due by late February. But the question is crucial in determining the size of its stockpiles and how close these are to Israel's red line. "We will all be doing the mathematics soon," said one diplomat.

In September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not let Iran acquire enough material for a bomb; enriching uranium raises the less than one percent of fissile isotope U-235 found in mined metal to higher concentrations: about 4 percent for reactor fuel, up to 90 percent for a bomb.

While scientists differ about how much uranium is needed to have the ability quickly to make a bomb, analysts say the Israeli figure is believed to be 240 kg of uranium enriched to 20 percent; at that concentration, the material is nine tenths of the way to the weapons-grade of about 90 percent, since most of the unwanted isotopes have been separated out by then.

"Israeli officials, in private, widely use the 240kg figure," said Shashank Joshi, a Research Fellow at Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). "The figure is so specific and so widely used that they must understand the implications of drawing this red line: that Iran is free to produce anything up to that amount, but that producing any more would force Israel to choose between humiliation or war."

Iran averted a potential crisis last year by converting around 100 kg of its 20-percent enriched uranium into fuel - prompting some analysts to believe it was deliberately keeping below the threshold for potential weapons-grade material set by Israel, while still advancing its nuclear technology. It is not believed to have enriched uranium beyond 20-percent.

Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its aim is electric power and some higher-grade enriched uranium for medical purposes. It says non-signatory Israel, assumed to have nuclear arms, is a threat.

Last year's fuel conversion only slowed Iran's accumulation of 20 percent enriched uranium and was stopped. As it continues to produce fresh supplies - diplomats believe it is adding 14 to 15 kg a month - stockpiles are rising quickly and they calculate Iran will hit the Israeli red line by May or June, unless it again expands fuel conversions or slows its rate of enrichment.

It is here that the complex calculations of nuclear experts and international diplomacy collide.

IRANIAN ELECTION

The Iranian nuclear program is controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who last week publicly rebuffed U.S. overtures for direct talks. While he is not facing voters himself, he is seen as unlikely to want to make any concessions until he has a firmer grip on the warring factions vying for power beneath him after the presidential election in June.

"I think, until we get a clearer sense of how that plays out, that the Iranians are going to be basically in a holding pattern," said Shannon Kile, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Iran would not negotiate under pressure but would talk if others stopped "pointing the gun". At odds with Khamenei, Ahmadinejad will step down in June but appears to maneuvering to maintain influence.

At the same time, there appears to be a growing recognition among world powers that using economic sanctions to force Tehran to curb its nuclear program are unlikely to succeed without a broader political dialogue between the United States and Iran to ease acrimony dating back to the 1979 Iranian revolution.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden repeated an offer for direct talks at a conference in Munich early this month.

Negotiations with Tehran are currently run jointly by the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - known as the P5+1. These are expected to make at best limited progress in a meeting with Iran due in Kazakhstan on February 26.

"It has been obvious for years that Iran would only move on this issue in the context of a direct dialogue with the U.S.," said one former senior diplomat who has negotiated with Iran.

"Before that, it will continue to be a managed exercise in futility on the part of Iran waiting for this to happen, while mastering the technology in the process."

Taking the two together, the shifting diplomatic approach and advancing Iranian engineering, there would be a short window of time after June for any U.S.-Iran talks to produce results.

After that, the progress of Iran's technology could hit new Western red lines, including reaching a perceived "breakout" capacity, where it could move from the ability to make a weapon to actually building a bomb fast enough to avoid detection.

How then, is Israel's red line to be postponed enough to allow time for diplomacy in the second half of the year?

MUDDLING PAST DEADLINE

Iran has shown no sign of slowing down the rate at which it enriches uranium to 20 percent in a plant at Fordow, diplomats say, though, perhaps significantly, it has not so far put into operation some new machinery - two cascades of inter-connected centrifuges which could have rapidly expanded that program.

Based on data reported by the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear agency, Iran will hit Netanyahu's red line in May or June unless it converts more of its stockpiles into fuel, or slows enrichment.

An alternative scenario would be for Israel to blur the definition of its red line, given enough reassurance that its key ally the United States would be ready to stop Iran gaining nuclear weapons through diplomatic or military means.

Having lost seats in a parliamentary election last month at which many voters indicated they did not fully share his anxiety about Iran, Netanyahu may also be ready to bide his time.

With U.S. President Barack Obama due to visit Israel in March on a trip Netanyahu says will focus on Iran, Syria and the Palestinians, there are tentative signs Israel might give some space to the United States to pursue its diplomacy - though not necessarily on the issue of highly enriched uranium stockpiles.

"It is notable that, recently, there have been no new assassinations of Iranian scientists, no prominent covert action or explosions, and broad Israeli restraint on statements of military intent," said Joshi at RUSI in London, referring to a widely assumed covert campaign against Iran's nuclear program.

"They are conceding U.S. leadership on this issue - whether by choice or American design."

Former Israeli army intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said it was in Israel's interest that Washington or the P5+1 reach an agreement with Iran. Writing in a report by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, he said: "Such a solution is preferable to a strategy with two exclusive alternatives of ?an Iranian bomb' or ?the bombing of Iran'."

(Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-iran-nuclear-fuel-move-may-avert-mid-162941682.html

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Here in Vegas, video game-makers name little ... - Bowden Gaming

10 visitors online now
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Source: http://www.bowdengaming.com/?p=16731

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Famed Delacroix painting defaced at new Louvre

PARIS (AP) ? A visitor to the Louvre's newest extension, in northern France, has been detained after scrawling an inscription in marker on the famed canvas of Eugene Delacroix "Liberty Leading the People."

The 28-year-old woman was immediately seized by a guard and another visitor, then handed over to police, according to a statement from the Louvre-Lens on Friday. It said the painting should be easily cleaned.

The Louvre-Lens opened in December in Lens, a struggling coal town with an unemployment rate nearly three times the national average.

The Delacroix work is among the artist's most famous. It shows a bare-breasted woman (Liberty) holding aloft the French flag as she urges on a crowd of revolutionaries. According to Le Figaro newspaper, the woman wrote "AE911" near the bottom of the canvas.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/famed-delacroix-canvas-defaced-louvre-100754447.html

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HTC?s new M7 flagship phone may just be called the ?HTC One?

One lucky man's best friend is a dog named Buddy. The homeless man, who's from a remote area in Washington state, suffered a medical emergency and had no way to call for help. He did, however, have his plucky pooch. The Australian shepherd mix was found by a woman walking her dog on train tracks [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/htc-m7-flagship-phone-may-just-called-htc-190202611.html

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Job Market Weakness 'Shocking' - Economists | Stuff.co.nz

The job market is "shockingly weak", according to some economists, with employment slumping 1 per cent or 23,000 in the December quarter as part-time employment crumbled.

It was the third quarterly fall in total employment and the biggest quarterly drop since early 2009. The fall in jobs hit women hardest - they accounted for 20,000 out of the 23,000 drop in official figures issued yesterday.

The New Zealand dollar initially fell half a US cent on the household labour force survey, ending the day at US83.59c, down from US84.18c the previous day.

The weak jobs report was seen as another sign that the Reserve Bank would be in no rush to raise the official cash rate, with inflation at extremely low levels.

The jobs market has effectively been stagnant for three years, with 11.5 per cent of the workforce wanting to work or work more hours in the past year.

ANZ Bank economists said that while they were sceptical about parts of the volatile jobs and unemployment report, the overall picture was a weak labour market.

"This confirms the Reserve Bank will not be raising the official cash rate for a while, despite a lively housing market and rising credit growth," ANZ said.

In yet another confusing quarterly report, the official unemployment rate improved much more than expected in the December quarter to 6.9 per cent per cent, with some 163,000 people out of work.

The unemployment rate was 7.3 per cent in the September quarter.

But the improvement was not driven by more jobs, but more people moving out of the workforce, either young people staying in school or older people retiring early, in their late 50s.

Deutsche Bank economist Darren Gibbs said at face value the quarterly figures showed a job market that was "shockingly weak" after a 6 per cent fall in part-time work.

The report showed a 50,000 fall in the self-employed in the past year, and a 6500 drop in farm workers.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.9 per cent only because of a big drop in the participation rate to the lowest levels in eight years. The participation rate was down to 67.2 per cent.

Bank of New Zealand head of research Stephen Toplis said the official figures just added confusion when the BNZ's economists were putting together "a major upgrade to our medium-term growth forecasts".

Business hiring intentions and reported jobs growth were poles apart. And the housing market was strong and that usually reflected the state of the job market, Toplis said.

WORK WOES

December quarter Unemployment : 6.9 per cent (7.3 per cent September quarter)

Employment: down 1 per cent (23,000) (down 0.4 per cent in September quarter)

Participation rate: 67.2 per cent (68.4 per cent in September quarter)

Source: Statistics NZ

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8276288/Jobs-market-weakness-shocking

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