Post-Sandy home insurance tips | Bankrate.com

If you live in the northeastern quadrant of the United States, you and your homeowners insurance may already be under siege from Hurricane Sandy, a freak late-season super-storm the likes of which has rarely been seen in these parts.

Naturally, safety is the top priority whenever nature threatens. But once Sandy moves on, a few tips regarding the homeowners insurance claims process can save you needless days of post-hurricane rage, confusion -- and possibly additional financial loss.

Lynne McChristian of the Insurance Information Institute, or III, says customer frustration often starts with that first phone call.

"You know when people call and are placed on hold, where it says your call will be handled in the order received? Claims aren't processed that way in a catastrophic event," she explains.

"When there is a catastrophic event, claims are handled by the severity of damage, meaning those with the most severe damage are seen first, not by how soon you call in," she says. "Those with the most severe damage are the most in need to see somebody promptly and get back on their feet. When there's an event where there are hundreds or thousands of claims, you give priority to those people."

Why is your adjuster taking so long to show up? It may not be by choice.

"They are not allowed to go in until emergency management and government officials tell them that it's safe to do so," McChristian says. "The insurance companies are already stationed as close as they can safely be to where they expect the damage to be. All the insurers are poised to go in to wherever they need to be."

Once you are out of the storm, here's the safest -- and least costly -- route to recovery, according to III and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.

1. Safety first. Avoid life-threatening safety hazards. If you lost power, do not attempt to turn on lights until you are sure it's safe to do so. Avoid wires and outlets, and, if possible, turn off your main breaker switch with a piece of wood or heavy rubber. If you smell gas, turn off the main line, open windows, or evacuate. If your car has been submerged, let it dry thoroughly before attempting to start it.

2. Make an inventory. Before you start the cleanup process, list the damage to your home and document it with video or photos. Save remnants of damaged or destroyed property for your insurance adjuster.

3. Make "reasonable" repairs. "If a window blew out, you want to take reasonable steps to protect that window and your possessions from further damage, so it's important to take those steps so the damage doesn't increase," McChristian says. "Be sure to save the receipts for any temporary repairs because that is part of the insurance settlement, and you can get reimbursed for those repairs. The key word is 'reasonable.'"

4. Filing a claim. Contact your insurance agent or company hotline to expedite your homeowners insurance claim. Keep a record of everyone you talk to about your claim, including dates and details of your conversation.

5. Avoid "storm chasers." When disasters strike, unscrupulous, unlicensed contractors and outright con artists swoop in to bilk money from the gullible. "Beware of storm chasers," says McChristian. "Use your insurance company. You're not alone; you have an insurance company who really has your back in these situations, and many times they have approved contractors they can hook you up with who understand the insurance repair business and go through the process correctly."

Allstate	800-Allstate (800-255-7828)
American Family	800-MyAmFam (800-692-6326)
Chubb	800-Claims-0 (800-252-4670)
Farmers	800-HelpPoint (800-435-7764)
Liberty Mutual	800-2Claims (800-225-2467)
Nationwide	800-421-3535
State Farm	800-SFClaim (800-732-5246)
Travelers	800-252-4633
USAA	800-531-USAA (800-531-8722)

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Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/insurance/post-sandy-home-insurance-tips/

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Personal Finance News India | money links

MF industry wants level playing field: The mutual fund industry in India wants a level playing field on tax treatment for long-term investment vehicles across product classes, such as pension, insurance and mutual funds. ?http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mf-industry-wants-level-playing-field-/490720/

Distributor concerns exaggerated : MF heads Concerns that mutual fund distributors will be out of business following the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) decision to provide a separate plan for direct investing are exaggerated, said mutual fund industry heads on Thursday at the Business Standard Fund Cafe 2012. They added that distributors will continue to be a vital link between the asset management company (AMC) and the investor. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/distributor-concerns-exaggerated-mf-heads/490721/

New distribution channel : Life Plazas: Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC), part of Reliance Capital Limited, on Tuesday introduced a new distribution channel -- Life Plaza -- a first-of-its-kind sales and service initiative by any insurer in India. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/insurance/insurance-news/reliance-life-insurance-introduces-new-distribution-channel--life-plaza/articleshow/16926349.cms

Sahara investors seek Sebi's intervention on refunds: A number of investors in Sahara have complained to stock market regulator Sebi that they have received only a part of the amount the Supreme Court had ordered the Subroto Roy-helmed company to refund. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/sahara-investors-seek-sebis-intervention-on-refunds/articleshow/16958552.cms

MFs may see revival of flows into equities by early 2013: Mutual fund industry is likely to see revival of some flows into equity schemes by early 2013 on the back of gains in average assets under management (AUM) in equity portfolios coupled with low bond yields, says a research report http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/mutual-funds/mf-news/mfs-may-see-revival-of-flows-into-equities-by-early-2013/articleshow/16941139.cms

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Online Prostate Cancer Patient Tracking Database Launches ...

By Alan, on October 25th, 2012

Stuart Holden (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

An online database to help men track the progression of their prostate cancer started yesterday to help patients avoid complications from overtreatment. The new program is part of the National Proactive Surveillance Network, a joint project of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The database aims to enable men diagnosed with slow-growing forms of the disease to track their disease in a Web-based patient portal. Stuart Holden, director of the Cedars-Sinai prostate cancer center (pictured left), says ?as many as 50 percent of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients have a form of the disease that is so slow-growing that it often does not pose a threat to the life or long term health of the patient.? In this situation, patients often chose immediate and aggressive treatment, says Holden, but this kind of treatment can lead to in complications such as impotence and incontinence, diminishing quality of life while not increasing the patient?s lifespan.

Many physicians are now recommending an alternative proactive surveillance option, where patients thought to have early-stage or slow-growing forms of the disease are closely monitored, which is the goal of the National Proactive Surveillance Network?s tracking database. Patients joining this network will have annual prostate biopsies, answer lifestyle and nutrition questionnaires, and record their medical histories. The database would track changes in their disease, allowing patients to decide if and when they need to change the course of their treatment.

This network?s organizers say it is the first comprehensive clinical data and tissue collection from a group of men with early-stage, low-volume prostate cancer. Data collected by the network will be kept anonymous, to protect patient privacy, while still allowing researchers to analyze trends as well as patient commonalities and differences.

Researchers will be able to examine and test the tissue to discover changes that indicate if patients have slow- or fast-growing forms of prostate cancer. Patient samples, including biopsy tissue, blood, and urine, also will be collected and analyzed at two locations ? Johns Hopkins Medicine on the east coast and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the west ? and made available for future prostate cancer studies.

?This database will eventually give us a better way to predict which men benefit from treatment,? says Holden, ?and which men will not be harmed by choosing to defer treatment.?

Read more:

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Source: http://sciencebusiness.technewslit.com/?p=11792&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=online-prostate-cancer-patient-tracking-database-launches

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84 million stars and counting: VISTA creates largest ever catalogue of center of Milky Way galaxy

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2012) ? Using a whopping nine-gigapixel image from the VISTA infrared survey telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory, an international team of astronomers has created a catalogue of more than 84 million stars in the central parts of the Milky Way. This gigantic dataset contains more than ten times more stars than previous studies and is a major step forward for the understanding of our home galaxy. The image gives viewers an incredible, zoomable view of the central part of our galaxy. It is so large that, if printed with the resolution of a typical book, it would be 9 metres long and 7 metres tall.

"By observing in detail the myriads of stars surrounding the centre of the Milky Way we can learn a lot more about the formation and evolution of not only our galaxy, but also spiral galaxies in general," explains Roberto Saito (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Universidad de Valparaiso and The Milky Way Millennium Nucleus, Chile), lead author of the study.

Most spiral galaxies, including our home galaxy the Milky Way, have a large concentration of ancient stars surrounding the centre that astronomers call the bulge. Understanding the formation and evolution of the Milky Way's bulge is vital for understanding the galaxy is a whole. However, obtaining detailed observations of this region is not an easy task.

"Observations of the bulge of the Milky Way are very hard because it is obscured by dust," says Dante Minniti (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile), co-author of the study. "To peer into the heart of the galaxy, we need to observe in infrared light, which is less affected by the dust."

The large mirror, wide field of view and very sensitive infrared detectors of ESO's 4.1-metre Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) make it by far the best tool for this job. The team of astronomers is using data from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea programme (VVV) [1], one of six public surveys carried out with VISTA. The data have been used to create a monumental 108 200 by 81 500 pixel colour image containing nearly nine billion pixels. This is one of the biggest astronomical images ever produced. The team has now used these data to compile the largest catalogue of the central concentration of stars in the Milky Way ever created [2].

To help analyse this huge catalogue the brightness of each star is plotted against its colour for about 84 million stars to create a colour-magnitude diagram. This plot contains more than ten times more stars than any previous study and it is the first time that this has been done for the entire bulge. Colour-magnitude diagrams are very valuable tools that are often used by astronomers to study the different physical properties of stars such as their temperatures, masses and ages [3].

"Each star occupies a particular spot in this diagram at any moment during its lifetime. Where it falls depends on how bright it is and how hot it is. Since the new data gives us a snapshot of all the stars in one go, we can now make a census of all the stars in this part of the Milky Way," explains Dante Minniti.

The new colour-magnitude diagram of the bulge contains a treasure trove of information about the structure and content of the Milky Way. One interesting result revealed in the new data is the large number of faint red dwarf stars. These are prime candidates around which to search for small exoplanets using the transit method [4].

"One of the other great things about the VVV survey is that it's one of the ESO VISTA public surveys. This means that we're making all the data publicly available through the ESO data archive, so we expect many other exciting results to come out of this great resource," concludes Roberto Saito.

Notes:

[1] The VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey is an ESO public survey dedicated to scanning the southern plane and bulge of the Milky Way through five near-infrared filters. It started in 2010 and was granted a total of 1929 hours of observing time over a five-year period. Via Lactea is the Latin name for the Milky Way.

[2] The image used in this work covers about 315 square degrees of the sky (a bit less than 1% of the entire sky) and observations were carried out using three different infrared filters. The catalogue lists the positions of the stars along with their measured brightnesses through the different filters. It contains about 173 million objects, of which about 84 million have been confirmed as stars. The other objects were either too faint or blended with their neighbours or affected by other artefacts, so that accurate measurements were not possible. Others were extended objects such as distant galaxies.

The image used here required a huge amount of data processing, which was performed by Ignacio Toledo at the ALMA OSF. It corresponds to a pixel scale of 0.6 arcseconds per pixel, down-sampled from the original pixel scale 0.34 arcseconds per pixel.

[3] A colour-magnitude diagram is a graph that plots the apparent brightnesses of a set of objects against their colours. The colour is measured by comparing how bright objects look through different filters. It is similar to a Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram but the latter plots luminosity (or absolute magnitude) rather than just apparent brightness and a knowledge of the distances of the stars plotted is also needed.

[4] The transit method for finding planets searches for the small drop in brightness of a star that occurs when a planet passes in front of it and blocks some of its light. The small size of the red dwarf stars, typically with spectral types K and M, gives a greater relative drop in brightness when low-mass planets pass in front of them, making it easier to search for planets around them.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Southern Observatory - ESO.

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. R. K. Saito, D. Minniti, B. Dias, M. Hempel, M. Rejkuba, J. Alonso-Garc?a, B. Barbuy, M. Catelan, J. P. Emerson, O. A. Gonzalez, P. W. Lucas, M. Zoccali. Milky Way demographics with the VVV survey. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2012; 544: A147 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219448

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/4ky_9BCKlJY/121024093038.htm

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iPad Mini Pilot Version - Business Insider

Mega-Apple bull Brian White of Topeka Capital says he's tested an early version the iPad Mini, and he thinks it's fantastic.

White travels through Asia, and during one of his trips he says he got an early look at what Apple's announcing tomorrow:

Smaller, Lighter, More Refined & Easily Tucked into a Jacket or Purse. During our recent China-Taiwan Tech Tour, we had the opportunity to play with a pilot version of the "iPad Mini" that easily fit into our sport coat pocket. Experiencing a new form factor of an iconic product such as the iPad is a sight to behold and we believe consumer demand will reflect this phenomenon. We expect the "iPad Mini" to be 7.85 inches in size, include two cameras, come with the option of Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi and 4G/3G, include the new lightening connector, start at lower storage capacity (8GB) than the iPad, sport a more refined back casing, come in slightly different color variation (i.e., similar to iPhone 5) and offer some surprises. We expect the "iPad Mini" to begin at a price point of $250-$300.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-mini-pilot-version-2012-10

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The Skinny on Being a Successful SAHM | Skinny Mom | Tips for ...

I have been fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom for about 3 years now. I will be honest, it?is not always?butterfly & rainbows; several days I say to myself, ?Maybe it would be easier if I just went and got a JOB!? Well, that thought only lasts as long as the current?temper tantrum and then?I?m back to reality. I LOVE staying home with my kids and I could not imagine life any other way.

Over the last 3 years, I have struggled to find a good routine that makes life as a stay-at-home?a little easier. I can say that I have finally figured?out?what it takes to be a Successful Stay-At-Home Mom!

• Get up before everyone else does! Yes I know, this is a very tough one but it is SO important. Get up before the rest of the family and get your?mind organized and ready to tackle the day.??Get up early enough to compose your?To Do list, exercise, shower/get ready, and anything else you prefer to do before the rest of the house wakes up!
• Take a shower DAILY/ preferably in the morning! This may sound a little silly, but as moms we sometimes forget to take care of ourselves and actually take 15?minutes to shower each day. Some of you may be thinking, ?What?s the point? I am going to be covered in spit-up or green beans by noon!??Taking a shower first thing in the morning is a great way to get woken up, feeling refreshed?and ready to begin the day! The worst that will happen is you might?have to take another one?at night to wash away the day?s disasters!
• Exercise daily/?(again) preferably in the morning! Get up and get your daily exercise routine over with. If you are anything like me, the earlier the better.?Being a mom and taking care of kids?is exhausting and by the end of the day the last thing I want to do is workout (I?ve been ?working out? all day right!?!) Plus, working out in the morning gets your metabolism going and actually gives you more energy throughout the day! Check out: 5 Reasons Why Working Out In The Morning Makes Sense When Trying to Lose Weight.
• Get out of your PJ?s! Yes I know, they are comfortable and you are just going to be at the house so why change clothes, right?!? Wrong! I am not saying you have to get dressed up in skinny jeans and high heels every day, but just get out of your pajamas! Put on a some cute workout?clothes or even a?sassy pair of sweatpants, but I repeat ?GET OUT OF YOUR PJ?S!? Pajamas are associated with bedtime, therefore, the longer you wear them the longer you will have the sleepy feeling.
• Make money while you stay home with the kids! There are so many companies out there designed for stay-at-home or working moms. I.E. Mary Kay, Avon, Pure Romance, Youngevity, the list goes on.. Find something that interests you and make money while doing it. I chose Youngevity because I am interested in health and wellness and I LOVED their product. I started out just wanting to make enough to pay for our household vitamins and other supplements & before I knew it, I?was making a real income; almost as much as?I made?with my previous full-time job.?Another option to make money, babysit a couple of kids at your house or sell something you enjoy making. Just find something that?interests you and make money off of it!?Your husband will be happy!
• Eat healthy & Take Vitamins! As moms, it is like we are constantly running a marathon! I don?t know about you, but I would not be able to get through the day if i did not eat healthy and take vitamins! I choose to eat 5 small meals a day opposed to 3 large meals, and I take vitamins to ensure that I am getting all 90 essential nutrients my body needs! Check out my previous post Get the Skinny on Vitamins That Work!
• Get some ?YOU? time while the kids nap! The most popular advice you get when you are pregnant or just had a baby is ?Sleep when the baby?sleeps!? or ??Get as much done as you can while the kids?nap???Yes, I agree with both of these BUT I also think it is a great?opportunity to enjoy some ?YOU? time! Stay-at-home moms often think they need to get EVERYTHING done in the 1-3 hours that the kids are asleep. I suggest: read a book (not brown bear, brown bear) a real ADULT book, take a hot afternoon bath, catch up on your favorite T.V. show, call a friend, go to the bathroom by yourself:), be creative! Whatever you choose to do is up to you, but try not to always use nap time to clean, clean, clean, remember?we need our sanity just as much as we need a clean house (if not more)!
• Join a Mommy & Me playgroup! I would say that one of the most common complaints I hear from other SAHMs is: lack of adult interaction. By joining a Mommy & Me playgroup, you get adult interaction while the kiddos get to socialize with others their age. Also, it gets you out of the house and involved in things that you may not know about if it weren?t for your involvement with the group. Try out a couple of Mommy & Me groups around your area, and pick the one that you fill the most connection with.
• Ask for help/ take a break! As moms, we often think we can do it all, we are SUPER MOM! Yes, you may be super mom but even super mom needs a break from time-to-time! Ask hubby to take the kids for a night and go get a little pampering done or meet an old friend for dinner. Grandparents are usually more than happy to watch the kids for a couple of hours, get out for a much needed date night with your husband and?enjoy some adult only time!
• Look at the bright side of EVERY DAY! This is the most important tip I can offer! ?Not every day is a good day, but there?s something good in every day!?~Author Unknown.?We often focus on what is going wrong in our day, next time focus on what is going right and try to look on the bright side! Kids feed off of adult?s mood/ attitude, if you stay positive chances are they will too!

Being a stay-at-home mom is not always easy, but if you?follow the?tips above you CAN be a ?Successful Stay-At-Home Mom!? Please share some of your experiences or tips on being a stay-at-home mom!

?

Source: http://skinnymom.com/2012/10/21/the-skinny-on-being-a-successful-sahm/

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My Fav (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/256234225?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Facebook Just Made It Harder for Hackers to Jack Your Account [Security]

Facebook just announced it's partnering with seven new anti-virus companies, in addition to the ones it already worked with. They'll be offering software in the Facebook AV Marketplace, which lets users download antivirus security software. But the real benefit might be in how they affect Facebook at large. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/S9bEFQRwATU/facebook-just-made-it-harder-for-hackers-to-jack-your-account

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Teens can keep their cool to win rewards

The oft-maligned teenage brain is getting some reputation rehab. When offered the incentive of a modest reward in a recent experiment, teens took more time than adults to make a thoughtful, reasoned decision.

That surprising result, presented October 14 at the annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience, counters the image of a flaky, impulsive adolescent brain, and shows that incentives may be a powerful way to curb reckless behavior.?

?Teenagers are quite capable of waiting, as opposed to reacting impulsively,? said study coauthor BJ Casey of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City at a press briefing.? The result ?really flies in the face of some of my previous research and research by other investigators,? she said.

Casey and her colleague Theresa Teslovich spotted the contemplative teenage brain as participants had to decide which way a cloud of dots was moving across a computer screen. Random jitters of individual dots made it hard to detect the direction of overall motion. When playing for a reward?in this case, five arbitrary points?teenagers took longer than adults to decide. This delay, the researchers think, allowed teenagers to accumulate more information before making up their minds.

?Here?s an example in which we?re seeing adolescents being not impulsive at all, but in fact, incredibly thoughtful before making a decision,? Casey said.

Brain scans helped the researchers pinpoint the neural origins of this teenage thoughtfulness. When points were on the line, both adults and teenagers had a boost of brain activity in the ventral striatum, a region that handles rewards. But there was a big difference between the teen brains and adult brains in other regions that deal with decision making. Compared with adults, teenagers showed much higher brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex, perhaps reflecting the buildup of evidence.

Finding evidence that teens can be measured in their decision making is surprising, said neuroscientist Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md. ?It doesn?t fit the stereotype,? he said.

The results may be context-dependent, Giedd said. Other studies (and no doubt centuries of personal observation) argue that teenagers are more impulsive than adults. Teenagers have trouble keeping their eyes on a target when a distraction hovers nearby, for instance. But the new results are encouraging because they show that this impulsivity, in certain situations, can be managed, Giedd said. ?It?s there, but it?s not something that?s insurmountable.?

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345773/title/Teens_can_keep_their_cool_to_win_rewards

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Cost of Conserving Global Biodiversity Set at $76 Billion

Researchers hope the estimate will spur government action, and point out that the annual costs are a fraction of the value of nature's 'ecosystem services'

By Daniel Cressey and Nature magazine

Image: Flickr/queenkv

• 

  Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

  Read More??

From Nature magazine

Protecting all the world's threatened species will cost around US$4 billion a year, according to an estimate published today in Science. If that number is not staggering enough, the scientists behind the work also report that effectively conserving the significant areas these species live in could rack up a bill of more than $76 billion a year.

Study leader Stuart Butchart, a conservation scientist at BirdLife International in Cambridge, UK, admits that the numbers seem very large. But ?in terms of government budgets, they?re quite trivial?, he says, adding that governments have already committed to taking this action in international treaties ? they just did not know how much it would cost.

The researchers also point out that the annual costs of proper conservation are but a fraction of the value of nature's ?ecosystem services?, such as pollination of crops and carbon sinks, estimated at between $2 trillion and $6 trillion. ?These sums are not bills, they?re investments in natural capital,? says Butchart. ?They?re dwarfed by the benefits we get back from nature.?

Under the internationally agreed Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), governments have committed to meeting 20 conservation targets by 2020, including improving the conservation status of threatened species. To come up with numbers for how much this might cost, Butchart and his team asked experts on 211 threatened bird species to estimate the cost of lowering the extinction risk for each species by one category on the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature .

Costing the Earth
The researchers concluded that improving the status of all the world?s 1,115 threatened bird species would cost between $875 million and $1.23 billion a year for the next decade. Adding in other animals raises the number to between $3.41 billion and $4.76 billion a year.

Another target of the CBD is to protect 17% of the Earth?s land surface. Estimates for this are harder to make, but by extrapolating from known land prices and management costs Butchart and his team put the number at $76.1 billion a year.

Exactly how much is now being spent to meet the convention?s targets is unclear, but spending will need to increase by ?at least an order of magnitude?, Butchart says. And although there is a large amount of uncertainty in these numbers, governments can still use them to begin planning ways to meet the targets they have already agreed to.

Henrique Pereira, who works on international conservation issues at the University of Lisbon in Portugal, says that although there are uncertainties inherent in extrapolating from birds to all species, the work is an ?extremely smart paper?.

?For the first time we have an estimate of how much these targets will cost,? he says. ?For any negotiations that occur over the next few years [on CBD targets], these numbers can be used as a reference.?

But Pereira also points out that the figure is for just two of the 20 targets agreed by the CBD. ?If you look at the range of targets for 2020, the total bill will be higher,? he says.

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on October 12, 2012.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a3e11f7bb5046815c3e46c982e9004f9

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The First and Only Franchisor of LED Lighting in North America To ...

October 12, 2012 // Franchising.com // Wellington, Fla. - LED Source?, the leading North American LED lighting solutions provider, will be hosting a free webinar to present their franchise opportunity on Thursday, November 15th at 11:00am ET.

President and CEO Marcel Fairbairn, will discuss this exciting opportunity and explain the history of the company, the LED market and why now is the right time to own an LED Source? franchise.

?The LED lighting business is rapidly evolving and now is the right time to get involved,? Fairbairn said. ?This free webinar is the perfect platform to introduce individuals who are thinking of owning a franchise and looking for the next big thing.?

Prospective franchisees are invited to attend a webinar on the LED Source Franchise Opportunity on Thursday, November 15th at 11:00am ET.. Space is limited. Click on the link below to Register Now:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/450922310

About LED Source?

Founded in August 2005 by Marcel Fairbairn, LED Source? is a national and international supplier of LED lighting that specializes in full-scale evaluations and retrofits through its Retrofit Division, in addition to providing consultation all the way through to supply on new projects within their Architectural and Entertainment Divisions. The company supplies LED products around the world to commercial office spaces, schools, churches, theaters, art galleries, restaurants and nightclubs, special events, residential and landscape lighting and much more. Additionally, the company launched a franchise program in October 2009 and expects to have a network of 150 franchise offices throughout North America by 2014. For more information, please visit www.LEDsource.com or the company?s blog at www.GetLEDucated.com.

SOURCE?LED Source?

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20121012_the_first_and_only_franchisor_of_led_lighting_in_n.html

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Northern NV gas prices shoot up along with Calif.

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Baumgartner eyes skydive record

8 October 2012 Last updated at 20:39 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, Roswell

The Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will attempt to become the first human to break the sound barrier unaided by a vehicle.

He is going to jump out of a balloon at more than 120,000ft (36.5km) above Roswell, New Mexico.

In the near vacuum at that altitude, he should accelerate beyond about 690mph (1,110km/h) within 40 seconds.

If all goes well, he will open a parachute near the ground to land softly in the desert, 10 minutes later.

The 43-year-old adventurer - famous for jumping off skyscrapers - is under no illusions about the dangers he faces.

Where he is going, the air pressure is less than 2% of what it is at sea level, and it is impossible to breathe without an oxygen supply.

Others who have tried to break the existing records for the highest, fastest and longest freefalls have lost their lives in the process.

"If something goes wrong, the only thing that might help you is God," says Baumgartner.

"Because if you run out of luck, if you run out of skills, there is nothing left and you have to really hope he is not going to let you down."

Weather permitting, lift-off from Roswell airport should occur about 0700 local time (1300 GMT; 1400BST).

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The absolute mark for the highest skydive is held by retired US Air Force Col Joe Kittinger.

He leapt from a balloon at an altitude of 102,800ft (31.3km) in August 1960.

Now an octogenarian, Kittinger is part of Baumgartner's team and will be the only voice talking to him over the radio during the two-and-a-half hour ascent and the 10-minute descent.

Engineers have done everything possible to limit the risks. They have built the Austrian a special pressurised capsule to carry him under the helium balloon.

He will also be wearing a next-generation, full-pressure suit, an evolution of the orange protective clothing worn by shuttle astronauts on launch.

Although the jump has the appearance of another Baumgartner stunt, his team prefers to stress its high scientific relevance.

The researchers on the Red Bull Stratos project believe it will inform the development of new systems for emergency evacuation from high-performance, high-altitude vehicles. Nasa and its spacecraft manufacturers have asked to be kept informed.

There are a few examples of pilots being ejected in supersonic airflows when their planes broke apart in the sky, but there is no detailed data on what happens to the human body as it goes supersonic and then, as it slows, goes subsonic again.

Baumgartner will be instrumented to acquire this new data.

The concern is that he might be destabilised by shockwaves passing over his body, and that these might throw him into an uncontrolled spin.

"It's very important he gets into a delta position," said Baumgartner's trainer, Luke Aikins. "This is hands at his side and his head low, ripping through the sky. This will be crucial to breaking the speed of sound and remaining stable."

Engineers have incorporated an automatic device in his gear that would deploy a drogue stabilisation chute if he gets into trouble. But the team's medical director, former shuttle flight surgeon Dr Jon Clark, hopes the stiffness of the pressure suit itself will suffice.

"We know that pressure suits limit mobility which we often consider as a bad thing, but in this scenario of going through the sound barrier, it actually adds a protection because it acts like an exoskeleton," he explained.

"We don't know what the human will endure accelerating through the sound barrier in coming back down without the aid of aircraft. And that is really the essence of the scientific goal of this mission."

There is high confidence Baumgartner will succeed in his quest. He has already completed practice jumps from 71,600ft (21.8km) and 97,100ft (29.6km).

The second of these jumps he described as an extraordinary experience.

"It's almost overwhelming," he said. "When you're standing there in a pressure suit, the only thing that you hear is yourself breathing, and you can see the curvature of the Earth; you can see the sky's totally black. It's kind of an awkward view because you've never seen a black sky. And at that moment, you realise you've accomplished something really big."

A suite of high-definition cameras will follow the action. Some of these will be attached to Baumgartner himself.

But wary of broadcasting a tragedy to worldwide TV audiences, the organisers will be putting a 20-second delay on the live video feed.

Four GPS systems in the suit will gather the dive data required to satisfy the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) that records have indeed been broken.

"The data is recorded on an SD microcard in his chest pack," Brian Utley, who will file the official report to the FAI after the jump, told BBC News.

"I insert that card into the equipment. From that moment on, I have control over the equipment. I'm with it until Felix goes into the capsule, and when he lands I am the first person to approach him so I can take possession of that card again."

A BBC/National Geographic documentary is being made about the project and will probably be aired in November.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19860249#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Splurge: Kim Kardashian?s Miami Lanvin Red Strapless Evening Gown and Tom Ford Gold Chain Sandals

posted by AH

October 7, 2012 11:52 am

That aint nothing but a maxi dress and heels. What?s special or exciting about that? Am I missing something?

posted by Jenna

October 7, 2012 11:56 am

but who goes shopping in an ?evening gown? though?sighs.. *sings* I want that old Kim back..lol

posted by SHAQ NICHOLE

October 7, 2012 12:33 pm

The dress is ill fitting at the top or she just doesn?t have a good bra on?hanging?

posted by Above Par

October 7, 2012 12:54 pm

Its not really splurging when you got it like that. lol

posted by Adc

October 7, 2012 1:01 pm

But can we talk about the new nose?

posted by Jenny

October 7, 2012 1:14 pm

Ew she isn?t wearing a bra

posted by K

October 7, 2012 1:52 pm

Yes that top part is Not whats Hot in the streets! I dig those shoes tho

posted by AllHam

October 7, 2012 1:57 pm

Could get the same look by safety-pinning a red sheet :/ a bra would probably help though

posted by zalise

October 7, 2012 2:19 pm

This outfit is basic. Everything designer, but clashing and ill-fitting. Why is she wearing a blanket, under the guise of Lanvin though? Preggers?

posted by Jbrizzy

October 7, 2012 2:25 pm

Would you really pay 2000 plus for a look you can get out of sofia vergaras kmart collection for 30 dollars or less?

posted by CaribbeanQueen

October 7, 2012 2:43 pm

She looks like she rolled out of bed with kanye, threw on her heels from the night before, and used the bed sheets as a makeshift dress so she wouldn?t be seen in the same outfit? How can she make Lanvin look so cheap

posted by Black and Olive

October 7, 2012 2:49 pm

It?s nice but I would not pay that much for a piece of cloth

posted by lola

October 7, 2012 3:08 pm

Rihanna and Kim Kardashian need to take a month (or two) vacation from the fashion bomb. Who is with me????

posted by Rotchelle

October 7, 2012 3:33 pm

A bra goes a lonnnnnggg way!! Her boobs or like East and West on a compass! #nobueno

posted by Anon

October 7, 2012 4:22 pm

It is like she is walking around with her bed sheet! Yuk!

posted by Bee.Fly

October 7, 2012 4:25 pm

she is getting slimmer?#checkthat ?.#kanyeworkoutplanisaWINNER

Source: http://fashionbombdaily.com/2012/10/07/splurge-kim-kardashians-miami-lanvin-red-strapless-evening-gown-and-tom-ford-gold-chain-sandals/

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Nicki Minaj Calls Out American Idol Producers, Cries Conspiracy

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/nicki-minaj-calls-out-american-idol-producers-cries-conspiracy/

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Mom's high blood pressure in pregnancy could affect child's IQ into old age

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2012) ? New research suggests that a mother's high blood pressure during pregnancy may have an effect on her child's thinking skills all the way into old age. The study is published in the October 3, 2012, online issue of Neurology?, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"High blood pressure and related conditions such as preeclampsia complicate about 10 percent of all pregnancies and can affect a baby's environment in the womb," said study author Katri R?ik?nen, PhD, with the University of Helsinki in Finland. "Our study suggests that even declines in thinking abilities in old age could have originated during the prenatal period when the majority of the development of brain structure and function occurs."

Researchers looked at medical records for the mother's blood pressure in pregnancy for 398 men who were born between 1934 and 1944. The men's thinking abilities were tested at age 20 and then again at an average age of 69. Tests measured language skills, math reasoning and visual and spatial relationships.

The study found that men whose mothers had high blood pressure while pregnant scored 4.36 points lower on thinking ability tests at age 69 compared to men whose mothers did not have high blood pressure. The group also scored lower at the age of 20 and had a greater decline in their scores over the decades than those whose mothers did not have problems with blood pressure. The finding was strongest for math-related reasoning.

The researchers also looked at whether premature birth affected these findings and found no change. Whether the baby's father was a manual laborer or an office worker also did not change the results.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Academy of Neurology (AAN), via Newswise.

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

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/4R8sAqaXlag/121003163631.htm

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CBS claims ratings win for 1st week of TV season

NEW YORK (AP) ? CBS is off to a rosy start as the 2012-13 season logs its first week.

That network claimed a solid lead in prime-time viewers, took 10 of the top 20 program slots, and had the two highest-rated series premieres.

CBS' new period-piece drama, "Vegas," debuted in sixth place, while its contemporary Sherlock Holmes whodunit, "Elementary," premiered in 10th place, according to Nielsen Co. figures released Tuesday.

ABC's "Last Resort" was the third-highest-premiering series, ranked in 32nd place.

NBC's "Sunday Night Football" was No. 1 in the rankings, but CBS' "NCIS" was second for the week, "NCIS: Los Angeles" was fourth and "Big Bang Theory" was fifth.

Overall for the week, CBS scored 10.69 million viewers (6.8 rating, 11 share), while runner-up ABC had 8.33 million (5.4 rating, 9 share). NBC averaged 8.19 million viewers (5.2 rating, 8 share), Fox had 6.90 million (4,2 rating, 7 share), ION Television had 920,000 (0.6 rating, 1 share) and the CW had 680,000 (0.5 rating, 1 share).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with 3.54 million viewers (1.9 rating, 3 share). Telemundo had 1.20 million (0.6 rating, 1 share), TeleFutura had 630,000 (0.3 rating, 1 share), Estrella had 230,000 and Azteca had 120,000 (both 0.1 rating, 0 share).

NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts, as it had for the previous 158 weeks. But ABC's "World News" was nipping at its heels, even beating "Nightly News" on Tuesday and Friday. For the week, "World News" was only 42,000 viewers behind "Nightly News" ? the smallest gap since September 2009, when the ABC newscast most recently claimed first place.

Overall, "Nightly News" led with 7.430 million viewers (5.1 household rating, 10 share), while "World News" was close behind with 7.388 million (5.1 rating, 10 share). "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams was off from Wednesday through Friday, with Savannah Guthrie anchoring in his absence. "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer was off Thursday, when George Stephanopoulos substituted, and Friday, when David Muir sat in.

Third-place "CBS Evening News" had 6.15 million viewers (4.2 rating, 9 share).

A ratings point represents 1,147,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Sept. 24-30, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: Sunday Night Football: NY Giants at Philadelphia, NBC, 22.77 million; "NCIS," CBS, 20.48 million; "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 17.05 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 16.74 million; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 15.66 million; "Vegas," CBS, 14.85 million; "Modern Family," ABC, 14.44 million; "Person of Interest," CBS, 14.28 million; "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 14.11 million; "Elementary," CBS, 13.41 million.

___

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is owned by CBS Corp.; CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp.; Fox is a unit of News Corp.; NBC and Telemundo are owned by Comcast Corp.; ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks; TeleFutura is a division of Univision; Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.

___

Online:

http://www.nielsen.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cbs-claims-ratings-win-1st-week-tv-season-182838257.html

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