Thursday, January 31, 2013

Private survey shows employers added 192,000 jobs in January

New York?

Private-sector employers added 192,000 jobs in January, more than economists had expected, indicating Friday?s jobs report from the government may be a good one.

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The numbers, from a private survey by payroll processor ADP, provided a glimmer of optimism about the economy the same morning the government reported the nation?s GDP contracted in the fourth quarter.

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?It feels to me that the job market is improving,? said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody?s Analytics. ?Job growth has accelerated.?

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Job growth is now hovering at about 175,000 jobs a month, he said, which should be enough to bring the unemployment rate down every month. Zandi predicts the unemployment rate, currently at 7.8%, will fall to 7.3% by the end of the year, and will dip below 7% by this time next year.

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Although the ADP report showed weakness in the manufacturing sector, probably related to sluggish European economies, it showed growth in construction, trade and professional and business services.

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Small businesses, with one to 49 employees, provided the bulk of the hiring, ADP said. Small businesses added 115,000 jobs. Medium businesses, with 50 to 499 employees, added 79,000. Large businesses actually shed 2,000 jobs in January.

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The ADP report only tracks private-sector employment, while Friday?s jobs report also includes the government sector, which has been contracting for the better part of two years. The numbers usually provide some guidance to economists about what to expect from the national job figures, although last month, ADP showed employers had added 215,000 private-sector jobs, while the government figures showed that the private sector added just 168,000.

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Zandi was quick to emphasize the good news about the ADP report, while downplaying the surprising GDP contraction. He said that when the government revises the number, he expects it will show growth, rather than contraction, in the fourth quarter.

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?I will be surprised if we end up with negative quarter,? he said.

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Still, GDP growth will only grow 1.5% in the first quarter of this year, he said, which is not a very impressive number. That?s because a payroll tax was restored after two years, meaning consumers have less take-home pay, and probably will spend less as they adjust to their new finances.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average, on the brink of passing 14,000, was down in early market trading.

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ALSO:

Economy shrinks unexpectedly in fourth quarter

U.S. economy grows by 155,000 jobs in December

Consumers to see smaller paychecks despite fiscal cliff deal

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-adpreport-20130130,0,5146393.story?track=rss

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Facebook revenue jumps 40 percent in fourth quarter

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's advertising business grew at its fastest clip since before the company's May initial public offering, helping the company's revenue expand 40 percent to $1.585 billion.

Shares of Facebook were down 2.5 percent to $30.45 in after hours trading on Wednesday.

Facebook said its mobile business accounted for 23 percent of total ad revenue, compared to 14 percent in the third quarter.

But some investors may have been expecting more.

"Mobile revenue was expected to be a little higher," said Aaron Kessler, an analyst with Raymond James, who said he was looking for mobile revenue to be 25 percent of total ad revenue.

"Overall solid quarter but maybe high expectations going into the quarter," said Kessler.

Facebook shares, which lost more than half their value following its May initial public offering, have regained ground in recent months as concerns about its mobile ad business and insider selling have eased. Shares have surged roughly 60 percent since mid-November.

Facebook, the world's largest online social networking service, said net income in the fourth quarter was $64 million, or 3 cents a share, compared to $302 million, or 14 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Excluding certain items, Facebook said it earned 17 cents a share.

Facebook has ramped up its online advertising services in recent months, putting a greater emphasis on mobile ads and introducing capabilities that let marketers target Facebook users based on their Web browsing history.

Advertising revenue in the fourth quarter grew 41 percent to $1.33 billion, with mobile ads representing 23 percent of Facebook's ad revenue.

Facebook's overall fourth-quarter revenue was $1.585 billion, versus $1.131 billion in the year-ago period.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-grows-revenue-40-percent-fourth-quarter-211444844--sector.html

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Secure Your Business for Data Privacy Day - Security

I'd like to tip my hat to Dwight Silverman, whose blog not only alerted me to Data Privacy Day, but who also offers some excellent advice as to what individuals can do to further secure their private data. You'll find a lot of good material in that article, covering passwords, social media activity, credit reports, and more. Even if you think you're familiar with this information, I'd suggest reading Silverman's piece, as it links to some very useful resources.

One of these resources, in fact, is StaySafeOnline.org. It's powered by the National Cyber Security Alliance, a not-for-profit whose stated mission ?is to educate and therefore empower a digital society to use the Internet safely and securely at home, work, and school, protecting the technology individuals use, the networks they connect to, and our shared digital assets.? The website offers a wealth of resources, information, and tips, not just for individuals but for businesses. I used their site as a resource for the rest of the information in this article.

The first step you should take in evaluating your firm's data security is to assess your risk.? If you're a small company, you might be surprised to learn that you're at greater risk of getting hacked than a large company. You might think a hacker would consider your firm to be small potatoes compared to the Amazons of the world, but criminals know that small companies can't afford the resources to protect their data that large corporations can ? thus making them tempting targets.

And what do hackers do once they break into your company's network? ?If cybercriminals can breach a small business and steal credentials (banking accounts, email access, etc.) they can use that information to steal money directly, create attacks on your customers and work their way around the business ecosystem in other nefarious ways,? StaySafeOnline explained.

To assess your company's online risk, consider some of the following questions: do you have a formal written Internet security policy for your employees? Do you have any policies in place regarding how your employees use social media? Do you have a privacy policy with which your employees must comply when handling customer information? Do you offer training to your employees regarding the Internet and online security? Do your employees understand the potential risks of using USB devices in the workplace? Are all of your machines completely wiped of their data before disposal?

After assessing your company's risk, you can move on to making its data (and the data of your customers and employees) more secure. StaySafeOnline offers plenty of advice on that, but one great way to do this is with employee training. Such training should at least include the following five simple tips.

First, make sure your employees know what they are and are not allowed to install and keep on their work machines. Put rules in place ? and enforce them. ?Unknown outside programs can open security vulnerabilities in your network,? StaySafeOnline notes. As a side note, they can also make computers function less efficiently, which leads to calls to the IT department (and costs valuable time). In a previous job, when I shared an office with an elderly co-worker who didn't understand why she couldn't have whatever she wanted on her computer, I saw this happen more than once.

Second, teach your employees how to follow good password practices. Passwords should be long and contain a mix of upper case and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Users should change their passwords regularly and keep them private. Until someone comes up with something better, they're still the best way an individual can keep data secure.

Third, make sure your employees know not to open suspicious links in email, posts, tweets, online ads, messages, or attachments. Make sure they also understand that a link isn't necessarily safe just because they know the source; a friend's email account could have been hacked, for instance. Spend some time explaining your company's spam filters and how to use them to your employees, as well.

Fourth, data security covers more than just protecting sensitive information from hackers. It also means preventing the loss of data. Teach your employees to back up their work, and tell them how often they need to do so ? or if? you do automatic backup at your office, make sure your employees know what they need to do to make sure their important data is saved.

Finally, a computer behaving ?strangely? can be a hint that it has been compromised ? so ?Your employees should be encouraged to keep an eye out and say something if they notice strange happenings on their computer,? according to StaySafeOnline. And remember, no one is totally immune. Back in August, Matt Honan?got spectacularly hacked and lost a lot of personal data...and he's a tech blogger, so you know he was doing what he could to secure himself. It could have been much worse, but he noticed his computer behaving oddly, and was able to work with Amazon and Apple to save at least some of his data.



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Source: http://www.devshed.com/c/a/Security/Secure-Your-Business-for-Data-Privacy-Day-60038/

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Mumbai Office Real Estate Market - 2012 Analysis And 2013 ...

Ramesh Nair 3?A Review Of 2012

Mumbai office real estate saw absorption of 6.6 million square feet ? down from 9.6 million square feet in 2011, reflecting a combination of lukewarm economic growth, lower employment generation and an overall decline in corporate buoyancy. Transaction activity from the BFSI sector was down, with many banks focusing on workplace strategies to drive a more intense use of existing space.

Sectors like Pharma and Media continued to thrive, resulting in a few big ticket transactions and helping to boost activity. The last three years saw significant levels of new office supply, providing a greater selection for tenants and resulting in a narrowing of the rent gap between the CBD markets and the suburbs.

Expansion demand was subdued in 2012 on the back of corporate caution and slower economic growth, but relocations and consolidations led to buoyancy in leasing activity. With economic uncertainty continuing to weigh down on current and future corporate demand levels, the global debt crisis combined with evidence of weakening economic growth caused corporates to postpone real estate decisions and delay implementation of longer-term strategies. This impacted transaction volumes in 2012.

Capital values of commercial real estate in Mumbai grew at a much faster pace than rents in 2012 ? a trend that is likely to prevail in 2013 as well. Capital values in different sub-markets appreciated at around 5%, except in the CBD, SBD North and Eastern suburbs, where they remained largely flat during 2012.

At a city level, Mumbai office space rents appreciated around 3% y-o-y. Rentals appreciated in SBD Central, SBD BKC, Western Suburbs and Thane and Navi Mumbai. The CBD, SBD North and Eastern Suburbs remained flat through 2012. Rentals in the Eastern suburbs remained stagnant due to increasing completions in the other suburban counterparts.

The manufacturing and industrial sectors, followed by IT/ITeS sector, led transaction activity during 2012 with more than 50% representation. BFSI contributed to nearly 20% of the leasing activity, followed by other sectors such as service providers and consulting firms.

Rents in most of Mumbai?s micro-markets stabilised in 2012, although vacancies remain high. Most of the micro-markets are now showing convincing indications of having bottomed out. Good quality, modern spaces in good locations are being absorbed. One element hindering a faster decline in vacancy is the release of second-hand space. Prime yields reduced in all micro markets on the back of robust investor demand for high-quality, leased-out core assets.

Predictions For 2013

Given the typical time-lag between an upturn in economic fortunes and leasing market activity, a full-fledged recovery in the leasing volumes of Mumbai?s office property market in early 2013 seems unlikely. Heading into 2013, doubts over future economic conditions may continue to dampen corporate demand.

By the middle of 2013, some clarity around the Europe debacle and the near-term fiscal situation in the US could lead to vibrancy in the market. Development activity has reduced drastically given the lack of liquidity and reduction in pre-lets. While the overall Mumbai office property market continues to be tenant-favourable, demand is still concentrated on just a few buildings in each micro market. The range of single-ownership prime buildings is more restricted than the overall vacancy figures would suggest.

Recovery is expected pick up pace in 2013. The decline in vacancy rates, as well as robust absorption supported by the sluggish development response will cause rentals to increase in various micro markets in 3Q and 4Q 2013.

In the medium term, large tenants in the prime office space markets of Mumbai will face a supply-constrained marketplace with few big blocks of contiguous quality commercial space available. However, Mumbai office real estate markets across the city will continue to be tenant-favourable at least for the first two quarters, with occupiers benefiting from an increased choice of new high-quality premises and reduced occupancy costs.

As tenants have increasingly sought to ?right size? their footprint, focus on enhanced space efficiencies and eliminate redundancies, they are concentrating on not just ?quality? but also on efficiency.

Corporates are currently in a holding pattern, awaiting stronger signals of sustainable demand growth. There has been a strong uptick in the preference for shorter lease terms. Although transaction activity has not grown, corporate real estate teams within major corporations continue to develop transformative occupational and portfolio strategies, supported by enhanced real estate data and metrics.

At the heart of these strategies are workplace strategies that contribute to cost reduction, bolster worker productivity and support talent acquisition and retention. These strategies will play out in the market over the medium term.

Vacancy of office properties in Mumbai, which is currently at 22%, will begin edging downwards from 4Q 2013. This vacancy reduction, when it takes place, will be the first decrease since 2006.

The absorption forecast for 2013 will be 10?12% above that of 2012 as corporate occupiers focus on consolidation to take advantage of the market bottoming out. Leasing activity is expected to go up in the last two quarters of 2013. Growth will remain slow until the economic recovery filters through and generates more pronounced job growth and expansionary demand. Most demand is coming from consolidation and relocation rather than expansion.

The development pipeline is reducing, with new completions of Grade A office buildings likely to be restrained in 2013 and ?14. New office launches and deliveries (except projects which did not get completed in 2012) will be at a low level, and construction is not likely to pick up until 2015.

Any significant improvement in occupier demand will do nothing but add to the pressure on supply, thereby stimulating increase of rents and capital values in Grade A buildings within the prime locations.

The completion rate for Grade A office projects over the next two years will be much lower than in the preceding three years. Many speculative completions will not see the light of day till 2015-2016. A substantial amount of new supply will become available in select markets only in 2015.

The trend of completion of high quality new projects pushing up Grade A vacancy levels and providing tenants with greater bargaining power will reduce. With banks having slowed down lending activities over the last two years, debt remains a constraint and not many new launches are expected in 2013 and 2014. In some markets, projects at a launch stage have been converted for residential or hotel uses.

  • Capital And Rental Values Scenario

Rents in different sub-markets of Mumbai are expected to record reasonable appreciation during 2013, and at a faster pace than in 2012. Given the basic scarcity of available good-quality, right-sized Grade A office stock in the city?s prime locations, rentals are expected to go up by around 6% in 2013.

The average capital value appreciation is expected to be around 7% y-o-y during 2013, with most major markets in Mumbai seeing increases (largely in tandem with rentals). This offers some cause for optimism but economic headwinds do persist, notably in terms of economic growth.

SBD Central and SBD KKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) are expected to record marginal rental increases at a sub-market level during 2013. Due to infusion of investor supply into the lease market in select sub-markets such as SBD Central, SBD North and Navi Mumbai, there could be marginal softening of rentals at a project level in non-prime projects in 2013.

Investment volumes are expected to go up in 2013. Both the Eastern and Western suburbs of Greater Mumbai as well as Thane and Navi Mumbai are likely to witness rental appreciation in the range of 6% y-o-y during 2013. The drivers behind this will be availability of relatively attractive office options that cater to a wider cross-section of occupiers ranging from BFSI to IT/ITES to KPOs and consulting firms.

Overall, the investment market will do better in 2013, with a substantial weight of capital targeting office real estate (especially Grade A and trophy assets) thereby increasing investment volumes. Strong investor demand for prime office assets and lack of new supply of core investment options in primary markets will result in further yield compression. Debt capital availability remains healthy for core assets but inches back for non-core assets.

To Summarize

In 2013, shortage of quality office spaces in Mumbai will intensify. It will once again become clear that commercial property in Mumbai is seen as attractive and somewhat ?safer? option as against other asset classes and geographies around India. When the recovery does finally pick up in earnest, landlords are likely to be more aggressive.

The State Government needs to proactively position and market Navi Mumbai and Thane as alternate IT destinations to cities such as Bangalore, Chennai and Pune to create more jobs and boost demand for office space there. The trend of corporates beginning to buy as against leasing is expected to increase.

We expect the IT and manufacturing sectors to contribute equally to the leasing activity in the coming year, with a cautious and selective expansion of BFSI majors during 2013.

Ramesh Nair, Managing Director ? Mumbai, Jones Lang LaSalle India

Copyright?secured?by?Digiprove???2013?Jones?Lang?LaSalle

Source: http://www.joneslanglasalleblog.com/realestatecompass/real-estate/2013/01/mumbai-office-real-estate-market-2012-analysis-2013-predictions/

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New online, open access journal focuses on microbial genome announcements

New online, open access journal focuses on microbial genome announcements [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

The American Society for Microbiology has published the first issue of its new online-only, open access journal, Genome AnnouncementsTM, focusing exclusively on reports of microbial genome sequences.

Genome Announcements features short manuscripts announcing the availability of recently sequenced genomes of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes and viruses in public databases. These announcements inform readers of the availability of new genome sequences and provide the rationale for sequencing a particular organism, as well as details of the methodologies and protocols used in assembly of the genome sequence.

Although genome sequence data typically are deposited in GenBank or other shared databases, the rationale for sequencing a particular organism and the detailed methodologies and protocols used often are not readily available. In the past, several ASM journals published Genome Announcement article types, brief reports stating that the genome of a particular organism has been sequenced and deposited which provide a citable record of the corresponding GenBank submission. Over the years submissions for Genome Announcements have increased where they warrant a dedicated journal.

"The exponential increase in submissions and the usage of Genome Announcements has confirmed the value and service they bring to the scientific community. As a result, ASM will now publish all Genome Announcements in a single, dedicated, online-only, open-access journal starting January 2013," says Phil Matsumura of the University of Illinois at Chicago, editor of the new journal.

Manuscripts submitted to Genome Announcements must include an abstract, an acknowledgments section indicating the source of support for the work, and a nucleotide sequence accession number and are limited to 500 words (exclusive of the abstract and acknowledgments). Sequences must be made publicly available before a submission will be considered for publication, and the nucleotide sequence accession number(s) must be provided in a separate paragraph at the end of the text. Manuscripts may not include figures, tables, or supplemental material used to present data or analysis. However, multiple related sequences and their accompanying accession numbers and URL may be presented in tabular form. Publication of Sequence Read Archives (SRAs) is not permitted.

Genome Announcements manuscripts do not require peer review, but may be reviewed at the editor's discretion. Publication of an article in Genome Announcements does not preclude a later publication (e.g., a full comparative analysis) on the same organism in another ASM journal. Genome Announcements articles will be published continuously and will be collected into bimonthly issues throughout the year.

###

More information on the journal, including the first issue, can be found online at http://genomea.asm.org.

The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.



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

?


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


New online, open access journal focuses on microbial genome announcements [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

The American Society for Microbiology has published the first issue of its new online-only, open access journal, Genome AnnouncementsTM, focusing exclusively on reports of microbial genome sequences.

Genome Announcements features short manuscripts announcing the availability of recently sequenced genomes of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes and viruses in public databases. These announcements inform readers of the availability of new genome sequences and provide the rationale for sequencing a particular organism, as well as details of the methodologies and protocols used in assembly of the genome sequence.

Although genome sequence data typically are deposited in GenBank or other shared databases, the rationale for sequencing a particular organism and the detailed methodologies and protocols used often are not readily available. In the past, several ASM journals published Genome Announcement article types, brief reports stating that the genome of a particular organism has been sequenced and deposited which provide a citable record of the corresponding GenBank submission. Over the years submissions for Genome Announcements have increased where they warrant a dedicated journal.

"The exponential increase in submissions and the usage of Genome Announcements has confirmed the value and service they bring to the scientific community. As a result, ASM will now publish all Genome Announcements in a single, dedicated, online-only, open-access journal starting January 2013," says Phil Matsumura of the University of Illinois at Chicago, editor of the new journal.

Manuscripts submitted to Genome Announcements must include an abstract, an acknowledgments section indicating the source of support for the work, and a nucleotide sequence accession number and are limited to 500 words (exclusive of the abstract and acknowledgments). Sequences must be made publicly available before a submission will be considered for publication, and the nucleotide sequence accession number(s) must be provided in a separate paragraph at the end of the text. Manuscripts may not include figures, tables, or supplemental material used to present data or analysis. However, multiple related sequences and their accompanying accession numbers and URL may be presented in tabular form. Publication of Sequence Read Archives (SRAs) is not permitted.

Genome Announcements manuscripts do not require peer review, but may be reviewed at the editor's discretion. Publication of an article in Genome Announcements does not preclude a later publication (e.g., a full comparative analysis) on the same organism in another ASM journal. Genome Announcements articles will be published continuously and will be collected into bimonthly issues throughout the year.

###

More information on the journal, including the first issue, can be found online at http://genomea.asm.org.

The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.



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

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/asfm-noo012813.php

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Monday, January 28, 2013

BetaBait, A Service For Finding Beta Users And App Testers, Hits The Deadpool

betabaitBetaBait, a service that connects startups with people to try and test early "beta" versions of web and mobile apps, is shutting down effective February 1st, 2013. The company, which first launched a year ago in December 2011, announced the closure in an email sent to users.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CUMSW5SUi9M/

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2013 Range Rover: The Biggest Loser

Range Rover

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Three-digit weight loss is the automotive game du jour, and the benefits of spunkier performance and thriftier fuel economy are but a few of the upsides sought when engineers shed ballast in redesigned rides. After all, every 220 pounds of weight loss translate to an approximately 2 percent improvement in mpgs, and everybody loves a sprightlier ride.

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Land Rover's nearly three-ton Range Rover was a prime candidate for slimming down when it faced a fourth-gen redesign, and no weld went unturned in the effort of lightening the hefty Landie. By replacing the hulking chassis with an aluminum structure incorporating 270 pressings, 9 extrusions, 4 tubular braces, and 34 cavity baffles, 397 pounds of fat were jetissoned, contributing to a total weight loss of a staggering 700 or so pounds-- the biggest slim-down we've seen in recent memory. Its carryover powerplants are able to hurtle the hulking SUV to 60 mph in as quickly as 5.1 seconds, nearly a full second faster than its predecessor.

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While the newest Range Rover enjoys a deceptively compact footprint-- the tall sport 'ute is only 2.9 inches longer than an Audi A6-- the benefits of what Land Rover calls a "virtuous circle of weight reduction" are more than dynamic; they're mighty handy, especially since the corporate average fuel economy requirement of 54.5 mpgs by 2025 looms large.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/2013-range-rover-the-biggest-loser?src=rss

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Monti repeats backing for Bank of Italy over Monte Paschi

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti repeated on Monday his backing for the Bank of Italy and its former governor Mario Draghi over the mounting scandal surrounding the troubled Monte dei Paschi bank.

"I want to confirm my full confidence in the Bank of Italy and in those who are in charge of it and who have been in charge of it," he said during a talk show on Italy's La7 television channel.

The Bank of Italy and Draghi, who was the central bank's governor at the time, have faced mounting questions over their oversight of complex derivatives and structured finance transactions by Monte dei Paschi between 2006-2009, which could cost as much as 720 million euros ($970.19 million) for the Tuscan lender.

($1 = 0.7421 euros)

(Reporting by James Mackenzie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monti-repeats-backing-bank-italy-over-monte-paschi-073302296--finance.html

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Bulgarians seen challenging government in nuclear plant vote

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarians are expected to vote in favor of building a new nuclear power plant in their first referendum in the post-communist era on Sunday, challenging the government's decision to abandon the multi-billion-dollar project.

The plebiscite will be seen as a test of public support for the policies of rightist Prime Minister Boiko Borisov ahead of a July election, even though high turnout requirements mean the result of the nuclear referendum is not likely to be binding.

Only 9.34 percent of the voters in the Balkan country had cast a ballot by 1 p.m. (6.00 a.m. ET), six hours before the polling stations were to close, official data showed. Analysts said the apparent voter apathy was mainly due to lack of expert information on the cost, benefits and need for a new plant.

Borisov, already struggling to revive a lackluster economy, canceled the construction of the 2,000-megawatt plant at Belene in March, saying the Balkan country could not afford to foot the bill, estimated at more than 10 billion euros ($13.5 billion).

Bulgaria's allies in Brussels and Washington also opposed the project, fearing it would deepen the country's economic and political dependence on Russia. Moscow offered to finance the plant, which would have been built by its Atomstroyexport.

But opinion polls suggested two thirds of people who said they intended to vote would choose to press on with the plant, many of them hoping it would rein in electricity prices, create jobs and help make Bulgaria an energy hub for southeast Europe.

"Bulgaria needs a new nuclear power plant. I do not want my kids to pay high electricity bills and that's what will happen if we give up the construction of the Belene plant," engineer Georgi Avramov, 49, told Reuters ahead of the vote.

FRUSTRATED VOTERS

While the economy has emerged from a deep recession, it is growing only slowly and many voters are frustrated Bulgaria still trails other ex-communist members of the European Union, with wealth per capita less than half the bloc's average.

Analysts said a strong vote in favor of Belene would be an embarrassment for Borisov, a former bodyguard who has made little progress in his promises to root out corruption since he came to power in 2009.

Unpopular austerity measures imposed by Borisov's ruling center-right GERB party have already narrowed its lead over opposition Socialists - who called for the referendum - ahead of parliamentary elections in July.

"If we get a strong 'pro-Belene' vote as expected, even though the results are likely to be invalid, we would already have a serious political issue on which Borisov will have to act very carefully," said Gallup International political analyst Kantcho Stoichev.

The result of the referendum, which asked whether new nuclear power plant should be built and not about the use of nuclear power in general, will only be valid if 4.35 million out of the 6.9 million eligible voters take part - a figure analysts say will be almost impossible to reach.

If 20 percent of voters participate and half of them vote in favor of Belene, the issue will go to parliament for a final decision.

Bulgaria has an operational 2,000 megawatt nuclear power plant at Kozloduy and has hired U.S. firm Westinghouse to draw up plans to add another 1,000 MW unit at the site.

The new plant at Belene, on the River Danube, was also opposed by environmentalists, who said it would be built near an earthquake-prone area, and by rights groups who said the high-cost project would encourage corruption in the EU's poorest member state. ($1 = 0.7421 euros)

(Additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bulgarians-seen-challenging-government-nuclear-plant-vote-083741436--business.html

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Excellent Self-help Colin Kaepernick Jersey Ideas That Are Easy To ...

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Source: http://www.ilovethenhs.org.uk/2013/01/26/excellent-self-help-colin-kaepernick-jersey-ideas-that-are-easy-to-comply-with/

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

AP PHOTOS: Scenes of grief at Brazil club fire

AAA??Jan. 27, 2013?8:47 PM ET
AP PHOTOS: Scenes of grief at Brazil club fire
By The Associated Press?THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES?By The Associated Press

Family members and friends stand around coffins containing the remains of victims after the bodies were identified at a gymnasium in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. Officials counted more than 230 bodies that were brought for identification to the gymnasium in Santa Maria,(AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Family members and friends stand around coffins containing the remains of victims after the bodies were identified at a gymnasium in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. Officials counted more than 230 bodies that were brought for identification to the gymnasium in Santa Maria,(AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

A woman cries over the coffin of a victim at a gymnasium where bodies were brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Police investigators inspect the entrance of the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Family members and friends stand around coffins containing the remains of victims after the bodies were identified at a gymnasium in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. Officials counted more than 230 bodies that were brought for identification to the gymnasium in Santa Maria,(AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Family members and friends mourn as they stand around a coffin containing the remains of a victim after the bodies were identified at a gymnasium in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. Officials counted more than 230 bodies that were brought for identification to the gymnasium in Santa Maria,(AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Here are images depicting the aftermath of a fatal nightclub fire in Santa Maria, Brazil. The club was hosting a party for university students when the fast-moving fire caused hundreds of partygoers to stampede toward the exit. Firefighters and police say more than 200 are dead, and at least 200 are injured.

Associated Press
People, Places and Companies: Brazil

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-27-Brazil-Nightclub%20Fire-Photo%20Gallery/id-b3afc40632ab42c0bf16d5de1bb51a98

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Exxon passes Apple as most valuable company

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012 photo, people line up to enter a newly-opened Apple Store in Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012 photo, people line up to enter a newly-opened Apple Store in Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - This Jan. 30, 2012 photo shows the sign for the ExxonMobil Torerance Refinery in Torrance, Calif. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2009 file photo, the Apple logo is seen on an Apple store in San Francisco. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels, File)

FILE - This Oct. 26, 2006 file photo shows an Exxon logo seen at a Dallas gas station. Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter, according to reports Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

(AP) ? Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter.

Apple Inc.'s stock has been on the decline since the company's quarterly earnings report Wednesday suggested that its fast growth phase, rare for a company of its size, may be coming to an end.

Apple's stock fell 2.4 percent to close Friday at $439.88 for a market capitalization of $413 billion. That followed a 12 percent drop on Thursday, the biggest one-day percentage drop for the company since 2008.

Exxon Mobil Corp. gained 38 cents Friday to $91.73 for a market capitalization of $418 billion.

Apple first surpassed Exxon in the summer of 2011, displacing the oil company from a perch it had held since 2005. The two companies traded places through that fall, until Apple surpassed Exxon for good in early 2012 ? at least until Friday.

China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than either Exxon's or Apple's, but only based on prices on the Shanghai stock exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange. Based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500 billion.

Apple and Exxon are among only a half dozen U.S. companies to have ever reached $500 billion in market value. Apple and Microsoft Corp. are the only ones to have ever hit $600 billion.

Apple's stock price peaked in September at $705.07 on the day the iPhone 5 was released. Exxon, in the meantime, has been trading steady. Its business ? oil ? seems less prone to stock market ups and downs than the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech darling.

Exxon, which is based in Irving, Texas, set a record in 2008 for the highest quarterly earnings by any company. In the first nine months of 2012, Exxon earned nearly $35 billion, or 10 percent more than the same period in 2011, on revenue of $367 billion. Results for the fourth quarter are due Feb. 1.

Exxon, the biggest investor-owned energy company in the world, predicted in December that oil will continue to be the most important source of energy. That's because cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and ships will still depend heavily on oil-derived fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

This year, investors seem unforgiving with Apple, looking for perfection and punishing the stock for anything less. The company's stock price slipped below $500 for the first time last week, as investors saw signs that the iPhone 5 was falling behind competition from phones running Google's Android software, especially those from Samsung Electronics Co.

The latest quarterly report added to the concerns. Apple warned that its revenue growth, which had been running at a speed more reminiscent of promising startups than multi-national corporations, is slowing down considerably.

A big reason: It has been nearly three years since a new product has come from a company still seen as the embodiment of innovation. That last product, the iPad, came in 2010, when its CEO Steve Jobs was still alive. Some analysts question whether Apple can keep growing by just releasing new versions of its old products. The long-rumored Apple TV, is still just that, a rumor.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-25-Apple-Stock/id-b1f4e58269fd4298be551878f295acb2

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Damon 'hijacks' Kimmel's ABC show

NEW YORK (AP) ? Matt Damon had his revenge.

The butt of a long-running joke on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the actor opened Thursday night's show as a kidnapper who tied Kimmel to a chair with duct tape and gagged him with his own tie.

"There's a new host in town and his initials are M.D.," Damon said. "That's right, the doctor is in."

For years, Kimmel has joked at the end of his show that he ran out of time and was unable to bring Damon on as a guest. Kimmel was the silent one Thursday, watching from the back of the stage as Damon did his job.

Damon tormented Kimmel by bringing on a succession of big-name guests. Robin Williams stopped by to finish the monologue. Ben Affleck had a walk-on role. Sheryl Crow was the bandleader and performed her new single. Nicole Kidman, Gary Oldman, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon and Demi Moore all crowded the talk show's couch.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time," Damon said. "This is like when I lost my virginity, except this is going to last way longer than one second."

Damon's guest hosting turn came at a key time for Kimmel. ABC earlier this month moved the show to 11:35 p.m. ET and PT after a decade of airing it a half hour later, putting him in direct competition with Jay Leno and David Letterman.

Thursday's special program aimed for the same water-cooler status as a memorably lewd short film Damon made for the show a few years ago with Kimmel's then-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman. It went viral and remains probably the best-known skit in the show's history.

To twist the knife even further, Damon brought Silverman on as his final guest Thursday night, with Kimmel looking on forlornly as she likened their five-year relationship to an unfortunate trip to a hot dog vendor.

"Is there anything you'd like to say to Jimmy?" Damon asked.

"No, I'm good," Silverman replied.

Then came the sweetest revenge of all, with Damon promising to ungag Kimmel in the show's final minutes.

"Wait," he said. "I'm sorry. We're out of time."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/damon-hijacks-kimmels-abc-show-073334898.html

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PST: Checketts leaves strong legacy with RSL, MLS

In terms of zippy headlines and content sex appeal, ?Diversity of Ownership? just doesn?t quite get there, does it? Still, that has been such an important storyline in the broader MLS tale over the last 10 years.

If we wanted to talk about the next big name heading MLS way ? whether it was Roberto Donadoni or Hugo Sanchez in another day, or Kaka or Frank Lampard today ? now that was a story that would always jingle our keys.

And stadiums! Every mention of a new ground being considered, every stadium design unveiling, every ribbon cutting and every grand opening made the facility wonks among us (Me, me, me!) happy as a nacho in warm cheese.

But all along, broadening and diversifying that early, tiny fraternity of MLS owners was a huge story, a uniquely critical element in league development. Don?t forget, the ownership roster once started at stopped at the Lamar Hunt, Phil Anschutz and Robert Kraft.

That was just 10 years ago!

So guys like Dave Checketts coming aboard provided essential nutrition to a growing operation. Now Checketts is getting out of the MLS ownership game, as we talked about yesterday.

Soccer America?s Paul Kennedy makes the point this morning that Checketts? arrival was important for more than the growing sum of owners and the badly needed diversity. His presence in the game said something important to other perspective investors.

Says Kennedy:

Checketts was a major figure in the American sports business ? the youngest president in the history of the NBA (Utah Jazz) and the president of Madison Square Garden (owner of the New York Knicks and Rangers) ? and his investment sent a signal to the American sports business community that it was OK to invest in MLS.

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/25/dave-checketts-arrival-was-vital-to-a-growing-mls/

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India anti-rape protesters: Don't just get angry, do something

At a moment when many angry Indians are demanding that the rapists of a young woman who died this week be hung, one group encourages women to tackle social attitudes.

By Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar,?Correspondent / January 4, 2013

An Indian student shouts slogans seeking punishment for rapists of the 23-year-old student, during a protest in Bangalore, India, Friday.

Aijaz Rahi/AP

Enlarge

Among the many anti-rape protests that have been held in Indian cities over the past few weeks, something has stood out at a demonstration this week: Protest signs that didn?t cry shame or call for the death penalty, but pledged personal action.

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?I pledge to intervene when I see a woman being harassed,? read one slogan on signs held by both men and women on New Year's Day. Another sign held by a young woman read, ?I pledge to stare back.??

The ?Safe City Pledge? demonstrations were organized by?a collective called Blank Noise, which has been talking about sexual harassment in India for almost a decade now.

It is that long experience, says founder Jasmeen Patheja, that accounts for their unusual slogans. Amid the calls for better policing to prevent violent crime against women, the group wanted to also highlight how everyone contributes to ? and can thus help change ? a culture of sexism.

?It?s easy to blame the government and the police, but they also represent certain social mindsets, attitudes that we may be perpetuating,? Ms. Patheja says.

In recent weeks, some of those attitudes have been on display as political and civic leaders have faulted Westernization (read: sexual permissiveness) for violence against women.

On Friday, a leader from a Hindu nationalist party said that rapes ?happen in India, not Bharat? (the Hindi name for the country), while another suggested that women are being punished for ?crossing the line.? A survey from earlier this year showed that a fair chunk of both Indian men and women believed that wife beating was acceptable. ? ? ? ? ??

A younger, urban generation isn?t necessarily free from these attitudes either. ?We may all contribute to the problem in invisible ways,? Patheja says. ?When we say ?Boys will be boys,? or when we share sexist jokes or make mothers and sisters part of [curse words].?

One of the most common problems that Indian women face is harassment in public spaces.

?Eve teasing,? the lighthearted term used for everything from lewd comments to groping to stalking, is so routine that when Patheja started Blank Noise as part of a virtual project at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore in 2003, she found few of her peers wanted to talk about it.

?There was a sense that it was just part of life, that there was nothing you could do about it,? she says. ? ? ? ? ???

Patheja and others started a blog to provide an anonymous space for women to share their experiences. They also began organizing public events. The idea was not to be an advocacy group, says Patheja, but to ?trigger a public dialogue that wasn?t didactic, through a series of approaches both blog-based and on-the-ground interventions.? Blank Noise also encouraged young women to confront street harassment in an effort to ?reclaim the city.?

That approach challenges the conventional idea that women should protect themselves by staying away from the public sphere, and a recent trend among the Indian middle-class to segregate themselves from chaotic urban environments through gated communities and private transport. Signs at Tuesday?s demonstration included pledges to ?use public transport even when private transport was available.?

Today, the Blank Noise project has a presence across nine cities, hundreds of volunteers and a large Facebook presence, though getting boots on the ground remains a challenge. More than 10,000 people were invited via Facebook to take part in Tuesday?s protest across the country.

In Mumbai, about 30 showed up. ?It?s easier to click ?like? and more difficult to get out on the street,? says Patheja. ?But we don?t worry much about that anymore. Even that one click means that someone has decided to engage.??

What is most important, she suggests, is the change she has seen in the past decade. Last month, the supreme court called for wide-ranging measures to curb harassment in public places.? ?There is now a greater willingness to talk about the issue,? she says, ?and less of an inclination to trivialize it.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/nyMEx5PRbyA/India-anti-rape-protesters-Don-t-just-get-angry-do-something

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Months After Sandy, Mucking And Gutting

On a recent day in the Rockaways, a neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., hazmat-suited volunteers far outnumber anyone else on the streets. They are "mucking and gutting" ? stripping homes to the studs to remove mold. Many residents are concerned about the health effects of mold exposure, according to community organizer Peter Corless. Mycologist Joan Bennett has been sampling fungi in homes damaged by Sandy to determine which species are present.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170267851/months-after-sandy-mucking-and-gutting?ft=1&f=1007

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an AirPlay Receiver for Streaming Music in Your Living Room

Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an AirPlay Receiver for Streaming Music in Your Living RoomTurn a Raspberry Pi Into an AirPlay Receiver for Streaming Music in Your Living Room Few things are better than kicking back on the couch and streaming your favorite album wirelessly to your stereo from your phone. It's a remarkably easy thing to do with AirPlay, but if you don't want to pay for Apple's solutions, a $35 Raspberry Pi does the job remarkably well.

Check out the video above for a quick demo of what this project entails, and what you'll get with the final product. With a few tweaks to your initial Raspberry Pi installation, you can turn it into an amazing little device that can receive audio from any AirPlay-compatible device. That means wireless streaming to any speakers you have in the house. Music in the video by Comfort Fit and Jonathan Coulton.

It's Raspberry Pi week at Lifehacker, and all week we'll be showing you some cool DIY projects you can put together with this little miracle of a device. If you haven't bought one yet, check out our introduction to the Pi to learn more about what it is, what you'll need, and the cool stuff you can do with one like setting up a personal VPN and turning it into an XBMC media center.

What You'll Need

Getting the AirPlay receiver up and running on the Pi is easy, but you'll need a few materials first. Here's what you need to pick up:

  • A Raspberry Pi: If you're not sure where to buy one, check out our introduction to the Pi for more info.
  • An HDMI or composite video cable: You'll need this cable to connect your Raspberry Pi to your television or monitor temporarily to get the Raspberry Pi set up. You can get these cheaply at Monoprice if you don't have one already.
  • An 8GB Class 10 SD card (or better) and a card reader (if you don't have one built into your computer): You can go smaller or slower, but an 8GB Class 10 card will get you the best performance, and they're pretty cheap. Most SD cards will work, but some aren't compatible and will therefore cause issues. You can find out which cards are compatible, or locate a place to buy a compatible card with an operating system pre-installed, on this page.
  • A USB keyboard and mouse: Any standard USB keyboard or mouse will do. You'll only need these for the setup process, so whatever you have attached to your computer right now should do the trick.
  • A good quality, micro USB power supply that can provide at least
    700mA at 5V
    : Most modern smartphone chargers supply 700mA at 5V, but not all do. Check the bottom of your charger and look for a block of text. You'll see its output values in that text which may read 0.7A instead of 700mA). If it offers at least that much power, you're probably good to go. Just don't use a poor quality charger or you may run into problems.
  • A 3.5mm stereo audio cable : You need this to run the Raspberry Pi into your stereo.
  • Wi-Fi USB Adapter: The Wi-Fi USB adaptor makes it possible to send your AirPlay music from your iOS device to your Raspberry Pi. I used this $10 Edimax one and it worked fine, but you can find a full list of compatible adapters here.
  • USB Sound card: The audio output on the Raspberry Pi isn't that great, so if you want to beef up your sound you should grab a USB soundcard. You can find a list of compatible cards here. I just used this cheap, $5 generic sound card, but a USB DAC will really clean up the sound nicely.
  • Stereo (and speakers): Obviously you'll need to send your sound somewhere, so you'll need a stereo and speakers that allow an audio input.
  • An iOS Device or Computer: You'll need an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, or computer with iTunes installed as a source for your music. Theoretically an Android device with software like doubleTwist would also work, but we haven't tested it.

What You Will (and Won't) Get

The Raspberry Pi makes a fantastic little AirPlay device. When you're done, you'll have a small box connected to your stereo that functions similar to AirPlay-enabled speakers. When it's plugged in and booted up it will automatically load everything necessary to start AirPlay with no need for an external monitor or keyboard. Essentially, it lets you stream music to any speakers you have sitting around for less than half the price of an AirPort Express, and you can still use it for any other Raspberry Pi project you want to take on. That's a serious win-win.

However, the Raspberry Pi doesn't currently support AirPlay Mirroring to send video content. Still, what's nice about using the Raspberry Pi as an AirPlay device for your speakers is that you can continue to use it for any other project you like.

Step One: Hook Up and Configure the Raspberry Pi

Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an AirPlay Receiver for Streaming Music in Your Living RoomThe AirPlay function works with the Raspberry Pi installation of Raspbian. You can follow our guide for getting started with the Raspberry Pi to get Raspbian installed.

If you want the AirPlay receiver to start automatically without the need for a keyboard or monitor, we need to set Raspbian to login you in automatically. During the setup process at the Raspi-config screen, change the "Start Desktop on Boot?" setting to yes. If you're already up and running, type this command into the terminal to load up Raspi-config again:

 sudo raspi-config 

Finally, the AirPlay functionality may require a few packages not initially included in your installation, so you want update your packages before you get started. Type this into the console:

 sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade 

The update might take a little while, so grab a beverage and sit back. Once you're booted up into Raspbian and everything is working properly, we can dig into setting up the AirPlay function.

Note: It's possible to install everything you need using console commands, but we'll use the slightly easier Raspbian interface so that you can continue to use your Raspberry Pi for whatever else you like.

Set Up Your USB Wi-Fi Adapter

Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an AirPlay Receiver for Streaming Music in Your Living RoomFirst off, we need to get the USB Wi-Fi adapter working. This is dead simple with Raspbian installed:

  1. Connect your USB Wi-Fi Adapter to the Pi if it isn't already.
  2. Open the WiFi Config application on the desktop.
  3. Select your adapter from the drop down list.
  4. Sign into your home network.

That's it for the Wi-Fi adapter. If you like, open up the internet browser Midori from the desktop to make sure the internet is working. Raspbian will remember your selection, so even if you disconnect the Wi-Fi adapter at any time during the process it will automatically load up again when it's connected to the Pi.

Set Up Your Sound Card

Next up we need to get the sound card up and working. First off, connect your USB sound card into the Raspberry Pi, and hook it up to your stereo with the 3.5mm audio cable (or plug in headphones so we can test to make sure it works). Now, we're going to use a terminal command to select it. Open up LXTerminal from your desktop and type in the following command:

 aplay -l 

Your USB card should display as something like, "card 1: set [device name], device 0: USB Audio." That means it's recognized by the Raspberry Pi. Now we need to test the sound. Type:

 Alsamixer 

This loads up the software to test the audio output. Press F6 to change the output type and select your sound card. Now we need to test the output:

 speaker-test 

You should hear a tone from your speakers verifying the USB sound card is working. Finally, Raspbian doesn't automatically load the USB sound card when it boots like it does the Wi-Fi USB adapter. This means we have to edit the the configuration file. Type the following:

 cd /etc/modprobe.d sudo nano alsa-base.conf 

This opens the alsa-base.conf file. Scroll down near the end of the file and look for this line:

 options snd-usb-audio index=-2 

Comment that line out with a "#" symbol at the start of the line. Hit Ctrl+X to save and exit.

Now your sound card and Wi-Fi adapters will both work automatically every time you start the Pi.

Install the Shairport AirPlay Emulator

Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an AirPlay Receiver for Streaming Music in Your Living RoomShairport is the software that actually makes AirPlay work, and it takes a little while to get it all set up. It's not a difficult process, but you do want to give yourself about 30 minutes because it requires a lot of downloading and installing of software.

First off, we need to install a few things before we can get Shairport. Type this into the console:

 sudo apt-get install git libao-dev libssl-dev libcrypt-openssl-rsa-perl libio-socket-inet6-perl libwww-perl avahi-utils libmodule-build-perl 

Let this process run for a little while. When it's complete, we need to install an update so Shairport will work with iOS 6 (you can skip this step if you're not on or plan to upgrade iOS 6):

 git clone https://github.com/njh/perl-net-sdp.git perl-net-sdp cd perl-net-sdp perl Build.PL sudo ./Build sudo ./Build test sudo ./Build install cd .. 

Once the iOS 6 module is installed (give it a little while), it's finally time to get Shairport installed. from your home directory type:

 git clone https://github.com/hendrikw82/shairport.git cd shairport make 

Now, let's run Shairport:

 ./shairport.pl -a AirPi 

This command starts Shairport with your Raspberry Pi named "AirPi" (you can change it to whatever you want). Grab your iOS device, pick the music app of your choice, and tap the AirPlay button. You should see "AirPi" listed as an output device. Tap that, and the music should start streaming out of your USB sound card within a couple seconds.

But we're not done yet. Shairport doesn't automatically load when you start your Raspberry Pi, and since we want to make our AirPlay device work without any peripherals we need to do one more step. From your home directory, type:

 cd shairport make install cp shairport.init.sample /etc/init.d/shairport cd /etc/init.d chmod a+x shairport update-rc.d shairport defaults 

Finally, we need to add Shairport as a launch item. Type:

 sudo nano shairport 

This loads up Shairport file we need to edit. Look through the file for the "DAEMON_ARGS" line, and change it so it looks like this:

 DAEMON_ARGS="-w $PIDFILE -a AirPi" 

Save the file (Ctrl+X), and you're all set. Shairport should launch on startup every time. You can now move the Raspberry Pi anywhere you like and do whatever else you want with it. As long as the USB sound card and Wi-Fi adapter are plugged in, they'll load up when you turn the Raspberry Pi along with Shairport. That means you don't need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse next to your stereo for it to work.

Once you're all set up, all you need to do to use the AirPlay function is plug the Raspberry Pi in, and wait for it to boot up. Once the operating system loads (it takes about 30-40 seconds usually), you can instantly and easily send all your music through the Raspberry Pi.

Take It Further

The AirPlay functionality is just the tip of the iceberg. You can do a lot more with it once the functionality is set up. Here are just a few different ideas that expand the AirPlay functionality in the Raspberry Pi way past the AirPort Express:

A big thanks goes out to Jordan Burgess and Trouch for their guides to getting Shairport repositories installed and adding iOS 6 support.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/7fu3kqsfDrE/turn-a-raspberry-pi-into-an-airplay-receiver-for-streaming-music-in-your-living-room

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Yellow Raincoat: Leaked Justin Bieber Track?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/yellow-raincoat-leaked-justin-bieber-track/

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