South Africa: Internal food market grows

Farmers Weekly rounds up a year's news through the eyes of farmers across the globe. Today we hear from Danie Schutte in South Africa

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Danie Schutte runs an organic dairy farm consisting of 90ha in the east of Pretoria, South Africa.

South African farming has changed radically over the past 20 years. It has moved from being highly regulated to a completely free market. Commercial farmers receive no subsidies, but are increasingly subjected to ?negative? subsidies ? additional input costs due to deteriorating infrastructure and security concerns.

The number of farms has fallen from more than 60,000 in 1996 to an estimated 38,000 in 2012.

To address inequity, the government introduced a land distribution policy, from white farmers to disadvantaged black workers. But due to a lack of capacity and skills only an estimated one in 10 redistributed farms remains productive.

Key facts

Population 51.5 million

Average rainfall Varies between 5mm in the west and 1,500mm in the east

Agricultural area 99m ha

Wine production is increasingly important with the 60,000-strong workforce matching the number of workers in the dairy industry

Despite these challenges, agricultural production has increased steadily by about 2% in 2011-12. Dairy production grew by an average of 3% during the same period. In the decade between 2000 and 2010, total solids (butterfat and protein) production increased by 16%.

The average maize yield increased from 2.4t/ha in 2000 to 3.8t/ha in 2011.

That said, this year?s production improvement has been balanced by substantially increased costs, with fuel and electricity leading the charge. This has put profit margins under pressure.

I am nevertheless optimistic. The internal food market is growing by about 4- 6% a year and has great further potential, provided that the general economic situation remains stable. The export market, especially into Africa, also shows promise.

More on this topic

Read the latest updates from our Arable and Livestock Farmer Focus writers

Rhian Price on G+

Jon Riley on G+

Source: http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2012/12/30/136787/south-africa-internal-food-market-grows.html

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VA Loan Questions: VA Loan Limits For 2013 | VA Loan News Blog

The Department of Veterans Affairs has posted the VA loan guaranty limits for 2013 on the VA official site. We?ve covered this topic in the past, but some borrowers have questions about end-of-year transactions and whether the old VA loan limits for the previous year affect loans that were initiated at the end of one year but closed or finalized in the new year.

What does the VA rulebook say about these situations and how are they handled? A borrower who negotiates the sale in 2012 and closes the deal in 2o13 may experience a higher or lower VA loan guaranty limit on one side of the new year or the other?which applies?

The Department of Veterans Affairs has very clear guidance on this issue which should leave no room for doubt once the rules are understood. For example, take the wording of this VA Circular, which announced new VA maximum mortgage guaranty rates for 2012 after the passage of the Honoring America?s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. That law effectively changed the way VA loan maximum guaranty rates were calculated, resulting in different VA loan guaranty maximums for certain high-cost counties across the USA.

The VA Circular, titled ?Maximum Guaranty Limits for August 6, 2012 to December 31, 2012? says the following about VA home loan guaranty maximums:

?While VA does not have a maximum loan amount, the following county ?limits? must be used to calculate VA?s maximum guaranty amount for a particular county. These limits apply to all loans closed August 6, 2012 through December 31, 2012. Calendar year 2013 county loan limits will be posted once VA receives median price data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Typically this information is received in November of each year. Should the loan limit for a county decrease in 2013, VA will guarantee a loan using the previous higher limit if there is proof of a pre-approval based on a sales contract or URLA executed on or before December 31, 2012.? (Emphasis ours.)

Borrowers who close a loan in 2013 but do not have such proof as mentioned above will be approved for the VA maximum loan guaranty amount established for 2013. The VA Circular announcing VA loan limits for 2013 reinforces this;

?These limits apply to all loans closed January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013. VA loan limits are based off county median home values estimated by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). These values are the basis for which VA calculates limits for our program. For 2013, some limits increased, some stayed the same and a few decreased.?

Borrowers who still have questions about how the VA loan guaranty works should contact the Department of Veterans Affairs directly at 1-800-827-1000.

Do you have questions about?VA home loans? Ask us in the comments section.

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About Bruce Reichstein

Experienced VA Loan Mortgage Banker specializing in Military Mortgage lending to US Veterans for over 24 years. (www.VALoans.com). Expert in VA Jumbo Home Loans greater than $417,000 which go up to the maximum 2012 county limits as defined by the Veteran's Administration. Thousands of loans to High Ranking Military Officers, DOD Employees, Airline Pilots and many other Military Heroes who qualify. Welcome opportunities pertaining to online military ventures.

Source: http://www.vanewsblog.com/2012/12/va-loan-questions-va-loan-limits-for-2013/

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India wins or loses, this is one of the finest ODI knocks I have ever seen. #Dhoni #underpressure #humid #chennai #IndvPak

Nikhil wrote a status message :

India wins or loses, this is one of the finest ODI knocks I have ever seen. #Dhoni #underpressure #humid #chennai #IndvPak 9 hours ago

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Find the link :http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/65083.html Akshay Jain : 8 hours ago
People dont remember 175 knock of Kpil Dev in 1983 WC, India were 17 for 5 and we won the match.

Source: http://social.ndtv.com/Nikhilnaz/permalink/121662

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THE Computers-and-Technology Post Kindle the actual Fireplace ...

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Source: http://chaohuis.com/the-computers-and-technology-post-kindle-the-actual-fireplace-about-the-actual-kindle-fireplace.html

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Getting into Shapes: From Hyperbolic Geometry to Cube Complexes

A proof announced in March resolved the last of 23 questions about 3D shapes posed in 1982 by mathematician William Thurston, marking the end of an era in the study of "three-manifolds"

By Erica Klarreich and Simons Science News

Figure 3. When viewed through the lens of hyperbolic geometry, all the fish are the same size. The curves that run along the fishes? spines are hyperbolic straight lines, or "geodesics." Image: Illustration: Douglas Dunham, University of Minnesota Duluth

From Simons Science News (find original story here).

Thirty years ago, the mathematician William Thurston articulated a grand vision: a taxonomy of all possible finite three-dimensional shapes.

Thurston, a Fields medalist who spent much of his career at Princeton and Cornell, had an uncanny ability to imagine the unimaginable: not just the shapes that live inside our ordinary three-dimensional space, but also the far vaster menagerie of shapes that involve such complicated twists and turns that they can only fit into higher-dimensional spaces. Where other mathematicians saw inchoate masses, Thurston saw structure: symmetries, surfaces, relationships between different shapes.

?Many people have an impression, based on years of schooling, that mathematics is an austere and formal subject concerned with complicated and ultimately confusing rules,? he wrote in 2009. ?Good mathematics is quite opposite to this. Mathematics is an art of human understanding. ? Mathematics sings when we feel it in our whole brain.?

At the core of Thurston?s vision was a marriage between two seemingly disparate ways of studying three-dimensional shapes: geometry, the familiar realm of angles, lengths, areas and volumes, and topology, which studies all the properties of a shape that don?t depend on precise geometric measurements ? the properties that remain unchanged if the shape gets stretched and distorted like Silly Putty.

To a topologist, the surface of a frying pan is equivalent to that of a table, a pencil or a soccer ball; the surface of a coffee mug is equivalent to a doughnut surface, or torus. From a topologist?s point of view, the multiplicity of two-dimensional shapes ? that is, surfaces ? essentially boils down to a simple list of categories: sphere-like surfaces, toroidal surfaces, and surfaces like the torus but with more than one hole. (Most of us think of spheres and tori as three-dimensional, but because mathematicians think of them as hollow surfaces, they consider them two-dimensional objects, measured in terms of surface area, not volume.)

Thurston?s key insight was that it is in the union of geometry and topology that three-dimensional shapes, or ?three-manifolds,? can be understood. Just as the topological category of ?two-manifolds? containing the surfaces of a frying pan and a pencil also contains a perfect sphere, Thurston conjectured that many categories of three-manifolds contain one exemplar, a three-manifold whose geometry is so perfect, so uniform, so beautiful that, as Walter Neumann of Columbia University is fond of saying, it ?rings like a bell.? What?s more, Thurston conjectured, shapes that don?t have such an exemplar can be carved up into chunks that do.

In a 1982 paper, Thurston set forth this ?geometrization conjecture? as part of a group of 23 questions about three-manifolds that offered mathematicians a road map toward a thorough understanding of three-dimensional shapes. (His list had 24 questions, but one of them, still unresolved, is more of an intriguing side alley than a main thoroughfare.)

?Thurston had this enormous talent for asking the right questions,? said Vladimir Markovic, a mathematician at the California Institute of Technology. ?Anyone can ask questions, but it?s rare for a question to lead to insight and beauty, the way Thurston?s questions always seemed to do.?

These questions inspired a new generation of mathematicians, dozens of whom chose to pursue their graduate studies under Thurston?s guidance. Thurston?s mathematical ?children? manifest his style, wrote Richard Brown of Johns Hopkins University. ?They seem to see mathematics the way a child views a carnival: full of wonder and joy, fascinated with each new discovery, and simply happy to be a part of the whole scene.?

In the decades after Thurston?s seminal paper appeared, mathematicians followed his road map, motivated less by possible applications than by a realization that three-manifolds occupy a sweet spot in the study of shapes. Two-dimensional shapes are a bit humdrum, easy to visualize and categorize. Four-, five- and higher-dimensional shapes are essentially untamable: the range of possibilities is so enormous that mathematicians have limited their ambitions to understanding specialized subclasses of them. For three-dimensional shapes, by contrast, the structures are mysterious and mind-boggling, but ultimately knowable.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5ce9c9493f34b63896b4bacab71f79b8

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Last full moon of 2012 rises Friday

The last full moon of 2012 will rise into the night sky this week in a year-ending lunar treat.

The full moon is actually an instantaneous event when the moon is exactly opposite the sun in the Earth's sky, and this month that occurs on Friday morning, Dec. 28, at 5:21 a.m. EST (1021 GMT). But, to the naked eye, the moon "looks" full for a couple of days on either side of that time, so the exact date doesn't matter.

1. Space news from NBCNews.com

   1. Grasshopper rocket takes 12-story-high hop for SpaceX

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: SpaceX's prototype Grasshopper rocket takes one giant leap, rising to a 12-story height and settling back down safely with a dummy cowboy riding along.

   2. Updated 109 minutes ago 12/26/2012 7:25:07 PM +00:00 Last full moon of 2012 rises Friday
   3. Telescope-toting balloon lifts off from Antarctica
   4. 'Star of Wonder' leaves lots to wonder about

Many owners of new telescopes are disappointed when they look at the planets. At its largest, the planet Venus is just barely one arc minute in diameter, about 1/30th of the diameter of the sun or the moon, and all the other planets appear smaller than that.

Telescope owners complain that the planets don't look any larger with a telescope than they do with the naked eye. That isn't true of course, because any telescope will magnify everything dozens or hundreds of times. But when something is as small as a planet, even a lot of magnification won't make it look very big.

[ Amazing Moon Photos of 2012 ]

Moon size comparison
The reason why the sun appears 30 times bigger than Venus is because the sun is very large. Its true diameter is more than 100 times that of Venus, or of Earth, for that matter, since Venus and Earth are about the same size. The moon appears 30 times bigger than Venus not because it is large, but because it is very close to us. The moon is 2,159 miles in diameter (3,475 kilometers), as compared to the Earth's 7,926 miles (12,756 km) and Venus' 7,521 miles (12,104 km).

In other words, the moon is just slightly more than a quarter of the diameter of the Earth or Venus. Mercury is the planet closest in size to the moon at 3,032 miles in diameter (4,879 km), about 40 percent larger than our moon. One of the reasons that Pluto was demoted to "dwarf planet" status was its small diameter of only 1,485 miles (2,390 km), two-thirds of the diameter of our moon.

Our moon is very large in proportion to its planet, Earth, more than any other moons in the solar system except for Pluto's moon Charon. But because other planets are much larger than Earth, several of their moons are much larger than ours, including three of Jupiter's moons (Io, Ganymede, and Callisto) and one of Saturn's (Titan). Of these, Ganymede is the largest at 3,270 miles (5,262 km), slightly larger than the planet Mercury.

The moon as a planet
Even if you don't own a telescope, looking at the moon with the naked eye can show you the challenges faced by planetary observers.

Earlier this week we saw Jupiter shining brightly alongside the moon. It would take a telescope magnifying about 40 times to make Jupiter appear as big as the moon does with the naked eye. When Mars was closest to Earth in 2003, it took a telescope magnifying 75 times to make Mars appear as big as the moon with the naked eye. At present Mars on the far side of the sun, and requires a telescope magnifying 430 times to make it appear as big as the moon does with the naked eye.

So, if you want an observing challenge similar to trying to spot Jupiter's Great Red Spot or Mars' polar cap, try observing detail on the moon with your naked eye.

The man in the moon
What most people see when they look at the moon is " the man in the moon." This is a pattern of light and dark caused by the albedo markings on the moon. ?Albedo? is a measure of how much light gets reflected by an area on a planet.

Darker areas on the moon's surface, which the early astronomers called "seas," although we now know that they are dry and airless, form the face of a man, in our mind?s eye. Or, they may form a woman, or a rabbit, depending on your culture. These are very similar to the dusky markings which astronomers observe with telescopes on Mars and Mercury, also called albedo markings.

If you try to sketch the markings you see on the moon, you will find, as experienced planetary observers do, that you can see much finer detail than the man in the moon. You should be able to see some of the smaller seas, such as the Mare Crisium, on the eastern limb of the moon, and one or two of the brighter craters, such as Tycho towards the southern limb.

Once you have tried to sketch the moon with your naked eye, try observing it with a small binocular. You will be amazed at how much more detail you can see, and will begin to experience the wonder Galileo must have felt when he first turned his primitive telescopes on the moon. There really is another world out there.

If you snap an amazing photo of the year's final full moon on Friday and would like to share it with SPACE.com for a potential story or gallery, submit photos and comments, including your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education , the leader in space science curriculum solutions. Follow Starry Night on Twitter @StarryNightEdu .

? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50297762/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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More Than Meets the Eye About Death, Dying, and Afterlife: Moving ...

?When an event occurs?such as the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut--that gets nationwide attention, it creates a huge, negative pool of energy in the collective consciousness of humanity. People respond with all kinds of emotions form anger at the perpetrator to sympathy for the victims.?

When the media focuses on the perpetrator of a hideous crime it activates the darkness in the minds of others who have considered doing something to gain public attention. No wonder we have similar events cropping up within weeks of such a calamity.

The day after the shooting in Connecticut, an empath friend of mine asked if I was doing okay. She hoped that I wasn?t being sucked in by the energy of grief that was engulfing the nation and being pumped by the media. I assured her that while I had compassion for the families who had lost loved ones in that shooting, I was not overcome with sorrow. It may sound callous or aloof to admit such a thing, but I know that every soul agrees to play a role at an unconscious level and brings about the circumstances it is involved in. So even if children?s bodies and earth lives were destroyed, their forever wise souls were not victims. Perhaps the lesson was part of that soul?s development plan; or the soul of a loved one affected by the tragedy may have learned something valuable from the experience. I?ve learned that it is not wise to intervene in this soul-awakening process.

If I were to add my grief to a situation like this, it would not bring back one of those dear children or adults who died that day. It would make me miserable because I?m sending my energy out where it doesn?t belong. I would be sticking my nose in someone else?s business, but it would not comfort the families. In fact, it would only intensify and prolong their grief. In my book, More Than Meets the Eye, I mentioned how our grieving affects the soul of the departed and keeps them around family members in the Earth plane. If a soul stays too long after departing the body, it can miss its opportunity to crossover. Thus, it can become Earthbound unless someone shows it the way to the light.

So what can we do when something hits the media and garners negative public attention like this? ?Let the dead bury the dead,? as Jesus said.

1. Send a beam of light and love to the grieving families and the departed souls
2. Send uplifting cards or letters to the families?anything that will create a lighter feeling surrounding the situation
3. If you know the family, reach out to them with a meal or other kind gesture.
4. Envision a portal of light for the departed souls to enter where they can cross over into a blissful afterlife?
5. Refrain from watching the media coverage and rehashing of the event?
6. Send a beam of light and love to others who are in darkness or are considering enacting violent crimes against others.?
7. Pray or meditate on world peace! Studies have shown repeatedly that when a large group of people pray, meditate, or direct their collective energy toward one purpose it has a huge effect. When a group of yogis gathered in Washington to meditate on a mantra the crime rate in that area went down as much as 24.6 percent. ?

?It will make a difference not only in how you feel, it will help souls move on, ease the grief of the families involved, and lessen the possibility of other crimes that tend to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information, you might enjoy reading my book,?More Than Meets the Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife.?Purchase paperback on Amazon.com. It's also on Amazon as an e-book for those who have Kindle or Sony Readers. The audio book is now available!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source: http://deathdyingafterlife.blogspot.com/2012/12/moving-on-after-national-tragedy.html

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Lakers beat Knicks 100-94 to get to .500

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The pieces of the puzzle that have been the Lakers' confounding season so far are starting to fall into place.

Kobe Bryant engineered a second-half comeback, the defense stepped up, and Los Angeles beat the New York Knicks 100-94 on Tuesday, extending its winning streak to five games.

"We're .500," a smiling Dwight Howard said. "We did it on Christmas, too. I knew this day would come."

Bryant scored 34 points in his NBA-record 15th Christmas Day game and Metta World Peace added 20 points and seven rebounds while defending Carmelo Anthony, whose 34 points led the Knicks. Anthony said he hyperextended his left knee, but expects to play on Wednesday in Phoenix.

Bryant, the league's leading scorer, has topped 30 or more points in nine straight games.

"If you're going to play on Christmas, it's always better to win. Makes it all worthwhile," said Bryant, who would soon hop a flight to Denver, getting there ahead of the Nuggets, who played the Clippers in the other half of the holiday doubleheader at Staples Center.

The Lakers improved to 14-14 ? 9-9 under new coach Mike D'Antoni ? and upped their holiday record to 21-18, including 13-9 at home. They returned to .500 for the first time since they were 8-8 on Nov. 30.

"It's so early in the season to have turned a corner," Bryant said. "We have everybody in the lineup and we're starting to see how we want to play."

The Knicks controlled most of the game behind Anthony and J.R. Smith, who had 24 points. But they struggled offensively in the fourth, when Anthony was limited to seven points and Smith had five as the Lakers' defense clamped down. World Peace fouled out with 1:58 to play and the Lakers ahead by four.

World Peace credited his defense on Anthony to "old-school basketball."

"I'm back in shape and it's a little tough to guard me," he said.

Steve Nash said: "This is what he's been doing all year. He gets his hands on a lot of balls, pounds on the other team's best guy. You can't win without that type of effort."

Smith's 3-pointer pulled New York to 96-94. After Pau Gasol made one of two free throws, Smith missed another 3 that would have tied the game at 97 with 32 seconds left.

"We missed a lot of easy shots, a lot of little chippers around the basket, shots that we normally make," Anthony said. "There were some plays that we thought should have went our way down the stretch, but for the most part, we fought. I'll take this effort any night. If we continue to play with this effort, we'll win a lot of games."

With Bryant double-teamed, Nash passed to Gasol, who dunked with 12 seconds to go, punctuating a win that sent Lakers fans, frustrated by the team's struggles and coaching change, home happy. The Lakers avenged a 116-107 loss in New York on Dec. 13.

A smiling Howard called Gasol's driving slam "a submarine dunk because he was very low to the ground."

Gasol responded, "I don't dunk as often as I used to so it felt good. I took it right down the lane and finished strong."

Nash had 16 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in his second game in nearly two months. He missed 24 straight games while recovering from a small fracture in his lower left leg. Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Gasol had 13 points and eight rebounds.

"It was an important win for us as we were a little bit desperate," Nash said. "We've gone through a lot since Mike Brown ? new coach, new offense. It's been a difficult transition."

Bryant had eight of the Lakers' first 10 points to open the fourth during a run that provided their first lead since the opening quarter in a game matching the two teams that have played the most on Christmas Day.

They took the lead for good on Bryant's basket with 7:38 remaining. Anthony and Tyson Chandler were in foul trouble in the fourth, with Chandler fouling out late.

"They just were a little bit more aggressive," Anthony said. "Kobe got it going and Steve Nash hit some big shots down the stretch. When you have a guy like Nash doing that, it's kind of tough. Those guys know how to play. They've been waiting for Steve Nash to get back, so it's just a matter of then sticking it out until he did."

The Knicks opened the third on a 15-5 run, with Anthony setting up on the perimeter and hitting two 3-pointers as part of his 10 points that stretched their lead to 61-53. His jumper provided the Knicks' largest lead of the game, 69-60.

Bryant and Nash ignited the quiet atmosphere by leading a 17-9 run that drew the Lakers to 78-77 going into the fourth. They combined to score 15 points, although Bryant missed two free throws to end the third that would have given the Lakers their first lead since early in the game.

The Knicks' earlier roll dissolved in missed shots and a technical on Chandler for arguing a call.

"We were more determined, fought for everything," Nash said about the second half.

World Peace scored 16 points in the second quarter, including eight in a row, when the Lakers played catch-up most of the way. His 3-pointer gave the Lakers their first lead of the period with 1:10 remaining. Smith tied it up with a free throw before Nash's jumper sent the Lakers into halftime leading 51-49.

"We're playing really well together," World Peace said. "Kobe is really playing excellent now. He's still being aggressive on the offensive end, but he's giving everybody a chance to be aggressive. Pau is making strong, aggressive moves."

Bryant scored the Lakers' final nine points of the first quarter to give them a 25-23 lead. D'Antoni's plan of having Darius Morris guard Anthony didn't last long after he scored five of the Knicks' first seven points.

"I thought he'd get warmed up before he started firing," World Peace said.

NOTES: Bryant surpassed Oscar Robertson as the league's all-time Christmas Day scorer with 383 points. Robertson had 377. ... Knicks F/C Amare Stoudemire shot some before the game. He's been out all season after left knee surgery. "I'm not quite there yet, but I'm making progress," he said. "I've just got to stay patient and stay ready. We've been doing extremely intense work, as far as cardio." ... Knicks C Marcus Camby had four points and four rebounds in 8 minutes. He's been sidelined by a sore left foot and barely played this season. ... Asked about Bryant as an MVP candidate, D'Antoni said, "You can't put anybody MVP if you're below .500." ... In their only other Christmas Day meeting in 1963, the Lakers beat the Knicks 134-126 behind 47 points by Jerry West and 27 from Elgin Baylor. ... Nash said the gift bags in their lockers with the tag, "From Kobe Merry Xmas 2012" contained headphones. "Can't ever have enough," he said. ... The Lakers were all in white, while the Knicks were all in orange down to their socks in a color similar to Syracuse. ... Among the celebs holidaying at Staples Center were Rihanna and Chris Brown, Adam Levine, Samuel L. Jackson, George Lopez and Richard Lewis. Vanessa Bryant and her two young daughters sat courtside opposite the Lakers bench.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lakers-beat-knicks-100-94-500-230327781--spt.html

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Syrian rebels fully capture town near Turkey

This Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrians helping a wounded man after a government airstrike hit the Hama Suburb of Halfaya, Syria. A government airstrike Sunday on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed tens of people, which left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen wounded were trapped in tangled heap of dirt and rubble, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

This Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrians helping a wounded man after a government airstrike hit the Hama Suburb of Halfaya, Syria. A government airstrike Sunday on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed tens of people, which left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen wounded were trapped in tangled heap of dirt and rubble, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

This Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Free Syrian Army fighters running towards the scene after a government airstrike hit Hama Suburb of Halfaya, Syria. A government airstrike Sunday on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed tens of people, which left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen wounded were trapped in tangled heap of dirt and rubble, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

Free Syrian Army fighters walk amid the ruins of a village situated a short distance from an area where fighting between rebels and government forces continues, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Virginie Nguyen Hoang)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian rebels fully captured a northern town near the Turkish border on Tuesday after weeks of siege and heavy fighting, activists said.

The takeover of Harem, a town of 20,000 in northern Idlib province, was the latest in a string of recent rebel successes that include the capture of wide areas along the border with Turkey. Most of those areas have been in northern Aleppo province, where anti-government forces have captured at least three large military bases.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels captured Harem in the early hours of Tuesday. Mohammed Kanaan, an Idlib-based activist, said the last post to be taken was the historic citadel, which overlooked the town. The army had turned the citadel into a military post.

"Harem is fully liberated now," Kanaan he said via Skype. He added that as the rebels pounded army posts and checkpoints in Harem, the troops withdrew to the citadel that later fell in the hands of rebels.

Rami-Abdul-Rahman, who heads to Observatory, said nearly 30 soldiers and pro-government gunmen surrendered late Monday. He added that rebels set free all gunmen at the age of 16 or less and referred others to local tribunals.

"Harem was very important because it is one of the towns that was loyal to the regime," Abdul-Rahman said by telephone about the town that is nearly a mile from the Turkish border.

In his traditional Christmas address, Pope Benedict XVI decried the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria, where anti-regime activists estimate more than 40,000 have died in fighting since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule began in March 2011.

The pope encouraged Arab spring nations, where long-serving dictators were forced to step down.

In Aleppo province, which neighbors Idlib, local activist Mohammed Saeed said rebels attacked a military base in the town of Mannagh near the border with Turkey. He said it is one of four air bases in the province.

Regime forces have been using helicopters to carry supplies to besieged areas and to attack rebel positions.

The regime has had increasing difficulty sending supplies by land to Aleppo province after rebels captured in October the strategic town Maaret al-Numan. The town is on the highway that links Damascus with Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial center and a major battleground in the civil war since July.

"Airplanes and helicopters are the only way to send supplies since the Free Syrian Army controls the land," Saeed said. He added that rebels are also laying a siege to Aleppo's international airport known as Nairab and threatening to shoot down military or civilians planes using it.

In the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, opposition gunmen ambushed the head of military intelligence in the area and seriously wounded him. He later died of his wounds, the Observatory said.

In Israel, top officials said they cannot corroborate Syrian activists' claims that the regime has used chemical weapons against its citizens.

Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio that Israel has "no confirmation or proof" the regime has employed such weapons in the civil war. He says Israel is "monitoring the situation with concern."

Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad told Israel Radio that Syria was closely guarding its chemical weapons stockpiles.

On Monday, the Observatory quoted activists in the central city of Homs as saying that six rebels died in two neighborhoods the day before after inhaling white smoke that came out of shells fired by government troops in the area. Amateur videos released by activists showed men in hospital beds suffering breathing problems as doctors placed oxygen masks over their faces.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-25-ML-Syria/id-a481c80a91f4470ca3f889fc6dcd7bc6

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Turn your Linux PC into a gaming machine | News | TechRadar

Linux-based operating systems have long been the alternative OS for us PC users, but there are several reasons why they haven't garnered the mainstream following they perhaps deserve.

Most of the issues stem from the unfamiliar way they work compared with the operating system we've all used a million times before: Windows.

For most of its life it's demanded that its users get elbow deep into command lines - something most of us forgot when Windows 95 happened. It's also had very patchy support for different components, and gaming on a Linux box was generally an exercise in needless frustration.

Things are changing quickly though, and the latest versions of Linux stalwart Ubuntu have been increasingly familiar and functional, and more importantly, easier for the general public to use and get their heads around.

With Windows 8 radically changing the way you interact with your operating system, demanding that you learn these new ways before you can feel comfortable in the new Windows' new surroundings, it's never been a better time to pick up a Linux distribution and learn the ropes on something that's a lot more customisable.

When it comes to gaming though, things are still a little tricky. Gaming through WINE is still rather hit and miss, but the good news is there's a version of steam built specifically for Linux setups that could ensure Linux gaming becomes a viable alternative to the Microsoft-dominated PC scene.

Component compatibility is something the manufacturers will have to become more au fait with though, and we're going to investigate just how well the big players are doing right now.

We've picked some of the most vital parts for penguin-based systems - the processor, graphics card and solid state drives - to see how they fair in the alternative operating system.

We'll see how they get on with the latest manufacturers' drivers and, where we can, with any open source drivers that might be available.

Can you still be a gaming, component-swapping guru running a Linux-based PC? We say hell yes, but you're going to have to be picky with the parts for penguins.

Source: http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/turn-your-linux-pc-into-a-gaming-machine-1118683

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Retailers hope last minute Christmas shoppers bring good cheer (reuters)

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Ravens beat Giants 33-14 to win AFC North

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, right, is sacked by Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo in the first half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, right, is sacked by Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo in the first half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, left, rushes past New York Giants strong safety Stevie Brown for a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

New York Giants free safety Antrel Rolle (26) knocks Baltimore Ravens running back Bernard Pierce, left, out of bounds as Pierce was rushing the ball in the first half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) attempts to rush past New York Giants defenders in the first half of an NFL football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Giants running back David Wilson flips after scoring a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

BALTIMORE (AP) ? A celebration four weeks in the making featured laughs and hugs, a surprise appearance by team owner Steve Bisciotti and the distribution of hats announcing the Baltimore Ravens' stature as AFC North champions.

Joe Flacco threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, and the Ravens defeated the New York Giants 33-14 Sunday to end a three-game losing streak to secure their second straight division crown.

"It feels good," wide receiver Torrey Smith said in the upbeat locker room. "I'm just glad we finally got it done."

The Ravens (10-5) led 24-7 at halftime and cruised behind a short-handed defense that harassed quarterback Eli Manning and limited New York to 186 yards.

Playing its second game with Jim Caldwell as offensive coordinator, Baltimore scored touchdowns on its first two possessions and amassed a season-high 533 yards ? 289 in the first half alone.

"It's about execution, man. It's a simple word, but it's a very tough task to do," said running back Ray Rice, who ran for 107 yards and caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. "This was a championship game for us."

After ending their longest losing streak since 2009, the Ravens are assured a home playoff game on the first weekend of January.

"We know what's at stake. We want the AFC championship and it starts tonight," safety James Ihedigbo said. "We're not looking at regular season. Playoffs started for us and we're going to keep on playing."

The defeat eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Giants (8-7) from contention in the NFC East and severely damaged their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.

New York has lost five of seven and was coming off a 34-0 defeat at Atlanta. In this one, Manning went 14 for 28 for 150 yards and was sacked three times.

"Obviously, we have a bad formula going on right here," coach Tom Coughlin said. "We're having trouble stopping people and our offense doesn't hold the ball at all to give the defense a chance to catch their breath. We've had two games in a row, pretty much the exact same scenario."

Flacco, meanwhile, rebounded from a stretch in which he committed two turnovers in each of Baltimore's three straight defeats. He completed 25 of 36 passes, ran for a score and did not throw an interception or lose a fumble.

He repeatedly picked on cornerback Corey Webster, who simply couldn't contain Smith or Anquan Boldin. Smith caught five passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Boldin finished with seven receptions for 93 yards.

Backup Bernard Pierce gained 123 yards as part of a running attack that generated 224 yards.

Baltimore's defense was also impressive despite missing injured linebackers Ray Lewis and Jameel McClain, along with safety Bernard Pollard.

New York fell out of a first-place tie in the NFC East. The Giants will need a win over Philadelphia next week and help from other teams to squeeze into the postseason.

"I feel badly for everyone in that locker room because they can't turn this thing around either," Coughlin said. "What has happened over the course of the last couple of weeks is very difficult to explain. We just don't look like a well-oiled machine offensively at all."

Said Manning: "We knew we had to play our best football at the end of the season to get into the playoffs, and we haven't done that. When you're not playing your best, teams can come out and embarrass you."

Baltimore's first drive ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Smith after officials overturned a fumble by Jacoby Jones at the New York 5 following a replay review.

The 73-yard march featured a few new wrinkles from the Ravens, most notably an option pitch from Flacco to Rice. and third-string running back Anthony Allen's first catch of the season, a first-down grab at the New York 40.

After the Giants went three-and-out for a second straight time, Smith made an outstanding catch behind Webster for a 43-yard gain and Flacco scored from the 1.

Manning followed with a 43-yard completion to Rueben Randle before David Wilson ran 14 yards for a touchdown. New York didn't score again until Domenik Hixon caught a 13-yard touchdown pass with 3:18 left.

After racking up 52 points against New Orleans, the Giants have totaled 14 in the past two weeks.

"All we can do is go out and get back to playing better football," Manning said.

The Ravens went up 17-7 midway through the second quarter. After Boldin burned Webster for 39-yard gain on a third-and-19, a replay erased a 9-yard touchdown catch by Jones and forced Baltimore to settle for a field goal.

Late in the half, the Ravens moved 76 yards in seven plays for a 24-7 lead. Flacco went 5 for 5, including a 27-yard touchdown pass to Rice.

Baltimore opted for ball control in the second half, and the Giants were powerless to stop it. The Ravens moved 82 yards in 16 plays, holding the ball for just short of eight minutes, before Justin Tucker kicked a 20-yard field goal.

The lead became 30-7 when Tucker concluded a 13-play, 62-yard drive with a 30-yard field goal. Tucker added his fourth field goal after a 78-yard run by Pierce.

NOTES: Flacco has thrown for a career-high 3,783 yards this season. ... New York defensive linemen Marvin Austin and Chris Canty both left with knee injuries. ... Boldin hurt his shoulder in the third quarter and did not return. ... Baltimore has won 10 straight regular-season home finales and has 13 consecutive home victories over NFC foes. ... It was only the fifth time in 47 games that New York did not force a turnover.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-23-Giants-Ravens/id-cdf1e4a48fc44cfe8dc8c02382c4d047

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Audits of businesses for illegal immigrants rising

SEATTLE (AP) ? U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached its highest number yet of companies audited for illegal immigrants on their payrolls this past fiscal year.

Audits of employer I-9 forms increased from 250 in fiscal year 2007 to more than 3,000 in 2012. From fiscal years 2009 to 2012, the total amount of fines grew to nearly $13 million from $1 million. The number of company managers arrested has increased to 238, according to data provided by ICE.

The investigations of companies have been one of the pillars of President Barack Obama's immigration policy.

When Obama recently spoke about addressing immigration reform in his second term, he said any measure should contain penalties for companies that purposely hire illegal immigrants. It's not a new stand, but one he will likely highlight as his administration launches efforts to revamp the nation's immigration system.

"Our goal is compliance and deterrence," said Brad Bench, special agent in charge at ICE's Seattle office. "The majority of the companies we do audits on end up with no fines at all, but again it's part of the deterrence method. If companies know we're out there, looking across the board, they're more likely to bring themselves into compliance."

While the administration has used those numbers to bolster their record on immigration enforcement, advocates say the audits have pushed workers further underground by causing mass layoffs and disrupted business practices.

When the ICE audit letter arrived at Belco Forest Products, management wasn't entirely surprised. Two nearby businesses in Shelton, a small timber town on a bay off Washington state's Puget Sound, had already been investigated.

But the 2010 inquiry became a months-long process that cost the timber company experienced workers and money. It was fined $17,700 for technicalities on their record keeping.

"What I don't like is the roll of the dice," said Belco's chief financial officer Tom Behrens. "Why do some companies get audited and some don't? Either everyone gets audited or nobody does. Level the playing field."

Belco was one of 339 companies fined in fiscal year 2011 and one of thousands audited that year.

Employers are required to have their workers fill out an I-9 form that declares them authorized to work in the country. Currently, an employer needs only to verify that identifying documents look real.

The audits, part of a $138 million worksite enforcement effort, rely on ICE officers scouring over payroll records to find names that don't match Social Security numbers and other identification databases.

The audits "don't make any sense before a legalization program," said Daniel Costa, an immigration policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "You're leaving the whole thing up to an employer's eyesight and subjective judgment, that's the failure of the law. There's no verification at all. Then you have is the government making a subjective judgment about subjective judgment."

An AP review of audits that resulted in fines in fiscal year 2011 shows that the federal government is fining industries across the country reliant on manual labor and that historically have hired immigrants. The data provides a glimpse into the results of a process affecting thousands of companies and thousands of workers nationwide.

Over the years, ICE has switched back-and-forth between making names of the companies fined public or not. Lately, ICE has emphasized its criminal investigations of managers, such as a Dunkin' Donuts manager in Maine sentenced to home arrest for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants or a manager of an Illinois hiring firm who got 18 months in prison.

Many employers also wonder how ICE picks the companies it probes.

"Geography is not a factor. The size of the company is not a factor. And the industry it's in is not a factor. We can audit any company anywhere of any size," Bench said. He added ICE auditors follow leads from the public, other employers, employees and do perform some random audits.

But ICE auditors hit ethnic stores, restaurants, bakeries, manufacturing companies, construction, food packaging, janitorial services, catering, dairies and farms. The aviation branch of corporate giant GE, franchises of sandwich shop Subway and a subsidiary of food product company Heinz were among some of the companies with national name recognition. GE was fined $2,000.

In fiscal year 2011, the most recent year reviewed by AP, the median fine was $11,000. The state with the most workplaces fined was Texas with 63, followed by New Jersey with 37.

The lowest fine was $90 to a Massachusetts fishing company. The highest fine was $394,944 to an employment agency in Minneapolis, according to the data released to AP through a public records request.

A Subway spokesman said the company advises franchise owners to follow the law. A Heinz spokesman declined comment.

Bench didn't have specifics on what percentage of fines come from companies having illegal immigrants on their payroll, as opposed to technical paperwork fines in recent years.

Julie Wood, a former deputy director at ICE who now runs a consulting firm, said she'd like to see the burden of proving the legality of a company's workforce go from the employer to the government. She'd like to see a type of program, such as E-Verify, be implemented with the I-9 employment form. E-Verify is a voluntary and free program for private employers that checks a workers eligibility.

"At the end of the day, the fine is the least of it," she said. "Usually the company will spend more on legal fees. But it is a huge headache for the company to lose workers."

Wood said she'd like to see the agency go after more criminal charges and focus on companies that treat workers inhumanely.

___

Manuel Valdes can be reached at http://twitter.com/ByManuelValdes

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/audits-businesses-illegal-immigrants-rising-145151455--finance.html

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) ? It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible ? partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.

Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including drug use and easy access to guns can increase the likelihood of violence, experts say.

But warning signs "only become crystal clear in the aftermath, said James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminology professor who has studied and written about mass killings.

"They're yellow flags. They only become red flags once the blood is spilled," he said.

Whether 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who used his mother's guns to kill her and then 20 children and six adults at their Connecticut school, made any hints about his plans isn't publicly known.

Fox said that sometimes, in the days, weeks or months preceding their crimes, mass murderers voice threats, or hints, either verbally or in writing, things like "'don't come to school tomorrow,'" or "'they're going to be sorry for mistreating me.'" Some prepare by target practicing, and plan their clothing "as well as their arsenal." (Police said Lanza went to shooting ranges with his mother in the past but not in the last six months.)

Although words might indicate a grudge, they don't necessarily mean violence will follow. And, of course, most who threaten never act, Fox said.

Even so, experts say threats of violence from troubled teens and young adults should be taken seriously and parents should attempt to get them a mental health evaluation and treatment if needed.

"In general, the police are unlikely to be able to do anything unless and until a crime has been committed," said Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a Columbia University professor of psychiatry, medicine and law. "Calling the police to confront a troubled teen has often led to tragedy."

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry says violent behavior should not be dismissed as "just a phase they're going through."

In a guidelines for families, the academy lists several risk factors for violence, including:

?Previous violent or aggressive behavior

?Being a victim of physical or sexual abuse

?Guns in the home

?Use of drugs or alcohol

?Brain damage from a head injury

Those with several of these risk factors should be evaluated by a mental health expert if they also show certain behaviors, including intense anger, frequent temper outbursts, extreme irritability or impulsiveness, the academy says. They may be more likely than others to become violent, although that doesn't mean they're at risk for the kind of violence that happened in Newtown, Conn.

Lanza, the Connecticut shooter, was socially withdrawn and awkward, and has been said to have had Asperger's disorder, a mild form of autism that has no clear connection with violence.

Autism experts and advocacy groups have complained that Asperger's is being unfairly blamed for the shootings, and say people with the disorder are much more likely to be victims of bullying and violence by others.

According to a research review published this year in Annals of General Psychiatry, most people with Asperger's who commit violent crimes have serious, often undiagnosed mental problems. That includes bipolar disorder, depression and personality disorders. It's not publicly known if Lanza had any of these, which in severe cases can include delusions and other psychotic symptoms.

Young adulthood is when psychotic illnesses typically emerge, and Appelbaum said there are several signs that a troubled teen or young adult might be heading in that direction: isolating themselves from friends and peers, spending long periods alone in their rooms, plummeting grades if they're still in school and expressing disturbing thoughts or fears that others are trying to hurt them.

Appelbaum said the most agonizing calls he gets are from parents whose children are descending into severe mental illness but who deny they are sick and refuse to go for treatment.

And in the case of adults, forcing them into treatment is difficult and dependent on laws that vary by state.

All states have laws that allow some form of court-ordered treatment, typically in a hospital for people considered a danger to themselves or others. Connecticut is among a handful with no option for court-ordered treatment in a less restrictive community setting, said Kristina Ragosta, an attorney with the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national group that advocates better access to mental health treatment.

Lanza's medical records haven't been publicly disclosed and authorities haven't said if it is known what type of treatment his family may have sought for him. Lanza killed himself at the school.

Jennifer Hoff of Mission Viejo, Calif. has a 19-year-old bipolar son who has had hallucinations, delusions and violent behavior for years. When he was younger and threatened to harm himself, she'd call 911 and leave the door unlocked for paramedics, who'd take him to a hospital for inpatient mental care.

Now that he's an adult, she said he has refused medication, left home, and authorities have indicated he can't be forced into treatment unless he harms himself ? or commits a violent crime and is imprisoned. Hoff thinks prison is where he's headed ? he's in jail, charged in an unarmed bank robbery.

___

Online:

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: http://www.aacap.org

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/predicting-whos-risk-violence-isnt-easy-083151325.html

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Abby's World: HEALTH AND FITNESS : 3 BLOGGERS YOU ...

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Film Threat - The Road To The End

When I was a kid, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I acted out scenes from the first two films in my backyard with friends, and generally had lots of fun in Indiana Jones world. I never thought to film it, but some did, and those adventurous filmmakers are now older, and have a book written about their experience. My point in saying that is, even though it would be easy to dismiss a fan film made by children or young adults as simply just Pretend Time on Camera, that doesn?t necessarily mean it?s a bad thing. Every filmmaker has to start somewhere, and to be a filmmaker you must make films to perfect your craft and learn more.

Which brings us to Jason Wright?s short Lord of the Rings fan film, The Road to the End. In it, Wright, as Frodo, travels along with Gollum (Brian Wright) in his quest to rid Middle-earth of the One Ring and the evils of Sauron. While it takes some artistic license (where?s Sam?), the fan film seeks to shed a bit more light on how Frodo comes to understand Gollum?s plight, and sympathize, with someone whose life may be a sign of Frodo?s fate, should he never part with the One Ring. It?s a noble idea.

In practice, though, it is much like the criticisms lodged at Jackson?s own work, with some fan film-specific ones thrown in. The narrative is predominantly just Frodo and Gollum walking around. They may have a moment here or there of conflict, but there?s no real tale in there, beyond what we already know of the grander story. Because of the narrative?s lack of arc or conflict, it begins to feel repetitious and long, without focus.

Other criticisms are technical ones that are obvious, and born of both the filmmaker?s youthful nature and potential lack of resources. Gollum, for instance, was never going to be a motion-captured creation anywhere near what Peter Jackson came up with, but he could?ve been more than just a kid in a grey shirt and black shorts and sneakers, running around on all fours. Maybe some make-up? It?d probably be easier to accept Gollum?s lack of art direction in costuming if Frodo?s wasn?t so well done. Save the flip-flops on his feet, costume-wise, Frodo looks every bit the hobbit we?ve seen in other incarnations of the character.

Now, having said all that, the film has a number of strengths. The edit is extremely well-done; if it feels long, it?s not the pacing so much as it is the story. Additionally, despite the limited resources concerning the camera utilized, it is shot with a brilliant eye for composition. In other words, the film shows a true talent for filmmaking, shot composition and editing, including on the audio side of things.

Because, honestly, this isn?t that far off from being something truly strong; take off the flip-flops, and maybe wear a wig or let the hair grow out, and you?ve solved the criticisms of Frodo. Come up with a way to make Gollum look less like a kid in regular clothes, and that one?s taken care of too (the performance, outside the look, is great). Then you?re left with finding a story, which is no doubt the more difficult one to tackle, but also the most important. Sometimes that?s just a case of time or, worst case scenario, finding someone else who can write a great tale.

The Road to the End was shot in 2003, hence the young look of those involved (considering they?re all out of high school now), and I?m very impressed with the filmmaking involved. The talent was there, the skills were getting there; if this is what Wright was capable of making as a kid, I?m curious as to what he?s making now, nine years later.

This film was submitted for review through our Submission for Review system. If you have a film you?d like us to see, and we aren?t already looking into it on our own, you too can utilize this service.

Posted on December 22, 2012 in Reviews by Mark Bell

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Source: http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/59159/

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8 High-Tech Vending Machines

We know that 3D printing is making it easier for inventors everywhere to create prototypes of their designs. At Virginia Tech, students can even get a prototype the same way they'd buy a can of Coke. The campus is now home to the Dream Vendor, a one-of-a-kind vending machine made up of four Makerbot Thing-O-Matic 3D printers, each one loaded with a different-color plastic. Users insert a personal SD card loaded with a file of their CAD-drawn 3D model into one of the machine's four interface boards. The selected printer then builds the 3D model layer by layer in cross-sections.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/gonzo/8-high-tech-vending-machines?src=rss

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Corrections

Photograph by Gabriela Insuratelu.

In a Dec. 20 ?Crime? blog post, Justin Peters referred to the AR-15 semi-automatic as an "assault rifle." Though the AR-15 could be correctly referred to as an "assault weapon" or an "assault-style rifle," an "assault rifle" specifically refers to a rifle with fully automatic firing capability.

In a Dec. 19 ?Brow Beat,? Aisha Harris misspelled the name of the character of Marullus from the play Julius Caesar.

In the Dec. 19 ?The Kids,? Melinda Wenner Moyer stated that about 70 percent of the population are ?super-tasters.? It?s ?super-tasters? and ?tasters? combined that make up 70 percent of the population. ?

In the Dec. 19 ?Map of the Week,? Chris Kirk reported that nine people were killed in a 2006 school shooting at Duquesne University; no one was killed. Kirk also misstated the total number of fatalities from school shootings since 1980; 297 have been killed, not 311. And Kirk misstated the number of fatal school-shooting incidents; there have been 137, not 196.

In a Dec. 19 ?Movies,? Dana Stevens wrote that film director Michael Haneke is French. He is Austrian.

In a Dec. 18 ?Explainer,? Forrest Wickman wrote that a school shooting at Pearl High School in Mississippi happened in 2006. It happened in 1997.

In a Dec. 18 ?Politics,? John Dickerson stated that before Newt Gingrich, Nicholas Longworth was the only speaker of the House to serve consecutive terms in the intervening 66 years. He was the only Republican speaker to serve consecutive terms during that period.

In a Dec. 18 ?Television,? John Swansburg misidentified the season in which one of his favorite scenes from the series Happy Endings occurred. It was from the second season, not the first.

In a Dec. 17 ?DoubleX,? Porochista Khakpour stated that women report gun ownership at a rate that?s 9 percent lower than the rate for men. The difference is nine percentage points.

In a Dec. 17 ?Explainer,? Mark Joseph Stern wrote that grips and mounts can modify the power of a semi-automatic gun (they modify the ease of use); that machine guns are mounted to a wall or rail (they often are, but not always); that a pistol is a firearm with a single, nonrevolving chamber (some pistols are, but not all); that no revolvers are semi-automatic (none are fully automatic); and that James Holmes bought his weapons on the Internet (he bought his ammunition on the Internet). Stern also defined a rifle as a firearm with grooves on its barrel walls. Many other modern firearms, including handguns, have rifled barrels; more precisely, a rifle is a long-barreled gun with such grooves.

In a Dec. 17 "Future Tense" blog post, Fruzsina E?rd?gh misidentified Sara Morrison's title at the Columbia Journalism Review. She is an assistant editor.

Due to an editing error, a Dec. 17 "Future Tense" listed the incorrect time for an online discussion on the website Muck Rack about social media and PTSD. It was at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific on Dec. 18, not 5 p.m. Eastern.

In a Dec. 17 "Slatest" post on the history of black senators, Josh Voorhees misstated how much time had passed between the elections of Sen. Blanche Bruce and Sen. Edward Brooke. He also misstated the years of Bruce's single Senate term.

In a Dec. 17 ?Weigel? post, David Weigel incorrectly claimed that part of a quote attributed to Chuck Hagel in an anonymous memo appearing in the Weekly Standard was "phony." The quote was accurate. (Read a fuller explanation by Weigel here.)

In a Dec. 17 ?XX Factor? post, Hanna Rosin misspelled blogger Liza Long?s last name.

In a Dec. 13 ?Moneybox? post, Matthew Yglesias wrote that budget deficits in the 2000s would have been higher had the Bush tax cuts been somewhat smaller. The deficits would have been lower in that case.

Slate?strives to correct all errors of fact. If you've seen an error in our pages, let us know at?corrections@slate.com. General comments should be?posted?in our comments sections at the bottom of each article.

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