Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Sabritas Firebombing Attack: Knights Templar Lieutenant Detained In Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- A drug cartel lieutenant has been detained in a series of firebombing attacks on Mexican potato-chip company Sabritas, a subsidiary of U.S. food giant PepsiCo. Businessmen and experts said Monday the attacks were the first coordinated targeting of a multinational company in Mexico's 5 1/2-year-long drug war.

Five Sabritas warehouses and vehicle lots were attacked Friday and Saturday in the Mexican states of Michoacan and Guanajuato. Witnesses in one case described armed, masked men who tossed firebombs and torched dozens of the company's distribution trucks and some warehouses.

Gerardo Gutierrez, president of Mexico's Business Coordinating Council, said Monday that it was "an isolated case" of the kind of extortion that gangs have previously practiced with small and medium-sized businesses. He called on authorities to act immediately to prevent the practice from spreading.

"What we cannot allow is for this kind of isolated case to become generalized," Gutierrez said. "The authorities have to take forceful action."

In a speech to an anti-crime conference Monday, President Felipe Calderon said drug cartels threaten growth and development and called them "an obstacle to prosperity because they attack companies large and small."

The state attorney general's office in Guanajuato confirmed Monday that several suspects had been detained in the attacks there, and that one was identified as a lieutenant of the Knights Templar drug cartel. The office did not suggest a possible motive.

Alejandro Hope, a security analyst and former official in Mexico's CISEN intelligence agency, said it was the first attack he could recall against a transnational company in Mexico. Even in Mexico's most violent city, Ciudad Juarez, the warring drug gangs have largely left alone the many foreign-operated assembly plants known as maquiladoras.

"In Ciudad Juarez, they practically never tried to blackmail the maquiladoras," Hope said. "They focused more on small businesses ... they are easier targets, and with an industrial firm, one doesn't know exactly who to blackmail. It's not as clear who signed the checks or controls the checkbook."

The huge state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos oil company has suffered hundreds of non-violent fuel thefts from pipelines and the kidnapping of some employees. But only leftist rebels have tried to set fire to its facilities.

In a statement issued Sunday, PepsiCo said five distribution centers were damaged, but no one was injured in the attacks and the amount of the damages had not been calculated.

The company appeared to respond to emails that circulated in Michoacan, home of the Knights Templar drug cartel, suggesting the attacks were revenge for the unproven allegation that prosecutors used Sabritas' extensive fleet of delivery trucks to gather intelligence.

"We repeat that in accordance with our code of conduct, all of our operations are carried out in the current regulatory framework and our vehicles and facilities are used exclusively to carry our products to our customer and clients," the company said. The company would not say whether that statement responded to the spying allegations.

Hope said such a spying scenario sounded unlikely, if not impossible. Sabritas employs more than 70,000 people and has a nationwide delivery fleet of about 14,500 trucks that are a common sight even in the most dangerous and remote parts of Mexico.

Hope said the attacks may not represent a new stage in drug gang extortions, but rather stem from the peculiar characteristics of the Knights Templar, a pseudo-religious cartel that split from Michoacan's La Familia cartel in 2011.

The Knights Templar organization is a relatively local, minor player in drug smuggling, trafficking mainly in methamphetamines and marijuana. With little access to the more lucrative cocaine and heroin business, cartel members have sought to raise money from other criminal activities.

"The Knights Templar have been more aggressive in their use of extortion and alternative sources (of income) than practically any other cartel, except the Zetas," Hope said. The hyperviolent Zetas cartel was formed along Mexico's Gulf coast by deserters from an elite military unit and has been linked to the extortion and kidnapping of civilians.

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Army wife's song strikes chord with military spouses; supports Fisher House

Stars and Stripes

Published: May 26, 2012

The wife of a U.S. soldier stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, has released a song, "There You Go Again" dealing with the all too familiar heartache military families face when the military member deploys.

The song, by Olivia Perez-Breland is available on iTunes, and the artist said she will donate half the proceeds to the Fisher House Foundation, which supports military families.

A video of the song posted on YouTube last month has garnered more than 43,000 hits and seems to be striking a chord among listeners.

"This song gave me chills and tears," one comment said. "My husband and I just got done with a deployment a few months ago and It made me think of everything I thought about when he was gone. This is now my favorite song."

Perez-Breland said she produced the video using Schofield soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and their families bracing for the long separation.

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Cauterisation in Ayurveda ? Cures Various Diseases

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Cauterisation is also known as Agnikarma. In case of Cauterisation in Ayurveda, Agni that is fire is involved. Therefore, it is known in ayurvedic term as Agnikarma. This treatment is also known as Dahan Karma. In cauterization process, the affected body part is burnt or destroyed with the help of hot instrument or caustic agent or an electric current or by freezing.

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Why Cauterization is important?

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Cauterisation in Ayurveda is much superior to any other medical therapy or surgery due to the following reasons:

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? Diseases that cannot be cured with the help of surgery, medical therapy can be cured with Cauterisation in Ayurveda.

? By cauterization relapse of disease never occur

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Following substances are utilized for Cauterization

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? Pippali

? Cow's tooth

? Faces of goat

? Arrow

? Bhallatak seed

? Honey

? Jambavaustha

? Jaggery

? Ghee

? Probes, Metallic Instruments, needles, rings or metal coins

?

Cauterisation in Ayurveda is Performed on:

? Skin

? Muscle

? It can also be performed on ligaments, blood vessels, bones, joints, or as per the requirement and disease

Types of Cauterization

? Improper cauterization

? Inadequate cauterization

? Excess or strong cauterization

? Proper cauterization

Cauterization procedure:

Pretreatment

? It is necessary to examine the patient very carefully whether he really needs this treatment.

? The patient must be in empty stomach.

However, if there are conditions like oral cavity disease, fistula in ano, or renal calculus then it is not necessary and the patient can have light diet.

? Before cauterisation TT injection must be given

? CBC and Blood sugar test must also be done?

? The area where cauterisation has to be performed must be marked and cleaned.

? Never use spirit, however normal saline can be used

Main procedure

? Heat the instrument for causterisation properly

? Before performing Cauterisation paint the area with bhallataka oil

Pattern of Cauterisation is based upon the lesion

? For tumors use circular pattern

? If the lesion length is greater then use linear pattern

? At blood vessels use dotted pattern

? On the skin use flat design

It is essential to know what kind of cauterization is required to be done based on the condition of the patient

? ? During the process there must be cracking sound

? ? While burning skin or hair there will be bad odor

? ? skin gets contracted

? ? skin becomes reddish color

After treatment

The wounded area must be painted with honey or ghee. Yashti madhughrita or Shatadhautaghrita can also be used. It will help to reduce burning sensation and also the healing process will boost up.

? If the pain is too much then pain killers may be taken

? If the cauterization is done properly there will be relief. The patient will feel light and the discharge will cease.

Cauterisation can be performed during all seasons except summer and autumn. However, in case of emergency with the consent of patient it can be performed. The expert must take all kinds precaution based on the season, so that the patient can heal properly.

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Android apps of the day [May 27, 2012]

Today's Apps

  • Smart Launcher [Automatically save shortcuts to your favorite apps in a folder for easy access]
  • Android Pro Widgets [Widgets pack that comes with widgets for Agenda & Calendar, Contacts, Bookmarks, Messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader]
  • Meta Widget [Homescreen widget that parses and displays any content from a website]

Subscribe to our Android section to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail

About Android Apps of the Day

Android has over 450,000 apps. With so many apps out there, app discovery (aka finding new and useful apps) is extremely difficult. With our Android Apps of the Day initiative, dotTech aims to change that. Everyday we post three apps, allowing our readers to discover new apps, daily. Enjoy! [Subscribe to our Android section to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail]

Developers: Click here to get your apps featured here!

dotTechies: Want to see an app on here? Send us a tip!

Apps for May 27, 2012

Smart Launcher

Smart Launcher is not a homescreen replace or apps launcher app. Smart Launcher is an app that automatically places your 'favorite' (most used) apps in a folder on your homescreen, allowing you to easily launch them whenever desired. The key here is "automatically". Smart Launcher uses a "proprietary algorithm" (which, apparently, has a patent pending) that analyzes your app usage behavior and determines what are your most used apps. The algorithm updates in real-time as your app usage activity changes. The goal of this algorithm is to find and list your favorite apps in a folder making it easy for you to launch those apps from a consolidated Smart Launcher folder.

In addition to listing favorite apps, Smart Launcher shows 'Recently Opened' apps, a list that allows you to manually add apps, and a list that shows recently installed apps.

If you like using widgets, Smart Launcher has a 4x1 widget that displays the four most used apps of the day.

Take note the developer specifies it takes a few days for Smart Launcher to accurately note favorite apps, so give it some time before passing judgment on the quality of this app.

Price: Free

Version discovered: v1.4.4

Requires: Android 1.6 and up

Download size: 515 KB

Smart Launcher on Play Store

Android Pro Widgets

There are many widget packs out there, with the most popular being Beautiful Widgets. Android Pro Widgets is a widget pack that differs from other packs. Instead of offering weather widgets, etc. Android Pro Widgets has widgets for bookmarks, calendar, Facebook, messaging, contacts, and Twitter, Google Reader, and a special 'Timeline' widget which requires purchase of APW License Key. The widgets come in varying sizes, ranging from 2x4 all the way to 4x4 and everything in between (by default only specific sizes are enabled but you have the ability to manually enable other sizes via Android Pro Widgets' settings).

If you purchase APW License Key, you get the ability to theme Android Pro Widgets with free themes available on Play Store such as 'APW Theme Halo'.

Price: Free, $2.42

Version discovered: v1.2.8

Requires: Android 2.1 and up

Download size: 2.8 MB

Android Pro Widgets on Play Store | APW License Key on Play Store

Meta Widget

Meta Widget is an interesting, unique widget for Android. What Meta Widget does is it allows you to display any web page content in a widget (1x1-4x4) on your homescreen. The content can be text, images, charts, pictures, Facebook pages, etc. -- you just need to point Meta Widget to the web page containing the content you want to parse and select that content. After that Meta Widget shows you a preview of the widget and allows you to customize widget settings, such as text alignment, background, widget title, etc.

Because of its nature, Meta Widget isn't perfect -- it won't perfectly parse the content from every website. However, it is a very interesting concept that definitely deserves a try.

Meta Widget has a free and paid version. Free version has all features except automatic updates; Meta Widget Key (the pro version) adds the automatic update functionality.

Price: Free, $1.99

Version discovered: v1.0.2.6

Requires: Android 2.1 and up

Download size: 617 KB

Meta Widget on Play Store | Meta Widget Key on Play Store

dotTechies: We have tested all the apps listed above. However, Android Apps of the Day articles are not intended as "reviews" but rather as "heads-up" to help you discover new apps. Always use your best judgement when downloading apps, such as trying trial/free versions before purchasing paid apps, if applicable.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Neighbors: Highway shooting suspect a regular guy

TUNICA, Miss. (AP) ? To hear his neighbors tell it, James Willie was just a regular guy who sometimes played with the neighborhood kids. Police describe him as a cold-blooded killer who stalked his victims on dark stretches of Mississippi's highways and shot two of them dead.

Authorities said Friday that the 28-year-old unemployed ex-convict is responsible for two fatal shootings that prompted fears that a police impersonator was preying on motorists late at night. The shootings terrorized parts of north Mississippi and made some people afraid to go out after dark.

The first roadside killing happened May 8, when Thomas Schlender of Nebraska was found dead at about 1:30 a.m. in his car on Interstate 55 in Panola County. He had been traveling to Florida to pick up his grandson. Three days later, local casino employee Lori Anne Carswell was found dead in her car on Mississippi Highway 713 after working a late shift.

"People were terrified," said Johnny Island, who was working Friday on the front door of his apartment at the Tunica Courts complex.

Island's fear became shock when he found out the suspected shooter lived across the way in a complex of a single-story white apartments with red tin roofs.

"As far as I know, he didn't bother anyone here. I have talked to him a couple of times and he was very polite, courteous. It was a shock," Island said, peering across the street to apartment D2.

Authorities say the hunt for the highway shooter ended in that apartment when a woman climbed out a window Tuesday and went running for help, later telling authorities that Willie abducted and raped her. A 9mm gun and shell casing found during that investigation linked Willie to the highway shootings, Tunica County Sheriff K.C. Hamp said Friday.

"It's just shocking to me. It just don't add up," said Carolyn Gross, who lived next door to Willie and his girlfriend. "It just didn't seem like he would do something like that. He was out here playing with our kids."

The arrest brought a sense of relief and not just to people who live around here.

Anita Shaffer was in town with her mother, Cheryl Ross, from Ann Arbor, Mich., to try their luck at the flashy Mississippi River casinos.

She said they arrived on Thursday and one of the first things they did was to locate the police station so they could drive there if someone tried to pull them over. They breathed easier Friday morning after learning a suspect had been arrested.

"It was scary," Shaffer said. "I was freaking out."

Police had warned drivers that a fake officer might be pulling over victims. But Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said it appears that Willie had not been posing as an officer. Authorities are still investigating why the victims ended up pulled over the side of the highways.

Willie was being held on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and rape and was charged with capital murder in Tunica County. He's expected to be charged with capital murder in Panola County, too.

A capital murder charge in Mississippi carries the possibility of a death sentence or life without possibility of parole, but Kamp said it would be up to prosecutors to decide on whether to seek the death penalty.

At a news conference on Friday, Hamp said he believes robbery ? possibly connected to drugs ? was Willie's motive, but the reason for the killings remains under investigation. Hamp said Willie has been "cooperative to a certain extent" but did not confess to the crimes.

Willie's arrest unfolded after a woman who was involved in a domestic dispute in Tunica County asked him for a ride to the Sheriff's Office on Tuesday morning. Instead of taking her there, authorities say he drove her to a field in these flat Delta farmlands and raped her.

Hamp said the woman tried to run but Willie fired a shot then drove her back to his girlfriend's apartment, where the victim slipped out a window.

Deputies went to the apartment later that morning and arrested Willie without incident on the sex charge, Hamp said.

A shell casing in the field and Ruger pistol found in a car belonging to Willie's girlfriend were linked to the highway shootings, Hamp said. He said the unidentified girlfriend has not been charged, though neighbors said she was taken for questioning Thursday and hasn't come home since.

Willie is a convicted felon who has served time for residential burglary. Hamp also said he's a known drug abuser.

Strain, the Public Safety spokesman, said the motive for the shootings remain under investigation. He also said authorities are trying to figure out why the victims pulled over because they had no apparent reason to stop on those dark, desolate stretches of highway.

Fears that a fake officer may have been behind the shootings prompted authorities to urge drivers to use caution when approached by any vehicle with flashing blue lights, even telling people they should call 911 if they were being pulled over.

Strain said it doesn't appear that Willie was posing as an officer, but authorities don't regret telling motorists to be wary of impersonators because that was one of several theories developed during the investigation and people needed to know that.

"If we're going to err, we're going to err on the side of public safety," Strain said. "The fact is that we got him off the street and people can go back to a level of comfort."

___

Follow Mohr on Twitter at http://twitter.com/holbrookmohr

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Friday, May 18, 2012

Ministers Against Crime (Except Those Committed by Police Officers) (Theagitator)

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Erwin de Leon: Obama's Gay Marriage Stance Won't Cost Him the Latino Vote

President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage last week has everyone theorizing on whether it will hurt or help his re-election bid. Some argue that this move will cost the president support from Latinos, a rapidly growing population whose votes may decide the race in battleground states.

Bob Quasius, Sr., president of Caf? Con Leche Republicans, a group that does not take a position on gay marriage, claims the president's comments will distance him from Latinos, who are now over 16 percent of the U.S. population.

"Sixty percent of Latinos are center-right according to Pew Hispanic," Quasius said, "and more conservative Latinos, especially evangelical Christians, are strongly opposed to gay marriage. A majority of Latinos voted against gay marriage in California. Among Latinos who support gay marriage, many will view Obama's recent comments as election time rhetoric," Quasius said.

But despite a reputation of Latino social conservatism that the GOP likes to tout, in 2008, 67 percent of Hispanics voted for Obama, and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) doubts the President's comments will be a deal breaker.

"Most Latinos favor broader civil rights protections and inclusion in U.S. society and the issue of same-sex marriage is no exception. A majority of Latino voters favor legalizing same-sex marriage, as a recent NCLR study showed," Rep. Gutierrez said.

Clarissa Martinez, Director of Civic Engagement at NCLR, the country's largest Latino civil rights advocacy group, believes Mr. Obama's historic stance will actually increase his appeal among Latinos.

"The President's endorsement of same-sex marriage is historic and will resonate with the 54 percent of Latinos who support marriage equality (according to a recent report by Social Science Research Solutions, co-released with NCLR)," Martinez emailed. "And while marriage equality has not been a top voting issue or determining factor for Latinos overall, this endorsement may be one factor voters in favor take into account."

Pedro Julio Serrano, Communications Manager of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force attributes this to the Latino community's strong sense of family.

"We know what 'familia' is," he said, "and when we see same-sex couples in loving and committed relationships, when we see that more that 40 percent are raising children, we want them to have the same rights and protections as the opposite-sex couples have. In any case, if it has an effect, it will be a positive one," Serrano said.

The stereotype of Latinos as conservatives appears increasingly outdated. Indeed, the president's marriage equality stance seems to have energized immigration activists, especially young Latino voters who have built an alliance with gay activists on pushing for immigration reform. Juan Rodriguez, who is active in the Florida Immigrant Coalition, told the Associated Press that the gay rights and immigrant rights movements are "very aligned and becoming more so every year."

Analysts of the Latino vote also say that at the end of the day, the president's stance on marriage equality will be overshadowed by his reputation on creating jobs and immigration reform.

"Latino voters will be looking for specific plans that address the employment needs of the hardest hit communities, create jobs, and get the economy back on track," said Martinez, from the NCLR. "Immigration has also risen on the issue priority agenda, particularly fueled by the anti-Latino sentiment with which the immigration debate has been laced, and the impact on the civil rights of the community," said Martinez.

"For a large segment of the Latino community, immigration issues will probably have a bigger impact on the election than Obama's support for marriage equality," said Andr?s Duque, a Latino LGBT rights activist and blogger. "Fairly or unfairly, there is a lot of discontent out there about the Obama administration's handling of the issue, particularly with the DREAM Act, and what keeps saving him is that the Romney campaign has struggled to frame the issue and aligned himself with some of the most anti-immigrant voices in his party," Duque added.

So while bread and butter issues might be an opening for the Romney campaign to bait Latino vote, the anti-immigrant rhetoric spewed during the GOP presidential primaries and the presumptive candidate's own hardline immigration stance might have totally slammed the opening shut.

Rep. Gutierrez stresses the fact that Romney has catered to the "loudest and least tolerant elements of the Republican base," which he says puts the GOP presidential hopeful and Republicans "out of step with America."

Originally posted on Feet in 2 Worlds.

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Follow Erwin de Leon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ErwindeLeon

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Japan mayor: Tattooed Gaga, Depp can't work for me

Miguel Villagran / Getty Images, file

Lady Gaga shows off her tattoo of a Rilke poem in Braunschweig, Germany, on November 7, 2009.

By Arata Yamamoto, NBC News

TOKYO -- Even Hollywood stars Johnny Depp and Lady Gaga would not be welcome to work for the Japanese city of Osaka because of their tattoos, its mayor said amid a backlash over his stance against body art.

Mayor Toru Hashimoto this week said that public employees "should go to the private sector" if they want to keep their tattoos.


City authorities carried out a survey of their staff to ask whether they had any, whether they were normally concealed by clothing or not.?More than 100 sanitation, public transport and other workers admitted they had tattoos.

But about 800 of the city?s 30,000 employees refused to answer the survey and a lawyer is now on the case.

"Whether one has a tattoo or not has nothing to do with their competence or skills," said Sayuri Ohashi, a lawyer who represents Osaka workers.

"There are different types of tattoos, there are those that are indeed linked to organized crime and others who have etchings on their bodies as mementos, such as for their lost child," he added.

'Breach of labor law'
He added that getting employees to reveal information about their body was "a complete infringement of their rights."

"And if they try to pressure them into quitting by transferring them to another work, that's a breach of the labor law," Ohashi said.

Bryan Bedder / Getty Images

Movie stars, rockers and reality wannabes are among those who've made a permanent mark.

The controversy started earlier this year when a city employee at a childcare facility was accused of intimidating a child by revealing his tattoo.

Tattoos still carry a strong cultural association with the Japanese underworld and the yakuza crime gangs.

City workers in Japan to be fired for having tattoos?

Jae C. Hong / AP

Trying to erase his past and start a new life, Bryon Widner underwent 25 painful surgeries to remove hate tattoos on his face, neck and hands.

Japan's aversion to tattoos can be found at swimming pools and public bath houses where there are often signs banning those with them.

Hashimoto insisted being a public employee meant making some sacrifices.

"Before I became governor, I had my hair dyed brown," he said. "I don't mean to be self-righteous ? However, when you become governor or mayor you have to change it back to black. You're a public servant."

Thousands gather at a temple in Thailand to honor a tattoo master and have their body art recharged by monks. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

Asked by a reporter about Hollywood stars with tattoos, the mayor responded, "If Johnny Depp or Lady Gaga asked to become Osaka city employees, I would just say 'no'.?

At the moment the city is not considering firing workers with tattoos, but Hiroshi Kotawa, from the city's personnel section, said they would be asked to cover them. "And if they still refuse, then we will consider transferring them to other jobs which will not require interaction with the public."

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Epson WorkForce 645 All-in-One


The Epson WorkForce 645 provides a solid feature set and good standard paper capacity as a small- or home-office inkjet multifunction printer (MFP). Its 30-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF), which lets you copy, scan, and fax two-sided documents, is unusual at its price point. It has decent speed, and its output quality?though overall a bit below par?is fine for most standard business uses.

The WorkForce 645 is a handsome unit, clad in matte and glossy black. It is reasonably compact for an MFP, measuring 8.9 by 17.6 by 14.2 inches (HWD) and weighing 15.6 pounds. Its tilt-up front panel contains a 2.5-inch non-touch color LCD, an alphanumeric keypad, and various buttons to control the four basic functions of Photo, Copy, Fax, and Scan. The 645 has a 250-sheet paper tray and an automatic duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. The scanner?s platen fits paper up to A4 size; you can scan at up to legal size using the ADF.

The 645 is compatible with Epson Connect Email Print; Epson assigns the printer its own email address, and you can email documents to it for automatic printout, even if you?re halfway around the world.

The WorkForce 645 provides WiFi and Ethernet as well as USB connectivity. I tested it over an Ethernet connection using a PC running Windows Vista.

Epson WorkForce 645 All-in-One

Print Speed

I timed the Epson WorkForce 645 on our business applications suite (using?QualityLogic's hardware and software) at an effective 4.0 pages per minute (ppm). This edges the Editors? Choice HP Officejet 6700 Premium ?($169.99 direct, 4 stars), which we timed at 3.4 ppm on the same tests, while matching the Editors? Choice Brother MFC-J825DW ?($150 street, 4 stars), which we also clocked at 4.0 ppm. The HP Officejet Pro 8600 ($199.99 direct, 4 stars) zipped through the same tests at 5.7 ppm.

The 645 averaged 1 minute 15 seconds to print out a 4-by-6 photo.

Output Quality

The WorkForce 845?s output quality was a bit below par overall, with slightly sub-par text, sub-par graphics, and photo quality on the low side of average. ?Text quality was fine for school and general business use, though I wouldn?t use it for documents like resumes in which you?re counting on its appearance to make a good impression.

Graphics quality was sub-par for an inkjet MFP. Banding, a regular pattern of thin lines of discoloration, was visible in many of the printouts, at times rising to the level of distraction. ?Most graphics showed dithering: graininess and, at times, visible dot patterns. Quality was okay for general business use, though I?d be hesitant to use the output for PowerPoint handouts.

The photo print quality was generally about what you?d expect from drugstore prints. Photos did well in showing detail in darker areas, but lighter areas looked a bit washed out in some cases. A monochrome print showed a modest tint.

Other Issues

Epson doesn?t quote cost per page figures for its printers, but based on their prices and yields for the most economical cartridges, it works out to 3.2 cents per monochrome page and 11.3 cents per color page. The cost per monochrome page is the same as for the HP Officejet 6700 Premium, while the HP?s color costs are 2.3 cents per page lower. You?d make up for the HP?s $20 higher price after printing less than 1,000 color pages with it, and everything beyond that would be savings. ?The HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One, with running costs of 1.6 cents per black-and-white page and $7.2 cents per color page, is priced $50 higher than the Epson but offers more dramatic cost savings over time.

The Epson WorkForce 645 has a solid feature set for a small-office MFP: good standard paper capacity plus an automatic duplexer; a duplexing ADF for copying, scanning, and faxing two-sided documents and a memory card reader (the HP Officejet 6700 Premium?s ADF is simplex only, and it lacks a card reader). Epson Connect Email Print, which lets you email documents to your printer for printout, is a nice touch. HP offers a similar service as part of its ePrint functionality, while the Editors? Choice HP 6700 Premium as well as the Officejet Pro 8600 add touch screens and can run HP?s Web apps. The WorkForce?s running costs are slightly higher than the 6700?s, and significantly higher than those of the Officejet Pro 8600. But it offers a good package and decent speed for its price, and better paper capacity than the Editors?Choice Brother MFC-J825DW. It?s well worth consideration by a micro or home office looking for a color inkjet MFP.

More Multi-function Printer Reviews:

??? Epson WorkForce 645 All-in-One
??? HP Laserjet Pro 300 Color MFP M375nw
??? Brother MFC-9325CW
??? Dell V725w All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer
??? HP Photosmart 5520 e-All-in-One
?? more

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Breitbart Editor John Nolte Calls for Right Wing 'Twitter War' (Little green footballs)

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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Brittany the Book Slayer: Self-Publishing University

by Brittany Geragotelis

Hey all!

I've been hard at work revising What the Spell? to make my Memorial Day deadline and that means I've been in my writing cave and not visiting the blog this past week. I know I'm being a bad little blogger, but it's for a good cause (hopefully a kick-ass book) and I've got some news that will hopefully make it up to you.

If you've ever wondered about self-publishing or have already decided to take the plunge or have just had it with all the rejection that comes along with mainstream publishing, have I got the thing for you! I'm going to be speaking on a panel at UPublishU taking place at BEA (Book Expo of America) this year, and I'll be talking all about my publishing journey, including all those who said I wouldn't make it, how I got my big break and all the exciting stuff I have coming up! If you live in or around NYC, you should definitely consider coming! Here are the details!

When: Sunday, June 3, 2012?

Where: The Javits Center in New York City

(located on 11th Ave, btwn 34-39th Sts)?

What:

Penned & Published ? Self-Published Authors & Stories of Success!

10:00 - 10:50



Moderator:

PJ Campbell, Director of Events for a major global trade publisher

Speakers/Participants:

Darcie Chan, Self-Published Author of The Mill River Recluse

Brittany Geragotelis, Self-Published Author of Life's a Witch

C.S. Marks, Self-Published Author of the Elfhunter trilogy

Theresa Regan, Self-Published Author, Author of Return of the Rose

Description:

Combine your talent and business sense and take your writing dreams to the next level by penning and publishing your own work of literary art! Join celebrated authors and publishing professionals for this inspirational and engaging session where they describe what it takes to become a best-selling author. Long-time Publishing Veteran and author, PJ Campbell, will share her experiences of publishing and talk with authors who have made the leap to publish. Meet this dynamic group of writing professionals and learn exactly what tips and techniques are needed and applied to create a successful book campaign. This exciting session includes an expert panel of successful authors who will share their thrilling self-publishing stories! These courageous writers will share their experiences and insights on their own best practices and how they turned their trials into triumphs! From pen to published author, this session will prove that You can Publish You!?

Bios:



PJ Campbell is the Director of Events for a major, global trade publisher and an authority in the creation of successful book campaigns through author appearances. She has more than 17 years? experience in formulating, marketing and publicizing author appearances through webinars, blog tours, online chats, Skype, bookstores, conventions, conferences, seminars, workshops, galas, and launch parties. Including her background as a former bookstore General Manager and Director of Events, she has an all-inclusive perspective of the business of writing. As an author, PJ has written articles and essays on a variety of adult topics including the business of events, women?s issues, motivation, sports, health and art.? Her writing has been published in national and international newspapers, magazines and websites. Her 2009 published book, 101 AUTHOR TIPS:? Creating A Successful Book Campaign was an award finalist in Best Books USA Book News and Foreword Magazine?s Book of the Year. PJ?s newest book will be published as an e-book, entitled, Authors? Online Bestseller Resource: Sales, Publicity, Promotion, E-Publishing. PJ is a member of the following professional writing associations: National Association of Women Writers, International Women Writers Guild, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Writers of America, Pacific Northwest Writers Association. Contact PJ Campbell at http://pjcampbellwriter.com,
Darcie Chan is the author of The Mill River Recluse, a self-published debut novel that has become a word-of-mouth e-book sensation. With over 570,000 copies sold, The Mill River Recluse appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists for more than 24 weeks and became a heartwarming favorite of readers across the country. Darcie was born in Wisconsin and grew up in the small towns of Brandon, Wisconsin, La Junta and Cheraw, Colorado, and Paoli, Indiana. Thanks to loving and supportive parents who are both educators, she learned to read and write at an early age. She has two younger sisters, with whom she is very close. Currently, Darcie lives just north of New York City with her husband and son. She writes during every moment she isn?t working as a lawyer or spending time with her family. She gets very little sleep, especially now that she is hard at work on a second novel set in Mill River, Vermont. An Olympic-bound gymnast during her teen years, Brittany Geragotelis always thought she'd see her name in print one day. That dream came true first as a magazine editor, where she had the chance to interview celebrities like Dakota Fanning, Miley Cyrus and Jamie Foxx, and then more recently in news outlets like Publisher's Weekly, Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Though she's now a full-time writer, she also pens the blog Brittany the Book Slayer as well as produces and stars in author videos for her YouTube channel. After publishing her first book, Life's a Witch, on the community writing site Wattpad and receiving nearly 18 million reads of the paranormal action romance, she landed a 3-book, 6-figure deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. The prequel to Life's A Witch, titled What the Spell? Will be published as an e-book in three parts beginning in October 2012 and in paperback January 15, 2013. The re-release of Life's a Witch will happen in May 2013 and the sequel, The Witch is Back will be out January 2014. A self-professed pop-culture junkie, Brittany currently lives in NYC with her boyfriend and two cats, Murray and Cohen. C.S.Marks has often been described as a ?Renaissance woman?. The child of an English professor, Chris has always loved classic literature as well as epic fantasy, and decided to try her hand at writing and illustrating an epic series. The result: The very successful Elfhunter trilogy, which has sold over 40,000 copies both in print and e-book form. This epic trilogy has garnered awards (Reviewer?s Choice Best Fantasy, Best Series) and nearly 200 reviews. She is now hard at work on an exciting new Alterran series, the Undiscovered Realms. A former field biologist and avid horsewoman, Chris holds a PhD in Biology, and has competed both nationally and internationally in the sport of endurance riding. She is a full professor of equine science at a small liberal arts college in the midwest. She is in demand as a lecturer and presenter at conventions, academic fairs, and publishing workshops. In 2011, Chris signed a three book deal with Sea Lion Books, including comic book and graphic novel adaptations of the Elfhunter trilogy as well as hard covers and paperbacks. While she has enjoyed an ample measure of success as an independent author, she is now looking forward to a long and productive relationship with Sea Lion Books, bringing her wonderful Tales of Alterra to an ever-widening group of appreciative readers of all ages. Theresa Ragan has been writing for nineteen years and has garnered six Golden Heart nominations in Romance Writers of America?s Golden Heart Competition for her work. She lives with her husband, Joe, and the youngest of her four children in Sacramento, California. Theresa writes medieval time travels, romantic comedy,?romantic?suspense, and thrillers under the name T.R. Ragan. In her first year as an indie author, Theresa sold 250,000 ebooks. Books by Theresa include: Return of the Rose, A Knight in Central Park, Taming Mad Max, Finding Kate Huntley. Also look for Abducted and Dead Weight, romantic thrillers under the name T.R. Ragan. Many of her titles are top sellers in the category!?

If you're attending UPubU, be sure to stop by and say hi!

5x5,

B.



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Sacha Baron Cohen Built His 'Dictator' From 'The Ground Up'

'He's been to comedy what Marlon Brando was to acting,' director Larry Charles tells MTV News.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Sacha Baron Cohen in "The Dictator"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

For each of Sacha Baron Cohen's onscreen conquests, one man has been there every step of the way. Larry Charles made a name for himself as supervising producer and occasional writer for "Seinfeld," but his work directing Baron Cohen's films brought him a new kind of recognition.

Baron Cohen asked Charles once again to helm his film with "The Dictator," and MTV News spoke with the director in the lead-up to the film's release.

One of the biggest challenges posed by their new film was the creation of an entirely new character. Unlike Baron Cohen's previous films, which came out of his work on "Da Ali G Show," the writers of "The Dictator" created the concept for General Aladeen with the comedian in mind. This meant that Baron Cohen had to work through the specifics of Aladeen to make him as fully realized.

"Unlike the other movies, where Sacha had a character that he had been working on for years and years and years and was to hone, he knew how this character walked and talked and reacted to every situation when it came to Bruno or Borat or Ali G, but this is a brand-new character," Charles said. "He had to create this character from the ground up, from the accent to the look to the body language. We needed to give him as much time as possible to evolve that character to where he was ready for the camera."

Additionally, "The Dictator" did away with Baron Cohen's old format of real-life people interacting with the character. The more traditional structure allowed Charles to get additional takes with Baron Cohen for the first time. "I had never had a second take with Sacha in any of the movies," he said. "We would do one take. Now that one take may last eight hours for some of the scenes we did in 'Borat' or 'Bruno.' Eight straight hours of him having to do a character. Eight straight hours of filming it. Here we didn't have to do that."

Considering that some of the "Borat" and "Bruno" interviews resulted in lawsuits and physical threats, Charles said the "Dictator" set was indeed much safer, but that security came at a price. "It's certainly physically safer, no question about it," Charles said. "To be in the United States with a full crew and security and have some kind of permission to be there and not encounter the hostility that we have encountered all over the world and here. At the same time, the danger here is complacency."

The real reason Charles has been willing to work with Baron Cohen repeatedly is that he genuinely believes him to be a comedic genius. "I really classify him in that rare company of comic geniuses. I think there have been a handful of them in film and television history," Charles said. "He has changed the face of comedy like few other people have. He's been to comedy what Marlon Brando was to acting. Comedy will be different after him. You can't go back to some of the old-fashioned ways after you've seen Sacha do his thing at his best."

Check out everything we've got on "The Dictator."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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China gets the music-friendly Motorola Motosmart Mix XT550

Motorola Motosmart Mix XT550

Motorola today announced the Motosmart Mix XT550, a China-bound for for "people who really care about music." The 4-inch Android 2.3 smartphone comes loaded with Dolby Mobile software, SRS WOW HD enhancements and is an exclusivity on the Sina Micro Music app. The Motosmart Mix XT550 also sports a 3MP rear camrea and a front-facing VGA camera, all powered by a 1750 mAh battery. 

More: Motorola



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Upset in Nebraska GOP Senate race

Fischer (Nati Harnik/AP)State Sen. Deb Fischer won the Republican nomination in Nebraska's Senate race Tuesday, beating odds-on favorite Jon Bruning in a surprise upset.

Fischer narrowly edged out the state Attorney General 41 to 36 percent with 91.5 percent of precincts reporting. State Treasurer Don Stenberg received 19 percent and three additional candidates divided the remainder of Tuesday's vote.

The race had long been regarded as a two-man fight between Bruning, who earned early establishment as well as some tea party support, and Stenberg-- the party's 2006 nominee. Stenberg won endorsements from South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (including DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund) the Club for Growth, and FreedomWorks. Bruning boasted support from Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and the Tea Party Express.

But after months of infighting between Bruning and Stenberg, Fischer began to strongly surge last week and the race's outcome was quickly thrown into doubt.

Fischer, who has never held statewide office, last week announced endorsements from Sarah and Todd Palin as well as Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, and received support from AmeriTrade co-founder Joe Ricketts. These endorsements, combined with polling showing Fischer within striking distance, caused national observers as well as her competitors to take notice.

As evidence of Stenberg and Fischer's perceived strengths, Bruning's campaign ran an ad attacking both candidates in the race's final week.

Fischer is now set to face former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, who easily won his party's nomination Tuesday against token opposition for the seat currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson.

Republicans had viewed the race as one of their strongest pickup opportunities with Bruning as the nominee. But polls also showed Fischer leading Kerrey in hypothetical general election matchups.

Though Republican loyalties were significantly split in the primary, many groups immediately switched gears Tuesday night following Fischer's victory.

"While we did not support Deb Fischer, we are encouraged by the strong pro-growth stands she took in this campaign, and we expect she will live up to those commitments in the Senate next year," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement. Chocola emphasized that his organization opposed Bruning "as the least dependable candidate on the principles of limited government and economic freedom" and cast the night's results as a victory.

National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman John Cornyn congratulated Fischer in a release Tuesday night and offered a preview of the contrasts the party plans to draw ahead of November.

"The difference in this race couldn't be more clear," Cornyn said. "Deb is a small business rancher, mother and conservative leader who believes we need to spend less, balance our budget and repeal ObamaCare, while her opponent supports bigger government and higher taxes."

The NRSC also referred to Kerrey as a New York City liberal. Republicans this year challenged Kerrey's residency and therefore his eligibility to run in the race-- an attack that will undoubtedly continue as the race continues.

More popular Yahoo! News stories:

? Vote now: Can George W. Bush's tepid Romney endorsement finally unseat Daniels?

? Newsweek puts rejected Obama 'first gay president' covers online

? Rob Portman, a possible VP pick, knocks Obama for lack of 'presidential leadership'

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us on Tumblr. Handy with a camera? Join our Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.

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