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New publisher application process in Google Adsense

2011-09-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

We’re continually evaluating our AdSense application process in order to ensure the safest possible network for our advertisers, as well as the best possible experience for you, our publishers. With that in mind, we’ve now implemented a change to our initial review process that will result in a stronger AdSense network. Improving the quality of the network will drive more interest and demand from advertisers, increasing the earning potential for all of our publishers.

Starting today, we’ll begin adding a new step to the review process and sending notifications at two key points. After a new application is submitted, we’ll begin with preliminary checks on the site and the applicant’s submitted details. If the application passes through this first stage, we’ll notify the applicant by email, grant them account access, and provide them with ad code to place on their submitted site. It’s essential at this stage for the applicant to place the ad code on their site, as the review process can’t be completed until the ad code is implemented.

However, live ads won’t immediately appear once the ad code has been placed on the submitted site. Since the application hasn’t been fully approved yet, temporary “blank ads” will be shown instead. These blank ads will blend in with the background of the page, so users won’t see them and the user experience won’t be impacted. As a result, there’s nothing to click on and thus revenue can’t yet be generated. If the applicant logs into their AdSense account at this stage of the review process, they’ll see a reminder that their account is still under review.

Soon after the ad code has been added to the submitted site, a final approval decision will be made and the applicant will be notified by email. Newly approved publishers will see live ads automatically appear in the existing ad units on their pages. These publishers are then welcome (and encouraged!) to add more ad units to their submitted site and to any other policy-compliant sites they own. We also encourage new publishers to ensure their sites are available to be crawled by the AdSense robot (Mediapartners-Google), and also to use our best-performing ad formats.

If you’d like more information about this new approval process, please visit our Help Center or feel free to post questions about this topic in our Help Forum.

Thanks for being a valuable member of AdSense as we continue to improve the quality of our network.

Posted by Max Cohen, Product Manager

2011 Egyptian revolution

2011-08-31T04:25:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Egyptian revolution (Arabic: ثورة ٢٥ يناير‎ thawret 25 yanāyir, Revolution of 25 January) took place following a popular uprising that began on 25 January 2011. The uprising, in which the participants placed emphasis on the peaceful nature of the struggle, mainly comprised a campaign of civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labor strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters. The campaign took place in Cairo, Alexandria, and in other cities in Egypt, following the Tunisian Revolution that saw the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president. On 11 February, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, Mubarak resigned from office.

Grievances of Egyptian protesters focused on legal and political issues including police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections and freedom of speech, uncontrollable corruption, as well as economic issues including high unemployment, food price inflation, and low minimum wages. The primary demands from protest organizers were the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime, the end of emergency law, freedom, justice, a responsive non-military government, and a say in the management of Egypt's resources. Strikes by labor unions added to the pressure on government officials

There were at least 384 deaths reported, and over 6,000 were injured. The capital city of Cairo was described as "a war zone," and the port city of Suez was the scene of frequent violent clashes. The government imposed a curfew that protesters defied and that the police and military did not enforce. The presence of Egypt's Central Security Forces police, loyal to Mubarak, was gradually replaced by largely restrained military troops. In the absence of police, there was looting by gangs that opposition sources said were instigated by plainclothes police officers. In response, civilians self-organised watch groups to protect neighbourhoods.

International response to the protests was initially mixed, though most called for some sort of peaceful protests on both sides and moves toward reform. Mostly Western governments also expressed concern for the situation. Many governments issued travel advisories and began making attempts at evacuating their citizens from the country. The Egyptian Revolution, along with Tunisian events, has influenced demonstrations in other Arab countries including Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan and Libya.

Mubarak dissolved his government and appointed military figure and former head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Omar Suleiman as Vice-President in an attempt to quell dissent. Mubarak asked aviation minister and former chief of Egypt's Air Force, Ahmed Shafik, to form a new government. Mohamed ElBaradei became a major figure of the opposition, with all major opposition groups supporting his role as a negotiator for some form of transitional unity government. In response to mounting pressure Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September.

On 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would be stepping down as president and turning power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The junta, headed by effective head of state Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, announced on 13 February that the constitution would be suspended, both houses of parliament dissolved, and that the military would rule for six months until elections could be held. The prior cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, would continue to serve as a caretaker government until a new one is formed. Shafik resigned on 3 March 2011, a day before major protests to get him to step down were planned; he was replaced by Essam Sharaf, the former transport minister.

Naming

In Egypt and also the wider Arab world, the protests and subsequent changes in the government, are mostly called the 25 January Revolution (ثورة 25 ينايرThawrat 25 Yanāyir( and Rage Revolution (ثورة الغضب),and sometimes called the Revolution of the Youth ثورة الشباب Thawrat al-Shabāb), Lotus Revolution] (ثورة اللوتس) or the White Revolution (الثورة البيضاء )(al-Thawrah al-bayḍāʾ). In the Media it has been known as the "18 Day Revolution".

Background

Hosni Mubarak became head of Egypt's semi-presidential republic government following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat, and continued to serve until his departure in 2011. Mubarak's 30-year reign made him the longest serving President in Egypt's history. Mubarak and his National Democratic Party (NDP) government maintained one-party rule under a continuous state of emergency since 1981. Mubarak's government earned the support of the West and a continuation of annual aid from the United States by maintaining policies of suppression towards Islamic militants and peace with Israel. Hosni Mubarak was often compared to an Egyptian pharaoh by the media and by some of his harsher critics due to his authoritarian rule.

Inheritance of power

The grooming of Gamal Mubarak to be his father's successor as the next president of Egypt became increasingly evident at around the year 2000. With no vice-president, and with no heir-apparent in sight, Gamal started enjoying considerable attention in the Egyptian media. Bashar al-Assad's rise to power in Syria in June 2000 just hours after Hafez al-Assad's death, sparked a heated debate in the Egyptian press regarding the prospects for a similar scenario occurring in Cairo.

Both President Mubarak and his son denied the possibility of any inheritance of power in Egypt, although this was widely speculated. Most recently, this claim was made in early 2006, when Gamal Mubarak declared repeatedly that he has no aspiration to succeed his father, but that he will maintain his position in the NDP as deputy secretary general, a post he holds in addition to heading the party's policy committee, probably the most important organ of the NDP

In September 2004 several political groups (most are unofficial), on both the left and the right, announced their sharp opposition to the inheritance of power. They demanded political change and asked for a fair election with more than one candidate

Emergency law

An emergency law (Law No. 162 of 1958) was enacted after the 1967 Six-Day War, suspended for 18 months in the early 1980s, and continuously in effect since President Sadat's 1981 assassination. Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended, censorship is legalized, and the government may imprison individuals indefinitely and without reason. The law sharply limits any non-governmental political activity, including street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations. The Mubarak government has cited the threat of terrorism in order to extend the emergency law, claiming that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentary elections and suppressed the group through actions allowed under emergency law. This has led to the imprisonment of activists without trials, illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities, and rejecting university, mosque, and newspaper staff members based on their political inclination. A parliamentary election in December 2010 was preceded by a media crackdown, arrests, candidate bans (particularly of the Muslim Brotherhood), and allegations of fraud involving the near unanimous victory by the ruling party in parliament. Human rights organizations estimate that in 2010 between 5,000 and 10,000 people were in long-term detention without charge or trial.

Police brutality

The deployment of plainclothes forces paid by Mubarak's ruling party, Baltageya (Arabic بلطجية‎), has been a hallmark of the Mubarak government. The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights has documented 567 cases of torture, including 167 deaths, by police that occurred between 1993 and 2007. On 6 June 2010, Khaled Mohamed Saeed died under disputed circumstances in the Sidi Gaber area of Alexandria. Multiple witnesses testified that Saeed was beaten to death by the police. Activists rallying around a Facebook page called "We are all Khaled Said" succeeded in bringing nationwide attention to the case. Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, led a rally in 2010 in Alexandria against alleged abuses by the police and visited Saeed's family to offer condolences.

Additionally, as reported by D+Z, a development magazine based in Germany, excessive force was often used by law enforcement agencies. Their police forces constantly squelched democratic uprisings with brutal force and corrupt tactics, as they did in the latest and only successful demonstration.

Economic challenges

Demographic

The population of Egypt grew from 30,083,419 in 1966 to roughly 79,000,000 by 2008. The vast majority of Egyptians live in the limited spaces near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found and competing with the need of human habitations. In late 2010, around 40% of Egypt's population of just under 80 million lived on the fiscal income equivalent of roughly US$2 per day with a large part of the population relying on subsidised goods.

According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the basic problem Egypt has is unemployment driven by a demographic youth bulge: with the number of new people entering the job force at about 4% a year, unemployment in Egypt is almost 10 times as high for college graduates as it is for people who have gone through elementary school, particularly educated urban youth, who are precisely the people currently seen out in the streets.

Reform, growth, and poverty

Egypt's economy was highly centralized during the rule of former President Gamal Abdel Nasser but opened up considerably under former President Anwar Sadat and Mubarak. The Mubarak-led government from 2004 to 2008 aggressively pursued economic reforms to attract foreign investment and facilitate GDP growth, but postponed further economic reforms because of global economic turmoil. The international economic downturn slowed Egypt's GDP growth to 4.5% in 2009. In 2010, analysts assessed the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif would need to restart economic reforms to attract foreign investment, boost growth, and improve economic conditions for the broader population. Despite high levels of national economic growth over the past few years, living conditions for the average Egyptian remained poor

Corruption

Political corruption in Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior has risen dramatically due to the increased power over the institutional system necessary to prolong the presidency. The rise to power of powerful business men in the NDP in the government and the People's Assembly led to massive waves of anger during the years of Prime Ministers Ahmed Nazif's government. An example of that is Ahmed Ezz's monopolizing the steel industry in Egypt by holding more than 60% of the market share. Aladdin Elaasar, an Egyptian biographer and an American professor, estimates that the Mubarak family is worth from $50 to $70 billion.

The wealth of Ahmed Ezz, the former NDP Organisation Secretary, is estimated to be 18 billion Egyptian pounds; The wealth of former Housing Minister Ahmed al-Maghraby is estimated to be more than 11 billion Egyptian pounds; The wealth of former Minister of Tourism Zuhair Garrana is estimated to be 13 billion Egyptian pounds; The wealth of former Minister of Trade and Industry, Rashid Mohamed Rashid, is estimated to be 12 billion Egyptian pounds; and the wealth of former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly is estimated to be 8 billion Egyptian pounds.

The perceptions of corruption and its beneficiaries being limited to businessmen with ties to the National Democratic Party have created a picture "where wealth fuels political power and political power buys wealth."

During the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2010, opposition groups complained of harassment and fraud perpetrated by the government. As such opposition and civil society activists have called for changes to a number of legal and constitutional provisions which affect elections.

In 2010, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index report assessed Egypt with a CPI score of 3.1, based on perceptions of the degree of corruption from business people and country analysts (with 10 being clean and 0 being totally corrupt).

Lead-up to the protests

In background preparation for a possible overthrow of Mubarak, opposition groups had studied the work of Gene Sharp on non-violent revolution, including working with leaders of Otpor!, the student-led Serbian uprising in 2000. Copies of Sharp's list of 198 non-violent "weapons", translated into Arabic and not always attributed to him, were circulating in Tahrir Square during its occupation

Tunisian Revolution

After the ousting of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali due to mass protests, many analysts, including former European Commission President Romano Prodi, saw Egypt as the next country where such a revolution might occur. The Washington Post comments on this saying "The Jasmine Revolution, should serve as a stark warning to Arab leaders – beginning with Egypt's 83-year-old Hosni Mubarak – that their refusal to allow more economic and political opportunity is dangerous and untenable." However, others argued on the contrary citing little aspiration of the Egyptian people, low educational levels and a strong government with the support of the military. The BBC said "The simple fact is that most Egyptians do not see any way that they can change their country or their lives through political action, be it voting, activism, or going out on the streets to demonstrate

Self-immolation

On 17 January due to rising discontent with the country's state and the poor living conditions, and following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, a man set himself ablaze in front of the Egyptian parliament; about five more attempts of self-immolation followed suit

National Police Day protests

Opposition groups were planning a day of revolt for 25 January, coinciding with the National Police Day. The purpose was to protest against abuses by the police in front of the Ministry of Interior. These demands expanded to include the resignation of the Minister of Interior, the restoration of a fair minimum wage, the end of Egyptian emergency law and term limits for the president.

Twenty-six-year-old Asmaa Mahfouz was instrumental in having sparked the protests that began the uprising in Cairo. In a video blog posted two weeks before the start of the revolution, she urged the Egyptian people to join her in a protest on 25 January in Tahrir Square to bring down Mubarak's regime. She used video blogging and social media that went viral and urged people not to be afraid. The April 6 Youth Movement was a major supporter of the protest and distributed 20,000 leaflets saying "I will protest on 25 January to get my rights."

The protests were illegal, since permission required to proceed with the demonstration had not been acquired, and the security forces had to respond according to law.[84] Many political movements, opposition parties and public figures chose to support the day of revolt including Youth for Justice and Freedom, Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, the Popular Democratic Movement for Change and the National Association for Change. However, its leader Mohamed El Baradei, did not support the protests saying that he "would like to use the means available from within the system to effect change." The Ghad, Karama, Wafd and Democratic Front Many others became involved in support of the protests. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, confirmed on January 23 that it will partake in the protests and participate. Public figures including novelist Alaa Al Aswany, writer Belal Fadl, and actors Amr Waked and Khaled Aboul Naga announced they would also participate. The Facebook group set up specifically for the event attracted 80,000 attendees. However, the leftist National Progressive Unionist Party (the Tagammu) stated it would not participate. The Coptic Church also urged Christians not to participate in the protests.

Protests

Timeline

25 January 2011: The "Day of Revolt", protests erupted throughout Egypt, with tens of thousands of protestors gathered in Cairo and thousands more in cities throughout Egypt. The protests targeted President Hosni Mubarak's government, and mostly adhered to non-violence. Nonetheless reports emerged of civilian and police casualties.

26 January 2011: ""Shutting down The Internet"": After several Facebook groups were created and so-called tweets (from Twitter) facilitated mass demonstrations, the Egyptian government decided to shut down internet access for most of the Egyptian people.[89] This was done to impede protestors communicate.

28 January 2011: The "Friday of Anger" protests began. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Cairo (which also saw the arrival of opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei) and other Egyptian cities after Friday Prayers. There were reports of looting, and prisons were opened and burned down on orders from then-Minister of the Interior Habib El Adly, causing prison inmates to escape en-masse, in what was believed to an attempt to terrorize protesters. The prison breaks were coupled with the complete withdrawal of police forces from the streets. The military was ordered to deploy to assist the police. International fears of violence grew, but no major casualties were reported. President Hosni Mubarak made his first address to the nation, after 4 days of ongoing protests and pledged to form a new government. Later that night clashes broke out in Tahrir Square between Revolutionaries and Pro-Mubarak Thugs, leading to the injury of several, and the death of Karim Ahmed Ragab

29 January 2011: The military presence in Cairo increased, and a curfew was declared, but protests increased and even continued throughout the night. The military reportedly refused to follow orders to fire live ammunition, and exercised restraint overall. There were no reports of major casualties.

1 February 2011: Mubarak made a televised address once again after unceasing protests, and offered several concessions. He pledged he would not run for another term in elections planned for September, and pledged political reforms. He stated he would stay in office to oversee a peaceful transition. Small but violent clashes began that night between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak groups.

2 February 2011: "Battle of the Camel". Violence escalated as waves of Mubarak supporters met anti-government protesters, and some Mubarak supporters rode on camels and horses into Tahrir Square. The clashes were believed to have been orchestrated by Habib El Adly, and there were hundreds of casualties. The military tried to limit the violence, repeatedly separating anti-Mubarak and pro-Mubarak groups. President Mubarak reiterated his refusal to step down in interviews with several news agencies. Incidents of violence toward journalists and reporters escalated amid speculation that the violence was being actively aggravated by Mubarak as a way to end the protests.

6 February 2011: Egyptian Christians held Sunday Mass in Tahrir Square, protected by a ring of Muslims. Negotiations involving Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and representatives of the opposition commenced amid continuing protests throughout the nation. The Egyptian army assumed greater security responsibilities, maintaining order and guarding Egypt’s museums. Suleiman offered reforms, while others of Mubarak's regime accused foreign nations, including the US, of interfering in Egypt’s affairs.

10 February 2011: Mubarak formally addressed Egypt amid speculation of a military coup, but rather than resigning (as was widely expected), he simply stated he would delegate some of his powers to Vice President Suleiman, while continuing as Egypt's head of state. Reactions to Mubarak's statement were marked by anger, frustration and disappointment, and throughout various cities there was an escalation of the number and intensity of demonstrations.

11 February 2011: The "Friday of Departure": Massive protests continued in many cities as Egyptians refused the concessions announced by Mubarak. Finally, at 6:00 p.m. local time, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation, entrusting the Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces with the leadership of the country.

13 February 2011: The Supreme Council dissolved Egypt’s parliament and suspended the Constitution in response to demands by demonstrators. The council also declared that it would hold power for six months, or until elections could be held. Calls were made that the council provide more details and specific timetables and deadlines. Major protests subsided but did not end. In a gesture to a new beginning, protesters cleaned up and renovated Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the demonstrations, although many pledged they would continue protests until all demands had been met.

17 February 2011: The army stated it would not field a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. Four important figures of the former regime were detained on that day: former interior minister Habib el-Adly, former minister of housing Ahmed Maghrabi and former tourism minister Zuheir Garana, as well as steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz.

2 March 2011: The constitutional referendum has been tentatively scheduled for 19 March 2011, but the date is yet to be officially confirmed.

3 March 2011: A day before large protests against him were planned, Ahmed Shafik stepped down as PM and was replaced by Essam Sharaf.

5 March 2011: Several State Security Intelligence (SSI) buildings were raided across Egypt by protesters, including the headquarters for Alexandria Governorate and the main national headquarters in Nasr City, Cairo. Protesters state they raided the buildings to secure documents they believed to show various crimes committed by the SSI against the people of Egypt during Mubarak's rule

6 March 2011: From the Nasr City headquarters protesters acquired evidence of mass surveillance and vote rigging, and noted rooms full of videotapes, piles of shredded and burned documents, and cells where activists recounted their experiences of detention and torture.

19 March 2011: The constitutional referendum was held and passed by 77.27%

22 March 2011: Parts of Interior Ministry building catches fire during police demonstrations outside it.

23 March 2011: The Egyptian Cabinet orders a law criminalizing protests and strikes. Under the new law, anyone organizing or calling for a protest will be sentenced to jail and/or a fine of LE500,000 (~100,000 USD).

Cities and regions : Mass civil disobedience

Cairo

has been at the epicentre of much of the crisis. The largest protests were held in downtown Tahrir Square, which was considered the "protest movement’s beating heart and most effective symbol." On the first three days of the protests, there were clashes between the central security police and protesters and as of 28 January, police forces withdrew from all of Cairo. Citizens then formed neighbourhood watch groups to keep the order as widespread looting was reported. Traffic police were reintroduced to Cairo on the morning of 31 January. An estimated 2 million people protested at Tahrir square.

Alexandria

Alexandria, the home of Khaled Saeed, had major protests and clashes against the police. Demonstrations continued and one on 3 February was reported to include 750,000 people. There were few confrontations as not many Mubarak supporters were around, except in occasional motorized convoys escorted by police. The breakdown of law and order, including the general absence of police on the streets, continued through to at least the evening of 3 February, including the looting and burning of one the country's largest shopping centres. Alexandria protests were notable for the presence of Christians and Muslims jointly taking part in the events following the church bombing on 1 January, which saw street protests denouncing Mubarak's regime following the attack.

Mansoura

In the northern city of Mansoura there were protests against the Mubarak regime every day from 25 January onwards. One protest on 1 February was estimated at one million people while on 3 February, 70,000 people were reported on the streets

Siwa

The remote city of Siwa has thus far been reported as relatively calm. Local sheikhs, who were reportedly in control of the community, put the community under lockdown after a nearby town was "torched."

Suez

The city of Suez has seen the most violence of the protests thus far. Eyewitness reports have suggested that the death toll there may be higher, although confirmation has been difficult due to a ban on media coverage in the area. Some online activists have referred to Suez as Egypt's Sidi Bouzid, the Tunisian city where protests started. A labor strike was held on 8 February. Large protests took place on 11 February.

Tanta

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets from the first day (Jan. 25th) and most of the days after until Feb. 11th. It exceeded a hundred thousand many times. Some hospitals reported casualties during the clashes of Friday Jan. 28th.

Beni Suef

City of Beni Suef have seen repeated protests in front of the City Hall On el Kourneish, in front of Omar abd el Aziz Mosque, and in El Zerayeen Square, on most days of the protests and demonstrations. 12 protesters have been killed when Police Opened fire at Mass groups protesting in front of the Police Station in Beba, South Beni suef. Many others got injured. Thugs and outlaws have robbed many Governmental garages and burned down several Governmental buildings.

Luxor

There were also protests in Luxor

Sinai Peninsula

Bedouins in the Sinai Peninsula fought the security forces for several weeks.

Sharm-El-Sheikh

No protests or civil unrest took place in Sharm-El-Sheikh on 31 January. All was still calm as Hosni Mubarak and his family left on 11 February.

Deirout

Police opened fire on protesters in the Deirout near the southern suburbs of Cairo and Asyut, on 11 February.

Shebin el-Kom

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Shebin el-Kom on 11 February.

El-Arish

Thousands protested in the city of El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula on 11 February.

Sohag

Large protests took place in the southern city of Sohag on 11 February.

Minya

Large protests took place in the southern city of Minya on 11 February.

Ismailia

Nearly 100,000 people protested in and about the local government headquarters in Ismaïlia on 11 February.

Kafr El Sheikh

Large protests took place on 28 January and 4 February all over Kafr el-Sheikh.

Zagazig

Over 100,000 protesters took place in the 27 January in front of the city council in Zagazig

Deaths

Women's role

Egyptian women were highly active throughout the revolution. They took part in the protests themselves, were present in news clips and on Facebook forums, and were part of the leadership during the Egyptian revolution. In Tahrir Square, female protesters, some with their children, worked to support the protests. The overall peacefulness of the protesters, despite provocations, was credited in part to the participation of many women and children. The diversity of the protesters in Tahrir Square was visible in the women who participated; many wore head scarves and other signs of religious conservatism. Egyptian women also organized protests, and reported on the events; female bloggers such as Leil Zahra Mortada risked abuse or imprisonment by keeping the world informed of the daily scene in Tahrir Square and elsewhere. Among those who died was Sally Zahran, who was beaten to death during one of the demonstrations. NASA reportedly plans to name one of its Mars exploration spacecraft in Zahran's honor

The wide participation and the significant contributions by Egyptian women to the protests have been attributed to the fact that many, especially younger women, are better educated than previous generations, representing more than half of Egyptian university students. This has been an empowering factor for women, who have become more present and active publicly in recent years. The advent of social media has also helped provide tools for women to become protest leaders.

The military's role

The Egyptian Armed Forces enjoy a better reputation with the public than the police does, the former perceived as a professional body protecting the country, the latter accused of systemic corruption and illegitimate violence. All four Egyptian presidents since the 1950s have come from the military into power. Key Egyptian military personnel include the Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and General Sami Hafez Enan, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. The Egyptian military totals around 468,500 well-armed active personnel, plus a reserve of 479,000.

As Head of Egypt's Armed Forces, Tantawi has been described as "aged and change-resistant" and is attached to the old regime. He has used his position as Defense Minister to oppose reforms, economic and political, which he saw as weakening central government authority. Other key figures, Sami Enan chief among them, are younger and have closer connections to both the US and groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. An important aspect of the relationship between the Egyptian and American military establishments is the 1.3 billion dollars in military aid provided to Egypt annually, which in turn pays for American-made military equipment, and allows Egyptian officers to receive training in the US. Guaranteed this aid package, the governing military council is for the most reform-resistant. One analyst however, while conceding that the military is change-resistant, states it has no option but to facilitate the process of democratization. Furthermore, the military will have to keep its role in politics limited to continue good relations with the West, and must not restrict the participation of political Islam if there is to be a genuine democracy.

Foreign relations

Foreign governments in the West including the US have regarded Mubarak as an important ally and supporter in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. After wars with Israel in 1967 and '73, Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, provoking controversy in the Arab world. As provisioned in the 1978 Camp David Accords, which led to the peace treaty, both Israel and Egypt receive billions of dollars in aid annually from the United States, with Egypt receiving over US$1.3 billion of military aid each year in addition to economic and development assistance. According to Juan Cole, many Egyptian youth feel ignored by Mubarak on the grounds that he is not looking out for their best interests and that he rather serves the interests of the West. The cooperation of the Egyptian regime in enforcing the blockade of the Gaza Strip was also deeply unpopular amongst the general Egyptian public

Tornado watch in effect; New Yorkers warned to stay inside

2011-08-28T14:13:00.001-07:00

Yes, a hurricane bearing down on us is bad enough, but there is now a tornado watch in effect for New York City as well. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for for the five boroughs, all of Long Island and Rockland and Westchester counties starting over night and through 4 a.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg warned New Yorkers to stay inside tonight.

"This is a storm where if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can be fatal," said Bloomberg at a 9:30 p.m. press conference.

Should power go out in Lower Manhattan, it may take up to three days to restore, Con Ed officials said earlier today. Lower Manhattan is at risk to lose power due to possible storm surge. Already, over 20,000 people have already lost power in Monmouth County, New Jersey alone as the storm began to batter the Jersey Shore. This comes on top of news that the city's subway system will likely not be up and running in time for Monday morning's commute.

Check here for more up-to-the-minute weather reports and warnings for New York City from the National Weather Service.

New York comes out to assess the damage

2011-08-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

As Hurricane Irene ebbed, New Yorkers emerged from their homes today to assess what damage Mother Nature has wrought.

In the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the winds brought down several of the neighborhood’s large, older trees. Winds of up to 60 miles per hour brought down a tree on top of two cars on Hancock Street at about 4 a.m. today.

“My sister called me and said her car alarm was going off,” said Veronica Hall-Lake, whose sister owns the damaged car. “We looked out the window and the tree was totally covering the car. But there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t go inside, the wind was blowing things around like it was paper. There was no more sleeping after that.”

Trapped in the house, Hall-Lake and her family waited until the storm subsided and ventured outside at about 8:30 this morning.

There, they found the entire rear windshield of the car shattered. Neighbors used a chainsaw and machetes to clear the tree.

“We were worried trees would come down,” said Hall-Lake, standing in her pajamas on the sidewalk. “But we didn’t think it would be this one.”

Elsewhere in Brooklyn, in Greenpoint -- a Zone-A neighborhood that was ordered to evacuate -- fallen trees pulled down power lines and damaged the exterior of homes.

But on the whole, the storm was not as bad as many New Yorkers were expecting.

Chris Henderson, 35, lives in Greenpoint. He and his girlfriend decided to heed Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s advice and head to higher ground, in their case, her parent’s home in Staten Island.

“We had some heavy rain but it didn’t seem like anything more severe than a thunderstorm,” said Henderson. “We didn’t lose power, we had a lot of rain and wind; but we’ll see what it's like when we go back home. The major thing right now is we really want to the MTA up and running.”

Ronaldo Dailey, who owns a t-shirt printing company in low-lying Red Hook, another part of the city that was ordered to evacuate, stayed put. And he doesn't regret his decision in the least bit.

“I had no flooding on the first floor and I had maybe six to eight inches of water in the basement, that was it. My pump automatically started working,” said Dailey. “I slept like a baby. (The storm) really didn’t phase me. I was up at 5 a.m. like normal and I got up and looked out. The streets aren’t flooded, there’s cars driving by and people on bikes.”

“We’re doing pretty good," he said, clearly pleased and relieved. "I can’t see any trees fallen anywhere around and I can see telephone lines still up. My car’s not floating down the block .”

High winds will continue all afternoon as storm departs

2011-08-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

The city has lifted its mandatory evacuation of Zone A and the Rockaways, Mayor Michael Bloomberg just announced.

But a tropical storm warning still continues for New York City, according to the National Weather Service. As Hurricane Irene departs, maximum winds are still forecast to be in the 30-40 mile-per-hour range, with gusts up to 55 mph through late afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

There were no deaths or serious injuries in the storm, according to Bloomberg. The MTA is beginning to restore service, starting with buses first while the subway lines are assessed.

However, it will take eight hours to get all the trains, buses and rail service back on track, so expect delays.

Con Edison did not sever power to Lower Mahattan, as it warned.

Hurricane Irene: MTA begins to slowly restore service, still no subways for Monday morning

2011-08-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

As of 4:30 p.m. the MTA will begin restoring limited bus service in New York City, MTA Chairman Jay Walder announced just moments ago.

Restoration will begin in Manhattan and the Bronx, followed by Queens and Brooklyn, however the MTA is unable to restore buses in Staten Island at this time. The Staten Island Ferry out of St. George began running at 3 p.m. today.

National Grid is an international electricity

2011-08-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

National Grid is an international electricity and gas company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.

In Britain we run systems that deliver gas and electricity across the entire country. In the North Eastern states of the US, we provide power directly to millions of customers. We hold a vital position at the centre of the energy system. We join everything up.

National Grid's job is to connect people to the energy they use. From the warmth and light we rely on at home, and the power which keeps our factories and offices going, to the infrastructure and technologies that are essential parts of our modern lifestyle.

That puts National Grid at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society; the creation of new sustainable energy solutions for the future - and the development of an energy system that can underpin our economic prosperity in the 21st century.

Lita Ford Rumors Are Just That, Rumors… Lita Ford Lives On

2011-08-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Rumors about Lita Ford being dead are just that – rumors, and according to some sites, these rumors are nasty and very distasteful. The legendary Queen of Rock lives on…

There are some rumors floating around that Lita Ford, the Queen of Heavy Metal has died as a result of a Jet-Ski accident while on vacation in Turks and Caicos early this morning

These rumors are not true… Lita Ford, the Queen of Heavy Metal has not died and is alive and well, according to MetalTalk.net.

The rumors about Lita Ford dying originated with the Global Associated News site, but according to MetalTalk.net, these rumors are not only made up, but are nasty and “distasteful”.

It was just yesterday when a site called OurMidland did a write up about Lita Ford and her comeback after many years.

Here’s the complete interview with Lita Ford:

Queen of Metal and former member of The Runaways, Lita Ford, came back to the world of music after a long hiatus a few years ago.

And it hasn’t been easy.

“It’s a lot of work,” she said in a phone interview with the Daily News last week. “You think it’d be like riding a bike.”

Ford will perform at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort of Friday on a bill featuring Whitesnake ( a great bunch of guys and musicians, she said) and Tesla (“like family to me”).

Now, having reaccustomed herself to the world of hard rock, she’s ready to keep growing as an artist.

“Now I feel like I finally have my feet on the ground and we’re making a new Lita record,” she said. The record will represent her growth as a singer and an artist — and herself in general.

“I wanted it to be a real Lita record,” she said. What does that mean exactly?

“You’ll see what I mean when you hear it.” There’s no firm date yet, but it could be a late 2011 or early 2012 release.

Ford, known for her songs such as “Kiss Me Deadly” and “Close My Eyes Forever” with Ozzy Osbourne, had success in hard rock in an era with few female contemporaries. Despite a long break, she still sings and plays guitar in a male-dominated music scene.

“There’s not a lot of (female) guitar players,” she said. “It is more of a guy thing, but the girls that are (into hard rock), there are more singers.”

She grew up loving rock and was drawn to the guitar, something she picked up naturally. She joined The Runaways in her teens and eventually broke out on her solo career.

“I wanted to prove to the world that I could play guitar,” she said of her post-Runaways career. “I remember trying to put together a band and I couldn’t find a singer.”

So, she had to learn how to sing — and play guitar at the same time.

“It was tough. I was hitting all kinds of wacky notes,” she said. To fix this, she looked to some of her guitar heroes, such as Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix.

“They wouldn’t follow their fingers with their eyes,” she said. She had to learn how to play by feeling the frets rather than looking at the neck for guidance. To accomplish this, she had a custom guitar made without fret markers (the dots on the neck).

After a lot of practice, it worked, and Lita Ford, the solo artist came to be.

And for any girls interested in the guitar, pick it up, she said. It sounds like she would welcome more females into the world of hard rock.

“When I disappeared, I left a pair of shoes behind,” she said. “During the 15 years I’ve been gone, those shoes haven’t been filled.”

Starting your Internet Marketing Business?

2011-08-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Delving into the world of online marketing is an exciting time for the new marketer. However, it is not surprising that the uninitiated could be daunted by the unfamiliar terminology and technology that forms an inevitable part of the journey. Unfortunately, there are also unscrupulous companies out there who will be more than happy to prey on the novice by selling basic products and services at overinflated prices. Although setting up an internet marketing business requires some expenditure, most IM beginners will probably be pleasantly surprised at how small that outlay is.

Of course, I’m assuming you have bought a computer and an internet connection, but apart from that there are seven essential acquisitions you need to make before you can get going:

1. Website editing software

This is the software on which you actually design your site. There are many options to choose from, some completely free, others in excess of £500 with many shades in-between. The free options are usually more than adequate for creating a good quality site.
There are two fundamental types of editing software (although hybrids are also available): these are raw HTML editors (suitable for those familiar with writing HTML) and WYSIWYG (pronounced ‘wizzywig’) editors. The acronym stands for ‘what you see is what you get’, and this kind of software allows you to use an interface to drag and drop your web elements onto your site.

2. Domain name

You can buy a domain name for a year for under £10. This is the name of your site (e.g. www.hsoub.com). There are thousands of domain name registrars out there so it is useful to shop around, especially since some registrars provide special offers such as free credits for Adwords or royalty-free photo sites. Domain names ending in .com are the most expensive so you could save money by choosing a .biz or .co.uk domain instead. On the other hand, you may want to pay more for a .com address if you want to attract traffic from US internet users.

3. Hosting for your website

Once you have a site and a domain name you need somewhere to put your site, in other words a ‘web host’. A web host stores your website on a server so that it can be accessed from anywhere on the planet.
It is advisable to find a host who gives you complete control over your domain. You can seriously restrict your activities by choosing a host that handles your file transfer for you. It is also advisable to choose a host which uses cPanel, a popular interface which makes your domain management much easier.
Web hosts, of which there are many to choose from, usually offer a range of packages so you need to research exactly what you get for your money. It is unlikely that you will need to pay out for a dedicated server until you are established but you might want to consider upping your package to enable multiple-domain hosting, especially if you intend to run more than one website.
Hosting is usually inexpensive, costing less than £10 a month.

4. FTP software

You have your site and your web space, now you need a way in which to move your site into that space. This requires software which employs file transfer protocol (FTP). High quality, easy to use FTP programs are available for free online or you may find that your web design software incorporates file transfer. File transfer may sound complex but it is usually a case of just dragging and dropping your files from one window to another.
However, one very important thing to watch out for is accidentally mixing up websites. Unless you specifically rename your sites’ home files, they will all be called the same thing (usually index.html). Dragging the wrong site’s home file to your domain will overwrite the original file.

5. Merchant account

Presumably you are considering internet marketing because, sooner or later, you are expecting to handle some money. Although banks can provide ways of taking money online, these are often very expensive and may only be available to companies with a high turnover (not very helpful for the start-up marketer).
Fortunately, there are several well-known online merchant account providers which enable online transactions in return for a small cut; some of them will process credit and debit cards even if the buyer does not hold an account with them.
6. Affiliate merchant (or processor)
This is a service provider that allows you to link up with affiliates who will sell your product in return for commission. Most internet marketers use affiliates to promote and sell their products and the bigger merchants enable affiliates to create links or buttons that connect straight to your landing page. They also include performance trackers so you know which affiliates and products are earning you money. Affiliate merchants are usually free to join although a one-off activation fee (usually less than £20) may be payable.

7. Mailing list manager

Although it is possible to manage your own mailing list via nothing more complex than a database and an email account, it is well worth considering investing in a mailing list manager. For less than £20 a month, the most popular programs will not only organize your mailing lists, they will supply customisable opt-in forms for your site and enable you to set up autoresponders.
An autoresponder is an online marketer’s favourite tool since it automates the process of communicating with your list. Typically, an autoresponder will be set up to send an immediate activation email to subscribers followed by a welcome email plus a series of further mails, scheduled to build interest towards a future product pitch.

How to boost your business with outsourcing

2011-08-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Regardless of whether you run a traditional ‘bricks-and-mortar’ business or an online enterprise, there are always ways to do the things you do more efficiently. One of the terms you may have come across in connection with improving efficiency is ‘leverage’. In the same way as a mechanical lever enables a heavy object to be manipulated by a comparatively small force, business leverage is all about finding easier ways to accomplish the many and varied tasks that comprise your business. In fact, every business that has employees is using leverage: using their employees’ time and skills to allow the executive team to concentrate on overall strategy.With the opening up of the global labour market, largely due to technological development, outsourcing has become one of the most popular (and controversial) ways in which businesses, small and large, have leveraged the time and skills of outside agencies to increase their productivity.

Start by out-tasking

If you are a fairly inexperienced internet marketer, it is unwise to go straight in at the deep end by outsourcing an entire business function to another company. Instead, think about a relatively minor task that you could do yourself but would be willing to hand over. For example, you may have an article to write for your blog or a small ad to design. Giving this work to another company or individual is called out-tasking, and there is minimal risk involved (providing you don’t pay extortionate rates).
By occasional out-tasking, you will build experience of how to recognise and work with quality professionals. At the same time you will get used to relinquishing absolute control over your project, something you will almost inevitably have to do if you want to enjoy success.

When – and what – should you outsource?

There are no definitive answers to this question. As your business grows, you will probably want to explore new avenues for growth; as one marketer succinctly put it, you will want to spend more time working on your business than in it.
At this point you will probably want to outsource those tasks that aren’t actively making you money (analytics, customer service, data input, etc.) along with those that you don’t enjoy.
Ultimately, as your business starts to acquire a more complex infrastructure, you might find yourself needing to outsource work to organizations employing highly-trained professionals.

Where to find outsourcing candidates

Potential hires can be found on various well-known forums, directories and job-seeker portals, some of which allow previous clients to rate them or to leave testimonials. Of course, you shouldn’t take any of this information on face value. Long-term outsourcing requires a high level of trust, so you should research potential partners carefully, performing background checks, contacting previous clients, conducting interviews and asking for samples. If you choose wisely, your business will grow as your working relationship develops and your partners learn more about your business as a whole.

Other precautions to take

When you do form a working relationship with another company, you have to be careful about what information you are sharing with them and how it is being protected. If you are intending to share any customer details you should check the Data Protection Act carefully to ascertain what is legally permissible.
If possible, you should only give your working partners access to confidential information if they need it to perform their work. To protect your ideas from being exploited you may want to draft a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Finally, be careful how much detail you reveal when posting your project online. Certain internet marketers have admitted to scouring the biggest outsourcing directories for new ideas they can use to further their businesses.

Missy Elliot, other celebs remember Aaliyah

2011-08-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

Missy Elliot, other celebs remember Aaliyah

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Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child fame wrote on her official website,
'R.I.P. Aaliyah! Aaliyah with Michelle, Beyonce & Kelly! What a
beautiful soul! May God bless her family and all the ones who loved her.
Was a huge fan and still am to this day

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'Good morning twitter fam. Let's all take a moment to remember our sister Aaliyah!!! #ripaaliyah,' Mary J. Blige wrote on her official Twitter page.
(Pictured: Mary J. Blige honored for her work with FFAWN at McDonald's
2011 365Black Awards for Outstanding Community Service in July 2011

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Ciara spoke to Bilboard.com
about Aaliyah saying, 'It never felt like she was trying to reach
across or do anything more than just keep that cool, soulful, heavy
urban core about it. It wasn't like she was trying to be anything more
than who she was. I really respect that and I appreciate that.'
(Pictured: Ciara in a 2010 interview with OnTheRedCarpet.com

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Singer Monica spoke to Bilboard.com
about Aaliyah's death and said, 'I think it's good for people to know
the side of her outside of the music and know that her music was a great
reflection of her. Sometimes people are totally different than the
image they represent, but what I love about her is that everything that
you saw was really her. When the lights and the cameras were off, that
same pleasant, mild mannered, sweet personality, that's just how she
was.'

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'Glee' actor Harry Shum Jr. wrote on his blog,
'It's been 10 years since the one of a kind Aaliyah was taken from us.
She was ahead of her time and there isn't one day that goes by where I
don't think how BIG of a star she could be if she was still with us.
Baby girl! #RIPAaliyah' (Pictured: Harry Shum Jr. in a promotional photo
for the second season of 'Glee

GENERATOR REPAIR CALLS INCREASE AHEAD OF HURRICANE IRENE

2011-08-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

As people batch up for Hurricane Irene, they're additionally creation certain their home generators have been in tip tip shape! We tagged along upon a single upkeep call with a Chesterfield association slammed with correct requests.

Richmond Generator in Midlothian has taken calls upon all from generator of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy repairs to upkeep checkups. One Goochland homeowner pronounced she's mislaid energy prior to during Isabelle as good as doesn't wish to take which possibility during Irene.

The sounds of inlet were transposed by a purring of an involuntary generator. The ultimate use call for Anthony Paschall brought him to Amy Hall's residence upon Maidens road. Her generator of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy didn't begin a couple of weeks ago when a thunderstorm knocked out power

"Usually it only turns upon inside of only a couple of minutes," pronounced Hall.

With Irene churning by a Atlantic, Hall done certain she was upon his list for slight maintenance.

"I suspicion about Isabelle as good as being out of energy roughly a week," pronounced Hall.

If a energy goes out as good as generator of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy doesn't flog on, a Halls won't have water. They're upon good service, a large regard for this family with 3 immature girls.

Generator upkeep is a lot similar to a automobile balance up. Paschall, a lead tech for Richmond Generator, altered a hint plugs, filter, battery as good as oil.

"Some people go dual or 3 years but we do as good as when something similar to this happens, afterwards they're ready to get service," pronounced Paschall.

He's been using uninterrupted given final week, when his trainer proposed removing calls from customers. Nearly 200 requests for use came in given speak of Irene.

"I've seen bad batteries, battery chargers, carry out boards, and faulty buttons," pronounced Paschall.

For Hall, a operative generator of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy of electric energy is a single reduction thing to be concerned about.

"You only have to out here given if we remove energy we're not a initial people to get a energy behind upon given we're reduce race density, so when energy goes out you'll be out a small bit longer," pronounced Hall.

Paschall tells me these generators can final up to 10 years with slight maintenance. The association tells us they've additionally perceived latest orders for involuntary generators given word of a storm.

Ocean City, Md. orders thousands to evacuate as Hurricane Irene nears

2011-08-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Ocean City officials have ordered thousands of residents and visitors to evacuate the Maryland beachfront community, and the state's governor has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Irene approaches.

Mayor Rick Meehan says phase three of the hurricane action plan goes into effect at midnight. Anyone other than emergency personnel is ordered to leave.

Meehan says there are probably about 125,000 to 150,000 people in Ocean City. He said officials had already been urging visitors to head home, but now they are telling the 7,000 or so residents in town to seek shelter elsewhere

Meehan is also banning the sale of alcohol and requests that all businesses close by midnight.

No vehicles except emergency vehicles and those approved by the mayor, city manager or emergency services director will be permitted entry.

Does a Red Meat Diet Increase the Risk of Pancreatic Cancer?

2011-08-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death among people who die of cancer, and because it’s usually not diagnosed until the tumors have begun to spread elsewhere in the body, survival rates are especially low. That is why people who have known risk factors for pancreatic cancer (a parent, grandparent, or sibling who had the disease, work in the petrochemical industry, work with solvents, smoking) may benefit from dietary changes that lower the risk of the disease. Or at least lower the risk of the disease on a population-wide level.

Red meat has long been suspect as a source of pancreatic cancer risk. Physicians at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston interviewed 626 people who had pancreatic cancer and 530 healthy controlled and learned that people who develop this condition tend to eat more

Bacon, Grilled chicken, Fried chicken, and Well-done pork, but

Increased risk was not associated with:

Hamburger (with one exception, listed below) or Steak.

People who develop pancreatic cancer were more likely to prefer crispy bacon and very well done chicken than people who didn’t develop the disease.

Why don’t we go forward with this piece of content. The specific carcinogen most associated with cancer of the pancreas was the mindbogglingly named 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (DiMeIQx). This chemical is formed when hamburger is “charred” so that its edges are burnt. Baked, fried, or medium rare hamburgers produce only small amounts of this chemical, but char-burgers are measurably carcinogenic.

What most afficionados of grilled meat and barbecue don’t know is, the heterocyclic amines, the chemically modified proteins of meat cooked at high temperatures, have to be detoxified with the same enzymes the liver uses to detoxify tobacco smoke or chemicals from gasoline or solvents. Eating well-done red meat on a regular basis may take so much of the liver’s enzyme capacity that it’s not able to deal with the toxic load coming from elsewhere in the environment.

There was one silver lining in the dark cloud of the findings of this study. The MD Anderson researchers learned that people who had a family history of pancreatic cancer weren’t at elevated risk for getting the disease if they avoided well-done meats.

Robert Rister is the author or co-author of 9 books and over 2,000 articles on natural health including an article on Vitamin D and the Risk of Pancreatic Cancer.

Apple stock drops 5%, wipes billions off market value

2011-08-25T04:44:00.000-07:00

A five percent fall in Apple stock following Steve Jobs's resignation as CEO has wiped more than £10.3 billion off the iPhone maker's market value

Apple's stock market value fell from $348 billion to $330.5 billion in after-hours trading on Wednesday night as investors demonstrated concern over the company's long-term future, the Guardian reports.

"The short-term selloff of Apple shares immediately after the announcement is driven by fears that Apple will not continue to perform as it has, once Steve Jobs leaves the CEO role," said Ovum chief analyst Jan Dawson. "However, these fears appear relatively unfounded at least in the short-term.

"Tim Cook, formerly COO and now CEO, has been in day-to-day charge of Apple not only since January, but during two previous periods when Steve Jobs's health prompted extended absences. On all three occasions, Steve Jobs was nevertheless involved in major decisions and continued to set strategy for the company. His new role as chairman suggests this will continue to be the case even if he does not sit at a desk in Cupertino for eight hours every day."

Earlier this month, Apple briefly jumped ahead of oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil to become the world's most valuable company.

[ Source: Guardian ]

What might you do to pay back Your Student Loans?

2011-08-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

When I graduated college, it absolutely was a thrilling time. I spent close to 25% of my entire life in college (back then) and it felt amazing for getting achieved and fulfilled my educational goals. It had been an extended journey! However once this has been all over… and I awakened the following morning I got this impression I assumed that which was forthcoming, but I couldn t grasp this. Until eventually! It at last arrived. My Student Loans invoice. UGHHHHH! Talk pertaining to nerve wrecking!

The situation sensed similar to whenever you call a plumbing professional to repair your sink and they finish up charging you an arm and a leg for doing it. Here I was basically, a student, with no employment, and ten s of thousands of dollars in student loan dues resulting from this. Thanks a lot Uncle Sam!

I m the type of guy definitely detest getting into liability. Therefore looking at that I hadn t perhaps even secured a full-time worthwhile occupation but still I became waste deep in the biggest dept I ve ever had, numbed me to the whole YAY! YOU GRADUATE COLLEGE bit

What i’m saying is even though I got work to do this might have been frustrating. Largely mainly because my debt was probably In excess of no matter what my initial years income would’ve ever been. Except not surprisingly provided that I had been employed by Wall Street something like that. Those big boys keep moving around some heavy money bags just after graduating. But no, I used to be merely an engineer. Although a chemical engineer (one of many highest paid out engineering fields), then again I’d been still only an engineer without a job.

Years later, considering that I’ve got a work, I do think back again upon if I might have got sold a body part so as to pay up my student loans. The thought entered my brain as I peruse this crazy article the other day. The subject? (Have a look at story underneath)

‘Parent Offers Body Parts On Craigslist To Pay Off Child s Student Loans’

A Boston parent said he or she is willing to sell body parts to pay off his or her children s school debt.

The ad, Do You Need A Live Cadaver? Take My Body, was posted in the jobs wanted section of Boston Craigslist earlier this week.

The poster offered up his or her body for anything legal or medically experimental to raise money to pay off their children s student loan debt.

If you eliminate my children s student loans, I will give you my life! the poster wrote.

The poster said they were 5 feet 10 inches tall, 200 pounds and have all their organs in working order.

Take my blood, take my plasma. Drill into my brain, my leg, my arm. Tap my heart, my liver, my kidney, the poster writes, adding, I am very very serious.

The poster, who did not include their name, exact location or gender, said the children s student loans total $200,000.

*The story was reported by The Boston Channel.

Could you? Would you Possibly take into consideration offering a body part to repay your student loans or even your childrens student loans ?

I don t know if I really could honestly. I mean, student loans can be surely a major stress to handle, legalized loan sharking However my existence would certainly under no circumstances be threatened because of a student loan. You can t confiscate my thoughts. You could potentially enslave me making me work with shackles on for the greater part of my entire life, but I possibly could still vacation somewhere fine, right? If I could possibly find a way to save a penny in some places though. You could even cut into my American dream of owning a dwelling. Not to mention that buying a residence is an entirely distinct creature of a debt, but it s one I wouldn t worry about having given that I could possibly make the monthly tributes uhhhh I mean repayments!

Will there be people out there like me? I m confident there are, virtually the majority of college qualified Americans will be in the same situation. So I ve decided to give away student loan resources. I ll be making available a number of informational resources that ll help those with student loans and those thinking about taking out student loans. I plan on posting some information directly to the blog, but a significant amount resources will be sent by direct email depending on the size of the resource. If you d like to get on the list of those who will receive this information, go to http://mytutorblog.org/ .I already have a lot of material talking about student loans actually. Everything from obliterating them completely without paying a single cent to going to college for free without even having to take out any student loans.

Hurricane Irene news: Evacuations begin on Ocracoke Island

2011-08-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

Tourists have begun evacuating from a tiny barrier island off North Carolina as Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm over the Bahamas with the East Coast in its sights.

So far, things are going smoothly, said Tommy Hutcherson, owner of the Ocracoke Variety Store on Ocracoke Island. Cars lined up at gas pumps to top off before leaving ahead of Irene, which had winds near 193 kph as of Wednesday afternoon (local time). Irene is expected to get stronger over warm ocean waters and could become a Category 4 storm with winds of at least 211 kph by Thursday.

The evacuation was a test of whether people in the crosshairs of the first major hurricane along the East Coast in years would heed orders to get out of the way. As Irene churned in the Caribbean, tourists scurried from hotels in the Bahamian capital of Nassau to catch flights off the island before the airport's expected afternoon closure. Officials as far north as Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the US also were getting ready for Irene

The first ferry to leave Ocracoke Island in North Carolina arrived just before 5:30am in nearby Hatteras with around a dozen cars on board.

The 16-mile-long barrier island is accessible only by boats that can carry no more than 50 cars at a time. It is home to about 800 year-round residents and a tourist population that swells into the thousands when vacationers rent rooms and cottages. Tourists were told to evacuate Wednesday. Island residents were told to get out on Thursday.

It wasn't clear how many people on the first arriving ferry Wednesday morning were tourists, but the first two cars to drive off had New York and New Jersey plates.

Getting off the next ferry about an hour later was a family that included newlywed Jennifer Zaharek, 23, of Torrington, Conn. She and her husband, Andrew, were married Monday and planned to spend their honeymoon on the island.

"We just got to spend one day on the beach and then we went to bed early to get up for the evacuation," she said.

State workers questioned people who tried taking the ferry to the island and turned a few cars around. In addition to the ferry line to Hatteras, there were two other ferry lines that went to and from the island.

Federal officials have warned Irene could cause flooding, power outages or worse all along the East Coast as far north as Maine, even if it stays offshore. The projected path has gradually shifted to the east, and Irene could make landfall anywhere from South Carolina to Massachusetts over the weekend.

As of 2:00pm EDT Wednesday, Irene was centred about 402km southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas and was moving northwest near 19 kph.

Speaking Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America, Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said people as far north as New England should be ready for the storm. When asked about concerns preparing the Northeast for a hurricane, which is uncommon in that part of the country, Fugate cited Tuesday's earthquake that rattled the East Coast.

"It's a reminder that we don't always get to pick the next disaster," Fugate said.

Ocracoke is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a roughly 200-mile stretch of fragile barrier islands off the state's coast. Pristine beaches and wild mustangs attract thousands of tourists each year. Aside from Ocracoke, the other islands are accessible by bridges to the mainland and ferries. The limited access can make the evacuation particularly tense. Officials in counties covering the rest of the Outer Banks were to decide later Wednesday or Thursday whether to evacuate.

All the barrier islands have the geographic weakness of jutting out into the Atlantic like the side-view mirror of a car, a location that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd made landfall as a Category 2 storm and caused a storm surge that wiped out scores of houses and other properties on the Outer Banks.

Irene had already wrought destruction across the Caribbean, giving a glimpse of what the storm might bring to the Eastern Seaboard. In Puerto Rico, tens of thousands were without power, and one woman died after trying to cross a swollen river in her car. Thousands were evacuated because of flooding in the Dominican Republic. In Cuba, the storm sent waves crashing over a seawall in Baracoa, causing ankle-deep flooding in parts and damaging some sidewalks.

Hurricane conditions were already present in the southeastern Bahamas, forecasters said. The capital of Nassau buzzed with preparations Wednesday, as the government and some resorts set up emergency shelters. Many visitors scrambled to get off the island, waiting in long lines to catch planes before the airport closed.

"I've been through one hurricane and I don't want to see another," said Susan Hooper of Paris, Illinois, who was cutting short a trip with her husband, Marvin, to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary.

It's been more than seven years since a major hurricane, considered a Category 3 with winds of at least 179 kph, hit the East Coast. Hurricane Jeanne came ashore on Florida's east coast in 2004.

People were keeping an eye on the storm farther north. At the Breakers Resort Inn in Virginia Beach, Va., manager Jimmy Capps said some customers have cancelled, but he's urging most to wait until Thursday, when the storm's path will be more certain than it is now. He said the 56-room inn is still about 80 percent booked for the weekend.

In Massachusetts, country music star Kenny Chesney bumped a concert ahead two days to miss Irene, and state officials were making sure communications systems were working and sandbags were stocked. In Rhode Island, officials stockpiled sandbags and cleared storm drains to prepare for possible flooding.

Tourist enclaves in Georgia and South Carolina, though, were not expecting as much of a hit. Managers at Georgia's Cumberland and Sapelo islands said they planned to remain open as Irene approaches. In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley said she didn't anticipate evacuations.

"What we can say is tourists can comfortably stay on the coast. If something changes, we'll have another news conference," she said.

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue urged coastal residents to be prepared and fill up their gas tanks, collect their prescription drugs and have cash in case the region is without power or other basics. Hurricane kits also should include water, canned food and other supplies.

Still, Perdue tried not to discourage vacationers from visiting North Carolina's coast, saying at this point the state's southern beaches would avoid the brunt of the storm and predicted Irene would pass the state by Sunday morning - leaving intact the week leading up to the Labour Day holiday.

Perdue defended comments she made Tuesday asking the media not to scare away tourists and urging vacationers to keep visiting North Carolina.

"You will never endanger your tourists, but you also don't want to overinflate the sense of urgency about the storm. And so let's just hang on," she said

Cheryl Tuverson of Drexel Hill, Pa., was staying on Hatteras Island with a large group, including her two children, and had no plans to hang on. She recalled staying through a storm during a previous visit to the area and said she wouldn't do it again.

"This time, we'll leave," she said. "We're supposed to leave Saturday, but we'll leave Friday."

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Hurricane-Irene-Evacuations-begin-on-Ocracoke-Island/tabid/417/articleID/223424/Default.aspx#ixzz1VylApuGv

Kenny Chesney Changes Tour Date Due To Hurricane Warning

2011-08-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

The tragic string of storm-related disasters at outdoor concerts this summer has apparently made an impression on Kenny Chesney, who isn't taking any chances with the last weekend of his Goin' Coastal tour. Due to a hurricane warning affecting his August 28 show in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Chesney has decided to move the date up two days for safety's sake.

The Sunday show at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium will now be held on Friday the 26th. Moving the date was a "difficult decision," according to the show's promoter.

However, Chesney himself is adamant that safety comes first. "I want the
last weekend of the Goin' Coastal tour to be a great experience for everybody," he said in a statement. "But I also want it to be the safest experience for everyone."

The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasted that hurricane-level storms may occur in the New England area on the 28th. There will be no show held at Gillette Stadium that day.

If you have a ticket for Sunday, it will be honored on Friday. The lineup and set times will remain the same as before. Ticketholders who are unable to attend on the new date will be offered a refund at point of purchase.

Chesney's caution is wise in the light of the recent stage collapse in Indiana immediately preceding Sugarland's set that killed seven people. Also, last month at the Ottawa Bluesfest, Cheap Trick and the Court Yard Hounds witnessed a stage collapse before their eyes. Earlier this month, rock band the Flaming Lips were forced to cancel their show when a storm brought down a lighting rig.

Hurricane Irene in Google Earth

2011-08-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Irene, which has already done some serious damage to Puerto Rico, was recently captured in stunning high resolution by NASA's Terra satellite as it heads toward the east coast of the United States

You can view the image on NASA's Earth Observatory website, or view it in Google Earth using this KML file. Be aware the KML is loading the full 5 MB file from NASA's server, as it's amazingly sharp, so it'll take a few moments to load.

To track the Hurricane and view it's forecasted track, turn on your Places layer and an icon will appear over the Hurricane. Clicking that icon will give you access to details about the Hurricane, along with historical data and various projected paths. More details about this feature can be found in this post from a few months ago.

If you're aware of other great tools to help track Irene and other 2011 hurricanes, leave a comment below and let us know.

Understanding Google AdSense

2011-08-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content relevant advertisements on web pages. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the website, the website owner is credited for the referral. Google's AdSense program essentially allows approved websites to dynamically serve Google's pay-per-click AdWord results.
Website maintenance related to AdSense is very easy and requires very little effort. Webmasters need only to insert a Google generated java script into the web page or website template.
Google's spider parses the AdServing website and serves ads that relate to the website's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served. The java script calls the ad from Google and will ensure that ads are served each time a visitor goes to the web page.
Early on Google implemented a filtering system that allowed webmasters to prevent a specific domain's ads from being served on any websites in their account. Ad blocking meant that webmasters could prevent their competitor's ads from being dynamically served on their websites
.
Google provides a wide variety of ad formats to match the most suitable option with a website. Webmasters can select from a handful of preformatted towers, inline rectangles, banners and buttons. The ad boxes can be modified by webmasters to resemble the website's color scheme. Examples of how different the various text boxes and color schemes appear on similarly themed sites can be viewed at:
http://www.ring-tone-software.com (scroll to the bottom)
http://www.ringtones-central.com (scroll to the bottom)
or
http://www.police-central.com (download left side)
http://www.police-supplies.com (scroll to the bottom)
Ads can be geo-targeted based on the visitor's location. Advertisements containing content in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, or Spanish are all available.
Channels
Google recently introduced channels, enhancing AdSense reporting.
When a channel is selected Google modifies the java script to include additional tracking. The additional tracking information allows webmasters to track a variety of metrics across their sites. Channels can be used to measure performance on various domains, differences in revenue with various ad sizes, or placement. By assigning each group of pages to a specific channel and comparing results in custom channel reports webmasters can work at increasing their AdSense revenue.
Optimizing
Google determines the content of the ads that are shown, webmasters serious about earning revenue from Google AdSense can use the following guidelines to optimize their website and ensure that targeted and relevant ads are served. If Google's spider has not crawled the site and determined the nature of the content, public service ads may be served. Public service ads will not accrue any AdSense revenue if clicked. As a result Google allows webmasters to designate alternate ads. Alternate ads allow webmasters to utilize the ad space in the event that Google is unable to serve targeted ads to the web page. By specifying an alternate image, HTML page, or ad server the advertising space can always being used effectively.
1.) Web page content on pages that ads are served should be static not dynamic.
2.) Ensure that the robot.txt does not prevent the web page from being spidered. Robots.txt file's will need to be removed or the following text will need to bedded to allow Google's content bot to crawl the site: User-agent: Media partners - Google
3.) If the website contains frames, select the 'framed page' checkbox when generating the ad layout code for that website.
4.) The body of the page and title of the page should contain contextual words that indicate a common theme on the web page.
Revenue Earned
Although Google doesn't disclose the exact revenue share or percentage that webmasters will earn, webmasters will receive a portion of the amount paid for clicks on Google ads on websites.
AdSense Conclusion:
Overall, Google AdWords can provide great supplemental income to webmasters with content sites. Implementing and maintaining Google AdSense program on a content site requires very little effort and can often bring a steady stream of additional revenue for webmasters.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com, and http://www.small-business-software.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S._Housley

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/822

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2011-08-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

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2011-08-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

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2011-08-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

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2011-08-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

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2011-08-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

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