Inherited epigenetics produced record fast evolution

ScienceDaily (Feb. 29, 2012) ? The domestication of chickens has given rise to rapid and extensive changes in genome function. A research team at Link?ping University in Sweden has established that the changes are heritable, although they do not affect the DNA structure.

Humans kept Red Junglefowl as livestock about 8000 years ago. Evolutionarily speaking, the sudden emergence of an enormous variety of domestic fowl of different colours, shapes and sizes has occurred in record time. The traditional Darwinian explanation is that over thousands of years, people have bred properties that have arisen through random, spontaneous mutations in the chickens' genes.

Link?ping zoologists, with Daniel N?tt and Per Jensen at the forefront, demonstrate in their study that so-called epigenetic factors play a greater role than previously thought. The study was published in the journal BMC Genomics.

They studied how individual patterns of gene activity in the brain were different for modern laying chickens than the original form of the species, the red jungle fowl. Furthermore they discovered hundreds of genes in which the activity was markedly different.

Degrees of a kind of epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, were measured in several thousand genes. This is a chemical alteration of the DNA molecule that can affect gene expression, but unlike a mutation it does not appear in the DNA structure. The results show clear differences in hundreds of genes.

Researchers also examined whether the epigenetic differences were hereditary. The answer was yes; the chickens inherited both methylation and gene activity from their parentages. After eight generations of cross breeding the two types of chickens, the differences were still evident.

The results suggest that domestication has led to epigenetic changes. For more than 70 % of the genes, domesticated chickens retained a higher degree of methylation. Since methylation is a much faster process than random mutations, and may occur as a result of stress and other experiences, this may explain how variation within a species can increase so dramatically in just a short time.

N?tt and Jensen's research may lead to a review of the important foundations for the theory of evolution.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Linkoeping Universitet, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Daniel Natt, Carl-Johan Rubin, Dominic Wright, Martin Johnsson, Johan Belteky, Leif Andersson, Per Jensen. Heritable genome-wide variation of gene expression and promoter methylation between wild and domesticated chickens. BMC Genomics, 2012; 13 (1): 59 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-13-59

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120229091844.htm

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US Wants Natural Gas As Major Auto Fuel Option

I used to work for the local gas company. For decades they've had a compressed natural gas conversion for cars and a small compressor setup for the home at reasonable startup cost ($2,500 at the time). The range wasn't great, (for range you need LNG) but it was better than today's all electric cars and you could fuel up at home in a much shorter time than with electric. The fleet all ran on natural gas, filling up at their own company-maintained filling stations, and besides being cheaper and having lower emissions, as a collateral benefit they were getting exceptional life from the engines of their fleet vehicles.

As I was interested in this conversion myself and only learned about it by accident, I struck up a conversation with the head of marketing asking why they weren't promoting it, since it was an existing solution that people could buy for their own vehicles if they only knew about it.

And most importantly, in most areas the distribution network is already in place, something that Electric is currently struggling with.

He said that the company was under pressure not to promote a consumer compressed natural gas solution for automobiles. He was unwilling to say where the pressure was coming from. I always wondered about that.

So, in short, the solution already exists, exactly as described, and has since at least the nineties. As far as I can see, there's nothing to develop here, just remove the roadblocks to existing solutions.

Mind you, it works best for dedicated commuter and in-town cars, because to keep the cost and complexity down, the car *only* runs on compressed natural gas, and CNG does not have the energy per volume as either LNG or gasoline. But in my opinion CNG is more practical than electric in several respects, not the least of which there are no batteries to replace/recycle.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/rAm-A_fJR20/us-wants-natural-gas-as-major-auto-fuel-option

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Interview at Duke's Faith and Leadership Blog (Part II) ? Prof. Rah's ...

Part II of an interview with Duke Divinity School?s BLOG:

Q: Do you first have to help people realize they?re captive?

That?s an important first step. When you grow up in a particular church context with a particular worldview, you develop assumptions about what faith is. After a while, a culture develops within all churches, and we assume our particular cultural expression of Christianity is what the church is supposed to be.

In any context, whether the American church or globally, we have to offer that knowledge about captivity. But part of that comes when we?re in conversation with each other. When a white suburban church talks to an inner-city black church, or a Western church talks to an African church, then we start seeing which things are more cultural and which are more biblical. We start learning from each other what church is really about.

Q: So how do you free the church?

That?s the tough question. Right now in the U.S., we?re blessed to have an increasingly multicultural society. I?m a Korean and grew up in a Korean church, but I was educated in the context of American Christianity and American culture. So I have a bicultural lens.

The subtitle of my second book is ?Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church,? but I always thought the better phrase would be ?Cultural Intuition.? ?Intelligence? implies just a set of knowledge that you pick up. Intuition is more something that you develop through experiences. A person who has lived in one cultural context all their life doesn?t develop an intuition for culture. They might read books on culture and gain knowledge about it, but they won?t develop intuition.

The more you?re in cross-cultural relationships and settings, the more you encounter people who are different, the more you can develop cultural intuition. And through that, you can start asking, ?Well, where is my faith coming from??

Q: What does a culturally sensitive, culturally intuitive church look like?

We?re just starting to figure that out. Part of the problem is that the U.S. has very few multiethnic churches. Only about 7 or 8 percent of U.S. churches are multiethnic, meaning 80 percent of one group and 20 percent of another. We don?t have churches that have been at this for 20 to 40 years and know what it?s like to live through stages of church life as a multicultural community. We?re starting to see more examples.

I hesitate to suggest principles that everybody should follow, because every context is different. But we have to develop even more intuition, relationships and abilities. We have to be patient. Maybe we first need to have more multiethnic churches and be more intentional about being part of multiethnic communities. Then we can see what principles emerge.

Q: You?ve written about the conditions that are required for people to grow and to change regarding issues of race and culture. Tell us about that.

I was a pastor for 15 years ? 10 of those in one church ? and that deeply shaped the way I view how people change.

Two variables are helpful, and you have to have both. One is a place of safety, a place where you feel safe enough to ask stupid questions, make mistakes and feel affirmed in your basic identity. That, by the way, is often why people go to single-ethnic churches ? because they?re safe. We feel safer with people who are like us and who understand us.

But we also need the flip side of that, which is a place of discomfort. Most of us don?t grow unless there?s a reason to grow, unless discomfort is introduced ? and usually that is introduced by people who are different.

That?s why it?s hard to establish multiethnic churches, because you?ve got to have both. You?ve got to have places of safety,? but you also need a place of challenge, where people will say, ?Hey, maybe you need to think about that a little more.?

Safety and challenge are things I hope the church could offer. That would be a great church, wouldn?t it? A place where people can say, ?I?m affirmed here. God accepts me as I am. But at the same time, the community has challenged me to grow in areas that I would not have thought of unless I?d been part of this community.?

Q: The debate over immigration reform is an area where these issues of safety and discomfort seem relevant. Yet church people have often been some of the harshest voices in the debate. Why?

There?s no easy answer, but it goes back to cultural captivity, where being an American and protecting an American identity, usually associated with a white European identity, became more important than the scriptural values of compassion for the alien and immigrant among us. That reflects a cultural Christianity. Christianity as a whole has fallen captive to this idea of American exceptionalism and triumphalism. That has become more important than being the servant of all.

I get disturbed when people say, ?We want America to be a Christian nation.? That usually means triumph, victory and maybe even violent conquest. The best way for America to be a Christian nation would be if we accepted the alien and immigrant among us. That would be more of a testimony of America as a Christian nation than any Islamic jihad we were able to defeat or put down.

Q: How should historically single-ethnic congregations welcome and minster to people of different cultures and languages?

American churches don?t look the way they did 20 or 30 years ago. They are more multicultural and more diverse than they?ve ever been, across all denominations. So the question is not, ?Is there diversity?? but, ?What do we do about it??

Is our goal to be hospitable? Well, yes, if we?re talking about the biblical understanding of hospitality, but not if we?re talking about the Western concept of hospitality, which means, ?Come to my home for a couple of hours ? we?ll feed you, but at the end of the night, you?re going to leave.?

Hospitality in the Western concept is an occasional event. Hospitality in the biblical context means, ?No, actually, we?re going to live together. My home really is your home.?

What happens when that kind of hospitality changes not only your living arrangements but your food? If I?m a guest in your house, you might fix kimchi for me, but you can throw it out after I leave. But if I?m living with you, that kimchi?s going to be in your refrigerator for a long time, and your milk is going to start tasting like kimchi, and you might not like it as much as when it was just a random, one-night visit.

What happens when we live together for a long time and the liturgy changes? What happens when our children marry each other? What happens when all the things that make family life messy become what our church life needs to be?

It?s not just a Western host saying, ?Hey, come on in. We have room for you.? It?s the church saying, ?We are now coming into the fullness of what Christ originally intended.? That is a very different approach to being a multiethnic church.

Usually, you get the dominant church or the dominant culture saying, ?Come join us and become like us, and then we?ll have worship together.? This other approach says, ?Unless you?re here, the way God made you, my life as a Christian is incomplete. By you being here, bringing your different culture and style of worship and approach to fellowship, my life becomes complete in Christ, because I?m seeing Christ in you the way I can?t see Christ just in my own life.?

Q: What advice do you have for churches that want to do what you describe?

Studies show that neighborhoods generally are six times more diverse than churches. Every neighborhood is different, but the excuse that ?our church isn?t multiethnic because the neighborhood isn?t? is probably just that ? an excuse. If you look within a mile radius, certainly four or five miles, you?ll see more diversity.

A first step would be to ask, ?What?s going on in our neighborhood? Have churches started up that we didn?t know about? How can we partner with churches that are already doing this work??

Then, also think about evangelism. What does it mean to do outreach and evangelism into communities that are already diverse?

Churches should also think seriously about what it means, what it costs, to become a multiethnic church. What would be lost potentially? It could be a lot.

I?ve been looking at what dying churches do with their buildings ? churches that were vibrant for 40 or 50 years but they?re down to 15, 20 people, and they?re just kind of waiting. They have a huge endowment and the building is paid for, but they?re not going to make it. In many cases, those churches shut down and become community centers or libraries or bowling alleys or condos.

But what would it mean for that church to give the building to a Spanish-speaking church or a Korean congregation? That would require thinking about what it means to pass on a legacy to people who are in some sense your children but don?t look anything like you or even speak the same language.

What would it mean to think in such a larger, kingdom mindset that you would say, ?Our run has ended, and our time is coming to a close. The next generation is not our biological children. It?s the Hispanic church or Asian-American church down the street that we should pass this legacy on to.?

It?s coming to a point in American church history where we?re passing on our legacy to people who look very different from us.

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Source: http://profrah.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/interview-at-dukes-faith-and-leadership-blog-part-ii/

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Remarks by the First Lady and Dr. Biden Discussing Military Spouse ...

Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--February 27, 2012 - 10:49 A.M. EST

DR. BIDEN:? Thank you.? (Applause.)? Thank you, David, and thank you all for coming.? It was great to see you all here last night -- what a wonderful evening.? And we're so delighted to have you here again at the White House this morning.

The last time we were together, Michelle and I talked to you about our idea for the Joining Forces initiative:? to honor, recognize and support military families.? And in this last year, we've made tremendous progress.? Since we launched Joining Forces in April, we've been so delighted by the response from Americans all over this country.? Businesses have hired tens of thousands of veterans and military spouses.? Medical schools have committed to educate their students about post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries.? Schools, community organizations and Americans of every age and background have sent care packages, donated childcare, and created community celebrations for the military families in their neighborhoods.

These Americans are stepping up because they appreciate how much our military spouses and families do for our country every day.? What we have seen since launching Joining Forces has been truly gratifying, because it has shown our military families that all of us appreciate their sacrifices on their behalf.

But there is more to do.? We would like to talk to you today about one of the top concerns we hear from military spouses wherever we go:? professional licensing.? I know that many of you hear from folks in your state as well.?

A few days ago, Michelle and I went to the Pentagon to help unveil a new report from the Departments of Defense and Treasury about professional licensing for military spouses.? The report found that military spouses move 10 times more than their civilian counterparts, and that 35 percent of spouses in the workforce are in jobs that require a professional license.? Because military transfers often require spouses to move from state to state, the issue of license portability is a real challenge for military spouses.? As Michelle will discuss, there are ways we can work together to ease this burden, and we look forward to doing just that.

So thank you all for what you're doing in your home states, and please join me in welcoming my dear friend and partner in Joining Forces, First Lady Michelle Obama.? (Applause.)

MRS. OBAMA:? Good morning, everyone, and welcome back.? I hope everybody got a little sleep.? (Laughter.)? Just a little bit.? But we had a terrific time last night.? And the mood was good, and hopefully you all enjoyed yourselves as well.? It's always wonderful to host you for this weekend.

I want to thank Jill, not just for her introduction but for just being a terrific partner and, more importantly, a friend over the past few years, and on this issue in particular.? As a Blue Star mom, Jill knows these issues as well as anyone.? And she has been just a terrific champion, and on ensuring that we're moving things forward.

Now, as Jill has said, this new licensing portability initiative is one of the most important and meaningful issues that we've addressed through Joining Forces.? It is the number-one frustration that Jill and I hear about every time we visit with military spouses -- and that?s really saying something.? Because the truth is, is that these women and men are facing plenty of very serious challenges in their lives.? They are raising their kids and running their household, oftentimes alone, while they have a spouse deployed.? These are the folks who are cooking those meals, they're leading the PTA, they're answering all those questions from their children about when mom or dad will be coming home.? And many of them are doing all of this while trying to hold down full-time jobs.

But the truth is that no matter what is on their plates -- and this is what always impresses us -- no matter what their country asks of them, these men and women, they never complain.? They never complain.? And I know that many of our spouses understand that when they interact with military families.? These people never ask for much.? They just keep pushing forward.

So when they do bring something to our attention, when they do come to Jill and I and they ask for our help, when they do let us know that something is a real problem for them, then we know it's serious.? We know it's time for us to take a look and figure out whether there's something that we can do.? And when you hear about how -- some of these licensing stories, what's going on, then you start to understand why they?re beginning to get frustrated.

So take the story of Kelly Crowley.? Kelly is a nurse, she?s an army wife and she?s an expectant mother.? She has been married to her husband for four years and in those four years -- and this is very typical -- Kelly has lived in three different states, which means that every year or so she?s had to gather up her college transcripts, sign and notarize a pile of documents, and pay application costs, and then wait for all of that to clear.

And she estimates that the constant moves have cost her about six months of paychecks.? Six months of paychecks from a woman who wants to work, a woman serving our country.? Six months of paychecks.? And the whole process can be so cumbersome that she?s not even sure that she?s going to go through it again for her family?s next assignment.? She?s ready to walk away from her career because the burdens are so great.

And of course this doesn?t just happen to nurses -- it is happening to teachers, it?s happening to childcare providers, accountants, real estate brokers, dental hygienists, social workers -- I mean, go on and on.? Think of the careers that require some level of licensing and these men and women are being affected.? And in total, more than 100,000 military spouses are affected by this maze of credentialing and requirements -- 100,000 men and women.? And far too often they?re forced to take entry-level classes, or pay hundreds of dollars in fees, or wait weeks or months for their paperwork to be processed all before they can even get a job; can?t even work until all this is done.

And the vast majority of these spouses are clearly qualified -- this isn?t an issue of these men and women being qualified and ready to work.? They?ve got the right skills, they?ve worked in their fields for years, many of them, but so often that doesn?t matter.? It doesn?t count.? Their skills still go unused and, more importantly, their families go without the crucial source of income that so many of them need.? Many of these families survive because they have two incomes.? And unfortunately many career ambitions are just derailed.? So, again, you can see why many of these spouses are frustrated.

Now I want to emphasize that these state standards are extremely important.? They ensure that our professionals meet a level of excellence that gives us all peace of mind when we step into a hospital or we sign our kids up for school.? So I want to be clear that we are not asking any state to change a single professional standard.? And we?re certainly not asking anyone to set a lower bar for our military spouses -- they?re the first ones who don?t want exceptions to the rule for them.? But what we are asking is for a level playing field.? We just want to make sure that these spouses have a fair shot to pursue their careers and support their families.

And of course that?s where all of you come in.? Each of you has a unique opportunity to make a real difference for these families that have given all of us so much.? Some of you have already done this -- some of you have already stepped up, including Governor Gregoire in Washington, Governor Scott in Florida, Governor Nixon in Missouri, Governor Parnell in Alaska.? In total, 12 governors have signed legislation to fix these licensing issues for military spouses, and of course we want to thank you all for leading the way.

And here?s what?s important:? Each of those 12 states found its own solution, whatever worked for them.? Some states are doing things like granting temporary licenses so that military spouses can get to work right away.? Others have given state licensing boards or agencies increased flexibility to grant licenses to military spouses who clearly demonstrate their competence.? And still others have found ways to grant licenses upon application and then verify the documentation as the spouse earns a paycheck.

And many more states are working on legislation as we speak -- California, Louisiana, Illinois and Wyoming have introduced bills in the last two weeks.? Governor Brownback just signed Kansas? bill on Valentine?s Day, a lovely gift.? But roughly half of the country still hasn?t taken this issue on.? And that's why Jill and I are here today.

As part of Joining Forces, we have set what we hope is an ambitious but achievable goal in that, by 2014, we would love to see all 50 states having passed their own legislation to address this issues -- by 2014.? The goal is a key priority for this administration.? Secretary Panetta is behind it.? General Dempsey and all of the Joint Chiefs are behind it.? The President, of course, the Vice President -- they don't have a choice.? (Laughter.)? But they do support it.? (Laughter.)

But the people who have the biggest impact are right here in this room.? Truly, you all have the power in this instance.? No one can make a difference on this issue like all of you -- no one.? And I?m not just talking about those of you with "Governor" behind your name.? You?re really important and all, but we also have wonderful first spouses.?

I mean, just look at what First Lady Jane Beshear has done in Kentucky.? Now, Jane has formed a statewide team of military spouses who are tackling issues like education and employment in that state.? She?s worked with state higher education leaders to streamline admissions processes for military spouses.? She has testified in front of the state house.? And she has done all of this in just a year.

In fact, Jane told me that after the last governors? spouses, she was so moved by what we had talked about that she went back to her state and she figured out exactly what she could do to push this issue ahead.

So every single person in this room has a role to play in supporting our military families.? And I am here, as well as Jill, to ask for your help -- as simple as that.? If your state has not addressed license portability for military spouses yet, today I want to ask you to make this issue a priority.? Work with the leaders in your states to get a bill introduced.? Use your bully pulpit to get it passed.? Share military spouses' stories with your local media and your state legislators.?

If you have already passed a law in your state, we encourage you to reach out to one or two of your fellow governors or spouses who are just getting started.? Share your experience.? Encourage them along the way.? Help us finish this job.? And we will be helping as much as we can.? We have a plan in place to be supportive.? Like Jill said, the report from the Department of Defense and Treasury is full of wonderful tips and best practices to help all of you find solutions that work for your state.? And that?s really the point.? There is no one-size-fits-all solution here.? And this report is really designed to offer some ideas to get things started.

Your staffs have received a copy of this report already, and all of your spouses will get one today as well.? And on top of that, the Defense Department's team of state liaisons are here to help you craft legislation, if needed, and usher it through your state houses.? In fact, we've got Ed Kringer -- Ed, where you are sitting, Ed?? Ed is here from the Department of Defense, and Ed will be available after this session to answer any questions to help get you started in the process.

And Jill and I are going to keep working, keep the light on this issue.? We're also going to be working with groups like the American Bar Association and the National Military Family Association to support your efforts at the grassroots level.? They all stand ready to try to find ways to be helpful on this issue.? So you're not in this alone.? Joining Forces has been a wonderful instrument just to raise the bar, to shine a light on these issues.? And we will continue to use this platform to be supportive and proactive.

And that?s really the thing about supporting military families that Jill and I have discovered through our work:? It is something that everyone can get behind.? It really is.? Everyone feels this, and if they don?t, they just don?t know the stories.? And once they hear the stories, they're right there.? That is what we have seen since the day we first started Joining Forces.? No matter who you are or where you come from, we are all so proud of our men and women in uniform and their families.? We all are, and we all want to do everything we can to honor and to support these men and women, and these wonderful children who are sacrificing right alongside of their parents.

And taking on this licensing issue is a perfect way to do just that.? It?s really the perfect opportunity because if we fix this, we don't just support our military spouses as they advance in their careers, which is important, but we?ll also be supporting their families who really depend on these incomes.? We will be supporting the entire military, which can more easily retain married troops if their spouses can pursue their career.? This is a retention issue.

We?ll be infusing our schools and our hospitals and our businesses with much needed, talented and experienced workers who are ready to be out there doing the job.? We will be strengthening our economy by lowering our unemployment rate and increasing our productivity by getting these hundreds of thousands of men and women into the workforce.

And you all can do all of this -- here?s the punch line -- with little or no cost.? Little or no cost.? It?s one of those things that, again, doesn't -- as other state governors will share, it doesn't have to kill the budget, and it can be done in a bipartisan way, even more importantly.? All it takes is a leader who can lead the charge for these families who serve our country so bravely.

These men and women have risked so much for all of us.? They do it for each and every one of us, and they ask so little in return, so very little.? So when they call on us, we have got a solemn obligation to answer that call.

In two years, what I hope we are able to say -- we can look these men and women in the eye and say, we heard you and we acted.? We heard you.? The one -- the few things you?ve asked for, we heard you, and we all stepped up as a nation to make it happen.? And that's really what Joining Forces is all about.

So we look forward to continuing these efforts to working with all of you in the months ahead to serve our military families as well as they serve us.? So we will be there.? We?re going to be checking in.? We?re going to nag a little bit and poke, make a few calls.? You have not heard the last of us.? (Laughter.)?

But we are excited by what this will mean to so many of these men and women.? That is the one thing we hear.? Many of them just say thank you -- thank you for recognizing that we exist and that these issues are important to us.?

So we look forward to seeing this goal achieved by 2014, and we?ll be talking to your spouses more about this shortly at lunch.

So thank you all, and take care.? (Applause.)

END
11:09 A.M. EST

Source: whitehouse.gov

Source: http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/latest-national/military-casualties/31200-remarks-by-the-first-lady-and-dr-biden-discussing-military-spouse-employment-at-national-governors-association-annual-meeting.html

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9 Foreign Words The English Language Desperately Needs

www.cracked.com:

As we have demonstrated before, the English language has some grievous holes in it. We're talking about everyday phenomena that we have all noticed, yet don't have terms for.

Fortunately, while we were busy fumbling with hand gestures and illustrations like cavemen, other cultures just made up the perfect words and phrases to encapsulate those little everyday moments filled with ... uh ... je ne sais quoi.

Read the whole story: www.cracked.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/9-foreign-words-the-engli_n_1307175.html

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Acquire Board Game

Playing board games together is one of our family?s favorite past times.? I recently began my review of the top 10 board games every family should play.? This is the list so far:

Top 10 Board Games for Families:

10. Streetcar

9.? Empire Builder

8.? Monopoly

7.? Railways of the World

6.? Carcassonne

5.? Puerto Rico

4.? Elasund:? The First City

3.? Ticket to Ride

2.? The Settlers of Catan

Designer: Sid Sackson

Publisher: Avalon Hill/Hasbro

Players: 3 ? 6

Time: 60 to 90 min.

Age: 12+ (My recommendation: 10+)

Fun to Age Ratio: 8

Type: Stock Speculation

Strategy?-x??Luck

Acquire is not only at the top of this list but is also my all-time favorite board game.? It is a simple but sweat-inducing abstract game of stock speculation and corporate merger which moves fast and keeps players engaged the entire game.? While it may not capture the interest of the younger members of your family, those 10 and up should get up to speed quickly and the intensity will keep adults locked in.

The game board is a 9 x 12 grid, with columns labeled 1 through 12 and rows labeled A through I.? There are 108 tiles, one for each grid space on the board and labeled for that space ? for example, 1-A, 1-B, 2-B, etc.? Players start with 6 randomly drawn tiles and play one per turn.? A new tile is randomly added to the players hand at turn end, so players maintain 6 tiles throughout the game.? When a tile is played directly adjacent to a solitary tile already on the board, a hotel chain is created.? As more connecting tiles are added, the hotel chain grows and its stock value goes up.

There are 7 different hotel chains and 25 shares of stock for each available for purchase.? Once a hotel chain is created, stock may be purchased in that chain.? Players may purchase up to 3 shares of stock per turn and the player creating a new hotel chain gets 1 free share in that company.? Stock value goes up as a hotel chain grows, but the game is not simply one of stock acquisition.? The most important element of the game is merging of different chains.? When a tile is played that connects two chains, the smaller company is dissolved and its tiles become part of the larger chain.? Bonuses are paid to the players who own the most and the second most (major and minor interest holders respectively) shares of stock in the dissolved company.? All players who own stock in the dissolved company now have the opportunity to sell those shares, keep them in case the company is revived, or trade them 2 for 1 for shares in the new company.? The game ends when one of two conditions is met and one of the players decides to call the game.? Each player then liquidates his stock, all final majority and minority bonuses are paid out, and the winner is the player with the most money.

As already stated, game play is simple but intense.? There isn?t a large variety of decisions to be made each turn; primarily, players have to decide which tile to play and which company?s stock to buy.? However, players must continuously monitor what other players are buying and decide how to balance short term cash flow from mergers with long term growth in stock value.? While game play is an abstract representation of stock speculation, the competitive wealth building is very realistic.

Acquire has a rather interesting history.? It was first published in 1962 as part of 3M?s bookshelf game series.? The game board in these editions is small but made of sturdy plastic with recessed spaces for each tile so they don?t slide around the board. Avalon Hill purchased Acquire in 1976 and initially produced a similar bookshelf-style game, although by that time component quality had decreased.? By the 1990?s, Avalon Hill was publishing a much inferior traditional board style with cardboard components and tiles that could easily slide around the board.? Hasbro bought the rights in 1998 and in 1999 produced a version under the Avalon Hill brand which had renamed companies but improved hard plastic components and tiles that fit in place as they did in the original version.

And now the bad news.? The current version was released in 2008 and is once again a flat board with cardboard tiles that don?t fit in place.? Please don?t hesitate to buy it if this is the only version you can find.? The game play experience remains intact ? just don?t bump the table.? However, my recommendation is to find one of the 3M bookshelf versions from the 1960s.? These are often on eBay for very reasonable prices.? If you?re lucky you may find one of the 1962 versions with wooden tiles.? Absolutely awesome.

Acquire is just simply one of the best games ever and has stood the test of time, remaining very much at home with the current crop of German board games.? This may not be the first game on my list that you try, especially if you have younger children, but it is the one you MUST play.

Source: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/best-board-games-1/

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4 Efficient Ways To Market Your Small business Online | JCE Pay ...

These times for those who have any specific business enterprise may it be an real world or internet business unless you learn how to efficiently promote it on the web you are probably missing a great deal of business enterprise. Learn about numerous business owners do not have actual hint as to on the subject of marketing their online business and that is why We are offering this article. I am going to check out 4 methods that exist your small business some interest on the web.

Before I enter into the true methods for doing this We are expecting that you?ve got a web-site to your business enterprise. If you do not have one you shouldn?t have to worry there are plenty of sites on and real world you can go to get a good web-site finished you. It doesn?t have to be tremendous pretty or nearly anything such as that. ares download Simply have something which respectfully delivers your small business and product or service.

Now let us get into ways to give your small business a real on the web profile.

Pay For every Simply click Promotion (PPC) ? This is considered to be the perfect and swiftest method to tell others regarding online business. It truly does work this way, you placed up advertisement promotions regarding business enterprise and put money some dollars to have the ranking that you might want and any time a possible client or probability clicks on your advertisement you will be charged a quantity that you recently consented to. The most common PPC courses out there is Pay Per Click. It can be really convenient to use but the downside is that unless you understand specifically what you?re doing it is possible to lose ares pobierz lot of cash prior to experience a nickle of earnings. Thankfully there are plenty of path that teaches tips on how to appropriately use Ppc marketing meet your needs exactly.

Banner Trade Web-sites ? They?re sites where you can go and register for and get ad banners you should get some web-site in return for your small business ad banners staying shown on other bands internet websites. This is certainly a terrific way to buy your business enterprise and also this camera interest this means you will be reasonably inexpensive. To discover some excellent advertising alternate courses you?re able to do a internet search for your expression In .top rated advertising alternate internet sitesIn ..

Article Marketing ? This is time intensive nevertheless a terrific way to buy your business name out there. Bearshare All you need to undertake is write some excellent article content on issues that matched to your small business and add them to top rated article submission internet sites just like Article Dashboard and Go Content. With article promotion you should look at it this way, a lot more reports you are submitting a lot more visibility your small business will get. Rather trendy material!

Classified Web-sites ? There are several paid and free categorised internet sites out there that could be really beneficial to you and the business enterprise. All you really need to do is write some really appealing advertisings that are included with your information there (mobile phone number, web address, electronic mail). Aim to post advertisings all the time. Start by publishing one or more advertisement per week. Craig?s list and USFreeads would have been a terrific kick off point.

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Source: http://www.jce-paysdaix.org/4-efficient-ways-to-market-your-small-business-online/

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Police: 3 die in north Nigeria checkpoint attack (AP)

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AP - Police say motorcycle-mounted gunmen have killed three police officers in Nigeria's troubled northeast.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120227/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

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What You Should Know About Home Mortgages

I did in no way been aware of a poor credit Company Mortgage loan previous to I began working the following. Since I have, It a very good idea which might be beneficial for small companies. Regardless, these so-named Inchesa bad credit score unsecured loansInches could potentially cause issues or else applied effectively.

Knowing that youre apt to be rejected by finance institutions along with prolonged-term loan providers, both from experience or obtaining found that you dont meet up with the many requirements, then a cash payday loan can be quite a sensible choice. Typically the asking for requirements are quite essential. When you a adult (around 18) where you can work that has a realistic wage (750+ every month), then you have a high probability to get the money.

Though finance institutions are consistently varying in between approving financial loans and denying them, private loan providers have been able to remain secure. Some people might choose to hold out out this economic downturn hoping that finance institutions will soon begin approving loan applications once more, though this hold out could be a prolonged one. Millan Mulraine (business economics strategist at TD Investments) recently said that Inchesthere is absolutely no getting away from the fact that the Canadian economic climate is incorporated in the depths of any somewhat deep financial econimic breakdown?it clearly would seem that the economic climate may have taken a dramatic turn for that even worseInches (Reuters).

The financial institution uses the depositors? cash for making financial loans to companies, house and vehicle purchasers and so forth. All financial institutions which includes lending institution are performing a vital and necessary service to adidas and puma and individuals. You should buy a motor vehicle these days and shell out the dough in obligations over a about three twelve months period precisely the same for that home. Buy it, relocate, and make use of living in the home, and pay as you go in a period of 30 or 10 years.

Banking institutions likewise have these personal loans to the people furthermore small establishments long lasting quite hard monetary scenarios. Every so often, financial institutions numerous require a belongings according to the a higher level cash flow you want to loan. Concerning operate, the appliance strategy concerning smaller aspects of earnings requires a few moments and so forth a lot of scenarios hardly any assurance ought to be applied. This funding conventional standard bank will still only take a look at manner of earnings and as well, credit ranking. Some pay for businesses make it possible for guests to barter their own quick-term personal loans in a lengthy period in line with the cash flow obtained. The applying apply on your independent business personal loan is going to take considerably longer event. The complete credit ratings standard bank together with firm can very first look at the firm income background and your it really is credit history concerning the past time.

The guaranteed personal loan is complete opposite to unsecured loans. This type of financial loans has lower monthly interest compare with unsecured loans and you?ll want equity to ensure one to access how much money did you?ll need like vehicle, home or any other home or beneficial tool you?ve.

3. You have to be no less than 18 a few years previous and previously mentioned inside duration of a person?s software.

Your property is an important Sofortkredit tool which might be helpful to individual major payments say for example a fresh automobile, a second house, instruction institution expenses, credit card debt negotiation home finance loan or simply home rehabilitation. Your sale is conditional the volume of Value house home refinance leftover after subtracting almost any delinquent home finance loan within. Due to its situation, home cases need to find out just what is a home loan plus the results for.

a. In order to get an inexpensive personal unsecured loan, manufacturing foremost point that you should do in connection with this is to look at the credit ranking as it?s incredibly vital in establishing an inexpensive personal unsecured loan. A refreshing credit ranking allows you to represent lower danger which experts claim helps you to shell out a smaller amount monthly interest finally.

A pair of the worst type of real estate funding damage to companies is usually taken out by InchesContemplating Away from BankInches. The primary professional home finance loan small business mortgage concern is the conventional standard bank apply to reduce most special purpose small business properties like courses and funeral residences using their company financial collection.

Upon having a solid idea of what your loan will almost certainly amount to each month you then really should take a seat and figure out your incomings and bills for making certain it?s going to be reasonably priced. It may be easy to just forget about specified products when coming up with this choice for instance, you might have month-to-month bank card expenses or need to plan for items like road tax and vehicle maintenance tasks.

you could possibly give you the loan provider.

The work course of action with the House Acquire Mortgage loan are often very very similar as compared with other besides it really is easy.

Bank loans have attained the trustworthiness of an absolute necessity nowadays the spot that the temptation Kreditantrag to possess backpacks are so competent any particular one normally takes the alternative of any personal loan and in come back enjoys the product or service or reward whilst paying the money in obligations.

i The amount of money do you require?

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Source: http://www.sampleweddingspeech.net/what-you-should-know-about-home-mortgages/

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Things to Bodily Expect to have When You Finally Give Up ...

One of the leading advantages to stopping cigarette smoking will be the instant health and fitness benefits. smoke cigarettes, and various toxins discovered while in the cigarette smoking articles of your cigarette smoking, has got the potential to greatly destruction respiratory system once and for all. This is a truth thats been described with the Physician Standard of the us. In addition, tobacco also can injury your mouth, dentist tooth cavity, neck of the guitar blowing wind tube. If youve been going to quit smoking, the elevated health and fitness benefits are the initial things you must take into account and apply drive. electronic cigarettes in israel when you dress in smoke cigarettes for even twenty minutes, blood pressure levels heart go back to ordinary Imagine, if a simple twenty minutes will surely have a very impact, think about the positive aspects when you quit smoking altogether. Here are the health and fitness benefits received when you quit smoking Inside primary twenty minutes following finishing cigarette smoking merchandise, heart blood pressure levels both equally bring back to ordinary. Over the next hours understand what take one more cigarette smoking merchandise, how much much needed oxygen inside you can come back to normal. Moreover, how much deadly carbon monoxide pure nicotine inside you decreases 50 %, okay ordinary quantities this hours. Within the next two days, theres no track pure nicotine deadly carbon monoxide left inside you. Within the next 72 hours, respiration go back to ordinary, in which respiratory system encompassing areas start to rest gain energy that dropped caused by tobacco. Within just following few months, youll see a significant betterment respiration, blood circulation and quantities. May very well not understand tobacco
The world roll out internet shows that many projecting growth online stock trading. Many individuals who may have in no way exchanged real estate markets ahead of turn out to be devoted on the internet merchants. Even though gambling online in the united states is illegal, usually do not are most often guidelines barring on the internet options trading. In britain on the internet options agents may be accredited within existing fiscal device trading wagering guidelines. Nevertheless, stockbrokers tend to starting by themselves nations around the world for example Malta determine compiler options on a binary file renowned for somewhat tranquil fiscal laws, thus, if a manages to whip trading systems we just get their concept that theyll pay off. The 3 main different types of online stock trading systems include individuals utilized for distribute wagering, margin trading electronic digital options trading. Spread wagering margin trading much like brief advertising securities may result in large profits, investors also can reduce many of their initial assets. options trading, gets to be a % % gain prediction correct, when prediction completely wrong based on brokerage they normally use % % of their initial stake might be dropped. The few suggestions here might be of interest before youll start on the internet options trading profile Because theres somewhat poor dangerous on the internet options trading, the very best alarm system indicator against fake businesses come from the online stock trading area by itself. Seek to resource information and facts blogs and forums testimonials that will not
The World Wide Web is now one of the primary otherwise the greatest supply of information and facts thus far. You can easily find information matter you seek this also involves older relevant articles. Person articles online has been increasingly typical not too long ago so if youre preparation with an older belongings website, usually there are some points you need to know in advance. Web hosting service an online site older belongings is a lot like another websites you need to discover a worldwideweb coordinator coordinator your internet site. Home you will see numerous yahoo web hosting that youll want to fulfill primary. To start with, you have to ascertain the hosting server youre going to be employing. There is certainly provided website hosting focused website hosting. provided website hosting, it implies you will see a number of web sites giving a similar hosting server. Your assigned room bandwidth will probably be minimal within this approach because you are giving the resources along with other websites. For a web page which is older in nature, it usually appeals to many site visitors and to accommodate like excessive visitors, you may need a lots of bandwidth. Occasionally website hosting belongings will not be adequate, you ought to make some cash flow at the same time advertising merchandises downloads of the web page belongings. You want a shopping cart selection for your online visitors to accomplish buys downloads. To match a lot of requires, an avid hosting server may be more effective to execute the position. focused website hosting Straightforward, a adult articles web page commonly calls for lots of room for those visuals training videos that is to be added

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Source: http://web-dezign.net/?p=251

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canadianfree: Activia Coupon For Canada Save $1 Off Activia Plain Via Save.ca http://t.co/UJvELzka #ACTIVIA_CANADA #save_ca_coupons Canada

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Nelson Mandela, 93, hospitalized for tests in South Africa

February 25, 2012 - 06:19 pm

JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized for a test to determine what is behind a stomach ailment.

Continue reading

President Jacob Zuma describes the problem as a "long-standing" complaint the doctors decided needs "specialist medical attention."

In a statement, Zuma says the 93-year-old underwent a diagnostic procedure today and is now "fine and fully conscious." He says doctors are "satisfied" with Mandela's condition and say it is "consistent with his age."

Zuma says Mandela is expected to be discharged from hospital tomorrow or Monday.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule but became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.

The Nobel peace laureate is officially retired and his public appearances have become increasingly rare. He did appear at the closing ceremony of the World Cup in July 2010.

Source: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/02/nelson-mandela-93-hospitalized-for-tests-in-south-africa--73037.html

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Zillah, WA - 4 slaughterhouse bound horses (headed for Canada ...

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Effectively Improve Workplace Communication with Websites For ...

You Are Here: Home ? Management ? Effectively Improve Workplace Communication with Websites For Accountants

The capacity to communicate efficiently is important to any business. Bad communication is able to result in reduced productivity, unbillable time at work, and often even offended clients. In view of this, websites for accountants need to be built with communication as a significant consideration. They need to provide the framework for a sound manner of information sharing among colleagues and prospects. A professionally constructed site will be critical to developing a vibrant business. Both your employees and your clients will benefit from the communications tools that you include in your website. Therefore the more you are able to include, the better experience your employees and clients will have with your company.

Implementing all of these communication features may seem time consuming initially. However, over time you will appreciate their benefit as productivity and efficiency improve. Take advantage of your slower time of year to add communication features into your website. This will allow you, your employees and clients to adjust to the new system of communication. Some people are less comfortable than others when it comes to change and technology in particular. Allow these people some time to get used to your new communications tools.

The period of time between the New Year and Tax Day is very hectic for accountants. Being organized will help you successfully serve your clients in an efficient and timely manner. A streamlined communications system will help improve your company?s organization. There are a few ways that you can make tax season go by quickly. One way to ease the burden of tax season is to set up a website that supports chats between co-workers. It is also important that the system will enable the sending and receiving of email. Set up a chat program that will facilitate instant messages. This will make your communications more effective. A chat program will allow employees in the same office or offices in other locations to communicate instantly at their convenience. The benefit of an instant messenger program is that they can set up status messages. This saves you time that would otherwise be spent waiting for a response from your co-worker. A quick message over instant messenger to your co-worker is an efficient way to communicate in the office. After sending the message you can return to your work until you get a response. Instant contact between co-workers will allow for a more efficient office. Tasks will be completed more quickly than they would if employees weren?t able to be in instant contact.

Networking is important in any profession. It is particularly important for accountants. In view of this, professionally designed websites for accountants should be set up to include a networking website on the company network. A well designed website will allow your employees to network with ease. In the accounting industry it is all about networking. It is essential to any accounting firm that people within the company network with co-workers, clients and other contacts within the industry. Today?s world is increasingly mobile. Your website should be capable of supporting communication for employees who are away from the office. Employees who work from home would then be able to access the company?s network. This will make is easier to participate in the work flow of the office from home.

LinkedIn is another valuable tool for any accountant. Encourage all of the accountants at your firm to set up a LinkedIn account. One huge benefit is that it will enable them to send and receive referrals from colleagues. It?s also a helpful resource in communicating with clients and opening the doors for new prospects. You can even set up a private group on the social networking site. This will allow all of your co-workers to be a part of a company group. A company group means that you?ll be able to contact and share information with fellow accountants and CPAs. A lot of accountants use LinkedIn to brainstorm with colleagues, even those who are scattered throughout the state, region or country.

One last element that all websites for accountants should have is an organized way to manage clients. A customer relationship management program is an effective way to organize client information. This program will allow you to receive and organize client feedback. It will also allow you to track information that colleagues have collected from prospective clients. Additionally, it will allow you to track your conversations with co-workers and keep organized records of everybody?s email addresses, documents, telephone calls and any business deals that are made between accountants and clients. It is an extensive plan that will enable you to stay orderly and working effectively even during the most intense months when every moment counts.

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Source: http://smartharbour.com/effectively-improve-workplace-communication-with-websites-for-accountants/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=effectively-improve-workplace-communication-with-websites-for-accountants

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UFC 144 weigh-in extra: GTL, new Octagon girl and ?Rampage? vs. Franklin

Sure the weigh-in for UFC 144 was a little later than normal, but it certainly delivered. There was a new Octagon girl, one fighter appeared to have just walked off the set of "Jersey Shore" and Quinton Jackson already booked himself his next fight.

Yoshihiro Akiyama brought it big time channeling the powers of GTL. We're not sure about the laundry part, but Akiyama certainly hit the gym to get down from his old weight of 185 to his new division down at 170. He also put Snooki to shame with a beautiful tan.

Meanwhile, it was pretty clear Jackson missed a lot of his gym time. Jackson, who gave hints that he might miss weight during the Dana White's second vlog (2:03 mark), clocked in at a hefty 211 for his fight at 205 pounds. Fuel TV's guest analyst Rich Franklin was exasperated and basically called it a joke. "Rampage" got wind of the comments and snapped at Franklin.

"My friend already texted me what Rich Franklin said and Rich Franklin need to watch his mouth before I smack him the next time I see him. He a fighter the same way I'm a fighter, he should watch what he say," Jackson said (1:50 mark). "You don't question if a fighter is taking his fight serious or not. I'm a fighter, I take all my fights serious and I'm tired of people saying that."

Jackson is dead wrong here. Franklin did his job and Jackson's focus for the fight is absolutely in question.

Looking for further satisfy the Japanese audience, the UFC held auditions for a new UFC 144 Octagon girl. They came up with a former Miss Japan contestant in Azusa Nishigaki.

Fuel TV's Ariel Helwani caught up with Nishigaki here.

Watch UFC 144 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-144-weigh-extra-gtl-octagon-girl-rampage-151411443.html

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Islamic Extremists Storm Pakistan Church, Wound Two Christians

February 24, 2012

A dozen armed Muslims stormed Grace Ministry Church in Faisalabad, Pakistan, seriously wounding two Christians, AsiaNews reports. One man was hit by bullets and is in critical condition in the hospital, possibly requiring the amputation of his arm. Another man was pushed from the roof after being struck repeatedly with a rifle butt. The extremist raid was sparked by charges that the church was trying to evangelize Muslims in an attempt to convert them to Christianity. It has been assaulted several times, and the pastor and his family have received repeated death threats. The police, instead of pursuing the perpetrators, have opened an investigation against the pastor and 20 other church members on allegations of "proselytizing."

Source: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/religion-today-blog/islamic-extremists-storm-pakistan-church-wound-two.html

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The Spring that Revolutionized Nascar

Travis Road is one of a hundred dirt lanes that road crews in this part of southeastern Michigan haven't gotten around to paving. On this late November day, a cold, steady rain has enlarged the potholes into craters that bounce my car as I approach a large, nondescript metal building. It's the kind of obscure facility that's sprinkled across the older suburbs of Michigan, Ohio, and the rest of the car-building belt of the Midwest. GM's Milford Proving Ground is 10 miles to the north, the border of Detroit 25 miles to the south. A small sign outside says PSI SPRINGS.

Inside is the guy everyone says I need to talk to, Steve Bown. He is tall, with wide shoulders and noticeably broad hands that make him look more like a tight end than someone who devotes his waking hours to the minute details of valve springs. He drops me off in the conference room and leaves to fetch his partner, Larry Luchi. And then I spot it on a dusty shelf: a heavy, slightly blackened coil mounted on a small piece of wood. A plaque underneath reads "Jeff Gordon, 1998 Rockingham Win." This tube of steel wire was the first PSI valve spring used in a Nascar race. It revolutionized engine building and the country's most popular motorsport, but few people have ever heard of it.

My interest in the subject began with a remark by legendary Nascar team owner Jack Roush. This was 15 years ago. I casually asked him if there was a single automotive part with the potential to dramatically alter racing stock cars. Roush isn't in the business of disclosing trade secrets, but he lit up. "Oh, yeah," he said enthusiastically. "Valve springs. We're getting higher quality valve springs that are going to let us do some tremendous things." It was an unexpected answer: These springs are humble engine parts. They simply keep the valves to the combustion chambers closed until the moment that a fresh dose of mixed fuel and air has to enter, or exhaust leave. Roush wouldn't elaborate?maybe he thought he had said too much already. Intrigued, I called other Nascar teams. But racers are as tight with their secrets as the NSA. I got a bunch of "no comment" answers and moved on.

Recently, Nascar's big rules change for 2012?a switch from carburetors to electronic fuel injection?made me wonder whether the innovations Roush hinted at had really changed the sport. I dug back into my contacts among Nascar team owners and engine builders. This time I was able to get people to talk. The highly publicized switch to fuel injection was a sideshow, they told me, in comparison with the changes in engine performance that occurred between 1998 and 2004. During those years, horsepower and engine revolutions had reached once-impossible heights. To understand how, I needed to ask Steve Bown about his valve springs.

Bown and Luchi return to the conference room, where I am contemplating the Jeff Gordon spring. "We were in the pits during the race," Luchi says. "Keeping our fingers crossed watching the 24 [Gordon's] car." It wasn't a particularly exciting race. Videos show Gordon hanging back for most of the contest but clearly dominating the final third of the race. At one point he has a 4-second lead. Gordon had just won the 1997 Nascar championship, and fans had no reason to suspect that anything other than driving skill was at work. But Nascar engineers knew. Inside his engine, 16 newly designed valve springs were ticking away, giving him an advantage. "By 2001," Bown says, "all the teams were using our springs."

Rules governing Nascar engine architecture date back 50 years. They have evolved, but the basic regulations that limit engine size to 358 cubic inches and define the layout?two valves per cylinder and pushrod valvetrains?were written in 1968. For that reason, Mike Fisher, Nascar's managing director of research and development, has a strange job for someone with his title: keeping a lid on innovation. "We try to maintain a pretty tight box around what teams can do to the engine," he says. "We don't want one team having more power." If the details can seem backward, like running carburetors and burning leaded fuel decades after passenger cars had moved on, there's a certain genius to the strategy. Nascar grandstands are packed partly because, in any given race, there are at least a dozen drivers who could win. In terms of lead changes and tight racing, a Formula 1 race is, by comparison, a procession.

Despite the straitjacket rules, however, Nascar drivers, engineers, and mechanics have always hunted for ways?some legal, others not so much?to get a performance edge. Counterintuitively, massaging the old tech of the Nascar V-8 at the granular level has produced highly advanced engineering. When it came to engine design, though, there was always one weak link. "The vast majority of engine failures?85 to 90 percent?are caused by broken valve springs," says Cecil Stevens, a longtime engine builder who now heads the engineering consulting firm Illusions Engine Development. The reason is simple: Valve springs have an incredibly tough job.

At each of the engine's eight cylinders, the intake valve lets in fresh air and fuel, and the exhaust valve releases spent gases?16 valves in total. A spring holds a valve closed until the valvetrain system pushes on the top of the spring, forcing the valve to open. Since an engine's output is directly related to the amount of air that flows in and out of the combustion chamber, the valves play a vital role. The larger the valves, and the farther they open, the greater the airflow and the horsepower the engine can produce?and the greater the stress on the spring.

As much as airflow dictates engine power, so does the speed at which the engine operates. Spin an engine faster and it will, in most cases, make more power. Randy Dorton, the chief engine builder at Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon's team, started a quest in the early '90s to increase engine rpm. Dorton died in a plane crash in 2004, but Jeff Andrews, who is now Hendrick's director of engine operations, has been at the team for about 20 years.

"Back then," Andrews says, "the biggest limiting factor [for higher engine rpm] was the valve springs." In 1998, a stock car's V-8 peaked at about 8000 rpm. The valves cycle at half the speed of the engine's crankshaft, so at 8000 rpm the valves open 4000 times per minute, or 67 times each second. During many oval races, engines remain at peak rpm for 500 miles?and the valve springs were operating outside their comfort zone.

The springs were a commodity product. Teams bought them from companies whose steady clients were mainstream carmakers. One such company is Peterson Spring, a privately held automotive supplier founded in Detroit in 1914. Dorton approached Peterson about building better valve springs. The company made some improvements, but it simply wasn't focused on racing. While there, Dorton met Peterson engineer Steve Bown and ultimately convinced him that there was a need for a company that focused on racing valve springs. Bown enlisted Larry Luchi, a former Peterson CFO, to handle the business details while he focused on design and manufacturing. In 1996, with $170,000 of startup capital, the two men formed Performance Springs Inc. (PSI). "During our first year, we had one customer," Luchi says. "Hendrick Motorsports."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/vintage-speed/the-spring-that-revolutionized-nascar-6643778?src=rss

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Contraceptives Birth Control

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You can prevent pregnancy in different ways and one of them is use of birth control pills. Most doctors, after proper clinical tests, Today women have a choice when selecting birth control. Many opt for the daily pill which has been around for decades.

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No, you?re not. The friction of the two condoms rubbing against one another actually increases the chances of the condoms breaking, making it more dangerous rather than less.There are a number of oral contraceptives that can put you at substantially greater risk of developing side effects that could adversely affect your health.

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Generally, all birth control pills, injections and methods are effective. That?s the reason why these are out in the market in the first place.There are many choices when it comes to contraception and birth control, possibly more than you are even aware of.

Birth control and pregnancy prevention is not a new idea.

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As the old maxim goes, all men are not created equal: in all aspects of life especially with regards to penis sizes (and shapes).There are many types of contraceptives for women today. They are found in the forms of pills, injections, diaphragms, IUDs, and more.

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A lot of young couples opt to wait a few years before beginning a family to enable them to provide a comfortable home and also have some savings and maybe a few labour-saving gadgets,This is a set of pills usually only available on prescription. The combined pill must be taken one each day for 21 days, starting on the fifth day after menstruation begins and ending on the 25th day.

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Under age sex is becoming a great problem now days. Many teenagers try to have sex, because they want to spice up their relationship. There are a lot of us who are not ready to have kids but still have sex. This is where birth control pills and devices comes in.

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Gone are the days when people relied on condoms, diaphragms, and spermicide to protect them from unwanted pregnancy. When the best time to get pregnant becomes a big question for you as a wife you should consider a few things first regarding Birth Control and Pregnancy.

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If you think that you have nothing to worry about because you exercise and diet?think again. Yes?diet and exercise can help you mitigate some of the weight gain?but if you continue doing what you?ve been doing, you?ll still gain 15-25 pounds during this period.

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Source: http://www.a1article.net/health-and-fitness/contraceptives-birth-control-4758.html

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Man United loses in Europa League but progresses

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updated 5:25 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2012

LONDON - Manchester United reached the next round of the Europa League despite losing 2-1 to Ajax on Thursday for its first home defeat in the competition.

United entered the game with a 2-0 lead from the first leg. The English power advanced 3-2 on total goals.

United will face Atletic Bilbao in the round of 16 after the Spanish club beat Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0 to advance on away goals. Also progressing were Valencia, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Udinese.

Javier Hernandez opened the scoring for United in the sixth minute and Aras Ozbiliz tied it 31 minutes later. Toby Alderweireld scored with three minutes left, but Ajax could do no more than scare United.

United is in the second-tier tournament after it was eliminated from the Champions League group stage.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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More newsUeslei Marcelino / Reuters

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46504186/ns/sports-soccer/

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Why Would a Local Business Owner Need a SEO Company?

Being a local business owner is really demanding these days. In the current economic climate, it is not easy to keep their head above water, and finances are not widely available for small businesses anymore so they have to cut advertising costs. Many local business owners are looking for cheaper alternatives to advertise their business online, and increase sales for the fraction of the cost of conventional advertising. But with local businesses downsizing, not every business owner will have the time and energy to learn online SEO advertising. Employing a SEO company just might be the solution.

How Can SEO Increase Sales?

A local business's SEO campaign can be much more profitable and cost-effective than companies targeting a global audience. So a quote for a local SEO campaign from a SEO expert company is going to be much cheaper and can increase sales almost overnight if the campaign is well planned. In order to be able to increase sales, a company has to set up clear goals and expectations for the SEO Company and provide them with as much information about their customers and products as possible.

What to Include In Project Descriptions for The SEO Company

In order to get more phone inquiries, a company has to give clear instructions and indications for the SEO Company. A landing page or inquiry page has to include all the contact details, location and if possible a map of the company's offices in order to build trust and produce more phone inquiries. It is also advisable to ask the SEO Company to get the local firm listed in some of the local directories as it will improve their website's SEO value as well as get more people to contact the company. They have to give the SEO company goals and targets to work towards, be it the number of online registrations, phone inquiries or new customers.

How Can a SEO Company Set Up a Plan to Get More Revenue?

A SEO agency can help a local company reduce the cost of advertising by delivering the message to potential customers through the Internet at no cost. A SEO campaign, once planned, usually requires little or no maintenance at all to make it work almost automatically. Once a SEO company has determined the right keywords and SEO strategies for the local firm, they will set up a strategy at the same time to get more revenue in a short time span and reduce the cost of gaining a new customer.

How to Pick a Reputable SEO Company

When choosing a company for delivering local SEO campaigns it is very important to shop around first. There are some communities online where real customers give feedback of services they have purchased in the past. The other way to determine if a SEO company can really help increase sales is to have them send you some references and past results. There is one more important aspect left, and it is the price. You should always collect more than one detailed quote to be able to compare different levels of service, prices and deadlines.

Kenneth Northcutt is an SEO expert and he has the right Client SEO Recommendations for Small Businesses to enhance their online presence with local search engines. Visit http://prostarassociates.com/ for more information.

Tagged as: Business, Company, Local, Owner, Would

Source: http://kurttasche.com/internet-marketing-articles/why-would-a-local-business-owner-need-a-seo-company.html

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