মঙ্গলবার, ২৬ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Include video in your PR strategy | Public Relations Sydney

Using video for communication is becoming increasingly popular with more businesses realising the power of video to reach their target audience.

YouTube is currently the second largest search engine, after Google, with 800 million unique users per month. This means there is a large number of people watching and engaging with videos every day, which your business should be taking advantage of.?

It?s then a great idea to include video in your PR strategy to communicate a message in a different way and increase engagement with your audience.

Here are some tips on how you can make the most of video for PR.

Get more people to see your website
You can put videos on your website to increase your search engine optimisation.

Research has shown that a web page with a video on it is 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google results. This means if you want more people to see your messages you should include a video on your website. This will help to attract more potential customers to your website and enhance the effectiveness of your communication.

Engagement
Videos are a great way to increase your engagement with your target audience. Often people would rather watch a video then read through a block of text as it allows them to receive information faster. Studies have also shown people will spend more time on a website with a video on it then one with text.

You can include videos on your website, social media sites or blog to encourage people to spend more time on your site and look at your content. This is a great way to communicate in a different way and encourage your target audience to respond.

When communicating with your target audience, rather than describing something with words you can show them with a video. This can increase your target audience?s interest in your communication and make it easier for them to receive your message. This is especially beneficial if you have a complicated message to communicate.?

Speaking pitches
When pitching for a speaking opportunity it?s a good idea to include a video of the speaker. This could be a link to a video on YouTube or by providing event organisers with a USB full of videos of the speaker.

Videos are a great way to showcase the presentation style of the speaker, their presence on stage and their ability to engage an audience. This can often be more effective than trying to describe their presentation style in writing.

Event organisers can also see real evidence of the speaker?s skills and may be more likely to choose them for the event.

Media pitches
Many media publications and online news sites now use video to communicate. It?s then a great idea to include video in your pitches to journalists to take advantage of this medium. For example, you could include a video with a media release or with an email pitch to a journalist.

Video is great when launching a new product as you can use it to show a journalist how the product works. You can also use video to document a press conference or a major event for the business and then send this video to a journalist to use.?

Social media
Using video on social media is an effective way to communicate a message in a different and engaging way.? As videos are easy to share online your social media followers may share your video with their networks. This can help to spread your message to a wider audience and increase your brand awareness.

Create a YouTube channel
You can create a YouTube Channel to publish your videos. As YouTube is the second largest search engine, publishing your videos on this channel is a great way to get more people to see them. This can increase your brand awareness or improve your communication.

Once you?ve posted videos on YouTube it?s then easier to share them on other sites such as your website or social media channels.

Creating videos for your business is a great way to communicate a message, increase engagement with your target audience and improve your website?s SEO.

How does your business use video to communicate?

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Source: http://publicrelationssydney.com.au/?p=2642

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সোমবার, ২৫ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Carnegie Mellon Startup, Neon, named Edison Award finalist

Carnegie Mellon Startup, Neon, named Edison Award finalist [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
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Contact: Shilo Rea
shilo@cmu.edu
412-268-6094
Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University startup Neon has been named a 2013 finalist by the internationally renowned Edison Awards. The distinguished awards, which aim to inspire creativity, innovation and ingenuity, are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), whose extraordinary new product development methods and innovative achievements garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name around the world.

Neon, which uses cognitive neuroscience to improve online video clicks, is a finalist in Electronics and Computers, one of 12 categories honored by the Edison Awards. Neon is representative of Carnegie Mellon's well-known entrepreneurial culture. The university's Greenlighting Startups initiative, a portfolio of six business incubators, is designed to speed CMU faculty and student innovations from the research lab to the marketplace.

"More than any year, this year's slate of finalists demonstrate the enormous value of teamwork, experimentation, consumer focus, market awareness and game-changing success," said Frank Bonafilia, executive director of the Edison Awards. "It's exciting to see companies like Neon continuing Thomas Edison's legacy of challenging conventional thinking."

Founded on research conducted in the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint program between CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, Neon is one of the first companies to use cognitive and brain science to increase audience engagement for online video publishers. Using research that shows how visual perception unconsciously affects preferences, the Neon team is developing a Web-based software service that automatically selects the most visually appealing frame from a stream of video to be used as the thumbnail. Thumbnails the entry point for a Web user to interact with a video are becoming more important to video publishers as the number of online videos continue to increase.

"It's a huge honor for Neon to be considered for this award," said Sophie Lebrecht, Neon CEO and co-founder. "People can think it's pretty out there to link brain science with online video, but I am pleased that this type of approach is celebrated in the context of Thomas Edison."

Neon got its start with a grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps), which allows scientists to assess the readiness of transitioning new scientific opportunities into valuable products through a public-private partnership, and NSF's Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center.

Finalists for Edison Awards are judged by more than 3,000 senior business executives and academics from across the nation whose votes acknowledge the finalists' success in meeting the award criteria of Concept, Value, Delivery and Impact. The panel includes members of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), the American Association Advertising Agencies (4As), the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO), the Design Management Institute (DMI), the American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Association of Technology Management & Applied Engineering (ATMAE). The panel also includes hundreds of past winners, marketing professionals, scientists, designers, engineers and academics.

Award winners will be announced April 25 at the Edison Awards Annual Gala, held in the Grand Ballroom at the historic Navy Pier in Chicago.

###

For more information on Neon, visit: http://www.neon-lab.com/.


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

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


Carnegie Mellon Startup, Neon, named Edison Award finalist [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Shilo Rea
shilo@cmu.edu
412-268-6094
Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University startup Neon has been named a 2013 finalist by the internationally renowned Edison Awards. The distinguished awards, which aim to inspire creativity, innovation and ingenuity, are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), whose extraordinary new product development methods and innovative achievements garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name around the world.

Neon, which uses cognitive neuroscience to improve online video clicks, is a finalist in Electronics and Computers, one of 12 categories honored by the Edison Awards. Neon is representative of Carnegie Mellon's well-known entrepreneurial culture. The university's Greenlighting Startups initiative, a portfolio of six business incubators, is designed to speed CMU faculty and student innovations from the research lab to the marketplace.

"More than any year, this year's slate of finalists demonstrate the enormous value of teamwork, experimentation, consumer focus, market awareness and game-changing success," said Frank Bonafilia, executive director of the Edison Awards. "It's exciting to see companies like Neon continuing Thomas Edison's legacy of challenging conventional thinking."

Founded on research conducted in the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint program between CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, Neon is one of the first companies to use cognitive and brain science to increase audience engagement for online video publishers. Using research that shows how visual perception unconsciously affects preferences, the Neon team is developing a Web-based software service that automatically selects the most visually appealing frame from a stream of video to be used as the thumbnail. Thumbnails the entry point for a Web user to interact with a video are becoming more important to video publishers as the number of online videos continue to increase.

"It's a huge honor for Neon to be considered for this award," said Sophie Lebrecht, Neon CEO and co-founder. "People can think it's pretty out there to link brain science with online video, but I am pleased that this type of approach is celebrated in the context of Thomas Edison."

Neon got its start with a grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps), which allows scientists to assess the readiness of transitioning new scientific opportunities into valuable products through a public-private partnership, and NSF's Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center.

Finalists for Edison Awards are judged by more than 3,000 senior business executives and academics from across the nation whose votes acknowledge the finalists' success in meeting the award criteria of Concept, Value, Delivery and Impact. The panel includes members of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), the American Association Advertising Agencies (4As), the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO), the Design Management Institute (DMI), the American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Association of Technology Management & Applied Engineering (ATMAE). The panel also includes hundreds of past winners, marketing professionals, scientists, designers, engineers and academics.

Award winners will be announced April 25 at the Edison Awards Annual Gala, held in the Grand Ballroom at the historic Navy Pier in Chicago.

###

For more information on Neon, visit: http://www.neon-lab.com/.


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

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/cmu-cms022513.php

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Video: For movie studios, no price too high for Oscar marketing

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50928088/

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The Weekly Roundup for 02.18.2013

The Weekly Roundup for 12032012

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/the-weekly-roundup-for-02-18-2013/

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রবিবার, ২৪ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Microsoft Hit by Hackers

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Source: http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7011/~3/aF1Nn96WTNA/SB10001424127887324048904578320753328815018.html

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Developers Lead When It Comes To The Future Of iOS User Interface Design

hazeApple hasn't done much to change the way iOS works at its core, in terms of navigating within and between apps and the home screen. In fact, iOS is maybe the mobile OS that has remained the most fundamentally the same since its introduction, at least among those that are still in active use. But while Apple hasn't been making huge changes to the basic iOS user interface, third-party developers have been pushing the boundaries and creating great examples of how things could be better for a next-generation version of Apple's mobile OS.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1AvJuDZgK24/

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Ara?t?rma : Windows Azure testlere g?re en iyi performans veren bulut depolama hizmeti

Son d?nemlerde ?nemi giderek artan ve bireysel kullan?c?lar?n yan?nda kurumsal kullan?c?lar i?in de ?nemli ??z?mler sunan bulut altyap?s? hizmetlerinde teknoloji devleri aras?nda rekabet ya?an?yor. Bulut altyap?lar?nda okuma, yazma, silme h?zlar?, tepki s?releri, eri?ilebilir olma oranlar? gibi performans? etkileyen pek ?ok fakt?r bulunuyor. Ba??ms?z test merkezlerinden Nasuni, sekt?r?n en ?nemli 5 bulut depolama hizmetini masaya yat?rd?.

Teste al?nan hizmetler Windows Azure, Amazon S3, Google Cloud, HP Cloud ve Rackspace Cloud ?eklinde s?ralan?yor. Hizmetler farkl? testlerde en iyi performans? sergilese de Windows Azure 23 testin 14'?n? ba?ar? ile tamamlayarak genel anlamda lider oldu. Ge?en y?l ayn? testte Amazon S3 liderli?i g???slemi?ti.

Baz? ?nemli testlere bak?ld???nda t?m dosya boyutlar? i?in yazma h?zlar?nda Windows Azure y?zde 100 performans sergilerken, Amazon S3 y?zde 64, HP Cloud y?zde 62, Rackspace y?zde 34, Google Cloud y?zde 22 performans sergiliyor. T?m dosya boyutlar? i?in okuma h?zlar?nda ise Windows Azure yine y?zde 100 performans sergilerken, HP Cloud y?zde 72, Amazon S3 y?zde 58, Rackspace y?zde 53, Google Cloud y?zde 48 performans oran?nda bulunuyor.

Dosya silme h?zlar?nda ise Windows Azure yine y?zde 100 performans sergiliyor. Amazon S3 y?zde 46, HP Cloud y?zde 42, Google Cloud y?zde 12, Rackspace y?zde 7 olarak performans g?steriyor.

Sunucular?n eri?im tepki s?relerine bak?ld???nda Windows Azure 0.48 saniye ile liderken, Amazon S3 0.64 saniye, Rackspace 0.97 saniye ile onu takip ediyor. HP 1.49 saniye, Google Cloud ise 1.87 saniye ile olduk?a ge? tepki s?relerine sahip.

Hem kendi altyap?s? i?in hem de kiralama yoluyla firmalara depolama alan? sa?layan Amazon'un S3 servisi 1.5 trilyon nesne bar?nd?r?yor ve ge?en y?l d?nyan?n en h?zl? 42. s?per bilgisayar?na sahipti. Ancak bulut altyap?s?na ?nemli yat?r?mlar yapan Microsoft'un bunun meyvelerini toplamaya ba?lad??? g?r?l?yor.?

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Source: http://www.donanimhaber.com/Arastirma__Windows_Azure_testlere_gore_en_iyi_performans_veren_bulut_depolama_hizmeti-40229.htm

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শুক্রবার, ২২ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Reno exhibit showcases Italian-Americans in baseball

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.rgj.com/article/20130222/LIV/302220007/1089

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Backstreet Boy Nick Carter Engaged To Lauren Kitt! (Photo)

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter Engaged To Lauren Kitt! (Photo)

Nick Carter and Lauren Kitt photosIt looks as if the last Backstreet Boy is off the market! Nick Carter has confirmed his engagement to fitness expert and actress Lauren Kitt. Carter talked about the big moment and how his planned proposal didn’t very smoothly. Nick Carter told People magazine, “I had the ring in my pocket for two weeks. I ...

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter Engaged To Lauren Kitt! (Photo) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/backstreet-boy-nick-carter-engaged-to-lauren-kitt-photo/

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২১ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Honda goes solar with $65 million investment

The first automaker to offer a hybrid-electric vehicle in the U.S. market, Honda is diving even deeper into renewable energy with a project it says could make solar power affordable for its dealers and customers.

The goal of Honda?s new partnership with SolarCity is to make energy from the sun less costly than utility-supplied power, according to the carmaker ? which has set up a $65 million investment fund to back the project.

"We believe Honda and Acura customers are going to be very interested in going solar once they find out that they can install solar at their home with little or no upfront cost, can lower their monthly utility bill, and can make a positive contribution to protecting the environment,? said Steven Center, vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office of American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The Detroit Bureau: Audi set to reveal new plug-in version of little A3

Founded by brothers Lyndon and Peter Rive in 2006, and headquartered in San Mateo, California, SolarCity provides a wide range of sun-powered technologies, including commercial and residential solar energy arrays, as well as solar charging stations for electric vehicles which Honda says it also is ?envisioning? for its future EV and plug-in hybrid customers.

The project will target customers and dealers in the 14-state service area where SolarCity now operates ? which include a number of markets where battery cars are gaining the most traction, such as California, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Detroit Bureau: NYTimes Admits Mistakes - But Says Tesla Also at Fault

The partnership will offer Honda and Acura customers and dealers several financing options with little to no up-front costs, including one option that the maker claims ?will be lower than the cost of their utility bill, with insurance, repairs and monitoring service included.?

The project will also offer owners of Honda vehicles the opportunity to make energy-efficiency upgrades, including weatherization and improved heating and cooling systems.

"By making it easier and more affordable for its customers to use clean power, Honda is reinforcing the fact that solar is the new normal," said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive.

The Detroit Bureau: Prepping the Next Ford Mustang

A number of automakers have been exploring the potential of solar power. Several, such as Fisker and Toyota, offer vehicle rooftop panels that can be used to supplement battery power or operate a vehicle ventilation system on hot days.

General Motors, Audi and Volkswagen, meanwhile, have added large solar arrays at a number of their plants. GM?s Detroit-Hamtramck plant, for example, uses sun power to help charge up the batteries of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids produced at the facility. And VW recently switched on a solar park at its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 33-acre system generates enough energy to power 1,200 homes ? or about 12.5% of the assembly plant?s energy needs.

Copyright ? 2009-2012, The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/honda-goes-solar-65-million-investment-1C8479426

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Massage: Is Massage Therapy Good For You? - Health Me Up

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Massage has been practiced for over thousands of years now. After a tiring day at work, or after an adventurous vacation or even after a depressing day all one says is ?I feel like getting myself a relaxing massage? But what is the real deal behind a massage and how does one really pick the right kind?

It gets even more confusing since these days if you need or want a massage, you can choose from among 80 massage therapy styles with a wide variety of pressures, movements, and techniques! Phew!

So to simplify the process, we have with us an expert, Nita Dhruv who works for Rudra Spa, Mumbai and she will enlighten us about the most popular massages available in India and ways it benefits the body.?

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*Images courtesy: ? Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

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TAGS: massage, spa massages, massages, massage therapy, thai massage, massage therapy, massages, aromatherapy, Swedish massage Therapy, Balinese Massage, ayurvedic massages, the rudra spa, massages, benefits of massages previous '; $("#SiteLoginDiv").html(statusLoginStr); $("#SiteLoginDiv").show(); $("#CommonLoginDiv").hide(); //-To Show the Twitter Post Box T("#maincommentdivfortweeter").tweetBox({ height: 100, width: 600, defaultContent: "http://toi.in/vTSKRZ", onTweet : function (data){ //--------------Function to Post data to the insert2dbfile var whihcflag = $("#whichcontype").val(); var first_name = $("#first_name").val(); var last_name = $("#second_name").val(); var screenName = $("#userscreenname").val(); var profile_url = $("#userprofilelink").val(); var profileImage = $("#userprofileimage").val(); var loginusertypeid = $("#loginusertypeid").val(); var comment_text = data.replace("http://toi.in/vTSKRZ",""); var comment_parentid = $("#comment_parentid").val(); var content_id = $("#content_id").val(); $.post("http://healthmeup.com/2db/comment2db.php",{'login_type':'twitter','whihcflag':whihcflag,'first_name':first_name,'last_name':last_name,'screenName':screenName,'profile_url':profile_url,'profileImage':profileImage,'loginusertypeid':loginusertypeid,'comment_text':comment_text,"content_id":content_id,"comment_parentid":comment_parentid},function(data){ if(jQuery.trim(data)=='error'){ $("#showerrorComment").html('User and password did not match.'); document.getElementById('showerrorComment').style.display="block"; }else if(jQuery.trim(data)=='BadWord'){ $("#comment_text").focus(); $("#commentBoxRes").html('Whoa... STOP right there! Pls feed us love, not spam, links or abusive words :) Help us keep Healthmeup a happy place!'); document.getElementById('commentBoxRes').style.display="block"; }else{ $("#commentBoxRes").show(); $.post("http://healthmeup.com/tpl/tplGetcommentadded.php",{"content_id":content_id,"pageval":"1","whichflag":whihcflag},function(data){ $("#showcommentcontent").html(data); var nocomments = $('#nocomments_'+19727).val(); //console.debug(nocomments); if( nocomments > 0){ $('#comment_'+19727).html(''); $('#comment_'+19727).html(''+nocomments +' Comments ' ); } }); } }); } }); //$("#login-logout").append('Sign out of Twitter'); $("#signout").bind("click", function () { twttr.anywhere.signOut(); $("#first_name").val(''); $("#userscreenname").val(''); $("#userprofilelink").val(''); $("#userprofileimage").val(''); $("#loginusertypeid").val(''); window.location.reload(); }); $("#logindiv").hide(); }else{ T("#twitter-connect-placeholder").connectButton({ authComplete: function(user) { // triggered when auth completed successfully setQuestion(); window.location.reload(); } }); /*document.getElementById("twitter-connect-placeholder").onclick = function () { T.signIn();}; T.bind("authComplete", function (e, user) { // triggered when auth completed successfully window.location.reload(); });*/ //$("#logindiv").show(); $("#maincommentdiv").show(); //$("#facebooktwitteruserdetails").hide(); $("#maincommentdivfortweeter").hide(); }; }); });//------------Document Ready //-------------------FAcebook User Starts var badword=0; function postthecomment1(){ var comment_text = jQuery.trim($("#comment_text").val()); var comment_parentid = jQuery.trim($("#comment_parentid").val()); var content_id = jQuery.trim($("#content_id").val()); var whihcflag = $("#whichcontype").val(); $("#showerrorComment").hide(); $("#commentBoxRes").hide(); if(comment_text==""){ errmsg = "Please Enter Your Comment"; $("#comment_text").val('') $('#comment_text').focus(); flag=1; $("#showerrorComment").html(errmsg); document.getElementById('showerrorComment').style.display="block"; return false; } if($("#whichusertype").val()=='1'){ var first_name = $("#first_name").val(); var last_name = $("#second_name").val(); if($('#UsernameSelector').attr('checked') == true){ var screenName = 'Anonymous'; } else{ var screenName = $("#userscreenname").val(); } var profile_url = $("#userprofilelink").val(); var profileImage = $("#userprofileimage").val(); var loginusertypeid = $("#loginusertypeid").val(); $('#commentSubmit').attr('disabled','disabled'); $.post("http://healthmeup.com/2db/comment2db.php",{'login_type':'facebook','whihcflag':whihcflag,'first_name':first_name,'last_name':last_name,'username':screenName,'profile_url':profile_url,'profileImage':profileImage,'loginusertypeid':loginusertypeid,'comment_text':comment_text,"content_id":content_id,"comment_parentid":comment_parentid},function(data){ if(jQuery.trim(data)=='error'){ $("#showerrorComment").html('User and password did not match.'); document.getElementById('showerrorComment').style.display="block"; }else if(jQuery.trim(data)=='BadWord'){ badword=1; $("#comment_text").focus(); $("#commentBoxRes").show(); $("#commentBoxRes").html('Whoa... STOP right there! Pls feed us love, not spam, links or abusive words :) Help us keep luxpresso a happy place!'); document.getElementById('commentBoxRes').style.display="block"; }else{ $("#commentBoxRes").show(); $.post("http://healthmeup.com/tpl/tplGetcommentadded.php",{"content_id":content_id,"pageval":"1"},function(data){ //alert(data); $("#showcommentcontent").html(data); $("#commentBoxRes").show(); //$("#Username").val(''); //$("#Useremail").val(''); $("#comment_text").val(''); var nocomments = $('#nocomments_'+19727).val(); //console.debug(nocomments); if( nocomments > 0){ $('#comment_'+19727).html(''); $('#comment_'+19727).html(''+nocomments +' Comments ' ); } var message = comment_text; var article_title = "Massage: Is Massage Therapy Good For You?"; var article_page_link = "http://healthmeup.com/photogallery-healthy-living/massage-is-massage-therapy-good-for-you/19727/1"; var story_section ="Photogallery"; var story_section_url ="http://healthmeup.com/archive/content/5/1"; var author_name = "Sobiya N. Moghul"; var author_name_url = "http://healthmeup.com/author/sobiya-n-moghul/1200"; var posteddate = "Feb 21st 2013 at 7:30AM" var article_image_path ="http://images.idiva.com/media/healthmeup/photogallery/2013/Feb/spa_120x90.jpg"; var attachment = {'name': article_title, 'href': article_page_link ,'properties' : { 'Filed under': {'text': story_section, 'href': story_section_url}, 'Author ' : {'text': author_name, 'href':author_name_url}, 'Posted On': posteddate} ,'media': [{ 'type': 'image', 'src': article_image_path, 'href': article_page_link }] }; var action_links = [{'text':'luxpresso', 'href':'http://luxpresso.com/'}]; // FB.Connect.streamPublish(message, attachment, action_links); streamPublish(attachment, 'Healthmeup', 'http://healthmeup.com/', 'Share healthmeup.com'); $('#commentSubmit').attr('disabled',''); }); } }); }else{ var username= jQuery.trim($("#Username").val()); var useremailid= jQuery.trim($("#Useremail").val()); var comment_parentid=jQuery.trim($("#comment_parentid").val()); var userpassword=jQuery.trim($("#Password").val()); var content_id=jQuery.trim($("#content_id").val()); var whihcflag =jQuery.trim($("#whichcontype").val()); var flag = 0; if($('#UsernameSelector').attr('checked') == true){ var username = 'Anonymous'; } else{ var username = $("#Username").val(); } if(comment_text==""){ errmsg = "Please Enter Your Comment"; $("#comment_text").val('') $('#comment_text').focus(); flag=1; }else if(username=="" || useremailid==""){ errmsg = "Please login to comment."; flag=1; }else if (userpassword == "" || userpassword == "Password"){ errmsg = "Please Enter Password"; $('#Password').focus(); flag=1; } if(flag==0){ //alert("asda"); $('#commentSubmit').attr('disabled','disabled'); $.post("http://healthmeup.com/2db/comment2db.php",{'login_type':'normaluser','EmailId':useremailid,'whihcflag':whihcflag,'Username':username,"userpassword":userpassword,"content_id":content_id,"comment_parentid":comment_parentid,'comment_text':comment_text,'screenName':screenName},function(data){ //alert(trim(data)); if(jQuery.trim(data)=='error'){ $("#showerrorComment").html('User and password did not match.'); $("#showerrorComment").show(); }else if(jQuery.trim(data)=='BadWord'){ //alert("dsf") $("#comment_text").focus(); $("#commentBoxRes").html('

Whoa... STOP right there! Pls feed us love, not spam, links or abusive words :) Help us keep luxpresso a happy place!

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Kumbh Mela - 5 Things you Probably Didn't Know - Rediscovering ...

Travel
Kumbh Mela at dusk

Published on February 21st, 2013 | by Anusuya Suresh

With prayers on their lips and faith in their hearts, lakhs of devout pilgrims head to the Kumbh Mela at Allahabad. While some of them stay at hotels in Allahabad, others put up camp at some nearby place, coming to the mela area for the snaan and satsang. A sense of religious fervour pervades the celebrations at all the 4 places where the Kumbh Mela is held ? Nashik, Ujjain, Haridwar and Prayag (Allahabad). However, there is something palpably different about the mela at Prayag, also known as the Purna Kumbh. Here are 5 little-known aspects of the Kumbh Mela.

1. Significance of Kumbh Mela at Prayag

Of all the four locations, the Kumbh Mela at Prayag is considered special, always drawing the greatest number of pilgrims. Why so? ?Prayag? means the place of purification and this refers to the incident when Lord Brahma (the Creator in the Hindu pantheon) performed a ritualistic sacrifice or yajna at this place during the process of creation, in order to purify the atmosphere. Even today, amidst all the din of the mela, pilgrims find an expression of deep inner peace, lending credence to this belief.

2. Triveni Sangam ? Which is the third river?

Prayag is also revered because it is located at the confluence of three of the most sacred Indian rivers ?Yamuna, Ganga and Saraswati ? giving it the name of ?Triveni Sangam.? While the Yamuna and the Ganga are visible to the eye, the Saraswati is considered a mystical entity who makes her presence felt at Prayag, where she joins the other two rivers. In fact, research studies by the Indian Space Research Organization located at Jodhpur and the Ground Water Department of Rajasthan have found through satellite images that there was indeed a drainage system matching the description of the course of the river Saraswati mentioned in the Vedas. In all the other places where the Kumbh Mela is held, there is just one river ? Godavari in Nashik, Shipra in Ujjain and Ganga in Haridwar; the confluence of three holy rivers is what makes the Kumbh at Prayag the most special.

3. Why once in 12 years?

The Kumbh Mela at Prayag, like the current one in 2013 is called the Purna Kumbh and it is held once in 12 years. What is the significance of the number 12? The scriptures say that an entire human year is equivalent to a single day and night for the deities. The great war between the deities and the demons that resulted in the churning of the ocean to bring out the pot of nectar went on for 12 days and nights. In human time, this equals 12 years and this is the reason why the Purna Kumbh is celebrated once in 12 years.

4. No Non-Veg Food and Alcohol Served at Kumbh Mela

Anywhere within the perimeter of the Kumbh Mela, you can find a variety of food showcasing cuisine from around the country. However, there is a rider ? no non-vegetarian food or alcoholic drinks are served. In fact, at many places you are likely to find that even onion and garlic have been omitted from the cooking; all this is designed to keep the diet as ?sattvik? or positive as possible, as mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.

5. Bathing at Sangam

Scientists studying Ganga water have found it does not support the growth of mosquitoes, cholera germs and several other harmful bacteria. Many of them believe that there is some material present in the Ganga that kills pathogens and also keeps the oxygen content high.
A ritualistic bath in the waters of the three rivers is considered to have the power to wash away all sins and liberate the bather from the unceasing cycle of birth and death.
This year, this ritual has also attempted to wash away the evil of social inequality ? on February 10th, 2013, several dalit scavengers bathed along with people of the priestly class during the Kumbh, hopefully, paving the path for a more equal society.

Described variously as ?the world?s most massive act of faith? and ?the greatest tented city in the world that is built for just 56 days,? the atmosphere at Kumbh Mela at Allahabad is something that just cannot be described in words. The best way to understand it is to stay at one of these hotels in Allahabad, and experience it yourself, with the ritualistic snaan and satsang that help pilgrims achieve that elusive inner peace and calm amidst all the outer commotion.

?

Photo Credit : Shreyank Gupta?via cc

Tags: kumbh 2013, kumbh at allahabad, kumbh mela, maha kumbh 2013, prayag kumbh


About the Author

Anusuya Suresh : A postgraduate in Pharmacy, Anusuya Suresh has over 12 years of experience in teaching. She currently teaches at Bangalore and has authored a textbook that deals with the subject of plant-based medicines and Indian systems of medicine. Armed with a working knowledge of graphology (handwriting analysis) and trained as a life skills educator, she works on her own initiative to develop innovative workshops on personality development for her students. She is an articulate and entertaining speaker on topics such as Herbal Medicines, Personality Development, Stress Management, Spiritual Practice and Emotional Intelligence. She is also a freelance writer on topics ranging from health, travel and parenting to relationships, self-improvement and spirituality.


Source: http://www.hoteldepot.in/blog/travel/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-kumbh-mela/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-things-you-didnt-know-about-kumbh-mela

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Experts split on Detroit's fiscal recovery options

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2012 file photo, a pedestrian walks in Greektown in downtown Detroit. A state-appointed review team Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 determined Detroit is in a financial emergency, paving the way for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to appoint an emergency manager who would need to come up with a new plan to get the city out of its fiscal crisis. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2012 file photo, a pedestrian walks in Greektown in downtown Detroit. A state-appointed review team Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 determined Detroit is in a financial emergency, paving the way for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to appoint an emergency manager who would need to come up with a new plan to get the city out of its fiscal crisis. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2011 file photo is the Monument to Joe Louis in Detroit. A state-appointed review team Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 determined Detroit is in a financial emergency, paving the way for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to appoint an emergency manager who would need to come up with a new plan to get the city out of its fiscal crisis. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

FILE - This Oct. 24, 2012 file photo shows a graffiti-marked abandoned home north of downtown Detroit, in background. A state-appointed review team Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 determined Detroit is in a financial emergency, paving the way for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to appoint an emergency manager who would need to come up with a new plan to get the city out of its fiscal crisis. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

(AP) ? In less than a month, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will decide whether Detroit should get an emergency manager to oversee its financial recovery.

The question may not be who can save Detroit, but how can Detroit be saved.

Options are limited. Some experts are split on what may be best: long-term restructuring with state help or cutting the city's losses now through municipal bankruptcy.

National municipal bankruptcy expert James Spiotto says Detroit would be the largest city to file for Chapter 9 protection. He said that should be "the absolute last resort."

A review team said Tuesday that Detroit is in a financial emergency with more than $14 billion in long-term liabilities, a $327 million budget deficit and cash flow issues.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-20-US-Detroit-Finances/id-5c7f64ab31b346a09626a5eaf7c60b35

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Russian PM in Brazil seeking arms, nuclear technology deals

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday on a visit to Brazil aimed at sealing defense and nuclear technology deals with a fellow member of the BRIC bloc of emerging nations.

On their agenda was the possible sale of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems to Brazil, a Brazilian government spokesman said.

Brazil is beefing up its air defenses ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament next year and the 2016 Olympic Games to ward off the threat of a terrorist attack during the global sporting events, which will draw massive crowds of foreigners.

Medvedev's trip follows a visit by Rousseff to Moscow in December that underlined the importance both countries attach to building relations among the BRIC club of emerging economies.

The BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - have a combined GDP of $14.9 trillion and have become increasingly vocal in criticizing developed nations' hold over global economic policies.

Ties between Brazil and Russia have been strengthening and they want to raise annual trade turnover to $10 billion from the current $6.5 billion.

Moscow will tout its advanced energy expertise and technology aiming to get involved in Brazil's plans to build new nuclear power stations to meet surging demand for electricity that has overwhelmed its generating capacity.

"We would like to offer our participation in the construction of nuclear plants and would like to get an invitation to participate in (the upcoming) tender," a senior official in the Russian delegation said.

He said Russia could train Brazil's nuclear staff, design research reactors and supply fuel for the future plants.

Medvedev also will try to clinch the sale of Russia's anti-aircraft missile technology, including the Pantsir S1 combined missile and artillery system and Igla-S portable surface-to-air missiles.

Brazil is interested in buying three Pantsir batteries with medium-range missiles and wants to acquire the technology to build the missiles itself in the future.

"We have already signed a commercial protocol on Igla-S supplies, which also foresees the opportunity of licensed production, but talks are ongoing," the Russian official said. "Licensed production launch may take some time, so they have expressed interest in importing Igla-S in the meantime too."

Russia is the world's second largest arms exporter and a deal with Brazil would largely be seen as a symbolic penetration of the Latin American defense market, after Russia lost some key contracts due to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East.

Medvedev also will discuss the possible increase of Brazilian meat supplies to Russia, its largest buyer, the official said, but Moscow's sanitary authorities will make sure it is compliant with all the necessary standards.

As a sign of the two countries drawing closer, Brazil on Tuesday became the first country outside Russia to host a monitoring station for the Russian satellite navigation system GLONASS, a global positioning system that uses 24 satellites.

Medvedev also will visit Cuba, a former Cold War-era ally, where Moscow expects to sign deals on medicine, space and aviation, possibly including on the supply to Havana of three Ukrainian-Russian Antonov-158 regional jets.

(Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-pm-brazil-seeking-arms-nuclear-technology-deals-145018857.html

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Mayor Bloomberg Makes a Small Step Toward a Rational Policy on Marijuana

In his final state of the city address as Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg made the welcome announcement that anyone caught in possession of marijuana would no longer have to spend a night in jail. Effective next month, anyone who is arrested for marijuana possession will still be taken to the police station, fingerprinted and so on, but if there are no pending warrants, they will be released with a summons to appear in court. This is a small step in the right direction, but it does not go remotely far enough to undo the damage that has been inflicted upon poor and minority communities who have born the brunt of what activists call a "marijuana arrest crusade" that has flourished during the mayor's reign.

In 2008, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) compiled a report (pdf) on the unprecedented eleven-fold increase in misdemeanor marijuana arrests in the city that began during Mayor Rudy Guiliani's last term in office and continued with relish under Mayor Bloomberg. Since this "crusade" began, the number of marijuana arrests have increased from approximately 6000 per year in 1995 to nearly 40,000 in 2007.

It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the way of things in New York city that the vast majority of those arrested and jailed for smoking pot were blacks and hispanics, despite the fact that studies consistently show that white people use drugs like marijuana at much higher rates. It has been the constant cry of activists that white people enjoy a certain level of immunity from prosecution for minor drug offenses, while black and brown people do not. As Donna Lieberman, the Executive Director of the NYCLU put it: "What this amounts to is a two-tiered system of justice". A democracy for some, a police state for others.

To compound the irony, the mayor admitted in 2002 that he was a pot smoker himself. When asked by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation if he had ever tried the drug, he responded: "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it." Needless to say, he regretted making these remarks almost immediately afterwards. But regrets aside, he remained firm in his view that marijuana should not be decriminalized and that the laws that exist should be enforced. It may not have been his intention that it would be poor black and brown people who felt the brunt of this law enforcement zeal rather than rich white people like himself, but that is how things have panned out.

As the NYCLU's report details, between 1997 and 2006, 353,000 New Yorkers were arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana. All of these people were handcuffed, taken to the police station, fingerprinted and most of them spent a night in jail. Worse still, they have had to deal with the consequences of having a criminal record. A large majority ? 85% ? of those arrested were either black or hispanic. Only 15% were white.

The high rate of marijuana arrests are linked in part to the NYPD's controversial "stop, question and frisk" policy that disproportionately impacts minorities.

- Read the entire article at The Guardian.

Source: http://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2013/02/20/Mayor-Bloomberg-Makes-Small-Step-Toward-Rational-Policy-Marijuana

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Choose life over football, Lions' Nate Burleson tells Jahvid Best

Lions receiver Nate Burleson has given a message to teammate Jahvid Best that's been echoed by many:

Safety first, football second.

"I just told him that if it was me I would shut it down," Burleson said on "NFL Total Access" on the NFL Network Tuesday, recounting a conversation from last season.

Due to multiple concussions, Best hasn't played since Week 6 in 2011. The 24-year-old started the 2012 season on the physically unable to perform list and failed neurological exams during the season that would've cleared him to play.

General manager Martin Mayhew said he's not counting on Best to return in 2013, and Burleson made a pitch to Dolphins free agent running back Reggie Bush Monday on NFL Network to join the Lions and effectively replace Best.

Burleson thinks it's time for Best to choose life over football.

Burleson said he told Best: "You've got so much more life to live, and even though I would love to have you on the field, I don't want it to risk anything that has to do with your brain or possibly your post career."

The message comes from Burleson as both a nine-year veteran and a friend.

"Being a guy that loves him as an individual versus him as a player, I just told him, 'Honestly I'd rather see you healthy at 65 than healthy at 25.'"

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

twitter.com/jkatzenstein

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130219/SPORTS0101/302190409/1126/rss14

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IOC president Rogge to meet with wrestling leader

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ? IOC President Jacques Rogge says he will meet with the head of wrestling's governing body to discuss ways the sport can fight to save its place in the 2020 Olympics.

The IOC executive board dropped wrestling from the program of the 2020 Games on Tuesday, removing it from the list of 26 sports at last year's London Olympics.

The decision, which still must be ratified by the full IOC in September, has been criticized by wrestling organizations around the world.

Rogge says he has been contacted by Raphael Martinetti, the president of international wrestling federation FILA. He says "we agreed we would meet at the first opportunity to have discussions."

Rogge says he was encouraged that FILA had "vowed to adapt the sport and vowed to fight to be eventually included in the 2020 slot."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ioc-president-rogge-meet-wrestling-leader-142403208--oly.html

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California's Tobacco Control Program generates huge health care savings, study shows

Feb. 13, 2013 ? Over a span of nearly 20 years, California's tobacco control program cost $2.4 billion and reduced health care costs by $134 billion, according to a new study by UC San Francisco (UCSF).

Additionally, the study -- covering the beginning of the program in 1989 to 2008 -- found that the state program helped lead to some 6.8 billion fewer packs of cigarettes being sold that would have been worth $28.5 billion in sales to cigarette companies.

The study was designed to calculate the fiscal impact of California's large public health program on smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption. UCSF has been at the forefront of tobacco research for decades, disclosing how the tobacco industry manipulated its products and led the public into cigarette addiction. The UCSF Legacy Library houses more than 13 million documents on file that were released as a result of litigation against the major tobacco companies related to their advertising, manufacturing, marketing, sales, political, public relations and scientific activities.

The new research shows that tobacco control funding is directly tied to reductions in both the prevalence of smoking and cigarette consumption per smoker -- and generates significant savings in overall health care expenditures.

"These health care cost savings began to appear almost immediately after the program started and have grown over time, reaching more than $25 billion a year in 2008," said first author James Lightwood, PhD, a UCSF associate professor of clinical pharmacy.

The study was published online on Feb. 13 in the journal PLOS ONE.

Every year, an estimated 443,000 people in the United States die from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Another 8.6 million people suffer from a serious smoking-related illness. Annually, costs associated with smoking-related illness account billions in medical expenses and lost productivity, and 5.1 million years of potential life lost in the United States, the CDC reports.

To help save lives and lower health care costs, California passed Proposition 99 in 1988 to create a tobacco control program. The voter-funded state program centers on changing social norms around smoking to reduce smoking and tobacco-induced diseases.

The program combines an aggressive media campaign with community programs emphasizing three themes:

  • That the tobacco industry lies;
  • That nicotine is addictive;
  • That secondhand smoke kills.

The new UCSF research updates an earlier study by the same authors, adding five years of data and a more sophisticated economic analysis. The earlier paper covered 1989 through 2004.

The researchers found a significant association between cumulative per capita tobacco control funding and both smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption per smoker. Every cumulate per capita hundred dollars spent on the state's tobacco control wound up reducing smoking prevalence by 5 percent and reduced cigarette consumption per smoker by 139 packs a year, the authors reported.

Both a reduction in the percentage and number of people smoking, and the numbers of packs each remaining smoker consumed contributed to dropping health care costs, the authors found. The reduction in smoking prevalence accounted for 36 percent of the health care cost savings, with the rest due to less consumption among continuing smokers.

"Our research shows that large-scale aggressive tobacco control programs not only save lives, but make an important contribution to health care cost containment," said senior author Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, a UCSF professor of medicine and director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

The authors obtained these estimates by comparing smoking and health costs in California with 38 other states that did not have substantial state tobacco control programs or cigarette tax increases prior to 2000.

"The results show that the California tobacco control program had a substantial effect on both smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption per smoker, and both in turn had a substantial effect on per capita health care expenditures," the study concluded.

The estimated health care expenditures associated with smoking analyzed in the study included the short- and long-term direct effects on not only smokers but the effects of second- and third-hand smoke exposure to nonsmokers.

"Our research confirms that California voters made a good decision when they passed Proposition 99 in 1988," said Glantz. "The problem is that inflation is eroding the purchasing power of the California Tobacco Control Program at a time when cigarette companies are still aggressively promoting their products."

Tobacco companies narrowly defeated Proposition 29 last year, which would have increased the tobacco tax to reinvigorate the tobacco control program and to fund medical research.

The research was supported by TRDRP Grant 18ST-0201 and National Cancer Institute Grant CA-61021.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Francisco. The original article was written by Elizabeth Fernandez.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. James Lightwood, Stanton A. Glantz. The Effect of the California Tobacco Control Program on Smoking Prevalence, Cigarette Consumption, and Healthcare Costs: 1989?2008. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e47145 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047145

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/consumer_behavior/~3/7Mzajk9KBMg/130213173133.htm

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Domino's Japan Selling Heart-Shaped Pizza

Domino's in Japan is selling special heart-shaped pizzas for Valentine's Day (14.02.13).

The fast food chain has made the tasty treat available to buy up until the big day tomorrow, and those who are keen to impress their lovers with a romantic meal will have to part with 1,980 yen (?14) to get their hands on one of the dough-based snacks.

The pizza comes with tomato sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella.

One person who might be keen to order one of the loveable treats is former hot dog eating champion Takeru 'Tsunami' Kobayashi, who consumed a whole 12-inch Domino's pizza in one minute.

Source: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/bizarre/-280180.html?utm_source=ff&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=siteFeed

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Military Brain Drain - By David Barno

In his recent book Bleeding Talent, Tim Kane joins a growing chorus of serving and former junior officers to deliver a wake-up call to today's military leadership in the face of a major drawdown. Their message: If you ignore the expectations of today's young, combat-experienced leaders as you shrink the force, your most talented officers and sergeants will exit, stage left.

The military bureaucracy's response? "Good Riddance."

During any military drawdown, equipment, training, force structure, and end-strength will inevitably be sacrificed. But the "crown jewel" that must be preserved in order to be able to fight and win in the years ahead is human capital. Recruiting and retaining highly talented people remains the best guarantor of success in future conflicts. No distant campaign against a wily and unpredictable enemy in the 21st century will be won without innovative and creative military leadership. And that leadership is most at risk in the coming thinning of the military's rolls. And the officer corps most of all.

A colleague told me of a recent meeting with a roomful of senior generals in which he outlined the looming "talent drain," highlighting the prospect that the most exceptional officers will flee the force in droves over the next five years. Their response echoed the one I hear all too often from both active and retired generals: "If they want to leave the team, we'd be better off without them."

Astonishing.

In no business enterprise would the large-scale loss of an organization's top performers be greeted with such indifference. In fact, given the likely impact of such losses on any firm's bottom line, corporate chieftains would likely soon be looking for new jobs themselves if they dismissed their responsibility for managing their best talent. In today's competitive and uncertain environment, any company that loses its top talent will go out of business.

But in the military, not so much.

With more people than it needs as budgets shrink, and no management redlines to alert service leaders to the loss of their best young leadership, the military simply assumes there will always be more than enough talent to go around. Managing decreasing numbers becomes more important than fighting to retain the best manpower. And a "so what" attitude among senior military leaders toward the loss of highly skilled talent is seen as acceptable, a bravado that is often encouraged by those who "stayed on the team" through previous drawdowns. After all, many of today's generals think, "As junior officers, we stayed while others left, and we've made out just fine." Plenty of talent will stay, as it always has. Why worry?

There can be no more deadly, pernicious outlook from current or former senior leaders. It conveys a fundamentally flawed message to the military's young leaders that individuals don't count, that talent doesn't matter, and that even in the hyper-competitive world of the 21st century, in the U.S. military, "parts is parts." This outlook has the potential for deadly consequences as end-strength plunges.

Secretary Bob Gates challenged the Army in a February 2011 speech at West Point to change in order to retain and empower the kinds of leaders it will need for the 21st century. Gates observed: "[The] greatest challenge facing your Army and my main worry [is]: How can the Army break up the institutional concrete, its bureaucratic rigidity in its assignments and promotion processes, in order to retain, challenge, and inspire its best, brightest, and most battle-tested young officers to lead the service in the future?" Cadets cheered, junior officers were encouraged, and the bureaucracy changed not at all.

Two years later, the worry described by Gates remains -- while the primary response from the military services has most often been silence and a denial of the problem. As I've noted before, and as Gates pointed out in his West Point speech, the Army (and military writ large) is competing for?talent with Google -- not a 1950s widget factory. And it is going to start losing, dramatically.?

It does not have to be so. There is no reason not to listen and respond to the concerns of younger officers -- while also fully meeting the needs of the service. But you can't do it with a World War II mindset, an insular outlook, or an Industrial Age personnel system -- all of which are markedly in evidence today. And in the coming years, throwing money at the problem is not likely to be as easy as in the past.

Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/02/13/military_brain_drain

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BMI issues 'letter to the music industry' about recent rights ...

BMI president and CEO Del Bryant has issued an ?open letter to the music industry? clarifying Sony/ATV and EMI?s recent withdrawal of catalogues for digital uses ? as well as outlining a new royalty processing agreement with the publisher.

Sony/ATV withdrew catalogues for specific digital uses from BMI at the end of last year, with Universal Music Publishing following suit at the beginning of this month. ASCAP, saw similar withdrawals. ?

Bryant explains that contract modifications with EMI Music Publishing and similar with Sony/ATV last year meant that catalogues have been withdrawn from the BMI repertoire only for limited digital uses.

The withdrawal only impacts the shares of compositions owned or controlled by Sony/ATV and EMI and does not cover all digital uses.

?BMI will continue to license the Sony/ATV and EMI repertoires across most digital platforms and services,? Bryant explains. ?As a result, in some cases the same licensee will have to secure both a blanket license for shares of songs represented by BMI and a separate license from Sony/ATV and EMI for their respective shares of publicly-performed musical works.?

?BMI will continue to license on behalf of our other major and independent publishers for all shares of all works in our repertoire for all digital uses.?

Bryant adds that publishers who wish to go down a similar path to Sony/ATV will be allowed to modify their existing agreements at the end of their contract. The names of publishers who do withdraw will be posted in the New Media section of BMI.com.

The BMI boss adds that a new business relationship has been entered into with Sony/ATV and EMI, whereby the rights organisation will provide royalty processing and distribution services to the publisher. Bryant says it is the first time his company has entered into such an agreement.

You can read the letter in full below:

"It is a dynamic time in our industry; it is a time of experimentation and transformation of many of the models which have generated revenue for recorded music and for music publishing, impacting songwriters, composers, publishers, artists and labels alike. Throughout BMI?s nearly 75 years of representing writers and publishers, we have seen many challenges and opportunities to secure reliable and fair compensation for the creators of music. We have navigated through changing markets and the development of new outlets for the performance of music and created solutions which add value to the marketplace.

"Recent articles in the trade and consumer press have covered the withdrawal of catalogs from performing rights organizations by music publishers for certain digital uses. These issues are complex, and I wanted to take a minute to clarify the positions and policies BMI has formulated to address this development.

"Some BMI publishers have stated in the press that the main driver in their desire to withdraw their works for specific digital uses is to set their own pricing. Publishers have always had the right to directly license. In the case of withdrawal, they believe they may obtain higher royalty rates from this market if they negotiate their own agreements outside of BMI?s regulatory framework. By withdrawing works from BMI, publishers become the only entities that can license those works and therefore can deny permission to perform their works if they do not come to agreement on rates and terms. By contrast, BMI, under its Consent Decree, is required to automatically issue a license upon a request from a licensee, and if the parties are not able to negotiate a fee after a period of time, either party can initiate a rate-setting proceeding. The press has recently quoted sources stating that, by working outside of the major PROs? regulatory framework, Sony/ATV was able to increase their fees from Pandora by 25% versus the current rates of U.S. Performing Rights Organizations.

"In 2011 we agreed to modify our contract with EMI Music Publishing and last year we agreed to similar modifications with Sony/ATV. As a result, as of January 1, 2013 the Sony/ATV and EMI catalogs have been withdrawn from the BMI repertoire only for limited digital uses. You can find a definition of these uses at http://www.bmi.com/drw. The withdrawal only impacts the shares of compositions actually owned or controlled by Sony/ATV and EMI. The withdrawal does not cover all digital uses and BMI will continue to license the Sony/ATV and EMI repertoires across most digital platforms and services. As a result, in some cases the same licensee will have to secure both a blanket license for shares of songs represented by BMI and a separate license from Sony/ATV and EMI for their respective shares of publicly-performed musical works. BMI will continue to license on behalf of our other major and independent publishers for all shares of all works in our repertoire for all digital uses.

"Publishers who wish to follow similar withdrawal terms will be allowed to modify their existing agreements at the end of their contract or, if they have multiple contracts, at the weighted average term date of all those agreements. In the event that additional publishers withdraw, we will post the names of these publishers in the New Media section of bmi.com at http://www.bmi.com/drw. Preexisting licenses (?licenses in effect?) will include all repertoire until BMI?s agreement with the licensee expires. BMI will maintain its right to continue to enter into going-forward licenses for all digital uses until the works are actually withdrawn for such uses from BMI?s repertoire.

"In conjunction with our modified publishing agreements, we entered into a new business relationship under which BMI will provide royalty processing and distribution services to Sony/ATV and EMI. Under the administrative agreement, BMI will distribute royalties to songwriters and publishers resulting from Sony/ATV and EMI?s negotiations. These agreements are BMI?s first entry into offering these types of administrative services and we believe this is one of many opportunities for our organization to provide additional value to our affiliates in today?s dynamic market.

"While certainly complex, we see these recent developments as a clear marketplace signal of the enhanced value music brings to the digital world and beyond. We are working diligently to make that value a reality not just for large multinational music companies, but for ALL songwriters, ALL composers and ALL music publishers. We have already cited these marketplace agreements in our negotiations with our licensees and we will encourage our Rate Court to consider them as a new indicator of market value. We are also working in Washington to seek a change to current law to allow us to bring the rates set by the Copyright Royalty Judges for public performances in sound recordings under Section 114 of the U.S copyright law into evidence in BMI rate proceedings for consideration as rate benchmarks.

"While recent developments may have added complexity to an already complex rights landscape, we see opportunity. We see an opportunity to level the digital playing field and to allow the courts to consider all precedents across the digital spectrum. We see an opportunity to value performances of musical works fairly when compared to performances of sound recordings. We see opportunities for BMI to provide additional administrative services and add value to the markets we serve. All the while we remain dedicated to serving our constituents: songwriters, composers, music publishers and our licensees."

Source: http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/bmi-responds-to-sony-atv-emi-rights-withdrawals/053557

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