Friday, November 30, 2012

Windows 8 off to a slow start, first sales reports suggest

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We know that Windows 8 is critical for Microsoft. The Redmond-based software giant needs its latest operating system to do well. Unfortunately, a research firm's?report shows that Windows 8 is off to a slow start?? and it may be contributing to the ongoing weakness of the Windows tablet and?PC market.

According to the NPD Group, a?market research firm, "Windows device sales have fallen 21 percent versus the same period last year"?since the launch of Windows 8?on Oct. 26.?Notebook sales dropped 24 percent, while desktop sales saw a dip of "just" 9 percent.

"After just four weeks on the market, it?s still early to place blame on Windows 8 for the ongoing weakness in the PC market," NPD Group's?vice president of industry analysis?Stephen Baker cautions. "We still have the whole holiday selling season ahead of us, but clearly Windows 8 did not prove to be the impetus for a sales turnaround some had hoped for."

Despite Baker's gentle hedging, his company's calculations aren't the first indication that Windows 8 is off to a weak start. A report from Microsoft-focused blogger?Paul Thurrot explains that one of his trusted sources within Microsoft has revealed that the company has failed to meet its internal projections for Windows 8 sales.?

NPD Group's latest numbers support that claim by showing that, since its launch, "Windows 8 has? captured just over half (58 percent) of Windows computing device unit sales, compared to the 83 percent Windows 7 accounted for four weeks after that launch."

And as if that isn't enough bad news, Windows 8 tablet sales have been "almost non-existent," according to NPD Group. The new unit sales represent "less than 1 percent of all Windows 8 device sales to date."

Given these details, it's no surprise that Digitimes???a publication with a hit-and-miss track?record on reports based on anonymous sources???found someone with knowledge of supply chain details who says that ?"Microsoft originally expected to ship four million Surface RT devices by the end of 2012, but has recently reduced the orders by half to only two million units."

While all these reports and suggestions are flying around, Microsoft's focusing on the best statistic it can offer: That 40 million Windows 8 licenses have been sold in the month since the operating system launched. Based on this number,?Tami Reller, finance and marketing head of the Windows business, explained at an investor conference held by Credit Suisse, Windows 8 is actually outpacing the sales of Windows 7.

But here's the kicker, as?Reuter's Bill Rigby explains:?the "bulk of those sales are to PC manufacturers, who in turn sell many machines to companies, very few of which are using Windows 8 yet."?Selling 40 million Windows 8 licenses doesn't mean that Microsoft's got 40 million Windows 8 users. And it doesn't make the operating system the success it needs to be just yet.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/research-firm-windows-device-sales-down-21-percent-last-year-1C7316740

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You Can Buy Cheap Auto Insurance Too! | Automotive News

Too often are drivers overpaying for automobile insurance. One reason for this is that drivers simply are not educated about ways to save money on coverage. There are specific ways you can get cheap car insurance. Inexpensive insurance provides sufficient coverage without high premiums.

Avoid Purchasing Excess Coverage

Too often, drivers end up paying for coverage they do not need or cannot use. This can happen when you have to purchase comprehensive coverage because your car is financed. If you do not let your insurer know you have repaid the loan, you will continue paying for comprehensive coverage even if you no longer require it. In conclusion, although not everyone should buy minimum coverage, you also shouldn?t get too much coverage.

Drive Safely at All Times

Keep in mind that safer drivers always get the best rates. The drivers who get the very best rates will be the ones who have been driving safely 2 or more decades. One of the first things an insurance company looks at when setting rates is your driving record. The longer you are able to go without accidents or driving violations, the better rates you can get. Some insurers offer annual reductions on premiums for safe drivers. Drivers who complete an approved defensive driving course can also get lower rates.

Own a New Domestic Car

New cars tend to get better rates because they have specific safety features that insurance companies prefer. These include anti-lock brakes, airbags, and automatic seatbelts. One easy way to get lower insurance rates is to install security measures on your vehicle. It usually costs less to repair new domestic cars because parts are readily available and technicians have the skill sets needed to work on these vehicles.

Maintain Good Credit

Drivers often do not realize the role their credit history plays in getting decent insurance rates. Insurance companies often include credit scores in rate calculations. The underlying assumption is that customers who have good credit scores pose less risk for the insurance company. This is not necessarily true, but there is little you can do about it. It is likely that in order to get a better rate you would have to raise your credit score.

Qualify for Discounts

Another way to get cheap car insurance is to qualify for as many discounts as possible. These discounts range from multiple-policy to loyalty discounts and everything in between. The more discounts you are eligible to receive, the better chance you have of getting cheap car insurance.

This entry was posted on November 30, 2012, 10:31 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.masteralfadesir.com/you-can-buy-cheap-auto-insurance-too.html

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Finding Search Engine Optimization Companies | My Six Strings Blog

SEO stands for ?Search Engine Optimization?. SEO is what companies or individuals do to make their website show up at the higher rankings in search engine results. Businesses need advertising to be in the top list and most of the mediums that are available these days are costly and they also require more expenses in comparison to Search Engine advertising.

SEO is among one of the greatest assets that a business can take advantage of as it maximizes the potential of the business in the online marketing environment. Consumers use the resources of search engine to fulfill their needs, so SEO is an important thing to take your business to new heights.

The majority of the Search Engine Optimization Companies are now offering both SEO as well as SEM. SEM stands for ?Search Engine Marketing? that is paid SEO. SEO Optimization takes a significant amount of time for improving the ranks whereas SEO Marketing is used for promoting your website on the search engines within a period of few hours.

There are several big businesses, companies and clients from the UK, Canada, Australia, and US who are searching for the most excellent and reasonable Search Engine Optimization Companies. Many of the Search Engine Optimization companies have started providing SEO services to these clients at reasonable rates.

Generally most of the companies work by outsourcing SEO services to offshore companies based in India. The most important thing is to hire the best company for SEO as you can find various Search Engine Optimization Companies on the internet. The best thing to search for the company in your local area and the companies that are on the top in your area are the ones that you can hire for your business as they can offer you the best services. If a company can?t even do the SEO of its own properly then how can you believe that they will improve the ranking of your business website?

Before hiring the company, ask them to explain exactly what they aim to do and the number of employees they have. You should also ask them for the SEO methods they use for improving the rankings. If you found that the company is having some problem with clearing up all the details or they are not able to satisfy you then you should not hire them.

You should look for a reputed Search Engine Optimization Companies as every company has some sort of reputation that is earned through years of service. You can contact to the clients of the company to know their past experiences. Check for the portfolio page as well as their customer?s reviews. In this way you can easily find the good SEO companies

Author is an online Content writer.She likes to write on different topics.She is writing articles from last three years.For more information related to this topic visit Search Engine Optimization Companies Ireland

Related posts:

  1. Just how to Find Finest Search engine optimization Company?
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  4. SEO Malaysia: The Best Way to Discover Search Engine Optimization
  5. Services to Look for in an Search engine optimization Company

Source: http://mysixstringsblog.com/finding-search-engine-optimization-companies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=finding-search-engine-optimization-companies

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Shares drop following MegaFon $1.7 billion IPO in London and Moscow

Russian operator MegaFon raised $1.7 billion from its public offering in London and Moscow, in what was seen as a disappointing debut in its first listing.

Shares this morning fell by 1.5% to $19.70 after trading in London, in what has been a difficult period for the Russian company. Shares in the company were trading at an average of $20, giving MegaFon a...


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Source: http://www.capacitymagazine.com/Article/3123499/Shares-drop-following-MegaFon-17-billion-IPO-in-London-and-Moscow.html

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Martian dust storm dissipating

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? A regional dust storm on Mars, tracked from orbit since Nov. 10, appears to be abating rather than going global.

"During the past week, the regional storm weakened and contracted significantly," said Bruce Cantor of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. Cantor uses the Mars Color Imager camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to monitor storms on the Red Planet.

Effects of the storm on global air-pressure patterns have been detected at ground level by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.

"We are getting lots of good data about this storm," said Mark Richardson of Ashima Research, Pasadena, Calif. He is a co-investigator both on REMS and on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Mars Climate Sounder instrument, which has been detecting widespread effects of the current storm on atmospheric temperatures.

Researchers anticipate that the unprecedented combination of a near-equatorial weather station at ground level, and daily orbital observations during Mars' dust-storm season, may provide information about why some dust storms grow larger than others.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project and the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Spain provided the REMS weather station for the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, Curiosity.

For more information about the missions of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, visit http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/ .

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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


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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/kJjeD91d8tc/121128070512.htm

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Balanced diet is important for weight loss

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Losing weight can actually be a nightmarish process if the right steps are not followed; on the contrary gaining weight is like a piece of cake. In the mania to lose weight, people often push their limits by skipping meals or exercising way too much and not maintaining a proper balance between dieting and exercising. The lives that we lead are very stressful and demanding; due to this we eat any food item that comes our way without thinking of the repercussions that it will cause on our weight and the health problems or their possibility that will come along with it.

Two words that should be remembered are a healthy ?Balanced Diet.??Balanced diet for weight loss?is not only essential for losing weight but also for prevention of various health ailments, sleep related problems, to improve quality of life etc?A misconception that needs to be broken here is that healthy food is enough to stay healthy which is not true. Human body is such that it requires other minerals, available in the different food groups.

It is also of crucial importance to understand that some food items should not be consumed heavily as their consumption has an effect on our sleep cycle. For instance, artificial sugar and candies will ensure that we suffer from sleeplessness. The consumption of oily food results in a difficulty to restrict our sleep cycle, which leads to increased laziness. Following a balanced diet will ensure that we knock out the sleeping pills and enjoy a peaceful sleep.

You wish to kick that extra weight then you should also discard the junk food that is a prominent part of your lifestyle.

It brings along unnecessary fat which is the root cause of many health ailments. Many of us cannot stop satisfying our sweet tooth with all the possible pastries and cakes, a healthier option would be substituting it with fruits which are natural and nutritious. It is also very important to keep drinking a good amount of water to ensure that you don?t suffer from dehydration and the process of digestion does not suffer from any obstacles.

A very wrong notion about losing weight is the idea of skipping meals which does more harm than any good. Skipping meals leads to the metabolism rate getting affected which is a factor in long term weight gain. A wholesome breakfast consisting of cereals like oats, eggs, baked beans on toast etc?is a must because the human body does need its share of refueling.

Another good option is to cut down on alcohol which is a big boost in the process of weight loss. You can?quit alcohol for a certain period and you will notice the change that has occurred in your weight which will indeed be a good one.

Abstaining from fat completely is not a good option; a certain amount of fat is the need for our body. For instance, even if you have 10 nuts every day, you will get a good share of Vitamin E, proteins and healthy fats. Some of us have the habit of eating in between meals; we can have these nuts during early evening with a fruit. This will ensure that we don?t snack heavily before dinner. Walnut should be a part of these nuts because it is rich in the fats that are good for our health.?

While eating we should make sure that soups and salads accompany our meal, this will ensure that our meal is heavy but without the calories. A soup consisting of ingredients like onions, garlic etc? will make us feel light and will also reduce the extra fluid in our system. Eating a salad will also ensure that you feel satiated and the quality of your nutrition will be improved to a great extent.

Given our hectic lifestyles, maintaining the perfect diet is not always easy.?Weight management supplements?are a good option at such times. They help aid healthy weight loss, if accompanied with a nutritious diet and moderate exercise.

Our life is infested with problems of various kinds and one of these is the problem of losing weight. By following simple steps like the ones mentioned above, we can fix this problem and lead a happy and a healthy life.

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Source: http://weight.ezinemark.com/balanced-diet-is-important-for-weight-loss-7d37f15eddbb.html

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

How to coach top performers - Internal Consistency

November 27th, 2012

Your top performers or high potentials are not your typical employee. They are driven, determined, and are willing to make sacrifices others won?t. They approach their work differently than your average Joe or Jane.

But what exactly sets them apart, and what can managers and leaders do to ensure these top performers don?t leave the organization?

First, let?s understand the characteristics of high performing employees:

  • Self-focused: Self-performance is what matters
  • Goal driven; Highly challenging goals drive their high performance
  • Totally committed; Willing to make sacrifices to reach goals
  • Demanding; High expectations of themselves come high expectations from others.
  • Continuous improvement; Constant search of new and better ways to improve their performance
  • Sponge for information: With continuous improvement comes the pursuit of useful information

Coaching top performers

Now that we know how top performers or high potentials approach their work, we can better coach them, lead them, and manage them. A person who is goal driven, demanding, and who is always seeking continuous improvement requires a effective leadership skills. With a better picture of how top performers think and act, leaders can take a unique coaching approach that leads to job satisfaction.

So how can a leader better coach top performers?

  1. Offer Challenges: Their striving for continuous improvement and goal-driven perspective seeks out challenges to overcome. Plus, overcoming challenges leads to?
  2. Illustrate tangible results: Top performers need to see tangible outcomes. They have a low threshold for boredom and need to see results quickly.
  3. Feedback: Be prepared to give feedback?in a moments notice . If it?s positive feedback, good; If it?s negative feedback or criticism, frame the message so that it is actionable.
  4. Don?t try to be their friend: The common phrase is, ?it?s not personal, it?s just business? certainly applies. Top performers hold the same view. They aren?t looking for a friend; they are looking for a professional relationship at all times.
  5. Keep the pace: Recall their low threshold for boredom.? Be wary of ?droning on?, and (perceived) dwelling on a topic when they want you to move along.

High performers approach work willing to make sacrifices in order to learn more and achieve more. With this in mind, leaders and managers can help them do exactly that.

?Jones, G., & Spooner, K. (2006). Coaching high achievers. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 58(1), 40-50.

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Source: http://internalconsistency.com/2012/11/27/how-to-coach-top-performers/

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Chinterest Is Pinterest For Chins

Screen Shot 2012-11-26 at 8.30.53 AMThe lawyers revved up their sand rovers, the heavy engines rising to a whine. It was near midnight plateau was lit but huge kliegs, the light spreading across the Hamada like a fire. Curley, the oldest lawyer who once fought for Sun in an anti-trust battle, pulled his serrated machete from its scabbard and called for quiet.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/OAWnq-saXTc/

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Grandparents Make A Difference - Faith @ Home Network

Grandparents have always tackled a mixed bag of joy, sorrow, energy, exhaustion, fear, laughter, anger and peace that is part and parcel of being a grandparent. And today there are new challenges, too?providing one-parent families with emotional and financial support; adjusting to ethnic, racial, and religious diversity; or even taking on the parenting of a grandchild.

Whether you simply want to make the most of this very special time or are seeking guidance for the unique challenges of modern grandparenting, here?s reassurance and direction to enjoy the pleasures and negotiate the difficulties. With practical suggestions, shared stories, and the experiences of those who have been there, God Knows Grandparents Make a Difference encourages grandparents to embrace both the joys and challenges of today?s grandparenting.? http://family.christianbook.com/knows-grandparents-difference-share-your-wisdom/priscilla-herbison/9781893732506/pd/732500?event=CF

Source: http://www.faithathomenetwork.com/2012/fh-focused-church/seniors-ministry/grandparents-make-a-difference?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grandparents-make-a-difference

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Politics 101: Entitlements - Care2 News Network


Kit B. (294)
Sunday November 25, 2012, 10:03 am
(Cartoon image: Jill Sorenson)

So I really did see this billboard over the summer, on I-5 in southern Washington. Anyone who travels between Portland and Seattle with any frequency is aware of the cultural institution known as the "Uncle Sam billboard." It always has some extreme right-wing slogan next to a likeness of Uncle Sam. Apparently a farmer started it decades ago, and now the fabled sign is maintained by his son. (I neglected to include Uncle Sam when I drew the cartoon; I was so gobsmacked by the sentiment that I forgot all about him. And the internet tells me belatedly that the exact wording was "Should people receiving entitlements be allowed to vote?", but I'm too tired to fix it now.)

Clearly the sign is the handiwork of an ignoramus, but it touches on something that's been bothering me for a while. Many Americans don't understand the term "entitlements." Anyone hoping to preserve the social safety net should avoid the word, which makes Social Security and Medicare sound like frivolous handouts to undeserving snots. The fact that anti-poverty measures like food stamps are also referred to as entitlement programs only adds to the confusion, not that denying voting rights to poor people is any less reprehensible.

I wouldn't dismiss this billboard guy as a lone crackpot, either. TPM recently reported on conservative columnist Matthew Vadum, who suggested that registering poor people to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals. I smell a meme.
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by Jen Sorensen for Daily Kos

Why is this inappropriate?