cartier foxtrot: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Poll: W. Va. Town Worst for Well-Being

Mar 30, 2013 7:00am

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Charleston, W.V. ranks last for well-being. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite its slogan ? Hip, Historic ? Almost Heaven ? Charleston, W.V., comes in last on Gallup?s latest well-being poll.

The city scored a meager 60.8 points on the pollster?s well-being index ? a 100-point scale measuring physical and emotional health, work environment and access to basic necessities.

The nearby Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area scored 61.2, landing in the bottom two for the third year in a row.

Mobile, Ala., Utica-Rome, N.Y., Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N.C., and Fort Smith, Ark.-Okla., round out the roster of frequent bottom dwellers.

Topping the list was Lincoln, Neb., which scored 72.8, landing in the top 20 cities for the third year in a row. Honolulu came in first for emotional health, and Charlottesville, Va., ranked No. 1 for physical health, according to the poll.

Top 10 Metropolitan Areas for Well-Being

Lincoln, Neb. ? 72.8
Boulder, Colo. ??72.7
Burlington-South Burlington, Vt. ??72.4
Provo-Orem, Utah ??71.7
Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo. ??71.6
Barnstable Town, Mass. ??71.5
Honolulu, Hawaii ??71.5
Ann Arbor, Mich. ??71.4
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C., Va., Md., W.V. ??71.3
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif. ??71.2

Bottom 11 Metropolitan Areas for Well-Being

Charleston, W.V. ??60.8
Huntington-Ashland, W.V., Ky., Ohio ??61.2
Mobile, Ala. ??62.4
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas ??62.5
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N.C. ??62.7
Fort Smith, Ark., Okla. ??62.9
Bakersfield, Calif. ??63.0
Evansville, Ind., Ky. ??63.1
Rockford, Ill. ??63.1
Spartanburg, S.C. ??63.4
Utica-Rome, N.Y. ??63.4

Click here to see how your city stacks up.

SHOWS: Good Morning America

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/03/30/charleston-w-v-worst-for-well-being-gallup-poll-finds/

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2013 World Car of the Year Awards announced. Volkswagen wins big.

Every year, an international panel of automotive journalists selects the best cars in the world under various categories, handing out its awards at the New York Auto Show. This year, the 2013 Mark VII Volkswagen Golf took top honors.?

By Kurt Ernst,?Guest blogger / March 31, 2013

Volkswagen design chief Walter de Silva holds a trophy after the Volkswagen Golf was named 2013 World Car of the Year during the New York International Auto Show in New York, March 28, 2013.

Lucas Jackson/Reuters/File

Enlarge

Every year, an international panel of automotive journalists selects the best cars in the world under various categories, handing out its awards at the New York Auto Show.

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There Is Outrage - but Tea Party Hispanics Silent Over Racial Slur

Analysis by Jim Avila, ABC News Senior National Correspondent:

Pressure is intense, the outrage factor high after Rep. Don Young's racial slur overnight on public radio in his home state of Alaska.

Young called migrant workers on his childhood farm "wetbacks" during the interview.

"I used to own - my father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," said Young, 79. "You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now."

don young

The reaction was so swift and white hot that Young issued two statements in one day. First, in what many felt was far from an apology, he said he meant "no disrespect," never using the words "sorry" or "apology."

Only after a full day of getting beaten up by his own party did the congressman make a mea culpa.

"I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska," he said. "There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I'm sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform."

The GOP, criticized during the last election cycle for being slow to react to perceived insults against women, and now trying to rebuild a relationship with Hispanic voters, quickly jumped all over Young before his apology today.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, "Don Young's comments were offensive and have no place in our party or in our nation's discourse. He should apologize immediately."

RELATED: Republicans Blast Don Young, Demand an Apology

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, added, "There is no excuse for ignorance" and said that Young, a congressman of 30 years, should "know terms like 'wetback' have never been acceptable.

"Migrant workers come to America looking for opportunity and a way to provide a better life for their families," Cornyn said in a paper statement. "They do not come to this country to hear ethnic slurs and derogatory language from elected officials. The comments used by Rep. Young do nothing to elevate our party, political discourse or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity."

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, harshly criticized Young.

"Congressman Young's remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds," Boehner said. "I don't care why he said it - there's no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology."

RELATED: Rep. Don Young Apologizes for 'Wetbacks' Comment

GOP strategist Danny Diaz told ABC News Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny today that Republicans learned their lesson last year.

"The comment was insulting, and I think people see that and they're rightfully offended by it," Diaz said. "What's happened in the past in our political discourse is Republicans haven't been as quick as they need to be to denounce comments such as these. It's left a really bad impression on people."

But here is what is still missing even now: GOP Hispanic Republican comment, especially from the Tea Party wing of the GOP.

Sen. Marco Rubio's office told ABC News that the Cuban immigrant from Florida, who some see as the Republicans' best hope of repairing Latino disfavor with the party, is observing the Good Friday holiday and will not comment today. The staffer referred ABC News to party leadership statements from Boehner.

But Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Raul Labrador from Idaho did not answer repeated emails or phone calls on the issue.

And as rapidly as things unfold in today's political world, Rep. Young actually issued a full apology before the Tea Party Hispanics had a chance to call for one. Some say that it was smart not to get involved. Others are wondering where their outrage was.

ABC News' Serena Marshall contributed to this report.

Watch: 'Kind Hearted Woman': Trailer

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Coming April 1 a special presentation from from flying an independent plants. From a award winning filmmaker of the farmer's wife and country -- I am of course from the spirit lake nation a story of one woman's -- Indian name is chanting and watch daily. That -- kind hearted woman trying to save herself. No matter how much pressure I'm under I am not connect cheering and profoundly I'm gonna keep this family together and intimate story she's just -- And then they knew that her dad was messing around with -- tomorrow. -- nothing like that an enormous human. -- -- -- -- -- -- From the critically acclaimed filmmaker David Sutherland. -- woman. From flying independent lends special presentation. -- -- --

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/kind-hearted-woman-trailer-18826445

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Google?s augmented reality game inspires players to duel one other in ?Braveheart paint?

By Simon Evans March 28 (Reuters) - United States forward Landon Donovan, returning to soccer after a three-month break from the game, said on Thursday he hopes to be back with the national team for June's World Cup qualifiers. Donovan announced last December that he needed a break from the game, saying he had lost his passion and enjoyment for the sport, raising the question as to whether he would play at next year's World Cup finals in Brazil should the U.S. qualify. But after returning to training with his Major League Soccer club L.A. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-augmented-reality-game-inspires-players-duel-one-020647537.html

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Top Islamist accuses opposition of sowing unrest

CAIRO (AP) ? A leading Islamist politician accused opponents on Thursday of teaming up with remnants of Hosni Mubarak's toppled regime to sow unrest and violence.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie, in his weekly message to followers, also charged politicians he did not name of using foreign funds to instigate violence.

He claimed that opponents of Egypt's Islamist-dominated government have cast off their calls for democracy, liberalism and the rights of people in order to "destroy, burn, kill, shed blood and manufacture crises to drag the country into a cycle of violence and counter-violence."

His comments came days after the worst clashes in three months between anti-government protesters and supporters of the Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful political group.

Badie did not mention any particular group of anti-government activists by name, but appeared to direct his criticism at the National Salvation Front, the main opposition coalition.

He also claimed it was the Brotherhood that turned protests in the early days of the 2011 uprising into a full-fledged revolution and then went on to protect the achievements.

However, the revolution was led primarily by secular and liberal youth groups now rallying against the democratically elected, Brotherhood-dominated government.

The youth groups maintain that the Brotherhood did not officially join the uprising until it became clear that its momentum was irreversible.

But they acknowledge that the Brotherhood gave the uprising the muscle it needed to fend off attacks by armed Mubarak's loyalists against protesters gathered at Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protests.

Badie's criticism of the opposition echoed President Mohammed Morsi, a longtime Brotherhood leader. Several times this week, Morsi alleged that recent unrest was the work of paid thugs, not real "revolutionaries."

He has claimed that foreign powers he did not name had a "finger" meddling in Egypt's internal affairs and vowed to bring to justice politicians suspected of inciting violence.

Badie said the Brotherhood has exercised restraint and stayed on a positive course to "build, develop and try to reform."

Referring to what he called enemies at home and Mubarak loyalists, he said: "They are trying to push us back to square one in the hope that people will lose faith in the revolution and that by manufacturing crises, failures and spreading rumors, people will dream of the return of the old regime complete with its shortcomings, injustices, defeats, backwardness and treason."

He urged his opponents to keep the competition "peaceful and honorable" in the service of the nation.

"Let us deny the saboteurs and those with ulterior motives at home and abroad the opportunity to sow sedition, burn the nation and take us back in time."

In the latest bout of violence on March 22, protesters and Brotherhood supporters clashed outside the group's headquarters in the capital Cairo.

The violence was rooted in an incident a week earlier when Brotherhood members slapped a woman to the ground and beat up other activists who were spray-painting graffiti against the group outside its headquarters in an eastern district of Cairo.

Several reporters at the scene were also attacked. The Brotherhood said they were part of the protest.

In response, anti-Brotherhood activists called for a protest at the headquarters. Both sides brought out hundreds of supporters, and the scene quickly turned violent.

The clashes deepened the schism in Egypt that has been steadily widening since Morsi came to office in June as the country's first freely elected president. The Islamist leader and his allies are in one camp, while moderate Muslims, liberals, seculars, minority Christians and a large segment of women in the other.

Badie also sought to claim for the Brotherhood the mantle of protectors of the uprising that overthrew Mubarak.

He suggested that the pro-democracy youth groups universally credited with engineering the popular revolt played second fiddle to the Brotherhood, which emerged in the wake of Mubarak's ouster as Egypt's most dominant political force.

"Our movement, together with honorable members of the patriotic opposition, was the direct cause of (the revolution). Our (Brotherhood) youth provided its fuel and strength from the very start," he said.

He also credited the group with protecting the revolution by standing up to bands of Mubarak loyalists who attacked crowds in Tahrir Square.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-islamist-accuses-opposition-sowing-unrest-154059531.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Jackbooted ACLU Thugs Support Drones* (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

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Beyonce Drops Bun B 'I Been On' Remix With Houston's Hottest

Z-Ro, Scarface, Willie D, Slim Thug and Lil' Keke all join Bey on remix.
By Driadonna Roland

Beyonce Knowles
Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704649/beyonce-i-been-on-remix.jhtml

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US futures down as jitters about Europe continue

NEW YORK (AP) ? Concern about Cyprus and other nations in the Eurozone is weighing down U.S. stock market futures.

Cyprus is formulating details for reopening its banks after a nearly two-week shutdown, following an international bailout agreement that calls for large deposits to be taxed heavily to help pay for the rescue.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are sliding 69 points to 14,409. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 13 to 2,786.80. S&P 500 futures are off 7.75 to 1,549.50.

Investors are waiting for data on pending U.S. home sales for February, set for release at 10 a.m. Eastern.

In Europe, major indexes fell amid worries that the "bail-in" that taps deposits in Cyprus could be considered a model should other countries falter. Asian stocks rose, following Tuesday's rally in U.S. markets.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-futures-down-jitters-europe-continue-122552133--finance.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Cops: Suspected drunken driver held after mom and baby hurt, grandparents killed

By Phuong Le, The Associated Press

SEATTLE --?A suspected drunken driver slammed into a family crossing the street in a residential Seattle neighborhood, critically injuring a baby and his mother and killing his grandparents, authorities said. The grandparents had recently moved from the Midwest to be near the newborn child.?

Karina Schulte, 33, and her 10-day-old son were in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, said Liz Hunter, a spokeswoman for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Grandparents Dennis Schulte, 66, and Judith Schulte, 68, died at the scene Monday.

Judith Schulte's sister, Susan Morton, said the retired Indiana couple were walking Monday afternoon with their daughter-in-law and the baby when they were stuck.

Karina Schulte "had the baby in a sling on the front. He just hit all four of them," said Morton, of Cottonwood, Minn., in a telephone interview.

Mark Mullan, 50, was ordered held on $2.5 million bail during a court hearing Tuesday. He is being held on investigation of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. Prosecutors have until Thursday to formally charge him.

In court documents, a Seattle police officer investigating the crash said he smelled alcohol on Mullan's breath and that Mullan showed impairment during sobriety tests. A preliminary test showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.22 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08, the officer said in court documents.

No valid license
Mullan told police he was unable to see the pedestrians at an intersection in a residential neighborhood because the sun was in his eyes, according to court documents.

His license was suspended at the time of the crash, according to the documents.

"He does not have a valid license," said Brad Benfield, a spokesman with the Department of Licensing.

It was unclear Tuesday whether Mullan had legal representation. A message left with an attorney who represented him in a drunken driving case in December was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Mullan didn't answer reporters' questions as police led him away from the scene of the crash in handcuffs Monday. Police said he stopped after the crash and was cooperative. A phone number listed for Mullan was disconnected.

As part of a hidden camera report on drunk driving during this holiday season, watch one driver appear to be a drunken mess. Will that push anyone to stop him from driving? Dateline NBC's Andrea Canning reports.

Morton said Karina Schulte, who is from Chile, is a pediatric nurse specialist and is dedicated to her work.

Dennis and Judith Schulte were both longtime high school teachers; she taught English and was a head guidance counselor for years, while he taught math.

They had moved to Seattle from Kokomo, Ind., in February to witness the birth of their first grandson.

They had planned to spend six months in Seattle to be near their son and his family. They were renting an apartment near the intersection where they were killed.

"They were so elated. This is their only grandchild," Morton said. "They wanted to be there when he was born. They got to hold him and be there with him for 10 days."

Related:

Police: Drunk driver causes 15 crashes, kills woman, smashes into restaurant

4 dead, 8 injured after driver crashes into Las Vegas bus stop

Curbing drunken drivers: Should ignition interlock be required on every car?

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FBI comes clean on top X-File: 'We never investigated' Hottel UFO memo

FBI

The FBI says a 1950 flying-saucer memo rates as the most popular file in its online document repository.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The FBI says it never followed up on the most popular file in its online reading room ? a one-page UFO memo that passes along a second- or third-hand report about flying saucers and alien passengers that were supposedly recovered in New Mexico.

The memo, dated March 22, 1950, has been viewed almost a million times over the past two years, the FBI said this week in a blog posting. It was written by Guy Hottel, who was the head of the FBI's field office in Washington at the time, and addressed to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

In the memo, Hottel discusses an account provided to an FBI agent ... that was attributed to an informant ... who purportedly heard from an Air Force investigator ... that "three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico."

"They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in diameter," the memo read. "Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only three feet tall, dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed fliers and test pilots."

Hottel said he was told that the saucers' control systems might have been disrupted by interference from "a very high-powered radar set-up" that the government had in the area. But he admitted in the memo that "no further evaluation was attempted" by the informant, whose name is blacked out in the online document.

The Hottel memo has been in the public record since the 1970s, but it created a huge splash in 2011 when it was added to the FBI Vault, an online repository of public records. Here's how The Sun, a British tabloid, characterized the memo in a headline from those days: "Aliens Exist, Say Real-Life X-Files."

Monday's posting was written to counter such characterizations. The FBI denied that the memo constituted evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft ? and?said Hottel's report was never taken all that seriously. Instead, it was considered "an unconfirmed report that the FBI never even followed up on."

The FBI said there was no reason to believe that the memo referred to another famous UFO saga, the purported discovery of a crashed alien spaceship in Roswell, N.M., in 1947. "The Hottel memo is dated nearly three years after the infamous events in Roswell," it said.?

July 9, 2008: NBC's Willie Geist has a little fun with New Mexico flying saucers to mark the anniversary of the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.

The bureau acknowledged that for a few years after the Roswell incident, Hoover followed up on an Air Force request by ordering his agents to verify any UFO sightings. "That practice ended in July 1950, four months after the Hottel memo, suggesting that our Washington Field Office didn't think enough of that flying saucer story to look into it," the posting said.

There's an alternate explanation for the Hottel memo that makes a lot more sense. Two years ago, when the memo was added to the Vault, paranormal investigator Ben Radford noted that the informant's story matched the description of a UFO hoax that was concocted by a man named Silas Newton. In 1950, Newton was telling tales about flying saucers that had crashed at a radar station near the Arizona-New Mexico border. Newton was later convicted of fraud, and died in 1972.

Ironically, there's a whole different section of the FBI Vault that's devoted to Newton, whom the bureau described as "a wealthy oil producer and con man." To get the story about the connections between Newton's tales and the Hottel memos, check out this thorough debunking on the Above Top Secret forum.

Even though the FBI says the memo "does not prove the existence of UFOs," it's not confirming the Silas Newton story, either. "Some people believe the memo repeats a hoax that was circulating at that time, but the Bureau's files have no information to verify that story," it said.

What do you think FBI Agent Fox Mulder would say? "The truth is out there"? Or "Trust no one"? Feel free to weigh in with your own verdict in the comment section below. ?

Update for 6:35 p.m.: Mark Allin, chief operating officer for The Above Network, says the truth is out there, in the form of the Above Top Secret analysis that I mentioned earlier. "The short story is, without a doubt, 'Case Closed,'" Allin said today in an email. "The memo is based on a hoax that was carried out by a convicted con man named Silas Newton, and it was debunked years ago. It's a pretty good and interesting hoax story, to be certain, but there is no value in it beyond that."

More about UFOs:

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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Why Is This Image for Same-Sex Marriage Going Viral?

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-image-same-sex-marriage-going-viral-152744909--politics.html

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

No Googling, says Google ? unless you really mean it

Suzanne Choney , NBC News ? ? ? 19 hrs.

You hear it in movies, TV shows, among your friends and you probably say it yourself: "I Googled her before I called her." "I know because I Googled it." "What's the temperature in Fargo? Google it!"

But Google wants you ? and the world ? to stop using Google as a verb for looking up anything on the Internet ? unless you actually used Google's search engine to do so.

Google's laser focus on how its name is used even extends to Sweden, where the country's Language Council recently wanted to add the word "ungoogleable" to a list of new words as meaning something that can't be found on the Web using a search engine. Note: a search engine ? not necessarily Google's.

Google objected, according to the Associated Press, "asking for changes showing the expression specifically refers to Google searches and a disclaimer saying Google is a registered trademark, the council said Tuesday." The group expressed its "displeasure with Google's attempts to control the language."

Google told NBC News Tuesday it did not ask the council to remove the word, but only wanted some editing of the definition.

With Google as the leading search engine, there's little doubt that we mean Google when we say we Googled something. As comedian Ellen DeGeneres said on her show, talking about technology's impact on our lives, "If you need to know something immediately, you can Google it now .... Ten years ago, if you said you were going to 'Google' someone, you got written up by Human Resources."

So, what's so bad about using "Google" as a verb for saying you looked up information on the Internet?

Ironically, because of Google's "significant brand recognition," the company "has started down the path of becoming synonymous with search engine services and, accordingly, towards the genericization of a trademark," wrote attorney Matthew Swyers, founder of a law firm specializing in trademark rights, in an article for Inc. last year.

And becoming generic is bad because it threatens a company's legal right to a trademark.

"Aspirin was originally a trademark of Bayer AG," Swyers wrote. "Escalator was originally a trademark of the Otis Elevator Company. Even the word Zipper, at one time, was a trademark owned by B.F. Goodrich. Now, because of their respective fame and genericization, they merely refer to classes of products we see every day and do not identify the source of those goods."

Google pointed out its concerns as far back as 2006 in a blog post about the use of Google as a verb:

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device that identifies a particular company's products or services. Google is a trademark identifying Google Inc. and our search technology and services. While we're pleased that so many people think of us when they think of searching the web, let's face it, we do have a brand to protect, so we'd like to make clear that you should please only use "Google" when you?re actually referring to Google Inc. and our services.

Kory Stamper, associate editor of Merriam-Webster, Inc., told NBC News that the verb "google," as well as "Google" was first added to the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, and to its online dictionary in 2006, "based entirely on its use in edited English prose."

The Merriam-Webster definition of "google" (lowercase or capitalized), "googled" and "googling" is this: "to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web."

There are three criteria for a word making it into the Merriam-Webster dictionary, she said: Widespread usage of a word, "sustained use" and "meaningful use."

"By the time we did the copyright printing of the Collegiate Dictionary for 2006, we had enough evidence in our files to show that the verb 'google' had met all three criteria for entry," Stamper said, adding: "It's worth noting that the verb 'google' dates back to at least 1998, according to recent information we've gathered."

Despite what happened in Sweden, Google says it's not stepping up, but rather just continuing, its ongoing efforts to patrol its trademark.

"While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademarks, we are pleased that users connect the Google name with great search results," a company spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News Tuesday.

And, perhaps as NBC News' own Internet expert Helen A.S. Popkin noted, "Google as a verb is brand awareness. When Willow used 'google' as a verb on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' everyone knew Lycos and Jeeves and Yahoo were cooked."

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, TODAY Tech and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a059651/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cno0Egoogling0Esays0Egoogle0Eunless0Eyou0Ereally0Emean0Eit0E1C90A78566/story01.htm

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Potential Chagas vaccine candidate shows unprecedented efficacy

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Scientists are getting closer to a Chagas disease vaccine, something many believed impossible only 10 years ago. Research from the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has resulted in a safe vaccine candidate that is simple to produce and shows a greater than 90 percent protection rate against chronic infection in mice.

In a paper published online in PLOS ONE, the researchers describe how they identified and tested potential Trypanosoma cruzi (also known as T. cruzi or Chagas disease) antigen candidates and delivery models to establish the safety and efficacy of a vaccine formulation known asTcVac3. This potential vaccine could halt the irreversible heart and organ damage that afflicts approximately 30 percent of those infected with Chagas.

"This signals a scientific breakthrough ? unprecedented vaccine efficacy for a common parasitic disease with no cure for chronic sufferers," said lead author Nisha Garg, PhD, professor of microbiology, immunology and pathology at UTMB. "If this vaccine proves practical, it could be approved in as few as five years for use in canines, which are reservoir hosts of the disease. As many as 20 percent of dogs may be infected in Texas alone, developing the same heart conditions as humans but mistaken by vets for heartworm."

The study also provides further evidence that a human Chagas vaccine is possible, a topic of debate among some who still believe that Chagas heart disease is the result of an autoimmune disorder, she added.

T. cruzi, transmitted by the triatomine insect, or "kissing bug," is prevalent in almost all Latin American countries and is becoming more common in the U.S. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 10 million people ? mostly children ? are infected worldwide. Approximately 13,000 die each year from the complications of Chagas-induced heart disease ? a result of the chronic infection Garg and her team aim to vaccinate against. It is estimated that the global economic burden of Chagas is about $7 billion a year.

TcVac3: The Path of Discovery

TcVac3 is the result of rigorous computational/bioinformatics analysis and screening of the T. cruzi genome for potential candidate antigens over several years by Garg and her team. These analyses led the researchers to three potential antigens (TcG1, TcG2 and TcG4) for further investigation.

Next, they began testing these antigens and potential vaccine delivery models ? how the components are arranged in the actual vaccine ? to determine the best approaches.

Early experiments proved that delivery of the candidate antigens by a DNA-prime/protein boost approach, along with co-delivery of IL-12 and GM-CSF cytokine adjuvants meant to enhance the immune response, was effective in generating antibody and T cell responses capable of providing more than 90 percent control of acute infection and parasite burden in infected mice.

Recognizing, however, that this vaccine delivery model was quite complex, the scientists sought to simplify the vaccine using a DNA-prime/Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA)-boost approach ? a delivery model that offers many advantages: it can accommodate multiple foreign genes in its genome; may be administered by a variety of routes; has an excellent safety record; and has been shown to generate immune responses to a variety of foreign antigens. MVA itself can act as an adjuvant since it provides a signal to the innate immune system and can boost T cells.

Based on preliminarystudies by the researchers that showed this delivery model to be potent, the scientists next tested the protective efficacy of TcVac3, constituted of just the TcG2 and TcG4 candidates and lacking the adjuvants, delivered by the DNA/MVA approach.

With two doses of the vaccine, the mice with TcVac3-induced antibodies exhibited 92 to 96 percent protection against chronic infection. They found that the DNA/MVA approach increased the vaccine efficacy enough to omit one of the antigens and the adjuvants, making it a much simpler but still highly effective vaccine.

"Because Chagas is most prevalent in developing countries, it is essential that a potential vaccine be inexpensive to develop and easy to deliver," said Garg. "TcVac3 accomplishes this goal, making it not just an effective candidate, but an ideal one."

Future research will determine if the vaccine composition can be simplified even further. In addition, the scientists are already conducting related trials in canines. Garg and her team are also working on pre-clinical trials of human patient samples, testing for immune response in patients that are already infected but not showing signs of chronic disease. Results of both studies are anticipated later this year.

###

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston: http://www.utmb.edu

Thanks to University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127470/Potential_Chagas_vaccine_candidate_shows_unprecedented_efficacy

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US training Syrian moderates in Jordan: officials

In this image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army fighters aim their weapons during clashes, in Damascus countryside, Syria on Monday, March 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video)

In this Sunday, March 24, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army fighters drops a shell into a firing tube, in Damascus countryside, Syria. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? For months now, the United States has been training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan with the goal of bolstering the array of forces battling President Bashar Assad's regime while at the same time strengthening the hand of moderates among the country's fractured opposition, American and foreign officials said. They said the effort is ongoing.

The training has been taking place since late last year at an unspecified location, concentrating largely on Sunnis and tribal Bedouins who formerly served as members of the Syrian army, officials told The Associated Press. The forces aren't members of the leading rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, they said. The U.S. and others fear the growing role of extremist militia groups in the rebel ranks, including some linked to al-Qaida.

Officials said the operation is being run by U.S. intelligence. But those in Washington stressed that the U.S. was only providing nonlethal aid at this point, stopping short of a step that is being increasingly advocated by lawmakers in Congress but which the Obama administration opposes.

Others such as Britain and France are involved, officials added, though it's unclear whether any Western government is providing materiel or other direct military support after two years of civil war that, according to the United Nations, already has killed more than 70,000 people.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the program.

Officially, the Obama administration has been vague on the subject of what type of military training it may be providing, while insisting that it is doing all it can ? short of providing weapons to the rebels or engaging in its own military intervention ? to hasten the demise of the Assad family's four-decade dictatorship.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the U.S. has "provided some logistical nonlethal support that has also come in handy for the Syrian rebels who are, again, fighting a regime that is not hesitating to use the military might of that regime against its own people.

"That is something we're going to continue to work to bring to an end," he told reporters.

It's unclear what effect the training has had in the conflict. It has become a quagmire, with Assad's regime unable to snuff out the rebellion and Syria's opposition incapable thus far of delivering any serious blow to the ruling government's grip on Damascus and control over much of the country.

Some of the Syrians the U.S. is involved with are in turn training other Syrians inside the country, officials said.

They declined to provide more information because they said that would go too deep into intelligence matters. Defense Department officials insisted the Pentagon isn't involved with any military training or arms provisions to the Syrian rebels, either directly or indirectly. The CIA declined to comment.

The New York Times reported Monday that the CIA helped Arab governments and Turkey sharply increase their military aid to Syria's opposition in recent months, with secret airlifts of arms and equipment. It cited traffic data, officials in several countries and rebel commanders, and said the airlift began on a small scale a year ago but has expanded steadily to more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari planes landing at Turkish and Jordanian airports.

The training in Jordan, however, suggests the U.S. help is aimed somewhat at enhancing the rebels' capacity in southern Syria, the birthplace of the revolution two years ago when teenagers in the sleepy agricultural outpost of Dara'a scribbled graffiti on a wall and were tossed into jail, spurring Syria's own version of an Arab Spring uprising. Much of the violence since, however, has been in the northern part of the country, where rebels have scored several military successes after the Assad regime cracked down brutally on peaceful protesters.

Despite months of U.S. and international support to build a cohesive political movement, Syria's fractured opposition is still struggling to rally Syrians behind a common post-Assad vision. And the opposition coalition appears as much hampered by its political infighting as its military deficiencies against an Assad regime arsenal of tanks, fighter jets and Scud missiles.

The coalition's president, Mouaz al-Khatib, resigned his position Sunday because of what he described as restrictions on his work and frustration with the level of international aid. He said Monday he would still represent the opposition this week in Doha, where the Gulf state of Qatar will host a two-day Arab League summit starting Tuesday.

Al-Khatib's resignation comes only days after the opposition chose Ghassan Hitto, a long-time Texas resident, to head its interim government after intense wrangling over posts and influence that U.S. officials say has strained the opposition's unity and caused friction among its primary benefactors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

It's also unclear how al-Khatib's departure will affect the U.S. goal of political negotiations with amenable members of the Assad regime to end the civil war, given the moderate preacher's support for talks. Much of the Syrian opposition, including Hitto, rejects such talks.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Lara Jakes in Washington and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-26-US-US-Syria/id-2cdd5ed8745843229e253d7fec05c73d

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Early number sense plays role in later math skills

This image provided by the University of Missouri shows an illustration part of a University of Missouri study that examined first-graders? "number system knowledge." That?s how well they understand such things as that numbers represent quantities. Youngsters who didn?t have a good grasp of these concepts went on have lower scores on a key math skills test years later when they were in seventh grade. We know a lot about how babies learn to talk, and youngsters learn to read. Now scientists are unraveling the earliest building blocks of math _ and what children know about numbers as they begin first grade seems to play a big role in how well they do everyday calculations later on. (AP Photo/University of Missouri)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? We know a lot about how babies learn to talk, and youngsters learn to read. Now scientists are unraveling the earliest building blocks of math ? and what children know about numbers as they begin first grade seems to play a big role in how well they do everyday calculations later on.

The findings have specialists considering steps that parents might take to spur math abilities, just like they do to try to raise a good reader.

This isn't only about trying to improve the nation's math scores and attract kids to become engineers. It's far more basic.

Consider: How rapidly can you calculate a tip? Do the fractions to double a recipe? Know how many quarters and dimes the cashier should hand back as your change?

About 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. lacks the math competence expected of a middle-schooler, meaning they have trouble with those ordinary tasks and aren't qualified for many of today's jobs.

"It's not just, can you do well in school? It's how well can you do in your life," says Dr. Kathy Mann Koepke of the National Institutes of Health, which is funding much of this research into math cognition. "We are in the midst of math all the time."

A new study shows trouble can start early.

University of Missouri researchers tested 180 seventh-graders. Those who lagged behind their peers in a test of core math skills needed to function as adults were the same kids who'd had the least number sense or fluency way back when they started first grade.

"The gap they started with, they don't close it," says Dr. David Geary, a cognitive psychologist who leads the study that is tracking children from kindergarten to high school in the Columbia, Mo., school system. "They're not catching up" to the kids who started ahead.

If first grade sounds pretty young to be predicting math ability, well, no one expects tots to be scribbling sums. But this number sense, or what Geary more precisely terms "number system knowledge," turns out to be a fundamental skill that students continually build on, much more than the simple ability to count.

What's involved? Understanding that numbers represent different quantities ? that three dots is the same as the numeral "3'' or the word "three." Grasping magnitude ? that 23 is bigger than 17. Getting the concept that numbers can be broken into parts ? that 5 is the same as 2 and 3, or 4 and 1. Showing on a number line that the difference between 10 and 12 is the same as the difference between 20 and 22.

Factors such as IQ and attention span didn't explain why some first-graders did better than others. Now Geary is studying if something that youngsters learn in preschool offers an advantage.

There's other evidence that math matters early in life. Numerous studies with young babies and a variety of animals show that a related ability ? to estimate numbers without counting ? is intuitive, sort of hard-wired in the brain, says Mann Koepke, of NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. That's the ability that lets you choose the shortest grocery check-out line at a glance, or that guides a bird to the bush with the most berries.

Number system knowledge is more sophisticated, and the Missouri study shows children who start elementary school without those concepts "seem to struggle enormously," says Mann Koepke, who wasn't part of that research.

While schools tend to focus on math problems around third grade, and math learning disabilities often are diagnosed by fifth grade, the new findings suggest "the need to intervene is much earlier than we ever used to think," she adds.

Exactly how to intervene still is being studied, sure to be a topic when NIH brings experts together this spring to assess what's known about math cognition.

But Geary sees a strong parallel with reading. Scientists have long known that preschoolers who know the names of letters and can better distinguish what sounds those letters make go on to read more easily. So parents today are advised to read to their children from birth, and many youngsters' books use rhyming to focus on sounds.

Likewise for math, "kids need to know number words" early on, he says.

NIH's Mann Koepke agrees, and offers some tips:

?Don't teach your toddler to count solely by reciting numbers. Attach numbers to a noun ? "Here are five crayons: One crayon, two crayons..." or say "I need to buy two yogurts" as you pick them from the store shelf ? so they'll absorb the quantity concept.

?Talk about distance: How many steps to your ball? The swing is farther away; it takes more steps.

?Describe shapes: The ellipse is round like a circle but flatter.

?As they grow, show children how math is part of daily life, as you make change, or measure ingredients, or decide how soon to leave for a destination 10 miles away,

"We should be talking to our children about magnitude, numbers, distance, shapes as soon as they're born," she contends. "More than likely, this is a positive influence on their brain function."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-25-HealthBeat-Math%20Skills/id-8fd07391805e41fe8d3dc107420dc2db

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Neumann/Smith Architecture headed downtown | The Woodward ...

Neumann Smith Architecture

By Jeffrey Buck

The historic Wright Kay Building, located at 1500 Woodward Avenue, is filling up its entire third floor. The architect behind many of downtown Detroit?s most recent renovation projects, including the M@dison Building, the First National Building, One Woodward Avenue Office Tower and Chrysler House, is moving its headquarters to Detroit. Neumann/Smith Architecture, one of Michigan?s most distinguished design firms specializing in?architecture?and interior design, has announced it will open its new space by June of this year.

?We are excited about opening up a studio space downtown where we can be closer to our clients and the incredible revitalization taking place,? said Joel Smith, AIA, Neumann/Smith partner. ?The new Detroit office will provide an opportunity for more face-to-face meetings, foster a closer client experience, and increase our involvement in the community.?

Neumann/Smith, currently?headquartered?in Southfield, is following in the footsteps of its latest client, Campbell Ewald. They will be?designing?their new?headquarters in the former J.L. Hudson Co. warehouse attached to Ford Field.

?As a creative company, nothing is more inspiring than to work in a city like Detroit, with its rich history of architectural design,? said Firm Principal and Historic Preservation Design Leader, J. Michael Kirk, AIA.? ?Our employees are looking forward to the opportunity to work in a downtown urban core.?

The Wright Kay Building was bought by Dan Gilbert?s Rock Ventures in December of 2011. Bedrock Real Estate Services, the real estate arm of Rock Ventures, brokered the lease.

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Source: http://woodwardspine.com/2013/03/26/neumannsmith-architecture-headed-downtown/

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You reap what you sow... in life, and in the family - Christian Home ...

reap what you sow

In modern language we?d say, ?You harvest what you plant.?

If you plant corn, you will harvest corn. If you plant onions, you will harvest onions.

It?s a law of nature? and like many ?laws,? God has made this one to apply in other realms as well.

The phrase was first spoken by the Apostle Paul? he wrote it in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 6, verse 7?

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

As I grew up, it was used as a cattle prod, to keep us rowdy young children?s churchsters in line.

My young ears heard, ?If you do bad stuff, bad stuff will happen to you.?

Well, isn?t it true?

As far as I can tell, it IS true? but it?s only HALF the point Paul was trying to make.

Read the next few verses?

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up

You reap what you sow? in both directions?

So it is true that bad actions lead to bad results, but Paul is also seeking to motivate right action? He calls it sowing ?to the Spirit.?

That means that good actions, done in the will and power of the Holy Spirit, produce good results?

That goes for life in general ? areas like your work, your recreation, your friendship, and your family.

All of those and a hundred others are contexts where you will reap what you sow.

Consider the ?positive? side of what Paul is saying?

If you plant diligence, you will reap fruit that corresponds to that hard work.
If you plant seeds of encouragement, your harvest will be of a similar nature.
If you plant faithfulness, joy, hope, and love? the outcome could be beyond what you can imagine.

How does the principle of sowing and reaping apply to?

Your marriage?

Are you investing quality time in your relationship with your spouse? If not, what do you suppose you?re going to reap?
Do you have and express a faithful commitment to your partner? If not, what kind of harvest is going to come of it?
Can you think of healthy, positive, godly things you can begin planting into your relationship? What sort of harvest has God promised will come of it if you do?

Your parenting?

What kind of words are you planting in the lives of your children? Encouragement? Pessimism? Hopefulness? Criticism? What are the harvests that correspond to what you?re planting?
How are you equipping your children to live in the world? What kind of example are you setting? Those are ways that you are planting ?seeds? in their lives. What type of harvest will come of it?
Are you carrying out the command of Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 in the lives of your children? What are the outcomes you should expect as a result?

The atmosphere of your home?

Is your home a place of peace or a place of strife? Both are sowing seeds in your household. Take time to consider what?s going to come of each.
Is your home characterized by faith in God or worry about circumstances? What sort of harvest is reaped from each?

Do you see how important this principle of sowing and reaping can be?

What are you going to DO, in the power of the Spirit, to make a change?

Notice that I asked what you?re going to do ?in the power of the Spirit.?

You can?t do this on your own.

God doesn?t want you to reform yourself. He wants to transform you through His Spirit.

CALL TO ACTION:

Identify areas where you need to begin planting seeds (encouragement, faith, godly conversation, etc.)
Prayerfully seek God?s help in planning a way to begin planting.
Step out in faith (believing that God will empower you), and start planting.

You?ll be amazed what obedient actions, accompanied by faith can do.

Leave a testimony of what God has done through you as you?ve stepped out in faith to plant positive seeds in your home!

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About Carey Green

radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ). Connect with Carey on Google+

Source: http://www.christianhomeandfamily.com/you-reap-what-you-sow-in-life-and-in-the-family/

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Rove sees potential support for gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) ? GOP strategist Karl Rove says he can imagine a Republican candidate in the next presidential campaign supporting gay marriage.

The statement from the former adviser to President George W. Bush appears to acknowledge that opposition to gay marriage has waned in some conservative circles.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, announced last week that he now supports gay marriage after learning one of his sons was gay.

Rove's comment was part of a panel discussion on ABC's "This Week." He did not elaborate.

The Supreme Court is taking up two cases this week involving same-sex marriage. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that most Republicans still oppose gay marriage and noted that 30 states have defined marriage between a man and a woman.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rove-sees-potential-support-gay-marriage-192602808--election.html

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Non-Paid Online Marketing Campaigns Through Facebook ...

It goes without saying that the internet has become a part and parcel of our life. A quick status update with a ?hi?, an instant search for some information, an online order for a favorite product, a funny comment on a friend?s birthday snap- consciously or subconsciously, we use the web for thousands of activities. When it comes to staying connected, the first thing that comes to our mind is social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and so on.

The huge proliferation of social networking sites has also brought a remarkable change in the world of business. Consumers are increasingly using the social media platform for viewing, judging, rating, discussing and referring products and services like never before. In such a scenario, a good visibility and a lasting impact clubbed with peer to peer referrals through ?likes?, ?shares?, ?tweets? over social media sites, has spelled profound success for many businesses. Whether it is a B2B or B2C business, engaging in social media activities pays off in the long run.

Why Facebook?

Talking of social media, Facebook indeed takes the cake with over 900 million users, a large fraction of them being in their mid 20s and 30s. As per a business overview provided by Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/business/overview) ?Over one billion people like and comment an average of 3.2 billion times every day?. The numbers themselves speak of the huge potential of Facebook as a vital marketing tool. On the whole there are four steps to make your business succeed on this networking platform:

Create an impressive Facebook fan page design.
Connect with people through ads.
Engage your audience through interesting and informative posts, events, updates, etc.
Expand your fan following by influencing friends of fans and enlarging your sphere.

When it comes to leveraging Facebook for your online marketing campaigns, the essential components can be divided into three broad categories:

Organic Marketing Campaigns: These are non-paid promotional activities that businesses adopt to reach out to their target audience.
Paid Marketing Campaigns: These include advertisements of different types wherein the business needs to pay a certain amount to trigger the desired action or response.
Viral Marketing Campaigns: These types of campaigns are dependent on the number of people who would be spreading your business related story, in a way propagating your brand image.

In this article, we will discuss the procedures of organic or non-paid marketing campaigns in details.

Organic Marketing Campaigns Through Facebook

Before discussion on the techniques of effectively using Facebook for organic marketing, let?s think for a moment. Do businesses need to build up a serious strategy to ensure an impactful presence on this social networking site? Yes, off course as is evident from the views of business honchos like Carlos Martinez, CEO of Dura Shine clean. ?Social media is part of marketing and it needs to be done correctly in order to be effective,? says Martinez. ?So the biggest difficulty in implementing is where to start and how to do it right.? Let?s go through some striking statistics from companies who did it right:

American Eagle added the ?Like? button to each product on their site, and the result was that Facebook shoppers spent 57% more money.
When Tea Collection, a retailer for children?s clothes added ?like? button to its products, there was a tenfold increase in daily sales.
58% of Facebook users expect special offers, promotions or events once they become fans.

Hence for result oriented social media campaigns, it?s good for businesses to rope in professionals who can give them an impactful social presence and an edge over competitors. There are numerous ways to use Facebook for non-paid business promotion. Here, we bring to you some of the major concepts:

Designing an Impactful Facebook Fan Page

This is the most significant and industrious component of organic marketing through Facebook as it reflects the brand equity of the business as a whole. To attract and engage the maximum number of target audience, a Facebook Fan Page should be unique and updated with the latest information.

Start with an impressive profile picture and cover photo: By a skilled application of graphics, you can make your FB profile picture and cover photo a real eye-catcher. The more the uniformity, the greater the impression, so keep your branding consistent by using the same logo and graphics as in other promotional materials. Make the picture ?human? by including the face of your company, i.e. images of events with employees, staff, etc. It is more effective to use taglines that describe what you do so that anybody who lands onto your page gets a fair idea of your business immediately.
Effectively utilize the ?like? function: It?s perhaps the most important tool that Facebook provides to gain cost-effective exposure for your business. To increase your Facebook likes, invest some time in networking with individuals who are administering pages similar to yours. For example, if you are a web development service provider, you can network with a provider of web hosting services. You can share each other?s relevant posts and also indulge in cross-promotion. This is a win-win situation and will help in increasing the likes of both the parties. A striking thing is that the ?like? button is available both within the Facebook page as well as outside it. So you can place it in all your business pages to invite more likes. Increasing ?likes? does pay off in the long run by increasing your popularity. It is a very good strategy when you give people a reason to ?like? your page, as Richard Krueger, co-author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies explains: ?A Reveal tab offers first-time visitors a clear call to action. By encouraging the visitor to first ?Like? your fan page in order to receive a free trial, coupon or even specialized information, you can significantly increase fan conversion rates, while giving real value in becoming a fan?.
Design a Professional Landing Page: A landing page (or home page) in a call to action for visitors to become fans. An attractive and informative landing page gives people the opportunity to interact and connect with your brand, thereby helping you in getting more number of fan followings.

Engage your audience through event creation: Through the ?create event? button, you can create an event that represents your company on your fan page and make the design different for fans and non-fans, so that you can ask people to ?like? your page in order to get the complete event info. To appeal to the visitors of your fan page, include a photo that is related to the event. Strikingly, you also have the option of inviting people who do not have an account on Facebook via e-mail. Apart from promoting your page amongst visitors, Facebook events are also beneficial in the sense that search engines do index these events. You can feature a wide range of events like local live events, virtual events like launch of websites, parties, new outlet opening, book signings and so on.
Creating Polls and contests: To ensure continuous engagement of your target audience, create polls and virtual contests on topics related to your business. This will help you in understand the level of engagement in your brand and also the opinion of fans and target audience. You can also participate in polls or answer questions created by others which is a great way to establish authority on behalf of a brand.

Incorporate Different types of Posts: The Facebook Timeline gives a host of opportunities to businesses to boost viewer engagement in the fan pages. Incorporating your brand?s history into the timeline will definitely arouse interest of the viewers by going back in time. For instance, Coca Cola went back in time to 1886 and added interesting details about its origin. Fill the time line with updated information adding different types of posts like video posts, status updates, interesting news, Facebook updates and more.

Make an Efficient Use Different Apps: Marketing your business becomes all the more convenient with an efficient use of Facebook apps. Applications are designed to encourage high level of interaction through continuous engagement. You can customize your fan page with better detail, highlighting content from different social sites (like Twitter, Pinterest, etc) and acquiring more information from visitors. Promote individual application pages with custom tabs which enable you to efficiently market your products or services, watch presentations and demos, add information and so on.

Creating An Impressive Facebook Profile

In order to use a personal profile to drive the desired results, certain factors need to be taken care of:

While creating the profile, full name should be used, complete information (?Basic?, ?Personal?, ?Contact? as well as ?Education and Work?) should be provided and professional business photos should be included as profile picture and cover image.
It?s always good to link your business profile to your professional blog or Twitter account.
Ensure that in your profile home page you include information that highlights your organization?s brand image and is beneficial and relevant to your potential clients.
Add and organize friends in such a manner that all your business contacts get timely updates regarding your business or organization. It is advisable to recommend the company page to all contacts and share information posted on company page on the personal profile.
Create a custom URL in order to connect to company communication media and it is a good marketing strategy to incorporate this URL in business cards, pamphlets, brochures and every business emails. This will give your prospects the option to connect with you directly.
Include significant business events or personal events related to your company in your timeline, adding relevant and professional photo albums and videos.

Group Creation in Facebook

Creating groups of audience relevant to your business triggers increased awareness of your products and services, ensuring brand popularity across the business sphere through regular postings, fan comments, shares and more. Groups give you the opportunity to embed links and social media icons, thus increasing customer interaction. Interestingly, businesses can utilize croups or communities for target segmentation based on demographics, location, language, interests, etc.

Facebook indeed provides businesses a spacious platform for brand building, customer interaction, new client acquisition, driving web traffic, inviting feedback and lots more. With the freedom to integrate Facebook social plug-ins in websites, businesses can now open up to every website visitor through continuous interaction and engagement with updated information. Having an effective presence in this rapidly growing social networking site can help businesses promote their, brand, products and services successfully. Go ahead, and build a customized Facebook page and profile through assistance of professional designers and online marketing specialists.

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