Coast Guard: Barge leaked 7,000 gallons of oil

Coast Guard: Barge leaked 7,000 gallons of oil

HOLBROOK MOHR and JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

VICKSBURG, Miss. ? With more than 50 vessels idled on the water for a fourth day Wednesday, authorities said they still do not know when they will be able to reopen a 16-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that has been closed due to an oil spill.

A plan to pump oil from a leaking barge onto another barge ? a process known as lightering ? had been approved but it was unclear how long that would take, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally said Tuesday. He said the other barge was en route.

Shannon Warnock, far right, a salvage hand with Big River Ship Builders & Salvage, secures his flotation device after loading a boat with MDEQ employees at Le Tourneau Landing to work on the damaged barge stalled on the west bank of the Mississippi River, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 near Vicksburg, Miss. A barge carrying thousands of gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge and began leaking before dawn Sunday. The accident forced the closure of a 16-mile stretch of the lower Mississippi, a major inland corridor for vessels carrying oil, fuel, grain and other goods. (AP Photo/The Vicksburg Evening Post, Melanie Thortis ) MANDATORY CREDIT

Severe weather that was expected to sweep through the area could shut down cleanup operations for a time, prolonging the process further, authorities said.

Crews have been working around the clock to contain and remove oil since the barge, owned by Corpus Christi, Texas-based Third Coast Towing LLC, struck a railroad bridge and began leaking early Sunday. The company has refused to comment on the incident.

Lally also noted that about 7,000 gallons of crude oil were unaccounted for aboard the barge. He said it's not clear if all of it spilled into the river or if some seeped into empty spaces inside the barge.

At least 54 vessels, including towboats and barges, were idled on the river, one of the nation's vital commerce routes.

Shannon Warnock, far right, salvage hand with Big River Ship Builders & Salvage, leaves Le Tourneau Landing with MDEQ employees to work on the damaged barges stalled on the west bank of the Mississippi River, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 near Vicksburg, Miss. A barge carrying thousands of gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge and began leaking before dawn Sunday. The accident forced the closure of a 16-mile stretch of the lower Mississippi, a major inland corridor for vessels carrying oil, fuel, grain and other goods. (AP Photo/The Vicksburg Evening Post, Melanie Thortis ) MANDATORY CREDIT

"The Coast Guard advised our hazardous materials unit that the river would be closed indefinitely to all traffic," Lt. Julie Lewis of the Louisiana State Police said Tuesday.

About 168.4 million tons of cargo a year move along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, La., and the mouth of the Ohio River, carried by nearly 22,300 cargo ships and 162,700 barges, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. About 3.6 million tons of cargo is handled annually by the port of Vicksburg.

When low water threatened to close the river earlier this month, the tow industry trade group American Waterways Operators estimated that 7.2 million tons of commodities worth $2.8 billion might be sidelined over the last three weeks of January.

Salt destined for Northern roads is moving upriver in January, said spokeswoman Ann McCulloch. "We're still moving corn, soybeans and grain, but also coal and petroleum ... stone, sand and gravel," she said Tuesday.

Barges carry 20 percent of the nation's coal and more than 60 percent of its grain exports, according to the group.

Ron Zornes, director of corporate operations for Canal Barge Co. of New Orleans, said each idled towboat could cost a company anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 a day. The low end would be for a single boat with a couple of barges and the high end for one in "a system of towboats that acts sort of like a bus system."

"So if one bus is stopped it gums up the whole system," he said.

On the other hand, vessel traffic tends to be less in January than during peak harvest season, when grain from the U.S. heartland is shipped south to be loaded onto massive ships near New Orleans.

On Tuesday, tugs were pinning the ruptured barge to the bank on the Louisiana side of the river, across from Vicksburg's Riverwalk and Lady Luck casinos. Their engines churned the muddy water. A few workers could be seen walking on top of the stricken barge.

An orange boom bobbed in the water just downstream and another boom was set up as a second line of defense to contain leaking oil.

Environmental impact, Lally said, has been minimal because a boom is containing the leak around the barge and the leak is slow.

Lally said crews had skimmed 1,596 gallons of an oil-and-water mixture from the river. He said there was no evidence that oil was washing ashore.

CORRECTS DATE TO JAN. 28, NOT JAN. 18 - The towboat Natures Way Endeavor, background, banks a barge against the western bank of the Mississippi River, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Cleanup crews with booms skimmed oily water from the Mississippi River Monday, a day after a barge with more than 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge near Vicksburg, spreading a sheen of light crude that kept part of the waterway shut to ship traffic Monday, authorities said. (AP Photo/Eli Baylis)

Nature's Way Marine LLC of Theodore, Ala., has been named the responsible party for the oil spill, a designation that is assigned under the federal Oil Pollution Act.

The barges were being pushed by the company's tug Nature's Way Endeavor. The company has declined requests for information from The Associated Press.

CORRECTS DATE TO JAN. 28, NOT JAN. 18 - The towboat Natures Way Endeavor, background, banks a barge against the western bank of the Mississippi River, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 as an 18-wheeler crosses the Interstate 20 bridge. Cleanup crews with booms skimmed oily water from the Mississippi River Monday, a day after a barge with more than 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge near Vicksburg, spreading a sheen of light crude that kept part of the waterway shut to ship traffic Monday, authorities said. (AP Photo/Eli Baylis)

Companies found responsible for oil spills face civil penalties tied to the amount of oil that spilled into the environment. Lally said it's too early in the investigation to know whether the company could face penalties or fines.

The Nature's Way Endeavor was pushing two tank barges when the collision with the bridge happened about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Both barges were damaged, but only one leaked. Authorities declared the bridge safe after an inspection.

Map locates site of oil barge accident along the Mississippi River.

The leaking tank, which was pierced above the water line, was carrying 80,000 gallons of light crude, authorities said. The Coast Guard hasn't said how much oil was in the other tanks on the barge.

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Mohr reported from Vicksburg. Janet McConnaughey reported from New Orleans.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://ap.brainerddispatch.com/pstories/us/20130130/1093612270.shtml

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High-tech cargo airship being built in California

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Leonel Cruz pulls down the flab on the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bradley Hasemeyer, the host of AOL's Trasnlogic show, uses his smartphone to photograph the Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, outside a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside the blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Aeroscraft airship, a high-tech prototype airship, is seen in a World War II-era hangar in Tustin, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Work is almost done on a 230-foot rigid airship inside a blimp hangar at a former military base in Orange Co. The huge cargo-carrying airship is has shiny aluminum skin and a rigid, 230-foot aluminum and carbon fiber skeleton. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

TUSTIN, Calif. (AP) ? The massive blimp-like aircraft flies but just barely, hovering only a dozen feet off a military hangar floor during flight testing south of Los Angeles.

Still, the fact that the hulking Aeroscraft could fly for just a few minutes represents a step forward in aviation, according to the engineers who developed it. The Department of Defense and NASA have invested $35 million in the prototype because of its potential to one day carry more cargo than any other aircraft to disaster zones and forward military bases.

"I realized that I put a little dot in the line of aviation history. A little dot for something that has never been demonstrated before, now it's feasible," said flight control engineer Munir Jojo-Verge.

The airship is undergoing testing this month at Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, and must go through several more rounds of flight testing before it could be used in a disaster zone or anywhere else. The first major flight test took place Jan. 3.

The biggest challenge for engineers is making sure the airship will be able to withstand high winds and other extreme weather conditions, Jojo-Verge said.

Worldwide Aeros, the company that developed the aircraft, said it also must secure more funding for the next round of flight testing, but is hopeful the Defense Department and others will step in again as investors.

The company says the cargo airship's potential to carry more cargo more efficiently than ever before would provide the U.S. military with an advantage on the battlefield and greater capacity to save more lives during natural disasters.

The lighter-than-air vehicle is not a blimp or a zeppelin because it has a rigid structure made out of ultra-light carbon fiber and aluminum underneath its high-tech Mylar skin. Inside, balloons hold the helium that gives the vehicle lift. Unlike hydrogen, the gas used in the Hindenburg airship that crashed in 1937, helium is not flammable.

The airship functions like a submarine, releasing air to rise and taking in air to descend, said Aeros mechanical engineer Tim Kenny. It can take off vertically, like a helicopter, then change its buoyancy to become heavier than air for landing and unloading.

"It allows the vehicle to set down on the ground. And then when we want to become lighter than air, we release that air and then the vehicle floats and we can allow it to take off," Kenny said.

The project has set abuzz the old hangars at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin. The structures were built to hold blimps during World War II. Now workers zip around in cherry-pickers, and the airship's silvery surface shines against the warm tones of the aging wood of the walls.

"You could take this vehicle and go to destinations that have been destroyed, where there's no ports, no runways, stuff like that. This vehicle could go in there, offload the cargo even if there's no infrastructure, no landing site for it to land on, this vehicle can unload its whole payload," said Kenny.

Next, Aeros wants to build a full-size 450-foot-long vehicle that can carry 66 tons of payload.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-30-Military%20Airship/id-c706e74aece54dd6a306115a15881937

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Exclusive: Gay marriage foes suffer from fundraising shortfall

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Foes of same-sex marriage are laboring to pay the tab for an epic legal case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, as the movement suffers from fundraising shortfalls that could sap its strength in future battles.

ProtectMarriage.com, the advocacy group defending a California gay marriage ban now under review by the high court, showed a $2 million deficit in its legal fund at the end of 2011 - the third year in a row that expenses exceeded donations, federal tax records show.

The 2012 accounts are not yet available. ProtectMarriage.com says it has since covered the 2011 shortfall. However, it is still $700,000 short in fundraising for its Supreme Court costs, according to a ProtectMarriage.com attorney, Andrew Pugno. That message has gone out to donors, with some urgency, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in March in its first thorough review of same-sex marriage.

"Unless the pace of donations starts to pick up right away, we could soon be forced over a financial cliff," ProtectMarriage.com said in an email to donors earlier this month.

ProtectMarriage.com's lead outside counsel, Charles Cooper, has not stopped work on the Supreme Court case, although he declined to comment on financial arrangements with clients.

But gay marriage opponents' money problems go beyond legal fees for the landmark case: they were vastly outspent in four state ballot campaigns last fall, and lost all of those races.

While the best case for gay marriage opponents is that it becomes a state-by-state battle, that is a potentially grueling, expensive proposition for both sides, in which fundraising would be critical.

In Washington state, for instance, gay marriage opponents raised $2.8 million, compared with $12.6 million for gay marriage supporters. That's a dramatic shift from the 2008 electoral battle over California's Proposition 8, the state's ban on gay marriage, when ProtectMarriage.com took in $40 million to nearly match its opponents, and went on to win.

The fund-raising fall-off is a result of donor fatigue, the dramatic rise in public support for gay marriage and the softening of some major gay marriage opponents, including the Mormon Church, people involved with the campaigns say. Both individuals and institutions opposed to gay marriage say many are fearful of being associated with the cause.

"On the New York cocktail party circuit, the intensity of anger over the marriage issue has made being pro-life easy," said Sean Fieler, who runs the New York City hedge fund Equinox Partners. Fieler has donated over $1 million to gay marriage opponents such as the National Organization for Marriage.

The Supreme Court will review both the Proposition 8 case and a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. A ruling is expected by the end of June.

A group of corporations opposed to DOMA has formed the Business Coalition for DOMA Repeal, including Marriott International Inc, Aetna Inc, eBay Inc, and Thomson Reuters Corp, the corporate parent of Reuters News.

If the high court recognizes a constitutional right to marriage, then California's Prop 8 and other state bans would be abolished, along with DOMA's core. However, the high court could avoid addressing the fundamental issue of a constitutional right to marriage by ruling that it's a matter for states to decide.

Pugno says that fundraising for ProtectMarriage.com has never been easy. However, he said he does not think changing attitudes are the problem.

"I don't detect a decrease in enthusiasm," he said. "What I detect is a certain degree of fatigue after having to essentially fight this issue non-stop since 2004, when the mayor in San Francisco started issuing marriage licenses."

When then-Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized gay couples to wed, the U.S. public opposed same sex marriage by 60-31 percent, according to Pew Research Center polling. California's state Supreme Court voided Newsom's unilateral action, but in the spring of 2008 ruled that the gay marriage bans on the books were unconstitutional. Thousands of same-sex couples flocked to the altar.

That touched off the campaign to pass Prop 8, a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. ProtectMarriage.com ran aggressive television ads and tapped into a network of religious organizations to help get out the vote - and to raise money.

MORMON METAMORPHOSIS

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the most visible Prop 8 supporters. The Prop 8 campaign garnered over 1,000 donations from the Mormon-dominated state of Utah, and the initiative passed by nearly five percentage points.

But the image-conscious Mormon church came under fierce attack from gay rights supporters nationwide. Now, Mormon leaders speak about the need to respect all individuals and established a website, www.mormonsandgays.org, to help gays stay in the church.

Mormon fundraising to oppose gay marriage has plummeted. In Washington state, for example, gay marriage opponents netted just four donations from Utah, for $197.50. Utahns donated $2.7 million to back California's Prop 8 four years earlier.

Church spokesman Eric Hawkins said it would be inaccurate to link the fundraising issues of other groups with any supposed softening of the Church's commitment to exclusively heterosexual marriage.

"We believe that marriage is defined as between a man and a woman and that sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong," he said. "Our deep desire to be sure that all people know they are loved and valued does not define a shift in our position on marriage."

The U.S. public now favors gay marriage 48-43 percent, according to Pew. Fred Sainz, a spokesman for gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, says there is "zero doubt" that the fundraising problems reflect a lack of momentum for gay marriage foes.

A SUPREME BILL

After Prop 8 passed, two former adversaries in the Bush vs Gore dispute over the 2000 presidential election, Theodore Olson and David Boies, teamed up to challenge the ban. They won a trial court order striking down Prop 8, which is on hold pending Supreme Court review.

At the close of 2009, ProtectMarriage.com had a deficit of roughly $220,000, but the trial was expensive: Cooper's firm billed $4.5 million in 2010 and total expenses came to $6.1 million, for a year-end deficit of $1.8 million.

ProtectMarriage.com raised $2.5 million in 2011, but it still fell more than $200,000 short of that year's expenses, leaving a cumulative deficit of $2 million. Pugno said that debt was paid by the end of last year and that grassroots donations in 2012 were down only 3 percent from 2011.

By comparison, the American Foundation for Equal Rights - which sponsored Olson and Boies' challenge - reported a $2.7 million surplus at the end of March 2011. AFER outraised ProtectMarriage.com, but the gay rights group also got a much better deal from its lawyers: Olson and Boies' two law firms billed about $1.5 million during the trial year.

The possibility that the Supreme Court will strike down all gay marriage bans has created an overhang for donors who don't want to waste their money, Pugno says. But donors would be energized, he said, if ProtectMarriage.com wins the case.

"I think our support would be strengthened by the assurance to donors that their vote would matter," Pugno said.

(Reporting by Dan Levine and Peter Henderson; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Mary Milliken and Claudia Parsons)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-gay-marriage-foes-suffer-fundraising-shortfall-222315277.html

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Willie Walsh to headline Business Travel Show | News | Breaking ...

Willie Walsh ? CEO of IAG and President of London Chamber of Commerce ? will officially open the Business Travel Show next week. Mr Walsh will present a welcome address to thousands of corporate travel buyers and suppliers at 0945 Tuesday 5 February on the show?s Centre Stage followed by an open Q&A session.

The Business Travel Show, taking place in London on 5-6 February 2013, is Europe?s main exhibition and conference for more than 6,000 corporate travel buyers, managers and bookers to source from more than 200 suppliers (including more than 30 airlines), learn and network. Buyers can register to attend at www.businesstravelshow.com.

?We are incredibly excited that Willie Walsh is opening the 19th Business Travel Show ? he?s such a well-respected and interesting figure in the travel industry, and it?s a rare and valuable opportunity for corporate travel buyers to put their questions directly to him,? commented David Chapple, Business Travel Show event director.

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Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/willie-walsh-to-headline-business-travel-show/

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'Scary': Up to 50 million home network devices vulnerable to hack

4 hrs.

Jim Finkle , Reuters

BOSTON (Reuters) - Bugs in widely used networking technology expose tens of millions of personal computers, printers and storage drives to attack by hackers over the regular Internet, researchers with a security software maker said.?

The problem lies in computer routers and other networking equipment that use a commonly employed standard known as Universal Plug and Play or UPnP. UPnP makes it easy for networks to identify and communicate with equipment, reducing the amount of work it takes to set up networks.?

Security software maker Rapid7 said in a white paper to be released Tuesday that it discovered between 40 million and 50 million devices that were vulnerable to attack due to three separate sets of problems that the firm's researchers have identified with the UPnP standard.

The long list of devices includes products from manufacturers including Belkin, D-Link, Cisco's Linksys division and Netgear.?

Representatives for Belkin, D-Link, Linksys and Netgear could not be reached for comment on Monday evening.?

Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer of security software firm Veracode, said he believed that publication of Rapid7's findings would draw widespread attention to the still emerging area of UPnP security, prompting other security researchers to search for more bugs in UPnP.

"This definitely falls into the scary category," said Wysopal, who reviewed Rapid7's findings ahead of their publication. "There is going to be a lot more research on this. And the follow-on research could be a lot scarier."?

Rapid7 has privately alerted electronics makers about the problem through the CERT Coordination Center, a group at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute that helps researchers report vulnerabilities to affected companies.?

"This is the most pervasive bug I've ever seen," said HD Moore, chief technology officer for Rapid7. He discussed the research with Reuters late on Monday.

Moore, who created a widely used platform known as Metasploit that allows security experts to simulate network attacks, said that he expected CERT to release a public warning about the flaw on Tuesday. A spokesman for the CERT Coordination Center declined to comment.?

A source with a networking equipment maker confirmed they had been alerted that CERT would issue an advisory on Tuesday and that companies were preparing to respond.?

Taking control
The flaws could allow hackers to access confidential files, steal passwords, take full control over PCs as well as remotely access devices such as webcams, printers and security systems, according to Rapid7.?

Moore said that there were bugs in most of the devices he tested and that device manufacturers will need to release software updates to remedy the problems.?

He said that is unlikely to happen quickly.?

In the meantime, he advised computer users to quickly use a free tool released by Rapid7 to identify vulnerable gear, then disable the UPnP functionality in that equipment.?

Moore said hackers have not widely exploited the UPnP vulnerabilities to launch attacks, but both Moore and Wysopal expected they may start to do so after the findings are publicized.?

Still, Moore said he decided to disclose the flaws in a bid to pressure equipment makers to fix the bugs and generally pay more attention to security.?

People who own devices with UPnP enabled may not be aware of it because new routers, printers, media servers, Web cameras, storage drives and "smart" or Web-connected TVs are often shipped with that functionality turned on by default.?

"You can't stay silent about something like this," he said. "These devices seem to have had the same level of core security for decades. Nobody seems to really care about them."?

Veracode's Wysopal said that some hackers have likely already exploited the flaws to launch attacks, but in relatively small numbers, choosing victims one at a time.?

"If they are going after executives and government officials, then they will probably look for their home networks and exploit this vulnerability," he said.?

Rapid7 is advising businesses and consumers alike to disable UPnP in devices that they suspect may be vulnerable to attack. The firm has released a tool to help identify those devices on its website.?

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/researchers-warn-widespread-home-networking-gear-bugs-1C8156547

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Preliminary FEMA flood maps add 35,000 NYC buildings

Michael Heiman / Getty Images file

The corner of 34th Street and 1st Street in Manhattan floods during rains from Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 29, 2012 in New York City.

By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

Some 35,000 buildings and homes have been added to flood zones in parts of New York City, according to preliminary maps released Monday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. More of these maps will be released in late February for Manhattan and other parts of city where the data is still being analyzed.?

The numbers emerged after the release earlier in the day of FEMA?s advisory flood maps for parts of the city, increasing the areas falling into 100-year flood zones or areas with the potential for destructive high speed waves along coastlines, said agency spokesman Dan Watson. More maps will be released for other parts of the city, including Manhattan, in late February, he said.?

---

The official maps will be released in the summer, but the preliminary ones for hard-hit areas like Staten Island and Queens are intended to give those who are rebuilding a head start. Sandy struck Oct. 29, leaving about 20,000 residential buildings in the city with some damage or disruption to their utilities.

?It can inform building back stronger and smarter with the recovery,? Watson said. ?And honestly it will also help save lives and property in the future ? because we?ve seen areas where folks have elevated or used other forms of mitigation and ? they got wet but there wasn?t as much damage as a result of it.??

The maps reflect base flood elevations and will likely increase insurance rates for those who are newly included in the flood-prone zones. Those who are now in the ?A Zones? -- or 100-year flood zones, where a flooding event has a one percent probability of occurring in any given year -- and who have a federally-backed mortgage will now be required to get flood insurance, Watson said.

Some property owners may also have to elevate their buildings or homes, likely setting ground floors ground floors 3 to 6 feet higher than zoning rules previously required, according to The Associated Press. The maps have to be adopted by communities, which can appeal parts of them, Watson said.

Congress has already passed $9.7 billion in additional borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program to help pay Sandy claims from homeowners in New York and New Jersey.?The Senate on Monday night approved a $50.5 billion emergency spending bill to aid people in New York and New Jersey who are trying to rebuild their homes and businesses.

Hard-hit communities were just beginning to figure out what these initial maps mean for them. In Breezy Point, a private cooperative in the city?s southern Queens Borough heavily damaged by the storm, leaders said they needed to study the maps before offering guidance: ?Keep in mind that the DOB (Department of Buildings) and City still need to make decisions regarding building criteria and if it will change.?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16744731-preliminary-fema-flood-zone-maps-add-35000-nyc-buildings-to-flood-zones?lite

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If a Photo Is Worth 1,000 Words, Vine Gives Tweeters at Least 6,000

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Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/27f99d2f/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C771710Bhtml/story01.htm

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Obama says football needs to become less violent: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said he loves football but thinks the sport should "probably change gradually" so that there are fewer concussions, particularly at the college level.

"I'm a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I'd have to think long and hard before I let him play football," Obama said in a wide-ranging interview with The New Republic magazine published early on Sunday on its website.

Football is America's most popular televised sport, an industry worth $9 billion a year. But in recent years, suicides by brain-injured players and lawsuits from their families have raised concerns about the impact of repeated concussions.

In the interview, Obama was asked how he squares his love of the game with rising awareness of the impact of repeated head injuries on football players.

"I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence," Obama said.

"In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much," Obama said.

Obama said he is "more worried about college players" than those in the National Football League who he noted are represented by a union and are "well-compensated" for the hits they take.

"You read some of these stories about college players who undergo some of these same problems with concussions and so forth and then have nothing to fall back on. That's something that I'd like to see the NCAA think about," he said, referring to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which runs college sports.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-football-needs-become-less-violent-report-094351441--nfl.html

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Detentions made in Brazil fire, funerals begin

A police officer places flowers outside the Kiss nightclub that were brought by mourners in memory of those who died due to a fire at the club in Santa Maria, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in this southern Brazilian city early Sunday, killing more than 230 people. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

A police officer places flowers outside the Kiss nightclub that were brought by mourners in memory of those who died due to a fire at the club in Santa Maria, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in this southern Brazilian city early Sunday, killing more than 230 people. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Gladimir Callegaro, second from right, father of fire victim Marina Callegaro and other relatives mourn during her funeral at a cemetery in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape. An early investigation into the tragedy revealed that security guards briefly prevented partygoers from leaving through the sole exit and the bodies later heaped inside that doorway slowed firefighters trying to get in.(AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

Relatives and friends carry the coffins of two brothers, Pedro and Marcelo Salla, who died in a nightclub fire, as they prepare to bury them at a cemetery in Santa Maria, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Brazilian police officials said Monday they?ve made three detentions and are seeking a fourth person in connection with blaze that ripped through a nightclub in southern Brazil over the weekend, killing more than 230 people. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A girl cries during the burial of her brother, soldier Leonardo Machado, at a cemetery in Santa Maria, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. A fast-moving fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in this southern Brazilian city early Sunday, killing more than 230 people. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Relatives and friends dance and mourn next to the coffin during the burial of fire victim Tanise Cielo, at a cemetery in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. The city in southern Brazil started burying the 233 people killed in Sunday's fire at the Kiss nightclub after the conflagration caused by a band's pyrotechnic display. An early investigation into the tragedy revealed that security guards briefly prevented partygoers from leaving through the sole exit. And the bodies later heaped inside that doorway slowed firefighters trying to get in.(AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) ? Brazilian police officials said Monday they've made three detentions and are seeking a fourth person in connection with a blaze that ripped through a nightclub in southern Brazil over the weekend, killing more than 230 people.

Inspector Ranolfo Vieira Junior said at a news conference that the detentions are for investigative purposes and those detained can be held up to five days. He declined to identify those detained or the fourth person sought, but the Brazilian newspaper Zero Hora quotes lawyer Jader Marques saying his client Elissandro Spohr, a co-owner of the club, had been held.

The paper also says police detained two band members who were on stage when the blaze broke out and were thought to have used pyrotechnics in their act.

A military brigade official said Monday the death toll now stands at 231 people in the early Sunday blaze in the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, a university town of about 260,000 people in southern Brazil. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors. Most victims died from smoke inhalation rather than burns.

Police have said they think the pyrotechnics ignited sound insulation on the ceiling, while witnesses have reported a fire extinguisher didn't work and that there was only one working exit. Many of the dead were also found in the club's two bathrooms, where they fled apparently because the blinding smoke caused them to believe the doors were exits.

"It was terrible inside ? it was like one of those films of the Holocaust, bodies piled atop one another," said police inspector Sandro Meinerz. "We had to use trucks to remove them. It took about six hours to take the bodies away."

Survivors and another police inspector, Marcelo Arigony, said security guards briefly tried to block people from exiting the club. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they are allowed to leave.

"It was chaotic and it doesn't seem to have been done in bad faith because several security guards also died," Arigony told The Associated Press.

Firefighters responding to the blaze initially had trouble getting inside the Kiss nightclub because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance," Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper.

Authorities said band members who were on the stage when the fire broke out later talked with police and confirmed they used pyrotechnics during their show.

Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning."

"It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it," he said. "When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."

He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely.

Survivor Michele Pereira told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit some sort of flare that started the conflagration.

"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread."

Police inspector Meinerz, who coordinated the investigation at the nightclub, said one band member died after escaping because he returned inside the burning building to save his accordion. The other band members escaped alive because they were the first to notice the fire.

Television images from Santa Maria showed black smoke billowing out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who attended the university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at the hot-pink exterior walls, trying to reach those trapped inside.

Teenagers sprinted from the scene after the fire began, desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms. About half of those killed were men, about half women.

Bodies of the dead and injured were strewn in the street and panicked screams filled the air as medics tried to help. There was little to be done; officials said most of those who died suffocated within minutes.

"There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.

The fire spread so fast inside the packed club that firefighters and ambulances could do little to stop it, Silva said.

A community gym soon became a horror scene, with body after body lined up on the floor, partially covered with black plastic as family members identified kin.

Outside the gym, police held up personal objects ? a black purse, a blue high-heeled shoe ? as people seeking information on loved ones crowded around hoping not to recognize anything being shown them.

The party was organized by students from several academic departments at the Federal University of Santa Maria. Such organized university parties are common throughout Brazil.

Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello said by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim.

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff arrived Sunday to visit the injured after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile.

"It is a tragedy for all of us," said Rousseff, who began her political career in the state where the tragedy took place.

Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria. said he was told the club had been filled far beyond its capacity. He had gone to the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims.

"Large amounts of toxic smoke quickly filled the room, and I would say that at least 90 percent of the victims died of asphyxiation," Beltrame told the AP.

"The toxic smoke made people lose their sense of direction so they were unable to find their way to the exit. At least 50 bodies were found inside a bathroom."

In the hospital, the doctor "saw desperate friends and relatives walking and running down the corridors looking for information," he said, calling it "one of the saddest scenes I have ever witnessed."

Rodrigo Moura, identified by the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria as a security guard at the club, said it was at its maximum capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000 people, and partygoers were pushing and shoving to escape.

Santa Maria Mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said officials were investigating the cause of the disaster.

The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro.

Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309 people.

In 2004, at least 194 people died in a fire at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Seven members of the band playing at the club were sentenced to prison for starting the flames.

A blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, killed 152 people in December 2009 after an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches.

Similar circumstances led to a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people in the United States. Pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling of a Rhode Island music venue.

The band performing in Santa Maria, Gurizada Fandangueira, plays a driving mixture of local Brazilian country music styles. Guitarist Martin told Radio Gaucha the musicians are already seeing hostile messages.

"People on the social networks are saying we have to pay for what happened," he said. "I'm afraid there could be retaliation".

___

Associated Press writers Marco Sibaja contributed to this report from Brasilia, Brazil, and Stan Lehman and Bradley Brooks contributed from Sao Paulo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-28-LT-Brazil-Nightclub-Fire/id-baa25f03a0b7408aab484aa52e02853a

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Anonymous hijacks federal website to avenge activist's death

21 hrs.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON???The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide. The FBI is investigating.

The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch (http://www.ussc.gov), was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."

The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.

Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online, and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.

The FBI's Richard McFeely, executive assistant director of the agency's?Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, said in a statement that "we were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation. We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."

Hours after the hijacking, pages on the USSC.gov website were available only sporadically.

This report was updated by NBC News.

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/anonymous-hijacks-federal-website-protest-activist-aaron-swartzs-death-1C8125283

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Leading Senate liberal Harkin of Iowa to retire

DES MOINES (Reuters) - Senator Tom Harkin, a veteran Iowa Democrat and one of the most liberal senators, said on Saturday he will not seek re-election in 2014, putting at risk what was considered a safe Democratic seat.

Harkin, 73, who has focused much of his nearly 40-year congressional career on farm policy, education and expanding rights for people with disabilities, is the third senator facing re-election next year who has announced his retirement, following Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

"It's somebody else's turn. It's time for me to step aside ... . I think that's not only good for our party, it's good for our state and for our nation," Harkin said in an interview with Reuters.

He said he had no health problems but had promised his wife that he would quit before it was too late to enjoy other things in life.

Iowa, site of the country's first presidential nominating contest, is considered a political swing state. Republican Charles Grassley is Iowa's other U.S. senator.

In remarks to the Iowa Democratic Party central committee after his announcement, Harkin said he would stay politically active.

"I'm not quitting today. This is not a time for legacy talks or anything like this," said Harkin, who has served in Congress since 1974.

Several committee members had tears running down their cheeks as he spoke.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, in a statement described Harkin as "a passionate progressive, whose deeply held principles have provided a guiding light to Democrats for decades."

SEARCH IS ON

Party officials said Harkin's announcement, coming early in the current two-year election cycle, provides ample time to recruit a strong Democratic candidate.

Among Democrats, U.S. Representative Bruce Braley is widely seen as a front-runner. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, and his wife, Christine Vilsack, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year, are also viewed as potential candidates.

Among Republicans, U.S. Representatives Tom Latham, a moderate, and Steve King, a conservative, are mentioned as possible candidates, which could produce a divisive Republican primary.

Democratic President Barack Obama won Iowa in the November election. But the state has a Republican governor, and a divided legislature and congressional delegation.

Harkin's retirement "just reinforces our belief that a grassroots Republican comeback can take place in 2014. Let's have it start in Iowa," Iowa Republican Party Chairman A.J. Spiker said in an email appeal to state Republicans.

The party needs to pick up six seats in the mid-term elections next year to take a majority in the 100-member Senate.

One of the last of the Senate's old-guard liberals, Harkin angrily opposed the White House over the recent fiscal cliff compromise that Vice President Joe Biden negotiated with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Harkin said the deal that raised taxes only on the very rich helps the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 1974 and to the Senate in 1984, Harkin said someone younger needs to take his place.

"I've been there 40 years. I'm 73. By the time I run (for re-election), I'd be 75," he said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Charles Abbott and Vicki Allen in Washington; Editing by Greg McCune and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democratic-senator-tom-harkin-not-seek-election-aide-161442576.html

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World's most powerful engine blazes path for space launch system advanced propulsion

Jan. 26, 2013 ? To help develop the nation's future heavy lift rocket, NASA resurrected the world's most powerful rocket engine ever flown -- the mighty F-1 that powered the Saturn V rocket-- and test fired its gas generator today at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

NASA engineers ran the gas generator at the Marshall Center's Test Stand 116. The test is part of a series that will push the gas generator to limits beyond prior Apollo-era tests. Modern instruments on the test stand measured performance and combustion properties to allow engineers a starting point for creating a new, more affordable, advanced propulsion system.

"Our young engineers are getting their hands dirty by working with one of NASA's most famous engines," said Tom Williams, Director of the Propulsion Systems Department in Marshall Engineering Directorate. "These tests are only the beginning. As SLS research activities progress, these young NASA engineers will continue work with our industry partners to test and evaluate the benefits of using a powerful propulsion system fueled by liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene, a propellant we haven't tested with in some time."

The gas generator tested at Marshall today is a key F-1 rocket component that burns liquid oxygen and kerosene and is the part of the engine responsible for supplying power to drive the giant turbopump. The gas generator is often one of the first pieces designed on a new engine because it is a key part for determining the engine's size, which is a factor in the engine's power and ability to lift heavy payloads and send them to space.

A video of the test is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=158899711

NASA's Space Launch System will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The initial 77-ton (70-metric-ton) SLS configuration will use two 5-segment solid rocket boosters similar to the boosters that helped power the space shuttle to orbit. The evolved 143-ton (130-metric-ton) SLS vehicle will require an advanced booster with more thrust than any existing U.S. liquid- or solid-fueled boosters. Last year, NASA awarded three contracts aimed at improving the affordability, reliability and performance of the rocket's advanced booster, including one focused on the F-1 engine.

"It's important that our workforce get hands on experience on systems like the F-1 gas generator as it helps make them smart buyers, and good stewards of what we procure from industry," said Chris Crumbly, manager of the SLS Advanced Development Office at the Marshall Center. "As we look to the future advanced boosters for SLS we are eager to see what our partners in industry can provide as far as a more powerful and affordable solution."

For more information on SLS, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/3fM1tlCpop8/130126093208.htm

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Brazil: bar codes on sidewalks give tourist info

A QR codes made of the black and white stones covers a sidewalk near the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The QR codes are being placed at tourist spots which can be scanned with a mobile device for information about the site. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

A QR codes made of the black and white stones covers a sidewalk near the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The QR codes are being placed at tourist spots which can be scanned with a mobile device for information about the site. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

A man rests on a grassy area of the beach near a new QR code made out of the black and white stones on the sidewalk in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The QR codes are being placed at tourist spots which can be scanned with a mobile device for information about the site. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

A woman holds a cell phone over a QR code made of black and white stones on the sidewalks near the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The QR codes are being placed at tourist spots which can be scanned with a mobile device for information about the site. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? Rio de Janeiro is mixing technology with tradition to provide tourists information about the city by embedding bar codes into the black and white mosaic sidewalks that are a symbol of the city.

The first two-dimensional bar codes, or QR codes, as they're known, were installed Friday at Arpoador, a massive boulder that rises at the end of Ipanema beach. The image was built into the sidewalk with the same black and white stones that decorate sidewalks around town with mosaics of waves, fish and abstract images.

The launch attracted onlookers, who downloaded an application to their smartphones or tablets and photographed the icon. The app read the code and they were then taken to a web site that gave them information in Portuguese, Spanish or English, and a map of the area.

They learned, for example, that Arpoador gets big waves, making it a hot spot for surfing and giving the 500-meter beach nearby the name of "Praia do Diabo," or Devil's Beach. They could also find out that the rock is called Arpoador because fishermen once harpooned whales off the shore.

The city plans to install 30 of these QR codes at beaches, vistas, and historic sites, so Rio's approximately 2 million foreign visitors can learn about the city as they walk around.

"If you add the number of Brazilian tourists, this tool has a great potential to be useful," said Marcos Correa Bento, head of the city's conservation and public works.

Raul Oliveira Neto, a 24-year-old visitor from the Southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, was one of the first to use the icon and thought the service fit well with the way people live now.

"We use so much technology to pass information, this makes sense," he said, noting he'd seen QR codes on tourist sites in Portugal, where they were first used for this purpose. "It's the way we do things nowadays."

Locals ? used to giving visitors directions ? also approved the novelty.

"Look, there's a little map; it even shows you where we are," said Diego Fortunato, 25, as he pulled up information.

"Rio doesn't always have information for those who don't know the city," he said. "It's something the city needs, that it's been lacking."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-25-LT-Brazil-Sidewalk-Bar-Codes/id-0755b9578f8a4ebba630e6823af4310f

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TripIt Travel Organizer Free (for Android)

Booking a flight is as easy as clicking your mouse or tapping your screen, but doing so still generates an irritating amount of confirmation numbers, reservation numbers, and so on. TripIt Travel Organizer Free (free) aims to cut through the clutter with a dead-simple app for storing all your necessary travel information right on your phone. I previously reviewed the Tripit for iOS, and it was fine, but on Android it truly shines.

In order to get your travel information, users forward confirmation emails to a special TripIt email address. This works not only with flight information, but hotel, restaurant, rental car, and other reservations as well. You can also provide TripIt with your email account's username and password and the system with "automagically" hoover your upcoming trip information and push it to the app. Paranoid users may not want to grant a service that much access, but using an application-specific password with Gmail works just fine.

Users can also manually enter flight information into the app, or on the website, but the dead-simple importing process is great and, really, half the product.

Where The Magic Happens
Once it has your travel information, TripIt organizes the details of your trips and places them on your phone for offline access. At the very top of the homescreen, the app displays "what's next" in your travel plan as well as when and where that happens. Tapping this will pull up more information about the next step in your journey, such as flight departure time and gate information. TripIt also ties into Google Maps on Android, providing maps of the surrounding areas in addition to the app's own maps of airport terminals.

TripIt also sports some collaboration options, allowing you and other travelers to edit a single itinerary. You can also send their itinerary to other people (like the poor rube picking them up from the airport) with a tap, saving you the trouble of sorting out which information to send whom.

Appearance Is Everything
When I reviewed TripIt Travel Organizer for iOS and was disappointed that the app was so drab and uninspired. On the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the Android version takes full advantage of the phone's large, bright screen and delivers a clean interface that surpasses the iOS version's cramped design. Some of the controls assigned to the menu button and onscreen buttons are a little unintuitive, but that kind of unpredictability seems to be part and parcel of the Android experience.

On the Nexus 7?tablet, TripIt really comes into its own?especially when viewed in landscape mode. You don't lose your place as bright, spacious panels slide from right to left at a touch. When it displays navigation information, big Google-powered Maps fill the screen. It's a solid design, and my only complaint is that the app doesn't support left and right swiping instead forcing users to use the device's back-button.

TripIt offers four tiers of interaction for users. Users uninterested in spending any money can use TripIt's core functionality for free with an ad-supported version of the app. TripIt also offers an ad-free version for $3.99. There's also a corporate-level, where companies can use TripIt to manage travel information for an entire business. Business travelers can also take advantage of TripIt's close integration with SmartExpense, to quickly and easily produce and expense report.

The Pro Problem
TripIt also offers a Pro membership for $48.99 per year, which can be purchased from inside the app or through TripIt's website. With a Pro membership, users can receive flight status information in real-time; track frequent-flier points and other travel-related rewards systems; and alternate flight suggestions should you need them. Pro users can also have travel updates pushed to a list of individuals automatically, so the rube who picks you up from the airport will be informed that your flight is delayed while you're still in the air.

The Pro membership is clearly the thrust of TripIt's business, as both versions of the app retain all the Pro-only icons. Most of these are clearly marked, and clicking on them will pull up an ad to upgrade your account. However, there are many Pro-only options and constantly being prodded toward signing up for an expensive membership can be extremely irritating.

It's important to recognize that while TripIt brings a lot to the table, there's a lot of things it won't do. For instance, it doesn't store scannable boarding passes, though you can check-in for your flight if you are a Pro user. It also won't make travel arrangements for you. If you?re organizing a new trip manually, you'll need to have already made your plans. Even the alternate flights option for Pro users will only provide you with times, flight numbers, and a phone number to rebook yourself.

TripIt does, however, add some features through its partnership with other app developers.

At its core, TripIt is basically a digital wallet with some nice extras. The Pro membership is certainly not worth it unless you are a frequent traveler, given the price and the tools it provides. That's not to undercut the app or the service, because simply having that peace of mind and ease of access can certainly take the edge off traveling. If you need a dead-simple way to organize your travel plans, TripIt delivers.

More Android App Reviews:
??? TripIt Travel Organizer Free (for Android)
??? Minecraft-Pocket Edition (for Android)
??? Temple Run 2 (for Android)
??? Office Suite Pro 6.5 (for Android)
??? Small Call (for Android)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/3IomedBwk5c/0,2817,2414725,00.asp

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Syllabus and Reference Books for Delhi University M.Com Entrance ...

Micro Economics, Macro Economics, Indian Economy, Financial Accounting, Corporate Accounting, Cost Accounting, Business Mathematics, etc are the main topics included under the syllabus of Delhi University M.Com entrance test. Aspirants can prepare for the exam using reference books like Macroeconomic by Dornbusch Rudiger and Stanley Fisher, Financial Accounting by S. N. Maheshwari, Corporate Accounting by M.C., Shukla, T.S. Grewal and S.C. Gupta, and Fundamentals of Statistics by S.C. Gupta.
Syllabus for Delhi University M.Com Entrance Test
Micro Economics

• Demand & Supply
• Consumer Theory
• Production and Cost
• Market Structures
• Perfect Competition
• Imperfect Competition
• Income Distribution and Factor Pricing

Macro Economics

• National Income Determination
• Fiscal Policy
• GDP and Price Level in Short and Long Run
• Money in a Modern Economy
• IS ? LM Analysis

Indian Economy

• Foreign Trade
• Price
• Industry Policy

Financial Accounting

• Basic Concepts
• Accounting Process
• Final Accounts of Nonprofit Organization
• Consignment and Joint Venture Accounts
• Depreciation Accounting
• Inland Branches
• Dissolution of Partnership Firms

Corporate Accounting

• Accounting for share capital
• Redemption of preference shares
• Issue and Redemption of Debentures
• Final Accounts of Limited Liability Companies
• Accounting for Amalgamation of Companies
• Accounting for Internal Reconstruction
• Cash Flow Statements
• Financial Statements Analysis
• Operating profit ratio

Cost Accounting

• Cost concepts and classifications
• Accounting and Control of Material Cost
• Accounting and Control of Labour Cost
• Methods of Costing
• Reconciliation of Cost and Financial Accounts
• Marginal Costing
• Budgetary Control

Business Statistics

• Descriptive Statistics
• Positional Averages
• Correlation
• Regression
• Index Numbers
• Time Series Analysis

Business Mathematics

• Matrices and Determinants
• Calculus
• Basic Mathematics of Finance

Business Organization

• Business System and Contemporary Business Environment
• The Process of Management
• Leadership
• Conceptual Framework of Marketing Management

Business and Industrial Laws

• The Indian Contract Act, 1872
• The Sale of Goods Act, 1930
• The Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008
• Payment of Wages Act, 1936
• The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
• Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

General Knowledge and Current Affairs

• Important Personality
• Sports
• Business
• Events of National Importance
• Economy

Reference books for Micro Economics

• Micro Economics, an Advanced Treatise by SPS Chauhan
• Principal of Economics by R. G. Lipsey and K. A. Chrystal
• Microeconomic Theory by Gould Johnl and Edward P. Lazeor

Reference books for Macro Economics

• Principal of Economics by R. G. Lipsey and K. A. Chrystal
• Macroeconomic by Dornbusch Rudiger and Stanley Fisher

Reference books for Indian Economy

• Economics Development in the Third World by M. A. Todaro
• Indian Economy, Performance and Policies by Deepashree

Reference books for Financial Accounting

• Basic Financial Accounting by J.R Monga
• Financial Accounting by S. N. Maheshwari
• Fundamentals of Financial Accounting by Ashok Sehgal and Deepak Sehgal

Reference books for Corporate Accounting

• Basic Corporate Accounting by J.R Monga
• Corporate Accounting by M.C., Shukla, T.S. Grewal and S.C. Gupta
• Corporate Accounting by S.N. Maheshwari, and S.K. Maheshwari

Reference books for Cost Accounting

• Cost Accounting, Principles, Methods and Techniques by B.M. Lall Nigam and I.C. Jain
• Fundamentals of Cost Accounting by H. V. Jhamb
• Cost Accounting by M.C. Shukla, T.S. Grewal and M P. Gupta

Reference books for Business Statistics

• Fundamentals of Statistics by S.C. Gupta
• Statistics for Management by Richard Levin and David S. Rubin

Reference books for Business Mathematics

• Business Mathematics by J. K. Sharma
• Business Mathematics by J. K. Singh
• Mathematics for Economics by E.T. Dowling

Reference books for Business Organization

• Modern Business Organisation by Shankar, Gauri
• Principles of Management by Tripathi, P.C
• Concepts of Business: An Introduction to Business System by Bushkirk, R.H
• Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation &Control by 8. Kotler, Philip

Reference books for Business and Industrial Laws

• Business and Industrial Laws by J. P. Sharma, Sunaina Kanojia
• Business Laws by M.C. Kuchhal
• Business Law by P.C. Tulsian
• Students Guide to Mercantile and Commercial Laws by Rohini Aggarwal

Reference books for General Knowledge and Current Affairs

• Ramesh General Knowledge & Current Affairs
• Upkars General Knowledge Current Affairs Whos Who
• Arihant Objective General Knowledge

Referring journals and reading news dailies will also help students to increase their general knowledge. Study materials can also be collected from web.

Source: http://entrance-exam.net/syllabus-and-reference-books-for-delhi-university-mcom-entrance-test/

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