Adobe announces Creative Cloud updates to Muse and Photoshop, team subscriptions and more

Adobe announces Creative Cloud updates to Muse and Photoshop, team subscriptions and more

If you jumped on the Creative Cloud bandwagon, you're about to cash in one of the major perks of taking said leap. Keeping its promise to roll out new features to the aforementioned members first, Adobe has announced updates to Muse and Photoshop alongside Creative Cloud training materials and team subscriptions. Let's hit the highlights, shall we? Muse can not only help you publish websites without writing a line of code, but the software now offers assistance with smartphone and tablet-friendly versions of desktop sites, too. As far as new features for Photoshop CS6 are concerned, conditional actions (if this, then that), expanded Smart Object support, improved 3D effects and default type styles all settle in on the tool bench.

Looking to opt in to Adobe's software service for your entire studio? No worries, the company has also outed Creative Cloud subscriptions for teams -- complete with centralized admin tools and expert support -- for $69 per month. That's not all. Less than a month ago, the wraps were taken off of Creative Cloud Connection for sharing all of those essential project files. Now, said functionality is being trotted out in proper fashion. From what we gather, this will be a Dropbox-esque affair complete with drag-and-drop functionality that extends across Touch apps, too. Clients can also view design files here, like those from InDesign, even if they don't have the requisite software installed on their machines. If that wasn't enough, training materials are on the way in the form of exclusive content for card-carrying members. Get all that? Good. For the full rundown on all of the new features, consult the full PR that follows.

Continue reading Adobe announces Creative Cloud updates to Muse and Photoshop, team subscriptions and more

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Source: Adobe (Photoshop Blog)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/11/adobe-creative-cloud-updates/

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Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar dies at 92

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2012 file photo, Indian musician Ravi Shankar laughs as he speaks during a concert in Bangalore, India. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, has died. He was 92. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2012 file photo, Indian musician Ravi Shankar laughs as he speaks during a concert in Bangalore, India. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, has died. He was 92. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2002 file photo, Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, left, and his daughter Anoushka Shankar laugh during the shooting of a film endorsing the strengthening of Indian laws against animal cruelty in New Delhi. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. He was 92. (AP photo/Gurinder Osan, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 1967 file photo, George Harrison, of the Beatles, left, sits cross-legged with his musical mentor, Ravi Shankar of India, in Los Angeles, as Harrison explains to newsmen that Shankar is teaching him to play the sitar. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. He was 92. (AP File Photo)

FILE - In this 1967 file photo, Ravi Shankar plays his sitar in Los Angeles. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. He was 92. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2012 file photo, Indian musician and sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, 92, performs during a concert in Bangalore, India. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. He was 92. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

(AP) ? With an instrument perplexing to most Westerners, Ravi Shankar helped connect the world through music. The sitar virtuoso hobnobbed with the Beatles, became a hippie musical icon and spearheaded the first rock benefit concert as he introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over nearly a century.

From George Harrison to John Coltrane, from Yehudi Menuhin to David Crosby, his connections reflected music's universality, though a gap persisted between Shankar and many Western fans. Sometimes they mistook tuning for tunes, while he stood aghast at displays like Jimi Hendrix's burning guitar.

Shankar died Tuesday at age 92. A statement on his website said he died in San Diego, near his Southern California home with his wife and a daughter by his side. The musician's foundation issued a statement saying that he had suffered upper respiratory and heart problems and had undergone heart-valve replacement surgery last week.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also confirmed Shankar's death and called him a "national treasure."

Labeled "the godfather of world music" by Harrison, Shankar helped millions of classical, jazz and rock lovers discover the centuries-old traditions of Indian music.

"He was legend of legends," Shivkumar Sharma, a noted santoor player who performed with Shankar, told Indian media. "Indian classical was not at all known in the Western world. He was the musician who had that training ... the ability to communicate with the Western audience."

He also pioneered the concept of the rock benefit with the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh. To later generations, he was known as the estranged father of popular American singer Norah Jones.

His last musical performance was with his other daughter, sitarist Anoushka Shankar Wright, on Nov. 4 in Long Beach, California; his foundation said it was to celebrate his 10th decade of creating music. The multiple Grammy winner learned that he had again been nominated for the award the night before his surgery.

"It's one of the biggest losses for the music world," said Kartic Seshadri, a Shankar protege, sitar virtuoso and music professor at the University of California, San Diego. "There's nothing more to be said."

As early as the 1950s, Shankar began collaborating with and teaching some of the greats of Western music, including violinist Menuhin and jazz saxophonist Coltrane. He played well-received shows in concert halls in Europe and the United States, but faced a constant struggle to bridge the musical gap between the West and the East.

Describing an early Shankar tour in 1957, Time magazine said. "U.S. audiences were receptive but occasionally puzzled."

His close relationship with Harrison, the Beatles lead guitarist, shot Shankar to global stardom in the 1960s.

Harrison had grown fascinated with the sitar, a long-necked string instrument that uses a bulbous gourd for its resonating chamber and resembles a giant lute. He played the instrument, with a Western tuning, on the song "Norwegian Wood," but soon sought out Shankar, already a musical icon in India, to teach him to play it properly.

The pair spent weeks together, starting the lessons at Harrison's house in England and then moving to a houseboat in Kashmir and later to California.

Gaining confidence with the complex instrument, Harrison recorded the Indian-inspired song "Within You Without You" on the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," helping spark the raga-rock phase of 60s music and drawing increasing attention to Shankar and his work.

Shankar's popularity exploded, and he soon found himself playing on bills with some of the top rock musicians of the era. He played a four-hour set at the Monterey Pop Festival and the opening day of Woodstock.

Though the audience for his music had hugely expanded, Shankar, a serious, disciplined traditionalist who had played Carnegie Hall, chafed against the drug use and rebelliousness of the hippie culture.

"I was shocked to see people dressing so flamboyantly. They were all stoned. To me, it was a new world," Shankar told Rolling Stone of the Monterey festival.

While he enjoyed Otis Redding and the Mamas and the Papas at the festival, he was horrified when Hendrix lit his guitar on fire.

"That was too much for me. In our culture, we have such respect for musical instruments, they are like part of God," he said.

In 1971, moved by the plight of millions of refugees fleeing into India to escape the war in Bangladesh, Shankar reached out to Harrison to see what they could do to help.

In what Shankar later described as "one of the most moving and intense musical experiences of the century," the pair organized two benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden that included Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr.

The concert, which spawned an album and a film, raised millions of dollars for UNICEF and inspired other rock benefits, including the 1985 Live Aid concert to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and the 2010 Hope For Haiti Now telethon.

Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury was born April 7, 1920, in the Indian city of Varanasi.

At the age of 10, he moved to Paris to join the world famous dance troupe of his brother Uday. Over the next eight years, Shankar traveled with the troupe across Europe, America and Asia, and later credited his early immersion in foreign cultures with making him such an effective ambassador for Indian music.

During one tour, renowned musician Baba Allaudin Khan joined the troupe, took Shankar under his wing and eventually became his teacher through 7 1/2 years of isolated, rigorous study of the sitar.

"Khan told me you have to leave everything else and do one thing properly," Shankar told The Associated Press.

In the 1950s, Shankar began gaining fame throughout India. He held the influential position of music director for All India Radio in New Delhi and wrote the scores for several popular films. He began writing compositions for orchestras, blending clarinets and other foreign instruments into traditional Indian music.

And he became a de facto tutor for Westerners fascinated by India's musical traditions.

He gave lessons to Coltrane, who named his son Ravi in Shankar's honor, and became close friends with Menuhin, recording the acclaimed "West Meets East" album with him. He also collaborated with flutist Jean Pierre Rampal, composer Philip Glass and conductors Andre Previn and Zubin Mehta.

"Any player on any instrument with any ears would be deeply moved by Ravi Shankar. If you love music, it would be impossible not to be," singer Crosby, whose band The Byrds was inspired by Shankar's music, said in the book "The Dawn of Indian Music in the West: Bhairavi."

Shankar's personal life, however, was more complex.

His 1941 marriage to Baba Allaudin Khan's daughter, Annapurna Devi, ended in divorce. Though he had a decades-long relationship with dancer Kamala Shastri that ended in 1981, he had relationships with several other women in the 1970s.

In 1979, he fathered Norah Jones with New York concert promoter Sue Jones, and in 1981, Sukanya Rajan, who played the tanpura at his concerts, gave birth to his daughter Anoushka.

He grew estranged from Sue Jones in the 80s and didn't see Norah for a decade, though they later re-established contact.

He married Rajan in 1989 and trained young Anoushka as his heir on the sitar. In recent years, father and daughter toured the world together.

The statement she and her mother released said, "Although it is a time for sorrow and sadness, it is also a time for all of us to give thanks and to be grateful that we were able to have him as part of our lives."

When Jones shot to stardom and won five Grammy awards in 2003, Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy of her own.

Shankar himself won three Grammy awards and was nominated for an Oscar for his musical score for the movie "Gandhi." His album "The Living Room Sessions, Part 1" earned him his latest Grammy nomination, for best world music album.

Despite his fame, numerous albums and decades of world tours, Shankar's music remained a riddle to many Western ears.

Shankar was amused after he and colleague Ustad Ali Akbar Khan were greeted with admiring applause when they opened the Concert for Bangladesh by twanging their sitar and sarod for a minute and a half.

"If you like our tuning so much, I hope you will enjoy the playing more," he told the confused crowd, and then launched into his set.

___

Nessman reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-12-India-Obit-Shankar/id-d53ce1b5c5ec44ae8beb3f4624ef905a

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Chinese firms make great leap forward -- onto US soil

20 hrs.

U.S. manufacturing is getting a dose of medicine ? Chinese medicine, that is. And while, like much Chinese medicine, it?s unpalatable to Americans, experts say it?s a salve the economy needs.

Chinese investors will sink as much as $7 billion into American companies this year, and there?s more where that came from. ?I think there?s a good case to be made that the number?s going to be higher next year,? said Thilo Hanemann, director of research at Rhodium Group, a consulting firm. ?In general, we are at the beginning of a structural trend. If you look forward to 2103, there?s quite a few deals in the pipeline we already know of.?

Rhodium?s $7 billion figure goes beyond manufacturing to cover all Chinese investment, like the pending deal between AIG, which is selling just over 80 percent of its airplane-leasing unit, and a consortium of Chinese investors.

Chinese investment in European companies has surpassed the $10 billion mark, Hanemann said, as the country flexes its growing economic muscle. A new report by the National Intelligence Council says China will surpass the United States as the world?s top economy before 2030. Predictions like this provoke worry among some people in the U.S., especially since the ambitions of its industry and state often are intertwined in China, but Hanemann said the concern is overblown.

Contrary to the belief that Chinese buyers will gut a company?s intellectual property and then move production to China, a Rhodium analysis of hundreds of deals over the past decade showed that Chinese involvement was more likely to preserve or grow rather than erode the local job market.

Manufacturing is especially good at this. ?There?s a big ripple effect,? said manufacturing consultant Bill Waddell. ?Manufacturing, more than any other industry, drags a big tail. It creates a lot of jobs outside the factory.? China?s interest in American manufacturing is concentrated in alternative energy, electronics, aviation and other high-skill industries. ?Fairly expensive manufacturing are the things that are going to come back here,? he said.

And jobs in those industries tend to be good ones, said Jeff Strohl, director of research at Georgetown University?s Center on Education and the Workforce.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median pay for a tool-and-die machinist is roughly twice what a child care worker earns, and 25 percent higher than what an unskilled assembly line worker makes.

Chinese firms (as well as American ones) seek out lower labor costs by building facilities in Southern states, where right-to-work rules translate to lower wages, especially for unskilled labor, where the pool of workers is larger than the demand. ?There?s been a growing duality in the labor market, even in manufacturing,? Strohl said.

In a handful of cases, Chinese manufacturers are investing to build factories on American soil. In October, computer maker Lenovo announced plans to open a factory in North Carolina next year that will crank out laptops, tablets and desktop computers.

Analysts speculate that Apple will turn to long-time manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Group ? which recently expressed a desire to expand its U.S. footprint ? when it comes to making computers in America, as CEO Tim Cook announced the company will begin doing next year. Tianjin Pipe Co. broke ground on a $1 billion plant in Texas last year, and Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group is building a $100 million factory in Alabama scheduled to open in 2014.

Hanemann said Chinese companies more commonly enter the American manufacturing sector through acquisitions. ?Chinese companies are highly interested in moving up the value chain,? he said. It?s quicker to buy than to build.

Wanxiang Group Co., a Chinese maker of car parts, just placed the winning bid in a bankruptcy auction for A123 Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that makes batteries for electric cars. Earlier this fall, Silicon Valley solar cell maker MiaSol? was bought by Hanergy Holding Group for $30 million after reportedly burning through $500 million in venture capital.

Purchasing a company, even a troubled one, gives Chinese buyers access to human talent and know-how. ?Oftentimes, when we talk about technology and manufacturing, it?s not so much about patents or the physical assets but the human knowledge that exists on the ground in those operations,? Hanemann said.

Chinese companies want to build here for a few reasons. As China?s economy has boomed and its people have become more affluent, the cost of producing goods there has risen steadily. Also, rising fuel costs have pushed up the price of shipping items across the Pacific Ocean.

It?s an economic shift that big American manufacturers are responding to, as well; research published earlier this year by the Boston Consulting Group said that more than a third are considering or planning to relocate production back to the United States.

Then there?s the tariff issue. Manufacturing in the United States keeps Chinese firms from running afoul of regulators. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill sent a letter to the acting director of U.S. Customs & Border patrol earlier this year, pointing out that much of the Chinese-led manufacturing coming to the U.S. is in industries where Chinese firms have faced anti-dumping penalties. She urged the agency to step up enforcement against attempts by importers to evade tariffs.

Finally, there?s the marketing aspect. A ?Made in USA? label reassures buyers here. In some cases, it confers cachet on items exported to be sold to China?s growing consumer class. Appliance maker Haier, a pioneer when it opened a refrigerator plant in South Carolina more than a decade ago, ships high-end refrigerators made in the U.S. back home for sale in China.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/chinese-manufacturers-make-great-leap-forward-us-soil-1C7532578

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PM Note: Obama Interviewed by Barbara Walters, Michigan Gov. Signs Bill, Concealed Guns in 50 States

EXCLUSIVE: Obama Talks 'Fiscal Cliff' with Barbara Walters, Predicts GOP Will Cave on Tax Rates, But Suggests Trade for Spending Cuts

Also - Recognizes Syrian Opposition

Watch Barbara Walters' 4th Annual Holiday Interview at the White House on 20/20 - Friday Night at 10 p.m. ET-

Comprehensive reports on Obama and Walters from Devin Dwyer: Fiscal Cliff - http://abcn.ws/TO5bxQ Syria - http://abcn.ws/QUfxPw

Before we dive into the Obama interview, some other Notables:

Another Exclusive - Women Senators Tell Diane Sawyer They'd Have 'Fiscal Cliff' Solved - http://abcn.ws/U2m6j7 Mich. Gov. Signs 'Right to Work' Anti-Union Bill - http://abcn.ws/Uf9ody 50th State Must Allow Concealed Guns - Illinois must authorize conceal and carry handguns - State has 180 days to comply with court decision that makes concealed weapons legal (to varying degrees) nationwide - http://abcn.ws/TNUoDD U.S. Sells Final AIG Shares for $22.7 Billion in Profit - http://abcn.ws/X6KAWw

Back to Obama -

Obama Suggests Trade Spending for Tax Hike on Wealthy - The president hinted at new flexibility on entitlement spending cuts, but only once Republicans concede on top tax rates.

"If the Republicans can move on that [taxes] then we are prepared to do some tough things on the spending side," Obama said. "Taxes are going to go up one way or another. And I think the key is that taxes go up on high-end individuals."

(As Obama was giving the interview, Speaker John Boehner was on the House floor calling for the White House to offer more spending cuts)

On Tax Rates - 'Hostage' Negotiation - "I'm pretty confident that Republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to trying to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals," Obama told Walters.

"I don't think they'll do that," he said of rates for families earning $250,000 a year or less.

"I remain optimistic. I'd like to see a big package. But the most important thing we can do is make sure that middle class taxes do not go up on Jan. 1."

?

"I believe that both Speaker Boehner and myself and the other leaders want to see a deal happen. And the question now is can we get it done. The outlines, the framework of what a deal should look like are pretty straightforward." http://abcn.ws/TO5bxQ

Medicare - Raising the Medicare age from 65 to 67 is "something that's been floated," Obama said, not dismissing the idea outright.

"When you look at the evidence it's not clear that it actually saves a lot of money," he said. "But what I've said is let's look at every avenue, because what is true is we need to strengthen social security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we've got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly." http://abcn.ws/TO5bxQ

Latest 'Cliff' Talks - Jon Karl reports: Bottom Line: Still no real progress.

There has been an exchange of offers between the White House and the Speaker of the House over the last 24 hours.

Last night, the White House sent the Speaker an offer that looked very similar to what they had previously proposed (the first offer was $1.6 trillion in tax increases; I am told the most recent offer was $1.4 trillion). Still nothing new on spending.

House Republicans viewed the offer as unserious (in fact, they saw it as a step backwards because they thought the White House was moving to $1.2 trillion).

So - House Republicans offered a counter-offer this afternoon that looks almost exactly like what they had offered previously: $800 billion in tax revenue (through tax reform, not higher rates).

Syria - "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population," Obama told Walters.

Obama expressed caution about some Syrian factions involved in the coalition, warning that the U.S. will not support extremist elements.

"Not everybody who's participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with," Obama told Walters. "There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-US agenda. And we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements."

The president specifically singled out the group Jabhat al-Nusra for its alleged affiliation with Al Qaeda in Iraq. The Obama administration blacklisted al-Nusra earlier this week, imposing economic sanctions and branding it a terrorist organization.

"Obviously, with that recognition comes responsibilities," Obama said of the young coalition. "To make sure that they organize themselves effectively, that they are representative of all the parties, [and] that they commit themselves to a political transition that respects women's rights and minority rights."

*Hillary Clinton had been expected to make the recognition in Marrakesh, but illness derailed h er trip. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will go in her stead -

Mich. Gov Signs Bill to Curb Unions - From Elizabeth Hartfield - Michigan's Republican-controlled state legislature approved a controversial right-to-work bill today by a vote of 58-51. Michigan's law makes the payment of union dues voluntary for private-sector unions and most public-sector unions (police and firefighters would be exempt). In anticipation of the vote, thousands of protesters descended on the statehouse in Lansing today, demonstrating their opposition to the bill both inside and outside the Capitol building. Demonstrations also moved to the governor's main office as well which is officially titled the Romney building, after former Michigan Gov. George Romney (father of Mitt).

There's symbolism in the location. During his tenure as governor, Romney signed the first bills in the state that gave collective bargaining rights to public-sector employees. http://abcn.ws/Uf9ody

Americans Invested in 'Fiscal Cliff' - Chris Good reports: Budget stalemates can be esoteric and abstract, but for many Americans, this one isn't. A new Gallup poll finds that 64 percent believe there would be a negative effect on their "personal financial situation" if "the fiscal cliff tax increases and spending cuts go into effect," while 33 percent said they don't. Among key subgroups, just about everyone is worried. Concerns were higher (68 percent) among lower-income households, making less than $36,000 per year, than among Gallup's two higher-income brackets (62 percent in each). Those with children under 18 (67 percent) were more concerned than those without (63 percent). http://abcn.ws/Uy5zPM

Obama's 2nd Inaugural: Afterthought - AP's Nedra Pickler - ?"The capital is pre-occupied with a looming economic crisis, exit from war and a reshuffling in Congress. Ticket demand is lower. Hotels are far from booked. And from Capitol Hill to the White House, the upcoming festivities seem to be barely on anyone's radar. More muted inaugural celebrations are typical with every second presidential term. But it's almost as if Obama's swearing-in, on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, is a been-there-done-that afterthought around town. Perhaps Obama is a victim of his own historical significance. Perhaps it's a sign of how far the nation has come, some 50 years after the March on Washington that drew a multitude of people calling for civil and economic rights for African-Americans." http://abcn.ws/XQ1NbD

Michelle Obama Collects Toys for Tots with Marines - http://abcn.ws/UyEdZD

Jewish Representation in Congress Falls - http://abcn.ws/W3o4yR

Atlanta Councilman to Run 100 Miles for Weight-Loss Challenge-Atlanta Councilman H. Lamar Willis weighed more than 327 pounds a year ago. He has since managed to lose more than 100 pounds and isn't going to stop there. http://abcn.ws/UekMqa (Jilian Fama)

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pm-note-obama-interviewed-barbara-walters-michigan-gov-233914553--abc-news-politics.html

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Holiday Skin Care Treats : Ideas For Women Health and Fitness Blog

Skin care for women is a life long concern. Treat yourself this holiday to some of the newest and best skin care product on the market. Start with a great cleanser. There are a variety of cleansers out there depending on your skin type and the flaws you may be trying to correct. Skin care cleansers come in all price points too so there is something for everyone. Search for products that meet your skin care needs. If you have acne, choose one that addresses adult acne. If you have oily skin, choose a cleanser specifically for oily skin.

Moisturizing is the next step to healthy skin. Again, many products out there so shop around for the best deals on the brands and the scents that you love.

The holiday may be the time to give yourself an extra special treat? something you normally wouldn?t buy. Examples of this might be a skin scrubber with rotating discs that exfoliate and cleanse. Or how about a gift certificate for a day spa for a mud treatment or eyebrow wax?

Companies make many claims when it comes to skin care, so you may need to try a few products by a few companies before you find what you like best. The most expensive may not always be the one you find you like the best. ?Take this holiday to give yourself the gift of a new brand skin care product and see how you like it. Skin care is an important part of looking and feeling your best. Remember, your health matters.


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Source: http://blogs.ideasforwomen.com/blogs/health/2012/12/11/holiday-skin-care-treats/

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Oppo launches Find 5, touts 5-inch 1080p display, quad-core and 13MP camera

Oppo finally launches Find 5, touts 5inch 1080p display and quadcore chip handson

At last, the wait is over for Oppo's latest flagship device. Launched in Beijing earlier, the Find 5 comes with pretty much all the top ingredients in the current market -- many of which had been teased by the company multiple times already: 5-inch 1080p display, Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 chip with 2GB RAM, a 2,500mAh battery and Android 4.1.2. There's also NFC, and on top of that, the Find 5 comes with a special version of Sina Weibo that uses the phone's NFC to let users instantly follow each other. The 13-megapixel, 5fps camera on the back isn't just about numbers, as it also packs fast hardware-enabled HDR for both photos and video! Oppo claims it's the first in the mobile industry to carry this awesome feature. Additionally, the main camera can capture slow motion of up to 120fps, though it isn't clear whether the resolution is reduced to achieve this. On the other side of the device there's also a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera, which beats most phones these days. Audio-wise the Find 5 features Dirac HD, a technology that's embraced by the likes of BMW, Bentley, Rolls Royce and Datasat; making Oppo the first mobile phone brand to join the party. The included earphones are fine-tuned for Dirac, naturally.

Alas, much like the Droid DNA, this Chinese superphone also suffers from the lack of microSD expansion, so users may struggle to fully appreciate the 441ppi screen with just 16GB of built-in storage. As for pricing, we already know that the US will offer the Find 5 for $499, and luckily, it'll just ¥2,998 or about $480 in China, but it'll be about a month before the phone reaches its various markets, including the US. Stay tuned for our hands-on, and there's also a press release after the break for the time being.

Update: Our hands-on is up!

Continue reading Oppo launches Find 5, touts 5-inch 1080p display, quad-core and 13MP camera

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Morgan Keegan asks court to declare it fully paid ex-NBA star

(Reuters) - Morgan Keegan & Co. has asked a federal court to resolve its dispute with retired basketball player Horace Grant over $333,000 in interest that Grant says the brokerage owes him on a $1.46 million arbitration award, according to court documents.

Morgan Keegan on Monday filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for an acknowledgment that it has satisfied its monetary obligation to Grant in a long-running legal dispute.

Morgan Keegan, a unit of Raymond James Financial Inc. , is refusing to pay Grant $333,000 in interest that Grant says he is owed on a 2009 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration award. The brokerage, in court documents , said it already paid Grant $1.59 million and that an interest calculation by Grant's lawyer is wrong.

Grant's arbitration complaint against Morgan Keegan stemmed from losses in bond funds that invested in risky mortgage-backed securities and were marketed as being safe. The funds later lost as much as 80 percent as the subprime market imploded. The brokerage has paid a $200 million civil regulatory fine over the funds, and a star manager at the firm was banned from the securities industry.

Morgan Keegan went to federal court in 2009 where it waged a three-year, unsuccessful battle to overturn Grant's award, which included $1.45 million in damages and $10,000 in costs.

At issue in the Grant case is what interest rate applies for a two-year period during which the case was pending before the federal appeals court -- a 10 percent state rate of interest or a 0.29-percent federal rate.

"The firm engages in scorched earth litigation tactics," said Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based lawyer who represents Grant.

In November, Stoltmann requested that FINRA, Wall Street's industry-funded watchdog, suspend Morgan Keegan's license for not complying with the terms of the arbitration ruling.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, also on Monday, filed civil charges against eight former board members of mutual funds run by Morgan Keegan, including one of the firm's founders, saying they failed to oversee managers in the same troubled bond funds who inaccurately priced toxic mortgage-backed assets leading up to the financial crisis.

(Reporting By Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/morgan-keegan-asks-court-declare-fully-paid-ex-223728248--sector.html

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Here's Michael Roth's Email Naming A New PR ... - Business Insider

Boardroom Insiders / Screengrab

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Interpublic Group CEO Michael Roth sent this email to his top staff last week, informing them that CFO Frank Mergenthaler was now adding the role of head of all IPG's PR agencies to his duties.

Companies in Interpublic's "Constituency Management Group," which includes its PR giants such as Golin Harris and Weber Shandwick, will now report to Mergenthaler.

They had previously reported to Harris Diamond, who was appointed CEO of McCann in November.

The move means that a fifth piece of Interpublic's agency empire is now headed by an executive with a non-advertising background. (The other four are Diamond, the PR man at McCann; Roth, the former banker who is CEO of IPG; DraftFCB president Laurence Boschetto, who hails from the direct marketing agency Draft Direct; and R/GA chief Bob Greenberg, who has a digital/video resume.) Mergenthaler's background is in corporate finance, of course. Interpublic is unique among the agency holding companies for eschewing admen and women in its top ranks.

Having said that, Mergenthaler is perfectly qualified to run the business ? he's been the CFO at IPG since 2005.

Here's the memo:

To Agency Leadership:
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Two weeks ago, we announced that the CMG companies, including Futurebrand, Golin Harris, Jack Morton, Octagon, Weber Shandwick, would report directly to IPG.
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Accordingly, Frank Mergenthaler will be taking on this added leadership responsibility, in addition to his role as Executive Vice President and CFO of Interpublic. The CEOs of and all operations within our specialist marketing agencies that make up CMG will now report directly to him, as they had previously to Harris Diamond.
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Since 2005, Frank has overseen every facet of the finance function at IPG and has worked closely with leadership teams across our operating units around the world on operational and strategic matters. He has been a very quick study on the business of our business ? understanding the promise of marketing services and of dynamic industry sectors such as public relations, sports and experiential marketing and corporate identity.
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Frank has built a terrific corporate finance team, which will allow him to take on this added responsibility for CMG. He?s excited about taking this step into a high-growth part of IPG. I?m sure that with him at the helm, we can all look forward to continued success and innovation driven by the great leadership and people that are in place across the division.
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As always, thank you for your continued dedication in applying your talent to the needs of our clients.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/frank-mergenthaler-becomes-interpublics-new-cmg--pr-chief-2012-12

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Deep divides in Dubai at UN talks on Internet

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Talks over possible new U.N. regulations for the Internet were deeply divided Monday, with Russia and others advocating for more government control, while a U.S.-led bloc warned against rules that could restrict freedoms in cyberspace.

The Dubai conference, which wraps up later this week, is not empowered to bring about any immediate changes on how the Internet operates. But the U.S. and its backers argue that sanctioning greater government roles in Internet oversight could allow governments that already heavily censor Web traffic, such as China or Iran, to justify more restrictions and monitoring.

A high-powered U.S. delegation ? including representatives from tech giants such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. ? has tried to block all discussions of possible Internet regulations. The effort, however, has met strong resistance from countries such as Russia that want a greater control over Net commerce and security.

So far, the closed-door talks have failed to find much common ground at the 193-nation U.N. International Telecommunications Union, which last updated its rules in 1988, long before the Internet became a global force.

"What's happened in the conference is a variety of proposals have come in from other nations that get into the Internet, that look at Internet governance," said the head of the 123-member U.S. delegation, Ambassador Terry Kramer, in a video uploaded by organizers late Sunday. "It creates an open door for review of content and potential censorship there. It will create a chilling environment for the Internet."

For several days, U.S.-led envoys fought against a proposal submitted by the host United Arab Emirates, which last month passed sweeping new Internet laws outlawing social media posts that insult rulers or call for protests.

The proposal ? backed by Russia, China and other Arab states ? was removed from discussion Monday, conference organizers said, after an uproar from Web activists who support the American position. Among its provisions was a call for governments to have "equal rights to manage the Internet," including its technical workings, according to a text leaked by a website, wcitleaks.org. The site claimed to have access to meeting documents not yet made public.

It's unclear, however, whether the American views have gained the upper hand as the talks move into their final days. U.S. officials say other proposals that support a greater government voice in Internet affairs are still active.

"These issues will continue to be on the table for discussions in other forms during the remainder of the conference," said Kramer.

Many experts on Internet technology believe the proposals could further squeeze the Net in countries where it is already closely regulated, even though it won't fundamentally alter cyberspace practices in places with traditions of openness.

"These proposals would break what's working ? freedom of information and freedom of access," tech analyst Elise Ackerman wrote in a column for Forbes. "And they wouldn't help fix the parts of the Internet that need reinforcing, namely security and privacy."

She noted that the conference reflects a general push for more "international policymaking" as the U.S. dominance of the Internet weakens.

On Monday, the head of the U.N. telecoms agency, Hamadoun Toure, was scheduled to meet with civil society groups who have complained of being excluded from the talks.

Other issues at the conference also remain unresolved, including a European-led proposal to charge content providers for access to cross-border markets. The idea is strongly opposed by U.S. companies such as Google, Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others. Supporters say the so-called "toll" could be used by developing countries to fund expansion of Internet services.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deep-divides-dubai-un-talks-internet-123040002--finance.html

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Cisco grabs for 'No. 1 IT company' crown

(AP) ? Cisco Systems Inc. isn't content to be the world's largest maker of computer networking gear. It says it wants to become the "No. 1" supplier of information technology to big businesses by broadening its offerings of services and software.

But when Cisco says "No. 1 IT company," it doesn't mean that it's going to be the biggest-selling company. That goal is out of reach, as IBM Corp.'s revenue is twice that of Cisco.

Rather, Cisco CEO John Chambers says he wants the company to loom largest in the minds of its customers and to be the one setting the pace in the industry. Being No. 1, he says, means having the best customer satisfaction and the best profit margins for products.

The strategy statement, articulated Friday at a presentation for Wall Street analysts, follows some lean years that have seen Cisco retrench from even broader goals, which included trying to establish itself as a consumer brand and buying a maker of camcorders. The new direction will be supported by a global advertising campaign with the slogan "Tomorrow starts here." The ad campaign starts Monday.

"The play sounds a lot like the IBM story," Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold said. After the maker of mainframe computers struggled in the 1980s with the rise of cheap microprocessors and rapid changes in the industry, IBM successfully transformed itself into a company that combined consulting services, software and hardware.

For Cisco, the new playbook comes as Chambers, who is 63 and one of the longest-serving CEOs in Silicon Valley, is nearing retirement and looking to hand over to a successor in two to four years. There are two chief candidates, who appeared with Chambers on Friday: Rob Lloyd, the head of sales and product development, and Gary Moore, the chief operating officer.

"Both Rob and I are prepared to be the CEO," Moore said, adding that whoever wasn't chosen would accept the board's decision and remain with the company.

Chambers told analysts that Cisco pulls in about $6 billion from software per year and plans to double that in the next three to five years. That's not a figure the company usually breaks out, as most of its software is deeply integrated into hardware such as routers and switches, which shunt data through networks.

Analysts at the meeting were unsure how to incorporate the figure into their models, and the company didn't give a lot of specifics on how it hoped to achieve that.

Analysts also questioned how Cisco hopes to be the top player when it doesn't sell the massive storage arrays that big companies need for their data. Chambers said Cisco will keep partnering with companies that do sell storage products, including IBM and EMC Corp.

Apart from IBM, Cisco's chief competitors for the "No. 1 IT" throne are Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., SAG AG and Hewlett-Packard Co. Cisco partners closely with them, except for HP.

Chambers said the company is sticking to its forecast of growing sales by 5 percent to 7 percent per year and its earnings slightly faster, at 7 percent to 9 percent per year. Both figures represent pullbacks from the past two decades, when the San Jose, Calif., company often grew sales by more than 10 percent per year.

Cisco's stock fell 15 cents, or 0.7 percent, to close Friday at $19.33.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-12-07-Cisco-Strategy/id-810f1cd9f4064f8cb74352e2b290e6f9

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