Category: News

I feel so good today! I don’t know what it is, but I hope this feeling lasts into the week:)

I woke up and organized/cleaned, which always makes me feel..cleansed? I decided yesterday that today I want to make a tomato sauce! I’ve been craving a nice, homemade sauce for awhile now, but I rarely make one since I know it could never compare to my mom’s!! She told me over the phone what she does, so I am going to mimic it the best I can. I’m also adding ground turkey breast to mine. She usually does the whole ground beef and italian sausage deal with amazing meatballs *drool* and she cooks it ALL. DAY. Growing up, I have found memories of the weekends when her sauces would start early in the morning and simmer all day long. The smell would permeate throughout the whole house. We’d always have good bread, too. I miss those days.

As much as I want to follow a vegetarian diet, I find that I don’t feel well when I do. I just feel better at times when I have animal products. Truthfully, this makes me feel guilty and sad, but I just do not like feeling like crap! Honestly, I’m all about listening to what my body needs. Sometimes it wants all fruits, veggies, and grains and rebels against any sort of animals, even dairy! And then there are times when I know I just need it.
Does anyone else feel this way? I feel guilty, I guess, since I read a lot of blogs related to vegetarianism and veganism, but everyone is different, right?

Lately, I’ve been on the search for a good, daily moisturizer. I was using Alba organics prior, but it is gone and I’m ready for something new. I use Yes To Carrots cream at night and I like that, so I thought I’d give it a try. I found a Yes to Cucumnbers facial kit on sale at Target. It includes a headband (haha), a facial cleansing gel, a facial hydrating lotion, and soothing eye gel.

After a bunch of errands this afternoon, I came home, put away all the food, and made a delicious lunch consisting of: whole wheat pita with hummus, baked until hot and then topped with organic spinach, fresh basil from my porch (love!!), organic tomato slices, and (the best) kalamata olives. I love making these little pizzas! On the side, I had a fruit salad from Publix.
I’m ready to start cooking my sauce!

Max says, “hi!”

Totally random, but does anyone else get extreme joy out of purchasing stupid things, like hand soap, sponges, etc? I don’t know, I’m a freak!

Consumers seem to be getting their debt under control as credit card delinquencies and late payments from June to September fell to 1.1%:

—–

TransUnion.com released today the results of its analysis of trends in the credit card lending industry for the third quarter of 2009. The report is part of an ongoing series of quarterly consumer lending sector analyses focusing on credit card, auto loan and mortgage data available on TransUnion’s Web site at www.transunion.com/trenddata. Information for this analysis is culled quarterly from approximately 27 million anonymous, randomly sampled, individual credit files, representing approximately 10 percent of credit-active U.S. consumers and providing a real-life perspective on how they are managing their credit health.

Statistics

The national credit card delinquency rate (the ratio of bankcard borrowers 90 days or more delinquent on one or more of their credit cards) dropped to 1.10 percent in the third quarter of 2009, down 5.98 percent over the previous quarter. Year over year, credit card delinquencies remained essentially flat from 1.09 percent in the third quarter of 2008. As expected, incidence of credit card delinquency was highest in Nevada (1.98 percent), followed closely by Florida (1.47 percent) and Arizona (1.35 percent). The lowest credit card delinquency incidence rates were found in North Dakota (0.66 percent), South Dakota (0.70 percent) and Alaska (0.73 percent). Mississippi saw the largest quarter-over-quarter drop of 13.4 percent in credit card delinquency. In comparison to last quarter, where no state experienced a quarterly increase in delinquency rates, the third quarter saw 8 states log an increase.

Average credit card borrower debt (defined as the aggregate balance on all bank-issued credit cards for an individual bankcard borrower) drifted downward nationally 1.87 percent to $5,612 from the previous quarter’s $5,719, and down 1.71 percent compared to the third quarter of 2008 ($5,710). The highest state average credit card debt remains in Alaska at $7,699, followed by Tennessee at $7,039 and Alabama at $6,453. The lowest average credit card debt was found in Iowa ($4,225), followed by North Dakota ($4,449) and Wisconsin ($4,602).

The steepest increases in average credit card debt over the previous quarter occurred in Hawaii (+5.48 percent), North Dakota (+0.71 percent) and Alaska (+0.44 percent). The District of Columbia experienced the largest drop in average credit card debt (-10.05 percent), followed by Nevada (-3.16 percent) and Delaware (-3.11 percent).

U.S. Analysis

“For the first time in ten years, third quarter national delinquency rates showed a decrease from the previous quarter, indicating a departure from the usual seasonal patterns. This movement could have occurred for a number of reasons. First, the national savings rate fell in the third quarter, possibly indicating continued consumer efforts to keep debt to a minimum and debt repayment under control in the face of an already depressed labor market. Consumers recognize that their credit cards are their primary purchasing vehicles in this economy,” said Ezra Becker, director of consulting and strategy in TransUnion’s financial services group. Second, many lending institutions modified credit card rules, fees and charges in the third quarter, in advance of the Credit CARD Act taking effect in February 2010. Those changes almost certainly impacted the dynamics of third quarter performance.

“An early indicator of the impact these term modifications will have on consumers and their credit habits in terms of debt and delinquencies will likely be revealed during the upcoming holiday season and immediately thereafter. However, the long-range effect is as yet unclear. In all events, it is anticipated that the market will experience a different lending dynamic and a material shift in the use of credit cards and marketshare across the industry. This recession has taught the U.S. consumer many lessons: shop around for the best deal, maximize the value of your spend and protect your day-to-day liquidity. While TransUnion still expects to see seasonal behavior patterns in delinquency rates, the industry is still in flux as to what the new historical norms might be,” continued Becker.

Forecast

“With positive GDP now being reported along with an expectation that the national saving rate will drift downward in the fourth quarter, TransUnion sees its year-end forecast for 90-day credit card delinquency rate remaining steady at approximately 1.1 percent nationally, with a possible drift upward in the beginning of 2010,” said Becker.

At the state level, Nevada is still expected to experience the highest delinquency rate by the end of 2009 (1.9 percent), while North Dakota is anticipated to show the lowest delinquency rate (0.64 percent).

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Shock and Awe: Pre-Approved Credit Card Comes With 79% APR
• Chris Dodd’s Incredibly Stupid Credit Card Rate Freeze Will Destroy The Consumer
• Desperate Retailers Bring Back "Layaway" Plans For The Holidays

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Lexus

The lease-only 2011 Lexus LFA supercar has been getting a lot of exposure lately. We had a chance to drive it a few weeks ago and just showed you some pics of the matte black car when it showed up at Cars & Coffee in Irvine this Saturday, but now we have something even better. LeMans-winner and Jay Leno Show racing coach, Justin Bell, heads out onto Fontana’s California Speedway with this very same LFA, getting some instruction himself from fellow racer Scott Pruett before taking the better seat for a lap.

The segment was shot for the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the Jay Leno webshow that highlights a different car every week, sometimes with Jay driving and sometimes with Justin doing the heavy lifting. Follow the jump to see the video for yourself and be sure to check out Jay’s Garage regularly if you don’t already. Listening to this thing rip up to 9,000 RPM is worth the nine-minute investment of your time, trust us. Thanks for the tip Gabriel!

[Source: Jay Leno’s Garage]

Continue reading VIDEO: Justin Bell shows off Lexus LFA in Jay Leno’s Garage

VIDEO: Justin Bell shows off Lexus LFA in Jay Leno’s Garage originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The paper reviewed here is ‘Predicting Age-Specific Dosing of Antipsychotics’ by Uchida and colleagues. This is an opinion piece rather than a systematic review or research study which thus affords it more flexibility in the approach to the subject although firmer conclusions can be expected in other types of article in the evidence-base hierarchy. The authors consider the interaction between age and the loading dose for antipsychotics which the authors point out is especially important given the recent studies and reports on antipsychotics in specific populations (see here for example)*.

The authors argue citing evidence in the process, that with increasing age there is a loss both of the clearance of a drug (specific example given) and a decrease in the number of D2 receptors available for binding, a figure which decreases linearly with each passing decade. They also argue that surveys of prescribing data show age associated changes in the prescribed dose of antipsychotics for people with schizophrenia which supports the hypothesis that lower doses of antipsychotics should be prescribed in older age. This in turn is in keeping with various expert consensus guidelines. However there are obvious cultural factors that influence such prescribing and the authors note these confounders. The authors then outline a strategy for making predictions of D2 occupancy based on the plasma levels of an antipsychotic and to ensure this is applied across the lifespan. They have further studies in preparation.

Having such data is obviously extremely important and would imply that plasma levels would become clinically meaningful. There are several complexities that occur in this regards however. In older adults, polypharmacy is common relative to the population of younger adults which has the potential to influence plasma drug levels. While it can be argued that if there is a linear relationship between D2 occupancy and plasma drug levels the measured values still give useful information, such interactions may produce fluctuations in these drug levels which in turn would be expected to influence D2 occupancy. Nevertheless this argument would need supporting data. Another complexity here is that the drug clearance is influenced both by renal pathology and a number of other factors. This leads onto the point that with increasing age, comorbidity and polypharmacy may lead to an increasingly heterogenous population. This in turn may make it difficult to utilise a single model effectively and may necessitate solutions which organise this complexity in ways which facilitate prediction. This speculation also is in need of supporting data. Finally, particularly with the atypical antipsychotics, the actions have been argued to be effected not just at the D2 receptors but at a range of other receptors including other dopamine receptor subtypes, serotonin receptors, histamine receptors and so on. Thus it could be argued that an investigation of the same relationship between occupancy status and plasma drug levels could provide data contributing to more complex and realistic models.

The approach to studying lifespan changes in loading dose of antipsychotics is encouraging and it will be interesting to see the development of comprehensive age-related pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic models which are of clinical relevance and which can be combined with changes in practice to improve outcomes.

* The authors declare a potential conflicts of interests which include financial support from several pharmaceutical companies.

References

Uchida H, Pollock B G, Bies R R and Mamo D C. Predicting Age-Specific Dosing of Antipsychotics. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Vol 86. Number 4. October 2009. 360-362.

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Disclaimer

The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.

Today we release some new ECM research. It focuses (as does much of our broader research) on the so called mid-market. ‘Mid’ is a terribly misleading term as it conjures up the idea that this is the average, sub-par section of the market. In fact, this is the single most important, vibrant, and sizable section of the market. It is from here that the majority of ECM (Document Management) solutions are procured and where many of the most interesting and innovative products emerge.

In our most recent research we have added evaluations for Docuware, FileBound, Westbrook, and Fabasoft. They are all worthy competitors alongside established players such as Laserfiche, Hyland, SpringCM, and Alfresco. As you can see, mid-market ECM buyers have a bevy of options to compare against the biggest name in mid-market ECM players, SharePoint.

VITAMIN D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in very few foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. It is also produced by the body when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis.

However, vitamin D obtained from sun exposure, food, and supplements is biologically inert and must undergo two hydroxylations in the body for activation.

The first occurs in the liver and converts vitamin D to 25-hydroxy vitamin D, also known as calcidiol. The second occurs primarily in the kidney and forms the physiologically active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D also known as calcitriol.

Vitamin D is essential for promoting calcium absorption in the intestines and maintaining adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal mineralisation of bone and prevent hypocalcemic tetany.

It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodelling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen. Vitamin D sufficiency prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis.

We are now going beyond the skeletal system and going into the cardiovascular system. Vitamin D it appears, is good for the heart.

A new study presented on Nov 16 at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Conference in Orlando, Florida, confirmed a strong association between the presence of reduced vitamin D levels and a greater risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and dying among men and women 50 years of age and older. Read more…

Still playing Need for Speed: Shift? Good news. EA has now detailed the content of the game’s DLC, and you’re in for a little treat. The Team Racing…

By John F. Terzano

All too often, prosecutors’ offices fall prey to a culture of conviction-seeking at all costs. Prosecutors who become singularly focused on conviction rates often neglect their ethical duty to protect the innocent and guard the rights of the accused. The Kern County District Attorney’s Office in California provides a clear example of this pitfall, boasting that under District Attorney Ed Jagels’ supervision, the office “has had the highest per capita prison commitment rate of any major California County.” What the office fails to highlight is the startling twenty five wrongful convictions that the office has accrued during Jagels tenure as District Attorney. Jagels recently announced his retirement, and despite his appalling record, he hopes to personally select his successor.

The troubling culture apparent in the Kern County office is not the exception. Due in large part to the public pressure to convict and the widespread failure of state bars and disciplinary agencies to hold prosecutors accountable for ethical violations, this culture of “convict at all costs” is a nationwide problem.

With the unique role as both advocates and ministers of justice, prosecutors are the most powerful actors in our justice system. Prosecutors have sole responsibility for decisions regarding what charges to bring against an individual, what sentence to seek, what plea bargain to offer, and what evidence to present to a jury during trial. Yet despite their power, they are rarely held accountable for violating their ethical obligations. This lack of accountability promotes the problematic culture that plagues prosecutors’ offices and contributes to wrongful convictions.

The pervasive culture of conviction-seeking in prosecutors’ offices must be tempered by an overriding goal of justice. The Justice Project’s policy review, Improving Prosecutorial Accountability outlines suggested reforms that can help create a culture that values fairness and accuracy over high conviction rates. For example, prosecutor’s offices should establish training programs and official office policies on the prosecutor’s duty to disclose evidence to the defense and the proper use of prosecutorial discretion. Furthermore, prosecutors who intentionally abuse their power to secure a wrongful conviction must be investigated and disciplined for their actions. The Justice Project also recommends that jurisdictions recognize the unique role of prosecutors through the establishment of prosecutorial review boards with the power to investigate and sanction prosecutors who perpetrate acts of misconduct. Enacting these reforms will foster a more ethical culture in prosecutors’ offices and increase transparency in prosecutorial decision-making.

Creating a culture of accountability in prosecutors’ offices is critical to ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our justice system. Establishing training manuals and office procedures as well as implementing disciplinary measures provide the means of achieving such a culture. These measures will encourage prosecutors to better fulfill their simultaneous and critical roles of convicting the guilty and protecting the innocent.

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Audi, Rumormill

2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’ve learned to take “scoops” from Auto Express with a grain of salt. But Britain’s car tabloid says they have it on good authority that Audi is working on an even more extreme successor to the current range-topping R8 supercar.

Dubbed the R10, the heart of the new four-ringed exotic is listed as a twin-turbo 5.0-liter V10 mounted amidship and pumping out 600 horsepower – through all four wheels, natch. The platform is tipped to be shared with sister company Lamborghini’s upcoming replacement for the aging Murcielago, crafted from aluminum and supplemented with carbon fiber.

While such a performance beast would encroach on Lamborghini’s territory and, from the sound of it, even approach Bugatti’s, the Volkswagen empire has proven particularly adept at packing segments with its own products, so anything’s possible. AE says prototypes are already lapping the Nurburgring and could be ready for delivery by 2012.

[Source: Auto Express]

Rumormill: 600hp twin-turbo Audi R8 replacement in the works? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a lot of hype over music services lately, especially music streaming services. The interesting thing is that the hype isn’t necessarily over the services themselves, but over the fact that this time some may actually succeed. Spotify is the prime example and the European free music streaming service has been heralded as the savior of the market and the way forward. There’s just one problem, it may save, or rather create a market for free streaming services, it may even save the music industry but the artists still aren’t getting paid.

Torrentfreak has an interesting story on how much do the actual artists make from streaming services more precisely from Spotify. Lady Gaga, one of the most popular artists on Spotify at the moment, made a whooping $167 (SEK 1150) by having her songs on the service. The sum came from the Swedish Performing Rights Society (STIM) as royalties for over one million streams of her hit song “Poker Face.”

Without knowing the exact details of her contract or the deals that the music labels have with Spotify, it can’t be used as a general example. Still, it’s safe to assume that most artists aren’t making that much more. The labels would jump at the chance to claim that this is clear proof that free streaming services aren’t working and that people need to pay subscrip… (read more)

ArtelPlus has released a new version of BatteryZzz 2.0, an application warning a user with a sound signal of critical discharge and full charge of his Windows Mobile device battery.

Smartphone users much more often than the users of conventional mobile phones face the problem of low battery. Higher battery discharge rate on smartphones and Pocket PC in comparison with conventional mobile phones is a cause of inconvenience, especially when the battery level drops low when it is needed the most. This prevents the users from efficient use of their Windows Mobile devices.

BatteryZzz allows you to simply and effectively solve this problem, reminding you with a sound signal to charge your Pocket PC at the right time. Unlike other PDA battery utilities, which just indicate the battery status on the screen, the main advantage of BatteryZzz is that the low battery warning sound easily attracts attention, so there is no need for continuous regular monitoring of the battery indicator on the PDA screen. 

"It is similar to waking up with an alarm clock sound instead of waking up every hour and watching at the clock." 

Another unique feature of BatteryZzz is that a user gets a notification sound upon completion of the battery recharge. This will not only save your time but also save your battery charger from overheating.

BatteryZzz 2.0 features include:

• a new interface with modern design and convenient thumb navigation;

• option to set the battery discharge level when the alarm is to go off;

• option to set the interval between low battery notifications (also, this interval can automatically shorten if the battery power drops below a specified level);

• an option to play an alarm warning upon completion of the battery charge only once and/or automatically switch to silent mode at night;

• an option to set any sound or melody of your choice as the full charge or low battery alerts;

• efficiency – BatteryZzz is a "lightweight" application, it does not affect your smartphone performance and practically has no effect on the battery’s discharge rate.

More info is available at www.artelplus.com/batteryzzz

This post was submitted by Lilac.

At 12 o’clock this morning while most of us were nursing the nasty side effects of a weekend-long bender, GM officially unveiled the new 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe to the motoring press. The live, in-the-flesh reveal isn’t scheduled until next week at the LA Auto Show (which I will be attending, for all 3 of you interested fans), but as PR custom dictates GM was kind enough to give us a sneak preview a full 7 days early.

Based on its increasing popular full-sized brethren, the CTS coupe shares all the basic styling cues of the CTS sedan yet features a much chunkier, Beyonce-in-a-bodysuit ass. Fortunately, thanks to the 304-hp direct injected 3.6L V6, if you are successfully able to row your own (6-sp manual standard, 6-speed auto available for poseurs) you should be able to peel out of a dead stop before the jeers from the Bimmer owners reach your ears. If you aren’t fast enough on the throttle or otherwise catch the last sing-song remnants of “Fatty fatty two-by-four…” the CTS coupe also comes with enough interior accessories to keep your crushing depression at bay until you get to your therapist’s office, including iPod/MP3 capability, 40-gig hard drive, pop-up nav, Bluetooth, standard Keyless Access and Smart Remote Start, rear camera system, and a Bose 5.1 Cabin Surround™ audio system.

To help give this thick lady some semblance of agility, two optional performance packages are available: the RWD or AWD Performance Package with 18″ wheels and all-season tires or the Summer Tire Performance Package with 19″ tires. For those customers who feel ill-equipped to handle this BBW without the help of a few extra horsepower, GM promises the CTS-V coupe will drop sometime in 2010.

If you’ve got a fetish for big girls, be sure to check back next week for live image updates from the LA Auto Show.

I today stumbled across this video of a user review of the HTC Touch Pro 2 vs the Android powered Motorola Droid.

Its nice to see one of the most loved Windows Mobile handsets hold up pretty well against the most highest profile Android handset available at present.  I must say however that search feature is pretty cool, but on the other hand it seems to be a slicker version of Microsoft’s Tellme service, so it may not be that enviable after all.

On a related note, a more expert opinion comes from JKontherun, who compared Windows Mobile against Android, and found the OS again holds up pretty well, winning on 3:0 on multi-tasking, user interface and desktop integration, with a tie on Outlook vs Gmail integration.

Read that comparison here.

A recent study revealed that a therapeutic vaccine combined with a topical immune-enhancing agent initiated an immune response against the Hepatitis C virus.

Hep C Therapeutic Vaccine Shows Hints of Efficacy

November 18, 2009

A hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapeutic vaccine–designed to boost immune control of the virus in people already infected with HCV–has demonstrated that such an approach might work, according to a study presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) Conference in Boston, and reported by aidsmap.

Because HCV mutates so easily, some experts have claimed that it might be impossible to develop a successful preventive vaccine for it. Others, however, have hoped that it might be possible to trigger the body to better control or ward off HCV infection.

Continue reading the entire article:
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hiv_hcv_vaccine_1667_17601.shtml

Filed under: Technology, Hyundai

When Hyundai‘s all new Sonata goes on sale early in 2010, it will arrive in U.S. showrooms with only one available engine, a thoroughly revamped version of the 2.4-liter Theta-II four cylinder. The new engine is Hyundai’s first production powerplant with gasoline direct injection, but John Juriga, director of powertrains at the Hyundai-Kia Technical Center (HATCI), promised it wouldn’t be the last. Juriga told a media briefing at HATCI recently that Hyundai was planning to roll out GDI across its lineup in the coming years.

For now though we have to be content with the new Sonata engine, which is now more powerful than the engine it replaces with 200 hp and 186 pound-feet of torque. The basic internal dimensions are carried over from the 2010 port-injected edition, with bore and stroke of 88 mm x 97 mm for a total displacement of 2,359 cc. The new fuel delivery system has allowed the engineering team to bump the compression ratio from 10.5:1 up to 11.3:1. Like other direct injected engines, the charge cooling effect of injecting the fuel in into the high temperature compressed aid allows the elevated compression without the risk of knock. Read on to learn more about the first GDI Hyundai engine.

[Source: Hyundai]

Continue reading New Hyundai 2.4-liter GDI four-cylinder makes 200 hp in 2011 Sonata

New Hyundai 2.4-liter GDI four-cylinder makes 200 hp in 2011 Sonata originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the points we’ve tried to make around here regularly is that this blog is not a traditional journalism effort. I am not a “reporter.” I do not go out seeking stories to report on. I write about what I find interesting and I give my opinion on it — and I do so in a way where I expect a discussion to happen in our comments from which we can all learn. I find that to be a lot better of an experience for everyone involved than to go out talking to a bunch of people behind closed doors and then writing up a “one true report” on the matter that probably leaves out half of the interesting stuff. Instead, I post what seems interesting and the comments are then very much a part of the story.

I’ve written many times before that we get more than enough stories sent to us by readers — and I find plenty of interesting stories myself. I can’t think of a single case where a PR person has turned me onto a PR story that I’ve cared about and hadn’t already seen elsewhere. But PR people still fill my inbox daily with stories about all sorts of stuff we’d never write about, because they clearly don’t read the site. They assume that any tech story is automatically relevant, so they spam me and probably 100 other sites. Perhaps some of them care and find the emails useful, though I doubt it.

In the last year or two, there’s been a growing number of PR people who have moved on to a new tactic. Since actually getting press to cover the company you’re representing is difficult, they now send around emails to writers about certain news stories, saying that so-and-so exec at such-and-such company, which has absolutely nothing to do with the story at hand, is “available for comment” on this story. So, for example, if two big companies announce a partnership, a PR person will send an email saying that some startup CEO in a market impacted by that partnership (barely), is “available for comment” about that partnership. It’s basically a desperate PR person’s attempt to get some press for a client where none is warranted.

Except, of course, we never quote people for posts here. We’re not reporters. We’re not looking for sources. We write about our opinions on stories and that’s it. We’ll quote another article, in order to comment on it, but we’re not looking for sources at all. If you read Techdirt, you’d know that.

I recently put a message on Twitter about this, saying that, for all the PR people who had someone “available for comment” on stories, the comments on Techdirt are enabled and open for them to comment on any story they feel is relevant. It got a really good response on Twitter, so I figured I’d expand on it into a post. If you are a PR person, and you represent someone who has “a comment” on a particular story, please point them to the site where they are free to comment away, along with everyone else, as a part of a conversation, not some PR effort. And, please don’t be offended if I just emailed you a link to this post in response to your offer to have some random exec “comment” on some unrelated story.

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A national search for a Director of the Center for Servant Leadership at Tennessee Wesleyan College is underway.  The successful candidate will have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, however, a graduate degree is preferred. Experience with service learning and servant leadership programs is also desired. The Director of the Center for Servant Leadership will be responsible for implementing the new service learning/servant leadership program on the TWC campus. The successful candidate will also oversee the expanded Freshman Experience Program and the Servant Leadership Honor’s Program. This position will report directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and will remain open until filled.  The Center for Servant Leadership is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter including a statement regarding the candidate’s commitment to and experience with service learning/servant leadership programs, resume, and three references to:

Search Committee Chair

c/o the Office of Academic Affairs

PO Box 40

Athens, Tennessee 37371

Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, China, Buick, Chevrolet

Soon Buick will have an entire lineup of competitive vehicles with the Enclave, all-new LaCrosse and soon-to-arrive-from-Europe Regal. Since the latter model is basically a direct port of the Opel Insignia, its success may help General Motors decide whether or not to snag a fourth model from another overseas market. The likely candidate is this car, the next-gen Buick Excelle that is currently sold only in China.

Recently snapped by spy photographers while undergoing testing with very little camouflage, the next-gen Excelle will adopt GM’s Delta II small car platform that also underpins the new Chevy Cruze and Opel Astra. It’s more closely related to later, however, as previous generations have been not much more than rebadged Astras. Just because Buick could sell the Excelle in the U.S., however, doesn’t mean it should. Would the market really accept a Buick this small, especially when the Cruze is on sale across the street? Time will tell but you can let GM know what you think now in the comments.

[Photos: KGP Photography]

Spy Shots: Next-gen Buick Excelle for China snapped originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a pity that Double Dragon didn’t grow with the console generations. I loved the series. For now, I’ll have to set my eyes on a different dragon -…

Need another device connected to your Bravia that would stream and do all three: Photo, Music, Video on the fly? Bridge the gap between your PC and TV with the SMP-U10 USB media player. Simply store your digital content on a USB drive, plug the drive into the USB media player and enjoy your digital movies, music and photos on your TV in near-HD quality. This media player is compatible with major video formats like DivX, MP4 and AVI, as well as MP3 and AAC music formats. You can even turn your TV into a large-format personal digital photo frame and share your JPEG photos with family and friends on your TV screen. Available soon for $70…

On the Back of the player you will get your usual HDMI and Component inputs.

Here is a list of Product Specifications if you dig into those:

* Original Model : SMP-U10

Convenience Features

* A/V Sync : Yes
* Instant Advance : Yes
* Instant Replay : Yes
* Smooth Slow : Yes
* Step Forward : Yes

USB Connectivity

* Digital Media Player : Walkman® digital player supported
* Digital Still Camera : Cybershot digital camera supported
* External Hard Disc Drive : Supports FAT32 formated Hard Drives
* USB Card Reader : Yes
* USB Flash Memory : Yes

Audio

* Digital Output (Linear PCM) : 24 bit 96kHz
* Digital-to-Analog Converter : 16bit 192kHz

Video

* Custom Picture Mode (Video Equalizer) : Yes
* Digital-to-Analog Converter : 12bit 108MHz
* High Speed Search : Yes
* NTSC/PAL : NTSC support
* Sharpness : Yes
* TV Type Default Setting : 16:9
* Upscaling : upto 720p/1080i/1080p

Format Support

* AAC : Yes
* DivX : Yes
* Dolby® Digital decoding : Yes
* JPEG : Yes
* LPCM : Yes
* MP3 : Yes
* MPEG-1 : Yes
* Simple MPEG : Yes
* WMA : Yes

Design

* Color : Black
* LED Display : 3 (Video/Photo/Music)

Remote Control Function

* Instant Advance : Yes
* Instant Replay : Yes
* TV Control : Limited TV Brands
* Zoom : Yes

Audio Features

* Dolby® Digital Output : Yes

Power

* Power Requirements : 120 Volt 60Hz AC in to Convertor 6V 1.6Amp from Convertor into Player
* Safety Standard (Testing) : UL/cUL

Inputs and Outputs

* Analog Audio 2ch Output(s) (L,R) : 1 (rear)
* Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s) : 1 (rear)
* Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s) : 1 (rear)
* Composite Video Output(s) : 1 (rear)
* HDMI™ Connection(s) (Total) : 1 (rear) Output
* USB Port(s) : 1 (front) Input

Function

* Auto Power Off : Yes (Default)
* Background Graphics : Yes
* Black Level Setup : Yes (Default)
* Control Menu : Yes
* External Subtitle (DivX) : Yes
* HDMI CEC (Bravia Sync™ compatible) : Yes
* JPEG Slideshow BGM : Yes
* MP3 ID3 Lyrics : Yes
* PhotoTV HD : Yes
* Picture Navi : Yes
* Quick Set Up : Yes
* Screen Saver : Yes
* Zoom : Yes