By mutual agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), CNOOC Limited and Nexen Inc. withdrew and resubmitted a Joint Voluntary Notice with respect to the proposed acquisition of Nexen by CNOOC Limited.
?Discussions with CFIUS continue, with a view to completing the CFIUS review process as expeditiously as possible,? the companies said in a statement.
?The closing of the arrangement remains subject to the receipt of applicable government and regulatory approvals, by the relevant authorities in Canada, the U.S., the EU and China, and the satisfaction or waiver of the other customary closing conditions,? the two companies added.
LNG World News Staff, November 29, 2012; Image: Nexen
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Microsoft's Surface tablet running a full version of Windows 8 Pro will start selling in January for $899 and up, the company said Thursday.
The current Surface uses the slimmed down Windows RT operating system. As a result, it runs only specially designed applications from Microsoft and others sold through the company's online store. The Pro version of Surface will also run regular Windows applications written for desktops and laptops.
"It's a full PC AND a tablet," Surface general manager Panos Panay wrote in a blog post Thursday.
The Surface represents Microsoft's first foray into manufacturing its own general-purpose computer. In doing so, the company is competing with some of its partners, the manufacturers of PCs and tablets.
The announced price is in line with Microsoft's earlier statements that the Pro version would cost about the same as slim, lightweight laptops known as ultrabooks.
The price includes a stylus and software that disregards touches from one's palm while writing on the touch screen. But the detachable touch-sensitive keyboard cover is sold separately. The Touch Cover with keys printed on it costs $120, while the Type Cover with depressable keys is priced at $130.
The Pro version of Surface will come with Intel's Core i5 processor, which Microsoft said gives it a graphics boost compared with the RT version.
The $899 version will come with 64 gigabytes of memory, while $999 gets you 128 GB of memory.
It was not immediately clear how much memory would be used up by the operating system and pre-installed apps. For the RT versions, the 32 GB model has only 16 GB of usable memory, while the 64 GB model has 45 GB available. The RT versions went on sale Oct. 26, the same day Windows 8 was out.
The RT versions are available only at Microsoft's stores and websites. The Redmond, Wash., did not say whether the Pro versions will be sold elsewhere as well.
All versions of Surface come with a slot to expand memory and a USB port for peripherals. The Pro version of Surface comes with a newer, faster USB 3.0 port, while the RT version has 2.0.
CARACAS/HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was back in Cuba on Wednesday for cancer-linked medical treatment that revived questions about the viability of his socialist rule and left Venezuelans again guessing about his exact condition.
After weeks of scarce public appearances, Chavez, 58, announced in a letter on Tuesday that he was going to Havana for therapy known as "hyperbaric oxygenation" - a method used to reduce bone decay caused by radiation therapy.
In Cuba, Chavez enjoys the friendship of past and present Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro, plus guaranteed privacy on the tightly controlled Caribbean island.
Venezuelans, who have been endlessly speculating about Chavez's cancer since it was diagnosed in mid-2011, were not sure what to make of the latest twist - debating whether it was normal post-radiation treatment or a serious downturn.
"I really don't know what he has," Chavez's cousin, Guillermo Frias, told Reuters from the president's rural hometown state Barinas. "But anyway, I always pray for him every night. I stop at a shrine on the corner and always remember him.
"I hope he recovers fine. I'm sure he will. The election campaign was tough for him. He went too far."
Though he had declared himself cured, Chavez appeared exhausted at the end of his successful presidential re-election bid in October. He later admitted radiation had taken its toll.
"INVISIBLE MAN"
The normally garrulous and omnipresent leader has made only a few, relatively short public appearances, mainly on state TV, at his presidential palace since his victory on October 7.
One opposition newspaper dubbed him "The Invisible Man".
Unlike multiple past trips to Cuba, during treatment for three operations on two tumors in his pelvic area, state TV did not show images of Chavez departing or arriving this time.
Chavez has open-ended authorization from Congress to travel, but aims to be back at least for the January 10 start of his new term, if not for a couple of regional summits before.
His absence leaves newly appointed Vice President Nicolas Maduro, 49 - a former bus driver and union leader - in a prominent position amid speculation among Venezuelans over who could replace Chavez should he leave power.
Congress head Diosdado Cabello, a former military comrade of Chavez, is also often touted as a possible successor to lead the ruling Socialist Party. Under the constitution, an election would have to be held if Chavez were to leave office within the first four years of his new six-year term.
Chavez's return to Cuba overshadowed the buildup to state elections in Venezuela on December 16, where the opposition aims to overcome disappointment at their failure to win the presidency.
A prolonged absence by Chavez could potentially postpone major policy decisions, such as a widely expected devaluation of the bolivar currency after heavy pre-election state spending.
BONDS RISE
The hyperbaric oxygenation therapy, or HBOT, he is due to receive involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber.
In addition to the bone-weakening side effects of radiation on cancer sufferers, experts say HBOT is used to treat conditions including infections, abscesses and decompression sickness - or the "bends" - that can afflict deep sea divers.
Nelson Bocaranda, a prominent pro-opposition journalist, said Chavez had been suffering intense pain in his bones and waist area of late, forcing him to rest and take painkillers.
In his widely read "Rumors" column on Wednesday, Bocaranda published a supposed medical report from Havana's Cimeq hospital, with a relatively uninflammatory diagnosis.
"It is a matter of giving him therapy for pain and stabilization so he has a better quality of life," said the report, which could not be confirmed.
"His physical state is normal; loss of weight reasonable; high tension constant; abdominal nausea and pains; good emotional state but with variable depression; tolerable pain thresholds and reaction to treatment applied. He's rested in recent days and had little pressure from government functions."
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said the president was receiving "complimentary therapy" and that no one should worry.
"There are many people who live as if in a soap opera, where no one goes to the bathroom, no one gets flu," he told state TV. "Chavez is a human being and he also gets sick."
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who ran against Chavez in the presidential poll, sent him best wishes for a "long life" but also urged greater transparency.
"Nobody wants to play the rumor game," he told reporters. "Venezuelans should be told with total transparency what the situation is, what's the extent of this treatment. That's the way it should be in Venezuela and how it is in other countries."
Given investor hopes for a more market-friendly government, Venezuela's widely traded bonds rose for a second day.
The benchmark Global 27 bond and state oil company PDVSA's closely watched 2022 bond were both at year-high prices of $93.44 and $111.75 respectively.
"If we reference the past price action to treatments in Cuba, there was a pattern of buying on his departure to Cuba and selling on his return to Venezuela," Siobhan Morden, managing director at Jefferies & Co., said in a research note.
On Venezuela's streets, there was both solidarity and skepticism concerning Chavez's situation.
"That man doesn't have anything. He was never sick," said motorbike taxi driver Omar Rivas, 55, surmising that the health saga was a ploy by the president to win public sympathy.
Teacher Ana Maria Garcia, 26, had a kinder reading: "I don't understand what he has, but I hope he recovers quickly. He's a winner."
(Additional reporting by Mario Naranjo, Eyanir Chinea and Diego Ore; Editing by Bill Trott)
There's a whole host of techy tools that will let you log your 10k personal best, and break down your splits into minute detail, but what about poor old Rover? Fujistu spotted this gap, and created Wandant -- a sensor-laden neck tag for dogs complete with cloud-based service for tracking your pooch's wellbeing. The hardware will log your pet's footsteps, amount of shivering plus temperature change, and upload it automatically via your smartphone or PC. The software will present you these data over time, with the option of manually inputting further details such as food amount, a diary with photos and -- for those with stronger constitutions -- stool condition. Like human-focused equivalents, there will also be provisions for sharing your dog's efforts, but thankfully only with vets and research institutions. There's no details on hardware pricing just yet, but the online component is free for the first year (JPY 420 / about $5 per month there after). Money no object for your mutt? Sadly only available in Japan for the time being, so you'll need to include a return ticket in that splurge too.
DeKALB ? The DeKalb City Council gave initial approval Monday for setting its property tax levy request at $9.67 million, meaning that a property owner would pay 79 cents for each $100 for their property?s equalized assessed value.
Residents paid 72 cents per $100 on their 2011 bills, which were paid in 2012.
Only Fifth Ward Alderman Ronald Naylor disagreed with raising property taxes above the amount the council set last year. Sixth Ward Alderman Dave Baker was not present at the meeting.
?I?d like the levy to stay where it was, so we can truly say we?re not raising taxes,? Naylor said.
Monday night?s vote was not the final action. The council will vote on the issue again at its Dec. 10 meeting. The council is required by law to file its ordinance with the city clerk by the last Tuesday in December.
The aldermen had previously set the ceiling for a property tax levy at $9.67 million, and were given two options by city staff to set the request at either $9.67 million or $9.63 million ? the amount the city levied last year.
Although the 2012 levy is $40,000 higher, the increase is needed to capture revenue from new construction in the city, Second Ward Alderman Tom Teresinski said.
?That new construction is being incentivized by us and we never capture it,? Teresinski said, referring to past council decision to keep the rate flat.
Laura Pisarcik, the city?s finance director, said by capturing revenue from new construction, most of which is commercial, the council is not putting a lot of the burden on homeowners. On average, property values in the city have fallen 8 percent, but residential property values have fallen 11 percent, Pisarcik said.
The city uses property tax revenue to fund pensions of city staff, police officers and firefighters. The $9.67 million request would be able to fund all the police and fire pensions, and 45 percent of the pensions of city staff. The other 55 percent will have to be made up from one of the city?s other funds, she said.
Jim Kayes, president of the DeKalb Police Pension Board, served as a warning siren for incoming higher pensions costs during Monday?s public hearing. However, the city can soften the blow by paying more in the present than in the future.
?If you don?t pay for it in the front end, you?re going to pay for it in the back end,? Kayes said. ?I want to encourage you to continue the direction you?re going in because it is an improvement.?
At present, the average consumer has a credit card with a credit line of at least $4000 and about a quarter of Americans admit to maxing out at least a single credit card. Clearly, folks are in need of simple solutions to sooth the burdens of getting buried in debt. A non-profit debt consolidation system can extremely well be the answer most customers can look to and afford for debt relief.
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Chinese terra cotta warriors had real, and very carefully made, weapons The 7,000 soldiers buried with Qin Shi Huang in 210 B.C. were made of clay. But the bronze weapons the terra cotta army carried into the enormous tomb complex near Xi?an in western China were the real things: tens of thousands of swords, axes, spears, lances and crossbows, all as capable of spilling blood as anything Qin?s real army wielded when they triumphed, ending centuries of war and uniting China under a single rule for the first time
Source: Washington Post Posted on:
Tuesday, Nov 27, 2012, 10:21am Views: 15
What's a retailer to do with merchandise branded to support a failed presidential candidate? Put it on clearance.
ABC News' Jake Tapper snapped this photo of Romney gifts next to the Christmas decorations at Reagan National Airport Monday.
On the Internet, business owners are dropping prices to unload the Romney items as well.
The "America!" store, which has a location in Union Station and Reagan National Airport among others, had a clearance section of its online shopping full of Romney/Ryan memorabilia Monday morning. All of it was 75 percent off, putting Romney magnets and buttons below a dollar and a "Repeal & Replace" t-shirt, referencing the Republican plan to oust President Obama's health care law, for less than five bucks.
Wal-Mart's website offered a 35 percent discount on both Romney's books.
Artist-designed garment website CafePress makes merchandise on an as-ordered basis, so they don't have to worry about dumping an overload of Romney/Ryan products.
That's lucky for them, because sales for Romney products began declining in late October and had not caught up with Obama sales since. Throughout the election Obama and Romney were neck-and-neck on CafePress, but for most of November, Romney merchandise made up only between 10 and 30 percent of candidate-focused spending on the site.
The Romney campaign's website offered no great deals - with t-shirts still ranging from $20.12 (for a toddler) to $45 - but "for a limited time" pro-Romney holdouts could have their purchases shipped for free.
NSIDC research scientist Kevin Schaefer (left) is lead author in a U.N. Environmental Program (UNEP) report that highlights the impact of permafrost carbon feedback on global climate. The Lena River delta in Siberia (right) is an example of permafrost and shows polygons formed by the intersection of ice wedges. ?Credit: Schaefer's photo by Natasha Vizcarra courtesy NSIDC, polygon photo by Konstanze Piel courtesy Alfred Wegener Institute.)
Boulder, CO--(ENEWSPF)--November 27, 2012. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released a report recommending the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assess the impact of permafrost carbon dioxide and methane emissions in the negotiation of emissions targets and global climate change policy discussions.
The report recommends that the IPCC compile a special assessment report on permafrost. It also recommends that nations with extensive permafrost create national monitoring networks and make plans to mitigate the risks of thawing permafrost. These nations include Russia, Canada, China, and the United States.
?The infrastructure we have now is not adequate to monitor future changes in permafrost,? said lead author Kevin Schaefer, a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). ?We need to greatly expand our current networks to monitor permafrost, which requires direct investment of money and resources by individual countries.?
?Individual nations need to evaluate the risks of thawing permafrost and make plans to protect communities in the most vulnerable regions,? Schaefer said. Homes, businesses, and other infrastructure in the far north were built on ground that stayed frozen, and may collapse if this ground thaws.
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The village of Qannaaq, Greenland, in the Arctic, is built on permafrost. ?Credit: Photo by Andy Mahoney courtesy NSIDC?High-resolution image
Permafrost is ground that stays frozen for at least two years in a row and occurs in about a quarter of the land surface in the Northern Hemisphere. The report, titled Policy Implications of Warming Permafrost, said Earth?s permafrost contains 1,700 gigatons of carbon as frozen organic matter, twice that currently in the atmosphere. If this organic matter thaws and begins to decay, the resulting carbon dioxide and methane emissions will amplify global warming.
?The release of carbon dioxide and methane from warming permafrost is irreversible: once the organic matter thaws and decays away, there is no way to put it back into the permafrost,? Schaefer said.
?Anthropogenic emissions targets in the climate change treaty need to account for these emissions or we risk overshooting the 2 degrees Celsius maximum warming target,? he added.
Targets for anthropogenic emissions in the proposed U.N. climate change treaty limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures by 2100, placing an overall limit on total global carbon emissions.
However, the potential hazards of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from warming permafrost are not included in current climate-prediction models.
?This report seeks to communicate to climate treaty negotiators, policy makers, and the general public the implications of continuing to ignore the challenges of warming permafrost,? said U.N. Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
?Permafrost is one of the keys to the planet?s future because it contains large stores of frozen organic matter that, if thawed and released into the atmosphere, would amplify current global warming and propel us to a warmer world,? he said.
?Its potential impact on the climate, ecosystems, and infrastructure has been neglected for too long,? Steiner added.
According to the report, Arctic and alpine air temperatures are expected to increase at roughly twice the global rate, and climate projections indicate substantial loss of permafrost by 2100. A global temperature increase of 3 degrees Celsius means a 6 degrees Celsius increase in the Arctic, resulting in an irreversible loss of anywhere between 30 to 85 percent of near-surface permafrost.
Warming permafrost could emit 43 to 135 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2100 and 246 to 415 gigatons by 2200. Emissions could start within the next few decades and continue for several centuries, the report said.
?Permafrost emissions could ultimately account for up to 39 percent of total emissions,? Schaefer said. ?This must be factored in to treaty negotiations expected to replace the Kyoto Protocol.?
The Kyoto Protocol set binding targets for industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beginning 2005. While the U.N. climate change treaty encourages industrialized countries to limit GHG emissions, the Kyoto Protocol commits them to do so. Industrialized countries are expected to recommit to the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol in 2013.
Schaefer?s co-authors include Hugues Lantuit of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research in Potsdam, Germany; Vladimir E. Romanovsky of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the United States; Edward A.G. Schuur of the University of Florida in the United States; and Isabelle G?rtner-Roer of the University of Z?rich in Switzerland.
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NSIDC scientist Kevin Schaefer (left) and his field research team drill permafrost cores at Prudhoe Bay, on Alaska's North Slope. ?Credit: Photo by Tingjun Zhang courtesy NSIDC High-resolution image
Alaska's iconic Columbia Glacier expected to stop retreating in 2020, says CU-Boulder studyPublic release date: 26-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: William Colgan William.colgan@colorado.edu 011-45-5290-1585 University of Colorado at Boulder
The wild and dramatic cascade of ice into the ocean from Alaska's Columbia Glacier, an iconic glacier featured in the documentary "Chasing Ice" and one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, will cease around 2020, according to a study by the University of Colorado Boulder.
A computer model predicts the retreat of the Columbia Glacier will stop when the glacier reaches a new stable position -- roughly 15 miles upstream from the stable position it occupied prior to the 1980s. The team, headed by lead author William Colgan of the CU-Boulder headquartered Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, published its results today in The Cryosphere, an open access publication of the European Geophysical Union.
The Columbia Glacier is a large (425 square miles), multi-branched glacier in south-central Alaska that flows mostly south out of the Chugach Mountains to its tidewater terminus in Prince William Sound.
Warming air temperatures have triggered an increase in the Columbia Glacier's rate of iceberg calving, whereby large pieces of ice detach from the glacier and float into the ocean, according to Colgan. "Presently, the Columbia Glacier is calving about 2 cubic miles of icebergs into the ocean each year -- that is over five times more freshwater than the entire state of Alaska uses annually," he said. "It is astounding to watch."
The imminent finish of the retreat, or recession of the front of the glacier, has surprised scientists and highlights the difficulties of trying to estimate future rates of sea level rise, Colgan said. "Many people are comfortable thinking of the glacier contribution to sea level rise as this nice predictable curve into the future, where every year there is a little more sea level rise, and we can model it out for 100 or 200 years," Colgan said.
The team's findings demonstrate otherwise, however. A single glacier's contribution to sea level rise can "turn on" and "turn off" quite rapidly, over a couple of years, with the precise timing of the life cycle being difficult to forecast, he said. Presently, the majority of sea level rise comes from the global population of glaciers. Many of these glaciers are just starting to retreat, and some will soon cease to retreat.
"The variable nature and speed of the life cycle among glaciers highlights difficulties in trying to accurately predict the amount of sea level rise that will occur in the decades to come," Colgan said.
The Columbia Glacier was first documented in 1794 when it appeared to be stable with a length of 41 miles. During the 1980s it began a rapid retreat and by 1995 it was only about 36 miles long. By late 2000 it was about 34 miles long.
The loss of a massive area of the Columbia Glacier's tongue has generated a tremendous number of icebergs since the 1980s. After the Exxon Valdez ran aground while avoiding a Columbia Glacier iceberg in 1989, significant resources were invested to understand its iceberg production. As a result, Columbia Glacier became one of the most well-documented tidewater glaciers in the world, providing a bank of observational data for scientists trying to understand how a tidewater glacier reacts to a warming climate.
Motivated by the compelling imagery of the Columbia Glacier's retreat documented in the Extreme Ice Survey -- James Balog's collection of time-lapse photography of disappearing glaciers around the world -- Colgan became curious as to how long the glacier would continue to retreat. To answer this question, the team of researchers created a flexible model of the Columbia Glacier to reproduce different criteria such as ice thickness and terminus extent.
The scientists then compared thousands of outputs from the computer model under different assumptions with the wealth of data that exists for the Columbia Glacier.
The batch of outputs that most accurately reproduced the well-documented history of retreat was run into the future to predict the changes the Columbia Glacier will most likely experience until the year 2100. The researchers found that around 2020 the terminus of the glacier will retreat into water that is sufficiently shallow to provide a stable position through 2100 by slowing the rate of iceberg production.
The speediness of the glacier's retreat is due to the unique nature of tidewater glaciers, Colgan said. When warming temperatures melt the surface of a land glacier, the land glacier only loses its mass by run-off. But in tidewater glaciers, the changes in ice thickness resulting from surface melt can create striking changes in ice flow, triggering an additional dynamic process for retreat.
The dynamic response of the Columbia Glacier to the surface melt will continue until the glacier reaches its new stable position in 2020, at roughly 26 miles long. "Once the dynamic trigger had been pulled, it probably wouldn't have mattered too much what happened to the surface melt -- it was just going to continue retreating through the bedrock depression upstream of the pre-1980s terminus," Colgan said.
Colgan next plans to attempt to use similar models to predict when the Greenland glaciers -- currently the major contributors to sea level rise -- will "turn off" and complete their retreats.
The future for the Columbia Glacier, however, looks bleak. "I think the hope was that once we saw climate change happening, we could act to prevent some irreversible consequences," Colgan said, "but now we are only about eight years out from this retreat finishing -- it is really sad. There is virtually no chance of the Columbia Glacier recovering its pre-retreat dimensions on human time-scales."
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The study was funded by NASA, and co-authors on the paper include W. Tad Pfeffer of CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Harihar Rajaram of the CU-Boulder Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Waleed Abdalati of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration in Washington, D.C., and Balog of the Extreme Ice Survey in Boulder, Colo.
The complete study is available online at http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1395/2012/.
Contact:
William Colgan, CIRES, 011-45-5290-1585
William.Colgan@colorado.edu
Jane Palmer, CIRES science writer, 303-883-4398
Jane.Palmer@colorado.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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Alaska's iconic Columbia Glacier expected to stop retreating in 2020, says CU-Boulder studyPublic release date: 26-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: William Colgan William.colgan@colorado.edu 011-45-5290-1585 University of Colorado at Boulder
The wild and dramatic cascade of ice into the ocean from Alaska's Columbia Glacier, an iconic glacier featured in the documentary "Chasing Ice" and one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, will cease around 2020, according to a study by the University of Colorado Boulder.
A computer model predicts the retreat of the Columbia Glacier will stop when the glacier reaches a new stable position -- roughly 15 miles upstream from the stable position it occupied prior to the 1980s. The team, headed by lead author William Colgan of the CU-Boulder headquartered Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, published its results today in The Cryosphere, an open access publication of the European Geophysical Union.
The Columbia Glacier is a large (425 square miles), multi-branched glacier in south-central Alaska that flows mostly south out of the Chugach Mountains to its tidewater terminus in Prince William Sound.
Warming air temperatures have triggered an increase in the Columbia Glacier's rate of iceberg calving, whereby large pieces of ice detach from the glacier and float into the ocean, according to Colgan. "Presently, the Columbia Glacier is calving about 2 cubic miles of icebergs into the ocean each year -- that is over five times more freshwater than the entire state of Alaska uses annually," he said. "It is astounding to watch."
The imminent finish of the retreat, or recession of the front of the glacier, has surprised scientists and highlights the difficulties of trying to estimate future rates of sea level rise, Colgan said. "Many people are comfortable thinking of the glacier contribution to sea level rise as this nice predictable curve into the future, where every year there is a little more sea level rise, and we can model it out for 100 or 200 years," Colgan said.
The team's findings demonstrate otherwise, however. A single glacier's contribution to sea level rise can "turn on" and "turn off" quite rapidly, over a couple of years, with the precise timing of the life cycle being difficult to forecast, he said. Presently, the majority of sea level rise comes from the global population of glaciers. Many of these glaciers are just starting to retreat, and some will soon cease to retreat.
"The variable nature and speed of the life cycle among glaciers highlights difficulties in trying to accurately predict the amount of sea level rise that will occur in the decades to come," Colgan said.
The Columbia Glacier was first documented in 1794 when it appeared to be stable with a length of 41 miles. During the 1980s it began a rapid retreat and by 1995 it was only about 36 miles long. By late 2000 it was about 34 miles long.
The loss of a massive area of the Columbia Glacier's tongue has generated a tremendous number of icebergs since the 1980s. After the Exxon Valdez ran aground while avoiding a Columbia Glacier iceberg in 1989, significant resources were invested to understand its iceberg production. As a result, Columbia Glacier became one of the most well-documented tidewater glaciers in the world, providing a bank of observational data for scientists trying to understand how a tidewater glacier reacts to a warming climate.
Motivated by the compelling imagery of the Columbia Glacier's retreat documented in the Extreme Ice Survey -- James Balog's collection of time-lapse photography of disappearing glaciers around the world -- Colgan became curious as to how long the glacier would continue to retreat. To answer this question, the team of researchers created a flexible model of the Columbia Glacier to reproduce different criteria such as ice thickness and terminus extent.
The scientists then compared thousands of outputs from the computer model under different assumptions with the wealth of data that exists for the Columbia Glacier.
The batch of outputs that most accurately reproduced the well-documented history of retreat was run into the future to predict the changes the Columbia Glacier will most likely experience until the year 2100. The researchers found that around 2020 the terminus of the glacier will retreat into water that is sufficiently shallow to provide a stable position through 2100 by slowing the rate of iceberg production.
The speediness of the glacier's retreat is due to the unique nature of tidewater glaciers, Colgan said. When warming temperatures melt the surface of a land glacier, the land glacier only loses its mass by run-off. But in tidewater glaciers, the changes in ice thickness resulting from surface melt can create striking changes in ice flow, triggering an additional dynamic process for retreat.
The dynamic response of the Columbia Glacier to the surface melt will continue until the glacier reaches its new stable position in 2020, at roughly 26 miles long. "Once the dynamic trigger had been pulled, it probably wouldn't have mattered too much what happened to the surface melt -- it was just going to continue retreating through the bedrock depression upstream of the pre-1980s terminus," Colgan said.
Colgan next plans to attempt to use similar models to predict when the Greenland glaciers -- currently the major contributors to sea level rise -- will "turn off" and complete their retreats.
The future for the Columbia Glacier, however, looks bleak. "I think the hope was that once we saw climate change happening, we could act to prevent some irreversible consequences," Colgan said, "but now we are only about eight years out from this retreat finishing -- it is really sad. There is virtually no chance of the Columbia Glacier recovering its pre-retreat dimensions on human time-scales."
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The study was funded by NASA, and co-authors on the paper include W. Tad Pfeffer of CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Harihar Rajaram of the CU-Boulder Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Waleed Abdalati of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration in Washington, D.C., and Balog of the Extreme Ice Survey in Boulder, Colo.
The complete study is available online at http://www.the-cryosphere.net/6/1395/2012/.
Contact:
William Colgan, CIRES, 011-45-5290-1585
William.Colgan@colorado.edu
Jane Palmer, CIRES science writer, 303-883-4398
Jane.Palmer@colorado.edu
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Website design actually balances your website with functionality and look. Never neglect web designing during development of your website. There are many industries where web designing is better than functionalities. By this way you can easily convert your visitors into your potential customers. Generally, visitor stays 3 to 5 seconds to your website and your website should be capable enough to grab the attention of your visitors. We are Sonic Interactive - a Web Designers Sydney company who gives the real business direction to your business. We know the psychology of visitors and present your website in front of them like they want. We design and develop Web sites that appeal to the target audience. We add commanding functionality to your website. Get user friendly websites, Effective and eye-catching layout, exceptional design thought, Search engine friendly design, Quick turnaround time - less than a week etc.
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Achieving success at a home-based business is not everyone?s fortune, but don?t let that prevent you from giving it a try. At this time you simply need a computer to create, for a really low cost, a business that you can manage from home. It won?t take much at all. You need a small dose of determination to do the research, and a high-speed, low-cost internet access. A computer-based business has a global reach with unlimited consumers, whereas a traditional business is confined to local custom and has pricey set-up expenses. Everyone in the world with internet access is a potential client.
Click here if you?d like more information.
There are many ways to get your toes wet if you?re really considering a business on the Internet. To make a start you certainly don?t need to be an IT nerd, but being familiar with using a laptop or computer would be useful. Quite often, generating an income online has nothing to do with your technical skills, but with how much you know about the things you like doing. A good example of a web business for folks who are very good at writing would be doing copy writing. Content is often in demand, so a writer could also work on a freelance basis, obtaining writing jobs from individuals who are no good at it. All you need to do is look for those individuals who have a need, such as content, and supply it for them. Write down a few samples of your work and then do a bit of promoting, and you will be in business.
Online auction web sites are another avenue from which a large number of people are making good money. You can acquire items at wholesale value and sell them at full price, or you may already have products suitable for selling online. Getting your product offers looked at by customers is taken care of for you by places like eBay and other online auction sites. Your job is firstly to figure out a price and list your product, then wait for the sales. Once the buyer makes the purchase, you will receive the payment and then complete the purchase by sending the purchaser their merchandise.
Life is getting a lot easier in lots of ways through the advances in technology. The advent of the pc has put ownership of a business within the reach of ordinary folks. The Internet has everything you need to start a business. It offers access to products you can sell as well as information that shows you how to do it. If you could identify a business model that appeals to you and apply it to your own start-up business, that would be great.
Instead of a fulltime business you could just be after another income stream, which the Internet caters for handsomely. Spend a little time on your computer seeking information on starting an online business, and you will find lots of it. Get started on your research and you could soon begin making some cash.
Internally displaced Congolese gather at the Mugunga 3 camp west of Goma, eastern Congo, Monday Nov. 26, 2012. Regional leaders meeting in Uganda called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Internally displaced Congolese gather at the Mugunga 3 camp west of Goma, eastern Congo, Monday Nov. 26, 2012. Regional leaders meeting in Uganda called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Congolese government new army chief General Fancois Olenga in Minova under their control Sunday Nov. 25, 2012. Government troops remain in Minova, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Sake, following a failed attack on M23 last Thursday.Regional leaders meeting in Uganda called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
M23 rebels patrol around Congo's Central Bank in Goma, eastern Congo, Monday Nov. 26, 2012. Regional leaders meeting in Uganda called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Promess Bitibo, 12, who was injured by bullet wounds to the abdomen Nov. 19 2012, grimaces as he is being dressed by a nurse at the Heal Africa hospital in Goma Monday Nov. 26, 2012. Regional leaders meeting in Uganda called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay )
Junior Mutsima, 11, who was wounded by a bullet to the thorax Nov. 19 2012, sits on his bed at the Heal Africa hospital in Goma Monday Nov. 26, 2012. Regional leaders meeting in Uganda called for an end to the advance by M23 rebels toward Congo's capital, and also urged the Congolese government to sit down with rebel leaders as residents fled some towns for fear of more fighting between the rebels and army.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay )
GOMA, Congo (AP) ? Rebels widely believed to be backed by Rwanda and Uganda stepped up their patrols Monday of this key eastern Congo city that they seized last week, even as a midnight deadline issued by a regional bloc for them to withdraw loomed.
The M23 rebels said Monday they plan to move their headquarters to this city of 1 million later this week, another sign that they do not intend to leave by midnight. Underscoring the chaotic situation, armed rebels guarded the Central Bank of Congo while United Nations peacekeepers stood watch over a gas station. Many shops closed early on Monday and few students attended reopened schools.
The Congolese military, which suffered a humiliating defeat when it lost Goma last Sunday, was regrouping in the town of Minova, 60 kilometers (36 miles) to the south, but they appeared disorganized and not in position to launch an immediate assault on Goma.
Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo confirmed that President Joseph Kabila had met in recent days with the rebels during a mediation session in neighboring Uganda. He said that the government at this point is leaning toward "the avenue of dialogue and peace," suggesting it is unlikely the military will try to take Goma by force if the ultimatum is not respected.
"Any action to take back the city of Goma by force will without doubt result in enormous human loss," said Matata Ponyo in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Monday. "President Kabila is giving priority to the road that will lead to the least loss," he said.
A deadline was issued by the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region on Saturday in Kampala, Uganda's capital, and gave the M23 rebels two days to retreat to 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside of Goma. It expires at midnight on Monday.
"I think (the rebels) will abide by it (the ultimatum)," Matata Ponyo said.
The regional group is attempting to negotiate an end to the fighting, but it did not threaten any consequences if the rebels don't depart. Rwanda and Uganda belong to the group and they are hardly neutral. Both countries back the rebels, according to a U.N. report released on Wednesday, and they would be unlikely to go to war with M23 over the seizure of Goma.
M23's military chief would not indicate whether his fighters planned to respect the withdrawal time limit. Reached by telephone at an undisclosed location, he said he was on his way to Kampala for talks. "We will talk about all of this in coming hours," said Gen. Sultani Makenga.
Residents fear that if the Congo army attempts to regain Goma, there will be bitter fighting.
"I am worried the fighting will come back to Goma soon if the army attacks again. Last week, we were so scared. I don't want to go through that again," said Amani Zaliwa, a Goma resident.
The M23, created only eight months ago, will move its administration offices on Thursday into what had been the provincial governor's offices, said Bertrand Bisimwa, the M23 political spokesman.
In downtown Goma, armed M23 rebels drove slowly in a Land Cruiser past United Nations troops stationed at traffic circles. Others carried out foot patrols on the main arteries. The U.N., which has hundreds of peacekeeping troops stationed in Goma, did little to halt the rebels' advance into the city a week ago, saying that the U.N. mandate did not allow them to engage the fighters.
Tens of thousands of Congolese have fled to refugee camps for safety. Aid organizations struggled to provide them with food and supplies. When a rainstorm hit the Munguna-3 camp, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Goma, children held out their hands to catch the water and drink it. They were quickly imitated by adults.
Over the weekend in Minova, pickup trucks packed with Congolese army soldiers armed with automatic rifles sped through the town. Others walked the streets, looking for food, testimony to the poor pay that government troops receive.
M23 is made up of hundreds of soldiers who deserted the Congolese army in April. The rebels accuse Congo's government of failing to honor the terms of a 2009 peace deal that incorporated them into the national army.
Matata Ponyo said that the Congolese president agreed to meet with the rebels in order to hear their demands and in a good faith effort to avoid bloodshed. In the early months of the rebellion, the M23 said that the Congolese government had not paid them well, and had discriminated against people from the Tutsi ethnicity, which makes up the bulk of their ranks. A U.N. report released last week, however, said that the rebels were backed by Rwanda and most likely fighting for a greater share of Congo's mineral riches.
Matata Ponyo said that things like greater pay are on the table, but Congo's territorial integrity is off limits.
"These are borders that were drawn in Berlin in 1885. More than 100 years have passed ? no. It's not negotiable," he said.
Both Uganda and Rwanda are named in a report by the U.N. Group of Experts as key backers of the M23 rebels, and Matata Ponyo noted that still Uganda was leading the mediation and Rwanda was given a seat at the table.
The regional conflict is also complicated by the fact that Rwanda becomes a permanent member of the Security Council in January. Matata Ponyo said this was a failure on the part of the U.N.
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Callimachi reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda and, Africa chief photographer Jerome Delay in Minova and Goma, Congo, contributed to this report.
Spam can come in many forms, including ?special? toolbars and comment spam designed to post comments on your site that are false and sometimes embarrassing.? In a recent post from Google, we?re told that Google will penalize our sites if too much spam is tracked to the site.? This could be disastrous for your business and frustrating for you.?
Here are two ways that unchecked spam can hurt and possibly ruin your sites:
Rankings.? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the main way that most marketers build their sites for quality traffic and great rankings.? But spamming techniques can ruin your good rankings by luring visitors to your site(s) by droves in an unethical manner.
Spamming techniques such as invisible text, stuffing unrelated keywords into your content, and duplicate content can alert search engines that you?re contriving to get traffic in an unethical manner, and they will ?red flag? those sites and penalize the site owners.
Credibility.? It?s so easy to lose your online credibility with spamming techniques.? Blogs are especially susceptible to these methods because visitors and participators in the blog don?t want to be inundated with useless content and multiple backlinks that have nothing to do with the purpose of the blog.
These spammers can use the legitimate backlinks on your blog to sell to other ?black hat? Internet Markets, causing your blog followers to fall by the wayside like flies.
Your reputation and ethics are so important to anything you do online while building your site(s).? Keep appraised of spammers who are out for a quick buck and who can ruin interest in your online efforts.
Web Spam Vs. Email Spam
You should know that there?s a difference between web spam and email spam.? The simplest explanation is that email spam is out for you to purchase a product, and web spammers (comments and/or blog posts) want your visitors to purchase their products.? You?re not the target ? but your clients are ? and that can drive them off of your site or blog in droves.
There is a service that you can turn to that will automatically delete comment and blog spam so that you don?t have to worry about it anymore.? The service is called Akismet, and you can access it through plugins such as WordPress or the Akismet API.? All you have to do is register and API key (like a password) which is your own private access to your account.
Then, each time a comment, pingback or trackback?appears on your site, the Akismet service tests it and either Okays it or turns it down.? You don?t have to do a thing ? and, you can be assured that the spam designed to ruin your site and steal sales and customers from you is taken care of.? Click Here to Tweet this Post.
When you use a plugin such as Akismet to stop spam from invading your site, you?ll keep Google and other search engines from penalizing your sites and from losing credibility with your followers.
I?ve spoken about ?black hat techniques? before, and web spamming is definitely one of the worst.? They?re hoping you?ll disregard them because these spam techniques use flattery, praise and other positive comments to catch you off guard.
There?s no way for you to know if these comments and posts are legitimate.? That?s why it?s a good thing to use a plug in like Akismet to check it out for you.? Just be sure you?re protected from these spammers who are thieves and who can run your business off the Internet.?
Related posts:
Spam Blocker For WordPress
5 Plug-ins You Need for your WordPress Blog
6 Ways To Get Free Traffic For Your Website
Empower Your IM Business by Building a List
Tagged as: Akismet, API key, Black Hat, blog followers, comment spam, Credibility, duplicate content, Inernet Markets, invisible text, Malicious Ways that Spam Can Ruin Your Business, pingback, Rankings, reputation and ethics, spammers, spamming techniques, stuffing unrelated keywords into your content, trackback, Web Spam Vs. Email Spam, web spammers, wordpress
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Posted by: admin on November 24, 2012 Under: debt relief in |
Getting rid of debt in Alaska is virtually the same as any other state in the nation. If you are looking for debt relief choices, you can get in touch with a debt management business who can help you in examining your financial standing, total debt and payment capabilities.
National Debt Relief can provide you with debt relief services in the State of Alaska. All you have to do is give us a call and you can get professional help that will lead you to rise above your financial woes. You can also send us your information through the short form on this page and we will have someone get in touch with you.
What we can do is to help you come up with a debt relief strategy that you can afford. We will present that to the creditor/collector on your behalf to come up with a reduced payment plan. The purpose is to have a certain percentage of your debt forgiven as long as you stick to the new payment term.
Apart from that, National Debt Relief is also here to help train you of your consumer rights based on the federal laws enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the state laws of Alaska. Despite being unable to pay off your debts, your collectors do not have the right to abuse, threaten or harass you and the people around you.
Please notice that anything you find on this page is just meant to be a source of debt collection facts in Alaska. It is not meant nor should it be treated as a legal advice.
Debt Collection Laws in Alaska
The State of Alaska follows the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as enforced by the FTC. They also came up with state laws that can further protect consumers under their authority.
Based on Chapter 1, Article 3 (Sections 210 and 220) of the Alaska Administrative Code, the state laws forbid the subsequent debt collection practices:
Debt collectors are forbidden from calling your workplace unless the company and the debtor allows it. A collector is forbidden from getting in touch with friends, employers (former and present), co-workers, neighbors, and other family members and talk about a debtor?s financial obligations. They are only permitted to do so to get advice on how to contact the debtor and they should correctly and truthfully introduce themselves. Unless a property has been used for security, the collector has no legal claims over a debtor?s property and should not threaten to repossess it. If the debtor is represented by a lawyer, the collector should quit communicating with them and deal with the representative instead. Any type of misrepresentation of the collector?s identity is strictly forbidden (e.g. lawyer, government officer). The same holds true for the details of the debt like the sum. The collector should not falsely tell the debtor of the rights to file a response or dispute to their demands. They are also forbidden from deceiving the debtor to signing any confession of judgement. The collector is prohibited from adding any fees and costs on top of the debt originally owed by the debtor. In addition to these provisions, the law in Alaska also says in sections 45.50.471 ? 561 that unfair trade practices and any violation can be sued in the state courts. If the courts rule in favor of the debtor, they can receive 3 times more than the true financial damages incurred by the untowardly actions of the collector. It is either that or $500, depending on which amount is higher. On top of this, you will also be paid for any legal costs and attorney fees spent on the legal action.
To file a charge, you can get in touch with the Attorney General of the State of Alaska. Their office will use your charge ? along with other consumers, to file a suit against breaking debt collectors and their various agencies.
There are three methods for you to file a charge.
By submitting charge form online. By sending a formal written charge that can be sent to the office of the Attorney General at the Alaska Department of Law (Civil Division), Commercial and Fair Business Division. Here are the different addresses that you can use: 1031 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 200, Anchorage, AK 99501-1994; (tel) 907-269-5200 PO Box. 110300, Juneau, AK 99811-0300; (tel) 907-465-3600 100 Cushman Street, Suite 400, Fairbanks, AK 99701-4679;n (tel) 907-451-2811 By calling the nearest Attorney General?s office near you through the individual numbers provided in number 2. Debtors are also encouraged to submit your complaints with the FTC. They supply the Congress with a yearlyl report with regards to debt collection and also fair credit reporting practices and violations. To send your complaints, you can use this LINK.
For more information about the Fair Debt Collection Practices in Alaska, click on this LINK.
Statute of Limitations in Alaska
Alaska also has a list of statute of limitations (SOL) that protect debtors from old debts that were not acted upon by either the creditor or the collector representing them. Once the debts age long enough to surpass the statute of limitations, both the creditor and collector cannot go after the debtor or file a legal action against them.
The time limit for debts in Alaska is six (6) years for oral and written contracts. For promissory notes and open-ended accounts, the limitation is just up to three (3) years. The SOL countdown begins from the day the debtor defaults payment. This does not mean the count begins on your last payment but the date after you have not paid. For instance, if your payment is every 1st of the month and your last payment was on 2/1/2012, the SOL will begin on 3/2/2012. If this is a written contract, you will not be covered by the SOL until
3/3/2018. What Happens When the Debt Goes to Court
If a creditor or collector goes to court as a last resort to get the debtor to pay their debts, one of the first things to check is the statute of limitations. You need to present evidence of the age of the account. This can be in the form of the cardholder agreement and the letter from the collector with the name of the original creditor, the quantity of the debt and the date you stopped payments.
Should your debt be uncovered by the SOL, the state laws of Alaska enable the debtor to get the professional services of a debt settlement business. They can represent the debtor to help them reduce the outstanding balance of the debt to an amount that is satisfactory to both debtor and creditor.
However, if the creditor or the debtor cannot reach an understanding, they might be compelled to go to court. As the debtor, you can present in court evidence of your limited financial situation. The Alaska Courts will require at least 3 months of bank statements to show the debtors claim if being financially unable to pursue paying the debts. If the court rules a debtor as being ?judgement proof?, this means any opinion against them will be rendered useless to the creditor since there is nothing of value that can be taken as compensation for the debt.
When the court finds the debtor completely responsible for the debt, the creditor will be given judgement. They will be permitted to gather valuable assets and properties that belong to the debtor as payment for the debt owed. However, there are limits to what they are permitted to gather.
Here is a list of assets and properties that are exempted from being collected:
$54,000 equity of a house property (whether separately or co-owned) $2,800 worth of personal things that the debtor needs to make a living (e.g. publications, gear, etc) $350 (weekly) or $1,400 (monthly) of the debtors wages. If the debtor is the single earner in the family they are entitled to either $550 (weekly) or $2,200 (monthly) of their wages. $3,000 worth of personal things like clothes, publications, home goods, family portraits, heirlooms and musical instruments $1,000 worth of jewelry $3,000 of a vehicle?s equity $1,000 for pets owned Burial plot Recoveries for any personal injury or wrongful death (same value as the wage garnishment exemption) Profits for any lost, destroyed or damaged property exempted from group Health helps Building materials Insurance benefits for/from the following: Impairment $10,000 worth of contract or annuity loan from a Life insurance Life insurance profits for policies wherein the beneficiary is the debtor?s spouse or any dependent (same value as the wage garnishment exemption) Benefits from Fraternal benefit society Qualified ERISA benefits (should have been deposited at least 120 days before bankruptcy filing) Medical, hospital or surgical benefits Pensions of teachers, judicial and public employees (benefits building up only) Other pensions with the same value as the wage garnishment exemption (for payments being received) Public benefits from the following: Adult assistance (blind, handicapped and aged) AFDC Longevity bonus for Alaska residents Compensation for crime victims National public benefits General Aid assistance 45% from dividends of permanent funds Tuition credits from a contract for college tuition payment Worker?s compensation Compensation for unemployment Company property (if involved in a venture) Alimony (same value as wage garnishment exemption) Child support from a collection agency License for Liquor Alaska Fisheries limited entry permit There are also national exemptions that you may need to look into. See the FTC debt collection FAQ section.
Alaska is also one of the states implementing the community property law. However, couples have the option to sign up for it or not. The community property law means any property or asset incurred after marriage is co-owned by the couple. If one of them declares bankruptcy, properties and assets possessed by the couple can be taken by creditors/collectors.
For starters, a 5-percent share of the PC and game console market in the next three years isn?t bad, stakeholders in the Philippines figured, considering the global industry is expected to reach $90 billion this year alone.
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Recent estimates also expect the industry revenues to hit $242.92 billion by 2016.
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However, there is a lot fine-tuning industry players must do to gain from this tremendously growing market.?
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?The worldwide game industry is estimated to hit up to $90 billion by the end of 2012,? Game Developers Association of the Philippines president Alvin Juban said in an emailed statement Friday.
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?The top game development companies are trying hard to sort through to still find ways to continuously better their business models,? Juban added.
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The game development sector is quite young, counting about 60 companies as of December 2011, according to the Game Developers Association, a partner of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines.
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As of end-2011, the sector accounted for 3,000 employees and combined revenues of $12 million ? up 13 percent from 2011.?
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That is why the Game Developers Association wants to expand its 0.2-percent share of the market to 5 percent by 2015.
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The global games market, including animation, is expected to grow up to $242.92 billion by 2016, according to researcher MarketsandMarkets.
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Core revenues mainly come from PC games and devices that carry games as a bonus feature, specifically helped by the proliferation of mobile devices ? smartphones and tablet computers ? and enhancing the industry?s growth potential in terms of revenues, MarketsandMarkets noted. ?
?Game development companies based in? Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and? ?France have explored opportunities for joint venture projects with us, as well as training partnerships and consultancy [with a view to] establishing a Philippine presence,? said Juban.
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This development is an offshoot of the ?lingering bearish global climate?? prompting industry players to explore possibilities overseas, Juban noted.
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?With a highly-trainable and competent talent pool, we are confident that global clients will realize the potential of the Philippines as the destination of choice for outsourcing game development services,? Juban added. ? VS, GMA News
mitment until they completely realize the program and recognize the possible financial savings to come with the enrollment.
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Public release date: 26-Nov-2012
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Spamming techniques such as invisible text, 
There is a service that you can turn to that will automatically delete comment and blog spam so that you don?t have to worry about it anymore.? The service is called Akismet, and you can access it through plugins such as WordPress or the Akismet API.? All you have to do is register and API key (like a password) which is your own private access to your account.
I?ve spoken about ?black hat techniques? before, and web spamming is definitely one of the worst.? They?re hoping you?ll disregard them because these spam techniques use flattery, praise and other positive comments to catch you off guard.