Panasonic GX1: Just Like the GF1, Only Way Better

Panasonic’s GX1 is officially official. After photos of the new Micro Four Thirds camera leaked last week, we knew pretty much everything that could be inferred from the knobs and dials on the body, including the fact that — thankfully — there are lots of knobs and dials. What we didn’t know was what Panasonic [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/V9b8P4c_Gm4/

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Jason gets his Day in the sun at Australian Open

Australian Jason Day speaks to the press during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open Golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

Australian Jason Day speaks to the press during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open Golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

U.S. golfer Tiger Woods wipes his forehead after playing a shot on the 13th hole during a pro-am event of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

U.S. golfer Tiger Woods smiles after playing a good shot during a pro-am event of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy speaks at a press conference ahead of the Australian Open Golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011.(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

(AP) ? Jason Day returns home as the highest-ranked Australian in golf, and it's a wonder anyone recognizes him.

They know all about his prodigious talent, winning on the Nationwide Tour at age 19. They probably remember his bold comments about Tiger Woods at the end of 2007, when Day first earned his PGA Tour card.

"I'm sure I can take him down," he said.

Most of them were watching on TV when he was runner-up at the Masters and the U.S. Open.

They just haven't seen him.

It has been nearly five years since Day last played a tournament in Australia. That was part of his Nationwide Tour campaign that brought him to the PGA Tour, and since then he has worked on travel papers, dealt with sinus and other injuries, married an American girl and tried to settle into homes in Texas and more recently in Ohio.

He will be hard to miss Thursday in the Australian Open. Not only is Day at No. 7 in the world ranking, he will be spending the opening two rounds at The Lakes with Woods and Robert Allenby.

"It is good to be back," Day said. "It's amazing how things have changed over the years I've been away. The change is for the good. Everything is new. It's an amazing feeling."

Despite not winning this year, there is a confidence about the way he plays that leads many to think it won't be long before Day is challenging for No. 1 in the world. At a time when golf seemingly is owned by youth, his name often gets mentioned in the same sentence as U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, former PGA champion Martin Kaymer and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

Day, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Saturday, figures to be part of the action when he tees off Thursday afternoon at The Lakes, a course that allows for players to go after a few short par 4s, and especially the reachable par 5s over the water.

"Does he have the talent to be world No. 1? Absolutely, absolutely he does," Woods said. "He hits the ball plenty long, a wonderful putter. He has the right attitude for it. It's just that to get to world No. 1, it takes time. You've got to win golf tournaments and you've got to be consistent, week in and week out. Just give him time and I'm sure he'll get there."

Day thought it might happen much sooner.

Coming off his Nationwide Tour success in 2007, he gave an interview to the Australian media in which he spoke of Woods as his measuring stick. If he won two tournaments his first year on tour, then that's what Day wanted to do.

But it hasn't come as easily. He didn't win until his 59th start as a PGA Tour member, at the Byron Nelson Championship last year, as he coped with high hopes and injuries.

"I stopped practicing and thought it was going to come easy," Day said. "Obviously, it didn't. It's very stiff competition on the PGA Tour. I had to get back to working on everything, not just my golf swing. I finally realized that when you get to a level like this, it's not about making huge changes to your swing. It's about having the little things right and being mentally prepared for each week."

He finally gets to play on a big stage with Woods at a time when their careers are going in opposite directions.

This marks the two-year anniversary of the last time Woods won any tournament in the world, the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath down in Melbourne. He has fallen to No. 58 in the world, the lowest since he was a 20-year-old rookie in 1996 trying to get his card.

Day had a pair of top 10s in the FedEx Cup playoffs, pushing him into the top 10.

Like so many young players, Woods was an influence on his game.

"I read a book about Tiger and that's why I woke up every morning at 5:30 and went out and practiced," Day said. "I got up to 32? hours a week of practice because of that guy. He has influenced my life a lot. I've always wanted to play against him. It's going to be fun when we have that chance to play against each other. It is going to be very friendly, but obviously we want to beat each other."

There will be other players to beat at The Lakes.

This is the best field this proud championship has had in years. The Australian Open is the fourth-oldest national championship behind Britain and the United States, and behind Canada based on the calendar. It's past champions include Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Greg Norman.

Woods is among 13 players at the Australian Open ? along with captains Norman and Fred Couples ? who will be in the Presidents Cup next week at Royal Melbourne.

Woods hasn't been the same since the Australian Masters two years ago. He was exposed for serial adultery, missed five months trying to get his life in order, got divorced, changed swing instructors and has spent the better part of this year coping with leg injuries that caused him to miss most of the summer.

"I haven't played a lot of tournaments this year," Woods said.

He embarks on a stretch of three events in four weeks, concluding with his Chevron World Challenge the first week in December, before taking an offseason break for about six weeks.

This could take time, though his peers that once expected nothing but the best have not given up on him.

"You can lose the form, but you never lose that talent," Adam Scott said. "Once he gets back into those positions with his game, he'll find it not too hard to have that edge again. You can't write the guy off. Every time we have, he has proved us wrong in the past."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-09-GLF-Australian-Open/id-03b52f218f984fbd9181b4f104312952

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Magic Johnson backs Stern after racial suggestion (AP)

NEW YORK ? Magic Johnson said it's "ridiculous" to suggest that David Stern is racist, saying it's OK to disagree with the NBA commissioner but that you "can't attack the man and what he stands for."

Johnson was responding to comments made by attorney Jeffrey Kessler, representing the NBA players' association, who told the Washington Post that owners are treating players like "plantation workers" during the ongoing lockout.

That was similar to the comments Bryant Gumbel made last month on his HBO show, when he said Stern "always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys."

But Johnson said Stern has always done right by players, noting the number of blacks such himself, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas who have followed their Hall of Fame playing careers by going into management or ownership positions.

"This league is more diverse than any other league and has more minorities in powerful positions than any other league," Johnson said during a phone interview. "That's all about David Stern and his vision and what he wanted to do. He make sure minorities had high-ranking positions from the league office all the way down to coaches and front office people."

Stern did not comment, though told the Washington Post that Kessler's conduct "is routinely despicable."

However, players such as Johnson and Bill Russell called the league office to support Stern, who is leading owners in a bitter dispute with the players but who has not lost their support, according to Johnson.

"It was David Stern who took this league worldwide. And so those guys know it was because of David Stern and what he was able to do," Johnson said.

Johnson recalled it was Stern who offered him a place in the 1992 NBA All-Star game, even over some players' wishes after he had retired the previous November because of HIV. And it was Stern who included Johnson that summer on the Dream Team that won the Olympic gold medal.

And it was Stern, he said, who called him after Johnson's comments about Thomas in his book ignited a public feud between the longtime friends, urging Johnson to work it out.

"He has always done what's right for both the players and owners. I'm going to have to say this personally, David, he didn't have to do that. That's the type of commissioner he is.

"He always is looking out for the players and what's best for the league and I disagree with anybody who says he's trying to be a plantation owner. It's ridiculous we're even talking about it."

Stern, 69, is likely nearing his final years on the job after becoming commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984, just as Johnson and Larry Bird were renewing the longtime rivalry between the Lakers and Boston Celtics. Johnson said he's "tired of people taking shots" at Stern, especially because so many of them have jobs connected to the NBA that Stern created.

So Johnson urged those criticizing Stern during the lockout to "not go to the gutter."

"We should be saluting him, he shouldn't be torn down, especially something that he's not," Johnson said.

"He's a tough business man and a smart business man. That's what he's supposed to be."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111109/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_stern_racial_comment

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Why the wealth gap between young and old is wider than ever

The wealth gap between the young and old is deeper than it has ever been. The recession hasn't helped, but the trend has been in the making for years.

The wealth divide between older and younger Americans has widened sharply in recent years ? because of both the deep recession and longer-term trends.
?
That's the conclusion of a new analysis released by the Pew Research Center, which looked at an array of government numbers to reach its conclusions.
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In all, the typical household headed by someone younger than 35 has seen its net worth fall by 68 percent between 1984 and 2009, after adjusting for inflation, according to the Pew report released Monday. Those in the 35-to-44 age group also saw a decline in net worth over that period, a drop of 44 percent.

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By contrast, older households posted gains in wealth over the past quarter century. Net worth rose 42 percent for households headed by someone 65 or older. Other age categories saw either a modest gain (10 percent for those age 55 to 64) or a modest decline (10 percent for those age 45 to 54). Overall, the median US household posted a 10 percent gain.
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What explains this big divergence?
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Top reasons include housing-market trends that have favored the old over the young, the rising burden of student loans on college graduates, and a job market in which challenges appear to have affected younger age groups more heavily.
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"These age-based divergences of [wealth] widened substantially with the housing market collapse of 2006, the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and the ensuing jobless recovery," says the new report, by Pew researchers Richard Fry, D?Vera Cohn, Gretchen Livingston and Paul Taylor. "But they all began appearing decades earlier, suggesting they are as much linked to long-term demographic and social changes as they are to the sour economy of recent years."
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For example, the typical ages of those entering the labor market and entering marriage ? which the report calls "two markers of adulthood traditionally linked to income growth and wealth accumulation" ? have risen. Rising college loans are also a long-term trend.

Also, today?s young adults are more likely to be minorities and more likely to be single parents, characteristics often linked with lower net worth.
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A countervailing trend: Many young women are postponing childbearing, with its costs on household budgets.
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Older households gained the most from a general rise on home values. For many of them, the housing bust that began in 2006 did not fully erase earlier gains in home equity. Another factor affecting seniors: More of them hold jobs today than in the past, although Social Security remains their income mainstay.
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The report's findings underscore the importance of the nation's current focus on economic policy, which is visible from "Occupy Wall Street" protests to the presidential campaign and the fractious debate in Congress over budget reforms.
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The once unfettered US economy now faces the twin challenge of high unemployment and historically high debt, both for government and households. The task for policymakers is to chart a path back to full employment and solid growth while getting debts and deficits under control.
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Failing to solve the growth challenge could mean that the now-young generation won't experience a higher standard of living than their parents. Failing to solve the debt problem could leave those same younger Americans to pay the tab for fiscal mismanagement.
?
Although concerns over generational fairness in policy haven't generally been front-page news, they are not new. US history over the past 60 years "is marked by ever-larger redistribution from the young to the old," Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff writes in a recent Bloomberg News column on Republican tax-reform proposals.
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Mr. Kotlikoff, who has studied the generational impacts of federal policies, argues that a flat-tax proposal from Texas Gov. Rick Perry would make the problem worse. Mr. Perry's plan would tax the old and rich less when they ought to pay a higher share of US taxes, the economist says.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/XnpdFbye8VE/Why-the-wealth-gap-between-young-and-old-is-wider-than-ever

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Graveyard Mall Deal: Webkinz Plush Pets for $3.36 each :: Southern ...

Webkinz Plush Pets
Graveyard Mall has the Webkinz deal back again today!? You can get a set of 11 of these popular plush toys for $29.99 (normally $165 if purchased individually).? With shipping of $6.99 for the set, this comes out to $3.36 ea.

The lowest prices on Amazon are in the $6-$8 range, so this is a great deal!

These are great to have on hand for small gifts or split an order with your family or friends and share amongst your kids.

?

Source: http://www.southernsavers.com/2011/11/graveyard-mall-deal-webkinz-plush-pets-for-3-36-each-2/

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TiPb Picks of the Week for November 5, 2011

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they?re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related,...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/E0tDK4RiBIU/story01.htm

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Eurozone wants cross-party commitment in Greece (AP)

BRUSSELS ? Greece can get a crucial euro8 billion ($11 billion) slice of bailout money this month if the leaders of the two main parties both commit in writing to the terms of the country's two massive bailouts and the austerity measures and economic reforms that they require, eurozone finance chiefs said Monday.

That payment, which has been delayed by two months, would head off a potentially disastrous default as early as December.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who also chairs the eurozone finance ministers meetings, said that ministers at their get-together in Brussels asked for a letter co-signed by the two party leaders that they will implement that program.

Such cross-party commitment is important as Greece gears up for new elections early next year.

"It is essential that the entire political class is now restoring the confidence that had been lost into the Greek commitment to the EU/IMF program and to the agreement of the 27th of October," said European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn. He was referring to an agreement drawn up at a summit of European leaders last month in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

While finance ministers were meeting in Brussels, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and opposition party leader Antonis Samaras were trying to form a unity government that would lead the country in the meantime.

"It should have been done months ago," Juncker said of the cross-party government.

Italy, which has seen the interest rates on its bonds rise to a euro era record of 6.67 percent, also came in for scrutiny at the meeting Monday in Brussels. Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti assured his colleagues that his country would implement the financial reforms promised last month in a letter from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, including balancing the budget by 2013 as well as reforming pensions and deregulating the labor market.

Rehn said it was crucial for Italy to implement the policies outlined in Berlusconi's letter. He said he had sent a letter to Italian authorities asking specific questions about the implementation of the program and he expected a written reply by the end of this week. He did not say what the questions were.

Rehn said a technical mission would be sent to Rome on Tuesday or Wednesday to intensify surveillance of the country's fiscal policies.

The finance ministers also spelled out technical details of their plan to give their bailout fund more leverage. The eurozone wants to increase the firepower of the euro440 billion European Financial Stability Facility to euro1 trillion by allowing it to insure bond issues from shaky countries like Italy and Spain and by seeking investors from outside the eurozone.

The CEO of the EFSF, Klaus Regling, said the eurozone would create one or more co-investment funds that could take on funding from private investors like big banks and pension funds, non-European countries, or from the International Monetary Fund.

Investors in those fund would also receive some insurance against potential losses. Regling did not provide a figure for how much of potential losses would be insured but said the percentage would depend on each specific country.

What will follow now will be difficult talks with potential investors and rating agencies to determine how the money can be raised.

The waning confidence in the eurozone was made obvious by much lower demand for bonds issued by the EFSF Monday to raise euro3 billion for the bailout of Ireland.

The EFSF said it received orders just a little over the euro3 billion offered, at an interest rate of 3.59 percent. At the EFSF's first bond issuance for Ireland in January, the fund could have sold nine times as many bonds as it was offering.

Regling said that the 3.59 percent was the highest interest rate the EFSF has had to accept so far, a development he blamed on the worsened situation financial markets and lack of detail on how the fund will be given more leverage. He said he hoped Monday's announcements would restore some confidence.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111107/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Even Homes Without Pets Have Pet Allergens (HealthDay)

SUNDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- By taking steps to reduce pet allergens in their homes, pet owners can reduce the spread of pet allergens to people who may be allergic, experts say.

Pet allergens are found in more than 90 percent of U.S. homes, even though only 52 percent have a pet, said Dr. Dana Wallace, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, in a college news release.

That can pose a problem for pet-allergic children at schools, when classmates introduce allergens via their clothes and backpacks.

"Studies show that when asthmatic children who are allergic to cats attend classes with many cat owners, they have increased asthma symptoms," Wallace said. "We usually see a spike in asthma episodes at the beginning of the school year when students are reintroduced to the allergen after being away from it over the summer."

There are a number of steps pet owners can take to limit the amount of pet dander in their homes, noted Wallace, including:

  • Limit where the animal can roam, particularly the bedroom, to establish an "allergy free zone."
  • Wash clothing and bedding with bleach.
  • Cover mattresses and pillows with tightly woven microfiber fabric.
  • Use room air cleaners and vacuums with a HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter.
  • Use central heat and air; a MERV 12 filter is also recommended. (MERV is a rating system that signifies the size of particles a filter can capture)
  • Opt for wood or tile floor over carpeting.
  • Replace fabric upholstery with leather furniture.
  • Give pets regular baths.

These steps can also help pet owners who find out they're allergic to their own dog or cat, Wallace said. Pet owners can also consider immunotherapy, or allergy shots, advised Wallace.

Immunotherapy, she explained, exposes people to increasing amounts of an allergen to build up their immune system's tolerance for the substance. Although mild symptoms can be treated with over-the-counter drugs or nasal sprays, immunotherapy is typically most effective since it treats the condition rather than just the symptoms.

Although changes to people's surroundings and immunology can help control pet allergies, in extreme cases, the animal may need to be removed from the home.

"When the allergy is so severe that the individual is having increased asthma attacks or hospitalizations, the health of the person needs to be the top priority in making decisions about the family pet," she cautioned.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health provides more information on pet and other indoor allergies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111106/hl_hsn/evenhomeswithoutpetshavepetallergens

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Flirty dinosaur could shake its tail feathers

A dinosaur best known as an egg thief may have also been a showy diva with a feathery tail like the fan of a flamenco dancer, a new study finds.

Oviraptor dinosaurs lived in the late Cretaceous Period, about 75 million years ago. They got their name, Latin for "egg thief," because the first specimen was found near a clutch of eggs as if the beast were stealing them; later discoveries revealed that the eggs were likely the oviraptor's own, though the dinosaur's diet, and whether it included eggs, is mostly unknown.

But the new research finds that whatever they ate, oviraptorids were experts at shaking their tail feather. The dinosaurs have unusually compact, flexible tails, said study researcher Scott Persons, a doctoral student at the University of Alberta. Combined with a fan of feathers attached to the tail's end, this would have enabled Oviraptor to put on a show similar to that of a modern-day peacock.?

Persons, who presented his research Wednesday here at the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meeting, began studying the tails of various species of Oviraptor as part of a larger study on the tails of all theropods, a group of dinosaurs related closely to modern-day birds. Oviraptors are interesting, Persons told LiveScience, because they have very odd tails with a strange arrangement of bones.

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"The tail of an Oviraptor by comparison to the tail of most other dinosaurs is pretty darn short," he said. "But it's not short in that it's missing a whole bunch of vertebrae, it's short in that the individual vertebra within the tail themselves are sort of squashed together. So they're densely packed."

That dense bone arrangement would have made the tails especially flexible, Persons said, in the same way that a person's spine with its many bone junctions can move more sinuously than an arm, which has only a couple of joints.

In addition, comparison with the tails of modern-day reptiles suggests that oviraptorids had particularly muscular tails, Persons said. Fossil impressions reveal that oviraptorids also came equipped with a fan of feathers at the end of their tails, attached to a hunk of fused vertebrae not unlike those found in the tails of modern-day birds.

"If you combine that with having a muscular, very flexible tail, what you have is a tail that could, potentially at least, have been used to flaunt, to wave that tail-feather fan," Persons said.

And just like modern-day birds, oviraptorids may well have flashed their tail fans to impress potential mates.

"If you think about things like peacocks, they often use their tails in courtship displays," Persons said.

You can follow LiveSciencesenior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescienceand on Facebook.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45165298/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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