ictjob.be : Job posting - PYRAMID - Senior End-to-end Process ...

Pyramid is a strong, dynamic Belgian company providing a full range of IT Consultancy Services & Solutions to TOP-100 companies within the Benefralux.
Our main competence areas are :

- IT Consultancy Services
- Total Customer Care (Services & Solutions)
- Business Solutions
- Project Support Services

In order to keep up our reputation of providing high-quality services, we continuously look for IT professionals who can help us offer an added value to our clients.

?

Description:

?

To set-up and lead an initiative to improve the E2E process management in a Telco / ICT environment, thereby leading and managing company-wide program/change management teams ensuring timely delivery of business initiatives with respect of approved scope and budget.

• Review and assess the current status of the E2E process management.
• Develop improvement initiatives for the E2E process management together with the business owners and other relevant stakeholders and align on the implementation.
• Structure, prepare and align the implementation plan.
• Set-up a project team covering all impacted teams (end-to-end approach & governance).
• Prepare and defend together with the program sponsor the business case.
• Monitor and track the implementation, resolve conflicts and provide content support.
• Liaise on a continuous basis with management of the impacted departments to ensure that everyone is fully aware of the deliverables (content + timing) his or her reports are in charge of.
• Ensure appropriate communication and coordination across (sub-)departments related to the project.
• Define and facilitate change (due to process optimization).

?

Skills:

• At least 12 years experience in Program/Project Management within large and complex environments.
• Good knowledge of the Telecom environment at large or at least of relating Technology or other sector.
• Good understanding of key processes in a Telecom Business (Order to Bill, Trouble to Resolution).
• Proven experience in managing large change initiatives (by preference focussing on process optimization).
• Very good experience in process optimization and process analysis.
• Proven experience in steering large and complex programs from an end-to-end perspective, coordinating all aspects (business, IT, engineering, Finance, HR,...)
• Good project methodologies knowledge.

Language skills:

• French, Dutch and English.

?

Interested?

?

If you are interested, thanks to submit us your most recent r?sum? in word format.

?

kelly clarkson playoffs empty nest nbc sports bengals vs texans nfl playoffs cincinnati bengals

Colo. town evacuated as growing wildfire nears

The evening sky glows orange as smoke and flames from the Waldo Canyon Fire has consumed 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

The evening sky glows orange as smoke and flames from the Waldo Canyon Fire has consumed 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

A giant plume from the Waldo Canyon Fire hovers high above Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained and has consumed 2500 acres. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

The evening sky glows orange as smoke and flames from the Waldo Canyon Fire has consumed 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

Leaping flames race across a ridge as the Waldo Canyon Fire burned 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

Smoke billows thousands of feet in the air from the Waldo Canyon Fire has consumed 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ? A wildfire near Colorado Springs erupted and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles over the weekend, prompting the evacuation of a popular vacation town and the closure of nearby highways Sunday.

The 5,000 residents of Manitou Springs were ordered to leave Saturday hours after the blaze erupted in El Paso County. It quickly grew to more than 2,000 acres amid tinder dry conditions, gusty winds and temperatures that reached into the 90s.

The fire also prompted evacuations for the west side of Colorado Springs and in the towns of Cascade and Ute Pass, but no structures have been destroyed and no buildings were under immediate threat.

Manitou Springs fire department's chaplain and public information officer, the Rev. David Hunting, said the orders were precautions because "fires can change their behavior dramatically" in such weather conditions.

In some neighborhoods, police cruisers rolled down streets, issuing the order to leave through a loudspeaker.

"Colorado Springs Police Department," an officer said. "This is a mandatory evacuation notice. Evacuate now."

Hundreds of other residents were under voluntary evacuation orders and were packing up, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported Saturday. Officials also closed traffic into Manitou Springs, a popular vacation town at the base of Pikes Peak, and shut down the Pikes Peak Highway.

About 350 firefighters were dispatched to the blaze, but the fire remained zero percent contained as it burned through the night. Crews were expected to contend with similarly hot and gusty weather on Sunday. The National Weather Service said temperatures were forecast to be close to 100 degrees throughout much of the state.

Colorado and other parts of the Southwest have become a tinderbox for wildfires as the region faces extremely dry or prolonged drought conditions. At least seven wildfires are burning across the state, where officials have been challenged by one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent memory.

The weather also helped fuel another blaze that sparked Saturday and destroyed 21 structures near the mountain community of Estes Park. Investigators were determining whether it started in a cabin or as a wildfire before moving toward the homes, according to the Denver Post.

"Even though we lost 21 (structures), which is a huge tragedy, we saved many homes because of firefighters' efforts," Estes Park Fire Chief Scott Dorman told evacuees.

A separate fire continued burning near Fort Collins, scorching more than 118 square miles and destroying at least 191 homes. That blaze has become the largest and most expensive in Colorado history.

Elsewhere in the West, firefighters made progress against wildfires in Utah, New Mexico and California.

? In Utah, about 2,300 residents were allowed to return to their homes Saturday after officials determined a wildfire no longer posed a threat to homes near Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. Officials believe that fire was started Thursday by target shooters. A second major fire has burned 16,500-acres of high desert near the central Utah town of Delta.

? In California, a wildfire about 60 miles north of Los Angeles triggered evacuations of campgrounds around an off-road recreation area on Saturday. Ventura County fire officials said the fire has blackened at least 400 acres in the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area, along the Interstate 5 corridor in Gorman.

? In New Mexico, a lightning-caused wildfire that destroyed 242 homes and businesses is 90 percent contained after heavy rain Friday. The 69-square-mile fire near Ruidoso began June 4. Meanwhile, the largest wildfire in state history was 87 percent contained. It has burned more than 464 square miles after two blazes merged on May 16.

Associated Press

kourtney kardashian kourtney kardashian lipitor lipitor kourtney kardashian pregnant again kourtney kardashian pregnant again apple juice

Longtime San Jose State sports information director Lawrence Fan getting Hall of Fame recognition

The list of San Jose State Spartans in national halls of fame, which includes Bill Walsh, Peter Ueberroth and Juli Inkster, is about to add another name.

Longtime staff member Lawrence Fan will be inducted into the College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame on Monday in St. Louis, along with six colleagues from a slice of college athletics that employs thousands of people across the nation.

Fan also will receive the Arch Ward Award -- the highest honor in his profession -- for outstanding contributions to his field.

"It's a big deal for my parents," said Fan, 57, the first Chinese-American to be inducted into the sports information Hall of Fame. "It's also big for San Jose State. It gives the school another level of repute."

Officially, Fan has been the liaison between SJSU sports and the media for 32 years, arranging interviews and providing an endless array of information about Spartans sports.

"No one in our industry is more respected than Lawrence," said Jim Young, Stanford's senior assistant athletic director for communications, who has known Fan for decades.

"A lot of people in our profession are known for their glossy publications and the voluminous notes and the number of 'likes' on Facebook. But Lawrence has always been about connecting with people, and he does that better than anyone."

Unofficially, Fan fills a far more significant role in his cramped office in the athletic department. To a greater

extent than any athlete or coach to pass through SJSU in the past quarter century, Fan is Spartans athletics.

"If San Jose State had a pyramid of success, Lawrence would be one of the major building blocks," said former basketball coach Stan Morrison, who led SJSU to the 1996 NCAA tournament and had dinner with Fan on Sundays at Grande Pizzeria near campus.

Fan has seen every Spartans football game since 1980 and possesses encyclopedic knowledge of SJSU athletics. He has a story for any occasion and knows everyone from John Elway to Bill Hancock, the executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, who called Fan "the consummate professional."

"His dry wit and attention to detail have earned many friends for San Jose State through the years," Hancock added.

Fan is tireless, methodical and a tad eccentric. He loves "Leave It to Beaver" and roller derby and drove a 1978 Ford Granada until it had 412,000 miles. He replaced it with a 2000 Oldsmobile, which has 234,000 miles (and counting).

Fan is well known in college basketball circles for baking a cake for SJSU officials and media members before home games. Dubbed "Fan cake," its ingredients have never been disclosed.

In order to manage his massive workload -- SJSU's media relations department has fewer resources than Stanford and Cal -- Fan has been known to sleep in his office.

Or his car.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," he said. "I haven't done that more than five times."

The oldest of three children, Fan grew up in San Francisco with a love for the Giants and 49ers. He attended Y.A. Tittle's final game at Kezar Stadium and was in the crowd for the infamous wrong-way run by the Minnesota Vikings' Jim Marshall.

After graduating from Lowell High, Fan enrolled at Cal with plans to be a math major. But he was drawn to athletic administration and eventually became the sports information director at La Salle University, in Philadelphia, in 1978.

Two years later, Fan accepted the same post at San Jose State, crammed his belongings into the Ford Granada, and made the cross-country trek.

In the three decades since, Fan has produced tens of thousands of pages of media guides, news releases, game notes and statistics. He also has been a friend and adviser to many Spartans athletes and coaches.

"If you have a bad game, he always has a good word to lift you up," said third-year football coach Mike MacIntyre, who videotaped a testimonial about Fan that will be shown at the Hall of Fame induction.

Along the way, Fan has established relationships with media members in the Bay Area and throughout the country.

"He's a nice guy even when he's not selling you something," said KRON sports anchor and KNBR host Gary Radnich, who refers to Fan as "The Great Lawrence Fan" on his radio show.

"He called my 90-year-old mother just to say he enjoyed being on my show."

For more on college sports, see Jon Wilner's College Hotline at blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports. Contact him at jwilner@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5716.

LAWRENCE FAN
Age: 57.
Parents: His father, See D. Fan, came to the United States from China at age 12; his mother, Hang Fa, was born in Hawaii.
Education: Undergraduate degree from Cal (economics); master's degree from Western Illinois (athletic administration).
Career: Worked in sports information at Frostburg (Md.) State, La Salle University and, since 1980, San Jose State.

iau msft etan patz obama dog doug hutchison larry brown kevin hart

Some Background Answers On Uncomplicated Personal Finance

Do you often spend too much at the grocery store? To save money and calories, make a shopping list and stick to it. Make a weekly menu and write up a list of what you will need for the week. Buy only what you need and resist the temptation to buy impulsively. And if you really want to save, leave the kids at home!

Try to put together a swap. A swap is an opportunity for people to get together and trade old products and apparel. An item that you never use can be swapped for something that you need. In some places, people even trade off services. You will be amazed at what you can acquire for nothing more than an unused product!

Signing up for online bill payments can save you money in more than one way. First, it eliminates the expense of envelopes and postage. It also benefits you by helping to avoid exorbitant charges and fees for skipping payments or forgetting to make your payment before the deadline. Most banks offer this service for free or for a nominal fee.

A good personal-finance tip is to look through youtube videos when you?re facing some home-improvement issues. A lot of things can be fixed by taking care of it yourself, contrary to calling in a plumber or repairman. There are plenty of helpful videos on youtube that you can watch.

Purchasing clothing at a consignment store or thrift store instead of a department store can save you a lot of money. Many people are under the assumption that there is something wrong with clothing from these stores; that is simply not the case. Most of these items are brand new or gently used.

Get help from a financial adviser if you need to, but make sure you hire someone you can trust. Do a background search and look at the Better Business Bureau to see if anyone complained about this adviser. You should choose a financial adviser with a good reputation and affordable rates.

Work on paying off credit card debt. Taking out a card to buy something involves using money. It?s not just a plastic card with unlimited funds. When those bills and fees pile up, they take a toll on a person?s credit history. That is why it?s so important to pay them off as much and as quickly as possible.

When making plans for the future, always think about inflation. The money you are putting aside now, might not be worth as much as you think in thirty years. Select a good retirement plan with high interest rates, in order to compensate for inflation and you will end up saving more money than what you will need.

Find a financial mentor. This person can be a relative, a co-worker or your boss. Find someone that you can look up to who handles money the way you would like to. Try to find out how that person perceives money and what kinds of expenditures he or she makes. This can help give you new ideas for yourself.

In order to save a lot of money, try to make more meals at home and avoid eating out. Eating out at restaurants on a regular basis can really cost you a lot of money in the long run. Purchasing food and making it at home is usually a much cheaper option.

If you have extra money, save it. Don?t go out and splurge on junk food, fast food, or unneeded entertainment. Instead, put it in the bank, or somewhere safe. This way, if something comes up, you?ll have the money when you need it. Better yet, use it to pay off any debts you might have.

Instead of going out to the movies with the person that you love, stay in and watch a film that is on television. A night out at the movies for the two of you would cost around 40-50 dollars, and you can have the same great experience for free, right in your own home.

Get into do-it-yourself projects. There are so many ways that you can save money, when you learn to do things, like repair and hem your own clothing, hang your own wallpaper and mow your own lawn. There?s a YouTube video on how to do just about anything. Consider this the next time you have a home repair or other project that you would normally pay someone else to do.

Now that you?ve read all of our tips, you should be ready to begin managing your personal finances properly. If you?re new to the world of personal finance, you may consider bookmarking this article so that you can come back to it when you need to. If you need more information, there are plenty of other pieces of advice floating around just waiting to help you.

If you are looking for additional information then you certainly should have a peek here calgary mortgage services for further info.

meet the press steelers vs broncos chris herren jay z

China's Evergrande mulls legal defense against fraud accusations

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck dwight howard unc asheville stephen jackson nba trade deadline

Video: Donations for bullied bus monitor soar

>>> more news tonight about karen klein, that grandmother who works as a school bus monitor who was mocked and bullied by middle schoolers on her bus. their taunts videotaped and posted on the internet, watched now by more than 2 million people. tonight police say three of the four boys and their parents have apologized. one student writes, quote, i am so sorry for the way i treated you. when i saw the video i was disgusted and could not believe i did that. i will never treat anyone this way again, he wrote. and that internet fund raising drive to help klein retire and send her on a dream vacation? it's now collected over a half million dollars.

welcome back kotter 2001 a space odyssey barefoot bandit polar bear plunge lovelace antioch the grey review

NPR intern paid for only a few of 11,000 songs

Alex Brandon / AP file

Remember buying records? An NPR intern's blog post has sparked a huge debate about paying for music.

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Those who've seen music change from record players to 8-tracks to cassettes to CDs and MP3s know well that the format of one's music collection is far from permanent.

But that said, a 20-year-old NPR intern managed to strike up quite the controversy last week with her blog post, "I Never Owned Any Music To Begin With."? American University senior Emily White confesses that she has more than 11,000 songs in her iTunes library, is "an avid music listener, concertgoer and college radio DJ," yet only paid for 15 CDs in her lifetime.

"I wish I could say I miss album packaging and liner notes and rue the decline in album sales the digital world has caused," White writes.?"But the truth is, I've never supported physical music as a consumer."

She goes on to say that she herself didn't "illegally" download most of the songs, receiving some from family, friends, and in one case, a senior prom date who loaded her iPod up with 15 gigs of music. She also confesses to spending hours ripping music from the college radio station?where she worked -- apparently viewing all that music acquisition as legal.

"As I've grown up, I've come to realize the gravity of what file-sharing means to the musicians I love," White writes, but she then goes on to say "I honestly don't think my peers and I will ever pay for albums."

NPR readers posted more than 500 comments on her post. Some of them bragged about their own large music collections, while others called White a thief, or worse. Others?commented on White's dream of a universal digital catalog of all music.

One of the longest and most publicized responses came from David Lowery, singer/songwriter for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, who also teaches in the music business program at the University of Georgia.

"It doesn?t really matter that you didn?t take these tracks?from a file-sharing site," Lowery writes to White.?"That may seem like a neat dodge, but I?d suggest to you that from the artist?s point of view, it?s kind of irrelevant."

Lowery also wrote of two musician friends who killed themselves in part because of declining financial situations, writing "there is no other explanation (for their incomes falling) except for the fact that 'fans' made the unethical choice to take their music without compensating these artists."

And in a much-quoted line, Lowery wrote, "Congratulations! Your generation is the first in history to rebel by unsticking it to the man and instead sticking it to weirdo freak musicians!"

Other readers also had their say.

"How do you suppose the creators of those 11,000 songs in 'your' iTunes library should be renumerated for providing you and others with listening pleasure?" wrote James Blum. "Were you thinking that their purpose in life was to amuse you for free?"

And some felt that those who criticized White were out of touch. "I honestly don't know what to say to all these commentors who refuse to look at a new situation," wrote Gail Madoff.?"Hello? Technology happens? Deal with it."

The debate didn't end with the publication of White's post. NPR ran a follow-up post, the New York Times picked up the story, and musicians and music fans from all over chimed in on blogs and forums.

What do you think? Did Emily White steal?tens of thousands of songs? Tell us on Facebook.

More from music:

dear john derrick rose torn acl pacers undrafted free agents braveheart james harden earthquake california

Bridging the digital divide in America's rural schools

Sarah Butrymowicz

At the Edison School in Yoder, Colo., administrators hope to provide a technological base for students to compete in college and the workplace.

By Sarah Butrymowicz, The Hechinger Report

YODER, Colo.?Surrounded by farmland and ranches, Colorado?s Edison School sits off an unpaved road, with tumbleweeds blowing across its dirt parking lot. As recently as a few years ago, many families relied on solar or wind power instead of electricity; today, many still haul home their water from wells. Principal Rachel Paul estimates that 25 to 30 percent of her students don?t have Internet access at home.

Yet at Edison ? where about three-quarters of the 120 K-12 students are eligible for free?or reduced-priced lunch ? there are as many computers as there are students. On one recent day, Paul Frank?s fourth- and fifth-graders started off by learning about latitude and longitude on Google Maps and ended sprawled around the classroom on laptops, putting together presentations about the Midwest. While one student searched for photos of famous people born in Minnesota and Wisconsin, another used Google to find out Nebraska?s annual rainfall.

Frank and administrators in the two-school district, located an hour east of Colorado Springs in Yoder, Colo., have big technological ambitions. They want to infuse technology into every bit?of the curriculum, from using iPods to help elementary students practice reading to mandating that high-school seniors take a computer-science course to graduate.

---

It?s not about improving test scores ? last year, every single one of Edison?s elementary students was deemed proficient on the state?s math exam. Instead, the goal is to expand the students? horizons and prepare them for college and the workplace, where technological literacy will be assumed.

?Kids don?t have access to that kind of stuff at home,? Frank said. ?It?s the future. They need to know how to do this.?

Rural schools have long been leaders in distance-learning and online education ? to offer a full slate of courses to their students, they?ve had to be. In fact, Edison has a fully online school that enrolls about 100 other students in the district. But when it comes to technology inside traditional classrooms, the small sizes ? and budgets ? of rural schools present unique hurdles.

More from the Hechinger report:

Some states, fearing a divide between rural and urban communities, have developed statewide initiatives to provide technology to rural schools. Maine, for instance, gives every student a laptop, and Alabama requires all school districts to offer Advanced Placement courses through distance-learning technology, where students video-conference with teachers.

But in many places, the onus is on the already-strained staff of the schools to acquire and then use things like computers and iPads, leading to pockets of innovation, like that in Edison. Although it leaves a line in its budget for technology upkeep, Edison has supplemented its tech experimentation with a $10,000 grant from the Denver-based Morgridge Family Foundation.

In districts?facing shrinking budgets and consolidation, technology could be rural schools? saving grace, said Bob Wise, a former governor of West Virginia who now serves as president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., that has studied the challenges facing rural schools. ?We?re encouraging every district to develop a systematic strategy for employing technology,? he said.??My guess is you will see a number of rural schools actually saved and renewed as learning centers.?

Rural America lags behind the rest of the country in Internet usage, making rural schools an important center of connectivity in the communities. In 2010, for instance, 57 percent of rural households had broadband Internet access, compared to 72 percent in urban areas, according to a November 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Expanding horizons
In Yoder, Frank tries an experiment with his students every few months. He gives them a homework assignment that must be submitted by email. When he started doing this a few years ago, he?d be lucky to get five responses. Most recently, all but three of his 21 students emailed him something. In part, he said, the improvement is a result of work the phone company has done in the area, making it easier for homes to get broadband Internet access.

Still, teachers can?t count on students being able to go online to complete assignments and have to be flexible about staying after school so students can work on the computers. ?Getting the Internet into the homes is going to become our number one issue,? said Deirdre Binkley-Jones, Edison?s high school math and computer-science teacher. ?We?re still dependent on traditional methods.?

While technology doesn?t necessarily lead to better student performance, it can expand students? horizons beyond just preparing them for college or the workforce.

Related: One district's near-perfect record on state exams

?The Internet can give them library resources that they might otherwise not have,? said Aimee Howley, senior associate dean in the College of Education at Ohio University who studies technology integration in rural schools. Technology can also be used for simulations of things ?you just can?t do on site. You can?t create a chemistry lab, dissect a whole bunch of animals.?

Edison has used distance-learning equipment to take elementary students on a field trip to NASA and to teach them about the Civil War. Frank?s classroom frequently practices writing and communication skills by ?blogging? on class discussion boards about stories they?ve read. High-school students might use Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish or watch free videos from the Khan Academy to master math concepts. Before receiving their diplomas, all students learn the basic coding behind computer games.

Howley has found that rural teachers are open to using technology in their classrooms, but she cautioned that doing so in rural schools typically requires innovative faculty to take on extra responsibilities. Even then, schools often don?t have the money to buy computers or tablets and offer teachers corresponding training.

Teachers not only need to know how to use new gadgets, but also must be prepared to?use the tools in ways that improve student learning, Howley said. Although Edison?s grant money has paid for some teacher training, it?s not enough to cover everything.

Frank, the self-proclaimed technology ?guinea pig,? has learned by doing. When he first got an interactive Smartboard, for instance, he and his students learned together how do to things like upload textbooks and record attendance. Now, he?s got the other elementary teachers using Smartboards and even iPod ?Touches?to monitor reading fluency, but the laptops rarely leave his classroom.

?I use [the Smartboard] for a year and figure out all the bugs,? Frank said. ?It?s been really exciting to see the other elementary teachers buying in to using the technology.?

Tech comes with IT problems
But enthusiastic as he is about the potential of digital learning, Frank isn?t an IT expert ? and it?s rare for rural schools to have one. ?You get this much technology and you need a lot of tech support, and we don?t have it,? said Paul, the principal. ?Then we?re just frustrated.?

Edison ?joins with other schools in the area to share an IT person, who comes once a week and mainly tends to the school?s servers. Without extra help, though, Edison may have reached its limits. ?At this point, getting more technology would be a disaster,? Binkley-Jones said.

Although many staff members say students are enthusiastic and take to technology easily, Binkley-Jones finds herself teaching basic computer skills ? how to open or save Word documents, for example ? to high-school students.

As the school moves forward with its five-year technology plan, which will include expanding distance-learning and more training for teachers, the elementary staff will need to address that.

?Even five years ago, we would have been happy with kids graduating knowing how to write a Word doc,? she said. ?The focus in technology is moving away from [just] being able to use a computer.?

This story, ?Bridging the digital divide in America?s rural schools,? was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet based at Teachers College, Columbia University.

times square 2012 predictions new years eve ball drop new years eve times square 2012 2012 holidays prosperity japan earthquake

Joe The Plumber's Spokesman Was Behind Breitbart Smear That Led To Missouri Professors Being Threatened (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

new york jets etch a sketch romney tim tebow ny jets ny jets sean payton saints bounty program

Realtime Gaming Adds Online French Roulette | First Online Casino ...

Realtime Gaming Adds Online French Roulette

Realtime Gaming Adds Online French Roulette
Realtime Gaming Adds Online French Roulette By: Ryan Alders, Tuesday June 19th 20120 Comments ??Email???PrintFor quite some time all the new games added by the leading software provider Realtime Gaming (RTG) to its portfolio have been the Real Series online slots. Therefore it must have come as a surprise to players at RTG online casinos to see French Roulette added to the Specialty Games category. RTG lists online roulette variants under Specialty Games and not under Table Games like other software providers. The first thing noticed about French Roulette is its sophistication and sleekness compared to European Roulette and American Roulette that have been till now the stock online roulette variants. Software technology has advanced tremendously in the last few years and this is reflected in the visuals and features. French Roulette is the variant played in the land casinos in France. It is structured and played very much like European Roulette with only the single zero on the wheel. The layout is also similar except that all the numbers have a uniform red background and not the red or black background depending on the color on the wheel. However, players can ascertain the color from the wheel that displays the number on which the ball has fallen. Another factor that players at RTG online casinos will have to get used to is that the bets are named in French. Therefore odd and even become pair and impair and red and black become rouge and noir. Similarly the three number street bets are transversale and the six number bets are soixante. The Neighbor and Call bets are a specialty of French Roulette. A button exposes the wheel layout along with a complete list of bets on offer. Bets can be selected directly from the list and the chips will directly be placed on the layout. The main bets are Voisins, Orphelins, Tiers, Red Splits and Black Splits. There are others as well and players at RTG online casinos will become familiar with them as they wager more and more. Many roulette players like to place unusual and unique patterns based on their lucky numbers. RTG French Roulette allows for eight such patterns to be saved so that players can create the pattern on the layout with a single selection. Players must first create the pattern on the layout and click the Favorites button. They can then provide a name to the pattern and save it. Thereafter players only have to open Favorites and click on the desired pattern name to place the bet. RTG French Roulette also provides for Auto Play of the type available in its slots games. The highlight of French Roulette is the La Partage benefit that really differentiates this variant from European Roulette. Under the La Partage rule half the amount on even money bets will be returned to the player in the event that zero is called. News Item Tools ?Email??? ?Print??? ?Digg??? ?Del.icio.us??? StumbleUpon Comments ?Add Comment Add Comment You must be signed-in to add a comment: ? Sign-in ? Register More News Realtime Gaming Adds Online French RouletteVirgin Casino Launches Reely Poker Online SlotMummys Gold Online Casino Has Centre Court WinnersInterCasino Online InfographicsOmni Casino Stormy Bonuses

the shins atomic clock daylight savings time john mccain game changer selection sunday corned beef recipe

Top 3 Self-Esteem Improving iPhone & iPad Apps ~ Geeky Stuffs

Help books and guidelines written by well-known psychologists may be very useful for those people who are stressed or depressed and quickly need to boost up their energy and improve self-esteem for achieving important life goals. However, taking into account practically everyone nowadays uses smartphones instead of reading books to find proper answers on how to make a life happier you may take an advantage of few simple distressful techniques offered by some popular and best iOS applications.

As you may guess, there are a lot of thematic apps for self-improvement can be found online in the AppStore. Personally I Use only 3 best of them and want to share my experience with you.

You can download all these apps from the Geeky Stuffs App Store

iZen Garden for iPad - $4.99

First and foremost, I want to emphasize that Zen philosophy is quite popular and many office workers like me find it very relaxing for meditation to visit special places ? Zen gardens or yoga centers. Unfortunately, not all offices are equipped with such places where one can be alone to concentrate and think without any interference. That is why I offer to use a special app (released both for iPads and iPhones- iZen Garden.

You can create your own virtual Zen garden using more than 100 various seashells, stones, plants and fossils that look like real due to Retina HD support. Sand of four various colors and 9 ambient songs will help you to relax and forget about stress and depression, at least for while. I recommend this app to everyone who is currently in the middle of brainstorming and needs to relax to continue the work more productively.

myinstantCOACH - Free

Life problems like stress at work, breakups and making of important decisions are inevitable. However, it doesn?t mean you are to cope with all these troubles on your own. There is a wonderful iOS app called as MyinstantCOACH that can give very helpful recommendations and advices on more than 75 different topics dealing with the most common life problems at least for once everyone of us experienced. Simply choose in what area of you want to get a professional assistance ? Relationship, Career, Well Being or Finance ? and describe your problem by choosing one of 75 widespread scenarios to encourage yourself thanks to the smart advices of this application.

iStress - $0.99

Achieving success in life is impossible if you are stressed or depressed. There exist thousands of different techniques helping to cope with stress situations and some of the most effective ones are offered within the limits of the cheap but efficient iOS app ? iStress. By means of this sophisticated program you will be able to change negative life scenarios into positive ones by changing your attitude and getting rid of negative thoughts.

The best thing I like about iStress is that you can ?rate? your feelings and define if your emotional state is satisfying. iStress is based on the years of experience of professional psychologists who share some very effective relaxation techniques, help to monitor your everyday stress level and increase your self-esteem and well being. Try iStress and you won?t be disappointed!

Have in view any other iPhone applications helping you to cope with stress at work and upcoming depression after a difficult breakup? I would like to try more good iPhone applications increasing self-esteem so do not be shy to share your favorite apps below in the Comments section.

You can read more iOS guides on http://www.softwarewithstyle.com/

andrew luck trent richardson robert griffin iii dontari poe space shuttle nyc

IBM's water-cooled supercomputer saves energy and helps with your heating bill (video)

IBM's SuperMuc has had a good week. Not only has the three petaflop machine been listed as Europe's fastest supercomputer, but it's also apparently the first high performance computer that's entirely water-cooled. Rather than filling rooms with air conditioning units, water is piped around veins in each component, removing heat 4,000 times more efficiently than air. The hot water is then used to heat the buildings of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre where it lives, saving the facility $1.25 million per year. After the break we've got a video from Big Blue, unfortunately narrated by someone who's never learned how to pronounce the word "innovative."

Continue reading IBM's water-cooled supercomputer saves energy and helps with your heating bill (video)

IBM's water-cooled supercomputer saves energy and helps with your heating bill (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  IBM  | Email this | Comments

rock and roll hall of fame severe weather wichita national weather service weather radar brian wilson storm chasers

J.C. Penney stock falls after Michael Francis ousted as president

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.? ? J.C. Penney Co. Inc. Latest from The Business Journals J.C. Penney terminates president after eight monthsJ.C. Penney president leavingMichael Francis is out as president of J.C. Penney Co. Follow this company (NYSE: JCP) stock is reaching new lows Tuesday morning after Michael Francis was fired from his post as president on Monday.

Shares of the Plano-based department store chain were trading around $21.89 at 10 a.m. CST, down about 10 percent.

In a brief press release Monday, the company announced Francis? departure nearly nine months after he joined the company as one of CEO Ron Johnson?s first hires.

Francis, who was formerly chief marketing officer of Target Corp.? ? Target Corp. Latest from The Business Journals J.C. Penney terminates president after eight monthsSocial Madness moves to head-to-head competition with Target, FLW Outdoors and LANhome TECHnologies as the top seedsHow to fight showrooming: Surprise, delight and maybe lasers Follow this company (NYSE: TGT), was seen as a key part of the J.C. Penney transformation, appearing on stage with Johnson when the company announced its plan in January.

His departure lowers the confidence of many on Wall Street.

?It?s a catastrophic blow to the bull case for the shares,? said Deutsche Bank analyst Charles Grom in a report titled ?You just can't make this stuff up: Francis Out @ JCP.?

Others believe Francis may be a fall guy for Penney?s unclear message.

?The sudden nature of the departure underscores, in our opinion, the big-time mistakes J.C. Penney has made in articulating [its] new image,? Brian Sozzi, an analyst at NBG Productions, said in a Wall Street Journal article.

Francis will not leave J.C. Penney totally empty handed. He was paid a one-time signing bonus of $12 million and had a base salary of $1.2 million. Francis was also given 1 million shares of restricted stock.

Steven covers retail, hospitality, marketing and public relations.

presidents george washington russell westbrook horsetail falls ice t downton abbey new york knicks

Katy Perry Calls 'Wide Awake' A 'Dose Of Reality'

Singer debuts music video for her 'Part of Me 3-D' track and sits down for an exclusive interview with MTV.com.
By Amy Wilkinson, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Katy Perry
Photo:

Katy Perry — consummate California Gurl and queen of cotton-candy pop — has a dark side, and she's revealing it in her latest music video, for "Wide Awake."

The chanteuse stopped by MTV News on Monday (June 18) to debut the clip for her "Katy Perry: Part of Me" track (the song was written specifically for her upcoming 3-D concert movie), in addition to sitting down for a wide-ranging 30-minute interview with Sway Calloway on MTV.com. Of course, Perry's litter of KatyCats had plenty of questions for the singer, and she was more than happy to oblige.

Madeline from Michigan asked via video what Perry wanted fans to feel while listening to her latest hit.

"Well, this song, I have a lot of different emotions and feelings in all of my songs," Perry revealed. "This song in particular is a dose of reality. It's kind of like coming down from a high. You've been on cloud nine for so long, and it can't always be so sweet and sometimes you need to realize that, and you have to pick yourself up and move forward and face the facts of life and know that this is just a lesson you learn and you're stronger because of it."

The video opens with Perry wrapping production on her earlier Snoop Dogg collaboration, "California Gurls." We see her retreat to her dressing room, where she removes her candy-colored wig and is suddenly transported into a sort of gothic fairy tale, where she's left to navigate a dizzying maze alongside her younger self.

It's a bit of a departure for the Teenage Dream songstress, but not a surprising one considering the year she's had, including her divorce from comedian Russell Brand, whom she was married to for more than a year.

Yet, as the video concludes, Perry emerges from the labyrinth unscathed and without the help of Prince Charming (in fact, she punches him out), and it's clear Katy is going to be all right on her own.

"Katy Perry: Part of Me," the 3-D concert movie, hits theaters July 5.

Stay tuned as we roll out more from our exclusive "Wide Awake" interview with Katy Perry!

Related Videos

• MTV First: Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake'

Related Artists

• Katy Perry

california earthquake tyson chandler tyson chandler stephen hill draft tracker the pirates band of misfits cleveland browns

Heat Defeat Thunder, 91-85: LeBron James Scores 29 Points As Miami Wins NBA Finals Game 3

MIAMI ? Halfway to a title, LeBron James shows no sign of letting this one get away.

James had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals with a 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.

Dwyane Wade had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who were in this same position through three games last year, then didn't win again against the Dallas Mavericks.

James' poor performance was part of the problem then, but he seems on top of his game this time. His 3-pointer sent the Heat to the fourth quarter with the lead, and he scored five straight Miami points when the Heat were building just enough cushion to hold off another late flurry by the Thunder.

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

Kevin Durant had 25 points for the Thunder, but picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and had to go to the bench when they had seemed to have control of the game. Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points.

The Heat survived their own fourth-quarter sloppiness by getting enough big plays from their Big Three.

James scored 30 and 32 points in the first two games, his two best finals performances. He fell just shy of another 30-point effort but reached his 20 points for the 20th time this postseason, two shy of Wade's franchise record set in 2006.

"It's all about chemistry," James said. "We understand where we like to get the ball, what we like to do in close situations, and it's good to see us execute down the stretch. But more importantly it was great to see we were able to get stops. That's where the game is won and we did that."

Chris Bosh had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who can win a second title by winning the next two games at home.

They seemed out of it when Oklahoma City opened a 10-point lead midway through the third. But Durant went out, Thunder coach Scott Brooks decided to sit Westbrook with him, and the Heat charged into the lead by the end of the period.

The Thunder had grabbed their last lead at 77-76 on James Harden's basket with 7:32 left. James answered with two free throws about 20 seconds later, and the teams would trade turnovers and stops over the next couple of tense minutes.

Wade then converted a three-point play, and another minute went by before James powered to the basket, Durant trying to get in position to draw a charge but watching helplessly as he picked up his fifth foul. James made the free throw for an 84-77 advantage with 3:47 to play.

After another basket by James, the Thunder had one last burst ? haven't they always in this series? ? ripping off six straight points to get within one before Bosh made a pair of free throws with 1:19 to play. Durant missed badly on a wild shot attempt, and the Thunder missed another chance when Westbrook was off from behind the arc.

James hit a free throw for a four-point lead with 16 seconds to go and Wade added two to close it out.

"It's very hard," James said. "Both teams are very active defensively and both teams make it hard on one another in the half court so when you get stops you try to get early offense, it always helps and we were able to do that a little bit."

The series made its way from Oklahoma City, where fans in blue shirts filled every seat, to Miami, where white shirts hung on empty chairs just minutes before the tip. The late arrivals in Oklahoma City had been the Thunder players, who fell into big early deficits and acknowledged some first-time finals jitters in Game 1. Brooks said he heard the cries to change his starting lineup but said it never crossed his mind.

The Thunder quickly fell behind 10-4 in this one after spotting the Heat a 13-point lead in Game 1 and getting clubbed into an 18-2 hole in the opening minutes of Game 2. They didn't let things get any worse this time, playing the Heat even from there and trailing 26-20 after one. James, Wade and Bosh combined for Miami's first 18 points.

James and Wade had some dazzling drives in the second and Shane Battier got free for a pair of 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes, but the Thunder stayed with them the entire way, briefly holding a three-point lead. Westbrook's 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left cut Miami's lead to 47-46.

Oklahoma City started to take control with a 14-2 run early in the third. Durant had the first four points, Westbrook fooled the Heat with a fake behind the back pass before in for a layup, then Durant leaped over James for a follow dunk before nailing a jumper for a 60-51 lead with 6:55 left in the period.

But it was barely a minute later when he drew his fourth foul, though he appeared to make little or no contract on Wade's baseline drive, and had to go to the bench. The Thunder pushed the lead to 10 on Derek Fisher's four-point play, but the Heat got right back in it when Battier and then James Jones made all six free throws after being fouled behind the arc.

Brooks also pulled Westbrook with 5 minutes left and left him out the remainder of the period, leaving the Thunder without their two best players as they tried to hang onto the lead.

They couldn't.

The Heat scored the final seven of the period, Wade making a turnaround jumper and two free throws before setting up James for a 3-pointer that made it 69-67 headed to the final quarter.

Notes: Battier had made at least four 3-pointers in three straight games. The last player to make four in four consecutive postseason games was Orlando's Dennis Scott in 1995. ... Brooks, joking Sunday morning about all the calls to change his lineup: "It's hard to take all the advice," he said. "I'm only allowed three bench assistant coaches."

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

jetblue pilot solicitor general neighborhood watch dennis rodman dodgers sale tami roman jetblue captain

One Company?s Bet on Geothermal Energy; Special Report by Leading Financial Web Site Penny Stock Detectives

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

pineapple upside down cake free ecards flying car masters golf tournament the replacements how to hard boil eggs new nfl uniforms

Ancient warming greened Antarctica, study finds

ScienceDaily (June 17, 2012) ? A new university-led study with NASA participation finds ancient Antarctica was much warmer and wetter than previously suspected. The climate was suitable to support substantial vegetation -- including stunted trees -- along the edges of the frozen continent.

The team of scientists involved in the study, published online June 17 in Nature Geoscience, was led by Sarah J. Feakins of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and included researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

By examining plant leaf wax remnants in sediment core samples taken from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf, the research team found summer temperatures along the Antarctic coast 15 to 20 million years ago were 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius) warmer than today, with temperatures reaching as high as 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius). Precipitation levels also were found to be several times higher than today.

"The ultimate goal of the study was to better understand what the future of climate change may look like," said Feakins, an assistant professor of Earth sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "Just as history has a lot to teach us about the future, so does past climate. This record shows us how much warmer and wetter it can get around the Antarctic ice sheet as the climate system heats up. This is some of the first evidence of just how much warmer it was."

Scientists began to suspect that high-latitude temperatures during the middle Miocene epoch were warmer than previously believed when co-author Sophie Warny, assistant professor at LSU, discovered large quantities of pollen and algae in sediment cores taken around Antarctica. Fossils of plant life in Antarctica are difficult to come by because the movement of the massive ice sheets covering the landmass grinds and scrapes away the evidence.

"Marine sediment cores are ideal to look for clues of past vegetation, as the fossils deposited are protected from ice sheet advances, but these are technically very difficult to acquire in the Antarctic and require international collaboration," said Warny.

Tipped off by the tiny pollen samples, Feakins opted to look at the remnants of leaf wax taken from sediment cores for clues. Leaf wax acts as a record of climate change by documenting the hydrogen isotope ratios of the water the plant took up while it was alive.

"Ice cores can only go back about one million years," Feakins said. "Sediment cores allow us to go into 'deep time.'"

Based upon a model originally developed to analyze hydrogen isotope ratios in atmospheric water vapor data from NASA's Aura spacecraft, co-author and JPL scientist Jung-Eun Lee created experiments to find out just how much warmer and wetter climate may have been.

"When the planet heats up, the biggest changes are seen toward the poles," Lee said. "The southward movement of rain bands associated with a warmer climate in the high-latitude southern hemisphere made the margins of Antarctica less like a polar desert, and more like present-day Iceland."

The peak of this Antarctic greening occurred during the middle Miocene period, between 16.4 and 15.7 million years ago. This was well after the age of the dinosaurs, which became extinct 64 million years ago. During the Miocene epoch, mostly modern-looking animals roamed Earth, such as three-toed horses, deer, camel and various species of apes. Modern humans did not appear until 200,000 years ago.

Warm conditions during the middle Miocene are thought to be associated with carbon dioxide levels of around 400 to 600 parts per million (ppm). In 2012, carbon dioxide levels have climbed to 393 ppm, the highest they've been in the past several million years. At the current rate of increase, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are on track to reach middle Miocene levels by the end of this century.

High carbon dioxide levels during the middle Miocene epoch have been documented in other studies through multiple lines of evidence, including the number of microscopic pores on the surface of plant leaves and geochemical evidence from soils and marine organisms. While none of these 'proxies' is as reliable as the bubbles of gas trapped in ice cores, they are the best evidence available this far back in time. While scientists do not yet know precisely why carbon dioxide was at these levels during the middle Miocene, high carbon dioxide, together with the global warmth documented from many parts of the world and now also from the Antarctic region, appear to coincide during this period in Earth's history.

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation with additional support from NASA. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Sarah J. Feakins, Sophie Warny, Jung-Eun Lee. Hydrologic cycling over Antarctica during the middle Miocene warming. Nature Geoscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1498

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

krzyzewski childish gambino sandusky interview with bob costas sandusky interview with bob costas live oak mark kelly mark kelly

Portugal beats Netherlands 2-1 at Euro 2012

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) ? Cristiano Ronaldo's smile and swagger were back, and so was his scoring touch.

The Real Madrid forward finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice in a sparkling performance Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Poised to be written off as one of the tournament's flops, Ronaldo put a miserable two-game goalless run at Euro 2012 behind him.

"Now everything is possible," said Ronaldo, who went a long way toward silencing the critics who accused him of failing to reproduce the form he showed in a sensational 60-goal club season.

Ronaldo failed to shine in Portugal's 1-0 loss to Germany and 3-2 win over Denmark, but he was devastating against the Dutch. He produced an equalizer with his first goal of the tournament in the 28th minute and scored the winner in the 74th. He had a half dozen other attempts at goal, including a low drive that clipped the post in the 16th, and he set up two clear chances for teammates.

"Ronaldo got so much criticism in the last game and he is back now," Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said. "That is how fast things can change."

On Sunday, Ronaldo upstaged Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Arsenal's Robin van Persie, the leading scorers in the Bundesliga and Premier League. Neither was able to find the net at the Metalist Stadium, although midfielder Rafael van der Vaart gave the Dutch an early lead.

After that, Ronaldo stole the show.

As Portugal cranked up the pressure, Ronaldo probed the Dutch back line and tied it off of Joao Pereira's pass. It was the kind of chance he took so often at Real Madrid last season but wasted in Portugal's opening matches.

For his second, Ronaldo received a pass from former Manchester United teammate Nani, coolly wrong-footed his marker and tapped the ball past the goalkeeper.

"This was our best game so far," Portugal coach Paulo Bento said, declining to single out Ronaldo. "What is most important is that we kept fighting after we lost our opening game."

After his goals, and at the final whistle, Ronaldo beckoned his teammates to celebrate, and they mobbed him. He pulled on a shirt with "Junior" printed on it, and explained later it was for his son's second birthday.

Up next for Ronaldo and his teammates is a quarterfinal match against the Czech Republic on Thursday in Warsaw.

"We really deserved to qualify for the quarterfinals," Ronaldo said.

Euro 2012 was expected to provide a showcase for Ronaldo, but his explosive Real Madrid form had deserted him. And when he's not on form, Portugal often looks tame and ordinary.

Opposition fans mocked him whenever he put a foot wrong or failed to pull off one of his ball tricks. He was taunted with chants of "Messi" ? his Barcelona and Argentina rival. And against Germany and Denmark, Ronaldo was often short-tempered with his team when he didn't get the ball supply he's used to at Real Madrid.

But against the Netherlands, he was the consummate captain.

Needing a win to have a chance at staying in the tournament, the disappointing Dutch fielded an impressive attacking lineup that needed to score at least two goals. It produced one.

"We started quite well but we were playing against one of the better teams today," Van der Vaart said. "We lost three times. We were bad and we don't deserve to go through."

___

Lineups:

Portugal: Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Fabio Coentrao, Joao Pereira, Pepe, Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles (Carlos Custodio, 72), Nani (Rolaldo, 87), Miguel Veloso, Helder Postiga (Nelson Oliveira, 64), Cristiano Ronaldo.

Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg, Joris Mathijsen, Gregory Van der Wiel, Ron Vlaar, Jetro Willems (Ibrahim Afellay, 67), Nigel De Jong, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie.

jcpenney loft old navy cyber monday best deals cyber monday best deals brownback brownback

Additional crews arrive at large Colorado wildfire

A Erickson Air Crane firefighting helicopter flys to a pond to refill its tank while fighting the High Park wildfire, west of Fort Collins, Colo., on Friday, June 15, 2012. The wildfire started Saturday and has burned over 50,000 acres. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

A Erickson Air Crane firefighting helicopter flys to a pond to refill its tank while fighting the High Park wildfire, west of Fort Collins, Colo., on Friday, June 15, 2012. The wildfire started Saturday and has burned over 50,000 acres. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

A Erickson Air Crane firefighting helicopter refills its tank in a rancher's pond while fighting the High Park wildfire west of Fort Collins, Colo., on Friday, June 15, 2012. The wildfire started Saturday and has burned over 50,000 acres. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

A thunderhead builds over the High Park wildfire and Fort Collins, Colo., on Friday, June 15, 2012. Rain could assist in fighting the wildfire that started Saturday and has burned over 50,000 acres. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

A sign warns motorist of the closure of Highway 14 through Poudre Canyon as columns of smoke rise in the distance from the High Park wildfire west of Fort Collins, Colo., on Friday, June 15, 2012. The wildfire started Saturday and has burned over 50,000 acres. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) ? More firefighting crews were arriving Saturday at a wildfire in northern Colorado that has scorched about 85 square miles and damaged or destroyed at least 112 homes.

Fire information officer Brett Haberstick said that more than 1,500 personnel are working on the fire about 15 miles west of Fort Collins. The lightning-caused blaze, which is believed to have killed a 62-year-old woman whose body was found in her cabin, was 20 percent contained. The fire's incident commander said full containment could be two to four weeks away.

Haberstick said hot and dry weather is expected to continue, and firefighters are keeping an eye on possible thunderstorms that could bring lightning to the area. Meanwhile, crews have made progress in containing a 200-acre spot fire that erupted Thursday afternoon north of the Cache La Poudre River, a critical line of defense against northward growth.

"We're hopeful that we will be able to contain it today, but that will be determined by Mother Nature," Haberstick said.

Firefighters have extinguished other incursions north of the river, but the most recent one appeared to be more serious.

The fire was reported June 9 and has since raced through large swaths of private and U.S. Forest Service land.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service, is scheduled to meet with fire managers in Fort Collins on Saturday and is expected to talk about additional resources deployed to the fire. He is scheduled to hold a news conference with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell in Albuquerque on Sunday.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, questions were being raised about whether bureaucratic red tape prevented firefighters from saving more homes affected by the Little Bear Fire after federal officials released transcripts of the firefighters' response.

Congressman Steve Pearce said Friday in an interview with KOB-TV (http://bit.ly/Mga1yx) that he believed federal officials could have done more after lightning sparked the fire outside the resort town of Ruidoso on June 4. Days later, high winds sent embers more than a mile from the blaze's end, causing the inferno to grow.

But officials released transcripts of the response on the Lincoln National Forest website that suggested firefighters were attacking the blaze as soon as it was a quarter of an acre.

The fire has destroyed 224 homes and burned 59 square miles.

Associated Press

aretha franklin stevie wonder new orleans weather new orleans weather sparkle sacagawea new hope baptist church