New .xxx domain for porn debuts to mixed feelings

uggs outlet For some, today's official grand opening of the .xxx domain is the best thing to happen to Internet pornography since it was injected with life in the 1990s, as depicted in the movie Middle Men. For others, it's a dangerous move that comes with too many negative consequences, some subtle and some severe.

The idea of setting aside an Internet domain for adult material has been around for over a decade. In 2000 and 2004, proposals were submitted to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), but garnered widespread opposition from conservative groups.

After ICANN initially approved the domain in 2005, .xxx faced six years of legal and procedural hurdles before getting the final go-ahead in March 2011. Since then the ICM Registry (which polices the domain) hosted an initial closed sale for some .xxx domains, and today they're available to anyone who wants one, at $60 a pop.

MORE: Real or fake? The texts behind Damn You Autocorrect

MORE: T-Pain talks autotune, apps

ugg boots MORE: 5 best practices for educators on Facebook

The general sale is far from the last word on such a controversial topic. Those opposed to adult entertainment, those who produce it, and consumers have all staked out their territory on the debate, sometimes on both sides of the debate, over whether .xxx domains are a good idea.

Cases for and against

Many conservative groups suggest that creating a top-level domain (TLD) for porn is tantamount to an endorsement of it. The same logic is what keeps most cities from creating an official red-light district, like in Amsterdam, where adult activities are permitted, if regulated. By setting aside part of the Web for porn, those groups would have to accept that it'll be around in some form no matter what.

cheap uggs for sale "We are not in favor of the establishment of that domain," Patrick Vaughn, general counsel for the American Family Association, told Mashable. "It just creates more real estate for the pornography industry, and it doesn't exclude the sites that already exist. It might have been helpful if they set up .xxx, and that was the only place to find pornography. As this is, it just gives [pornographers] more to work with."

The ICM Registry says creating a .xxx domain is better for those who don't like porn, since it provides an easy way to filter out adult-entertainment sites. After all, if a site has the .xxx suffix, it's clear before you even go there what kind of content will be there, and telling software to simply filter those sites out is an easy thing to do.

At the same time, .xxx domains provide better protections than other porn sites, and that benefits people who do want access to adult material. Since anyone who runs a .xxx site agrees to certain conditions ¡ª among them a daily scan for malware, dedicated servers for search, and access to a new micropayment system ¡ª the sites will theoretically be safer and easier to use than other adult sites, which are sometimes breeding grounds for malware.

cheap uggs Despite those benefits, some think the idea of putting all the Web's porn eggs in one basket makes it that much easier for a government or third party to simply push a button and make it all go away. Besides the censorship concerns, some vendors of adult material object to the whole idea of a .xxx domain, arguing that it relegates to an Internet "ghetto" aspects of human sexuality that society shouldn't be ashamed of in the first place.

Is money the real issue?

However, some see such principled stances as merely a pretense to oppose the move toward .xxx on the real issue: money. Hundreds of webmasters of adult sites have written to ICANN over the years to oppose the domain's approval for that reason.

cheap ugg boots The company that runs Playboy.com, for example, strongly opposes the .xxx domain and has refused to take part in its implementation in any way. Luxembourg-based Manwin, which also manages YouPorn, xTube, and other sites, is suing ICANN and the ICM Registry for essentially forcing businesses to cough up money to register domains before cyber-squatters do.

For example, if, say, Apple was concerned that a porn site wanted to start operating under the site apple.xxx, they would need to pay to obtain it (and they may have done so, since it's not available, according to the ICM Registry). Many universities have been reported as snapping up their .xxx addresses before anyone else does.

The Future of .XXX

While many have opposed the creation of .xxx over the years, the fact is it's here, with domains for sale at $60 each from GoDaddy and others. However, being available and being a success are two different things. Adult sites aren't required to use the domain, and if only a small percentage do, it may fade to oblivion. After all, the domain .mobi made a big debut five years ago as the TLD for sites optimized for mobile devices, and it went absolutely nowhere.

www.fancyboot.com Will the same thing will happen to .xxx? That depends on how strong the ICM Resistry's outreach is to the adult-entertainment community, and how consumers respond. Five years from now, .xxx could be a bustling adult marketplace, or a gaudy ghost town. Tell us which you think it'll be in the comments.

New .xxx domain for porn debuts to mixed feelings

uggs outlet For some, today's official grand opening of the .xxx domain is the best thing to happen to Internet pornography since it was injected with life in the 1990s, as depicted in the movie Middle Men. For others, it's a dangerous move that comes with too many negative consequences, some subtle and some severe.

The idea of setting aside an Internet domain for adult material has been around for over a decade. In 2000 and 2004, proposals were submitted to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), but garnered widespread opposition from conservative groups.

After ICANN initially approved the domain in 2005, .xxx faced six years of legal and procedural hurdles before getting the final go-ahead in March 2011. Since then the ICM Registry (which polices the domain) hosted an initial closed sale for some .xxx domains, and today they're available to anyone who wants one, at $60 a pop.

MORE: Real or fake? The texts behind Damn You Autocorrect

MORE: T-Pain talks autotune, apps

ugg boots MORE: 5 best practices for educators on Facebook

The general sale is far from the last word on such a controversial topic. Those opposed to adult entertainment, those who produce it, and consumers have all staked out their territory on the debate, sometimes on both sides of the debate, over whether .xxx domains are a good idea.

Cases for and against

Many conservative groups suggest that creating a top-level domain (TLD) for porn is tantamount to an endorsement of it. The same logic is what keeps most cities from creating an official red-light district, like in Amsterdam, where adult activities are permitted, if regulated. By setting aside part of the Web for porn, those groups would have to accept that it'll be around in some form no matter what.

cheap uggs for sale "We are not in favor of the establishment of that domain," Patrick Vaughn, general counsel for the American Family Association, told Mashable. "It just creates more real estate for the pornography industry, and it doesn't exclude the sites that already exist. It might have been helpful if they set up .xxx, and that was the only place to find pornography. As this is, it just gives [pornographers] more to work with."

The ICM Registry says creating a .xxx domain is better for those who don't like porn, since it provides an easy way to filter out adult-entertainment sites. After all, if a site has the .xxx suffix, it's clear before you even go there what kind of content will be there, and telling software to simply filter those sites out is an easy thing to do.

At the same time, .xxx domains provide better protections than other porn sites, and that benefits people who do want access to adult material. Since anyone who runs a .xxx site agrees to certain conditions ¡ª among them a daily scan for malware, dedicated servers for search, and access to a new micropayment system ¡ª the sites will theoretically be safer and easier to use than other adult sites, which are sometimes breeding grounds for malware.

cheap uggs Despite those benefits, some think the idea of putting all the Web's porn eggs in one basket makes it that much easier for a government or third party to simply push a button and make it all go away. Besides the censorship concerns, some vendors of adult material object to the whole idea of a .xxx domain, arguing that it relegates to an Internet "ghetto" aspects of human sexuality that society shouldn't be ashamed of in the first place.

Is money the real issue?

However, some see such principled stances as merely a pretense to oppose the move toward .xxx on the real issue: money. Hundreds of webmasters of adult sites have written to ICANN over the years to oppose the domain's approval for that reason.

cheap ugg boots The company that runs Playboy.com, for example, strongly opposes the .xxx domain and has refused to take part in its implementation in any way. Luxembourg-based Manwin, which also manages YouPorn, xTube, and other sites, is suing ICANN and the ICM Registry for essentially forcing businesses to cough up money to register domains before cyber-squatters do.

For example, if, say, Apple was concerned that a porn site wanted to start operating under the site apple.xxx, they would need to pay to obtain it (and they may have done so, since it's not available, according to the ICM Registry). Many universities have been reported as snapping up their .xxx addresses before anyone else does.

The Future of .XXX

While many have opposed the creation of .xxx over the years, the fact is it's here, with domains for sale at $60 each from GoDaddy and others. However, being available and being a success are two different things. Adult sites aren't required to use the domain, and if only a small percentage do, it may fade to oblivion. After all, the domain .mobi made a big debut five years ago as the TLD for sites optimized for mobile devices, and it went absolutely nowhere.

www.fancyboot.com Will the same thing will happen to .xxx? That depends on how strong the ICM Resistry's outreach is to the adult-entertainment community, and how consumers respond. Five years from now, .xxx could be a bustling adult marketplace, or a gaudy ghost town. Tell us which you think it'll be in the comments.

Google and Verizon Battle Over Mobile Payments

uggs on sale It always gets ugly when there¡¯s money involved.

Just days before Google¡¯s next flagship smartphone launch, Google and Verizon are locked in a public battle over mobile payments, with both companies vying for a foothold in the fledgling mobile e-commerce arena.

The issue in question: Whether Google¡¯s e-commerce app ¡ª dubbed Google Wallet ¡ª should appear on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the biggest Android smartphone launch of 2011. Google says Verizon doesn¡¯t want Wallet on the phone.

 ¡°Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product,¡± a Google spokesman told Wired in an e-mail late Monday evening.

Unfortunately for Google, it doesn¡¯t have much time to negotiate, as rumor says the phone is set to debut in the United States this Friday, Dec. 9, on Verizon¡¯s 4G LTE network.

One of the phone¡¯s marquee features is its NFC (near-field communication) technology, which allows the phone to communicate with other NFC-enabled devices and terminals.

cheap ugg boots In theory, NFC could allow you to pay for coffee at a nearby Peet¡¯s, or swap information between two NFC-capable phones. Google Wallet, then, is Google¡¯s e-commerce app that takes advantage of NFC technology, allowing users to buy small retail items with a simple wave of their phones.

Verizon¡¯s anti-Wallet stance is a big problem for Google, as Google needs as many devices running Wallet as it can get. As of today, only the Sprint-carried Nexus S 4G is capable of using the Google Wallet app. This means that out of the 200-plus devices running the Android operating system, only one can run Wallet.

In its effort to push Wallet to mainstream consumers, Google already faces significant barriers ¡ª infrastructure installation, retail employee training, weak consumer awareness ¡ª so this latest diss from Verizon only makes its job harder.

So why would Verizon want to keep Wallet off of its phones?

On Tuesday morning, Verizon cried concerns about the way Wallet handles security. In an e-mail, a Verizon spokesman told Wired.com the following:

ugg boots on sale Recent reports that Verizon is blocking Google Wallet on our devices are false. Verizon does not block applications.

Google Wallet does not simply access the operating system and basic hardware of our phones like thousands of other applications. Instead, in order to work as architected by Google, Google Wallet needs to be integrated into a new, secure and proprietary hardware element in our phones.

We are continuing our commercial discussions with Google on this issue.

Verizon¡¯s statements are true. Part of what makes Google Wallet a safe payments app is its integration with so-called ¡°secure element¡± hardware, essentially a chip that houses your credit card credentials on the phone itself.

Nonetheless, for Verizon to raise concerns about app implementation this late in the game seems disingenuous. ¡°Sprint didn¡¯t seem to balk at the security, and they¡¯ve had it up and running on phones for some time now,¡± said Greg Sterling, owner of Sterling Market Consulting and a long-time contributor to Search Engine Land. ¡°It seems like it could be a delaying tactic.¡±

uggs outlet sale Verizon already has skin in the mobile payments game, so it may indeed be acting to slow Wallet¡¯s adoption on a second handset. Last year, three out of the four major telcos in the U.S. ¡ª Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile ¡ª came together to form Isis, a carrier-backed version of a digital wallet just like Google¡¯s.

Currently, Sprint is the only major carrier to eschew Isis support ¡ª just like it¡¯s the only carrier to offer a phone with Google Wallet. Naturally, if carriers decide to prop up Isis by knocking down Google Wallet, it¡¯s feasible that Wallet will also be barred in upcoming phones carried by AT&T and T-Mobile.

An Isis spokesman declined to comment, referring Wired.com to Verizon¡¯s previous statement.

uggs ¡°This is a question of Verizon not wanting Google to beat them to the punch,¡± said Simon Buckingham, CEO of mobile app store Appitalism Inc., in an interview. ¡°It¡¯s a power struggle over a major land grab for U.S. territory.¡±

Isis lacks a number of features Google Wallet offers ¡ª not the least of which includes an actual released product. Wallet has been on the market for months now, and launched with the support of Mastercard and a significant number of retail partners. Google is also working with Visa, AmEx and others to bring more card support to the app. Further, Google Wallet works in conjunction with Google Offers, the company¡¯s Groupon-like daily deals program.

Conversely, Isis hasn¡¯t launched, and has yet to gain the support of any major credit card companies. But the carriers have something that Google doesn¡¯t have: Millions of credit card-backed customer accounts. With an initiative like Isis, mobile customers could ostensibly funnel their mobile wallet purchases to their monthly phone bills. That means no new credit card numbers to register, and no significant barriers to entry. It¡¯s a fast track into mobile e-commerce.

But blocking Wallet in an effort to prop up Isis may also be short-sighted.

 ¡°It reeks of anti-competitive behavior,¡± said Sterling. ¡°These days, the moment anyone does anything anti-competitive, you see class-action lawsuits and even possible congressional consequences.¡±

www.bootsalemall.com Regardless of how this plays out, it¡¯s an annoying sticking point for Google¡¯s mobile payments app. Google has made it more than clear that NFC-based economics is the way of the future, and the company will continue to push handset manufacturers into creating devices with NFC chips inside.

Google and Verizon Battle Over Mobile Payments

uggs on sale It always gets ugly when there¡¯s money involved.

Just days before Google¡¯s next flagship smartphone launch, Google and Verizon are locked in a public battle over mobile payments, with both companies vying for a foothold in the fledgling mobile e-commerce arena.

The issue in question: Whether Google¡¯s e-commerce app ¡ª dubbed Google Wallet ¡ª should appear on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the biggest Android smartphone launch of 2011. Google says Verizon doesn¡¯t want Wallet on the phone.

 ¡°Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product,¡± a Google spokesman told Wired in an e-mail late Monday evening.

Unfortunately for Google, it doesn¡¯t have much time to negotiate, as rumor says the phone is set to debut in the United States this Friday, Dec. 9, on Verizon¡¯s 4G LTE network.

One of the phone¡¯s marquee features is its NFC (near-field communication) technology, which allows the phone to communicate with other NFC-enabled devices and terminals.

cheap ugg boots In theory, NFC could allow you to pay for coffee at a nearby Peet¡¯s, or swap information between two NFC-capable phones. Google Wallet, then, is Google¡¯s e-commerce app that takes advantage of NFC technology, allowing users to buy small retail items with a simple wave of their phones.

Verizon¡¯s anti-Wallet stance is a big problem for Google, as Google needs as many devices running Wallet as it can get. As of today, only the Sprint-carried Nexus S 4G is capable of using the Google Wallet app. This means that out of the 200-plus devices running the Android operating system, only one can run Wallet.

In its effort to push Wallet to mainstream consumers, Google already faces significant barriers ¡ª infrastructure installation, retail employee training, weak consumer awareness ¡ª so this latest diss from Verizon only makes its job harder.

So why would Verizon want to keep Wallet off of its phones?

On Tuesday morning, Verizon cried concerns about the way Wallet handles security. In an e-mail, a Verizon spokesman told Wired.com the following:

ugg boots on sale Recent reports that Verizon is blocking Google Wallet on our devices are false. Verizon does not block applications.

Google Wallet does not simply access the operating system and basic hardware of our phones like thousands of other applications. Instead, in order to work as architected by Google, Google Wallet needs to be integrated into a new, secure and proprietary hardware element in our phones.

We are continuing our commercial discussions with Google on this issue.

Verizon¡¯s statements are true. Part of what makes Google Wallet a safe payments app is its integration with so-called ¡°secure element¡± hardware, essentially a chip that houses your credit card credentials on the phone itself.

Nonetheless, for Verizon to raise concerns about app implementation this late in the game seems disingenuous. ¡°Sprint didn¡¯t seem to balk at the security, and they¡¯ve had it up and running on phones for some time now,¡± said Greg Sterling, owner of Sterling Market Consulting and a long-time contributor to Search Engine Land. ¡°It seems like it could be a delaying tactic.¡±

uggs outlet sale Verizon already has skin in the mobile payments game, so it may indeed be acting to slow Wallet¡¯s adoption on a second handset. Last year, three out of the four major telcos in the U.S. ¡ª Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile ¡ª came together to form Isis, a carrier-backed version of a digital wallet just like Google¡¯s.

Currently, Sprint is the only major carrier to eschew Isis support ¡ª just like it¡¯s the only carrier to offer a phone with Google Wallet. Naturally, if carriers decide to prop up Isis by knocking down Google Wallet, it¡¯s feasible that Wallet will also be barred in upcoming phones carried by AT&T and T-Mobile.

An Isis spokesman declined to comment, referring Wired.com to Verizon¡¯s previous statement.

uggs ¡°This is a question of Verizon not wanting Google to beat them to the punch,¡± said Simon Buckingham, CEO of mobile app store Appitalism Inc., in an interview. ¡°It¡¯s a power struggle over a major land grab for U.S. territory.¡±

Isis lacks a number of features Google Wallet offers ¡ª not the least of which includes an actual released product. Wallet has been on the market for months now, and launched with the support of Mastercard and a significant number of retail partners. Google is also working with Visa, AmEx and others to bring more card support to the app. Further, Google Wallet works in conjunction with Google Offers, the company¡¯s Groupon-like daily deals program.

Conversely, Isis hasn¡¯t launched, and has yet to gain the support of any major credit card companies. But the carriers have something that Google doesn¡¯t have: Millions of credit card-backed customer accounts. With an initiative like Isis, mobile customers could ostensibly funnel their mobile wallet purchases to their monthly phone bills. That means no new credit card numbers to register, and no significant barriers to entry. It¡¯s a fast track into mobile e-commerce.

But blocking Wallet in an effort to prop up Isis may also be short-sighted.

 ¡°It reeks of anti-competitive behavior,¡± said Sterling. ¡°These days, the moment anyone does anything anti-competitive, you see class-action lawsuits and even possible congressional consequences.¡±

www.bootsalemall.com Regardless of how this plays out, it¡¯s an annoying sticking point for Google¡¯s mobile payments app. Google has made it more than clear that NFC-based economics is the way of the future, and the company will continue to push handset manufacturers into creating devices with NFC chips inside.

Microsoft works to lure devs by taking less for app sales

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SAN FRANCISCO--In a bid to lure developers to its upcoming application store for Windows, Microsoft revealed a new pricing scheme designed to undercut rivals' marketplaces.

Microsoft will take 30 percent of application sales revenue from programs sold in the Windows Store, an app marketplace that will be build into Windows 8, similar to what rival's such as Apple take from app sales in their stores. But Microsoft will take only 20 percent once an app makes more than $25,000.

"We're going to give you a bigger bite of the apple," said Antoine Leblond, a corporate vice president of Windows Web Services.

Microsoft set the price point for apps in the store at $1.49 to $999.99.

The store will open when Microsoft launches the beta of Windows 8 in late Feburary 2012. App submissions for the beta will be by invitation only.

Microsoft will also give developers tools to create a variety of pricing models, offering consumers free versions, as well as paid version. They can even create versions of an app that end after specific periods of time. And newspapers, for example, can sell subscriptions from inside their app, something, Leblond said, couldn't be created on iTunes. They can use Microsoft's tools or their own subscription and payment mechanisms.

The event was something of a coming out for the Windows Store. Microsoft first discussed the online marketplace at its Build developer conference in Anaheim in September. The idea is to give customers the ability to buy applications from their PCs or tablets, instead of having to find packaged software or download apps from various software makers' sites.

ugg sale The Windows Store has a clean interface, with a white background and the increasingly familiar so-called Metro-style rectangular tile interface. Users tap on the tiles to learn about, demo and buy the apps. The store offer users the ability to try out apps, such as games, testing them out before buying.

"Trials work really, really well for paid apps," Leblond said.

The marketplace will offer a host of categories, including "Books & reference," "Entertainment," and "Games." And the store will offer up personalized recommendations based on previous purchases.

The Windows Store follows the path of Apple's Mac App Store, a software marketplace that's build into Mac OS X. That's provided a way for customers to quickly download both free and paid applications for their computers.

Microsoft is already running application stores for both the Xbox and Windows Phone devices. But the potential market for an app store within Windows could be enormous. IDC estimates that 433.5 million PCs will ship in 2013, the first full year that Windows 8 will be in the market. Clearly, a huge chunk of those will run the new operating system, and have access to the new Windows Store.

uggs on sale Leblond compared Windows to the Android phones and tablets, as well as iPhones and iPads to Windows 7, which has moved 500 million copies since it debuted two years ago. There are 247 million devices running Google's Android in the market, and 152 million gadgets running Apple's iOS, Leblond said.

"It's incredible, incredible reach, and that's what you get to participate in by developing Metro-style Windows apps," Leblond said.

Microsoft will also offer the app marketplace around the world. Leblond said it will support more than 100 languages in 231 different markets.

The store isn't just about making it easy to discover Windows apps, it's also about creating a new revenue stream for Microsoft. Microsoft will likely take a piece of every sale it generates through the store. With the dominant operating system software as a lure, the Windows Store could evolve into a meaningful revenue generator for the company, which rang up just shy of $70 billion in the last fiscal year.

uggs The event was held toward the end of the day to accommodate developers' schedules. And they outnumbered journalists at the hip Laurent Studio in San Francisco's Mission District where the event was held.

Microsoft works to lure devs by taking less for app sales

Fashionable Store Link: louis vuitton outlet | www.ulouisvuittonoutlet.com

SAN FRANCISCO--In a bid to lure developers to its upcoming application store for Windows, Microsoft revealed a new pricing scheme designed to undercut rivals' marketplaces.

Microsoft will take 30 percent of application sales revenue from programs sold in the Windows Store, an app marketplace that will be build into Windows 8, similar to what rival's such as Apple take from app sales in their stores. But Microsoft will take only 20 percent once an app makes more than $25,000.

"We're going to give you a bigger bite of the apple," said Antoine Leblond, a corporate vice president of Windows Web Services.

Microsoft set the price point for apps in the store at $1.49 to $999.99.

The store will open when Microsoft launches the beta of Windows 8 in late Feburary 2012. App submissions for the beta will be by invitation only.

Microsoft will also give developers tools to create a variety of pricing models, offering consumers free versions, as well as paid version. They can even create versions of an app that end after specific periods of time. And newspapers, for example, can sell subscriptions from inside their app, something, Leblond said, couldn't be created on iTunes. They can use Microsoft's tools or their own subscription and payment mechanisms.

The event was something of a coming out for the Windows Store. Microsoft first discussed the online marketplace at its Build developer conference in Anaheim in September. The idea is to give customers the ability to buy applications from their PCs or tablets, instead of having to find packaged software or download apps from various software makers' sites.

ugg sale The Windows Store has a clean interface, with a white background and the increasingly familiar so-called Metro-style rectangular tile interface. Users tap on the tiles to learn about, demo and buy the apps. The store offer users the ability to try out apps, such as games, testing them out before buying.

"Trials work really, really well for paid apps," Leblond said.

The marketplace will offer a host of categories, including "Books & reference," "Entertainment," and "Games." And the store will offer up personalized recommendations based on previous purchases.

The Windows Store follows the path of Apple's Mac App Store, a software marketplace that's build into Mac OS X. That's provided a way for customers to quickly download both free and paid applications for their computers.

Microsoft is already running application stores for both the Xbox and Windows Phone devices. But the potential market for an app store within Windows could be enormous. IDC estimates that 433.5 million PCs will ship in 2013, the first full year that Windows 8 will be in the market. Clearly, a huge chunk of those will run the new operating system, and have access to the new Windows Store.

uggs on sale Leblond compared Windows to the Android phones and tablets, as well as iPhones and iPads to Windows 7, which has moved 500 million copies since it debuted two years ago. There are 247 million devices running Google's Android in the market, and 152 million gadgets running Apple's iOS, Leblond said.

"It's incredible, incredible reach, and that's what you get to participate in by developing Metro-style Windows apps," Leblond said.

Microsoft will also offer the app marketplace around the world. Leblond said it will support more than 100 languages in 231 different markets.

The store isn't just about making it easy to discover Windows apps, it's also about creating a new revenue stream for Microsoft. Microsoft will likely take a piece of every sale it generates through the store. With the dominant operating system software as a lure, the Windows Store could evolve into a meaningful revenue generator for the company, which rang up just shy of $70 billion in the last fiscal year.

uggs The event was held toward the end of the day to accommodate developers' schedules. And they outnumbered journalists at the hip Laurent Studio in San Francisco's Mission District where the event was held.

Facebook Timeline Rollout Starts Today In New Zealand

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It¡¯s been 2.5 months since Facebook unveiled the Timeline profile redesign at f8 and said the rollout would begin shortly. However, possibly due to product tweaks and a lawsuit from Timelines.com, until today the feature was only available to developers, or those who pose as them. But now, Facebook has announced that it will begin rollout of Timeline to all users beginning with New Zealand. The country was likely picked because it speaks English, which eases feedback processing, and isn¡¯t as interconnected with the rest of the user base as some other countries. Facebook will have to explain the privacy ramifications of Timeline very carefully. By making the entire history of a user¡¯s Facebook activity more readily accessible, embarrassing or objectionable content could be surfaced if users don¡¯t know to curate their Timelines properly.

Facebook posted this statement about the New Zealand rollout to the original blog post announcing Timeline:

uggs ¡°We announced Timeline in September and made it available to developers building apps on our platform. Since then, over a million people have signed up for the developer beta to access Timeline. The feedback we¡¯ve received so far has been invaluable. Starting today, we are making Timeline more widely available as we measure speed and other types of performance. We¡¯ll begin by making it available to people in New Zealand and then roll it out more broadly in the near future.¡±

The Timeline profile design allows users and their friends much easier access to their historical content, such as status updates or wall posts they made years ago. This means Facebook¡¯s servers will have to be able to quickly serve up content that was rarely accessed in the past. To make sure the entire user base isn¡¯t impacted by performance issues, it has chosen to roll out the redesign in a relatively small and isolated area first. If Facebook¡¯s infrastructure can support the New Zealand roll out without slowing down the site, Facebook will then continue the rollout.

Facebook may have used New Zealand as a test bed before, as we received reports of an iteration of the Questions product appearing there before other countries. Because the island country is less interconnected with the rest of the world, it can be easier to keep tests there a secret. In other cases, Facebook tests products in the US first where early adopters are plentiful and market penetration, social graph density, and smartphone use is high. This lets the company test products the way they¡¯re meant to be used ¡ª with everyone you know using them too.

With the rollout will come a bonanza for developers of apps that leverage the Open Graph API that can publish content to the Timeline. Developers who¡¯ve been prepping their apps in anticipation of the universal access to Timeline should start putting the finishing touches on so they¡¯re ready when the rollout expands.

uggs on sale _ www.uggsonsaleuggs.net Most importantly, though, will be how Facebook handles messaging around privacy with Timeline.

Mark Zuckerberg's Private Photos Shared in Facebook Glitch

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Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was caught up in the social networking site's latest privacy glitch, as photos that would normally be kept private for exposed for public view.

The photos don't reveal anything overtly scandalous, just images that Zuckerberg chose to remain private, for his own personal reasons. Fourteen images were shared with a photo site and show Zuckerberg holding what appears to be a dead chicken, Zuckerberg at home with friends, and handing out candy at Halloween.

"The bug allowed anyone to view a limited number of another user's most recently uploaded photos irrespective of the privacy settings for these photos," Facebook said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

ugg sale "This was the result of one of our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time. Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm the bug has been fixed."

The glitch comes one week after the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Facebook that required the social network to be more transparent about its privacy policies.

Zuckerberg's private images were apparently shared in an effort to demonstrate the effect could have on Facebook users, many of whom have complained about Facebook's privacy policies. Zuckerberg, an advocate for sharing content across his network and others, has also made his some of his Google+ content private - although Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have taken the same tack.

ugg on sale For his part, Zuckerberg has apologized numerous times for Facebook's privacy transgressions and redesigns, even going so far as to pre-apologize for the company's new Timeline, which has yet to be rolled out across the network's entire user base.

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Have you ever seen cute and fluffy baby UGG shoes or boots? I bet you will love these shoes. These baby UGG boots and shoes are not only for fashion in style but also provide a soft and breathable condition for baby¡¯s feet. Here are some popular baby boots series. Infant boo - High quality sheepskin and fluffy fleece inside, UGG infant boo can be wear bare feet and keep the tender baby feet dry and warm. Moms and dads love the elastic lace closure design for they can be put the boot on and off easily no matter whenever baby is sleeping or playing. These adorable infant boo shoes are available in pink, sand and chestnut. Baby UGG Erin bootie - Erin bootie has the similar design to classic UGG boots series. These boots are made from the genuine twin sheepskin like other UGG boots series. The fleece inner lining is designed to be worn barefoot which can whisk moisture away. Extremely comfortable UGG Erin booties has baby pink, chestnut and sand. Baby UGG Mini Mel shoes - these little baby shoes are also made of sheepskin. These boots are perfect for babies who are in toddler years. The adding rubber footing sole let the Mini Mel shoes more stable than "bootie" and are a good choice for almost reading walking baby. This series has Baby Pink, Plum, Chestnut and Black colors for you to choose.

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Oil Price Above $96 Per Barrel on Iran Concerns

uggs on sale NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices are soaring again, but motorists don't need to worry - yet.

The price of crude has jumped 22 percent since the beginning of October and is nearing $100 a barrel. For most of the summer, oil prices drifted lower on fears that the U.S. was headed toward another recession. But those concerns have started to wane as the economy stabilizes. Political tensions in the Middle East, which produces 29 percent of the world's oil, also have helped drive up crude prices at the fastest clip since February.

So far, the big jump hasn't translated into higher prices at the gasoline pump. Gasoline has crept up by 3.1 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $3.41 per gallon, over the same period.

cheap ugg boots That's partly because people drive less once vacations wind down after Labor Day. This year, Americans have also bought less gasoline because of the weaker economy. That lackluster demand has kept prices in check, even as oil soars. If crude continues to rise, however, gasoline eventually will be forced to follow.

"Enjoy it while you can," says Ben Brockwell, pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service. "We may be in for a spike" in the spring. Brockwell expects gasoline prices - which peaked of $3.98 per barrel on May 5 - to flirt with $4 per gallon early next year.

As signs emerge that the U.S. isn't headed for another recession, the price of oil has risen. When economies improve, demand for oil goes up.

ugg sale At the same time, some of the world's biggest sources of oil appear to be increasingly at risk. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, could face international trade sanctions for its nuclear energy program, which could be used for developing weapons, some experts fear.

And in Nigeria, one of the top five oil exporters to the U.S., production continues to be hampered by spills, sabotage and thefts of its crude.

Meanwhile, the world's thirst for oil continues to grow. Developing nations in Asia and the Middle East have been importing more barrels as they build factories and their people buy more cars. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday that global oil demand should rise to a record 92.9 million barrels per day by 2015. That's up 1.9 million barrels per day from the previous forecast.

ugg boots cheap OPEC said it was making the change to reflect a "swifter than expected" recovery in energy demand since the recession.

Oil prices have climbed from $79.20 a barrel at the beginning of October to $96.51. The last time they rose that swiftly was in the spring, when rebels in Libya started to clash with forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Oil shot up 25 percent to $105 from February to March as the rebellion cut off Libya's exports, increasing pressure on already-tight world supplies.

Gasoline prices followed oil higher earlier this year. Since October, they seem to be moving to their own beat.

ugg boots clearance Gasoline prices have leveled off as motorists buy less fuel. MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks gasoline purchases around the country, said Tuesday that American drivers have bought less fuel for four months in a row.

Pump prices in the U.S. are increasingly influenced by oil produced in foreign countries, and those varieties haven't risen as sharply as the U.S. benchmark crude. Refineries that make gasoline also are producing cheaper winter fuel blends for this time of year.

The government is forecasting that gasoline prices should continue to fall through the end of the year and analysts say it could touch $3.25 by New Year's. www.uggbootsclearancem.com

Ruling on Cigarette Pack Warnings Stirs Free Speech Debate

ugg boots clearance A court ruling Monday stubbed out an FDA attempt to plaster extremely graphic warning labels on cigarette packs. The decision has anti-tobacco groups fuming and has reignited a debate over which right trumps which: The right of the government to warn Americans about the health risks of smoking, or the First Amendment rights of tobacco companies.

One thing both sides agree on -- the labels feature horrific images, including depictions of a man smoking through a tracheotomy hole, a pair of putrefied lungs and even a corpse on an autopsy table. The accompanying texts are stark and unequivocal, such as, "WARNING: Smoking can kill you."

uggs The Food and Drug Administration, which had mandated the labels and was on the losing side of Monday's ruling, says that the disgusting images would reduce the number of smokers by 213,000 by 2013 and save between $221 million to $630 million in health care costs over the next 20 years.

The labels, set to hit cigarettes next year, would have been part of the first update of tobacco warnings in 25 years

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon opined that the images are too far removed from the objective of simply providing consumers with "factual and uncontroversial information." The judge issued an injunction against the FDA that prohibits the labels from being imposed until the lawsuit is resolved, which could take years. Some expect the Supreme Court will ultimately rule on the issue.

cheap uggs for sale "The government's actual purpose is not to inform, but rather to advocate a change in consumer behavior," the judge wrote in this ruling. Compelling the tobacco companies to place advocacy on their marketing space violates their First Amendment rights, he decided.

Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, disagreed. "The judge mischaracterized the goal, purpose and effect of the warnings," which he said the FDA adopted because it determined "that they were the most effective warnings at communicating the health effects of smoking," he told DailyFinance.

Fifty years of experience with text-only warnings has shown that they are often ignored, said Myers, who has been involved in creating anti-tobacco legislation.

ugg boots sale "The FDA concluded that for a warning to be effective, it has to be seen, noticed, provoke the reader to think about the issue, and effectively communicate level of risk. The FDA's conclusion about these warnings is based upon the best science -- the science of communication."

This shouldn't come as a surprise, Myers said, noting that tobacco companies use images when they advertise.

According to Myers, it is well-established in First Amendment law that government has the right to require warning labels on dangerous products. "If government has the right to require warnings labels," Myers reasons, "it has the right to require effective warning labels." He said the government will appeal, and that he hopes it does so quickly.

ugg outlet Is it wrong to compel a company to potentially dissuade consumers from buying its products? Or does the appallingly high cost -- both human and financial -- of tobacco use justify such action? Do young people and other at-risk populations need all the help they can get in making healthy life-choices, or have the tobacco companies been regulated enough, with so little advertising space left aside from their packaging? www.uggsoutletjoy.com

Late Mortgage Payments Up in 3Q, 1st Rise in Years

louis vuitton outlet NEW YORK (AP) - While lawmakers in Washington debated the debt ceiling and consumer confidence dropped, more homeowners in the U.S. were having a harder time making their mortgage payments.

The rate that mortgage holders were late with their payments by 60 days or more rose in the June-to-September period for the first time since the last three months of 2009, according to TransUnion.

The credit reporting agency said 5.88 percent of homeowners missed two or more payments, an early sign of possible foreclosure. That was up from 5.82 percent in the second quarter of 2011.

www.ulouisvuittonoutlet.com The increase surprised TransUnion researchers, who previously forecast late payments, or delinquency, to fall for the quarter.

"It's much different than we've been talking about the last few quarters," said Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. Housing in TransUnion's financial services business unit.

The problems were widespread. Between the second and third quarters, all but 10 states and the District of Columbia saw delinquency rates increase.

TransUnion's data is culled from 27 million credit reports, representing about 10 percent of all U.S. consumers who actively use some form of credit.

uggs for sale Martin could not pinpoint one particular reason for the jump. Normally, for instance, housing prices and unemployment have a big influence on delinquency. "Those are both still important, but neither has noticeably deteriorated," he said. In fact, unemployment was steady during the summer and the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed small improvements in housing prices in most major cities during July and August.

That leaves wider economic issues having a larger role, Martin said. He pointed to the U.S. credit rating downgrade, the U.S. and European debt crises and the tanking U.S. stock markets during this period. And he noted that two different measures of consumer confidence - the Conference Board and the University of Michigan - both showed those issues hurt consumer attitudes.

uggs on sale That atmosphere "could make folks question paying their mortgage," he observed.

Martin said there's no real way to tell if some of the delinquency increase was driven by people who decided not to make payments because their homes are worth less than they owe on their mortgage. But it is notable that three of the 10 states that saw declines in late payments were among the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis: Arizona, California and Nevada.

In fact, Arizona had the best rate of improvement in the nation, and now has a delinquency rate of 7.46 percent. That still places it fourth worst in the country, but the rate is vastly improved from where it stood. In the fourth quarter of 2009, Arizona's delinquency rate hit 16 percent, the highest for any state since the foreclosure crisis began.

Arizona does, however, still have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation - one in every 44 housing units with a foreclosure filing in the third quarter, according to Realtytrac.

uggs Another possibility for the bump in the delinquency rate is that a new crop of adjustable mortgages written toward the end of the housing bubble is resetting. Even if their interest rates remain low after the adjustment, the payments might have increased, said Darren Blomquist, a Realtytrac spokesman. "We still have the bad loans mixed in that are resetting."

Although TransUnion still expects the delinquency rate to resume declining in 2012, the company is now forecasting a few quarters of elevated nonpayment rates due to the uncertain economic outlook. The company doesn't predict a return to the national peak rate of 6.9 percent, but said some increase is expected.

"More and more homeowners are likely to struggle," Martin said. "I'm not sure this is a one-quarter blip."

That echoes predictions from other sources, like RealtyTrac.

www.uggsbootsbuy.net "This isn't just about bad loans anymore," said Blomquist. "It's about a bad economy that's pushing people into foreclosure."

Savings Experiment: Turkey Leftovers

louis vuitton outlet You can't pick your family, but you can pick your Thanksgiving turkey. And if you keep Thanksgiving leftovers, you can pick at it again and again.

Early Bird Special

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all the good things, but you may want to guard those leftovers from your nearest and dearest, no matter how selfish it sounds. Right after the Thanksgiving feast -- when everyone says they can't imagine eating another bite -- is the perfect moment to salvage the remaining meat.

First, extract the meat from the carcass. Then store it in sealed containers or plastic bags. Do save the skin, scraps, and brown bits from the bottom of the roasting pan in a separate container, as the oils and juice can be used later as well. If you do this the day of the meal, you'll also save room in the fridge. Prepping turkey leftovers is a good excuse to snag some alone time or catch up one-on-one with a relative while you pick away.

uggs for cheap Once you have all that turkey meat, you'll need to take stock of your -- well, stock.

Stocking Up

There are several, easy ways to make stock, a base that can then be used for soups. Mark Bittman, The New York Times food columnist and esteemed author, says to just throw the leftover meat and veggies into a pot with water. You can simmer it, according to Bittman, until "the meat falls off the bones -- a technique that produces decent if somewhat crude results." For a rich turkey stock, Bittman recommends using the very pan in which you initially roasted the turkey. Cooking the stock in that pan, Bittman writes, will generate "a strong, sweet, and meaty turkey stock -- good enough to eat unadulterated as plain broth, and a perfect base for almost any other soup."

Of course, making soups from leftovers doesn't have to be bland. Wendy Weiden, a Sustainable Food Specialist, recommends Turkey Tortilla Soup. Weiden, who studies food systems at Presidio Graduate School, says it's possible to cut costs, and make healthy, environmentally sound meals, that are, most importantly, delicious.

ugg boots sale For the Turkey Tortilla Soup, Weiden says to start by simply shredding the turkey. Then add the sliced and diced meat to what Weiden calls "a basic (and usually pretty cheap) tortilla soup recipe." Freezing the stock extends its expiration date, so that, as Weiden jokes, "you can enjoy it later, when you're less sick of turkey."

Love Birds

In addition to a host of yummy soup options, Joan Nathan, a James Beard award-winning cookbook author, recommends substituting shredded turkey for ground beef in dishes. Weiden agrees and says that "turkey pot pie is a good way to use leftover vegetables that didn't make it into Thanksgiving dinner." Post-Thanksgiving, Nathan makes Pasta del Papa, a potato meat pie that she has the recipe for in her cookbook, The Flavor of Jersulem. Pasta Del Papa is a perfect recipe for Turkey leftovers, as well as leftover veggies. As Nathan says, during the holiday season, "Most people will have mashed potatoes on hand."

ugg boots clearance To start cooking, Nathan preheats the oven to 400 degrees. She then peels and boils the potatoes in a covered pot, if she doesn't already have them cooked on hand. As the potatoes simmer, typically for around twenty minutes, Nathan saut¨¦s the tomatoes, green pepper, and turkey in hot oil until the turkey browns. By then the potatoes are ready to be mashed, so Nathan adds warm milk, butter, and salt. She then beats the potatoes until they are creamy.

uggs outlet Once the mashed potatoes are ready, Nathan removes the vegetable and turkey from the heat and stirs in paprika, salt, pepper, eggs, raisins, and olives. She blends them, pours the resulting mixture into an ovenproof casserole, and covers it with mashed potatoes, a sprinkle of paprika and a dot of butter. It takes about 20 minutes to bake and serves eight. Of course, if it just you. you can

That's a lot of good food to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Of course, the most important ingredient in whatever dish you prepare is fun. Mark Bittman says that when you start to feel overwhelmed, remember: "Nearly everyone -- the in-laws' odd friends aside -- is appreciative of your time and effort. They really don't care if your serving spoon is a spatula."

ugg sale Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some leftovers, I'd like to eat in peace.

4 Reasons Resumes Are Rejected

louis vuitton outlet Recruiters spend countless hours reviewing resumes and screening candidates. In fact, they spend so much time scanning resumes, they can often do it in one minute or less.

As disappointing as that may be given all the hard work you put into your resume, it's the unfortunate reality...and with such a small amount of time to make an impression, it's no wonder they occasionally get it wrong. You may have been the perfect person for the position, but because you failed to successfully package yourself, your resume and your chances end up meeting their demise with the click of a mouse. Read on to learn the top four reasons your resume may end up in recycle bin or folder.

ugg sale 1. The length

Have you ever read a magazine article, short story, blog, etc. and remember thinking "Get to the point already?" Well, recruiters have this same thought when they read over a three-page resume. Nine times out of 10 they will probably just move it to the rejection stack.

Your resume is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every job you've ever held, every award you have ever received, and every training program, club, or activity you have ever attended. To make the best impression and have the best chance of making the cut, highlight those things on your resume most important to the position at hand.

Don't be afraid to use different resumes for different positions. Taking a few extra minutes on your end to tailor your resume could mean the difference between the hiring manager or the trash being the next recipient of your application.

ugg 2. No cover letter

If you are over or under qualified for a position, have a varied work history, or have skills that aren't highlighted on your resume, a cover letter is essential. While you may know your full life story, a recruiter does not.

What may appear as a lack of commitment from having a multitude of experience may be explainable through justification, such as a trailing spouse or time off to care for your family.

Your one size fits all resume may not explain why you are interested in and qualified for a position that isn't an exact title match to your prior roles.

In addition, you may be seeking to return to a staff role from a management role due to personal reasons. It is important to professionally highlight this in your cover letter vs. leaving it to the recruiter's imagination that you can't handle the role, are facing termination, or are desperate.

cheap ugg boots 3. Grammar and spelling

We've all been there at one point or another. We have reviewed a piece of writing, a proposal, or, worse yet, our resume a million times and think we have it perfect. For whatever reason, our eyes and spellchecker let us down and we miss the spelling blunder. The recruiter, however, does not. Your perceived lack of attention to detail is an instant eye catcher to the recruiter - do not pass go; do not collect $200.

ugg boots outlet 4. Achievements vs. job description

One of the biggest and most frequent reasons people fail to be noticed by their resume is job details vs. results orientation. No matter how many big words you use to describe your job duties, if you fail to identify your contributions to past organizations, you may be passed over.

Companies want to know they are getting value for their buck in today's market. It isn't enough just to be qualified for a position. They are looking for employees that can hit the ground running and make contributions fast. By highlighting how you have added to the success of your past employer, you are likely to catch the recruiter's eye and make it to the top of the pile.

discount uggs What are some resume blunders you have made?

Decades Later, Student Loan Default Still Haunts Borrower

louis vuitton President Obama recently announced a plan to provide relief to federal student loan borrowers by limiting their payments to 10% of their monthly discretionary income starting next year. After 20 years of payments, any remaining debt would be forgiven. The Obama plan will help an estimated 1.6 million Americans.

But there are millions more borrowers who are already in default on federal loans and who won't qualify for the plan. At the end of fiscal 2008, more than $39 billion in federal student loans were in default. Among borrowers who started repaying their loans in that year alone, about 14% percent have already defaulted -- more than 450,000 people, according to the Department of Education.

What does life look like down the road for those who default? Casey Zimmerman Thompson, 42, is a cautionary tale. She originally borrowed about $7,100 to attend school.

abercrombie and fitch outlet Over the years, her loans have gone in and out of default. Since 1987, Thompson, a self-employed airbrush artist who lives in rural Maryland, has paid more than $13,400 toward the debt, according to 2010 Department of Education documents examined by DailyFinance. Thompson says she paid another $1,600 last April when her tax refund was garnished, and another $3,000 in the 1990s that wasn't included in the Department documents, for a total of $18,000 -- or two and a half times the amount she borrowed.

Despite that, her outstanding balance is more than $9,800.

Why? Interest snowballs while the loans go unpaid and is added to the principal. Then penalties and fees -- including collection agency charges -- are rolled in. Under federal law, any "partial or installment payments" that Thompson makes are applied "first to outstanding penalties, second to administrative charges, third to interest and last to principal," according to Federal Claims Collections Standards.

abercrombie outlet Thompson's household income is less than $30,000 a year, and the mother of four teens qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit. But every April, the government garnishes her refund. "They tell me it's going to nothing but interest and not a single penny to the principal," Thompson says. "I'm at my wits' end because every year, no matter what's paid, my balance is still more than $9,000. I'm constantly getting calls from collection agencies. I don't know how I will ever have the ability to pay it off."

A Hopeful Start Meets Hard Luck

Her story begins in 1987, when Thompson's parents dropped their 18-year-old daughter off at the now-defunct American College of the Applied Arts in Atlanta. They told her they had saved a college fund of $20,000. But when Thompson went to register for classes, the school informed her nothing had been paid. She borrowed $500 and attended for just one trimester. Her parents divorced shortly thereafter, following years of money-related marital strife.

Thompson returned to Pennsylvania and got a scholarship to attend the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, but dropped out after a year. "I couldn't even afford the art supplies I needed on regular basis," she recalls. She took out a student loan for $6,640 to complete a certificate program at a Head Hunters Academy, a cosmetology school that has since failed. She got her state license and a job training stylists for a hair product manufacturer.

abercrombie and fitch uk Thompson later developed a tremor that ended her hair styling career and quit working to raise her kids. In the late 1990s, her husband grew violent and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She ended up living in a shelter with an order of protection. They divorced. Three years ago in Florida, he committed suicide.

Thompson hasn't made a voluntary student loan payment since 2003, when her ex-husband stopped paying child support. Although Pennsylvania law hits deadbeat parents with jail time, fines and bank account seizures, Thompson's ex-husband was never charged with contempt. She was told her county's courts were backlogged with cases. Money she might have used to pay the student loans went to feed her kids. When her ex died, he was nearly $26,700 in arrears.

"The state let me down -- there was a written law that was supposed to protect me and no one enforced it," Thompson says. "If I had had that $26,000 my student loans would have been paid."

Thompson's congressman, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, contacted the Department of Education on her behalf in 2010. In a response obtained by DailyFinance, the Department wrote: "The legislation for the loan program administered by the Department does not provide for a borrower to receive cancellation or reduction of his or her loan because of financial hardship."

A Life Without Credit, and Without Options

abercrombie outlet uk Short of a lottery win, for student loan borrowers like Thompson, there is literally no way out. The government can garnish the income tax refunds and eventually the Social Security checks of defaulters. Changes to bankruptcy law in 1984 and 2005 mean borrowers can't charge off their obligations the way they can escape mortgage, credit card and even gambling debt when they file -- unless they can prove "undue hardship." But just 29 of the 72,000 student loan debtors in bankruptcy in 2008 were able to do so, according to Mark Kantrowitz, founder of the student aid website Finaid.org.

Thompson's student debt has curtailed her economic life. She has never owned a home, and buys cars at "buy here pay here" lots that offer their own financing (and quick repossession if payments are missed). Kantrowitz contends that the growing student loan default problem will have a "cascading effect" on household finances, and ultimately the U.S. economy over the next decade.

Thompson takes whatever work she can find, airbrushing motorcycles and cars, and painting at carnivals and festivals. Her 14-year-old son comes along to help with airbrush tattoos while Thompson does face painting and T-shirts. Her twin daughters are sophomores and her oldest son is 19. He's been working in restaurants since high school, and wants to go to culinary school in New York -- and take out student loans to help pay for the program.

abercrombie kids uk "With all the knowledge I've gained from my situation, I've told him he can't do it," says Thompson, who is encouraging him to get the skills he needs on the job or attend a local school where he can save up and pay cash for an associate's degree. "I have lived my entire adult life without any credit because of these loans. I don't want my children in the same position."

Decades Later, Student Loan Default Still Haunts Borrower

louis vuitton President Obama recently announced a plan to provide relief to federal student loan borrowers by limiting their payments to 10% of their monthly discretionary income starting next year. After 20 years of payments, any remaining debt would be forgiven. The Obama plan will help an estimated 1.6 million Americans.

But there are millions more borrowers who are already in default on federal loans and who won't qualify for the plan. At the end of fiscal 2008, more than $39 billion in federal student loans were in default. Among borrowers who started repaying their loans in that year alone, about 14% percent have already defaulted -- more than 450,000 people, according to the Department of Education.

What does life look like down the road for those who default? Casey Zimmerman Thompson, 42, is a cautionary tale. She originally borrowed about $7,100 to attend school.

abercrombie and fitch outlet Over the years, her loans have gone in and out of default. Since 1987, Thompson, a self-employed airbrush artist who lives in rural Maryland, has paid more than $13,400 toward the debt, according to 2010 Department of Education documents examined by DailyFinance. Thompson says she paid another $1,600 last April when her tax refund was garnished, and another $3,000 in the 1990s that wasn't included in the Department documents, for a total of $18,000 -- or two and a half times the amount she borrowed.

Despite that, her outstanding balance is more than $9,800.

Why? Interest snowballs while the loans go unpaid and is added to the principal. Then penalties and fees -- including collection agency charges -- are rolled in. Under federal law, any "partial or installment payments" that Thompson makes are applied "first to outstanding penalties, second to administrative charges, third to interest and last to principal," according to Federal Claims Collections Standards.

abercrombie outlet Thompson's household income is less than $30,000 a year, and the mother of four teens qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit. But every April, the government garnishes her refund. "They tell me it's going to nothing but interest and not a single penny to the principal," Thompson says. "I'm at my wits' end because every year, no matter what's paid, my balance is still more than $9,000. I'm constantly getting calls from collection agencies. I don't know how I will ever have the ability to pay it off."

A Hopeful Start Meets Hard Luck

Her story begins in 1987, when Thompson's parents dropped their 18-year-old daughter off at the now-defunct American College of the Applied Arts in Atlanta. They told her they had saved a college fund of $20,000. But when Thompson went to register for classes, the school informed her nothing had been paid. She borrowed $500 and attended for just one trimester. Her parents divorced shortly thereafter, following years of money-related marital strife.

Thompson returned to Pennsylvania and got a scholarship to attend the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, but dropped out after a year. "I couldn't even afford the art supplies I needed on regular basis," she recalls. She took out a student loan for $6,640 to complete a certificate program at a Head Hunters Academy, a cosmetology school that has since failed. She got her state license and a job training stylists for a hair product manufacturer.

abercrombie and fitch uk Thompson later developed a tremor that ended her hair styling career and quit working to raise her kids. In the late 1990s, her husband grew violent and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She ended up living in a shelter with an order of protection. They divorced. Three years ago in Florida, he committed suicide.

Thompson hasn't made a voluntary student loan payment since 2003, when her ex-husband stopped paying child support. Although Pennsylvania law hits deadbeat parents with jail time, fines and bank account seizures, Thompson's ex-husband was never charged with contempt. She was told her county's courts were backlogged with cases. Money she might have used to pay the student loans went to feed her kids. When her ex died, he was nearly $26,700 in arrears.

"The state let me down -- there was a written law that was supposed to protect me and no one enforced it," Thompson says. "If I had had that $26,000 my student loans would have been paid."

Thompson's congressman, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, contacted the Department of Education on her behalf in 2010. In a response obtained by DailyFinance, the Department wrote: "The legislation for the loan program administered by the Department does not provide for a borrower to receive cancellation or reduction of his or her loan because of financial hardship."

A Life Without Credit, and Without Options

abercrombie outlet uk Short of a lottery win, for student loan borrowers like Thompson, there is literally no way out. The government can garnish the income tax refunds and eventually the Social Security checks of defaulters. Changes to bankruptcy law in 1984 and 2005 mean borrowers can't charge off their obligations the way they can escape mortgage, credit card and even gambling debt when they file -- unless they can prove "undue hardship." But just 29 of the 72,000 student loan debtors in bankruptcy in 2008 were able to do so, according to Mark Kantrowitz, founder of the student aid website Finaid.org.

Thompson's student debt has curtailed her economic life. She has never owned a home, and buys cars at "buy here pay here" lots that offer their own financing (and quick repossession if payments are missed). Kantrowitz contends that the growing student loan default problem will have a "cascading effect" on household finances, and ultimately the U.S. economy over the next decade.

Thompson takes whatever work she can find, airbrushing motorcycles and cars, and painting at carnivals and festivals. Her 14-year-old son comes along to help with airbrush tattoos while Thompson does face painting and T-shirts. Her twin daughters are sophomores and her oldest son is 19. He's been working in restaurants since high school, and wants to go to culinary school in New York -- and take out student loans to help pay for the program.

abercrombie kids uk "With all the knowledge I've gained from my situation, I've told him he can't do it," says Thompson, who is encouraging him to get the skills he needs on the job or attend a local school where he can save up and pay cash for an associate's degree. "I have lived my entire adult life without any credit because of these loans. I don't want my children in the same position."

Intemp¨¦ries dans le sud : le littoral sous surveillance, le Var en alerte

moncler Le calvaire n'est pas termin¨¦, selon Meteo France. L'extr¨ºme sud-est a de nouveau ¨¦t¨¦ frapp¨¦ par les intemp¨¦ries mardi, avec le Var repass¨¦ en alerte orange "crues, orages et pluie-inondation" jusqu'¨¤ mercredi matin et un littoral particuli¨¨rement surveill¨¦ en raison d'une forte houle.

De fortes pluies orageuses ont touch¨¦ dans l'apr¨¨s-midi le Var et devaient persister dans la nuit, le cumul des pluies suppl¨¦mentaires attendues jusqu'¨¤ mercredi matin ¨¦tant de 60 ¨¤ 80 mm, localement 120 mm, notamment sur le littoral, o¨´ un fort vent d'est soufflait jusqu'¨¤ 100 ¨¤ 130 km/h en rafales. Deux ¨¦vacuations pr¨¦ventives ont ¨¦t¨¦ d¨¦cid¨¦es par la pr¨¦fectures du Var: celle de deux immeubles de la Seyne-sur-Mer pour des risques de chute de chemin¨¦es, et d'un quartier de Fr¨¦jus en raison de la remont¨¦e du niveau du Reyran.

doudoune homme L'a¨¦roport de Toulon/Hy¨¨res a ¨¦t¨¦ ferm¨¦ deux heures dans la journ¨¦e, les pistes ¨¦tant inond¨¦es. Mercredi, les coll¨¨ges de Gassin et Roquebrune-sur-Argens seront ferm¨¦s, a annonc¨¦ dans la soir¨¦e la pr¨¦fecture du Var, qui a ¨¦galement pr¨¦cis¨¦ que 753 foyers ¨¦taient toujours priv¨¦s d'¨¦lectricit¨¦.

Le Var toujours menac¨¦ par les crues

Cons¨¦quences du nouvel ¨¦pisode pluvieux: dans le Var, le niveau du Gapeau, repass¨¦ en vigilance orange, pourrait atteindre jusqu'¨¤ 2,50 m dans la nuit. Quant ¨¤ la Narturby au Muy, les pr¨¦cipitations de la journ¨¦e pourraient amener une r¨¦action significative du cours d'eau. Apr¨¨s une hausse sensible en cours de journ¨¦e, la cote de l'Argens, qui avait retrouv¨¦ son lit apr¨¨s avoir inond¨¦ de vastes zones, ¨¦tait voisine de 5,50 m ¨¤ 17 heures ¨¤ Roquebrune. Mercredi matin, une cote de 6,50 m n'est pas ¨¤ exclure, au vu des quantit¨¦s de pluie pr¨¦vues et de la forte crue de l'Aille.

doudoune moncler A Varages, Camps-la-Source, Saint-Aygulf, Barjols, Brue-Auriac, Cabasse, Seillons-Source d'Argens et une partie de la commune du Muy, des probl¨¨mes d'approvisionnement en eau potable ont conduit ces municipalit¨¦s ¨¤ mettre en place un dispositif de distribution de bouteilles.

Dans le Var, les moyens engag¨¦s mardi ¨¦taient consid¨¦rables: 908 pompiers, 300 engins et 30 embarcations, 280 gendarmes, 150 policiers, 200 personnes de la S¨¦curit¨¦ civile, ainsi qu'une dizaine d'h¨¦licopt¨¨res.

Vagues de 3 m¨¨tres

Outre les risques de crues li¨¦s ¨¤ ce nouvel ¨¦pisode orageux, l'acc¨¨s au bord de mer ¨¦tait d¨¦conseill¨¦ sur plusieurs d¨¦partements, en raison de forts d¨¦ferlements avec risque de submersions localis¨¦es. Le pr¨¦fet du Var a ainsi demand¨¦ aux communes de fermer leurs acc¨¨s routiers ¨¤ proximit¨¦ de littoral ainsi que les sentiers d'acc¨¨s aux plages et de prot¨¦ger les ports, restaurants et autres commerces.

moncler doudoune Dans les Alpes-Maritimes, des rafales de vent et des vagues de plusieurs m¨¨tres de haut ont provoqu¨¦ la fermeture compl¨¨te des routes de bord de mer ¨¤ Cagnes-sur-Mer et Antibes tandis qu'¨¤ Nice, la Promenade des Anglais ¨¦tait jonch¨¦e de galets et partiellement barr¨¦e. La pr¨¦fecture maritime de la M¨¦diterran¨¦e a appel¨¦ par ailleurs ¨¤ la prudence en mer apr¨¨s avoir coordonn¨¦, "malgr¨¦ les nombreux appels ¨¤ la vigilance", "une dizaine d'op¨¦rations de sauvetage impliquant des kitesurfeurs". Preuve de la dangerosit¨¦ des ¨¦l¨¦ments, la houle, qui a commenc¨¦ ¨¤ Cannes ¨¤ 9h du matin mardi, a empir¨¦ en milieu d'apr¨¨s-midi, raconte un internaute de TF1 News, qui a film¨¦ la mer agit¨¦e. Voir la vid¨¦o > Houle en M¨¦diterran¨¦e : les images impressionnantes d'un internaute de TF1 News ¨¤ Cannes.

doudoune moncler femme En Corse, des navires de plaisance et des ¨¦tablissements de plage ont ¨¦t¨¦ endommag¨¦s ¨¤ Ajaccio et sur la côte ouest du fait de vagues atteignant trois m¨¨tres.

Cinq morts

Avant m¨ºme la fin de ces nouvelles alertes m¨¦t¨¦o et maritime, le bilan est d¨¦j¨¤ tr¨¨s lourd : les intemp¨¦ries des derniers jours ont fait cinq morts. Samedi, un SDF allemand avait ¨¦t¨¦ retrouv¨¦ mort au bord de l'H¨¦rault, apr¨¨s avoir ¨¦t¨¦ emport¨¦ par les eaux du fleuve en crue. Dans la nuit de samedi ¨¤ dimanche, un couple de personnes âg¨¦es ¨¦tait mort intoxiqu¨¦ ¨¤ Bagnols-en-For¨ºt (Var) alors qu'il s'activait autour d'une moto-pompe pour vider leur cave inond¨¦e.

doudoune En Ari¨¨ge, un sexag¨¦naire port¨¦ disparu a ¨¦t¨¦ retrouv¨¦ lundi soir sur un îlot de l'Arget en crue tandis qu'une femme d'une cinquantaine d'ann¨¦es avait ¨¦t¨¦ emport¨¦e le matin par les flots de la T¨ºt pr¨¨s de Perpignan alors qu'elle tentait d'emprunter un passage ¨¤ gu¨¦ ferm¨¦ en raison des crues.

Bank's stimulus boosted economy

ugg boots sale The emergency quantitative easing (QE) programme rolled out after the financial crisis boosted the economy by as much as 2%, the Bank of England has said, adding weight to calls for more money printing.

Its QE programme saw it buy £200 billion of assets, equivalent to about 14% of GDP, between March 2009 and January 2010, to help breathe life into the UK economy following the credit crunch.

The report - its first to measure the effect of QE on the economy - found the stimulus measure provided a "significant" benefit to growth and helped GDP increase by around 1.5% and 2%. This was also equivalent to dropping interest rates by between 1.5 and 3 percentage points, it found.

uggs on sale Its findings will add to calls for the Bank to embark on a second round of money printing, or QE2, amid fears the UK's economy could slip back into recession.

The Bank cannot lower its interest rate to boost growth - it is already at a record low of 0.5% - so there is increasing speculation that it will again print more money. However, this could also lift inflation, which would heap more misery on cash-strapped households.

Its last bout of QE boosted the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation by between 0.75 and 1.5 percentage points, the report said.

ugg boots outlet When the bank injected money into the economy it was worried that CPI would fall below its 2% target. Since then, it has shot up to 4.5% amid higher commodity prices and tax increases.

Although the report provides evidence that quantitative easing measures were effective in boosting growth, it points out that the effects may be different the second time around.

The report said: "The economic circumstances in which further asset purchases or sales are made may be very different from those that prevailed in early 2009, so it cannot be assumed that the magnitude of the effects will necessarily be the same."

There has been evidence in recent months that some members of the Bank's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee have considered voting for more QE. Committee member Adam Posen, who has been alone in voting for the measure, warns it is necessary to avoid lasting damage to the UK economy. He argues that inflation is due to peak this year and that there is now a danger it will fall below target in two years time. louis vuitton outlet

Windows 8 on Intel will be tough to beat

replica lv handbags sale Intel will be as strong as ever despite the emergence of an alternative platform for Windows 8.

That's my forecast after bouncing between Northern and Southern California this week and attending two major tech conferences--the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco and the BUILD conference in Anaheim.

In the course of three days, I spoke with and listened to plenty of analysts, experts, and industry people. Though the tablet and laptop threat from the ARM camp of Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Nvidia is real, I believe Microsoft and ARM hardware companies have a pretty high mountain to climb.

lv handbags uk Let's look at the evidence.

Exhibit A: The first Windows 8 tablet. The Samsung tablet that Microsoft distributed at the BUILD conference was based on an Intel processor not ARM. Ironically, most tablets have ARM processors inside because ARM's power envelope is much more suited to thin, small devices.

But that didn't happen, because Windows 8 is not ready for ARM. Yes, Windows 8 will be ready for tablets/laptops using processors from Qualcomm et al next year, but this is the first sign that Windows 8 running on ARM is not going to be easy.

lv sunglasses uk Exhibit B: Compatibility. A corollary of Exhibit A, Microsoft has said the broad compatibility on Intel-AMD won't extend to ARM. So, that obscure (or maybe not so obscure) Windows application that a business needs may not run on ARM. In other words, Windows as we know it (broad backward compatibility) will be there, as always, for Intel/AMD but not for ARM. At least not at the beginning.

In fact the best argument made to me was by a Wall Street analyst (speaking on background so I can't give his name). When businesses buy a Windows 8 tablet, they will probably buy Wintel (Windows-Intel): that's because they'll get assured compatibility and security. Most businesses will not take a chance on an ARM-based tablet, however inexpensive and power efficient.

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And businesses may not even opt for a tablet. Buy late 2012, early 2013 (when Windows 8 is expected) Intel-based Ultrabooks may be close enough to a tablet experience (who knows what an Ultrabook will look like in 2013) that the tablet, as we know it today, may not be as attractive--or necessary.

This argument, however, doesn't apply to consumers. The price for an Ultrabook will have to come down to below $800 (dare I say $700?) to compete with a Windows 8 ARM laptop.

lv belt uk Exhibit C: Performance. Intel is all about performance. An Ultrabook based on the Haswell chip in 2013 will be an extremely attractive option compared with a Windows 8 tablet from, let's say, Acer running on a Qualcomm chip. That's not to say that an ARM-based tablet or laptop will be slow, but Intel will have the upper hand in performance. And count on Intel (and AMD) having all-day battery life to boot. (It bears repeating, though, that if there is a big price gap between an inexpensive Windows 8 ARM laptop and a pricier Windows 8 Ultrabook, performance may not matter.)

fake lv belt sale Which brings us to an Intel weakness: Atom. Let's face it, that power-efficient Intel chip design does not seem destined to compete very effectively in the tablet space. At least not in the next 12 months. And this was made very clear to me at BUILD. I asked a person from Samsung why it opted to go with a Core i5 chip--not Atom--for the Windows 8 tablet. To paraphrase, this person said Atom was way too slow and simply not an option.

replica lv belts Moreover, Intel needs to make sure that 3G/4G is part of its chip offerings going forward. Qualcomm integrates 3G into its chips, and Nvidia is headed in that direction. To offer an Ultrabook without 3G/4G in 2013 will be like offering a laptop today without Wi-Fi, i.e., a deal breaker. Intel's purchase of Infineon's wireless business should be able to make this happen.

Finally, below is a BUILD conference interview with Bill Crean, an OMAP product marketing manager at Texas Instruments (OMAP is TI's ARM design). Right next to him was a glass case showing off TI's Windows 8 tablet. Toward the end of the interview (at the 2:10 mark) he explains why he believes quad-core ARM processors aren't necessary yet and that operating systems don't (yet) take advantage of the extra cores. This is in response to Nvidia, which has been touting its quad-core Tegra 3 processor for tablets and high-end smartphones. louis vuitton outlet

Tablet sales will be equivalent to 15% of PC market in 2011, says IDC

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Apple increased its market share in "media tablets" in the second quarter of the year even as new Android tablets were launched, while BlackBerry-maker Rim sold fewer than 700,000 of its PlayBook tablet, according to new figures released by analysts IDC.

IDC also raised its forecast for the number of tablets that will be shipped this year by 17%, from 53.5m to 62.5m - in marked contrast to its gloomy downrating of personal computer shipments, where it has repeatedly cut growth forecasts this year, most recently this week when it suggested that PC shipments will grow by less than 3% this year. Overall, IDC expects a total of 357m PCs to be shipped in 2011.

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IDC's forecast, if correct, would mean the media tablet market was 17.5%, or slightly less than a fifth, as large as the PC market in unit terms. But that indicates explosive growth compared to 2010, when 18m tablets shipped, or about 5% in unit terms compared to the 347m PC shipments. Apple had an 83% share of tablet shipments in 2010, IDC says.

The analysis, which covers the period from April to June but has only just been released, says that 13.6m media tablets were shipped (but not necessarily sold) in the period, with Apple's iPad 2 taking 9.3m ¨C a 68.3% share, up from 65.7% in the previous quarter.

Apple's dominance means that the tablet market is beginning to look much more like the MP3 player market, where Apple was a comparatively early entrant and quickly grabbed significant market share ¨C leaving a large number of companies which relied on one company's operating system software, widely licensed, each with small market shares. For MP3 players, the software was Microsoft's Windows Media Player; for tablets, it is Android.

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That is in marked contrast to the smartphone market, where Android has taken a market-leading 40% share globally, displacing Nokia's Symbian, and is winning new customers who are switching from older "feature phones". Feature phone sales dropped in western Europe in the second quarter for the first time, while smartphone sales grew substantially.

Rim's entry with the PlayBook, which it officially said in July had shipped 500,000 in April and May, achieved a 4.9% shipment share over the quarter to June according to IDC. That equates to 666,000 devices, suggesting that shipments slowed down dramatically in June. (Rim's latest quarterly results, covering the period from June to August, are due on Thursday evening UK time.)

Its appearance also pushed down the share of Android tablets, which fell from 34.0% in the first quarter to 26.8%.

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In absolute terms, IDC says the tablet market grew between the first and second quarters from 7.2m units to 13.6m. Android tablet shipments grew substantially, from 2.45m to 3.64m, an increase of nearly 50%. Apple's iPad shipments grew from 4.73m to 9.3m, a 97% growth.

IDC suggests that Android tablets will actually see their share fall as low as 23% in the third quarter, which runs from July to the end of September, before growing to 25.9% in the fourth quarter, because of HP's decisions to discontinue its TouchPad tablet and sell them at knock-down price that has cost the company millions in refunds to retailers and customers who bought it at the full price.

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"In addition to continued demand for Apple iPads, IDC expects many consumers who were on the fence about buying a media tablet to scoop up $99 TouchPads as a result of HP's decision to end production of its tablet product," the company said in a statement. "IDC expects close to a million TouchPads to ship into the channel before the end of the year. As a result, WebOS's worldwide market share is forecast to reach 4.7% in 3Q11. However, with no clear plan to license or sell the OS to other vendors, IDC expects the WebOS market share to shrink back to zero by 1Q12."

"Apple's iOS share will continue to lead by more than 40 percentage points over Google's Android for the remainder of the year, but we expect Apple's share to fall closer to 50% by the end of the forecast period as manufacturers bring new tablets to market," said Jennifer Song, IDC research analyst, Worldwide Trackers.

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• Amazon sold about 2.7m of its Kindle e-readers in the second quarter as it took 51.7% of the e-reader market, IDC says. The second-larger share was taken by Barnes & Noble's reader, with 21.2%, in a market totalling 5.4m units in total for the quarter.

Update: Amazon's expected 7in tablet based on a version will be counted as an e-reader, not a tablet, for the purpose of these figures, said IDC: "We expect major vendors to offer their current-generation black-and-white eReaders for less than $100 by the holidays," Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices, said. "We're also expecting Amazon's much-rumored, color LCD-based device to ship later this year. Because we expect it to run a customized version of Android that ties its use to Amazon's content services, we expect the device to more closely resemble Barnes & Noble's Color Nook than Apple's iPad 2.

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"As a result, our current plan is to count it as an eReader, and that will also help drive shipment numbers."