What financial reports reveal about TV networks

Companies with television networks have been releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter. It generally covers the April-June period, though some companies have fiscal quarters that depart from that.

Here's a look at reports for selected television network companies:

? July 31: Discovery Communications Inc., owner of pay TV channels including Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet, says second-quarter net income rose 15 percent on rising ad sales, subscription fees and subscribers. Audiences increased and costs declined at the company's joint venture, the Oprah Winfrey Network. The company says the struggling channel remains on track to be profitable in the second half of next year.

? Aug. 1: Time Warner Inc. says revenue at its television networks grew 4 percent to $3.6 billion, in part from higher rates paid by cable and satellite TV companies to carry CNN, TBS and other channels. Time Warner also saw growth in HBO subscribers and benefited from higher ad rates and an increase in the number of NBA games shown on its channels. But ad revenue fell at its domestic news networks.

Comcast Corp. says profits fell at the cable networks, which include Bravo, MSNBC and CNBC, as expenses to produce and acquire programs grew. The company says NBC is doing better than expected with the London Olympics and no longer believes it will take a big loss.

? Aug. 2: CBS Corp. says net income rose 8 percent, beating analysts' expectations, even as advertising revenue fell and it took in less money from the sale of program reruns.

Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., the operator of pay TV networks such as Food Network and HGTV, says net income grew 84 percent thanks to higher revenue from advertising and distributor fees.

? Aug. 3: Viacom Inc. says revenue fell 5 percent at its TV networks as U.S. advertising fell 7 percent. Viacom has been struggling with a ratings decline for key channels, particularly Nickelodeon. It says it's investing aggressively to create new hits. TV accounts for two-thirds of Viacom's overall revenue and nearly all of the profits. Viacom also owns MTV and Comedy Central.

? Aug. 7: The Walt Disney Co. says revenue from TV businesses such as ESPN and ABC rose 3 percent to $5.08 billion. Ad revenue at ESPN rose in the "mid-teen" percentages thanks to higher prices, sales volume and bigger audiences.

? Aug. 8: News Corp. says revenue from its cable TV networks rose 15 percent to $2.48 billion, while broadcast TV revenue fell 3 percent to $1.08 billion in the latest quarter.

? Aug. 9: AMC Networks Inc. says second-quarter earnings rose 53 percent, largely in line with analysts' estimates, but it predicts a big drag in the third quarter if its dispute with satellite TV company Dish Network Corp. continues to leave its channels off the service. The company said that 13 percent of its subscriber base was affected by the blackout on Dish, which has continued since July 1.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/financial-reports-reveal-tv-networks-201506852--finance.html

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APNewsBreak: Favre attys take aim at racy claims

FILE - In this July 30, 2012, file photo, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, now an assistant football coach at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss., speaks about the transition from player to coach during the first day of official practice for the fall high school football season. Favre?s lawyers said on Wednesday, Aug. 29, that he should not have to respond to some embarrassing claims about his personal life that two massage therapists are making in a New York lawsuit. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

FILE - In this July 30, 2012, file photo, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, now an assistant football coach at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss., speaks about the transition from player to coach during the first day of official practice for the fall high school football season. Favre?s lawyers said on Wednesday, Aug. 29, that he should not have to respond to some embarrassing claims about his personal life that two massage therapists are making in a New York lawsuit. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Brett Favre shouldn't have to respond to some embarrassing claims about his personal life that two massage therapists are making in a lawsuit, his lawyers say.

The massage therapists say the New York Jets blacklisted them after they objected to suggestive messages the legendary quarterback allegedly sent to another woman. Among other things, they asked him to admit or deny he solicited women for sex trysts and sent explicit photos to a former Jets game hostess. The request was part of a procedural step in their 2011 lawsuit.

Favre's attorneys filed papers this week asking a court to say he doesn't have to answer. They say some of the requests are irrelevant and inappropriate, including a bid to get him to acknowledge that a lewd photo that appeared on a sports gossip website depicts his own anatomy.

"These requests clearly have absolutely nothing to do with this lawsuit and have been included only to harass and embarrass," attorney Sharon H. Stern and other Favre lawyers wrote.

The rest of the requests are "nonsensical" or too much in debate to ask him simply to admit them, his lawyers said.

The Jets and another defendant, a massage therapist who helped others get work with the team, filed similar objections this week.

The massage therapists' lawyer called the filings an effort to shield Favre from having to discuss his conduct.

"It's yet another attempt by the defendants, particularly Brett Favre, to avoid having to testify under oath in this matter," attorney Elizabeth Eilender said.

The Jets' lawyer declined to comment. Lawyers for Favre and the other defendant didn't immediately respond to phone and email messages Wednesday evening.

Massage therapists Shannon O'Toole and Christina Scavo say they were called to give massages at the Jets training camp and to various players individually, until they ran afoul of Favre.

During the 2008 preseason, the lawsuit alleges, the now-retired three-time NFL MVP sent another woman a text message asking to get together with her and Scavo, followed by another text saying, "I guess I have bad intentions."

After Scavo's husband asked Favre to apologize, she and O'Toole lost gigs with the Jets, the suit says. They are seeking unspecified damages.

The suit was filed five days after the NFL fined Favre $50,000 for not being forthright in an investigation into allegations that he sent bawdy text messages and photos to former Jets game hostess Jenn Sterger when they both worked for the team. During that investigation, media reports claimed Favre also had pursued massage therapists, but the NFL said it was unable to get enough information to decide whether the reports were substantiated.

The Jets have said O'Toole and Scavo worked for the team for a combined total of only five days over two years, making $2,300 in all, and were never guaranteed any ongoing work. The team wasn't told about the women's concerns and simply turned to other massage therapists after its training facility moved in 2008, Jets officials and lawyers said in court filings.

In court papers, Favre has denied the allegations and argued that if Scavo and O'Toole lost work, he wasn't responsible for it.

Favre retired from the NFL in 2010, after playing for 20 seasons, mostly with the Green Bay Packers. He is the league's all-time leader with 71,838 passing yards and 508 touchdowns, won a Super Bowl with the Packers in 1996, and holds the 297-game record for consecutive starts.

He is now helping coach the football team at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss., near his home.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-08-30-Favre-Lawsuit/id-e510665a7c8646beadcb1bf3ee482e83

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Julia Child foundation, oven-maker in legal fight - KansasCity.com

BOSTON -- A foundation set up by late chef Julia Child is locked in a legal fight with the manufacturer of Thermador ovens for touting her use of its high-end appliances.

The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts claims BSH Home Appliances Corp. is using Child's name and image without permission. The Irvine, Calif.-based manufacturer says it is simply making a factual reference to Child's use of its appliances.BSH filed a lawsuit in Boston against the foundation last week, asking a federal judge to determine the rights of both sides. The foundation countered by filing two lawsuits this week against BHS, one in state court in Santa Barbara, Calif., where the foundation is based, and the other in federal court in Los Angeles. The lawsuits ask for an injunction to stop BSH from using Child's name and seek unspecified monetary damages.Child, who died in 2004, had a Thermador oven in her Cambridge kitchen. It's now displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington. She also used Thermador products on the set of her popular television show, "The French Chef."In its complaint, BSH said the foundation last month sent the company a letter in which it said it has exclusive ownership and control of Child's name, image, likeness and celebrity identity as well as trademarks and copyrights related to her. BSH said the foundation alleged that BSH's use of Child's name and image constitutes copyright infringement, trademark infringement and "a post-mortem violation of Julia Child's right of publicity."The foundation demanded that BSH stop using the name, image and "all other indicia of Julia Child's personality," according to the complaint filed by BSH.BSH acknowledges that it has used images of Child and references to her use of Thermador products on its website and on social media sites, but its attorneys wrote in the complaint that "those uses do not state or imply any endorsement by Ms. Child."The company said its references to Child "reflect on the long history, significance and influence of Thermador products on American society and culture, and Ms. Child's documented and well-known use of those products."The foundation, in its lawsuits, said Child, who rose to prominence in the 1960s through her books and TV appearances, had many endorsement opportunities during her lengthy career but chose to forgo them."Instead, she focused her career on public education, and allowed her show to be broadcast on PBS, a nonprofit television network, for its entire 10-year run," the state lawsuit said.The foundation said BHS has featured Child's name and photo prominently in advertising, marketing and promotional materials, including on the homepage of the Thermador website, creating the appearance the Child had been its spokeswoman during her career.Child was opposed to endorsing products, brands or services, the foundation said in a statement Wednesday."She believed it detracted from her credibility as a trusted source to her many fans and colleagues who relied on her for information, guidance and inspiration," the statement said.

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/29/3784844/julia-child-group-in-legal-battle.html

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Ryan plans to talk of a new generation, differences with Democrats (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Hi we have found out today need to move out of our rental as iwner moving in.we desperantly want to stay on the same estate(coast) as our son has made lots of friends as have we.we really need a 4 bed.if anyone knows of anyone looking to break lease or let their hse pls let me know.
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We have a 4 bed house. 1 year old that is tennanted till the end of sept. If you would like more information you can contact me via pm and we'll call you back and arrange to meet up and discuss things.

Source: http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/renting-real-estate/33120-rental-wanted-coast-estate-seaford-rise.html

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FDA approves wider use for J&J Nucynta ER pain drug

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday it received U.S. regulatory approval for a wider use of its Nucynta ER painkiller, for pain from nerve damage brought on by diabetes.

Nucynta ER, an opioid, is already approved for extended use in moderate to severe chronic pain. But the expanded approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows Janssen to market the drug for pain tied to diabetic peripheral neuropathy, which affects up to 8 million Americans.

Some studies estimate that nearly half of all people with diabetes have some form of peripheral neuropathy, which can cause stinging or burning sensations, pain, numbness or weakness in the hands and feet, and is a major cause of amputations.

Janssen said only two other drugs were approved for pain related to the condition, but Nucynta ER is the first approved opioid.

Sales of the non-extended release version of Nucynta were $140 million in 2011 and are expected to reach $600 million in 2016, according to the average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The company did not immediately provide sales figures for Nucynta ER.

The FDA and other health officials have recently warned about the potential for abuse with opioids -- synthetic versions of opium that can be highly addictive, especially when taken over a long period of time.

Some researchers have said aggressive marketing by drug companies has fueled overprescribing of opioids like oxycodone and methadone.

In a statement announcing the approval, Janssen said it was committed to teaching doctors, patients and others about the responsible use of pain-killers and the prevention of misuse.

Nucynta's common side effects include nausea, constipation, vomiting, dizziness, headaches and drowsiness. Like some other opioids, the twice-daily pill in rare cases may also cause life-threatening respiratory depression.

Johnson & Johnson shares were down 0.14 percent at $67.37 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fda-approves-wider-j-j-nucynta-er-pain-171451971--finance.html

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Final Week of 2012 California Legislative Session - Insure The ...

This week, the California Legislature is scheduled to vote on key pieces of legislation that will implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in California. Bills under consideration would enact key health insurance market reforms, including prohibiting denials of coverage for preexisting conditions and establishing an essential health benefits package for insurance plans, as well as require that individuals receive information about health insurance options in the event that they lose coverage. Votes this week are critical because the 2012 legislative session ends August 31, and passing these reforms during this session will be vital to preparing for the ACA?s major coverage expansions that will begin on January 1, 2014. A list of pending California ACA implementation bills is at the end of the blog entry.

In addition, Sen. Mark DeSaulnier and Rep. Sandr? Swanson have written bills (SB301 and AB826, respectively) to stop the elimination of the Healthy Families program and prevent the transition of its beneficiaries into Medi-Cal. If the bills were to be enacted this year, they would still need to pass through the appropriate committees in each chamber and then pass in both houses?a heavy lift in one week. The bills resulted from concern among some legislators that the timeline for the Healthy Families transition was too rushed?scheduled to begin on January 1, 2013. Further, Republican legislators have said that they would only support preserving a tax on managed care organizations that is associated with Healthy Families if the program also survives.[1]

?

?

The following is a list of ACA implementation bills that are scheduled for votes this week:

Insurance Market Reforms:

AB1461 (Monning) Reforming the Individual Market: Prevents insurers from denying or discriminating based on preexisting conditions, and otherwise conforms the Health and Safety Code to the ACA. The legislation also phases in new insurance market rules?for individuals who purchase insurance on their own, and limits premium variation based on age to 3:1.

SB961 (Hernandez)?Reforming the Individual Market: Prevents insurers from denying or discriminating based on preexisting conditions, and otherwise conforms the Insurance Code to the ACA.?Phases in new insurance market rules?for individuals who purchase insurance on their own, and limits premium variation based on age to 3:1.

AB1083 (Monning) Reforming the Small Group Market: Conforms state laws to?federal law?and phases in new insurance market rules for small businesses, particularly so that small employers will not experience additional premium spikes based on the health of their workforce.

SB1431 (DeLeon) Self-Insurance in the Small-Group Market:?Ensures consumer protections for workers and an affordable small-group market for small businesses by?limiting a loophole allowing?small employers?to ?self-insure? in order to evade requirements of the small group market.

Defining Essential Health Benefits:

AB1453 (Monning): Protects consumers from underinsurance and junk insurance by requiring health plans regulated in the Health and Safety Code to cover a set of minimum essential health benefits equivalent to the Kaiser Small Group HMO.

SB951?(Hernandez): Protects consumers from underinsurance and junk insurance by requiring health plans regulated in the Insurance Code to cover a set of minimum essential health benefits equivalent to the Kaiser Small Group HMO.

Informing Consumers about Health Insurance Options:

AB792 (Bonilla) Coverage Options after a Loss of Coverage: Ensures that Californians will be able to easily sign up for coverage during key life changes. Requires that California consumers are provided information about the coverage options and subsidies at the new Health Benefits Exchange upon filing for divorce, separation, adoption,?or?when losing group coverage through job change?or other life circumstances.

Improving Access to Services:

SB970 (DeLeon) Enrollment Integration with Human Services: Individuals applying for public programs will be able to apply through an integrated, ?no wrong door? approach, whether applicants are interested in social services or health programs.

?

Health Access California has been tracking legislative activity on its website; click on the link below to view more detailed material about this topic.

http://www.health-access.org/item.asp?id=202

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[1] Gorn, D. California Healthline. August 28, 2012. Available at: http://www.californiahealthline.org/capitol-desk/2012/8/11th-hour-bid-to-keep-healthy-families-intact.aspx

Tags: ACA, healthy families

Source: http://itup.org/blog/2012/08/28/final-week-of-2012-california-legislative-session-votes-scheduled-on-aca-implementation-legislation-new-bills-arise-to-halt-healthy-families-transition-to-medi-cal/

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Sony quietly drops new HMZ-T2 Personal 3D viewer at IFA

Sony almost sneaked this one by us at today's IFA press event. In fact, it was never mentioned on stage and practically buried in the day's flood of PR. The HMZ-T2 is the company's next generation wearable 3D display. Aesthetically it doesn't appear very different from last year's T1 and, spec-wise, things seem largely the same as well. Put the head-mounted unit on and you'll be presented with a pair of 0.7-inch OLED monitors that deliver 45 degrees of three-dimensional entertainment. There's also the same Virtualphones tech baked in, that create the illusion of a 360-degree 5.1 surround sound system. The T2 distinguishes itself primarily through a refined design that makes it lighter and more comfortable (without resorting to shape-shifting liquid metal, either). For more, check out the PR below.

Gallery: Sony HMZ-T2 Personal 3D Viewer

Continue reading Sony quietly drops new HMZ-T2 Personal 3D viewer at IFA

Filed under: Displays, Wearables, HD

Sony quietly drops new HMZ-T2 Personal 3D viewer at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/rmbrzLAmm6U/

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A History of IT Outsourcing and How it Affects IT Today | Business 2 ...

Companies are always trying to figure out the next trends when it comes to IT outsourcing and other important business tools. Right now, the future remains a bit shaky as the industry undergoes a paradigm-changing transformation. In other words, outsourcing as you know it may be a thing of the past.

The whole point of outsourcing is to allow an enterprise to focus solely on its core competency without having to worry about ancillary functions. These days, businesses generally outsource functions that don?t differentiate them from the marketplace while zeroing in on core business functions that do. Doing so allows them to streamline their departments while enjoying the financial savings that result from eliminating otherwise redundant functions.

A Brief History on IT

Once upon a time, everything was done in-house. IT operations, payroll, customer service, you name it. Before the advent of outsourcing, it was considered normal to perform all your company?s operations under one roof. Outsourcing became a popular idea during the 1980s, and companies like EDS and IBM had a lock on IT outsourcing functions like mainframe data centers. In the 1990s, application service providers (ASPs) made waves by allowing businesses to essentially rent functional applications over the Internet or private network, as opposed to building their own.

ASPs were successful for a time, but they ultimately fell by the wayside for various reasons. These providers could not support all of the applications that were important to businesses, especially if those applications were required to be relatively complex. Some ASPs were also tasked with handling sensitive corporate and customer data, a function that today?s companies are reluctant to outsource. When an ASP shut down, many businesses found themselves lacking the applications that were essential for their day-to-day operations.

Managed service providers replaced ASPs as purveyors of external IT services, offering a safer and more conservative approach towards IT outsourcing. MSPs also offered a greater degree of scalability, allowing companies to broaden or restrict their outsourced functions as needed.

Today?s IT Outsourcing Trends

These days, IT outsourcing relationships are seen more as strategic partnerships than subcontractors. The days of multi-year contracts may go out the window in the coming years as the very face of outsourcing changes. The emergence of consumer technologies brings with it new challenges businesses must be ready to surmount.

Cloud computing holds the key to a whole new realm of IT outsourcing. According to Microsoft, most companies spend 11 percent of their IT budget developing new applications while devoting the rest of their budget to maintenance and infrastructure. Only a fraction of that 11 percent is used towards securing employee access to resources regardless of their location, software or device. Outsourcing IT functions to a cloud-based collaborator not only reduces the need for a huge in-house IT department, but also saves money and possibly employee aggravation in the long run.

?Bring Your Own Device? (BYOD) is one way that companies can mitigate the consumerization of certain technologies while streamlining enterprise IT. Applications that once required several different versions for different platforms now have common access via Internet or private network. Virtual desktops and cloud storage are also becoming popular ways to facilitate shared data access among employees with different devices.

The history of IT outsourcing is one of constant innovation, as well as trial-and-error approaches that resulted in newer, more stable solutions. Cloud computing and BYOD policies are just two examples of how the future is shaping up in regards to IT outsourcing. You won?t have to wear sunglasses to see this future, but it is bright, indeed.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/a-history-of-it-outsourcing-and-how-it-affects-it-today-0263746

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Sony Smart Wireless Headset Pro

Can't decide if you want a stereo Bluetooth headset for your phone, or just a standalone MP3 player? Sony covers both bases with the Smart Wireless Headset Pro ($149.99 direct). At its core, it's a stereo Bluetooth headset for listening to music and taking calls. But thanks to a clip-on body with a built-in microSD card slot, it's also a standalone MP3 player with an FM tuner, and it even reads incoming text and email messages?aloud?if you have an Android phone. There's less here than it appears, though. For starters, the Smart Wireless Headset Pro isn't?actually?a wireless headset; it's a wired set of earbuds that plugs into a separate body. Combine that with some other design foibles and buggy overall performance, and you get a product in search of a customer.

Design and Setup
The package includes the wireless headset, a USB cable for transferring media files, an AC adapter, a 2GB microSD card, a USB microSD card reader that folds out to expose the USB port, four pairs of eartips in various sizes, and a user guide. The main body is made entirely of glossy black and dark gray plastic. It measures 2.4 by 1.0 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 0.95 ounces. The MP3 player clip contains plenty of hardware controls, including a pair of volume buttons on one edge, and track play and skip controls on the opposite side. A multi-function button in the center handles answering and rejecting calls, while a built-in OLED display makes the player easier to navigate.

The microSD card slot supports cards up to 32GB; both the included 2GB card and my 32GB SanDisk card worked fine. The plastic cover is tough to remove, and when you do, it stays attached on a rubber piece so that you don't lose the cap?except that the cap gets in the way the entire time while you're inserting the memory card, unless you learn to hold it back with your other hand. A better solution would have been to leave the cap off entirely; port caps never make sense unless it's something you'll almost never use, such as with a SIM card slot. That brings me to the second problem: In my tests, it was tough to insert either microSD card, and required considerable force, though removing the card was easier.

The earphones include 6mm drivers and soft, comfortable rubber eartips. I had no problem getting an easy fit. The flat, rubberized wire is in a Y-shape, and only extends a few feet?long enough to clip the unit to your shirt, but not long enough to keep it in your pants pocket.

Bluetooth pairing isn't particularly intuitive, either; you'll need the manual. To pair the set, you have to go menu diving inside the headset itself, and then confirm that a six-digit PIN is the same on both devices. You also have to confirm it, not using the big multifunction right next to the screen, but using the small Play button on the top edge. I paired the headset with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus without issue.

Android Apps and Voice Calls
Pair the Smart Wireless Headset Pro with an Android phone, and you'll gain the ability to dial numbers from the recent call list, and read messages aloud into the headset. The software installation is exceedingly complex, though. Sony makes two separate main apps for the headset: Livewire Manager and Smart Wireless Headset Pro. You install the first via Google Play, pair the earphones, and then it will prompt you to install the second app. It also asked for two separate over-the-air updates afterward (one for firmware and one for one of the apps), which was a little awkward.

But that's not all. Maddeningly, you need to install an extra five Smart Extra apps for each of the extra Android features, one at a time, for a total of seven manual app installs. Next to nothing is enabled by default, either. It's not just text-to-speech and Bluetooth pairing confirmations; even multipoint, which lets you pair two devices simultaneously, needs to be enabled first, which I can't recall ever seeing before in a Bluetooth headset.

The embedded OLED display shows the currently selected source, battery level, caller ID status, and current track names when playing music. Voice calls sounded fine, with a slightly tinny tone in the earbuds, but clear and loud transmissions through the microphone. Overall it will easily do for day-to-day voice calls, provided you stay within relatively quiet environments, as I couldn't hear any noise cancellation circuitry working.

During voice calls, the OLED shows incoming or outgoing caller ID, plus ongoing call time. When you get an SMS message, it will display the text in a scrolling line. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the headset to read the text back to me?aloud, even after I installed the extra component for Smart Extras Messaging. It turns out that only four languages are available, and none of them are English yet. You can make this work by installing SVOX's Classic Text to Speech Engine in the Play Store and buying a US English voice, but that's an extra $2.99 and yet more additional installation steps.

Music Performance and FM Radio
For music, I tested the Smart Wireless Headset Pro both as a standalone MP3 player and as a stereo Bluetooth headset paired with the Galaxy Nexus. As a standalone player, it's a bust: Before and after a firmware upgrade, all MP3 files I tested stuttered during playback from various microSD cards, and the player wouldn't recognize any of my iTunes AAC files in standalone mode?it only supports MP3 and WAV files. (A second Smart Wireless Headset Pro that Sony sent us had the same problem.)?Over Bluetooth, this wasn't a problem, since the phone was decoding the files, not the Smart Wireless Headset Pro.?

So for the rest of the review, I focused on Bluetooth audio?fortunately with solid results. The Smart Wireless Headset Pro's many problems fade once you start listening to music, which sounds smooth and warm, with punchy bass response, plenty of low-end extension, and slightly muted but still airy highs. You won't get the same level of detail out of these as, say, a $150 pair of wired earbuds, but unless you're an audiophile, you'll most likely find the sound quite good.

Some examples: Alex Parks' cover of "Mad World" sounded great, with her smooth and airy vocal, and an atmospheric piano behind her voice. Once the electronic bass kicked in, there was an impressive level of extension that stayed even across a range of very low notes. Muse's "Undisclosed Desires" had plenty of image separation, thunderous low-end, and a smooth response across the entire frequency range. System of a Down's "Chop Suey" sounded powerful and energetic, if a little over EQed in the bass and treble. Less successfully, on Cirrus' "Boomerang," the electronic kick drum and synth bass sounded clear, distinct, and punchy, although the cymbals had a little too much coloration in the lower treble and sounded like little bursts of white noise. And Adele's "Rumor Has It" sounded a little flat, with not enough midbass punch from the bombastic drum sounds, although Adele herself sounded smooth, if a little more muffled than usual.

The built-in FM radio also sounds good; the wire in the earphones serves as an antenna, and I heard clear stereo signal on a variety of stations in New York City. The one downside during playback (from any source) is cable thump. More than with most wired headsets, you hear plenty of it through the earphones. And as I mentioned above, since the wire isn't long enough to clip it to a jeans pocket or belt, you have to find a place to clip it on your shirt?and even then, just turning my head back and forth was enough to induce audible thumping artifacts, to say nothing of walking.

Conclusions
Overall, it's tough to figure out exactly who Sony is targeting with the Smart Wireless Headset Pro. If you've got an Android phone, you've already got an excellent MP3 player. If you don't have a smartphone, it would make more sense to buy a more capable standalone music player with a color display. Or, for a little more money, one of Sony's own Walkman Mobile Entertainment Players, which double as movie machines, Web browsers, and gaming platforms?especially since music playback is so problematic from a microSD card.

The best use case I can see is if you need a good sounding stereo Bluetooth headset that doubles as an FM radio. In that, the Sony Smart Wireless Headset Pro is slightly overpriced and a bit bulky, but it sounds good and does the job. That's really not enough to spend $150, though. If you just need wireless stereo headphones, the Sennheiser MM 100 and Outdoor Technology DJ Slims both offer well balanced stereo Bluetooth performance at a lower price and are much easier to use, providing that you don't need the FM radio and don't mind an over-the-ear design. The Plantronics BackBeat Go?remains our Editors' Choice stereo Bluetooth headset; it doesn't sound quite as good as some of these, but it's inexpensive and extremely lightweight and easy to carry, and it sounds great on voice calls. The best part: Unlike the Smart Wireless Headset Pro, all three of the above pairs are actually wireless.

More Bluetooth Headset Reviews:
??? Sony Smart Wireless Headset Pro
??? Panasonic KX-TG7745S Link-to-Cell Cellular Convergence Solution
??? Motorola Roadster 2
??? SuperTooth Crystal
??? Plantronics M55
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/FfHOSKbbwGU/0,2817,2408660,00.asp

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Without big donors, Akin seeks small handouts

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2012 file photo, Todd Akin, GOP Senate candidate from Missouri celebrates winning the primary at his campaign party at the Columns Banquet Center in St. Charles, Mo. Until this week, Rep. Todd Akin was virtually unknown beyond his district, associated more with his deep religious convictions than any legislative achievements. Long before his comments about women's bodies and "legitimate rape" made him a flashpoint in the fall campaign, this congressional backbencher was a favorite among home-schooling organizations and conservative church groups. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Christian Gooden) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2012 file photo, Todd Akin, GOP Senate candidate from Missouri celebrates winning the primary at his campaign party at the Columns Banquet Center in St. Charles, Mo. Until this week, Rep. Todd Akin was virtually unknown beyond his district, associated more with his deep religious convictions than any legislative achievements. Long before his comments about women's bodies and "legitimate rape" made him a flashpoint in the fall campaign, this congressional backbencher was a favorite among home-schooling organizations and conservative church groups. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Christian Gooden) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

FILE - In this June 11, 2011 file photo , U.S. Representative Todd Akin answers a question from the panel during a debate among Republican Senate candidate hopefuls at the Lindenwood University J. Scheidegger Center's Bezemes Family Theater in St. Charles, Mo. Until this week, Rep. Todd Akin was virtually unknown beyond his district, associated more with his deep religious convictions than any legislative achievements. Long before his comments about women's bodies and "legitimate rape" made him a flashpoint in the fall campaign, this congressional backbencher was a favorite among home-schooling organizations and conservative church groups. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Johnny Andrews) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2012 file photo, Todd Akin, Republican candidate for U.S. Senator from Missouri, takes a question from the audience after speaking at the Missouri Farm Bureau candidate interview and endorsement meeting in Jefferson City, Mo. Until this week, Rep. Todd Akin was virtually unknown beyond his district, associated more with his deep religious convictions than any legislative achievements. Long before his comments about women's bodies and "legitimate rape" made him a flashpoint in the fall campaign, this congressional backbencher was a favorite among home-schooling organizations and conservative church groups. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Christian Gooden) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2012 file photo, a televison monitor displays comments from Rep. Todd Akin's at studios of KMOX in St. Louis. Akin was scheduled to be on the Charlie Brennan show, but didn't come in or call the station. Until this week, Rep. Todd Akin was virtually unknown beyond his district, associated more with his deep religious convictions than any legislative achievements. Long before his comments about women's bodies and "legitimate rape" made him a flashpoint in the fall campaign, this congressional backbencher was a favorite among home-schooling organizations and conservative church groups. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, J.B. Forbes) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) ? Abandoned by deep-pocketed national groups, Missouri Rep. Todd Akin is passing a collection plate among his remaining supporters, asking for a few dollars at a time in hopes of sustaining a Senate campaign jeopardized by his remarks about women's bodies and "legitimate rape."

Akin claimed Thursday to have taken in more than $100,000 during a two-day online fundraising drive that he portrayed as a grassroots effort to circumvent "party bosses" who demanded that he drop out. But the six-term congressman will need much more than that to replenish a campaign account already diminished by a hotly contested primary.

"It's very difficult, when you have the limited base we have in Missouri, to send emails out asking for $3 at a time," said Pat Thomas, secretary of the Missouri Republican State Committee who has worked as a coordinator for numerous candidates. "I don't know how to build a war chest to do that."

Akin now has to go forward without the firepower of well-funded political groups that had planned to pummel Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill with negative television ads.

If his money runs dry, Akin could confront a difficult choice: re-evaluate whether to remain in the race or adopt a bare-bones strategy relying on social media and socially conservative activists to counter the millions of dollars of mass media advertising expected from McCaskill and her allies.

First, Akin has to repair his reputation with fellow conservatives and, according to Thomas, "get back to the point where people think you're credible."

Federal records show Akin has purchased enough air time to run apology ads in Missouri's biggest TV markets through at least Monday. Akin's campaign said Thursday that it has spent more than $200,000 on the statewide apology commercials while ad trackers for his Democratic opposition described it as a $277,000 effort.

He's also working to mend fences. On Thursday, Akin attended a meeting of the conservative Council for National Policy in Tampa, Fla., site of the Republican National Convention, which he has agreed not to attend. He tweeted that his Wednesday fundraising goal had been met.

"Thousands of people stepped up and helped us raise over $100,000! The message is clear ... voters should pick candidates, not party bosses," Akin said.

He then sent out a new fundraising email asking supporters to chip in $5 toward a goal of raising an additional $25,000. Earlier in the week, he pleaded for $3 donations.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee also issued a fundraising plea for Akin on Thursday, accusing the "Republican establishment" of a "carefully orchestrated and systematic attack." If the national GOP and the "money-rich" political action committees "won't help Todd Akin get us to the majority, then we'll do it without them," Huckabee wrote.

Akin campaign spokesman Ryan Hite declined to say exactly how much has been raised by the online contributions, but he said they were just part of Akin's fundraising strategy, which still includes efforts to get larger donations from more traditional sources.

Akin's campaign has not revealed how much money it has left. Before Missouri's primary, financial papers showed he had a little over $530,000 as of July 18. But he has spent steadily on ads since then. The next quarterly report is not due until Oct. 15, barely three weeks before the general election.

After winning the primary, Akin gained quick backing from national Republican and conservative groups focused on ousting McCaskill. But that support evaporated after Akin was asked in an interview that aired Sunday on St. Louis television station KTVI whether his general opposition to abortion extended to women who have been raped.

"From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Akin said in the interview. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Since his comments, Akin has received numerous threats against him, his family and his staff, said Akin's congressional spokesman Steve Taylor. The U.S. Capitol Police confirmed Thursday that it has "an active, open investigation" into a threat against Akin.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee has urged Akin to quit the Senate race, as has presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, his vice presidential pick Paul Ryan and every living Republican who has represented Missouri in the Senate.

Although it still has TV advertising time reserved in Missouri, the National Republican Senatorial Committee says it will pull $5 million of planned ads if Akin stays in the race. The conservative Crossroads group, associated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, also halted its anti-McCaskill ads and said it will pull out of Missouri if Akin doesn't go.

FreedomWorks for America, a powerful organizer among tea party activists, had been likely to support Akin in the general election with door-to-door canvassers, phone calls, mailed fliers, yard signs and online advertising. Now the group has joined the chorus calling for Akin to give up.

He's getting the cold shoulder from other national organizations that typically support Republicans.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has aired TV ads against McCaskill, has no plans for further involvement in Missouri's Senate race, a spokeswoman said.

The conservative Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund, which both shied away from Akin in the primary because of his support for earmarked spending, have shown no inclination to come to his aid.

But Akin still has the backing of some anti-abortion groups.

The Republican National Coalition for Life still supports Akin and could direct money his way before the general election, said coalition Director Dianne Edmondson. But she acknowledged that the group does not have deep finances. It gave $1,000 to Akin on July 31.

Missouri Right to Life remains staunchly behind Akin. But it has not typically waged big-dollar TV blitzes, either.

The political arm of the Family Research Council has already contributed to Akin and plans to try to fill part of his advertising vacuum.

The council's Faith Family Freedom Fund cannot match the $5 million that the Republican senatorial committee had planned to spend, acknowledged Chairman Connie Mackey. But "we think we've been pretty successful in going into some states on controversial candidates and issues."

Akin and the council hope that support for his campaign can snowball just as suddenly as it disintegrated.

"As it becomes clear that he is going to hang in there and be the candidate," Mackey said, "I would expect other groups go public with their support."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-23-Missouri%20Senate-Fundraising/id-804a71a4c8844212b869af12f72c4e5e

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Judge strikes down Nevada's 'none' voting option

RENO, Nev. (AP) ? A quirky Nevada law that Republicans feared could siphon votes from a disgruntled electorate and sway the outcome of close presidential and U.S. Senate races in the state was struck down Wednesday by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones said the state's decades-old ballot alternative of "none of the above" was unconstitutional because votes for "none" don't count in the final tallies that determine winners.

The ruling came at the end of a lively hearing where the judge challenged both sides in the legal arguments with hypothetical questions and ramifications of possible rulings he was considering.

In the end, he struck the option down altogether for both federal and statewide races, and refused to grant a stay while his decision is appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Secretary of State Ross Miller said his office would pursue "an immediate and expedited appeal to protect the long-standing public interest of the 'none of these candidates' option."

A federal lawsuit filed in June and bankrolled by the Republican National Committee argued Nevada's unique voter option, which has appeared on every election ballot for statewide races since 1976, disenfranchises voters because it's a perpetual loser. Under state law, even if "none" receives the most votes, it doesn't win. Victory is reserved for people, though "none" before has played a role in determining the winner in some high-profile races.

"We're glad we were successful in our efforts to bring clarity to the Nevada presidential election ballot," the RNC said in a statement when asked for comment.

Deputy Attorney General Kevin Benson, representing the secretary of state, argued voters "always have the right to not vote" for listed candidates, and that voting for "none" is essentially no different than skipping a particular race on a ballot altogether or not voting at all.

"You're free to stay home on the couch," he said, arguing that such non-votes don't count either.

The "none" option, he argued, was akin to a protest vote that allows voters to communicate with politicians that they are unhappy with their choices.

"The purpose of the option is to send a clear message," he said

But the judge disagreed, and early in the hour-long hearing said he believed that a "none" vote was indeed a vote that should be counted toward election results, and not just to register a protest.

"I don't buy your arguments that it isn't a vote, because it is a vote," Jones said.

At one point Jones suggested that requiring votes for "none" to be counted and binding would satisfy the legal challenges raised in the lawsuit. If "none" got the most votes, nobody would be elected and the vacancy could be filled by governor appointment, he theorized.

Instead, he granted an injunction to strip "none" from the Nevada ballot.

Nevada is the only state to offer the "none" option. It was a way to combat voter apathy after the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon and give them a chance to register their disdain for their choices. "None of these candidates" has been a choice for races where voters statewide cast ballots ? the president, U.S. Senate, state constitutional officers and Nevada Supreme Court justices.

While the law says "none" can't win, it could have played spoiler in a close race.

"None" has never bested named candidates in a general election, though it has come out on top in a few primary contests. In the 1998 U.S. Senate race, however, Democrat Harry Reid won re-election by 428 votes over then-GOP Rep. John Ensign. More than 8,000 voters rejected both men and opted to vote for "none."

That's a scenario the option's challengers didn't want to see this year. The contest between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney promises to be close, as does the one between GOP U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley.

Conventional thinking suggests voters who select "none" may be more likely to favor a challenger, such as Romney, if the option wasn't available.

Michael Morley, in his argument to boot the "none" option, argued that the Voting Rights Act and other laws are designed to ensure everyone's votes are counted.

He argued a vote for "none" was an affirmative, deliberate action, as opposed to waiving one's right to vote in a particular race, and that "none" votes can affect the outcome.

Jones said he would issue a written order detailing his legal analysis at a later date but before Sept. 7, when state elections officials said ballots have to ready for printing.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-22-Nevada-None/id-073f3d83d0684be38753ab548a0568be

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Pot, Heroin, and Playing Hockey - Battle of California

Since apparently most of our readers are drug addicts, and a few of them probably play hockey as well, I thought it would be a good idea to start a new series of posts examining the effects of some of the common recreational drugs on the body and mind and how those drugs would affect one's ability to play hockey.

I'll rate each drug physically and mentally on a scale of -5 to +5, with 0 being neutral, -5 meaning it would be impossible to play hockey on the drug, and +5 meaning the drug could probably make you better than Gretzky.

All of my information was taken from Wikipedia, which is a really awesome website to read when you are high.

Marijuana

Effects on the body

increased heart rate, dry mouth, reddening of the eyes (congestion of the conjunctival blood vessels), a reduction in intra-ocular pressure, muscle relaxation and a sensation of cold or hot hands and feet.

Most of these things sound pretty bad for hockey, though I guess there is a chance that having literal hot hands might help you score goals.

Effects on the mind

Some effects may include a general alteration of conscious perception, euphoria, feelings of well-being, relaxation or stress reduction, increased appreciation of humor, music or the arts, joviality, metacognition and introspection, enhanced recollection (episodic memory), increased sensuality, increased awareness of sensation, increased libido,^[30] and creativity. Abstract or philosophical thinking, disruption of linear memory and paranoia or anxiety are also typical.

Relaxation and stress reduction could be good or bad for playing hockey, I guess, though probably slightly more good than bad. Increased sensuality and libido are probably negatives, since they might make it difficult to skate properly (what with the inevitable boner and all). Increased awareness of sensation is a good thing. Paranoia and anxiety are bad.

Effects on hockey

Since so much of the experience of being high on pot is subjective, I thought it best to seek out some expert opinions on this subject:

Darthpot says: "when I got blazed playing hockey, I made tons of great passes."

Stickybudz says: "I go to water polo practice everyday stoned as fuck, the first time you jump in the pool it's crazy. Also some table tennis get's pretty intense too. Bong Pong, you play games to 3 and who ever loses packs the other a snap"

Ganja.Godfather says: "i play hockey high all the time.. i get mixed reactions, sometimes i feel better and sometimes i feel lazier."

resistance says: "the only sport im interested in playing, high or not, is poker"

Wow - I didn't realize that one of the horrible effects of smoking marijuana was that it made you an idiot who thinks poker is a sport. That's tragic.

Final Score

Physical: -1

Mental: 0

Overall: -1

In all likelihood marijuana won't have a serious negative effect on your ability to play hockey, but it's probably not going to help much. If you're lucky it might improve your mental game a little, but that's likely to be counteracted by the distraction of intense dry mouth and an unhealthy love of the band Phish.

Heroin

Effects on the body

Dry mouth, warm skin, slowed breathing, cough suppression, pain suppression, muscle weakness

Well that all sounds wonderful - but overall pretty awful for playing hockey.

Effects on the mind

"transcendent relaxation and intense euphoria"

"alternately alert and drowsy"

"Transcendent" is probably TOO relaxed for playing hockey, though if you could somehow time your "alert" states for when you were on the ice and just feel the drowsiness on the bench then that might be pretty good.

Effects on hockey

Shockingly, there aren't a lot of stories you can find online of people mixing heroin and sports, but I did find one:

My experiences with mixing dope and sports concentrated on martial arts. Doing both heroin and tae kwon do in a committed way wasn't as difficult as the nonuser may believe, but it required planning. I found that going to martial arts class the day after a night spent getting high worked well: since some heroin was still in my bloodstream, I felt less pain during the warm-up exercises. (My lifetime pull-up record?nine?was achieved one such day after.) But the day after the day after I was irritable, uncomfortable in my skin, and found martial arts purgatorial. Of course, if I got high that night, I ensured myself another good class the next night....

Okay so if you do heroin the night before playing hockey you might still have enough in your system for it to reduce physical pain...but it's a tricky timing issue. You probably need to have a really good calendar system going to make it work.

Oh and the very next paragraph talks about the author missing an incoming kick during a sparring session, crying like a bitch, and eventually having to stop most of his tae kwon do because he was becoming increasingly addicted to heroin. So there's that.

Final Score

Physical: -4

Mental: -3

Overall: -7

The pain-suppressing aspects of heroin don't come close to making up for the muscle weakness it causes, and you're also probably going to be way too relaxed to give a shit about not icing the puck if you try to play high.

In addition, you're probably going to become a junkie and ruin your god damn life if you do heroin, the most addictive and dangerous of the popular recreational drugs.

So, you know, in conclusion or whatever, you probably shouldn't do heroin.

Source: http://www.battleofcali.com/2012/8/23/3262764/pot-heroin-and-playing-hockey

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Cloud control could tame hurricanes, study shows

ScienceDaily (Aug. 23, 2012) ? They are one of the most destructive forces of nature on Earth, but now environmental scientists are working to tame the hurricane. In a paper, published in Atmospheric Science Letters, the authors propose using cloud seeding to decrease sea surface temperatures where hurricanes form. Theoretically, the team claims the technique could reduce hurricane intensity by a category.

The team focused on the relationship between sea surface temperature and the energy associated with the destructive potential of hurricanes. Rather than seeding storm clouds or hurricanes directly, the idea is to target marine stratocumulus clouds, which cover an estimated quarter of the world's oceans, to prevent hurricanes forming.

"Hurricanes derive their energy from the heat contained in the surface waters of the ocean," said Dr Alan Gadian from the University of Leeds. "If we are able to increase the amount of sunlight reflected by clouds above the hurricane development region then there will be less energy to feed the hurricanes."

Using a technique known as Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB), the authors propose that unmanned vehicles could spray tiny seawater droplets, a good fraction of which would rise into the clouds above, increasing their droplet numbers and thereby the cloud reflectivity and duration. In this way, more sunlight is bounced back into space, thereby reducing sea surface temperature.

The team's calculations, based on a climate ocean atmosphere coupling model (HadGEM1) suggest this could reduce the power of developing hurricanes by one category. Somewhat different cloud-seeding projects, designed to directly influence rainfall amounts, already exist around the world and were most famously used in China during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"Data shows that over the last three decades hurricane intensity has increased in the Northern Atlantic, the Indian and South-West Pacific Oceans," said Gadian. "We simulated the impact of seeding on these three areas, with particular focus on the Atlantic hurricane months of August, September and October."

The calculations show that when targeting clouds in identified hurricane development regions the technique could reduce an average sea surface temperature by up to a few degrees, greatly decreasing the amount of energy available to hurricane formation.

One potential drawback to the idea is the impact of cloud seeding on rainfall in neighboring regions. The team noted concerns that seeding in the Atlantic could lead to a significant reduction of rainfall in the Amazon basin and elsewhere. However, if different patterns of seeding were used, such rainfall reductions were not found over land.

"Much more research is needed and we are clear that cloud seeding should not be deployed until we are sure there will be no adverse consequences regarding rainfall," concluded Gadian. "However if our calculations are correct, judicious seeding of maritime clouds could be invaluable for significantly reducing the destructive power of future hurricanes."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wiley, via AlphaGalileo.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. John Latham, Ben Parkes, Alan Gadian, Stephen Salter. Weakening of hurricanes via marine cloud brightening (MCB). Atmospheric Science Letters, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/asl.402

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/NwfOn6Tj-kI/120823090914.htm

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How about some good news on the Senate front? (Powerlineblog)

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

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Male mice exposed to chronic social stress have anxious female offspring

ScienceDaily (Aug. 22, 2012) ? A study in mice conducted by researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine suggests that a woman's risk of anxiety and dysfunctional social behavior may depend on the experiences of her parents, particularly fathers, when they were young.

The study, published online in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that stress caused by chronic social instability during youth contributes to epigenetic changes in sperm cells that can lead to psychiatric disorders in female offspring across multiple generations.

"The long-term effects of stress can be pernicious. We first found that adolescent mice exposed to chronic social instability, where the cage composition of mice is constantly changing, exhibited anxious behavior and poor social interactions through adulthood. These changes were especially prominent in female mice," said first author Lorena Saavedra-Rodr?guez, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Larry Feig laboratory at Tufts University School of Medicine.

The researchers then studied the offspring of these previously-stressed mice and observed that again female, but not male, offspring exhibited elevated anxiety and poor social interactions. Notably, even though the stressed males did not express any of these altered behaviors, they passed on these behaviors to their female offspring after being mated to non-stressed females. Moreover, the male offspring passed on these behaviors to yet another generation of female offspring.

"We are presently searching for biochemical changes in the sperm of stressed fathers that could account for this newly appreciated form of inheritance" said senior author Larry A. Feig, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry at Tufts University School of Medicine and member of the biochemistry and neuroscience program faculties at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. "Hopefully, this work will stimulate efforts to determine whether similar phenomena occur in humans."

This research was supported by award numbers MH083324 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and NS047243 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), both part of the National Institutes of Health. The research was also supported by award number P30NS047243 from NINDS to the Tufts Center for Neuroscience Research.

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Journal Reference:

1. Lorena Saavedra-Rodr?guez, Larry A. Feig. Chronic Social Instability Induces Anxiety and Defective Social Interactions Across Generations. Biological Psychiatry, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.06.035

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/qJjxLFunJNk/120822091604.htm

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16 Best Home Remedies for Your Dog - PawNation

By Prevention Aug 21st 2012

• It's a dog's life -- and as a pet owner, you want to make sure that life is as long, happy, and healthy as possible.

  Related: Beware these?Top 3 Symptoms You Should Never Ignore

  But some puppy problems, like constant barking, yard digging, and furniture chewing, have a tendency to leave us scratching our heads, if not tearing out our hair. While you should always consult your vet before trying any at-home health fixes, many everyday concerns have safe, effective home remedies that may work for your dog. Save time and money on your pet's care with the following tips from?Joey Green's Amazing Pet Cures?(Rodale, 2011).

• 1. To Keep Your Dog Hydrated:

  Try: Pedialyte. If your dog suffers from mild dehydration--signs include a dry mouth, panting, and a loss of skin elasticity--pour Pedialyte into his water bowl to quickly replace electrolytes. Drinking water will replace most electrolytes, but drinking this solution, formulated for babies, quickly replaces minerals like potassium and sodium.

• 2. To Get Out Chewing Gum:

  Try:?Olive Oil. If your dog gets bubble gum stuck to his paw or fur, saturate the gum with oil, rub your fingers to soften it, and comb out. Shampoo and rinse.

  Related:?6 Teeth-Cleaning Tips for Your Pet

• 3. To Get Stickers and Burs Out Of Fur:

  Try:?Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening. To remove burs from your dog's coat, wear work gloves (to avoid getting pricked by the burs), work a dab of Crisco into the affected areas, and pry the burs lose. Shampoo your dog to remove the vegetable shortening.

• 4. To Curb Chewing:

  Try:?BENGAY. To train your dog to stop chewing on a specific object, coat the object with a dab of BENGAY. The smell will repel him.

  Related:?Best Chew Toys for Your Dog

• 5. Also to Curb Chewing:

  Try:?Heinz White Vinegar and Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar. Mix 5 ounces of Heinz White Vinegar, 5 ounces of Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar, and 5 ounces of water in a 16-ounce trigger-spray bottle. Shake well. Spray the solution on whatever furniture your dog likes to chew.

• 6. To Eliminate Fleas:

  Try:?Dawn Dishwashing Liquid. To kill fleas on dogs without using toxic chemicals, add a small amount of Dawn dishwashing liquid under running water to fill a sink or bathtub and give your dog a bath in the soapy solution. Work the lather into your pet's coat and let it soak for more than 5 minutes. The soap penetrates the exoskeletons of fleas, killing them, and works more effectively than some prescribed flea shampoos.

  Bonus tip:?If your pet gets bubble gum stuck to his paw or fur, you can use a few drops of Dawn to dissolve it.

• 7. To Keep Him Safe In The Sun:

  Try:?Coppertone Water Babies Sunscreen Lotion (and follow tips in our?Ultimate Summer Pet Safety Guide.) If your dog spends time outside, prevent sunburn on his nose, ears, and other vulnerable areas by applying a light coat of Coppertone sunscreen (with an SPF of 15 or higher). Feed your pet immediately after applying the sunscreen to distract him from licking off the lotion. If your dog licks off the sunscreen, you can apply more.

  Make sure the sunscreen you use on your dog doesn't contain any PABA, zinc, or zinc oxide, which can be dangerous when licked.

• Flickr: Retailmania

  9 of 18

  8. To Prevent (Another) Accident:

  Try:?Strategically Placed Glad Trash Bags. To keep your dog off any area of the carpet or floor where he has previously left a mess, cut open a Glad trash bag along the seams and cover the spot with the plastic. Dogs despise the feeling of plastic and will stay away.

• 9. To Prevent Ear Infections:

  Try:?Johnson's Baby Oil. Too much water in your dog's ears can lead to painful earaches, so before giving him a bath, place a cotton ball moistened with Johnson's Baby Oil in each of your pet's ears to keep out water. Just be sure to remove the cotton balls afterward.

  Related:?Top 3 Mistakes Even Good Pet Owners Make

• 10. To Stop Dandruff:

  Try:?Bayer Aspirin and Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Unless you're allergic to aspirin, grind six Bayer Aspirin into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle, pour the pulverized aspirin into a bottle of Johnson's Baby Shampoo, and shake well. Lather up your dog with the shampoo. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the salicylic acid in the aspirin time to exfoliate your pet's dead skin cells. Rinse clean with water.

• 11. To Heal Cuts And Scrapes:

  Try:?Bag Balm. Quicken healing of cuts, scratches, skin irritations, and paw abrasions by rubbing on Bag Balm, the salve created to soften cow udders.

  Related:?Pet Health Insurance--What You Should Know

• 12. To Discourage Digging:

  Try:?Tabasco Pepper Sauce and McCormick Ground (Cayenne) Red Pepper. To stop your dog from digging up your yard, mix 4 tablespoons of pepper sauce and 4 tablespoons of cayenne pepper in 1 quart of water. Sprinkle the spicy solution over the area where your dog digs.

• 13. To Keep Food Bowls Clean:

  Try:?PAM Cooking Spray. To prevent leftover bits and pieces of moist pet food from sticking to the bottom of your dog's food bowl, give the inside of the bowl a light coat of PAM Cooking Spray. The vegetable oil will prevent the food from adhering to the bowl--and the oil gives your pet's coat a nice shine.

  Related:?Best Food for Your Pet

• 14. To Soothe Arthritis Aches:

  Try:?A Sock Filled with Uncle Ben's Rice. To soothe arthritis pain, fill a sock with uncooked white rice (not too compactly), tie a knot in the end, and heat it in the microwave for 1 minute. Place the warm sock directly over painful joints twice a day for 15 minutes. The reusable heating pad conforms wherever applied.

• Flickr: andy on flickr

  16 of 18

  15. To Stop Shedding:

  Try:?Bounty Paper Towels. To prevent a dog from shedding all over the house, dampen a sheet of paper towel and run it over his fur. The paper towel collects the loose hair.

  Related:?Know When You Need a Vet, Fast

• 16. To Relieve Itchy Paws:

  Try:?Epsom Salt. If your dog suffers from itchy feet, fill the bathtub with 1 to 2 inches of water (enough to cover his paws) and dissolve 3 cups of Epsom Salt in the water. Stand your dog in the tub for 5 to 10 minutes, allowing the Epsom Salt to relieve the itch. Do not let your pet drink the water, since Epsom Salt has a laxative effect. Remove your dog from the tub and gently pat his feet dry.

  Related:?Pet Insurance: What You Need to Know

Source: http://www.pawnation.com/2012/08/21/16-best-home-remedies-for-your-dog/

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