Microsoft encourages students to buy a PC, gives them a free Xbox 360 in return

Students. PCs. Free Xbox 360. The Redmond team's at it yet again. Similar to last year's deal, Microsoft's hooking students up with a 4GB Xbox 360 if they drop some cash on one of its Windows machines. It's simple: shell out over $699 on a PC, or $599 if you're in Canada, and you'll be walking out with a shiny new console free of charge -- naturally, you'll have to do so at participating shops such as Best Buy, Fry's, Newegg, Staples, The Source and, of course, Microsoft's own stores. The promo is set to kick off here in the States on May 20th, while those living in the True North can take advantage of it starting today. And before you ask -- yes, you will need to show your scholar credentials to get in on the bargain.

Microsoft encourages students to buy a PC, gives them a free Xbox 360 in return originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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International Travel Adapters For The Purpose Of Computer ...

alissa92 ? May 18, 2012 ? Leave Your Comment

Travel Light: Items You Can Rent When You Arrive at your Destination by StephanieLarkin1 With rising travel prices, it can get expensive to check bags at the airport. Most airlines today have you pay for second (and subsequent) bags, and some even charge $10 to $20 for your first bag; and perhaps even more if you have extra bags to check. Luckily, though, you can carry a small suitcase on your journey free if you take it with you through security. If you want to travel light, checking just a single bag or, better yet, packing everything you need into a carry-on bag. Take some time to learn about the items you can rent when you get to your destination. Every location is different, so call ahead before you leave, but here are some of the most popular items available for rent from your hotel or near-by locations: A Cell Phone While it is true that your cell phone may not take up a much room in your bag, it can be expensive to use it if you are traveling internationally. Instead, look into renting a GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) or international cell phone. You can pick these up when you get to your destination. This provides you with a phone number for people to contact you while you are on vacation. These phones typically give you pay-per-minute plans, so you can save money and space in your bag ?? remember, you can avoid bringing along a charger or other phone accessories. Formal Clothing (and other special clothing) Are you traveling for a wedding or other formal event? Instead of carrying clothing for the event with you, consider renting it once you get to your destination. Go to your local tailor and have your official measurements taken so they can be sent ahead to a rental shop at your travel location. You can even do this with business attire like a formal suit. Most places have both male and female options, and by renting, you can save a lot of space. If possible, make sure there are at least two options available for you to try when you get there. That way, if the first one is not flattering, you can go with the alternative. Along with formal clothing, there are also rental options for unique clothing you might need while at your destination, such as ski boots. Jewelry Renting jewelry for events while on vacation is surprisingly affordable. For just a few dollars a day, you can choose beautiful gold, silver, and even diamonds. Men’s and women’s jewelry, as well as watches, are available. You typically

International Travel Adapters For The Purpose Of Computer Systems

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Wave Accounting gets funding for free small business accounting ...

Small business startup Wave Accounting has raised $12 million in its second round of funding, the company announced today.

Wave, which offers free accounting software for small companies,? feels that managing ?the books? is a complicated and dreaded task that isn?t any easier thanks to desktop accounting software.

?I experienced the pain first hand of trying to run your books and I really despise all those back office tasks,? said co-founder?Kirk Simpson in an interview with VentureBeat. ?[I wanted to]?simplify?the administrative tasks that small businesses despise.?

Simpson thinks high-end accounting software is so complicated that most business owners need to spend far too much time learning how to use it. He created Wave as a?simpler solution that clueless business owners could use to manage their accounting.

?There?s a disconnect between small businesses owners who hate doing this and yet they are being asked to pay hundreds of dollars to pay for desktop and cloud [accounting] software,? said Simpson.

Competition in this space ranges from high-end offerings like Salesforce, Zoho, and NetSuite, to cheaper and free services from Kashoo and Outright. Wave bets on its completely free offering and super-simple design to help it stand out. Wave makes it money solely from advertising services to its customers.

Social+Capital Partnership led the $12 million round.?Charles River Ventures and OMERS Ventures also contributed.

Wave Accounting is based in Toronto, Canada. The two-year old company has raised?$19 million in funding in the last 18 months, since its launch.

Man with financial chart image via Shutterstock

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"Tresspassing" gives glimpses into the true Adam Lambert

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Well, the upcoming movie adaptation of "Fifty Shades of Grey" has its theme song, if it wants one. "Chokehold," a provocative track from Adam Lambert's second album, sounds tailor-made for the S&M occasion: "Sheets are in a knot... I kinda like the pain... I keep running away from you, but I can't stop breaking the chains."

Madam Ana, he's Adam.

Lambert may play the submissive in "Chokehold," but through the rest of "Trespassing," he's trying to assert himself in a way that he didn't on his debut album. That first effort came out a little too soon after his second-place "American Idol" finish for comfort, so "Trespassing" is supposed to be the one where enough time was taken to show us the true Adam, as naked as his biblical namesake.

He goes some way toward fulfilling that ambition, but questions remain. Like: Wasn't the Lambert who established himself as a glam-rocker on "Idol" at least partly the true Adam? And if so, why is this sophomore album so devoid of anything resembling rock 'n' roll, throwing that former musical identity over for electronic dance music?

Is shiny neo-disco getting closer to his core than rock ever could? Or is it just a tacit commercial acknowledgement that the audience for a gay icon is better found on dance floors than in rock arenas?

Outside the recording studio, Lambert hasn't completely given up on rock. This summer, he'll be doing five gigs in Europe as Freddy Mercury's substitute in Queen. But "Trespassing" makes it seem as if all that was a handy flirtation more than fixation for a guy who can easily leave the Darkness behind to go stand in Dr. Luke's light.

The result is a record that initially seems like it's going to be the very definition of "a producer's album," even if Lambert's robust chops are hardly in danger of ever being completely in slave to the engineer's rhythm. The very precise bifurcation of "Trespassing" has the album starting off with seven breezy, boiler-plate dance-pop tracks before it finishes off with five somber and balladic numbers that make somewhat good on Lambert's promise to get more personal.

The Pharrell Williams-produced opening title track does overtly invoke Queen - albeit not their power-chord early stuff, but "Another One Bites the Dust," right down to a recurring discordant note that sounds like it might've been sampled from the original. It's a clever bit of homage that gives Lambert a chance to get the Mercury rising and wail over a reasonably minimalist, bass-heavy, marching-band beat before the electronics really take over in the numbers to follow.

"Cuckoo" provides the album's most pop radio-friendly hook - along with its most vapid lyrics, including an oft-repeated F-word that could pose a problem if someone does decide it should be a single. Funk fans will gravitate more toward "Shady," which gives Nile Rodgers featured billing for a track-salvaging rhythm guitar part, even if the real star is Lambert's own overdubbed choral vocals.

None of the EDM tracks go off the rails, though by the album's halfway point it's clear that Lambert is putting a healthy gloss on compositions that could have been weaved into any recent Britney album. He's a male diva in a dance-pop world otherwise without any, and he can sing, so maybe these things are difference enough, but the sum of the lavishly produced parts is not quite enough for Lambert to maintain the popular belief that he has a personality.

Things take a turn for the more thoughtful with track eight, "Better Than I Know Myself," the first single off the album (which, much to the panic and chagrin of Glamberts everywhere, was a commercial dud).

More than anything else here, "Underneath" is meant to be his mission statement. A simple piano opening precedes him ascending into his highest and most tender register as he plaintively complains: "Everybody wants to talk about a freak/Nobody wants to dig that deep.../You're gonna see things that you might not want to see/It's still not that easy for me underneath." He finds "such a beautiful release, with you inside of me," but that's immediately followed by "a red river of screams."

It's potentially riveting stuff, undercut by an eventually all-synth backing that could just as easily be the musical bed for a particularly dramatic Celine Dion ballad.

After the aforementioned "Chokehold," the standard edition of the album ends with "Outlaws of Love," a track that couldn't be better-timed to coincide with the peak (so far) of the gay marriage debates. "You say we'll rot in hell/Well, I don't think we will," he sings, and if that line won't go down with the greatest anti-homophobe rejoinders ever, he brings a beautifully tortured languor to lyrics about lovers who have "nowhere to grow old... always on the run." It's a song that might move you no matter where you live, but inspire even more of a chill if you happen to be in the humidity of North Carolina.

So how far into untold territory does "Trespassing" take us? Call it a tossup, since by the time it ends, we may feel like we know Lambert slightly better lyrically and a little less well musically.

It's one thing to write a song about wanting to be known for your true self, and another to write a whole album's worth of material that actually moves everyone toward that goal.

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Virginia, Florida have most well-read cities in U.S.: poll

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Russian researchers build partial android for bizarre mind-transfer project (video)

A Team of Russian researchers are building a conceptual mind-transfer android, and we're definitely not talking about Ice Cream Sandwich. However bizarre, their goal is to help mankind achieve immortality using a combination of humanoid robots and interstellar space travel to get away from a dangerous and overcrowded planet -- but most of the needed technology seems so far off that we could probably power cycle the world's slowest Linux computer a million times before we see any of it. One prototype includes the torso of an android that will one day house a a computer rig that would be theoretically capable of acting as a personal proxy -- essentially, a place to upload "human souls." This absolutely insane über-ambitious project is the stuff of science fiction, but the big shots over in the birthplace of Tetris say it'll all be possible by 2045. Need more convincing? Check out the two videos after the break.

Continue reading Russian researchers build partial android for bizarre mind-transfer project (video)

Russian researchers build partial android for bizarre mind-transfer project (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters.

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How You Can File Personal Bankruptcy From Long Island ...

Making the choice to file for personal bankruptcy is something that many find difficult, if not excruciating. But, armed with the right knowledge and information, it is possible to view the process as the best way to achieve a needed fresh start in your personal finance, and not something that must be dreaded. Put the tips in this article to work today and gain new perspective on what bankruptcy can do for you.

Do not cosign on any type of loan during or after your bankruptcy. Because you cannot file for bankruptcy again for many years, you will be on the hook for the debt if the person for whom you are cosigning is unable to meet his or her financial obligation. You must do whatever you can to keep your record clean.

Filing for bankruptcy does not wipe out all of your debts. It does not stop you from having to pay alimony, child support, student loans, tax debt and most types of secured credit. You will not be allowed to file if these are the only types of debt that you have on record.

Do not try to circumvent the courts by repaying loans, or giving money to relatives, and loved ones. Once you file for bankruptcy, your financial records are wide open. You are obligated to report everything you have given away, and sold in the past two years. Protect yourself, and talk to your lawyer about what to do with your money.

Prior to filing for personal bankruptcy, take care to not make withdrawals from your retirement accounts, IRA?s, or 401k?s. You may think you are doing the right thing to free up money, but often these types of accounts are protected from any bankruptcy proceedings. If you withdrawal the money, you may be opening it up to any bankruptcy action.

Bankruptcy Lawyer

Do not try to hide assets or resources, if you are filing for bankruptcy. The advice of a bankruptcy lawyer can help you minimize your losses throughout the process and do so in a legal manner. Your creditors will be scrupulous about double-checking your filing; rest assured that any assets you try to conceal will be found out.

Shop around for a bankruptcy lawyer. Make use of free consultations, if a law firm offers them. Be sure to check out the attorney?s track record. For other kinds of bankruptcy advisers, do the same and be sure they?re licensed if your state requires it. Don?t ever pay debt negotiation firms any cash up-front and be sure you can pay based on the result. Don?t hire someone who doesn?t have good references or makes you feel uncomfortable.

If you are considering filing for divorce and bankruptcy, file the bankruptcy first. This could save you money in family attorney fees and make the financial aspect of the divorce much simpler. There are certain situations when this is not the best idea. Check with a bankruptcy lawyer before you do anything.

Have a credit report done before you file for bankruptcy. This will give you a list of debts that you have, and therefore give you a place to start when listing your debts for your bankruptcy filing. Make sure that there are no mistakes on it, and make sure to give it to your bankruptcy lawyer.

It is certainly true that the prospect of bankruptcy is a topic feared by many. Much of the worry and hesitation surrounding the filing personal bankruptcy stems from insufficient knowledge on the part of consumers. By studying the guidance and advice in the piece that follows, it is possible to better understand what bankruptcy means and does for debtors, and how best to optimize the process.

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Your Microbiome Community Brings New Meaning to "We the People"

?No man is an island, entire of itself,? wrote English poet John Donne. Nearly four centuries later science is gaining a fuller appreciation of just how literally true that is.

In addition to the bacteria that can make us sick, researchers have known for a few decades that we play host to friendly microbes as well. They help our body by performing important tasks such as breaking down food components to make them digestible or processing nutrients so we can make use of them. Although the womb is sterile, we start acquiring our microscopic guests the minute we are born.

The sheer number and broader influence of these bugs may surprise you. For starters, microbes outnumber your body cells by 10 to 1. (The bacteria are much smaller than human cells, so their total weight is often estimated to be around two to five pounds.) In effect, we are each a walking superorganism, hosting our own unique microcommunity. No two individuals share the same makeup of microbes and their genes, not even identical twins. Nobel Prize winner Joshua Lederberg dubbed this inner ecosystem a microbiome, acknowledging its complexity and interconnectedness.

More to the point, your health, your life span?and even some of your actions?may have more to do with the genetic variation in those microorganisms you host than they do with your own genes. Our cover story, ?The Ultimate Social Network,? by Jennifer Ackerman, describes the efforts to map our human microbiome?no easy feat when certain critters, such as the gut bacteria that prosper in an oxygen-free environment, are challenging to grow in petri dishes in a laboratory. The results are illuminating. As you will learn, among other things, microorganism groups may influence not only how well we digest but also how much we eat. In addition, they have an important part in how well our immune system performs.

For a different kind of community effort?one involving teenagers and science that can benefit humankind?see the box at the left.

Award Winner
Look for the announcement of the winner of the Science in Action Award in June. Scientific American is sponsoring this $50,000 award, plus a year of mentoring, as part of the second annual Google Science Fair, a global online competition for students aged 13 to 18. The award will honor a project that addresses a social, environmental or health matter and could make a difference in the lives of a community or group. Find more information at www.google.com/sciencefair and at www.Scientific?American.?com/science-in-action.

This article was published in print as "We the People."

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We have found a witch, may we burn her? (Unqualified Offerings)

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An Online Internet Marketing Business Plan | WFHO - Work From ...

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What does Mitt Romney's new ad say about his strategy? (+video)

Don't look for Mitt Romney in his new ad, 'Silence.' It's all about being jobless and 'suffering in silence.' The Romney teamwants to keep the focus on 'the Obama economy.'

How does Mitt Romney want persuadable voters to think about the upcoming presidential election? Yes, we know he?s emphasizing the economy, and putting voters back to work, and so forth. What we?re getting at here is the sort of emotional context the Romney camp hopes will prevail among the swing electorate in November.

Skip to next paragraph

As it happens, we think Mr. Romney?s latest campaign ad, titled ?Silence,? is a pretty good guide to what might be his overall strategy here. So as the late great Washington sportscaster George Michael used to say, ?Let?s go to the videotape!?

The ad begins with "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley saying, ?Tonight, new evidence the economic recovery is slowing." Then it moves swiftly, cutting between clips of reporters bemoaning the state of the job market and short bursts of President Obama giving a speech.

The Obama appearances are so brief as to be mere impressions. At one point you hear him say, ?Ask if you?re better off than you were before..."

Then the montage accelerates, and the kind of rising music featured in horror movie trailers comes up. You hear only phrases ? ?We?re not seeing a ton of sunshine,? and so forth. Just as the tension peaks, we see not a slasher attack but Mr. Obama again, this time saying, ?It?s not just how we?re doing today. It?s how we?ll be doing tomorrow."

Boom. Halfway through the ad, the music and the clips stop.

?Today, millions of Americans are suffering in silence,? comes on the screen in large white letters.

What follows is a succession of quotes, interposed over shots of people looking very worried, in dead silence.

?Job growth not nearly fast enough to recover from the Great Recession,? says one quote. ?More than 340,000 workers dropped out of the labor force,? says another.

The ad ends with this: ?This is the Obama economy. It isn?t working.?

For those of you who don?t obsess over this sort of thing frame-by-frame, as if it were an ?Avengers? outtake, we?ll make a couple of Politics 101 points.

Where's Mitt? Challengers generally want elections to be referendums on the incumbent. They themselves are simply the replacement, a relief pitcher out of sight in the bullpen, waiting to be called. That?s why there?s lots of Obama in this ad, but no pictures of a certain former Massachusetts governor. The only Romney reference comes at the end, when his last name appears in small type as having paid for the message.

How are you feeling right now? Romney might be better off if voters cast ballots based on their emotions of the moment. He likely would get more support from folks who are worried about their present circumstances ? after all, the unemployment rate is at a daunting 8.1 percent. Millions of Americans who still have jobs go to bed at night worried about losing them. That?s why this ad ratchets up the anxiety level ? or reminds voters of how high their anxiety level already is.

In contrast, Obama wants voters to think about a longer time frame. His message could be summed up as something along the lines of, ?Remember how bad it was back when I took this job? I inherited a mess, and it?s getting better. Let?s not change horses in the middle of the race.?

Generally speaking, it?s the employment trend line, not the absolute unemployment rate, that matters most in presidential elections. It remains to be seen whether the current ?meh? job growth numbers will generate enough optimism among voters to convince them to give the incumbent another chance.

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