hameeshsingh: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Life and Explosive Death of the World's First Ferris Wheel

1893 marked the 400 year anniversary of Columbus' landing in the New World. To commemorate the anniversary, the 51st US Congress of 1890 declared that a great fair—the World's Columbian Exposition—would be held on April 9th of 1893 in Chicago and Daniel H. Burnham, father of the skyscraper, would oversee its construction. If only he could find enough civil engineers to pull it off. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/uca14huHMJw/the-life-and-explosive-death-of-the-worlds-first-ferris-wheel

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Couples Spotlight: Gregory & Kemlia Sherman | Black and Married ...

This week?s spotlight is on Gregory (Greg) and Kemlia (Kem, sounds like Kim) Sherman. This couple hails from Maryland by way of South Carolina. She?s a ten-and-a-half year veteran of the US Air Force. He served in the Army for thirteen years. They?ve been married for twenty years, together for twenty-four, and have two beautiful daughters (ages fifteen and twenty) and an adorable dog. She is currently attending Howard University?s School of Law, and loves to read in her spare time. He works in security and enjoys working. They both enjoy the time they spend with family and inspire other married couples just by the love they share with each other.

[To continue reading click the page numbers below]

About the author

Christine St.Vil helps moms across the country feel good and have self-care without the guilt. Through her coaching and training, she?s taken her corporate background and is helping people fulfill the most exciting position of all: a stay-at-home mom. Christine is a wife and proud mother of three.

Source: http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2013/02/couples-spotlight-gregory-kemlia-sherman/

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Parties may struggle to form government in Italy

Democratic Party leader Pierluigi Bersani leaves after a press conference in Rome, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Italy emerged from elections Tuesday with no clear winner, driving markets around the world markedly lower as investors worried that one of Europe's biggest economies would be unable to build a governing coalition that can stay the course on unpopular austerity measures. A day after polling ended, a few seats in Parliament based on Italians' voting abroad still remained to be decided, but their numbers won't ease the gridlock. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

ROME (AP) ? A center-left group of parties appears to have the best shot at forming a coalition government in Italy after an inconclusive national election, but the challenge is steep and comes amid public anger over austerity measures.

If Italian parties fail to form a governing coalition, new elections would be required, causing more uncertainty and a leadership vacuum, and that possibility has rattled financial markets across Europe.

Pier Luigi Bersani and his center-left allies appeared on Tuesday to have won a narrow victory in the lower house of parliament, while the Senate looks split with no party in control. Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian premier whose center-right coalition did better than expected, is a key player since his coalition is now the second-biggest bloc in the upper chamber.

Comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo, whose 5 Star Movement capitalized on a wave of voter disgust with the ruling political class, had a surprisingly strong showing. His bloc of seats in Parliament could prove crucial in making any coalition government viable.

The two-day election on Sunday and Monday also was a clear rejection of the previous technocratic government led by Mario Monti. That government enacted wide-ranging reforms to the budget and the economy. Though its borrowing rates have fallen in financial markets, the cost to Italians has been high, with Italy mired in recession and unemployment on the rise.

Berlusconi has already ruled out an alliance with Monti, his predecessor, whom he blamed for driving Italy deeper into recession.

On Tuesday, a few seats in Parliament based on Italians' voting abroad still remained to be decided, but their numbers won't ease the gridlock. European leaders pleaded with politicians in Italy to quickly form a government to continue to enact reforms to lower Italy's critically high debt and spare Europe another spike in its four-year financial crisis.

Bersani said he was not opening talks with any potential partners until he submits his program to Italy's president, who taps a candidate to form a government.

Stinging from a loss of some 4 million votes compared to the last election in 2008, Bersani hasn't yet identified who he could try to form alliances with. But top officials in his Democratic Left (PD) party were quick to rule out any deal with Berlusconi.

"As far as I go, absolutely not," Stefano Fassina, a PD official, said of a possible Bersani-Berlusconi alliance.

Italy's FTSE MIB index closed trading Tuesday 4.89 percent lower at 15,731, having earlier been nearly 5 percent down. Some of its banking stocks were briefly suspended after precipitous falls at the bell.

Whether Tuesday's negative market reaction extends further into the week may hinge on how quickly a solution is reached in Italy.

Berlusconi insisted that a government can be formed and called on Italians to ignore the "crazy" markets.

"Markets go their own way. They are independent and also a little crazy," Berlusconi said, adding that a government can be cobbled together, if rival politicians are willing to "make some sacrifices."

Grillo said his forces would seek to thwart any Bersani-Berlusconi deal. Raising the specter of early elections, he predicted any such coalition will "last seven, eight months. The economy won't let them escape."

Bersani himself later made subtle overture toward Grillo's forces, conceding that the center-left campaign had not gone deep enough for change. "We finished first, without winning," he conceded.

Italy is hugely important for the future of the euro, and its apparent stability over the past six months has been one of the reasons that concerns over the currency have eased. Of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, Italy has the second-highest debt burden as a proportion of its gross domestic product, at 127 percent.

Only Greece's is higher. Italy has to spend around ?80 billion a year just to service its debt.

The worry across financial markets is that Italy's appetite for reform may wane and its debt situation may deteriorate.

Though Italy's annual borrowing ? its budget deficit ? is relatively small compared with other euro countries at 3 percent of its annual gross domestic product, its overall debt stands at a colossal ?2 trillion.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-27-Italy-Politics/id-12fb49c6bceb421abd6f164ff253c66a

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Monday, February 25, 2013

The Pixel: Google's newest (and most expensive) Chromebook yet

Google's new Chromebook, the Pixel, has left critics with much to be desired. So, is Google's latest attempt to break into the laptop industry worth it?

By Aimee Ortiz / February 22, 2013

A man uses the touchscreen of the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer at an announcement in San Francisco, Calif.

Jeff Chiu/AP

Enlarge

Google launched its latest Chromebook, the Pixel, yesterday at a press event in San Francisco, Calif. The Pixel comes armed with a glass screen, high-resolution screen, and a $1,000+ price.

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Oscars 2013 Predictions

MTV News tells you who will win this year's Oscars — and who should win.
By MTV News Staff

Ben Affleck in "Argo"
Photo: Warner Bros.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702487/oscars-2013-predictions.jhtml

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Plan for Afghanistan calls for 12,000 troops - Sat, 23 Feb 2013 PST

February 23, 2013 in Nation/World

U.S., allies will share duty, Panetta?says

Robert Burns Associated Press

WASHINGTON ? The U.S. and its NATO allies revealed Friday they may keep as many as 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after the combat mission ends next year, largely American forces tasked with hunting down remnants of al-Qaida and helping Afghan forces with their own?security.

Patience with the 11-year-old war has grown thin in the U.S. and Europe, yet Washington and its allies feel they cannot pick up and leave without risking a repeat of what happened in Afghanistan after Soviet troops withdrew in 1989: Attention turned elsewhere, the Taliban grabbed power and al-Qaida found?refuge.

In disclosing??

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Outside the?U.S.

Pentagon numbers on troop strength, as of Sept. 30, 2012, indicate that about there are 1.4 million U.S. troops on active duty worldwide, mostly based in the U.S. Here are the largest contingents of U.S. troops based outside the?U.S.:

Afghanistan ??66,000

Japan ??50,937

Germany ??47,761

S. Korea ??27,500

Kuwait ??16,012

Italy ??10,922

U.K. ??9,317

Kyrgyzstan ??3,628

Bahrain ??2,713

Spain ??1,727

Turkey ??1,505

Belgium ??1,174

Cuba ??996

In disclosing that he and his NATO counterparts were discussing a residual force of between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said most allied defense ministers assured him they are committed to remaining part of a U.S.-led?coalition.

?I feel very confident that we are going to get a number of nations to make that contribution for the enduring presence,? Panetta told a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels at the conclusion of a defense ministers?meeting.

The U.S. and its allies have managed to stick together throughout the war, despite differing views. The Europeans have seen the military mission as mainly aimed at promoting stable governance; the Americans have viewed it as mainly combat. Some allies, including France, have already pulled out their combat?troops.

The Obama administration has not said how many troops or diplomats it intends to keep in Afghanistan after 2014; it is in the early stages of negotiating a bilateral security agreement with Kabul that would set the legal parameters. There currently are 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from a 2010 peak of?100,000.

In addition to targeting terrorists, the post-2014 missions are expected to be defined as training and advising a still-developing Afghan army and police force and providing security for the U.S. and allied civilian and military presence, officials?said.

The largely unspoken assumption on which the post-2014 plan is built is that Afghanistan?s own forces will be strong enough to hold off the Taliban on their own starting in 2015 and to prevent the country?s relapse into civil war. The worry is that if the Taliban regained power they would allow al-Qaida to return in large numbers, defeating the original purpose of the U.S. military action in?2001.

It?s a touchy topic at this stage of a still-unfolding war, with Afghans fearful of being abandoned by their foreign partners and Washington and its NATO allies wary of committing too heavily to a corrupt Kabul government facing an uncertain?future.

Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/23/plan-for-afghanistan-calls-for-12000-troops/

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche make weight as all UFC 157 fights are official

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For the first time, women stood on the scales to weigh in for a UFC bout. Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Liz Carmouche both made weight in an uneventful weigh-in on Friday afternoon at the Honda Center.

[Also: Ronda Rousey doesn't want to touch UFC title belt before fighting]

Michael Chiesa came in slightly over weight but the athletic commission let the small overage slide. Nah-Shon Burrell was significantly overweight and will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to his opponent. Here are complete weigh-in results, thanks to MMA Junkie.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
? Champ Ronda Rousey (134.6) vs. Liz Carmouche (133.6) - for women's bantamweight title
? Dan Henderson (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (202)
? Urijah Faber (136) vs. Ivan Menjivar (135.6)
? Court McGee (170) vs. Josh Neer (171)
? Josh Koscheck (171) vs. Robbie Lawler (171)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)
? Lavar Johnson (255) vs. Brendan Schaub (243)
? Mike Chiesa (156.2) vs. Anton Kuivanen (156)
? Dennis Bermudez (145) vs. Matt Grice (145)
? Caros Fodor (155) vs. Sam Stout (155)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 6:30 p.m. ET)
? Brock Jardine (170) vs. Kenny Robertson (170)
? Neil Magny (171) vs. Jon Manley (171)
? Nah-Shon Burrell (175.8) vs. Yuri Villefort (170)

UFC video on Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-liz-carmouche-weight-ufc-157-fights-021835462--mma.html

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Talk of peace with Pakistan Taliban angers victims

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? Hazratullah Khan, who lost his right leg below the knee in a car bombing, answers immediately when asked whether the Pakistani government should hold peace talks with Taliban leaders responsible for attacks like the one that maimed him.

"Hang them alive," said the 14-year-old, who survived the explosion on his way home from school. "Slice the flesh off their bodies and cut them into pieces. That's what they have been doing to us."

Khan, who is from the Khyber tribal region, pondered his future recently at a physical rehabilitation center in Peshawar.

"What was my crime that they made me disabled for the rest of my life?" he asked as he touched his severed limb.

In recent weeks, the Pakistani government and Taliban forces fighting in northwestern tribal areas have expressed an interest in peace talks to end the years-long conflict. An estimated 30,000 civilians and 4,000 soldiers have died in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since Sept. 11, 2001 ? many at the hands of the Pakistani Taliban.

To many victims of Taliban violence, the idea of negotiating with people responsible for so much human pain is abhorrent. Their voices, however, are rarely heard in Pakistan, a country where people have long been conflicted about whether the Taliban are enemies bent on destroying the state or fellow Muslims who should be welcomed back into the fold after years of fighting.

The Associated Press spoke with victims of terrorist attacks in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and the tribal areas and their families to find out how they felt about negotiating peace with the Taliban.

Khan's classmate, Fatimeen Afridi, who was also injured in the same bombing in Khyber, said he would be happy to see negotiations with the militants ? but only after those who maimed him were punished. Afridi's left leg was amputated below the knee, shattering his dream of becoming a fast bowler on Pakistan's cricket team.

"If I find them, I will throw them in a burning clay oven," he said.

The push for peace talks gained momentum in December when the leader of the Pakistani Taliban offered to negotiate. The government responded positively, and even hinted that the militants would not need to lay down their weapons before talks could begin. That would be a reversal of the government's long-held position that any talks be preceded by a ceasefire.

So far, there have been few concrete developments, and it's unclear whether Pakistan's powerful military supports negotiations.

Skeptics doubt the militants truly want peace and point to past agreements with the Taliban that fell apart after giving militants time to regroup. Others say negotiations are the only option since numerous military operations against the Taliban have failed.

The biggest question ? especially for many of the Taliban's victims ? is whether the Taliban will have to pay any price for the people they are believed to have killed and wounded. The government hasn't said whether it would offer the Taliban amnesty for past offenses.

Many of the victims feel forgotten, saying no one has asked their opinion about holding peace talks. They have to fight for what little health care they can obtain, and there's almost no assistance for dealing with psychological trauma caused by the attacks.

Dr. Mahboob-ur-Rehman runs a private medical complex in Peshawar, a large facility that houses a prosthetic workshop and a therapy school, where both Khan and Afridi are being treated. Rehman said the Pakistani army has a state-of-the-art facility to treat its soldiers while there is little help for civilians. He estimated that roughly 10,000 civilians have been permanently disabled after losing limbs in Pakistani Taliban attacks.

In the southern city of Karachi, 12-year-old Mehzar Fatima was shot in the back when a gunman killed her father, a Shiite Muslim. The sectarian groups often accused of carrying out such attacks are closely aligned with the Pakistani Taliban. The gunshot left her unable to move her legs and feet and she fears she might never use them again.

Her mother, Kishwar Fatima, said she's being pressured to leave the hospital where the girl is being treated because there's no government assistance to help pay her bills.

Those wounded in the violence feel further victimized because many Pakistanis don't even agree on who is to blame for their suffering.

Despite the huge loss of life and property, the views of many Pakistanis are influenced by right-wing, anti-American propaganda that spawns conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks. Fellow Muslims could never commit acts of violence against their own people, they say, so someone else must be to blame. Some theories suggest U.S. and Indian intelligence agencies support the Taliban and other militant groups to destabilize Pakistan.

Some people who support the militants think the Taliban are better than many of Pakistan's corrupt politicians who have failed to deliver good governance. Many Pakistanis also say the militant problems in the tribal areas are a result of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and when the U.S. leaves, the Pakistani Taliban will also stop fighting.

Even some of the victims aren't sure who is to blame.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a Feb. 2 suicide attack that killed 23 people in the northwestern city of Lakki Marwat. But Mohammad Shafi, whose 24-year-old son was among nine soldiers killed in the explosion, isn't convinced the attackers were members of the Taliban. He says Muslims would never hurt a fellow Muslim.

Instead, Shafi thinks his son ? a boxer who never lost a fight before he was shot seven times during the attack on an army post ? was killed by Hindu agents that archrival India sent, with U.S. assistance, to destabilize Pakistan. He said Pakistan should sever ties with the U.S. to abolish terrorism.

"If my son was killed by infidels, he has been martyred and will go to heaven," he said.

Confusion over who is responsible for the deadly violence also has some victims wondering if the Pakistani government makes peace with the Taliban, will it also make peace with other militant groups.

Will the government, for instance, hold talks with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group linked to al-Qaida that is accused of killing more than 175 Shiite Muslims during the past two months in the southwestern city of Quetta?

Ghazanfar Ali lost his 24-year-old son in one of these attacks on Jan. 10 in Quetta. Another of his sons survived the same attack after three major surgeries.

Ali broke down in tears as he recalled sifting through rubble and identifying his son's body by the ring he had on his finger because his head and face were wounded beyond recognition.

"There can't be peace with the Taliban," he said. "They slaughter a son in front of his father and then chant 'God is great!'"

Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar; Zaheer Babar in Lahore; Abdul Sattar in Quetta; and Adil Jawad in Karachi, Pakistan contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/talk-peace-pakistan-taliban-angers-victims-062726055.html

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Jermaine Jackson changes last name to Jacksun

Reuters file

Jermaine Jackson, now Jacksun, in 2012.

By Reuters

Pop singer Jermaine Jackson officially has changed his name to Jermaine Jacksun for "artistic reasons," Los Angeles court officials said on Friday.?

The Jackson 5 member and older brother of pop stars Michael and Janet Jackson filed a petition to change his name in Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2012. The change became official on Wednesday after a hearing, a court spokeswoman said.

The 58-year-old singer, who is on tour in Europe with his three surviving brothers, Jackie, Marlon and Tito, did not attend.

"If Prince and P Diddy can do it, why can't and shouldn't Jermaine?" Jacksun's attorney, Bret D. Lewis, said when the petition originally was filed.

Jermaine Jackson unofficially adopted the name Mohammad Abdul Aziz after converting to Islam in 1989.

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Friday, February 22, 2013

HP's 1Q offers glimmer of hope, stock surges

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Hewlett-Packard Co.'s latest quarterly results provided a glimmer of hope after months of gloomy news.

The fiscal first-quarter numbers announced Thursday topped what the slumping personal computer maker's own management and stock market analysts had forecast.

Like other PC makers, HP has been struggling to adapt to a shift toward smartphones and tablet computers, which are siphoning sales from desktop and laptop machines made by HP and other companies. Adding to the problems were some acquisitions gone awry. Over the past two quarters, HP announced losses totaling $15.3 billion as the company accounted for those mishaps, to the shock of Wall Street. The jolt caused HP's stock to plunge to its lowest price in a decade just three months ago.

The shares have rebounded since then, though they still remain about 20 percent below where they were in Sept. 2011, when the company fired Leo Apotheker as its CEO and hired Meg Whitman, who became a high-tech star while running eBay Inc.'s online marketplace.

The same problems are still plaguing HP, but signs of progress in the latest quarter indicated that the company's turnaround efforts are running ahead of schedule. Whitman has consistently said it may be several years before HP is on solid ground again.

She said the company is in the best condition since she was hired as CEO. "The patient showed some improvement," Whitman told The Associated Press in a Thursday interview.

She stopped short of predicting HP will be fully cured more quickly than she anticipated. "I don't want to get out over my skis." Whitman said.

In a show of confidence, HP provided an earnings forecast for the Feb.-April quarter that was higher than analysts' projections.

The company's stock rose 94 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $18.04 in after-hours trading. At its recent low, the stock was down to $11.35.

HP earned $1.2 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the three months ending Jan. 31. That was a 16 percent decrease from nearly $1.5 billion, or 73 cents per share, at the same time a year earlier.

Excluding certain accounting items, HP would have earned 82 cents per share. That was well above the average estimate of 71 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $28.4 billion, about $470 million above analysts' projections. It was nearly $30 billion a year earlier. It's the sixth consecutive quarter that HP's revenue has dropped from the previous year.

Excluding one-time items, HP expects to earn 80 to 82 cents per share in the current quarter. Analysts estimated earnings of 77 cents per share.

HP isn't predicting when its revenue downturn might end. In a conference call with analysts, Whitman said HP still faces a "long road ahead" before its revenue is growing again. To help offset the revenue decline, HP is in the process of eliminating 29,000 jobs, or about 8 percent of the workforce when it was announced, in a streamlining scheduled to be completed by Oct. 2014. Whitman said about 15,300 of the jobs targeted in the cost-cutting program have been jettisoned so far. About 3,500 people left in the most recent quarter.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company's biggest headaches remain rooted in the HP division that includes PCs, where revenue fell 8 percent from the previous year. Printer sales also continued to slide, although not quite as severely, with a 5 percent decrease.

Whitman is trying to reverse the trend by expanding into tablet computers and selling an array of machines running on Windows 8, a radical redesign of Microsoft's widely used operating system.

HP had tried to previously challenge Apple Inc.'s trend-setting iPad in 2011 with a tablet running on software that it acquired from Palm Inc., only to quickly abandon the device. The company's latest tablets run on Windows 8 or scaled-down versions of that operating system.

Whitman also believes HP could benefit from rival Dell Inc.'s agreement to sell itself to CEO Michael Dell and a group of investors for $24.4 billion. If it's approved the deal could saddle Dell with an additional $15 billion in debt ? a burden that Whitman believes will raise questions about the company's ability to innovate and tend to the needs of its corporate customers.

"It is an opportunity for us because I know firsthand what instability is like," Whitman said in the AP interview. "I think we are really well positioned for this next big shift in technology. We are excited about it and feel good about where we are."

Dell's decision to end its 25-year history as a publicly traded company has spurred speculation that HP might take a radical step, too, to boost its stock price. The most popular theory is that HP will sell or spin off its PC and printer operations to concentrate on more profitable technology markets in business software and various services.

"We have no plans to break up HP," Whitman said in an interview. "We are convinced that these divisions are better together than they are alone."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-21-Earns-Hewlett-Packard/id-2df4092b38a14c10812fa68329aaba4f

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A 1-2 knockout: McIlroy, Woods lose in Match Play

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy lines up his tee shot off the 11th hole in the first round against Shane Lowry, of Ireland, during the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Tiger Woods looks down from the 12th tee box at his lie on the fairway in the first round against Charles Howell III during the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Snow covers a fairway in the morning hours before before play resumes for the first round of the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Marana, Ariz. A snow storm blanketed the course on Wednesday suspending the first round of play and postponing it until later in the day on Thursday. (AP Photo/Arizona Daily Star, Mike Christy) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; PAC-12 OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT, NO SALES

Practice balls sit in frozen snow on the practice range before play resumes for the first round of the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Marana, Ariz. A snow storm blanketed the course on Wednesday suspending the first round of play and postponing it until late Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A grounds keeper walks along a snow-covered fairway before the start of the first round of the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Marana, Ariz. A snow storm blanketed the course on Tuesday suspending the first round of play and postponing it until late Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

MARANA, Ariz. (AP) ? Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods knocked out in the first round of the Match Play Championship? Not many would have given that a snowball's chance in the desert.

Almost as surprising as the freakish snowstorm on Dove Mountain was the sight of golf's two biggest stars heading to the airport, only the second time in the 15-year history of this wild tournament that No. 1 and No. 2 didn't last more than a day.

Shane Lowry of Ireland chipped in twice and drilled a fairway metal to 3 feet to seize control, and then knocked out McIlroy with a bunker shot to 4 feet to save par on the final hole. Just as the shock was wearing off, Charles Howell III came up with kind of shots he's used to seeing Woods make in the clutch ? a wedge that stopped inches from the cup on the 15th hole, and a 25-foot birdie on the 16th that carried him to a 2-and-1 victory.

"It's definitely a day I'm going to remember," said Lowry, the third player in the last four years to eliminate the No. 1 seed in the opening round.

"I had nothing to lose," Howell said.

The biggest loser Thursday might have been NBC Sports, which lost the two biggest draws.

Not even Phil Mickelson can save the day. He's not playing this year.

Howell had not faced Woods in match play since he was 17 and lost to him in the third round of the 1996 U.S. Amateur. He said he had never beaten him even in the dozens of casual games they played over the years at Isleworth before Woods moved away to south Florida.

What a time to change that losing streak.

Howell, who qualified for this World Golf Championship for the first time in five years, played a fabulous round in cold conditions. They matched scores 10 times in 14 holes before Howell came through with back-to-back birdies.

"In this format, match play is crazy," Howell said. "He's Tiger Woods. I was lucky to hang in there."

The final matches were played in near darkness, and they could have stopped after 15 holes. Woods wanted to play on, even though Howell had the momentum. Woods was 2 under for the day, and neither of them made a bogey.

"We both played well," Woods said. "He made a couple of more birdies than I did. He played well, and he's advancing."

McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, built a 2-up lead early in the match until Lowry rallied and grabbed the momentum by chipping in for birdie on the par-5 11th to avoid falling behind, chipping in from behind the 12th green for birdie and then ripping a fairway metal to within a few feet for a conceded eagle on the 13th to go 2 up.

Lowry missed a short par putt on the 14th, only for McIlroy to give away the next hole with a tee shot into the desert and a bunker shot that flew over the 15th green and into a cactus. But the two-time major champion hung tough, coming up with a clutch birdie on the 16th to stay in the game.

McIlroy nearly holed his bunker on the 18th, and Lowry followed with a steady shot out to 4 feet and calmly sank the putt.

"Deep down, I knew I could beat him," Lowry said. "There's a reason I'm here, and this is match play."

For McIlroy, more questions are sure to follow him to Florida for his road to the Masters. He now has played only 54 holes in the first two months of the season, missing the cut in Abu Dhabi and losing in the first round at Dove Mountain.

"You want to try and get as far as you can, but I guess that's match play," McIlroy said. "I probably would have lost by more if I had played someone else in the field. It wasn't a great quality match. But it would have been nice to get through and just get another day here and another competitive round under my belt."

The only other time the top two seeds lost in the opening round was in 2002, when Woods and Phil Mickelson lost at La Costa.

Luke Donald nearly made it the top three seeds except for a clutch performance. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt to halve the 17th hole and stay tied with Marcel Siem of Germany. Donald then birdied the 18th from 7 feet to win the match.

Louis Oosthuizen, the No. 4 seed, rallied to get past Richie Ramsay of Scotland.

The opening round was halted Wednesday after 3? hours because of a freak snowstorm that covered Dove Mountain with nearly 2 inches. It continued to snow at times overnight, and it took nearly five hours to clear snow from the golf course for the tournament to resume.

Turns out, snow wasn't the only surprise.

"I had to play extremely well to have a chance, and I still kept waiting for that Tiger moment," Howell said.

It never came.

Woods missed short birdie chances at the 10th and 11th, but the real damage came on the 15th when he went long of the green with a wedge in hand. Howell also missed a pair of short putts on the back nine, but he came up big with the putt on the 16th.

"Really, I didn't even realize I was 2 up with two to go until I got right to the tee on 17, and it actually threw me for a bit because I never maybe was really in the moment and didn't quite realize how things were," Howell said. "And as far as beating Tiger Woods, it shows you that match play is crazy. I did have to play a good round. But yeah, it's a bit hard to believe I'm sitting here today."

Howell and Lowry will have to wait until Friday to find out their opponents.

Carl Pettersson was 1 up on Rickie Fowler through 17 holes when they stopped because of darkness. The winner gets Lowry, who will be fighting some history. Of the previous three players to beat the No. 1 seed in the opening round, all of them lost in the second round.

Howell gets either Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano or Francesco Molinari, who were all square through 15 holes.

In other matches:

? Ernie Els lost in the opening round for the sixth time. He missed a 3-foot par putt on the 16th hole that would have given him the lead, and he missed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th hole to lose to Fredrik Jacobson.

? Russell Henley, two months into his rookie season, defeated the hottest player in the field when he took down Charl Schwartzel, who had won twice and finished no worse than fifth in his last six tournaments worldwide.

? Rafael Cabrera Bello beat Lee Westwood in 19 holes after Westwood missed a 6-foot par putt on the last hole.

The opening round of the Match Play is typically the best day in golf. This one took two days, and it was unlike any other.

Nearly 2 inches of snow covered Dove Mountain on Wednesday, and with more snow overnight, nothing had changed when players began arriving Thursday morning. There already was a two-hour delay when they arrived.

"There was a guy building a snowman this morning at 8, and they said they were going off at 10:30," Henley said. "I figured it was going to be awhile"

No one had an easier day than Bo Van Pelt.

Having won six straight holes to go 5 up before snow suspended play on Wednesday, Van Pelt finally got back on the golf course and struck all of two shots ? an 8-iron and a 45-foot putt. He won the 13th hole with a par to complete a 6-and-5 win over John Senden of Australia.

And then there was Sergio Garcia. He was one putt away from winning when play stopped Wednesday. He three-putted from 12 feet to lose the hole, and on the 18th hole, Thongchai Jaidee made a 6-foot birdie to send the match into overtime.

On the first extra hole, Garcia removed his cap and was putting his golf ball and tees in the bag as Jaidee settled over a 10-foot birdie. The putt ran around the back edge of the cup, giving Garcia life. He made birdie on the par-5 second hole to win in 20 holes.

So instead of hitting one shot Thursday, he had to play 19 of them. Garcia's was the first match of the tournament. It took him about 30 hours to finish.

"It's weirdness, I guess," Garcia said. "I guess at the end of the day, I was pleased to get through."

That's one thing McIlroy and Woods can't say.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-21-GLF-Match-Play/id-e3adc777853e450e8351f65594599081

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John Kerry speech: US must resist temptation to turn inward

Secretary of State John Kerry delivered his first major policy speech as the nation?s top diplomat, focusing on broad global challenges such as human rights and climate change.

By Howard LaFranchi,?Staff writer / February 20, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry gestures as he delivers his first foreign policy speech, Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Old Cabel Hall at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

Steve Helber/AP

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The United States risks losing the business and job opportunities of an expanding global economy, as well as the security that flows from promoting American values abroad, if America?s role in the world falls prey to the budget battle now gripping Washington, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday.

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In his first major policy speech as the nation?s top diplomat, Secretary Kerry said the US must resist the same urge to turn inward that tempted it after World War II. Instead, he said, it should lead in the global causes of the 21st century, ranging from economic prosperity and expansion of democracy to the addressing of climate change.

Speaking at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Kerry said he wanted to open a conversation with the American people about the essential role of US diplomacy in the world before setting off next week on his first overseas trip in his new post.

He started his remarks by cautioning that ?our engagement with the rest of the world begins by making some important choices, together, about out national budget.? It is ?imperative,? he said, that the US not cut back on what he characterized as an already minimal investment in diplomacy.

Kerry cited a recent poll that found most Americans assume the US spends about a quarter of the federal budget on international affairs ? while they thought the right level of spending would be about 10 percent of the budget.

?Would that that were true! I?d take 10 percent in a heartbeat,? Kerry said, ?because 10 percent is exactly 10 times greater than what we invest.?

Kerry said he chose the University of Virginia as the venue for this speech because it was founded by Thomas Jefferson, the nation?s first secretary of State and a leader who understood the role that education would play in securing a young nation?s place in the world.

?Let?s remember that the principles of Jefferson?s time ? in a nation that was just getting used to its independence ? still echo in our own time, in a world that?s still getting used to our interdependence,? he said. ?America?s national interest in leading strongly still endures in this world.?

Kerry did not use his speech to offer a laundry list of the pressing crises he plans to address. He made no mention of Syria?s civil war, the Middle East peace process, or the challenge of a rising China, although he did speak of the importance of ?making sure Iran never obtains a [nuclear] weapon that would endanger our allies and our interests.?

Instead, he focused on the broad global challenges that he said actually present ?opportunities? for international cooperation and American leadership. Such challenges include ?a dramatically changing climate,? demographic changes (defined most starkly by countries in North Africa and the Middle East, he said, where about half the population is under 20 years old), human rights, and global stability and security.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/pUYYBXn77Qo/John-Kerry-speech-US-must-resist-temptation-to-turn-inward

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Tickets available and sponsors needed for Rome High School Band's 'Night of Dreams' event

by press release Rn T.Com

Here is fresh off the press the announcement of the RHS Band "Night of Dreams". This is a community wide event and will be held at the Forum on April 6 at 7 p.m. and features music by the Rome Middle and High School Jazz Bands. Corporate sponsorships and tables are available on a first come first served/placed basis. It is an event of this nature that provides to the community at large an opportunity to see the talent in the bands-both number over 200 as to marching bands- in a very nice setting with a meal. Your attendance is supportive not only of the performance but helps raise funds for the band activities and costs not covered by school system provided funds such as uniforms, travel, guest professional instruction etc.

Sponsored by the Rome Band Boosters Association each year, this event is available on an individual ticket basis at $25 per ticket and whole tables- seating 8 people - are available for reservation for larger groups or organizations. Premium seating for table purchases are available if purchased early. Program advertising is also available for business and supporters who wish to purchase and a silent auction will be held additionally.

Additional information is available by calling 706.235.9653 and it is not too early to get your tickets for a evening that you and your friends will thoroughly enjoy.

Click here to read additional press releases on RN-T.com.

Source: http://rn-t.com/bookmark/21765864

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Car bomb kills at least 53 in Syrian capital

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian security agents carrying a body following a huge explosion that shook central Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. A car bomb shook central Damascus on Thursday, exploding near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy, eyewitnesses and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)

In this photo provided by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian security agents carry a body following a huge explosion that shook central Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. A car bomb shook central Damascus on Thursday, exploding near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy, eyewitnesses and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, injured Syrians sit on the ground while flames and smoke rise from burned cars after a huge explosion that shook central Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. A car bomb shook central Damascus on Thursday, exploding near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy, eyewitnesses and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows an injured Syrian man lying on the ground after a huge explosion that shook central Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. A car bomb shook central Damascus on Thursday, exploding near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy, eyewitnesses and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows flames and smoke rising from burned cars after a huge explosion that shook central Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. A car bomb shook central Damascus on Thursday, exploding near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy, eyewitnesses and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? A car bomb exploded Thursday near Syria's ruling party headquarters in Damascus, killing at least 53 people and scattering mangled bodies among the blazing wreckage in one of the bloodiest days in the capital since the uprising began almost two years ago.

Elsewhere in the city, two other bombs struck intelligence offices, killing 22, and mortar rounds hit the army's central command, activists said.

Recent rebel advances in the Damascus suburbs, combined with the bombings and three straight days of mortar attacks, mark the most sustained challenge of the civil war for control of the seat of President Bashar Assad's power.

Syrian state media said the car bombing near the Baath Party headquarters and the Russian Embassy was a suicide attack that killed 53 civilians and wounded more than 200, with children among the casualties. Anti-regime activists put the death toll at 61, which would make it the deadliest Damascus bombing of the revolt.

The violence has shattered the sense of normalcy that the Syrian regime has desperately tried to maintain in Damascus, a city that has largely been insulated from the bloodshed and destruction that has left other urban centers in ruins.

The rebels launched an offensive on Damascus in July following a stunning bombing on a high-level government crisis meeting that killed four top regime officials, including Assad's brother-in-law and the defense minister. Following that attack, rebel groups that had established footholds in the suburbs pushed in, battling government forces for more than a week before being routed and swept out.

Since then, government warplanes have pounded opposition strongholds on the outskirts, and rebels have managed only small incursions on the city's southern and eastern sides.

But the recent bombings and mortar attacks suggest that instead of trying a major assault, rebel fighters are resorting to guerrilla tactics to loosen Assad's grip on the heavily fortified capital.

The fighting in Damascus also follows a string of tactical victories in recent weeks for the rebels - capturing the nation's largest hydroelectric dam and overtaking airbases in the northeast - that have contributed to the sense that the opposition may be gaining some momentum.

But Damascus is the ultimate prize in the civil war, and many view the battle for the ancient city as the most probable endgame of a conflict that according to U.N. estimates has killed nearly 70,000 people.

To defend the capital, Assad is using his most reliable and loyal troops, activists say, including the Republican Guard and the feared 4th Division, commanded by his brother, Maher. Armed checkpoints have sprung up across the city as part of the regime's efforts to keep the rebels at bay.

Thursday's car bomb hit a checkpoint on a bustling thoroughfare in the central Mazraa neighborhood between the Baath Party headquarters and the Russian Embassy. The force of the explosion shattered the balconies of apartment blocks along the tree-lined street and blew out the windows and doors of the party building.

Video of the blast site on Syrian state TV showed firefighters dousing a flaming car with hoses, while lifeless and dismembered bodies were tossed onto the grass of a nearby park. The state news agency, SANA, published photos showing a large crater in the middle of the rubble-strewn street and charred cars with blackened bodies inside.

"It was huge. Everything in the shop turned upside down," one local resident said. He said three of his employees were injured by flying glass that killed a young girl who was walking by when the blast hit.

"I pulled her inside the shop, but she was almost gone. We couldn't save her. She was hit in the stomach and head," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for talking to foreign media.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast, which sent a huge cloud of black smoke billowing into the sky.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will likely fall upon one of the most extreme of Syria's myriad rebel factions, Jabhat al-Nusra.

The group, which the U.S. has designated to be a terrorist organization, has claimed past bombings on regime targets, including the double suicide blast outside an intelligence building in May that killed 55.

Such tactics have galvanized Assad's supporters and made many other Syrians distrustful of the rebel movement as a whole, most of whose fighters do not use such tactics.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, condemned Thursday's bombing without accusing a specific group of carrying it out. It did, however, suggest that the regime allowed foreign terrorist groups to operate in Syria.

"The terrorist Assad regime bears the most responsibility for all the crimes that happen in the homeland because it has opened the doors to those with different agendas to enter Syria and harm its stability so it can hide behind this and use it as an excuse to justify its crimes," the group said in a statement on its Facebook page.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the "indiscriminate violence against civilians."

Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency quoted a Russian Embassy official as saying its building had been damaged in the blast but no one was hurt.

Among those injured by flying glass was Nayef Hawatmeh, the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical Damascus-based Palestinian group. He suffered cuts to his hands and face, according to an official at his office, which is about 500 yards from the bomb. Hawatmeh was treated at a hospital and released.

In a separate attack, Syrian state TV said mortar shells hit near the Syrian Army General Command but caused no casualties. The report said the building was empty because it was being repaired from a bombing last year.

The Observatory said two mortar rounds struck near the building but it did not report casualties. It also said two more shells landed in the upscale Malki neighborhood, causing no damage or casualties.

Another blast in the northeastern Barzeh neighborhood killed seven people, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said three separate car bombs exploded near different security facilities in Barzeh, followed by intense clashes between rebels and regime forces. It said 22 people were killed, 19 of them security officers.

State media also reported that security forces in Damascus had arrested a second, would-be suicide bomber driving a car full of explosives near the site of the Mazraa bombing.

On Wednesday, two mortar shells exploded next to a soccer stadium in Damascus, killing one player. A day earlier, two shells hit near one of Assad's three palaces in the city, with some damage reported.

In the southern town of Daraa, where Syria's uprising began nearly two years ago, the Observatory said 18 people were killed in an airstrike on a field hospital, included eight rebel fighters, three medics, one woman and a young girl.

A video posted online showed the dead and wounded being loaded into the backs of trucks. Some were bloody and had bandaged heads, while others were carried on stretchers.

The videos appeared to be authentic and corresponded with Associated Press reports of the events depicted.

The conflict began in March 2011 with political protests against the government, and has since evolved into a civil war between Assad's regime and hundreds of rebel groups seeking to topple it.

International diplomacy has failed to slow the fighting.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that his message to Assad is "it is time to go," and that the senseless killing must be brought to an end through a political process.

He also urged Assad to respond to a dialogue offer made recently by Syrian opposition chief Mouaz al-Khatib.

"A political agreement on a transition is the way forward in Syria to bring to an end this terrible and unacceptable loss of life," he said.

Al-Khatib has said he is open to talks with the regime as a way of removing it from power. The government has refused, insisting the talks should be without preconditions and inside the country.

The Syrian National Coalition met in Cairo on Thursday to try to firm up its position on whether to engage with the regime in talks. A final decision was expected Friday.

____

Lucas reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Ben Hubbard and Zeina Karam in Beirut and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-21-Syria/id-273ee76929f5434a90c5837054f3a93b

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Nike suspends contract with Oscar Pistorius

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. The lead investigator in the murder case against Pistorius faces attempted murder charges himself over a 2011 shooting, police said Thursday in another potentially damaging blow to the prosecution. Prosecutors said they were unaware of the charges against veteran detective Hilton Botha when they put him on the stand in court to explain why Pistorius should not be given bail in the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, South Africa's Oscar Pistorius starts in the men's 400-meter semifinal during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs. Reeva Steenkamp, a model who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the predawn hours in the home, in a gated community in the capital, Pretoria, police said. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? Nike Inc. has suspended its contract with Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee runner from South Africa charged with premeditated murder in the Valentine's Day slaying of his girlfriend.

Pistorius, who became the first double-amputee runner to compete on the track at the Olympics at last year's London Games, is accused of intentionally killing model Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius says he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and that the shooting was accidental.

"We believe Oscar Pistorius should be afforded due process and we will continue to monitor the situation closely," Nike said in a brief statement posted on its website Wednesday.

On Monday, eyewear maker Oakley Inc. suspended its contract with Pistorius.

Nike dropped Lance Armstrong in October, citing insurmountable evidence that he participated in doping and misled the company about those activities for more than a decade. But the Beaverton, Ore.-based company stood by Tiger Woods after he acknowledged infidelities and went to rehab for sex addiction.

Pistorius was born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect, and had his legs amputated at 11 months. He runs on carbon-fiber blades and was originally banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage.

In 2008, however, the Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared him to compete against the fastest in the world.

Pistorius is a multiple Paralympic medalist, but he failed to win a medal at the London Olympics, where he ran in the 400 meters and on South Africa's 4x400 relay team.

He won a silver medal with his country's 4x400 relay team at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-21-Nike-Pistorius/id-b4be374db2b5498aa5fdaf1d7763a0c0

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

DNC still saddled with debt

The Democratic National Committee raised $4.3 million in January, but is still weighed down by a significant amount of post-election debt.

While it?s not unusual for political parties to creep into the red after an election, Democratic Party ended the 2012 cycle with a debt of $21.5 million, according to a new filing with the Federal Elections Commission.

The committee?s latest report shows the DNC paying down nearly $700,000 of their post-election debt? ? which shrank to $20.7 million.

The committee has $4.6 million cash on hand, and spent $3.9 million in January.

The DNC enters the 2014 cycle in a similar position to the Republican National Committee in 2010. The RNC ended the 2010 election more than $23 million in debt ? and party regulars worried about the GOP?s ability to compete with Democrats in a presidential year.

Earlier Wednesday, the RNC announced it had raised $6.9 million in January, with $7.1 million in the bank. The committee retired the last of its outstanding debt at the end of 2012.

Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/dnc-still-saddled-with-debt-87890.html

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Accel Telecom unveils Voyager, an Android smartphone that wants to stay in the car (video)

Accel Telecom Launches First Standalone Connected Car Smartphone

VOYAGER connects drivers easily, clearly and safely

Tel Aviv- Israel: February, 18th, 2013-Accel Telecom, a leading Israeli telecommunications company, has officially launched VOYAGER, the ultimate Connected Car Smartphone device. VOYAGER is the first standalone Connected Car Smartphone device that can be easily installed in any car and operates using an existing phone number via a twin-SIM.

VOYAGER is a dedicated Connected Car Smartphone device that provides drivers with a safer and superior Connected Car experience. The device combines Android based Smartphone technology with an HSUPA Qualcomm module to deliver a driver centric device that ensures safer calling, easy navigation via a dedicated Waze launcher key and multiple car focused applications.

VOYAGER is designed to enhance safe driving with hands-free dialing, dedicated large physical keys, crystal clear, echo free sound quality and an in-car 3G WiFi Hotspot connection among the many core features. VOYAGER also connects to the car on-board diagnostics (OBD) to allow car diagnostics, fleet management applications and more.

At some point in the future, every car will need to be connected to the outside world through a cellular network. The most user-friendly and secure way to enable this is by embedding a SIM card and a communication module inside the car.
GSMA's mAutomotive Report, 2012

Shmulik Keret, VP Waze said: "VOYAGER will provide drivers with a superb Waze navigation experience and we are excited to partner with Accel Telecom on this innovative connected car device."

Marc Seelenfreund, CEO Accel said: "Our user-friendly, cost effective and secure Carfone devices have seen substantial market success. We expect strong demand for the new generation VOYAGER Connected Car Smartphone device in both European and US markets in line with recent industry reports and our own research with industry influencers."

Key features:
? Android UI
? HSUPA Qualcomm based device
? In-car 3G-WiFi Hotspot connectivity
? Integration with Google and Exchange
? High level noise reduction and echo cancelation
? Voice activation
? Driver centric design to ensure safe driving
? Dedicated hard keys for safe intuitive operation
? Car centric applications for advanced communication
? Dedicated Waze launcher key for easy navigation
? Crystal clear echo free sound quality
? Connection to OBD via BT or RS232

Accel Telecom unveils Voyager, an Android smartphone that prefers to stay in your connected car

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/18/accel-telecom-unveils-voyager-car-centric-android-smartphone/

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Life and Explosive Death of the World's First Ferris Wheel

Couples Spotlight: Gregory & Kemlia Sherman | Black and Married ...

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Parties may struggle to form government in Italy

Monday, February 25, 2013

The Pixel: Google's newest (and most expensive) Chromebook yet

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Oscars 2013 Predictions

Plan for Afghanistan calls for 12,000 troops - Sat, 23 Feb 2013 PST

February 23, 2013 in Nation/World

U.S., allies will share duty, Panetta?says

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche make weight as all UFC 157 fights are official

Talk of peace with Pakistan Taliban angers victims

Jermaine Jackson changes last name to Jacksun

Friday, February 22, 2013

HP's 1Q offers glimmer of hope, stock surges

A 1-2 knockout: McIlroy, Woods lose in Match Play

John Kerry speech: US must resist temptation to turn inward

Tickets available and sponsors needed for Rome High School Band's 'Night of Dreams' event

Car bomb kills at least 53 in Syrian capital

Nike suspends contract with Oscar Pistorius

Thursday, February 21, 2013

DNC still saddled with debt

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Accel Telecom unveils Voyager, an Android smartphone that wants to stay in the car (video)

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