kinramnaiji: নভেম্বর 2012

শুক্রবার, ৩০ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

UK gas trading probe could trigger new rules - EnergyUK's Knight

LONDON (Reuters) - A probe into possible price manipulation in Britain's gas market, Europe's largest, could result in tighter regulation of energy trading, Angela Knight, chief executive of the EnergyUK lobby group, said on Friday.

"We need to see whether there is any more that needs to be done so there's the proper regulation in place to secure confidence in the market," said Knight, who moved to EnergyUK in September after heading the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

Britain's financial and energy regulators announced this month that they were reviewing information received by a whistleblower claiming that traders had manipulated prices in Britain's gas market.

Knight said some of the price manipulation issues alleged in the case would be addressed by new EU rules being rolled out to prevent market abuse in electricity and gas markets, also known as REMIT.

Yet she said the case was also somewhat unusual as the whistleblower had refused the customary identity protection and opted to speak about the allegations in public.

He also approached the financial regulator rather than energy watchdog Ofgem.

"I think that has therefore made it quite difficult for our authorities (...) The fairness about the British system is you aren't found guilty until the work has been done to determine whether you are guilty," Knight said.

Ofgem has often been accused of lacking prosecution powers compared with other regulators, but Knight said the energy watchdog had been keeping a close eye on unusual trading.

ENERGY LIKE BANKING

Knight, who spent five years at the helm of the bankers association, likened the energy market to the banking sector in that both sectors are going through major change.

Britain's banking sector is facing growing scrutiny on the back of the financial crisis and the energy market is set to be overhauled to encourage more low-carbon power generation.

"There are some evident parallels in that these are large important industries for the UK economy," said Knight, whose role it was to defend the banking sector at a time when it was widely blamed for causing global financial meltdown.

In her new role Knight said it was part of her job to restore reputation of energy companies which are often criticised for pocketing hefty profits for electricity and gas supply.

"A lot of the good can be completely sidelined by a small amount of the bad and I think that's a shame," Knight said, adding that EnergyUK was considering launching a public campaign to raise the profile of energy companies.

"If we're going to have that honest discussion with our customers, it has to be the industry, regulators, policymakers and the media, too, to find a way to explain which doesn't end up in finger pointing."

(Editing by Jason Neely)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-gas-trading-probe-could-trigger-rules-energyuks-164102362.html

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৯ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

Spain to overhaul rescued banks as condition of aid

BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's four nationalized banks will more than halve their balance sheets in five years, cut jobs and impose losses on bondholders in order to receive a euro zone rescue package.

The measures are a condition of 40 billion euros ($52 billion) in aid that offers hope for an end to a banking crisis which has pushed Spain to the brink of a sovereign bailout to keep the government afloat.

The European Commission approved the plans on Wednesday, setting in motion one of the most far-reaching overhauls of any European banking system since the start of a banking crisis in mid-2007 with the near collapse of German lender IKB.

"Our objective is to restore the viability of banks receiving aid so that they are able to function without public support in the future," said European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

Bankia, NovaGalicia Banco, also known as NCG Banco, Catalunya Banc, and Banco de Valencia were taken over by the state after unsustainable lending during a decade-long property boom left them dangerously short of capital.

The four banks account for just under a fifth of Spain's banking system. They must transfer 45 billion euros of soured property assets to a so-called 'bad bank' as another condition of receiving aid.

The smallest of the four banks, Banco de Valencia, will be sold to one of Spain's healthiest lenders Caixabank, while the other three banks must cut their balance sheets by more than 60 percent over the next five years.

JOB LOSSES

It was cheaper to sell Banco de Valencia under a loss protection scheme than to wind it down, the Commission said. Spain has agreed to sell Novagalicia Banco and Catalunya Banc within 5 years or liquidate them, Almunia said.

The nationalized banks will have to close up to half their branches during the five-year overhaul process, resulting in thousands more job losses in a brutal recession which has pushed Spain's unemployment up to 25 percent.

The biggest of the banks, Bankia, said it would lay off over a quarter of its workforce amounting to over 6,000 staff, and reduce its branch network by around 39 percent as part of plans to return to profitability by 2013.

"Our clients can be totally reassured because we have a viable and solid business in which they can be absolutely sure of their savings," said Chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri.

Bankia, formed from the merger of seven savings banks in 2010 and taken over by the state in May in Spain's biggest-ever bank rescue, said it would shed 50 billion euros of assets including stakes in insurer Mapfre and airline International Airlines Group and its business in Miami in the United States.

Public debt holdings would fall to 30 billion euros from 40 billion euros currently, Bankia said, while shareholders will contribute 10.7 billion euros to the clean-up. Bankia shares fell 4 percent.

Holders of Bankia's hybrid debt would contribute up to 4.8 billion euros to the recapitalization, through losses incurred by swapping their holdings for shares, the bank said.

The European Commission said the cost to hybrid and subordinated bondholders in the restructuring of all four of the nationalized banks will come to about 10 billion euros.

Many hybrid debt holders at the nationalized banks are retail customers who say they were conned into buying complex financial instruments that buoyed banks' capital levels instead of fixed-term savings accounts.

The Spanish government, fearful of a political backlash, fought for these losses to be minimized, but Brussels insisted the subordinated bondholders share the pain in order to keep the use of taxpayers' funds to a minimum.

The commissioner said he would decide on other Spanish banks with capital shortfalls on December 20. Banco Popular has carried out a 2.5 billion euro share and rights issue to avoid the need to seek state aid.

(Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels and Jesus Aguado in Madrid; editing by Luke Baker and Anna Willard)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-approves-spains-bank-restructuring-100746352--finance.html

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3 US citizens accused of trying to join al Qaeda indicted in California

Three young men were indicted with conspiracy to provide support to terrorists in a California court on Wednesday. The FBI says they were planning to join with Taliban militants for training in Afghanistan.

By Alex Dobuzinskis,?Reuters / November 28, 2012

Law enforcement and FBI agents during a raid at the home of 21-year-old Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales of Upland, Calif. on November 16. Santana was one of three Southern California men indicted with conspiracy to provide support to terrorists in a California court on Wednesday.

Jenny Collins/AP

Enlarge

Three men accused of plotting to join up with al Qaeda and?Taliban?militants for training in?Afghanistan?were indicted on Wednesday in?California?in a move that could allow prosecutors to move to trial more quickly.

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But the four-page indictment, returned by a grand jury in Riverside, offered few details beyond those contained in a criminal complaint filed earlier this month against the men, all U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

The indictment charged?Ralph Kenneth Deleon, 23, Miguel Alejandro Vidriales Santana, 21, and?Arifeen David Gojali, 21, with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, the same charge contained in the complaint.

The filing of the indictment allows federal prosecutors to skip a preliminary hearing in which they would lay out their case and a judge would determine if there was enough evidence to merit a trial. The men each face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/eB5TEXbxC88/3-US-citizens-accused-of-trying-to-join-al-Qaeda-indicted-in-California

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'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2' on the Wii U: The good, the bad and the weird

1 hr.

Ben Kuchera , The Penny Arcade Report

Black Ops 2?will likely be one of the most purchased and played games of 2012, and it?s one of the games I was most keen on testing with the Wii U. Nintendo systems have never been home to this sort of hardcore game, and previous?Call of Duty?titles on Nintendo?s systems have been low-resolution shadows of the ?real? game the majority of the audience was playing. The Wii U version ofBlack Ops 2?changes things.

The game looks almost identical to the 360 version, with all the high definition bells and whistles.Black Ops 2?on the Wii U doesn?t feel like a hacked-down version of the game, made to play on a system on which it doesn?t belong. The Wii U version of the game also has a few tricks up its sleeve that can?t be replicated by any of the competing systems.

There are also some downsides to playing the game on the Wii U.

What?was given up

It?s hard to make any judgments about the Wii U?s relative power, or lack of power, from launch games. Nintendo has been tight-lipped when it comes to explaining what?s actually inside the Wii U, and we have no way of knowing how much time developers had to work with the system before launch. Long load times are common on new system launch titles, and they?re certainly on display on most launch Wii U games. The question isn?t whether these problems exist, it?s whether they can be fixed in future games, after developers learn their way around the architecture.

So where do you feel the first-gen-ness of?Black Ops 2? In the game?s frame rate. The frame rate takes a hit any time there are many things going on in one scene, and it?s something that?s actively distracting during play. It?s never a deal breaker, and the game is always playable, but the inconsistent performance is jarring after coming from the beauty of the PC version or the rock-solid frame rate of the 360 version.

So the question is whether these issues are the result of a truncated development cycle or weakness in the hardware itself. It will likely be a decent amount of time before we get an answer to the question. Considering Nintendo was working on the system?s online functions right up to launch it?s amazing that?Black Ops 2?includes multiplayer at all, much less the impressive suite of options on display in the Wii U version.

Fans of the series have likely already purchased?Black Ops 2?before the Wii U was released, however, and the amount of players online is shockingly low. As of this writing (which is admittedly 2 p.m. on a Tuesday) there are under 350 players on the servers.

The really good news is that most of them have been pretty easy to kill so far.

Using the gamepad

The inconsistent frame rate is the bad news, so what?s the good news? You can play the entirety of the game using the GamePad?s screen instead of your television, and the display is more than adequate to enjoy the game and its impressive graphics. I?m tempted to simply buy another power cable to place in my bedroom, because I often move the Wii U to my nightstand, without connecting the sensor bar or an HDMI cable, and play games in bed using only the GamePad and a set of headphones.

Enjoying a console-quality?Call of Duty?game while my wife watches?Suburgatory?on the television is pretty great. The weird downside? The rumble effect is?loud, especially if you?re playing the game while listening to the sound coming through the GamePad?s speakers.

That?s just a standard Wii U feature though.?Black Ops 2?takes it a bit further by allowing two players to play the same copy of the game. You can go online and have one player in the room using the television with the Wii U Pro controller, and the other player can play with their own screen by looking at the GamePad. It?s like a mini-LAN party with a single console and copy of the game, and it works very well. My friend and I spent around an hour playing the Zombies game mode cooperatively, each of us having our own screen, and talking our way through each situation.

There are a few graphical shortcuts here to get the Wii U to pump out two sessions of the game at the same time, but they?re minor. The frame rate holds up well for the most part, the lighting effects are less impressive than the single-screen version of the game, but that?s basically all the concessions made to allow the system to do this magic trick.

?This mode - indeed, split-screen in general - is not without its trades,??Eurogamer?s in-depth look at the game?s performance stated. ?Frame-rate definitely takes a hit (which varies according to the map and definitely muddies controller response), but resolution is maintained and the only noticeable visual downgrade comes from the removal of dynamic shadows. Even this isn?t quite as impactful as it sounds as shadows ?baked? into the environments are still there.? Considering this is a first-generation game, and?Black Ops 2?is the first game to offer this sort of multiplayer function on the Wii U, the game is very playable in this state. We can only hope co-op games played on the television and the GamePad increase in performance as developers learn how to optimize the Wii U, or even use the hardware as the target platform.

This isn?t split-screen, it?s something much better. Once both players get their own screen the game becomes much more enjoyable, and since both of you don?t have to stare at the television you can stretch out and relax. It?s an easy-going, very social way to play multiplayer games of?Black Ops 2, and teaming up with a buddy in the same room allows you to mop up other players in multiplayer pretty efficiently.

There are some oddities here, however. The GamePad can be made the game?s primary display when you first begin play, but the game won?t allow you to play with a friend using the TV with this option engaged. Unfortunately, I couldn?t find a way to switch?back?once I had enable GamePad play. It?s confusing, and if there?s a solution that doesn?t involve rebooting the game and not hitting the ?display? button on the controller, I?d love to hear it.

These UI and performance hiccups could very well be fixed in future releases, but as a first pass this is very solid take on?Black Ops 2. The multiplayer modes using both the TV and the GamePad are what make the Wii U special. I can invite a friend over to play, we both get to have our own screen that?s comfortable to use, and we can either play the competitive multiplayer or work together to take out some zombies. The graphical trade-off is minimal, and it feels like you?re enjoying a micro-LAN party. I can actually see myself going online to play this way with friends fairly regularly, despite the small amount of players online.

Should we be worried about the Wii U?

It depends on your expectations for the system. Nintendo doesn?t like talking about power in detail, but it looks like the system is just about as powerful as the 360. What?s clear is that developers have yet to be able match the performance of current generation systems at launch. That could be bad news for the future, or it could be that performance will improve with time. What?s clear is that the Wii U is not?more?powerful than current-generation systems, or at least that power hasn?t been easily tapped for the current stock of games out for the hardware.

Consoles offering split-screen multiplayer are nothing new, but the Wii U is able to put both versions of the game on different screens, and that?s a large selling point for social gamers or those who like to play with their friends in the same room. You give up some frame-rate, but the ability to use that extra screen with a buddy may be worth the trade-off.

More from our friends at The Penny Arcade Report

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/call-duty-black-ops-2-wii-u-good-bad-weird-1C7312100

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Hostess?s union requests Chapter 11 trustee supervise liquidation

Hostess may be liquidating, but that doesn?t mean squabbles with its union are over.

The snack company?s baker?s union asked the bankruptcy court on Tuesday to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to oversee the liquidation. They objected to allowing ?incumbent management? to handle it. Burn.

It makes sense, though, when you consider that the union has found fault with many of Hostess?s practices leading up to the liquidation, including the wage-cutting contract that Hostess imposed as a last-ditch effort to cut costs. That resulted in the union going on strike, which then pushed Hostess to liquidate.

Lawyers for Hostess responded to the request for a trustee by saying there were ?serious legal deficiencies? in the motion.

The union asked Judge Robert Drain to rule on the issue at the next hearing on Thursday.

Shipping deadlines approach to get gifts to military

The United States Postal Service has announced shipping deadlines to get gifts and cards to military members serving overseas before Christmas.

December 17 - Express Mail Military Service
December 10 - First Class Mail Letters/Cards
December 10 - Priority Mail
December 3 - Parcel Airlift Mail

Click on the following link for information broken down by APO:
http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_120.htm

Source: http://scottsboro.waff.com/news/people/86383-shipping-deadlines-approach-get-gifts-military

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Pentagon, Lockheed "getting close" on next F-35 contract: Kendall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp and the Defense Department are nearing agreement on a long-delayed contract for a fifth batch of F-35 fighter jets, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer told Reuters on Wednesday.

"I think we're getting close," Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told Reuters after a speech to an investor conference hosted by Credit Suisse.

Kendall said he had "a very positive meeting" on Tuesday with Lockheed President Marillyn Hewson about a range of issues, including the $396 billion F-35 program, the Pentagon's largest weapons program.

Hewson will become the company's CEO in January after the company forced out Christopher Kubasik, who admitted to having an affair with a subordinate.

Lockheed spokeswoman Jen Allen declined comment on Hewson's meeting with Kendall. "We do not discuss customer meetings and consider them proprietary," she said.

Lockheed, the Pentagon's largest contractor, and its suppliers are already building the fifth batch of planes under a preliminary contract, but the two sides have been struggling to finalize the terms of the deal since last December.

"The two sides have been arguing over what the plane should cost for the better part of a year. It appears they have now agreed on a price that is midway between their original goals, which means a significant reduction in the cost of each plane from the previous contract," said defense consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to Lockheed.

Thompson said Hewson's increased engagement in the F-35 negotiations had helped defuse tensions that had mounted between the company and the Pentagon over the past year.

In September, Air Force Major General Christopher Bogdan, who is moving up to head the F-35 program next week, said ties between Lockheed and the U.S. government were "the worst" he had ever seen in his years working on big acquisition programs.

Hewson told analysts earlier this month that the F-35 program would be one of her top priorities in her new job. "We won't miss a beat on F-35," she said at the time.

Hewson is due to speak at the Credit Suisse conference on Thursday.

Agreement on the terms would free up additional funding for early work on a sixth set of planes, which the company has been funding on its own for some time.

Lockheed warned investors last month that it faced a potential termination liability of $1.1 billion on that sixth batch of planes, unless it received additional funding by year end.

Lockheed received some initial "long-lead" funding for advanced procurement of materials for the planes, but that money ran out a while ago.

The Pentagon has refused to release any more money for the sixth batch of planes until the two sides resolve their differences and sign a contract for the fifth batch of planes after nearly a year of negotiations.

(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-lockheed-getting-close-next-f-35-contract-234822466--finance.html

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বুধবার, ২৮ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

Burgess announces he's running for Seattle mayor

by KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on November 27, 2012 at 5:32 PM

Updated yesterday at 6:45 PM

Seattle Councilman Tim Burgess on Tuesday announced that he is running for mayor.

Burgess is the first candidate to say he will challenge Mayor Mike McGinn, who won the job in 2009 after a three-way primary against Joe Mallahan and Greg Nickels (the two-term incumbent).

In declaring his candidacy, Burgess said, "All across Seattle, people have said they want bolder thinking, more inclusive and more effective leadership from City Hall to bring people together and get things done."

The race is expected to be crowded, with at least two other city councilmembers considering their own bids.

Burgess was elected to the city council in 2007. He grew up in Seattle and is graduate of the University of Washington. He lives in Queen Anne with his Joleen; the couple has three adult daughters.

Burgess's campaign website went live on Tuesday: burgessformayor.com

Source: http://www.king5.com/news/politics/Burgess-announces-hes-running-for-Seattle-mayor-181085801.html

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Arafat's body exhumed in murder inquiry

By NBC News staff and wire services

The remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed from his grave on Tuesday -- eight years after his death at age 75 -- as part of an investigation into allegations that he was poisoned, according to official Palestinian radio.

The remains were taken from the massive mausoleum in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Arafat was buried, and moved to a nearby mosque so that Palestinian doctors could take samples from his bones, Palestinian officials told The Associated Press.

The samples will be handed over to French, Swiss and Russian experts who have flown in for the exhumation and who will examine them in their home countries, the officials said. They said samples were taken earlier from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings.?

French judges opened a murder inquiry into Arafat's death in August after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of radioactive polonium on his clothing.

See key moments and memorable scenes from Yasser Arafat's life.

A team of international experts from Switzerland, France and Russia was due to take samples from Arafat's body to test for traces of poison. The corpse will be reburied later in the day on Tuesday with full military honors.

Rumors of foul play have long surrounded the sudden demise of Arafat, a champion of Palestinian statehood from the time he was 19, and eventually, the democratically-elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

Arafat was revered by many Palestinians and Arabs as a freedom fighter and reviled by many Israelis and its allies as a terrorist for his relentless fight for Palestinian self-determination. But he also had enemies and rivals within the Arab and Palestinian political circles.

He died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. The rapid deterioration of his health and death baffled doctors who were trying to treat him in France, and an autopsy was never performed at the request of his widow, Suha.

While the immediate cause of death was a stroke, the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear, leading to persistent speculation in the Arab world that Israel poisoned him. Israel has denied such allegations.

Poisoning as a cause of death gained currency after a Swiss institute said it had found high levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat?s clothing, which was supplied by Suha, prompting the French to open a formal murder inquiry.

Polonium was the substance that killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Litvenenko was a Russian ex-spy who later became a relentless critic of the Kremlin.

"It is a painful necessity" to exhume the body of Arafat, said Tawfiq al-Tirawi, who is in charge of the Palestinian committee overseeing the investigation, speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Saturday.

Tirawi said the Palestinians had "evidence which suggests Arafat was assassinated by Israelis," Reuters reported.

The exhumation might not resolve the mystery. Polonium-210 decomposes rapidly, and some experts say it is not clear whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing.

NBC's Kari Huus, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/27/15470795-arafats-body-exhumed-experts-hope-to-learn-if-palestinian-leader-was-poisoned?lite

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Find your dream DIY wedding hair with How-to Hair Girl

For those of you that have been paying attention, How-to Hair Girl, has regularly been giving us amazing DIY hair-style videos and inspiration. She's even got hair love for our grooms! For those that are all, "Wuh? DIY wedding hair? That's a THING!?," we're here to officially introduce you to our lovely sponsor, Roxie from How-to Hair Girl.

Roxie is about to revolutionize your wedding hair?

Roxie Hunt is a hair stylist, business owner, and full-time mom who got her start doing hair in Seattle. Her How-to Hair Girl site caters to DIY brides who want style, empowerment, and budget-friendly options.

People need to know that they don't need a lot of money, skill, products, or people telling them how to be, to have good hair. There are other options. This is where I come in. My plan is to provide a comprehensive educational blog dedicated to teaching and empowering people to do their own hair themselves, do their friends and loved ones hair, and make their own educated decisions regarding their hair. I want to create a resource and outlet for people to ask questions, watch videos, share ideas, and gain the confidence to experiment.

How-to Hair Girl is full of easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorials on haircuts, colors and styles for men, women, and children. This means TONS of hair tips, tricks, and inspiration for the DIY bride! Y'all should definitely click over and check out these sections first:

Those categories include super-helpful posts like "Make a statement with floral hairstyles fit for a DIY bride." My two favorite styles being the ones pictured above.

You know what's also cool about How-to Hair Girl? It's not just for wedding hair. You can get inspiration and tutorials for how to make your every-day-hair awesome. Like how to master braided hair. There's also a category for vintage styles, tutorials for curly hair, and the ever-elusive styles for short hair brides.

You can do this hairstyle YOURSELF!? My mind is blown in the most perfectly coiffed way. If you'd like to keep up to date on all the news that Hair-to Hair Girl has to offer, including new DIY hair tutorial releases, you can like 'em on Facebook, or head over to the website and get your perfectly-coiffed wedding hair on.

About Megan Finley

Megan Finley is the Associate Publisher for the Offbeat Empire. When she's not slaving away for the Empire, she's sharing her dork side on her own blog and on Twitter @meganfinley.

Source: http://offbeatbride.com/2012/11/diy-wedding-hair

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Eternally Missed

Holdgrafer Estate was once a beautiful mansion in the heart of the noble society, run by the highly-esteemed Lord Holdgrafer, until he fell into scandal and withdrew from the world's sight. And slowly, the scum of the noble world gathered in his misery...

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Eternally Missed?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Eternally Missed"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

MagicalNeko: Member for 2 years

I'd like to reserve the maid. Just a question, though. Is this realistic, fantasy, or what? Your "rule of cool" description kinda confused me. XD

Tsukiakari: Member for 0 years

May I reserve the Duchess? (:

fauxtruth: Member for 0 years

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Disney, Wal-Mart, ENYCE clothing found in burned Bangladesh factory

The garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 people were killed in a fire over the weekend was used by a host of major U.S. and European retailers, an Associated Press reporter discovered Wednesday.

By Julhas Alam,?Associated Press / November 28, 2012

Boxes of garments lay near equipment charred in the fire that killed 112 workers Saturday at the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory,on the outskirts of Dhaha, Bangladesh, Nov. 28. Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them ? Wal-Mart ? had been aware of safety problems. Wal-Mart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.

Ashraful Alam Tito/AP

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A hooded Mickey Mouse sweatshirt from Disney. Piles of children's shorts with Wal-Mart's Faded Glory label. Clothes with hip-hop star Sean Combs'?ENYCE?tag.

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The garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 people were killed in a fire over the weekend was used by a host of major U.S. and European retailers, an Associated Press reporter discovered Wednesday from clothes and account books left amid the blackened tables and melted sewing machines at Tazreen Fashions Ltd.

Wal-Mart had been aware of safety problems at the factory and said it had decided well before the blaze to stop doing business with it. But it said a supplier had continued to use Tazreen without authorization.

Sears, likewise, said its merchandise was being produced there without its approval through a vendor, which has since been fired. The Walt Disney Co. said its records indicate that none of its licensees have been permitted to make Disney-brand products at the factory for at least a year. Combs' Sean Jean Enterprises did not return calls for comment.

Labor activists have long contended that retailers in the West bear a responsibility to make sure the overseas factories that manufacture their products are safe. They seized on the blaze ? the deadliest in Bangladesh's nearly 35-year history of exporting clothing ? to argue that retailers must insist on more stringent fire standards.

Charles Kernaghan, director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, said nothing will change unless clothing companies protect workers as vigorously as they do their brands.

"The labels are legally protected," he said. "But there are no similar laws to protect rights of the worker."

Bangladesh's fast-growing garment industry ? second only to China's in exports ? has long provided jobs and revenue for the desperately poor country, while turning out the low-priced products shoppers in the U.S. and other countries have come to enjoy.

But the industry has a ghastly safety record; more than 300 workers have died in garment factory fires in Bangladesh since 2006.

On Wednesday, police arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday's blaze on the outskirts of Dhaka. Police Chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned. He said the factory owner was not among those arrested.

About 1,400 people worked at the factory, about 70 percent of them women. Survivors said exit doors were locked, and a fire official said the death toll would have been much lower if the eight-story building had had an emergency exit.

The fire broke out on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway. Nasima, who uses only one name, and other workers said that when they tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations.

Thick smoke filled the stairway, and when the lights went out the workers were left in total darkness. Another worker, Mohammad Rajib, said some people used their cellphones to light their way.

"Everyone was screaming for help," Nasima said. "Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory. I don't know how I survived."

Rajib said the factory conducted a fire drill just three days before the tragedy.

Workers expressed support for the factory owner, Delwar Hossain. Rajib said he is "a gentle man" who heeded workers when they protested for more pay and against rough treatment by some managers.

"He took action and fired some of them," he said. "He did not sack any worker. He told us: 'You are my people. If you survive, I will survive.'"

Most the fire's devastation took place on the second and third floors. Sewing and embroidery machines and tables burned to ashes and ceiling fans melted.

Nightgowns, children's shorts, pants, jackets and sweatshirts were strewn about, piled up in some places, boxed in others. Cartons of kids' hooded sweaters, off-white with red and black print, were marked "Disney Pixar." Among the Disney garments was a gray sweatshirt emblazoned with the image of Lightning McQueen, the star of Pixar's "Cars" movies.

A pair of blue?ENYCE?shorts was still on a sewing machine. There were also sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith and the Scottish company Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

At least four register books listed such buyers as Wal-Mart, Disney and Sears.

Nike and Apple are among other major corporations that have been criticized over the years for sweatshop conditions in overseas factories that make their products.

Josh Green, chief executive of New York-based Panjiva, which tracks shipments for factories outside the U.S., said some companies are more conscientious than others in selecting factories. Some companies pick a supplier and do little or no investigation, he said, while others analyze factories' past infractions and pay monthly visits.

Still, it's hard to keep track when suppliers subcontract out work, he said.

Moreover, "you have relentless pressure that consumers put on retailers and that retailers put on their suppliers to deliver lower and lower prices," Green said. "And that pressure is a key reason why you see factories cutting corners."

TV reports said about 3,000 garment workers held protests Wednesday over the fire, blocking roads and throwing stones in the third straight day of demonstrations. Police used batons to disperse the protesters.

According to local television, most factories in the area closed because of the protests.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/DFa69w0TEFo/Disney-Wal-Mart-ENYCE-clothing-found-in-burned-Bangladesh-factory

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Amber Tamblyn to make her Broadway debut next year

In this Friday, April 20, 2012 photo, cast member Amber Tamblyn arrives at the "House" series finale wrap party Los Angeles. Tamblyn, who stars in ?The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? films and on TV in ?House? and ?Joan of Arcadia,? is heading to Broadway. Producers said Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012 that Tamblyn will make her Great White Way debut in Beth Henley's comedy ?The Miss Firecracker Contest? in the spring of 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Amber Tamblyn, who stars in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" films and on TV in "House" and "Joan of Arcadia," is heading to Broadway.

Producers said Tuesday that Tamblyn will make her Great White Way debut in Beth Henley's comedy "The Miss Firecracker Contest" in the spring of 2013. The theater, co-stars and dates will be announced later.

Judith Ivey, who is currently starring on Broadway in "The Heiress" opposite Jessica Chastain, will direct, marking her own directorial Broadway debut.

The comedy, about a young woman who hopes winning a local talent contest will restore her soiled reputation, first appeared in New York off-Broadway in 1984 and was made into a 1989 film starring Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen and Tim Robbins.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-11-27-Theater-Amber%20Tamblyn/id-8ffc546bebde4e738b7adf49ccf669a5

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VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT Communications Associate - Waaheen

Communicating in crisis and post-crisis settings has many challenges, one of them being a possible perception of alignment with one party or the other to the conflict. There is often a risk of misunderstanding of the mandate of UNDP. The particular nature of the Somalia situation requires complex messaging to maintain the credibility of the organization and ensure that its work is perceived as serving all Somalis. At the same time, a clear communications strategy and approach that is aligned with the Country Programme strengthens partnerships and supports resource mobilization.

The Partnerships and Planning Unit (PPU) is a central unit within UNDP Somalia that supports effective and efficient programme delivery, with a view to maximizing results and impact. The PPU directly supports the main programmes with expert services tailored to a crisis and post-crisis context. While quality assurance remains a core programmatic function, PPU and Sub-Office programme teams will ensure overall consistency with corporate standards, policies and procedures. The Communications Unit comes under the PPU as its work is complementary to other key services offered by the PPU, including Monitoring and Evaluation, Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization, and Reporting.

It is in this context that UNDP would like to recruit one Communications Associate for each of its Hargeisa and Garowe Sub-Offices to support the implementation of its communication strategy and outreach work in Somalia. The incumbent will form a part of the core Sub-Office programme team. Under the direct supervision of the Sub-Office M&E Specialist and technical guidance of the Communications Specialist (Nairobi), the Communications Associate will work in close collaboration with the Sub-Office programme and project staff.

The selection criteria and qualifications for the position are:

Secondary education (University Degree in Social Sciences, Communications or Journalism is desirable but not a requirement)
4 years of relevant experience in communications, public relations
Experience working for a development or humanitarian organization an asset
Experience in video production and photography is desirable
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) essential
Experience in Indesign and Final Cut Pro desirable
Fluency in English and Somali

For more information on this vacancy and details on how to apply please go to: http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=34019

The closing date for receipt of applications is 3^rd December 2012.?

Short URL: http://waaheen.com/?p=53989

Posted by Maxamud on Nov 26 2012. Filed under Articles, News, Waaheen News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://waaheen.com/?p=53989

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Poll: Are you buying an Ouya or a Wii Mini?

When the Android-powered, crowd-funded Ouya console arrives next year with a near-$100 starting price, it'll be the cheapest new game console at launch in ... well, ever. Of course, the big entrenched players aren't just taking this lying down -- Microsoft's got a $99 version of its Xbox 360, albeit with a subscription-based subsidy, and Nintendo today introduced the Wii Mini, a $99 Wii console with a fewer abilities than its slightly larger forebear (exclusive to Canada for now, but we doubt it'll stay that way). Neither of these initiatives is a direct response to Ouya, mind you, but the three choices will assuredly find themselves paired against the others in the minds of consumers.

As such, we can't help but wonder where you'll end up. Does Nintendo's revamped, smaller Wii get you all worked up, or is it Ouya's promise of open-source freedom that's doing it for you? Perhaps you've got a custom gaming rig that makes all other options look like Playskool by comparison? Let us know in the poll below!

Update: That whole "voting" part of the poll below seems to not be playing nice with our new look. Alas, we're working on a fix right this minute, and will let you know as soon as you're clear to vote. Terribly sorry about that!

Update 2: And we're clear! Cast votes to your heart's content!

Continue reading Poll: Are you buying an Ouya or a Wii Mini?

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Nintendo

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/27/poll-wii-mini-or-ouya/

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Cyber Monday: Fitness, Healthy Eating, and Wellness Deals

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Cyber Monday deals are a great way to get a head start on holiday shopping?and in some cases, they?re also a good way to give your fitness routine, healthy eating plan, or wellness commitments a boost before the Holiday season. We?re keeping a running list of the best Cyber Monday deals on fitness gear, organic foods and healthy eating products, and other wellness deals like non-toxic beauty products and more.

Check our list throughout the day for new deals, and tell us in the comments section if you?ve found more healthy ways to spend your budget for this Cyber Monday!

CYBER MONDAY FITNESS DEALS

Athleta ? 20% off online purchases, including everything from running tights to ski season gear

Road Runner Sports ? 20% off online, on all brands of running gear from shoes to GPS watches

Splits59 ? 30% off any order of their trendy workout wear, with the code ?GOTIME?

Manduka ? 20% off any purchase, including lux yoga mats, yoga mat bags, and other workout gear, including DVDs, yoga blocks and tank tops, using the code ?YIPPEE?

REI ? up to 30% off outdoor gear, including winter sports essentials from hats and gloves to ski boots and snowboards

Dick?s Sporting Goods ? 25% off any item, plus deals on select fitness gear

CYBER MONDAY HEALTHY EATING DEALS

Etsy Deals ? check out our roundup of green and gourmet goods

Gluten Freely ? up to 50% off select items, including Schar gluten-free products, Lucy?s gluten-free cookies, and Annie?s gluten-free macaroni and cheese

Justin?s Nut Butter ? 25% off everything, including individual squeeze packs of nut butter and jars of our favorite: chocolate hazelnut butter

Abe?s Natural Market ? $15 off orders of $50 or more, with the code ?CYBERKID?, on tons of organic and natural food brands.

BluePrint Cleanse ? 20% off?cold-pressed juices and cleanses, using the code ?WGBPC? from our friends at?Well+Good NYC

Pressed Juicery ? $199 holiday cleanse, marked down from $285, plus free shipping if you live in California!

CYBER MONDAY WELLNESS DEALS

Buddha Nose ? 20% off organic beauty products and aromatherapy products

Have a deal that should be added to this list? Email tips@blisstree.com.

Source: http://www.blisstree.com/2012/11/26/move/cyber-monday-deals-fitness-gear-healthy-eating-wellness-products-on-sale/

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Small Business Saturday boosts Panhandle economy : News ...

Read?more: Local, National, Economy, Community, Small Business Saturday, Small Business, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Amarillo, Texas, Holiday Shopping, Shopping Locally, Locally Owned Business, Small Locally Owned Business, Business, Local Shopping, Semblance Store, Semblance, Semblance Texas, Lilly Finch, Lilly Finch Boutique, Lilly Finch Boutique Amarillo, Lilly Finch Deal, Lilliy Finch Locally Owned, Semblance Amarillo, Shopping Season

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Local business owners in Amarillo embraced Small Business Saturday in a big way by offering huge steals this past weekend.

While many larger retailers, such as Kohl's and Target, opened their doors to record numbers of shoppers, local businesses decided to keep it quaint this holiday season. Stores in Wolflin Square spent Saturday welcoming holiday shoppers all while boosting the local economy.

Women's clothing boutique, Semblance, offered up to 20% off selected items, and even held a raffle for gift cards on purchases made that day. Open for over a month, Semblance owner Robyn Grona hopes that more people will considering shopping locally throughout the year, not just on Small Business Saturday.

Lilly Finch, a lifestyle boutique, participated in Small Business Saturday for the first time this year. Retail associate, Krista Silva, feels that the event helps promote awareness of local businesses in Amarillo.

Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 by American Express as a way to promote local small businesses throughout the country.

Source: http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=829947

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Bitter struggle over Internet regulation to dominate global summit

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An unprecedented debate over how the global Internet is governed is set to dominate a meeting of officials in Dubai next week, with many countries pushing to give a United Nations body broad regulatory powers even as the United States and others contend such a move could mean the end of the open Internet.

The 12-day conference of the International Telecommunications Union, a 157-year-old organization that's now an arm of the United Nations, largely pits revenue-seeking developing countries and authoritarian regimes that want more control over Internet content against U.S. policymakers and private Net companies that prefer the status quo.

Many of the proposals have drawn fury from free-speech and human-rights advocates and have prompted resolutions from the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament, calling for the current decentralized system of governance to remain in place.

While specifics of some of the most contentious proposals remain secret, leaked drafts show that Russia is seeking rules giving individual countries broad permission to shape the content and structure of the Internet within their borders, while a group of Arab countries is advocating universal identification of Internet users. Some developing countries and telecom providers, meanwhile, want to make content providers pay for Internet transmission.

Fundamentally, most of the 193 countries in the ITU seem eager to enshrine the idea that the U.N. agency, rather than today's hodgepodge of private companies and nonprofit groups, should govern the Internet. The ITU meeting, which aims to update a longstanding treaty on how telecom companies interact across borders, will also tackle other topics such as extending wireless coverage into rural areas.

If a majority of the ITU countries approve U.N. dominion over the Internet along with onerous rules, a backlash could lead to battles in Western countries over whether to ratify the treaty, with tech companies rallying ordinary Internet users against it and some telecom carriers supporting it.

In fact, dozens of countries including China, Russia and some Arab states, already restrict Internet access within their own borders, but those governments would have greater leverage over Internet content and service providers if the changes were backed up by international agreement.

Amid the escalating rhetoric, search king Google last week asked users to "pledge your support for the free and open Internet" on social media, raising the specter of a grassroots outpouring of the sort that blocked American copyright legislation and a global anti-piracy treaty earlier this year.

Google's Vint Cerf, the ordinarily diplomatic co-author of the basic protocol for Internet data, denounced the proposed new rules as hopeless efforts by some governments and state-controlled telecom authorities to assert their power.

"These persistent attempts are just evidence that this breed of dinosaurs, with their pea-sized brains, hasn't figured out that they are dead yet, because the signal hasn't traveled up their long necks," Cerf told Reuters.

The ITU's top official, Secretary-General Hamadoun Tour?, sought to downplay the concerns in a separate interview, stressing to Reuters that even though updates to the treaty could be approved by a simple majority, in practice nothing will be adopted without near-unanimity.

"Voting means winners and losers. We can't afford that in the ITU," said Tour?, a former satellite engineer from Mali who was educated in Russia.

Tour? predicted that only "light-touch" regulation on cyber-security will emerge by "consensus," using a deliberately vague term that implies something between a majority and unanimity.

He rejected criticism that the ITU's historic role in coordinating phone carriers leaves it unfit to corral the unruly Internet, comparing the Web to a transportation system.

"Because you own the roads, you don't own the cars and especially not the goods they are transporting. But when you buy a car you don't buy the road," Tour? said. "You need to know the number of cars and their size and weight so you can build the bridges and set the right number of lanes. You need light-touch regulation to set down a few traffic lights."

Because the proposals from Russia, China and others are more extreme, Tour? has been able to cast mild regulation as a compromise accommodating nearly everyone.

Two leaked Russian proposals say nations should have the sovereign right "to regulate the national Internet segment." An August draft proposal from a group of 17 Arab countries called for transmission recipients to receive "identity information" about the senders, potentially endangering the anonymity of political dissidents, among others.

A U.S. State Department envoy to the gathering and Cerf agreed with Tour? that there is unlikely to be any drastic change emerging from Dubai.

"The decisions are going to be by consensus," said U.S. delegation chief Terry Kramer. He said anti-anonymity measures such as mandatory Internet address tracing won't be adopted because of opposition by the United States and others.

"We're a strong voice, given a lot of the heritage," Kramer said, referring to the U.S. invention and rapid development of the Internet. "A lot of European markets are very similar, and a lot of Asian counties are supportive, except China."

Despite the reassuring words, a fresh leak over the weekend showed that the ITU's top managers viewed a badly split conference as a realistic prospect less than three months ago.

The leaked program for a "senior management retreat" for the ITU in early September included a summary discussion of the most probable outcomes from Dubai, concluding that the two likeliest scenarios involved major reworkings of the treaty that the United States would then refuse to sign. The only difference between the scenarios lay in how many other developed countries sided with the Americans.

ITU officials didn't dispute the authenticity of the document, which was published by Jerry Brito, a researcher at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University as part of a continuing series of ITU-related leaks.

Tour? said that because the disagreements are so vast, the conference probably will end up with something resembling the ITU's earlier formula for trying to protect children online ? an agreement to cooperate more and share laws and best practices, perhaps with hotlines to head off misunderstandings.

"From Dubai, what I personally expect is to see some kind of principles saying cyberspace is a global phenomenon and it can only have global responses," Tour? said. "I just intend to put down some key principles there that will lay the seeds for something in the future."

Even vague terms could be used as a pretext for more oppressive policies in various countries, though, and activists and industry leaders fear those countries might also band together by region to offer very different Internet experiences.

In some ways, the U.N. involvement reflects a reversal that has already begun.

The United States has steadily diminished its official role in Internet governance, and many nations have stepped up their filtering and surveillance. More than 40 countries now filter the Net that their citizens see, said Ronald Deibert, a University of Toronto political science professor and authority on international conflicts in cyberspace.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said this month that the Net is already on the road to Balkanization, with people in different countries getting very different experiences from the services provided by Google, Skype and others.

This month, a new law in Russia took effect that allows the federal government to order a Website offline without a court hearing. Iran recently rolled out a version of the Internet that replaced the real thing within its borders. A growing number of countries, including China and India, order sites to censor themselves for political, religious and other content.

China, which has the world's largest number of Internet users, also blocks access to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter among other sites within its borders.

The loose governance of the Net currently depends on the non-profit ICANN, which oversees the Web's address system, along with voluntary standard-setting bodies and a patchwork of national laws and regional agreements. Many countries see it as a U.S.-dominated system.

The U.S. isolation within the ITU is exacerbated by it being home to many of the biggest technology companies - and by the fact that it could have military reasons for wanting to preserve online anonymity. The Internet emerged as a critical military domain with the 2010 discovery of Stuxnet, a computer worm developed at least in part by the United States that attacked Iran's nuclear program.

Whatever the outcome in Dubai, the conference stands a good chance of becoming a historic turning point for the Internet.

"I see this as a constitutional moment for global cyberspace, where we can stand back and say, `Who should be in charge?' said Deibert. "What are the rules of the road?"

(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Martin Howell and Ken Wills)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bitter-struggle-over-internet-regulation-dominate-global-summit-040702595--sector.html

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Visit Machu Picchu with Huge 'Zoomable' Image

Now you can explore the awe-inspiring Incan estate of Machu Picchu ? from your computer.

This huge image of the Incan site in Peru took nearly two hours to photograph and is made up of 1,920 separate images that were stitched together using a program called GigaPan. Viewers can zoom in to see the smallest details of the site.

The photographs were taken by Jeff Cremer, marketing director of Rainforest Expeditions, a company that runs eco-tourism trips to the Peruvian Amazon.

Cremer said he made the image in part to raise awareness about the plight of the site, which is being degraded by the many tourists that come to see it, he told OurAmazingPlanet. He said he wants people to visit but that they need to stick to marked paths to avoid exacerbating Machu Picchu's worsening erosion and degradation. ?The World Monuments Fund, a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historic sites, recently placed Machu Picchu on its watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world because of environmental degradation due to tourism.

Cremer used a robotic mount to take the picture. He said he was questioned by security guards asking to see his photography permit and he had to pause shooting to wait for tourists to move out of the way.

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Incan site in Peru that sits 7,970 feet (2,430 meters) above sea level on the eastern slope of the Andes. It is believed to have been built by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the ninth ruler of the Inca, in the mid-1400s. Many archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as a royal estate of sorts.

In 1911, explorer Hiram Bingham III, a Yale professor, visited the site and published its existence for the first time. The buildings were made without mortar (typical of the Inca), their granite stones quarried and precisely cut.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/visit-machu-picchu-huge-zoomable-image-203830922.html

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Backed Or Whacked: An NFC Reader And Writer For iOS That Developers Can Hack

Editor?s note:?Ross Rubin?is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive. No, the Flomio FloJack doesn't track stolen boats with GPS. In the spirit of the Square credit card reader, the device plugs into the headphone jack of mobile iOS or legacy Android mobile devices to read and write data via NFC.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KjnVd24Qvhc/

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