Each Door Direct Mail? (EDDM) is really a popular service from america Postal Service that helps make delivering flyers to nearby homes easier and more affordable than previously. In the past, planning a direct mail campaign triggered headaches and major bills, but now you are able to do everything online in under 10 minutes.
The service lets small enterprises (contractors, pizza shops, medical practices, etc) target local households and businesses dependant on their geographical location. You no longer would need to mail to an entire Zip Code or waste money mailing to ?bad parts. ? In fact, now you can select your distribution areas because of the carrier route level (similar to neighborhoods). This level of control makes it possible to target the best prospective customers and increase your MOTOROLA ROI - all while spending less than ever before on a turnkey one on one mail campaign.
Depending on your type of business, and your marketing message, you can mail flyers, brochures, postcards, and even takeout selections with coupons. But when it comes to designing Every Door One on one Mail? materials, you should follow some key best practices.
3 Tips for EDDM Flyers:
The bigger the better- flyers which might be big and bold catch a persons vision of the consumer and stand as well as letters, envelopes, and other mailpieces which deliver to homes each day. Also, larger flyers provide more space that you can include coupons or promotional offers along with text and images.
Colorful and vibrant designs always generate an increased response rate. Think about it, would you rather see a graphic of a delicious garlic bread in full-color or paper? It?s a no-brainer! Images sell.
Keep it simple, highlight the benefits and. When it comes for you to designing EDDM flyers, your best offers ought to be immediately visible and an easy task to digest. Don?t overwhelm the reader or give them too much information. If you have a great coupon or special present, build the design all-around it. This way your information will catch the holder?s eye faster and increase your possible opportunity to convert them into a sale.
By following these 3 simple design tips, your Every Door Direct Mail? campaign look better, stand out more, and perform better after you add up the revenue numbers. Always choose an EDDM provider to help you with the design, printing, and mailing service was required to make your marketing a success
Looking for direct mail design then for more details do checkout at direct mail templates.
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In the next week or so we'll be canceling cable and relying on an HD antenna, apple TV and the internet. I've... fb.me/1EfluNYt1il y a environ 6 heuresvia FacebookRetweeted by 1 person
Suggestions For Small Business Web Marketing Campaigns
Article by Toffee Hong
For a small company, web marketing campaigns are especially important ? frequently businesses which are just starting put a large quantity of limited resources into a campaign, banking on its success. These tips can help any company become more successful with their web advertising endeavors and more successful overall also. They include beginning small in terms of what to do initial, performing it correct the first time around rather than making a negative presence online, and asking for help exactly where it?s needed instead of roughing it alone.
Begin Easy
You will find a lot of various techniques and directions to go with an internet marketing campaign it can be difficult to know where to begin, exactly where the maximum earnings lie and how you can proceed in general. If this is the case for you, try beginning small but powerful, with a few of the leading web advertising techniques, such as a great solid expert website, weblog with interactive features and social media platforms. These are best when produced by a professional, but most small business owners can deal with creating these initial actions to some extent. Keep in mind to maintain it 1 hundred percent expert, courteous and inviting to potential clients.
Do it Right
A fatal mistake for internet marketing campaigns is often that issues had been attempted, but in a halfhearted way that didn?t result in profits, but actually produced a negative impression on online viewers and required alterations and total makeovers to bounce back. For the business owner, this is a waste of time, money and energy, so it is important to do things correct the first time about. If this indicates hiring somebody to help using the methods you?re not familiar with, so be it ? the outcomes will be far more positive if things are carried out professionally and properly the first time about the block.
Ask for Assist
It?s difficult for company owners, especially small company owners who are just beginning out and attempting to prove themselves, to ask for help. However with internet marketing it?s very important to do so if required. Taking on too much by your self can result in negative effects in advertising and your entire company, while hiring someone to help with these internet marketing methods and an whole campaign can help you feel more in manage, like your personal boss, and provide you with more time to focus on other vital day-to-day tasks in a business. Asking for assist then is not weakness or an inability to do it, but merely admitting that you haven?t the time to do it yourself and have the sense to realize you need the help.
These suggestions are evident when you begin learning much more about web marketing, how to go about doing it, selecting a professional and understanding the leading methods involved. Utilizing them can empower you as a business owner and assist increase your new customers, earnings and confidence in your business. They are also tips that apply to other company tasks, like managing staff, making a brand image and giving great consumer service for the new and existing clients.
About the Author
Get inside info on how local internet marketing can assist your business now in our guide to all you need to know about local online marketing.
www.tillmansmeats.com Enjoy the family like atmosphere of an old fashioned butcher shop right in Jacksonville, Florida at Tillman?s Meats. You?ll find all of your favorite steaks, poultry, pork and specialty products as well as a on-site bakery for all your desert needs. When you need that great piece of meat for tonight?s cookout, go to Tillman?s
The city of Chicago has ordered 500 Ford Police Interceptor sedans and SUVs from Ford Motor Co., the largest order to date for the new vehicles, the automaker said today.
Read more from the original source: Ford books order for 500 Police Interceptor sedans, SUVs
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If there is one thing kids love more than eating pizza, it?s being able to make it themselves using all their favorite toppings. Creating a ?make it yourself? pizza party is a great way to customize the meal while involving friends and family in a fun activity. Best of all, this crust recipe, which uses a surprise ingredient, is simple enough to make at home without making a mess of the kitchen.
The secret to this simple crust is the addition of potatoes. Idahoan brand flavored Mashed Potatoes were recently named the best-tasting instant mashed potato compared to major national competitors by the American Culinary ChefsBest.T Incorporating these convenient, 100 percent authentic Idaho potatoes in the crust adds moisture and rich flavor to this homemade version of one of America?s favorite foods.
The following recipe for Fresh Tomato and Zucchini Pizza uses fresh summer produce; however, when making pizza at home, each person can substitute his or her favorite toppings. With this versatile recipe, you can enjoy a delicious homemade meal that enables everyone to eat the pizza that they love.
Fresh Tomato
And Zucchini Pizza
Crust:
1/2 cup dry Idahoan Roasted Garlic flavored Mashed Potatoes
1 cup boiling water
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Topping:
3 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced and patted dry
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and ground pepper to taste
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons fresh shredded basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
Combine dry Idahoan Roasted Garlic flavored Mashed Potatoes with boiling water in a bowl, using a fork to moisten all potatoes. Let stand for one minute. Add flour, olive oil and salt to potato mixture. With hands, knead mixture until dough forms a ball. Let rest 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400? F. Press dough into 12-inch by 8-inch baking pan. Arrange zucchini slices and tomato slices over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake about 15 minutes. Top with mozzarella; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with basil.
Yield: 4 main-dish servings or 6 appetizer servings
Should you wish for additional details on pos software there is plenty of details not covered in this post, take a look at Author?s website to uncover further details.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]ContributorNetwork - GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney spent the day in Michigan on Friday, in an attempt to drum up more support ahead of the state's hotly-contested primary on Tuesday. Romney held his largest event of the day at Ford Field, where he spoke in front of the Detroit Economic Club.
A satellite tv phone is comparable to a telephone gadget, which directs signals to be able to satellite which can be then given to PSTN (Public Moved Telephone Community) or other conversation networks iridium phone. Put simply, it is a cellphone that uses orbiting satellites being a medium regarding communication rather than using terrestrial mobile towers. The satellite portable coverage can easily cover complete earth or possibly a specific area.
The portable equipment employed in this startup is also known as a Sat phone. These phones once had retractable antennas throughout older times but the latest phones act like mobiles telephones and have interior antennas.
Three different types of satellite methods are used throughout satellite conversation iridium satellite phone. They differ according to the form of orbit they follow across the earth which enable it to be grouped as follows:
Geo-stationary satellites: These types of satellites are placed 25,000 mls above the equator. These kinds of satellites comprehensive one trend around the earth in A day and stay in fixed place above the world?s surface. An individual geo-stationary satellite handles 40 percent regarding earth?s area, whereas some satellites are required to cover the entire surface of the earth.
Low-earth-orbit satellites: Most of these satellites they fit a few hundred miles over the earth at a stationary altitude. They comprehensive one trend around the earth within 90 minutes. The conversation system is established in a way that no less than one satellite is line of look at any given time and also at any specific level on the earth.
Satellite orbiting throughout Elliptical design: These types of satellites move quick around the earth when they are put at a decrease altitude, yet move slowly any time placed at a higher altitude.
Limitations regarding Satellite Cell phones:Satellite telephones work well as long as there is a crystal clear line of vision between the atmosphere and its antenna. They don?t operate properly if you find frequent obstructions between the phone device and the particular satellite. Hills, trees, complexes and other interferences can work as a hurdle in their connectivity. Therefore the unit do not operate properly any time used in the house.
Area of Make use of: Satellite telephones are used thoroughly in save and reduction operations. Explorers and adventurers rely on these to to communicate throughout areas where land lines or cellular mobile phone solutions are not obtainable. Reporters additionally heavily rely on sat telephones to post smashing news through remote tremendous mountain regions for instance those in Afghanistan while others parts of the world. Also, folks traveling on the Caribbean vacation cruise can contact their families with such phones.
The crucial Indian patent case concerning Novartis? anticancer Glivec (imatinib mesylate) and its rejection due to Section 3(d), a controversial provision in India?s patent law, comes up for hearing next week, amid hope and concern for the parties involved.
The case is set to be heard on 28 February, before the Supreme Court, with NGOs and health activists claiming that a Novartis win would cut off Indian supplies not just within the country but also across much of the developing world.
The stakes are high for Novartis too and perhaps much of Big Pharma. Glivec is patented in about 40 countries including China and Taiwan. Asked how important a favourable ruling for Novartis would be in terms of its overall India outlook, and as an opportunity barometer, Ranjit Shahani, vice chairman and managing director of Novartis India told?Scrip?that the ruling is important for ?all innovators, national and global?, having a presence or wanting to have a presence in India.
?This is about safeguarding incentives for better medicines so that patients? needs will be met in future. As a manufacturer of generics, Novartis understands and recognises the contribution of generics once drug patents expire; our concern is with the non-recognition of intellectual property rights that ultimately help sustain and advance pharmaceutical R&D,? he said, adding that India is a formidable world power with international rights and obligations.
Mr Shahani said that patents provide an incentive to the pharmaceutical industry to invest in the development of new medicines to treat diseases that are currently untreatable or incurable, and provide options when patients develop resistance to older drugs. Novartis has, however, all along stressed that generic versions of Glivec would remain on the Indian market regardless of the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court, since Indian law allows generics launched before January 2005 [when India implemented a product patent regime] to stay on the market.
The company also said that generics alone will not solve the issue of access and that even its critics recognise that generic versions of Glivec are not the solution for the poor in India, with the real barriers to access in India being issues such as lack of diagnosis, infrastructure and distribution.?Dr Paul Herrling, Head of Corporate Research at Novartis, dismisses the argument that a win at the Supreme Court for the company would result in patients losing access to Glivec. ?More than 95% of all patients diagnosed with CML in India receive their medicine free of charge through the Glivec International Patient Assistance Program (GIPAP). Whether we win or lose that will be maintained? he told?Scrip.
The drug is used to treat patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).While imatinib mesylate is sold by Novartis in India for Rs.1,20,000 ($2,400) per patient per month, Indian generic companies sell generic versions for Rs. 8,000 ? 10,000 ($160 ? 200) per patient per month.
?The poor cannot even afford the generic versions, which would be allowed to be sold even if the patent was granted, and so we have to find more innovative ways of getting the drug to those patients. Our fundamental position is that we always try to find ways of getting life-saving drugs to patients who cannot afford them. These include public-private partnerships, tiered pricing arrangements and shared contribution models in addition to donation programs.,? he added.
Activists and NGOs, though, will have none of that. They argue that Novartis is attempting to get the legal framework for examining patent applications in India relaxed. If Novartis wins this case, it will affect not only the examination of patent applications related to imatinib and its improved formulations, but also, critically, all other essential and life saving drugs, including those for AIDS and TB treatment, Leena Menghaney, India manager of the M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF) Access Campaign, said.
?By taking this to the highest court in India, it means that the manner in which section 3(d) ? the clause against evergreening ? is interpreted will be applied across the four patent offices in the country,? Ms Menghaney added. A Novartis win, NGOs claim, will put pressure on Indian patent offices to grant other patent applications on improvements of drugs which are currently off-patent in India.
India?s Intellectual Property Appellate Board had earlier rejected Novartis? patent application for Glivec on the grounds that the product did not meet the criteria set under Section 3(d) of India?s Patent Act. This section broadly deals with incremental inventions that are not patentable unless they show improved efficacy or unless a known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant.
Predictability
Novartis, which had earlier claimed that the current case does not challenge Section 3(d), says that it needs a ?predictable? interpretation of section 3(d). It, however believes that section 3(d), intended as a hurdle for evergreening, was ?never? applicable to Glivec.
Novartis claims that the patent that was granted on the pure molecule should have no bearing on the application for the patent covering the salt as the original was never sold as a drug.
Mr Shahani explained that for any industry and for any law, interpretation must be predictable in that it is not left to ?subjective? interpretation. ?This gains importance for all technology innovators including the pharmaceutical industry. We are seeking clarity on whether we can rely on patents in India and whether we as a research-based organisation can continue to invest in the development of better medicines for India. The case is now before the Supreme Court and it is expected that the decision of the Court will be made by applying universally accepted principles of law without prejudice to any party,? he said.
NGOs claim it?s the generic industry that?s threatened by litigation, which affects predictability of generic production, instead. They claim that for Novartis and many other pharmaceutical companies patents are not synonymous with innovation and are also used very often to legally ?fence in or block? generic competitors. They also claim that the interpretation of the definition of ?efficacy? [under Section 3d] is central to this case and to the future of India?s role as pharmacy of the developing world.
Dr Herrling thinks the biggest losers, should the Supreme Court uphold the findings of the previous courts, will be India?s burgeoning innovator pharmaceutical companies and Indian patients who might find access to life-saving medicines more difficult.?Novartis? special leave petition before the Supreme Court of India challenging the decision of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, which turned down its appeal for a patent on the beta-crystalline form of imatinib mesylate, and related petitions, was originally scheduled to be heard on 29 November 2011, but is now set to be heard on 28 February. Activist groups claim that the Attorney General of India, Goolam E Vahanvati, is expected to represent the government, with Novartis being represented by T R Andhyarujina and Gopal Subramaniam, senior counsels. Mr Subramaniam is a former Solicitor General of India.
The attorney general?s appointment comes after NGOs and health activists had been pressing for the appointment of the ?senior-most? legal advisor to the government of India to take on the line up of ?very senior and very expensive lawyers? that Novartis had appointed to the case that involves complex patentability issue. A confirmation on the attorney general?s appointment could not immediately be got.
Getting sick from dreaded diseases caused by pests will be one of the worst things that could happen to you and your family. It is very important that all forms of pests that can be found inside your house should be all eliminated and totally eradicated to ensure that everybody is safe from harm. If you are going to ask, what would be the best way in order to get rid of these pests it would be having pest control done.
Now that you know what should be done to totally eliminate all these pests, the next thing you must know as to why pest control is by far important and most sought after method to eradicate all pests lurking around inside your home:
1. Pest control is done by a skillful professional.
Pest control needs to be done by a third party, doing it on your own will bring a total disaster especially if you have no idea as to what you are looking for and how to deal with pests in the first place. This is the reason why you should opt for pest control which is done by a skillful professional whose main line of business is to get rid of pests from one home to the other. At least, you can be assured of that everything will be under control.
2. Use of a step-by-step procedure.
The good thing with pest control is that the person who is going to do this will have to follow a step-by-step procedure of which can lead to a more effective and faster results. Remember, the longer the pests will stay inside your house the longer you will be exposing you and your family to dreadful diseases and jeopardizing everyone's health. At least, following through with a standard procedure things will be done smoothly and pests will be eliminated faster.
3. Proper tools, equipment and chemicals are used for effective results.
Of course a professional will not go to battle unarmed. With pest control you can be assured that the person who is going to do the dirty job will be able to perform and render the service good through the help of using the proper tools, equipment and chemicals in order to obtained effective results. All these stuff plus the skills of the service provider will bring about the success of totally eliminating pests inside your home in no time.
There you have it three reasons as to why pest control is the proper and the most effective way of which you can totally eliminate pests inside your home. Now, you can definitely say that your family is safe from harm and you can do whatever you want inside your home without having to worry about pests and what they can do to you and your family's well-being.
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Drexel engineering research brings seven adult-sized humanoid robots together for first time in USPublic release date: 21-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Britt Faulstick britt.faulstick@drexel.edu 215-895-2617 Drexel University
PHILADELPHIA (February 21, 2012) Seven adult-sized humanoid robots took the stage during Drexel University's celebration of National Engineers Week, in a first-of-its-kind assembly of robotic technology. A showcase event on Feb. 20 introduced all seven of the Korean HUBO robots to the community. Their presence -together in one place- is a unique event that serves as a key milestone for a nationwide, collaborative robotics research effort funded by the National Science Foundation.
Each robot is 1.3 meters, or about 4-feet, 3-inches, tall. They are fully actuated, which means that they have similar joints and movement capabilities to that of a human, including arms, legs and hands with fully functional fingers and an opposable thumb.
"This is an historic event," said Dr. Youngmoo Kim, an associate professor and assistant dean of media technologies in the College of Engineering and the director of the Music and Entertainment Technology (MET) Lab. "Never before have seven adult-sized, fully actuated humanoids appeared on stage together, so it's truly a milestone in robotics research."
Roots of the Robot Project
This gathering of robots is the fruition of seeds planted in 2008 when Drexel received a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation's Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) Program with the goal of training engineers to work in global multi-disciplined design teams. This project, in close collaboration with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) HUBO Lab, enables Drexel and KAIST researchers to share training and knowledge and to work with the same world-class humanoid robot platform from different continents.
Dr. Paul Oh, the head of the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics department, who headed the initial HUBO robot research in 2008, helped bring the first humanoid robot, named Jaemi Hubo, to Drexel in the spring of 2009 as part of the NSF PIRE grant. Oh's students traveled to Korea to work with the HUBO robot platform and learn how to program and operate the robots.
"Humanoids provide an exciting and practical context to both motivate and train American students," Oh said. "One can argue that humanoids are the epitome of what one perceives to be a robot. As such, they are an attractive area for engineering students to work on. Students quickly learn that Asia is the world-leader in humanoid design. Thus to become humanoid designers, students recognize that working alongside robot engineers in Asia is important."
"The KAIST Hubo served as an effective platform to train students in both complex systems engineering and working in international design teams. The net effect is that humanoids have been an effective medium to make today's American engineer more effective in a globalized work environment."
From One to Seven
Since the arrival of Jaemi Hubo in 2009, making Drexel the only institution in the United States to have full-access to an adult-sized humanoid, engineers in Drexel's Autonomous Systems Lab (DASL) have been accumulating experience, knowledge, and best practices as well as training others for advanced humanoids research.
Drexel engineers have also pursued projects that enable the robot to interact more naturally with humans. Students in Drexel's Music, Entertainment, Technology Laboratory (MET-lab) introduced algorithms that direct Jaemi Hubo to dance to music, play the piano, and accompany music with a tambourine. These efforts are part of research toward making the robot musically aware, which, according to Kim, places it on the path toward autonomous human interaction.
"Our world is designed by humans for humans. To be truly useful as assistive devices, robots need to be able to deal with all of the various challenges of the real world and must have the skills and abilities to interact appropriately with humans."
In August of 2010, the NSF awarded a $6 million grant to a group of institutions led by Drexel to further advance humanoid robotics research in the United States. This Major Research Infrastructure (MRI) grant allowed six additional HUBO units to be brought to the United States.
"To date, all adult-sized humanoids have been individual custom-made units, and advances made using one design do not necessarily translate to others," Kim said.
Since current humanoids are not ready for unconstrained interaction with humans, having a consistent platform will facilitate rapid progress in areas needed for autonomy and natural interaction, including mobility, manipulation, vision, speech communication and cognition, and learning.
Researchers from the seven collaborating schools, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Tech, the University of Southern California, Ohio State, Purdue and Penn will travel to Drexel to receive training on operating the robots. Eventually, each robot will be sent off to its new home institution where researchers will be able to work directly the HUBO unit, while continuing to collaborate with their counterpart teams across the country.
"Our partners represent a critical mass of humanoids research and brainpower, and this effort will, for the first time, enable researchers to work with a common instrument," Kim said. "Building upon the unique expertise we have developed at Drexel in assembling and maintaining HUBO, this project will rapidly advance the state of the art in humanoid robotics research."
Taking the Next Step
From leading a game of "Simon Says" to recognizing and greeting administrators, the HUBO robot has already taken big steps toward autonomous human interaction. Part of Drexel's role in the project is to outfit each robot with high fidelity sensors for audio, visual, and tactile sensing, as well as new software to integrate this sensory input from the environment. These new capabilities and the world-class research team involved in this partnership provide an ideal foundation for taking giant steps towards the development of fully interactive humanoids.
Ultimately, this MRI project facilitates potentially transformative advances in robotics, and eventually humanoid robotic assistants may become as commonplace as the Roomba robot vacuum cleaners. But achieving that goal requires advances spanning a broad range of areas and engineering of new technologies. Having access to a state-of-the-art humanoid platform enables US researchers to focus on our national strengths in artificial intelligence and human-robot interaction to make rapid progress towards truly useful robotic assistants.
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Drexel engineering research brings seven adult-sized humanoid robots together for first time in USPublic release date: 21-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Britt Faulstick britt.faulstick@drexel.edu 215-895-2617 Drexel University
PHILADELPHIA (February 21, 2012) Seven adult-sized humanoid robots took the stage during Drexel University's celebration of National Engineers Week, in a first-of-its-kind assembly of robotic technology. A showcase event on Feb. 20 introduced all seven of the Korean HUBO robots to the community. Their presence -together in one place- is a unique event that serves as a key milestone for a nationwide, collaborative robotics research effort funded by the National Science Foundation.
Each robot is 1.3 meters, or about 4-feet, 3-inches, tall. They are fully actuated, which means that they have similar joints and movement capabilities to that of a human, including arms, legs and hands with fully functional fingers and an opposable thumb.
"This is an historic event," said Dr. Youngmoo Kim, an associate professor and assistant dean of media technologies in the College of Engineering and the director of the Music and Entertainment Technology (MET) Lab. "Never before have seven adult-sized, fully actuated humanoids appeared on stage together, so it's truly a milestone in robotics research."
Roots of the Robot Project
This gathering of robots is the fruition of seeds planted in 2008 when Drexel received a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation's Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) Program with the goal of training engineers to work in global multi-disciplined design teams. This project, in close collaboration with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) HUBO Lab, enables Drexel and KAIST researchers to share training and knowledge and to work with the same world-class humanoid robot platform from different continents.
Dr. Paul Oh, the head of the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics department, who headed the initial HUBO robot research in 2008, helped bring the first humanoid robot, named Jaemi Hubo, to Drexel in the spring of 2009 as part of the NSF PIRE grant. Oh's students traveled to Korea to work with the HUBO robot platform and learn how to program and operate the robots.
"Humanoids provide an exciting and practical context to both motivate and train American students," Oh said. "One can argue that humanoids are the epitome of what one perceives to be a robot. As such, they are an attractive area for engineering students to work on. Students quickly learn that Asia is the world-leader in humanoid design. Thus to become humanoid designers, students recognize that working alongside robot engineers in Asia is important."
"The KAIST Hubo served as an effective platform to train students in both complex systems engineering and working in international design teams. The net effect is that humanoids have been an effective medium to make today's American engineer more effective in a globalized work environment."
From One to Seven
Since the arrival of Jaemi Hubo in 2009, making Drexel the only institution in the United States to have full-access to an adult-sized humanoid, engineers in Drexel's Autonomous Systems Lab (DASL) have been accumulating experience, knowledge, and best practices as well as training others for advanced humanoids research.
Drexel engineers have also pursued projects that enable the robot to interact more naturally with humans. Students in Drexel's Music, Entertainment, Technology Laboratory (MET-lab) introduced algorithms that direct Jaemi Hubo to dance to music, play the piano, and accompany music with a tambourine. These efforts are part of research toward making the robot musically aware, which, according to Kim, places it on the path toward autonomous human interaction.
"Our world is designed by humans for humans. To be truly useful as assistive devices, robots need to be able to deal with all of the various challenges of the real world and must have the skills and abilities to interact appropriately with humans."
In August of 2010, the NSF awarded a $6 million grant to a group of institutions led by Drexel to further advance humanoid robotics research in the United States. This Major Research Infrastructure (MRI) grant allowed six additional HUBO units to be brought to the United States.
"To date, all adult-sized humanoids have been individual custom-made units, and advances made using one design do not necessarily translate to others," Kim said.
Since current humanoids are not ready for unconstrained interaction with humans, having a consistent platform will facilitate rapid progress in areas needed for autonomy and natural interaction, including mobility, manipulation, vision, speech communication and cognition, and learning.
Researchers from the seven collaborating schools, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Tech, the University of Southern California, Ohio State, Purdue and Penn will travel to Drexel to receive training on operating the robots. Eventually, each robot will be sent off to its new home institution where researchers will be able to work directly the HUBO unit, while continuing to collaborate with their counterpart teams across the country.
"Our partners represent a critical mass of humanoids research and brainpower, and this effort will, for the first time, enable researchers to work with a common instrument," Kim said. "Building upon the unique expertise we have developed at Drexel in assembling and maintaining HUBO, this project will rapidly advance the state of the art in humanoid robotics research."
Taking the Next Step
From leading a game of "Simon Says" to recognizing and greeting administrators, the HUBO robot has already taken big steps toward autonomous human interaction. Part of Drexel's role in the project is to outfit each robot with high fidelity sensors for audio, visual, and tactile sensing, as well as new software to integrate this sensory input from the environment. These new capabilities and the world-class research team involved in this partnership provide an ideal foundation for taking giant steps towards the development of fully interactive humanoids.
Ultimately, this MRI project facilitates potentially transformative advances in robotics, and eventually humanoid robotic assistants may become as commonplace as the Roomba robot vacuum cleaners. But achieving that goal requires advances spanning a broad range of areas and engineering of new technologies. Having access to a state-of-the-art humanoid platform enables US researchers to focus on our national strengths in artificial intelligence and human-robot interaction to make rapid progress towards truly useful robotic assistants.
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By Joseph Logan SANAA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - A blast tore through a polling station and gunfire nearby killed a soldier in south Yemen on Monday, the eve of a presidential election to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh and launch reforms after a year of mass protests and spreading anarchy. The violence in the port of Aden underlined the challenges Saleh's successor will face in seeking to prevent Yemen from becoming a failed state and draft a new constitution that would underpin multi-party elections in two years' time. After the explosion, which caused no casualties, unidentified gunmen opened fire on an army patrol in the vicinity, killing a soldier and wounding another, a security official said. It was unclear if the two incidents were related. A vehicle carrying ballot boxes had been attacked a day earlier. Interior Minister Abdul Qader Qahtan said security measures were in place but that some violence in the southern province of Abyan, an al Qaeda stronghold, was unavoidable. "There are preventive security measures to confront any contingency ... to confront any group that may attack people," Qahtan said. "Abyan still has many districts under the control of al Qaeda, there are security failures ... and an explosion here and there is expected." The fact that Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi will be the only candidate in the election, under a power transfer deal brokered by Yemen's Gulf neighbours, has raised concern about a low turnout that would curb his legitimacy. The vote would make Saleh, now in the United States for further treatment of burns suffered in a June assassination attempt, the fourth Arab autocrat to leave office in a year after revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. But prospects for a transition towards stable representative government remain uncertain at best given Saleh's vow to return home to lead his party anew, a split in the military, al Qaeda militants entrenched in the south, a Houthi Shi'ite Muslim revolt in the north and a secessionist movement in the south. "These elections are an important milestone for Yemen's transition," said U.N. Yemen envoy Jamal Benomar. "The new government should more actively engage with youth, the Houthis and the Southern Movement. The political process will remain in jeopardy if these constituencies remain outside the political process."
HADI IN SPOTLIGHT In a speech late on Monday, Hadi said Yemen had returned from the brink of collapse and called on the splintered military to help unify the Arabian Peninsula state, where chaos would threaten nearby oil shipping lanes crucial to the world economy. "In the past months Yemen has passed through unprecedented hardship, to the point where the most optimistic of observers expected it to become as fragmented, splintered and destroyed as Somalia," Hadi said. "We cannot talk about a stable nation without returning life to its natural state and removing the phenomena which have appeared, beginning with the split in the army." Tuesday's vote is part of a deal hammered out by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, anxious to avert a slide into lawlessness on their doorstep. Backed by the United States, the United Nations and European Union, the deal envisages a new constitution and a referendum paving the way for a multi-party election in two years. But Hadi's proximity to Saleh and his involvement in a process conceived by diplomats has alienated the Yemeni street, where thousands have camped in shabby tent cities demanding Saleh's removal. The deal's offer of immunity to Saleh from prosecution over the killing of protesters has only deepened those suspicions. "The elections are a political scenario mapped out in the GCC initiative but in its essence it is irrelevant to the true ideals of democracy," said Rana Jarhoum, 29, development worker. "Hadi is going to be elected anyway." Many also suspect that Hadi will be no more than a caretaker, put in place by Saleh, who has vowed to return after the vote and lead his General People's Congress (GPC) party. Members of Saleh's inner circle retain key positions of influence, not least his son Ahmed Ali, who commands the Republican Guards, and Yehia, his nephew, who heads the Central Security Forces. They are locked in a stand-off with tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar and dissident General Ali Mohsen. "The continuation of a divided military cannot be sustained. We have to have a reintegrated and reunified military leadership," said U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein. "There is still a high level of distrust and a lack of confidence between the two sides." TROUBLE IN THE NORTH A brewing conflict in the north could also complicate any return to stability and tap into longstanding concerns on the Arabian Peninsula that Shi'ite power Iran was trying to exploit Yemen's instability to spread its Islamic revolution. "We do see Iran trying to increase its presence here, in ways that we believe are unhelpful to Yemen's stability and security," Feierstein told Reuters in an interview. The Houthi rebels, who draw their name from a tribal leader, have effectively carved out their own state-within-a state thanks to a weakened central government. There is ongoing fighting between the Houthis, who are members of the Zaydi branch of Shi'ite Islam, and Salafis - Sunni Muslims whose puritanical creed mirrors doctrines widespread in Saudi Arabia. "We do definitely see a rise in Iranian finance, efforts on the part of Iran to increase its influence not only with Zaydi Shia elements but with Sunni elements as well," Feierstein said. "We do think that we have evidence of Iranian activities that will build up military capabilities as well. It's a relatively recent phenomenon. Iran is taking advantage of this period of political instability and loss of government control over large parts of the country." Iran denies meddling in Yemen. The Shi'ite Houthis have regained some of the momentum they lost when Saudi Arabia sent troops to the porous 1,460 km (910 mile) border in 2009 to intervene when Saleh's forces struggled to suppress the rebellion. The biggest fear is that Yemen's north becomes the stage for a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States. Washington is leading international efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear programme, which many countries believe is aimed at building atomic bombs, a charge Tehran denies. Saudi Arabia, the world's No. 1 oil exporter and close U.S. ally, has accused Iran of fomenting unrest among Shi'ite populations in its east and in neighbouring Bahrain. (Additional reporting by Isabel Coles in Dubai and Tom Finn in Sanaa; Writing by Reed Stevenson; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
We heard whispers of SkyDrivedesktop applications a few days ago. Today, Microsoft confirmed just that alongside a Metro-style offering for Windows 8 and other improvements to its cloud storage tech. In a post on the Building Windows 8 blog, the outfit discusses file sync via desktop app for easy drag-and-drop use -- much like we've become used to with Dropbox. The overhaul will support 2GB max file uploads through Windows Explorer and the desktop software will play nice with both Vista and Windows 7. Upgrades will also bring snappy, "touch-first" perusal of your files in a dedicated Windows 8 app and will offer accessibility in other Metro-syle applications should the need arise. The post states that "For app developers, this means that, so long as your app supports opening and saving documents and photos, it will automatically support SkyDrive without any additional work." Similar to its cloud storage competitor, SkyDrive will also enable remote access via its web site in case you need to "fetch" that presentation on a co-worker's PC. Still no word on extended storage options / pricing that we've heard rumblings about, though. For a closer look at the some of the tweaks, peep the gallery below or hit the source link for more on the particulars.
Every single web surfer knows the concept of a Internet or possibly Www. The web is certainly not however , something of interlocked hypertext paperwork. All of these paperwork are often coded in Hyper Content material Markup Language or possibly Html document. Html document aids bodily and mental backlinking and you will website link any information utilizing design, music, movie and the like. Presently we can?t create a planet not having online world. Men and women write about advice, communicate with 1 another, economy new product lines thru online world. Word wide web shows will be the conscience of Word wide web. Lacking shows, absolutely nothing can do via the internet. This is basically the building block associated with online business. A web designer composes limitations as well as takes advantage of shows gear want Flash, XML, Javascript, Html document and then for any many other shows different which are essential construct a online business. Below are some in the common net shows expert services which often web designers utilize to produce challenging and feature wealthy web pages. Using these net shows gear some people compose cleanser limitations as well as allow your online site gain a high position from search core good results. AJAX- The complete way of AJAX is Asynchronous JavaScript as well as XML. This can be a technique of increasing interrelated net enhancements which often approach client desires straight away. AJAX functions a lot of shows gear. With regard to slideshow function them functions Dynamic Html document (DHTML) as well as Flowing Style and design Bedsheets (Flash). With regard to computer data mind games as well as computer data display them functions Extensible Markup Language (XML). With regard to powerful display of strategy as well as connection function them functions Papers Target Product (Dominic). Further, it functions JavaScript to make sure you connect lots of the tasks. Google road is undoubtedly an Ajax dependent app. That is why them allows you to manipulate the results in the spotlight. On the internet road, you can easily immediately come across any sort of site on a overseas road as well as create faves in your nearly all researched places. Blogging platforms.Zero Programming- Blogging platforms.Zero shows is regarded as the growing trend presently. It gives you more effective urinary incontinence and gives much more liberation with the individuals. Blogging platforms.Zero is also generally known as ?social bookmarking.Ins A number of the common Blogging platforms.Zero web sites usually are Furl, Blinklist, Andel.icio.united states, Blogmarks, Kaboodle and the like. Social bookmark management advances search engine results positioning. Because a variety of users similar to a online business as well as Certified Medical Assistant Salary save them, this website gets to be a high detect from search core search engine positioning. Special (Usual Check out User interface)- By means of Special any hosting server might transmit or possibly bring computer data to make sure you data sources, paperwork together with other programs. Typically the main shows tongue around Special is Perl. After you hunt for anything on a website, Special inspects this article and presents the correct answer. Online resources want Facebook, Bing as well as WikiPedia utilize Special as a web development podium. Word wide web shows is approximately placing functionalities to the online business. By means of shows, you can easily get a new top features of your web page and share with any individuals an enjoyable experience. Word wide web shows is mostly a challenging approach. If you desire to construct a practical as well as convenient to use online business, use a skilled net shows business for the job. Yet, prior to deciding to hire a roofer, make perfectly sure that they may have the infrastructure to provide an individual good solution. Together with his / her builders as well as talk over your business needs together. For everybody who is pleased about his / her skills, basically in which case you might give them building your garden shed.
Those are some examples of what Facebook's outsourced content monitors must endure while filtering the Internet viscera, according to one who?spoke to Gawker's Adrian Chen. ?Animal abuse, "bad fights, a man beating another," and "KKK cropping up everywhere," were other examples provided by employees of oDesk, a California-based content-moderation service staffed by employees in India, Mexico, the Philippines and?Turkey who look at Facebook content.
The Internet can be a dark and horrible place, on this we should all agree. Despite the short-lived exceptions, such as the coordinated spam attack that littered Facebook with porn and gore in November, the social network remains a comparatively clean, well-lighted place. Thanks to a few disgruntled and/or traumatized content monitors in those countries, we now get a peek at how Facebook protects us, and more importantly, itself.
For every photo of a breast-feeding mother or nude drawing clumsily removed from Facebook, content monitors slog through overwhelming evidence of humanity at low tide. For the dirty job of censoring content on the social network that just filed a?$100 billion IPO, at least one former oDesk employee told Chen he earned $1 an hour. Amine Derkaoui, a 21-year-old Moroccan man,?vented to Chen about the oDesk job he describes as?humiliating exploitation of workers, and let loose some long-held mysteries on the why and the how of Facebook's censoring process.
Derkaoui shared a one-page cheat sheet for moderators with categories such as "Sex and Nudity," "Hate Content," "Graphic Content" and "Bullying and Harassment." Chen notes:
When it comes to sex and nudity, Facebook is strictly PG-13, according to the guidelines. Obvious sexual activity, even clothed, is deleted, as are "naked ?private parts' including female nipple bulges and naked butt cracks." But "male nipples are OK." Foreplay is allowed, "even for same sex (man-man/woman-woman)" Even the gays can grope each other on Facebook.
Facebook is more lenient when it comes to violence. Gory pictures are allowed, as long somebody's guts aren't spilling out. "Crushed heads, limbs etc are OK as long as no insides are showing," reads one guideline. "Deep flesh wounds are ok to show; excessive blood is ok to show."
Drugs are a mixed bag. Pictures of marijuana are explicitly allowed, though images of other illegal drugs "not in the context of medical, academic or scientific study" are deleted. As long as it doesn't appear you're a dealer, you can post as many pictures of your stash as you want.
Though the cheat sheet is marked current as of January, a Facebook spokesperson told Chen the cheat sheet "provided a snapshot in time of our standards with regards to [one of our] contractors," adding that up-to-date information could be found on the social network at www.facebook.com/CommunityStandards."?
Indeed, hours before Chen's original piece posted on Gawker, content monitors received an updated version of content monitor guidelines. Chen pointed out the prominent changes to the original:
In version 6.1, body fluids were banned. But in version 6.2, "bodily fluids (except semen) are ok to show unless a human being is captured in the process."
In version 6.1, all Photoshopped images of someone were banned, whether they were positive or negative. But in version 6.2, only photoshopped images that show someone in a negative light are banned.
All the pages now say "Proprietary and Confidential." Wonder why that is.
Here's what Facebook told msnbc.com in an official statement regarding its content-monitoring procedures:
"In an effort to quickly and efficiently process the millions of reports we receive every day, we have found it helpful to contract third parties to provide precursory classification of a small proportion of reported content. These contractors are subject to rigorous quality controls and we have implemented several layers of safeguards to protect the data of those using our service. Additionally, no user information beyond the content in question and the source of the report is shared.We have, and will continue, to escalate the most serious reports internally, and all decisions made by contractors are subject to extensive audits. ?
Of course, most of us are too busy complaining about the latest design change to think about?whose keeping that remaining bodily fluid?blocked in our News Feed. Chen notes, that's most likely how Facebook wants it. "If users knew exactly what criteria (were) being used to judge their content, they could hold Facebook to them," he writes. "It would be clear what Facebook was choosing to censor according to its policies, and what amounted to arbitrary censorship."
Still, considering what one might find via an accidental click on say, social news site Reddit, the job of an oDesk content monitor?is unenviable. As one monitor told Chen: "Think like that there is a sewer channel, and all of the mess/dirt/ waste/s*** of the world flow towards you and you have to clean it."
via Gawker
More on the annoying way we live now:
Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.
As of February, there are more than one million licensed Realtorsin the United States, and over 20,000 in the Houston? metro area. In theory, you wouldn?t expect it to be very hard to find one Houston Realtor.?That is, unless you?re picky about finding the best one to help you make the best deal when it comes to selling your own home.
Before we go much further, I should mention that the ?Realtor? name itself is the copyright-protected term for a dues-paying member of the National Association of Realtors. Although Texas grants the license that allows agents and brokers to conduct business, the NAR minds the store for internal trade matters. But they don?t answer the original question, ?Where is the agent with the expertise to help ME right now??
Making this choice is vital. After all, millions of Americans decide that it?s pretty smart to pay 6% of the sales price to the Realtorwho helps them sell a home. All they ask in return is for the agent to determine the home?s market value; to list it attractively in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) so other agents know about it; to devise and execute an advertising campaign that will market the home to the public; and then to conduct the safari that leads all parties through the thicket of paperwork and processes that complete the typical real estate transaction.
So then ? how do you find a Houston Realtor? Here are a few tips:
This is the most effective way to find a good Realtor?. Ask family, friends, neighbors and folks at work. Ask the lady at the grocery store checkout, your hair stylist, people at the gym. Try to put together a list of at least three candidate Realtors? ? more is better.
This need not be as time-consuming as it sounds. It?s easy to be clear and honest when you speak with the candidates. Let them know that this is a preliminary interview, not a request for a listing presentation. In fact, the interview can take place over the phone.
There are lots of questions you may want to ask the Realtor? during the interview, but one is the most important: the names and phone numbers of at least two former clients and three current clients.
This is the time-consuming part, but it will be worth it. Call each reference for every agent. Questions to ask past clients include:
How effective were the agent?s marketing efforts?What was done to market your home?
Did the agent communicate with you frequently throughout the process?
Would you use this agent again?
Questions to ask current clients:
Why did you choose this particular Realtor??Do you feel you made the right choice?
Was the agent easy to reach by telephone?Were your calls returned promptly?
How effective do you feel the Realtor?s? marketing efforts?What changes would you like to see, if any?
Request a Presentation
Call back the agents who get good reviews and request a listing presentation. This should be a two-step process: the agent views the house and returns after crunching the numbers and compiling a comparative market analysis (a ?CMA?).
Take a good long look at the agent?s CMA. Not only is this report an explanation of how he or she determined your home?s current market value, it?s also really the agent?s calling card. This is their only chance to impress you with their expertise, so it?s also your back-door way of checking their marketing skills in action. Is the CMA bound? Is it customized ? or merely a bunch of MLS printouts thrown together?
Bottom line: did the agent knock it out of the park with this presentation? Remember, marketing is everything in today?s tough market.
Selling a house is big business. It?s a truism that it?s just about the most important transaction anyone makes. It?s also the reason you will never regret taking your time to find the right Realtor.
A new study links high levels of nighttime artificial light with high rates of prostate cancer. The study, conducted jointly by the University of Haifa and the University of Connecticut, analyzed data collected by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and found that the highest rates of prostate cancer occur in countries with the brightest lights at night.
The researchers weighed several factors when determining the ?amount of artificial light per night per person,? including a country?s consumption of electricity, density of urban population, and overall socioeconomic status. They then divided countries into three groups according to the average amount of light per person: little exposure, medium exposure, and high exposure.
Countries with low exposure had 66.77 prostate cancer patients per 100,000 people. For countries with medium exposure, the rate increased 30 percent to 87.11 patients per 100,000. Countries with the highest exposure jumped 80 percent to 157 patients per 100,000. The researchers say there is a definite cause and effect between artificial light and prostate cancer, but no one can explain the mechanism, although there are several theories, such as light at night upsetting the body?s biological clock.
In a previous study, the same researchers found a similar link between light at night and breast cancer.?
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Public release date: 21-Feb-2012
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