The 7 Cs of Communication - A Checklist for Clear Communication ...

Think of how often you communicate with people during your day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate with your colleagues? the list goes on.

We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, how can we provide a huge boost to our productivity? We can make sure that we communicate in the clearest, most effective way possible.

This is why the 7 Cs of Communication are helpful. The 7 Cs provide a checklist for making sure that your meetings, emails, conference calls, reports, and presentations are well constructed and clear ? so your audience gets your message.

According to the 7 Cs, communication needs to be:

Clear.

Concise.

Concrete.

Correct.

Coherent.

Complete.

Courteous.

In this article, we look at each of the 7 Cs of Communication, and we?ll illustrate each element with both good and bad examples.

1. Clear

When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If you?re not sure, then your audience won?t be sure either.

To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that it?s easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldn?t have to ?read between the lines? and make assumptions on their own to understand what you?re trying to say.

Bad Example

Hi John,

I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel, who?s working in your department. He?s a great asset, and I?d like to talk to you more about him when you have time.

Best,

Skip

What is this email about? Well, we?re not sure. First, if there are multiple Daniels in John?s department, John won?t know who Skip is talking about.

Next, what is Daniel doing, specifically, that?s so great? We don?t know that either. It?s so vague that John will definitely have to write back for more information.

Last, what is the purpose of this email? Does Skip simply want to have an idle chat about Daniel, or is there some more specific goal here? There?s no sense of purpose to this message, so it?s a bit confusing.

Good Example

Let?s see how we could change this email to make it clear.

Hi John,

I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel Kedar, who?s working in your department. In recent weeks, he?s helped the IT department through several pressing deadlines on his own time.

We?ve got a tough upgrade project due to run over the next three months, and his knowledge and skills would prove invaluable. Could we please have his help with this work?

I?d appreciate speaking with you about this. When is it best to call you to discuss this further?

Best wishes,

Skip

This second message is much clearer, because the reader has the information he needs to take action.

2. Concise

When you?re concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesn?t want to read six sentences when you could communicate your message in three.

Are there any adjectives or ?filler words? that you can delete? You can often eliminate words like ?for instance,? ?you see,? ?definitely,? ?kind of,? ?literally,? ?basically,? or ?I mean.?

Are there any unnecessary sentences?

Have you repeated the point several times, in different ways?

Bad Example

Hi Matt,

I wanted to touch base with you about the email marketing campaign we kind of sketched out last Thursday. I really think that our target market is definitely going to want to see the company?s philanthropic efforts. I think that could make a big impact, and it would stay in their minds longer than a sales pitch.

For instance, if we talk about the company?s efforts to become sustainable, as well as the charity work we?re doing in local schools, then the people that we want to attract are going to remember our message longer. The impact will just be greater.

What do you think?

Jessica

This email is too long! There?s repetition, and there?s plenty of ?filler? taking up space.

Good Example

Watch what happens when we?re concise and take out the filler words:

Hi Matt,

I wanted to quickly discuss the email marketing campaign that we analyzed last Thursday. Our target market will want to know about the company?s philanthropic efforts, especially our goals to become sustainable and help local schools.

This would make a far greater impact, and it would stay in their minds longer than a traditional sales pitch.

What do you think?

Jessica

3. Concrete

When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what you?re telling them. There are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and there?s laserlike focus. Your message is solid.

Bad Example

Consider this advertising copy:

The Lunchbox Wizard will save you time every day.

A statement like this probably won?t sell many of these products. There?s no passion, no vivid detail, nothing that creates emotion, and nothing that tells people in the audience why they should care. This message isn?t concrete enough to make a difference.

Good Example

How much time do you spend every day packing your kids? lunches? No more! Just take a complete Lunchbox Wizard from your refrigerator each day to give your kids a healthy lunch AND have more time to play or read with them!

This copy is better because there are vivid images. The audience can picture spending quality time with their kids ? and what parent could argue with that? And mentioning that the product is stored in the refrigerator explains how the idea is practical. The message has come alive through these details.

4. Correct

When your communication is correct, it fits your audience. And correct communication is also error-free communication.

Do the technical terms you use fit your audience?s level of education or knowledge?

Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? Remember, spell checkers won?t catch everything.

Are all names and titles spelled correctly?

Bad Example

Hi Daniel,

Thanks so much for meeting me at lunch today! I enjoyed our conservation, and I?m looking forward to moving ahead on our project. I?m sure that the two-weak deadline won?t be an issue.

Thanks again, and I?ll speak to you soon!

Best,

Jack Miller

If you read that example fast, then you might not have caught any errors. But on closer inspection, you?ll find two. Can you see them?

The first error is that the writer accidentally typed conservation instead of conversation. This common error can happen when you?re typing too fast. The other error is using weak instead of week.

Again, spell checkers won?t catch word errors like this, which is why it?s so important to proofread everything!

5. Coherent

When your communication is coherent, it?s logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.

Bad Example

Traci,

I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she wanted to make sure you knew about the department meeting we?re having this Friday. We?ll be creating an outline for the new employee handbook.

Thanks,

Michelle

As you can see, this email doesn?t communicate its point very well. Where is Michelle?s feedback on Traci?s report? She started to mention it, but then she changed the topic to Friday?s meeting.

Good Example

Hi Traci,

I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she let me know that there are a few changes that you?ll need to make. She?ll email you her detailed comments later this afternoon.

Thanks,

Michelle

Notice that in the good example, Michelle does not mention Friday?s meeting. This is because the meeting reminder should be an entirely separate email. This way, Traci can delete the report feedback email after she makes her changes, but save the email about the meeting as her reminder to attend. Each email has only one main topic.

6. Complete

In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if applicable, take action.

Does your message include a ?call to action?, so that your audience clearly knows what you want them to do?

Have you included all relevant information ? contact names, dates, times, locations, and so on?

Bad Example

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the meeting we?re having tomorrow!

See you then,

Chris

This message is not complete, for obvious reasons. What meeting? When is it? Where? Chris has left his team without the necessary information.

Good Example

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow?s meeting on the new telecommuting policies. The meeting will be at 10:00 a.m. in the second-level conference room. Please let me know if you can?t attend.

See you then,

Chris

7. Courteous

Courteous communication is friendly, open, and honest. There are no hidden insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader?s viewpoint in mind, and you?re empathetic to their needs.

Bad Example

Jeff,

I wanted to let you know that I don?t appreciate how your team always monopolizes the discussion at our weekly meetings. I have a lot of projects, and I really need time to get my team?s progress discussed as well. So far, thanks to your department, I haven?t been able to do that. Can you make sure they make time for me and my team next week?

Thanks,

Phil

Well, that?s hardly courteous! Messages like this can potentially start officewide fights. And this email does nothing but create bad feelings, and lower productivity and morale. A little bit of courtesy, even in difficult situations, can go a long way.

Good Example

Hi Jeff,

I wanted to write you a quick note to ask a favor. During our weekly meetings, your team does an excellent job of highlighting their progress. But this uses some of the time available for my team to highlight theirs. I?d really appreciate it if you could give my team a little extra time each week to fully cover their progress reports.

Thanks so much, and please let me know if there?s anything I can do for you!

Best,

Phil

What a difference! This email is courteous and friendly, and it has little chance of spreading bad feelings around the office.

?

Variations

There are a few variations of the 7 Cs of Communication:

Credible ? Does your message improve or highlight your credibility? This is especially important when communicating with an audience that doesn?t know much about you.

Creative ? Does your message communicate creatively? Creative communication helps keep your audience engaged.

Key Points

All of us communicate every day. The better we communicate, the more credibility we?ll have with our clients, our boss, and our colleagues.

Use the 7 Cs of Communication as a checklist for all of your communication. By doing this, you?ll stay clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous.

Article found on website

Source: http://www.deliverfreedom.com/blog/the-7-cs-of-communication-a-checklist-for-clear-communication/

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Shark finning hitting Gulf sharks hard

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Armed with a clip board and wearing bright yellow waders, Rima Jabado looked the part of a government inspector at the Dubai fish market as workers sawed the fins off hundreds of dead sharks from Oman and bagged them for export to Asian restaurants.

But the 33-year-old Lebanese-Canadian doctoral student was not chatting with fisherman on the market's slippery floors and jotting down notes to monitor the lucrative and largely unregulated trade that has decimated stocks of certain sharks, but rather to document what species are being caught in the waters across the Persian Gulf.

"The government will not react unless we give them actual data," said Jabado, as she raced to take genetic samples from the sharks before their carcasses were carted off and fins auctioned to the highest bidder.

"The problem is that I'm the only one doing research. There is not enough being done in the UAE and the region," she said. "We know shark populations are depleting around the world so we are kind of racing against time to see what is going on."

Fishermen across the globe kill as many as 70 million sharks each year for their fins, which can sell for $700 a pound (450 grams), while the soup prized for Chinese banquets and weddings can cost $100 a bowl. The fin trade has devastated several species including hammerheads, oceanic whitetip, blue, threshers and silky and contributed to 181 shark and ray species being listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as threatened with extinction.

The trade is legal, though efforts are being made to ban the practice of "finning" ? hacking the fins off of sharks and throwing the rest overboard, often while they are still alive. Four years ago, under international pressure, the UAE joined the growing number of countries banning the practice.

Spain is top among 82 countries that export fins, mostly to Hong Kong and other Asian markets, followed by Singapore and Taiwan, according to Sonja Fordham, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Shark Advocates International. The United Arab Emirates is ranked fourth mostly because it is a regional hub for the trade in sharks coming predominantly from Oman but also from Yemen, Iran and Africa.

The trade thrives in the Gulf, as it does worldwide, shark conservationists said, mainly because there aren't enough people out there like Jabado. The fast-talking Jabado, who favors a white bandanna, black T-shirt and trousers when she is in the field, is the only person in the UAE assessing shark numbers.

Governments in the region have until now largely ignored sharks in favor of more commercial fish species like grouper.

They have almost no data on the numbers and species of sharks that can be found from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Oman, often lack the laws that would curb the trade and don't have the money or the political will to enforce the laws they do have on the books, such as bans on shark fishing.

"In an ideal world what we would have is every population of every shark monitored so we know how many adults there are," said Nick Dulvy, a Canadian researcher who is the co-chair of IUCN's Shark Specialist Group that is tasked with determining which species are endangered.

The challenges were laid bare at a shark conservation workshop in the UAE this month. Governments from across the Gulf sent representatives and all offered testimony of just why their country wasn't doing more to protect sharks.

Kuwait talked of protecting two shark species but admitted enforcement of its ban on shark fishing was weak and that government inspectors and fishermen couldn't even identify them. Saudi Arabia claimed it banned the export of fins in 2008 but had no answers as to why its fins continue to turn up in Hong Kong markets. Oman sent a government team with no experience with sharks while Bahrain and the UAE admitted they lacked sufficient data to determine whether sharks were overfished in their waters.

"Our hands are tied because of insufficient data," Mohammed Tabish, a fisheries specialist with the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water, told the conference. "It's all collected in general form and includes no species specific data which makes it difficult to take the necessary actions for particular species."

Yemen and Somalia, whose sharks routinely turn up in Dubai's market, are typical of countries with bigger problems. Both have thriving shark fisheries ? Yemen ranks sixth in exporters to Hong Kong and is one of the few countries that consume sharks domestically.

Yemen has no laws protecting sharks while Somalia lacks the means to enforce the laws it has on the books due to a lack of funds, its long-running civil war and fledging government.

"If you go to the Somalia coast at night, you will see thousands of ships fishing illegally, mostly for sharks and lobster," Ahmed Shaikh Mahmoud Osman, wildlife director for Somalia's Ministry of Fisheries and Environment, said of the boats which come primarily from Asian countries. "We need fishing boats to safeguard the coast. We also need renewal of formal laws to stop criminals and greedy business people who come to our coast and smuggle our resources."

Dulvey, Fordham and Jabado encouraged the region's governments to start collecting data and using it to draw up management plans which can include quotas and outright bans on endangered shark species.

Until now, no governments in the Gulf have quotas on shark fishing nor have any national shark conservation plans. The UAE, Bahrain and Qatar do, however, give protection to sawfish ? a shark-like ray species that is the most threatened marine species in the world.

Fordham also said Oman and Yemen could join the UAE in requiring that sharks are landed with their fins attached ? rather than processed at sea ? which helps with enforcement and makes it easier to collect scientific data.

"Overall a lot more needs to be done to insure sustainability of shark population, especially species that are exceptionally vulnerable," Fordham said.

Oman and Yemen have promised to develop shark conservation plans while Oman and Abu Dhabi have started doing stock assessments of several shark species ? the first step in developing a management plan.

For the most part, though, the job of data collection is left to Jabado, who for the past two years has visited fish markets across the UAE 180 times, identifying shark species, sex ratio and abundance among other things. From that, she has concluded there are 30 shark species in the waters off the coast of the UAE and 37 coming in from Oman ? about two-thirds which are listed by the IUCN as near threatened or endangered including several hammerheads.

She also has interviewed more than 100 fishermen and spent more than 100 hours on boats tagging sharks in the Persian Gulf. She has only caught five sharks herself in that time, confirming what 82 percent of the Emirati fishermen she interviewed have said: Shark numbers are down and those caught are much smaller.

"They say that 15 years ago, you looked at sunset in Dubai and could see fins," Jabado said. "They used to catch monstrous sharks, sharks bigger than a bus. They don't see those sizes anymore."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shark-finning-hitting-gulf-sharks-hard-062727489.html

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Muscle Building Diet ? Bodybuilding Exercises | Bodybuilding ...

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Threatened species listing for polar bears contested in U.S. court

WASHINGTON | Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:04pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Polar bears' designation as a threatened species was challenged in a U.S. appeals court on Friday, with a lawyer for Alaska and other parties arguing that regulators had failed to back up the listing.

Alaska and other plaintiffs that include hunters and the California Cattlemen's Association are appealing a federal court ruling last year that upheld the Interior Department's 2008 designation of the bears as threatened because their icy habitat is melting away.

Murray Feldman, a lawyer for Alaska and other appellants, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the government had failed to show how the big white bears likely would be nearing extinction at the middle of this century.

The department's decision on the Arctic mammals was "arbitrary and capricious" since it was based on flawed models, Feldman said in oral arguments before a three-judge panel.

Katherine Hazard, a lawyer for the department's Fish and Wildlife Service, said that the designation relied on decades of research and long-term trends underpinned it.

"The agency needs to make a determination based on the best available science, which the agency did here," she said.

A designation that a species is threatens means that it is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future in all or a significant part of its range.

Bruce Woods, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman, said the listing drew more attention to the bears' plight and also triggered funding for programs including patrols to limit contact with humans and a recovery plan for the bears.

Arctic sea ice shrank to a record low of 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square km) by mid-September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency reported this month.

A decision by the appeals court is not expected for months.

Alaska and oil companies have argued that Endangered Species Act protections for polar bears diminish opportunities for Alaska energy development.

The state has said in its appeals court filing that bears have survived previous warming periods and most populations have grown or remained stable despite shrinkage of ice.

The case is Safari Club International et al v. Ken Salazar et al and Center for Biological Diversity et al, No. 11-5219.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/Imfw27GgCsE/us-usa-climate-polarbears-idUSBRE89I10E20121019

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Colombia's Santos: Land restitution law undermines rebels

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday defended his signature law that returns land seized by illegal armed groups to peasants after leftist rebels assailed the measure at the start of peace talks.

Negotiations to end five decades of war started out bumpy this week when Ivan Marquez, lead negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, called Santos' restitution law a "trap.

"When these gentlemen from the FARC say this law is a lie it's because ... they know full well that this is something that takes away from one of their propaganda banners," Santos said on his radio program.

One of the FARC's main grievances since taking up arms in 1964 has been the unequal distribution of land, which has been concentrated in the hands of a few since the Spanish conquered the region around the 16th century.

Since coming to power in 2010, Santos' government has pushed through reforms such as the restitution of land to displaced peasants. The move was seen as paving the way for peace talks with the rebels.

Over the conflict's long history, millions of Colombia's rural poor have been forced from their homes by FARC rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups who later used the land to fund their fighting forces.

BOON FOR CORPORATIONS?

On Thursday Colombian government and rebel negotiators agreed to meet in Cuba in mid-November to start what are likely to be difficult talks with the top issues being rural development and land.

Marquez railed against the restitution law at a press conference in Norway.

"Land titles as the current government has designed it are a trap," the guerrilla leader said.

He argued that returning land to peasants who lack the means to make it productive would likely encourage them to sell it cheaply to international corporations.

Various peace efforts in Colombia since the 1980s have brought mixed success, with some smaller armed groups demobilizing. But the FARC, Latin America's biggest rebel group, has pressed on, funded in large part by drug trafficking.

The guerrillas were widely seen to have used previous negotiations to rearm and rebuild their ranks. Right-wing elements linked to Colombia's political establishment also were accused of undermining talks.

The FARC, which traces its roots to the peasant self-defense forces of the 1950s that fought against wealthy landowners, wants to change Colombia's economic system, which Santos' government flatly rules out.

Colombian newspapers and analysts, pointing out the discord between the two sides when talks opened this week in Norway, said the road forward would be very long.

Others were less pessimistic.

"It's important not to over-interpret what the FARC said. They needed to use this as a platform for voicing their political agenda rather than showing flexibility for the talks," said Christian Voelkel, Colombia analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank.

(Reporting by Jack Kimball; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colombias-santos-land-restitution-law-undermines-rebels-180309315.html

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NATO: Afghanistan drawdown plans unchanged

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? NATO's top official said Thursday the alliance remains committed to help enable Afghan forces assume full responsibility for the country's security after 2014, when coalition troops are due to end their combat mission.

The statement by visiting Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen comes amid speculation that the U.S.-led alliance could accelerate its withdrawal plans.

"Our goal is that Afghanistan will be able to stand on its own feet, but Afghanistan will not stand alone," Fogh Rasmussens said.

NATO's governing body, the North Atlantic Council, was visiting Kabul for meetings with President Hamid Karzai, coalition military commander Gen. John Allen and commanders of the Afghan government's forces.

The military alliance has also agreed to offer a smaller, post-2014 mission to help the Afghan forces with training, advice and assistance.

The strategy agreed between NATO, its partners and Karzai's government is to enable the Afghans to take over the war against the Taliban and other insurgents by the end of 2014.

NATO started drawing down its forces earlier this year. It currently has 104,000 troops in Afghanistan ? 68,000 of them Americans ? down from 140,000 the alliance had here in 2011.

Polls show that the 11-year war remains deeply unpopular among NATO's 28 member states, most of which are cutting defense budgets at a time of austerity caused by financial crises. There have been calls in the United States and elsewhere to accelerate the drawdown plan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nato-afghanistan-drawdown-plans-unchanged-074300359.html

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Self-confidence the secret to workplace advancement

ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2012) ? The old saying "fake it until you make it" might actually be sound professional advice, with new University of Melbourne research finding self-confidence is a key determinant of workplace success.

Drawing upon more than 100 interviews with professional staff in large corporations in Melbourne, New York and Toronto, the pilot study found a strong correlation between confidence and occupational success

Participants were asked to describe their level of confidence at primary school, high school, university, and present day. Those who self-reported higher levels of confidence earlier in school earned better wages, and were promoted more quickly.

Lead author Dr Reza Hasmath, from the University's School of Social and Political Sciences, said the research demonstrates a crucial ingredient of workplace advancement.

"The implications are tremendous in terms of the personality employers should look for when it comes to hiring or promoting staff,"Dr Hasmath said.

The findings also shed new light on previous studies that argued the existence of 'erotic capital', meaning better looking people are more likely to get ahead in the workplace, or studies which indicate taller people earn higher salaries.

"We now know it's actually higher confidence levels -- which may be a byproduct of attractiveness and height -- which make all the difference," said Dr Hasmath.

"The findings imply that we should stress confidence-building activities at an early age. Such activities should be strongly encouraged both in formal schooling and within the family unit."

The full study -- The Minority Report, which also looks at job search, hiring and promotion processes in the large corporations -- will be released at the end of the year.

It further suggests that workers who described themselves as 'extroverted', 'neurotic', 'open to experiences' or 'agreeable' (standard indicators of conscientiousness) were also found to be more motivated, and doing well professionally in terms of wages and career advancement.

"Interestingly, members of visible ethnic minorities reported lower rates of confidence, but similar levels of conscientiousness," Dr Hasmath said.

"This may partially explain why their wages and rates of advancement are consistently lower than members of a non-visible ethnic minority."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/FFz3h_41yXA/121018103214.htm

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NHL's Bettman disappointed with union's proposals

TORONTO (AP) ? NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman received three counterproposals from the players' association on Thursday and left the negotiating table "thoroughly disappointed."

No new talks have been scheduled, and the possibility of a full hockey regular season is quickly shrinking.

"This is not a good day," union executive director Donald Fehr said. "It should have been."

The players' association offered multiple options in response to the NHL's offer on Tuesday that called for an 82-game season and a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues between owners and players.

Bettman said that proposal was the "best that we could do" and added that the two sides are still far apart.

"None of the three variations of player share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50, either at all or for some long period of time," Bettman said.

"It's clear we're not speaking the same language."

Bettman said he was still hopeful the league can have a full season, but time is running out to make that happen.

"I am concerned based on the proposal that was made today that things are not progressing," he said. "To the contrary, I view the proposal made by the players' association in many ways a step backward."

Bettman said Tuesday that the sides would have to reach an agreement by Oct. 25 for a full season to be played.

"We came in here today with those proposals thinking that we could really make some progress," Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby said. "To hear those words (from Bettman) kind of shuts it down pretty quickly. In a nutshell it doesn't look good."

Fehr said two of the union's proposals would have the players take a fixed amount of revenue, which would turn into an approximate 50-50 split over the term of the deal, provided league revenues continued to grow.

The third approach would be a 50-50 split, as long as the league honored all existing contracts at full value.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly disputed the union's assessment of that offer.

"The so called 50-50 deal, plus honoring current contracts proposed by the NHL Players' Association is being misrepresented," Daly said. "It is not a 50-50 deal. It is most likely a 56- to 57-percent deal in Year One and never gets to 50 percent during the proposed five-year term of the agreement.

"The proposal contemplates paying the players approximately $650 million outside of the players' share. In effect, the union is proposing to change the accounting rules to be able to say '50-50,' when in reality it is not. The union told us that they had not yet 'run the numbers.' We did."

Fehr said the players would sacrifice nearly $1.8 billion in revenue under the league's proposal. He added that concessions made by the players in the last round of bargaining have cost them $3.3 billion over the term of the last agreement.

The players received 57 percent of revenues in the collective bargaining agreement that expired last month.

NHL players showed up in force Thursday as the union made its various offers.

Among the 18 players at the talks were Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Jonathan Toews and Eric Staal. The scene looked similar to one in August when the union made its first proposal.

The lockout ? the third of the Bettman era ? began Sept. 16, and the league canceled regular-season games through Oct. 24. Bettman, in announcing the new proposal, called it "a fair offer for a long-term deal" and "one that we hope gets a positive reaction."

It didn't, and now the clock is an even bigger factor.

There is only one week to strike a deal for the season to start by Nov. 2, three weeks behind schedule. If those deadlines are met, teams would be able to hold makeshift training camps for one week, and then play one extra game every five weeks to make up for the lost time and complete a full slate.

"I don't know what the next step is," Bettman said. "I'm obviously very discouraged."

In releasing the details, the NHL confirmed the offer was for six years with a mutual option for a seventh. The plan includes a 50-50 split in hockey-related revenue, which is a step forward. The NHL had proposed in July to cut the percentage of HRR from 57 percent to 43, then increased its offer in September to about 47.

Management included a provision to ensure players receive all money promised in existing contracts, but the union is concerned with what management termed the "make-whole provision." If the players' share falls short of their $1.883 billion in 2011-12, the players would be paid up to $149 million of deferred compensation in the first year of a new deal and up to $62 million in the second.

However, the union believes that money would be counted against the players' share in later years.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nhls-bettman-disappointed-unions-proposals-204744146--nhl.html

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Google opens window into secretive data centers

14 hrs.

AP staff , AP

Google is opening a virtual window into the secretive data centers where an intricate maze of computers process Internet search requests, show YouTube video clips and distribute email for millions of people.

The unprecedented peek is being provided through a new website unveiled Wednesday at http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/gallery/#/ . The site features photos from inside some of the eight data centers that Google Inc. already has running in the U.S., Finland and Belgium. Google is also building data centers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Chile.

Virtual tours of a North Carolina data center also will be available through Google's "Street View" service, which is usually used to view photos of neighborhoods around the world.

The photographic access to Google's data centers coincides with the publication of a Wired magazine article about how the company builds and operates them. The article is written by Steven Levy, a journalist who won Google's trust while writing "In The Plex," a book published last year about the company's philosophy and evolution.

The data centers represent Google's nerve center, although none are located near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

As Google blossomed from its roots in a Silicon Valley garage, company co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin worked with other engineers to develop a system to connect low-cost computer servers in a way that would help them realize their ambition to provide a digital roadmap to all of the world's information.

Initially, Google just wanted enough computing power to index all the websites on the Internet and deliver quick responses to search requests. As Google's tentacles extended into other markets, the company had to keep adding more computers to store videos, photos, email and information about their users' preferences.

The insights that Google gathers about the more than 1 billion people that use its services has made the company a frequent target of privacy complaints around the world. The latest missive came Tuesday in Europe, where regulators told Google to revise a 7-month-old change to its privacy policy that enables the company to combine user data collected from its different services.

Google studies Internet search requests and Web surfing habits in an effort to gain a better understanding of what people like. The company does this in an effort to show ads of products and services to the people most likely to be interested in buying them. Advertising accounts for virtually all of Google's revenue, which totaled nearly $23 billion through the first half of this year.

Even as it allows anyone with a Web browser to peer into its data centers, Google intends to closely guard physical access to its buildings. The company also remains cagey about how many computers are in its data centers, saying only that they house hundreds of thousands of machines to run Google's services.

Google's need for so many computers has turned the company a major electricity user, although management says it's constantly looking for ways to reduce power consumption to protect the environment and lower its expenses.

The company's data centers are located in: Berkeley County, S.C.; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Douglas County, Ga.; Mayes County, Okla.; Lenoir, N.C.; The Dalles, Ore.; Hamina, Finland; and St. Ghislain, Belgium. Other data centers are being built in Quilicura, Chile; Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/google-opens-window-secretive-data-centers-1C6505603

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Android 4.1.2 update now seeding to Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus

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New rapid and point of care hepatitis C tests could be global game changers

ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2012) ? Timely screening and diagnosis is critical to the success of new treatments and ultimately to the survival of hepatitis C patients. A new study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) is the first to show that hepatitis C rapid and point of care tests with a quick turnaround time are highly accurate and reliable as conventional first-line laboratory tests.

This head-to-head analysis, published in the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, will lead to changes in screening practices and ultimately impact the control of hepatitis C infection worldwide.

"We were able to determine that point-of-care and rapid tests in oral fluids and blood ranged in accuracy from 97 to 99 per cent, which is significant," says senior author, Dr. Nitika Pant Pai, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University and clinical researcher at the RI MUHC. "With their quick turnaround time and convenience we can now use these tests to screen many patients worldwide."

Although conventional lab testing is in place in developed countries, it is available only to those who visit community clinics and specialized hospitals and have a risk profile, or symptomatology, that warrant screening. Typically, results are available within a week, but may only be communicated to the patient during their next visit, which may be one to three months later. Delays like this may result in reduced patient follow-up and potentially impact transmission of the virus in the community.

Accurate and reliable point-of-care tests and rapid tests offer an alternative to standard tests. "First generation point-of-care tests are convenient, effective and informative for clinical decision making," explains Dr. Pant Pai. "These tests usually don't require specialized equipment, they can provide results within 30 minutes, or maximally within one patient visit or one working day, and many do not require electricity," adds Sushmita Shivkumar, lead author of the study and a medical student at McGill University.

More than 170 million people are infected with hepatitis C worldwide due to unsafe blood transfusion, injection drug use and unsafe therapeutic injections. Hepatitis C and HIV co-infections contribute substantially to disease burden in North America, but the affect of the disease is highest in Africa and Asia. "With promising oral drugs for Hepatitis C on the horizon, accurate and reliable point-of-care and rapid tests will allow millions of infected individuals worldwide to be diagnosed and treated," explains the study's co-author Dr. Rosanna Peeling, Professor and Chair of Diagnostics Research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

"These tests have the potential to be game changers on a global scale, particularly where first line conventional laboratory based testing is not financed by under-resourced health systems," concludes Dr. Pant Pai. "It is now time to optimize their potential by integrating them in routine practice settings."

The study, Accuracy of rapid and point-of-care screening tests for hepatitis C: A systemic review and meta-analysis, was authored by Sushmita Shivkumar (Clinical Epidemiology and McGill Medical School); Rosanna Peeling (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK); Yalda Jafari (Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, MUHC); Lawrence Joseph (McGill University/ RI MUHC) and Nitika Pant Pai (McGill University/RI MUHC).

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Journal Reference:

1. Sushmita Shivkumar, Rosanna Peeling, Yalda Jafari, Lawrence Joseph, Nitika Pant Pai. Accuracy of Rapid and Point-of-Care Screening Tests for Hepatitis CA Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2012; 157 (8): 558-566 [link]

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/O0a3PkCA4oQ/121015171356.htm

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HP Pavilion dv7-7030us Entertainment Notebook PC: 17.3", Core i7-3610QM 3.3 GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Windows 7 Premium for $829.99

HP Pavilion dv7-7030us Entertainment Notebook PC Specs:
HP dv7-7030us (B4T68UA#ABA)
Impressive speed and capacity, stunning large display, midnight-black brushed aluminum finish
Operating system - Windows? 7 Home Premium 64
Processor - Intel? Core? i7-3610QM (3.3 GHz/2.3 GHz )
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Memory - 8 GB DDR3
Hard drive - 1 TB SATA (5400 rpm)

Desktop performance and entertainment that excites. Experience rocking entertainment from the comfort of your home with the powerful desktop alternative ? the HP Pavilion dv7.

Source: http://www.dealigg.com/story-HP-Pavilion-dv7-7030us-Entertainment-Notebook-PC-2

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Market Research, the Affordable Way - Small Business Online ...

Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender House

? Copyright 2012 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

Bank of America is not responsible for user posts and other user content appearing on this website and does not endorse or guarantee the perspectives, the advice, the users, the businesses, or the products or services sold by any users or businesses that appear on this website.

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Source: http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/community/growing-your-business/salesandmarketing/blog/2012/10/15/market-research-the-affordable-way

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15 October 2012. Vox Pop on the Church Situation?

One of the Cabinet sent this:

I?ve mentally checked out of the OCA. I never really subscribed to the bullshit about an ?American Church?. I just want us to go home to Russia. It?s interesting to consider how much house cleaning would occur here in the former OCA if that happened. Frankly, I don?t hear much about the ?American Orthodox Church? in my parish unless it?s from a few old codgers. The Moriak crap has just put me over the edge. I?m staying in the OCA because I?m staying in my parish, at least for the time being? decent priest, lovely people. There?s a Russian parish close enough, if it comes to that. I?m paying attention to events, but I rarely stir from my parish.

If anyone knows about the content of the Moriak texts in my parish, no one?s talking about it. Frankly, people have better things to do? like living their lives? rather than following the latest scandal. Hell, my state of mind is better if I?m not following everything closely. However, it?s like a car wreck on the highway, with delays from people rubber-necking to see what happened. ?There?s something rotten in the state of Denmark? (Shakespeare,?Hamlet)? what?s so institutionally wrong with the OCA that, time after time, they?ve chosen crappy bishops? Vladyki Job wasn?t perfect, none of us is, but he stood head and shoulders above the current crop.

On another topic, I received the Everyday Saints book recently and have begun reading it. The monks described so far are certainly characters! Regardless of what you can say about the author, he certainly is an interesting storyteller.

There?s been interesting back n? forth on Atty:

He?s done some good renovations, etc, but he?s apparently pushy and overbearing. Seminarians don?t have to stay there on weekends like they used to and he doesn?t either. His wife sings in Mayfield because she likes Slavic music, not the whiney crap the convert seminary director pushes.

On the other hand, I got this:

I know this for a FACT. Fr Atty?s a wonderful man, a real priest. He?s called it as he?s seen it at STS and the vipers hate him for it. He stands openly and unabashedly for the truth. That speaks volumes? ?and makes the cockroaches run from the Light.

I?ve never taken a position one way or the other on Atty personally; I?ve only reported what?s out there concerning him. Members of the Cabinet are all over the map concerning him. You pays your money and you takes your choice.?On a lighter note, one of the Cabinet contributed on Wet Willy:

?Mormonia?? they combined the former states of Catatonia and Polygamiland to form it, didn?t they?? Capital is Grain-of-Salt City? All the women wear beehive hairdos and the men wear funny underwear? I seem to remember spending a few years there back in May of ?98. The kids either buy burgers at the sign of the Golden Tablets or eat lots of Moroni-and-cheese.

Then, there was a little give n? take on this:

Only it?s ?I will give YOU rest?. Plural. I hope you can change that.

?Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest?

The Gospel according to St Matthew 11.28

I?m sensitive to this because after always using the KJV, the half-converted and Renovationists want to abandon that version totally. THE English version? the only one that received help from the?Orthodox during its translation, as Patriarch Kirill Loukaris sent King James? men an ancient copy of the Received Text to help them out. While we DO also use the RSV, Evangelicals have always hated that version (because it?s a critical text translation, i.e. scholarly) so that?s not good enough either. I see them using the NIV or similar versions. Ugh.

I replied:

That was deliberate? it was meant to be ?personal?? that is, Christ gives all of us, individually, rest. Note that I didn?t ?cite chapter and verse?. That?s OK? you didn?t know my intent.

NEVER assume bad intent on the part of one?s interlocutors. NEVER. It?s why I treasure the Cabinet so? I know that there are ?eyes out there?? it keeps me honest. Remember, things are going to get murkier in the near term? believe nothing that you don?t see or that reliable people see. It?ll have a good end, I?m sure, but the trick is in getting there?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 15 October 2012

Albany NY

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Source: http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/15-october-2012-vox-pop-on-the-church-situation/

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Mobile Phone Contract ? Change Imagination Into Reality ...

Once when simply many plentiful people could afford mobile devices. All those belonging to middle salary types and / or lower income groups had simply land line devices for their communication requires. If they were from their homes they had to take advantage of STD or PCO Booths to contact their near along with dear ones. Now the scenario improved.

Low-cost mobile phone contract made it possible for all to have outstanding mobile phones. A number of mobile contracts are publicised every day caused by competitiveness that are available. You need to review these deals ahead of embracing one.

Immediately mobiles are representations of level and it is market place is ever-increasing day-to-day. Smart phone providers launch the latest mobile phone models of numerous providers with their handset contracts. You can have a mobile phone with advanced attributes as well as fascinating presence of your selection with a few great contracts at inexpensive value. Acceptable mobile phone models with multimedia programs including audio/video player, camera, GPRS, and FM radio are supplied by the providers with their strategies.

What are cell phone contract? They are the arrangement furnished by smart phone service provider: you sign a deal with these to use their providers for the particular fixed period. Perhaps you may pick out from many tariff schemes, for instance 12-month, 24-month or simply 36-month cellular phone agreements. Companies have several distinctions as well as cheap cell phone deals for low income group shoppers.

What are the best contracts for you personally? All this depends upon you. How much cash do you need to shell out in advance at the time of getting the contracts? Exactly how much do you need to pay per month? You will get hold of quality units from foremost companies for instance Nokia, Samsung, Motorola or LG when you pick the long run mobile business deals. The costs of mobiles are involved in the every month bills to save you from a large one-time responsibility with your pocket.

What should you find out before using one? You ought to recognize that mobile contracts have several joining conditions. You should have to make use of these contracts for at least the period you have authorized for.

How to pick the best cheap discounts? The most effective method is to approximation how many calls you might be planning to make. To whom, or even which form of system (landlines, mobiles, local or international) will these calls be generated? Match up your calling habits with all the charge per call offered in the cell phone contracts you?re reviewing. Check out the billing method ? you may well be billed per second or per minute. Look for any network fee involved with the phone contracts and best internet service for your phone you?re going to sign.

Source: http://www.theyellowads.com/communications/mobile-phone-contract-change-imagination-into-reality/

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What you hear could depend on what your hands are doing

ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2012) ? New research links motor skills and perception, specifically as it relates to a second finding -- a new understanding of what the left and right brain hemispheres "hear." Georgetown University Medical Center researchers say these findings may eventually point to strategies to help stroke patients recover their language abilities, and to improve speech recognition in children with dyslexia.

The study, presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, is the first to match human behavior with left brain/right brain auditory processing tasks. Before this research, neuroimaging tests had hinted at differences in such processing.

"Language is processed mainly in the left hemisphere, and some have suggested that this is because the left hemisphere specializes in analyzing very rapidly changing sounds," says the study's senior investigator, Peter E. Turkeltaub, M.D., Ph.D., a neurologist in the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery. This newly created center is a joint program of Georgetown University and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network.

Turkeltaub and his team hid rapidly and slowly changing sounds in background noise and asked 24 volunteers to simply indicate whether they heard the sounds by pressing a button.

"We asked the subjects to respond to sounds hidden in background noise," Turkeltaub explained. "Each subject was told to use their right hand to respond during the first 20 sounds, then their left hand for the next 20 second, then right, then left, and so on." He says when a subject was using their right hand, they heard the rapidly changing sounds more often than when they used their left hand, and vice versa for the slowly changing sounds.

"Since the left hemisphere controls the right hand and vice versa, these results demonstrate that the two hemispheres specialize in different kinds of sounds -- the left hemisphere likes rapidly changing sounds, such as consonants, and the right hemisphere likes slowly changing sounds, such as syllables or intonation," Turkeltaub explains. "These results also demonstrate the interaction between motor systems and perception. It's really pretty amazing. Imagine you're waving an American flag while listening to one of the presidential candidates. The speech will actually sound slightly different to you depending on whether the flag is in your left hand or your right hand."

Ultimately, Turkeltaub hopes that understanding the basic organization of auditory systems and how they interact with motor systems will help explain why language resides in the left hemisphere of the brain, and will lead to new treatments for language disorders, like aphasia (language difficulties after stroke or brain injury) or dyslexia.

"If we can understand the basic brain organization for audition, this might ultimately lead to new treatments for people who have speech recognition problems due to stroke or other brain injury. Understanding better the specific roles of the two hemispheres in auditory processing will be a big step in that direction. If we find that people with aphasia, who typically have injuries to the left hemisphere, have difficulty recognizing speech because of problems with low-level auditory perception of rapidly changing sounds, maybe training the specific auditory processing deficits will improve their ability to recognize speech," Turkeltaub concludes.

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/CqN4FnN5k38/121014162904.htm

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Soft Water Can Lead To Energy Savings : Home Improvement

You are here: Home / General / Soft Water Can Lead To Energy Savings

Soft water usually offers a large increase in the quality of water entering a household for regular household uses over hard water supplies. Minerals found within hard water entering houses can cause issues with scum and rock forming where the water comes into contact with people and household appliances, such as washing machines and dishwashers. Hard water is found throughout the U.S.; in states such as Utah soft water is created by using machines that exchange ions in the minerals within water supplies as it enters a property.

Rain water falls as soft water free of the majority of minerals found in water supplies. When the water finds its way to the Earth it comes into contact with minerals and chemicals as it passes into waterways and into underground water supplies. The most common minerals passing into water and magnesium and calcium, other minerals include lime that many people believe adds extra flavor to drinking water. In regions with hard water supplies, such as California, Nevada and Utah soft water supplies are only available through water softening techniques; magnesium and calcium ions are often exchanged in water softeners with ions from potassium or sodium that do not harden water.

Softened, or conditioned water can offer a large number of advantages over hard water supplies. Included in these advantages are the reduced amounts of mineral buildup in pipes and on surfaces that come into contact with water; mineral buildup often forms into hard rock like substances that can block pipes carrying water into or out of a building. Dishes washed in soft water are left with less residue after washing and requires less dish detergent to successfully clean items than those washed in hard water. In hard water areas, such as Utah soft water can provide a large saving in the amounts spent on household and personal cleaning items, including shampoo?s, soap and dish detergent.

Included in the savings offered by soft water supplies are the maintaining of efficiency ratings of household appliances. Washing machines and dishwashers can maintain the efficiency reported in factory testing over the majority of a 15 year life; households using hard water see a fall off of over 20 percent in appliance efficiency, according to a 2009 U.S. study into water quality. The same study also highlighted the benefits of soft water in various types of water heaters; in all areas of the U.S., including hard water states such as Arkansas and Texas soft water used in water heaters led to lower utility bills because of reduced mineral buildup in appliances.

Personal hygiene can also be improved with soft water usage; hard water often makes it difficult to maintain clean skin because of the negative reaction between the contents of most soaps and magnesium and calcium. Shampoo used in hard water areas often require larger than recommended amounts to be used that in most cases still leaves hair dull and lifeless. Dollar savings are also made through the use of soft water where less soap and shampoo are used than in hard water areas.

Source: http://www.theyellowads.com/home_improvement/soft-water-can-lead-to-energy-savings

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OUPblog ? Blog Archive ? Watch your cancer language

By Patricia Prijatel

People who have lived through cancer just want to get on with their lives ? head into the future like everybody else, free of cancer, free of its memory. That?s why the labels others affix to us can make us especially testy.

Take, for example, the label survivor. Please. It look me a while after diagnosis to understand why this word annoyed those who have survived. Finally, when I started to be lumped into that category, I got it. The word defines us by our disease. And how can we move past this diagnosis if we are forever labeled according to it?

Some women prefer the word thriver, and I get that. It is active; it shows we are fully engaged in life. It?s a positive, affieming word. Survivor, by contrast, means we exist. We didn?t die. Not dying is a good thing ? an extremely good thing ? but it is not the only thing. If it is, then we are not really living, are we?

Still, I need no label. I am Pat. I had breast cancer and I, thank God, got over it.

What do we call survivors of heart attacks? I call them Hank and Herb and Mike. What do we call survivors of strokes? I call them Jean and Gary. Cancer need not be in a category of its own ? the big scary disease. Those of us who have weathered its storms want to move beyond it. We?re wives, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, friends, lovers. We?re proud of these roles and find these labels wonderful. They make us fit in, feel a part of the world, of society, of our families, our communities.

Survivor sets us apart, and we?re tired of being special in a cancer sort of way.

We?re also writers, doctors, teachers, editors, students, artists, photographers, computer specialists, managers, volunteers, and tote a laundry list of other accomplishments. We have worked to earn these labels and encourage you to see us for what we have done, not what was done to us.

Then there is the issue of our courageous battle. I had several people tell me that I was so courageous while I went through treatment. Really? It is not courage to put one foot in front of another and just do what you need to do, usually while terrified and confused. Some of us do it with less complaint than others, but that is not courage. It is just good luck: a positive attitude, perhaps a better diagnosis, smoother response to treatment, or a support system that keeps us grounded.

To me, courage refers to soldiers in Afghanistan, or the person who jumps into a raging river to save a woman whose boat has capsized, or politicians voting for what they know is right but might not get them reelected.

And, frankly, it applies more to our caregivers like my husband, who never let me say, ?I have cancer,? correcting me to, ?You had cancer.? Or the parents of children with cancer who have to fight for proper care and deal with the financial hit while supporting a confused and sick child. Or the children watching their mother lose her hair and reminding her how beautiful she is and how much they love her, all the while hiding their own fear.

The problem with calling cancer patients courageous, again, is that it sets us apart from everybody else. We are the Person with Cancer. How scary. How tragic.

Does an obituary say a person died of a courageous battle with heart disease? Why not? Why is cancer elevated to such a stage? And why does it bother us?

It?s a problem because when you are constantly told you need courage to get through this journey, it makes the road seem that much rougher, the climb that much steeper, the destination that much less clear. What?s more, what happens if we don?t beat the disease? Were we not brave enough? Did we not fight hard enough? Are we the biggest of the big losers?

All we want is to be normal again. To be just a person who once got sick but hopes not to get sick again. Someone who is trying to move on, leaving cancer far behind, kicking dust in its nasty old face.

Patricia Prijatel is author of?Surviving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, published by Oxford University Press. She is the E.T. Meredith Distinguished Professor Emerita of Journalism at Drake University. She will do a?webcast with the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation?on 16 October 2012. Read her previous blog posts on the OUPblog or read her own blog ?Positives About Negative.?

Subscribe to the OUPblog via?email?or?RSS.
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Source: http://blog.oup.com/2012/10/watch-your-cancer-language/

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Shot fired at Obama campaign office in Denver

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You're About to Get Some Money Back on Your Kindle Books [E-Books]

Book publishers and the Department of Justice reached a settlement regarding that whole eBook-price fixing scheme last month, and now the savings are being passed on to you. If you bought one of the affected, overpriced Kindle books between April 2010 and May 2012, you're about to get some money back. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ZI0sw51L164/youre-about-to-get-some-money-back-on-your-kindle-books

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'Completely wrong,' Mitt Romney, and the Google dust-up

Google says the 'completely wrong' image results are 'natural' ? not a deliberate jab at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.?

By Matthew Shaer / October 11, 2012

A boy holds a hand puppet of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during a campaign stop at the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Sidney, Ohio, on Oct. 10.

Reuters

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Political news is big on Google, but the search engine rarely becomes the focus of a political story.

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As a slew of Twitterers and bloggers pointed out yesterday afternoon, the search term "completely wrong" brings up a slew of pictures (big and small) of presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. CNN has traced the origin of the whole mess to an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, wherein Romney attempted to distance himself from his infamous "47 percent" gaffe.

"Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right," Romney told Hannity, "In this case, I said something that's just completely wrong."

But now his explanation has turned into a veritable Internet meme ? and not one that's likely to go away anytime soon.?

So is this an easter egg? Well, not exactly. An easter egg usually refers to a?message hidden?intentionally?by developers. Google has scattered quite a few of those through its search rankings in recent years:?There was the easter egg with the "loneliest number," the easter egg?with the barrel roll ? a nod to the Nintendo classic "Starfox" ? and the deservedly-beloved?"zerg rush" game, which was created in homage to "Starcraft."

By comparison, the "completely wrong" results appear to be a regular old byproduct of Google's search algorithm.

In a statement to ABC News, Google called the whole thing "natural" ? in other words, not malicious or premeditated. Not that Fox News was quite ready to believe it. The network pointed out today that Google is a "left-leaning" company, and that "Google CEO Eric Schmidt has visited the White House 14 times since January 2009."?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/cGmVZGPY_MM/Completely-wrong-Mitt-Romney-and-the-Google-dust-up

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