Reduce Pain With Your 2013 New Year's Resolution | Advanced ...

Between 40 and 50 percent of Americans pledge to make New Year?s resolutions each year, and health-related goals consistently rank among the most popular. People make these resolutions to look or feel better in the coming year, but there are also significant long-term pain prevention benefits.

You might be surprised to learn that maintaining a proper weight and basic level of fitness is crucial to protect your spine and major joints from excessive strain, wear and tear.? In fact, people who are overweight are at greater risk for low back pain, sleep disorders, spinal disc pain and joint pain, due to added weight-related strain on the spine and joints such as the knees, hips and ankles. It makes sense if you think about it; more weight means more pressure and strain that can cause pain.?

?Losing weight is the best way to decrease obesity-related pain, but there are certainly other things to consider,? said Satvinder Dhesi, MD, a physician with Advanced Pain Management in Milwaukee. ?The ability to lose weight requires individuals to be both healthy and active. There are many elements that can help people reduce stress and become more active, including: physical therapy, interventional pain procedures, supportive shoes, walking assistance devices and even investing in a supportive mattress.?

Along with decreasing pain or one?s risk for long-term chronic pain, other weight loss benefits include:

• By losing 5-10 percent of body weight, blood pressure is lowered and LDL (?bad?) cholesterol is reduced.
• Lowering body weight can improve sleep apnea and other sleep problems.
• 90 percent of all diabetes, 80 percent of heart disease and 60 percent of cancers are preventable with healthier lifestyles and normal body weight.

?We encourage everyone to choose healthier eating and exercise habits in the New Year,? said Dr. Dhesi. ?Weight loss is really the first step in an overall healthier life.?

So as you think about your New Year?s Resolutions this year, consider the pain reducing benefits of losing weight.

What are your resoultions for 2013? Tell us your thoughts!

Source: http://www.apmhealth.com/blog/2012/12/reduce-pain-with-your-2013-new-years-resolution/

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Comment - International Coach Academy

Introduction?

Executive coaching is designed to help facilitate professional and personal development to the point of individual growth and improved performance. Coaches need to have a strong understanding of individual differences in a work place as well as the ability to adapt their coaching style or strategies.

Executive coaches work their clients towards specific professional goals triggered by situations like

• Wants to decide on which career to choose from after having travelled many years in their current vocation.
• Join?s a new firm or starts a new career or a new role.
• Is promoted to new level
• Develop on competencies highlighted in their appraisals.
• Wants to improve their performance.

Organizations use Executive coaches to help the executive find their core issues and help them overcome these issues. Some organizations also support their executives by the use of psychometric assessments and give them access to qualified empanelled Executive Coach?s.

Different types of Psychometric Assessments?

The word psychometric is formed from the Greek words for mental and measurement. Psychometric tests attempt to objectively measure aspects of an individual?s mental ability or personality. There are different kinds of Psychometric Assessments catering to different needs of an executive?s career. ? Copyright 2006 International Coach Academy Pty. Ltd. Use is governed by the Terms and Conditions at http://www.icoachacademy.com Last updated Feb 2006 3

There are two main types of psychometric tests:

Ability Tests ? Measure an individual?s ability to perform or carry out different tasks.

Personality Questionnaires ? Measure an individual?s way of doing things, and specifically the way they interact with the environment and other people.

Some assessments are called ?type models?, which classify tendencies and preferences, with no good or bad types, per se. DISC and Meyers Briggs fall in this classification. Meyers Briggs and DiSC are described as assessments, rather than tests. They are used to measure behavioral patterns or tendencies, with no right or wrong answers.

Other assessments are diagnostic, designed to point out problems and weaknesses. ?360? assessments fall under the ?diagnostic? label. Emotional Intelligence has been described as a way to measure both strengths and weaknesses.

These tests vary on the fundamental premise on which the tool is built and also what it intends to serve. Some tests provide perspectives which are relevant to an individual as a complete personality, while some tests are very specific to the executive?s Professional life only.

Relevance of Psychometric assessments in Executive coaching?

Psychometric testing is now used by over 80% of the Fortune 500 companies in the USA and by over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK. Tests are used by many employers across most sectors, including IT, engineering, energy,

banking, consultancy, accountancy, the civil service and other public sector, fast moving consumer goods and retail.

In such scenarios it may be mandated to Executive coaches by the clients to work with these reports to help the individual executive chalk out their path.

Executive coaches may also choose to bring in their own psychometric tests as they find it appropriate to the situation.

Usage of the right psychometric tools would aid the Coach to understand the executive much faster. These tools also help the executive to draw his own linkages and conclusions based on the reports. These would also help the executive gain perspectives of how one aspect of his behavior impacts which aspect of performance.

As per Sherpa Coaching Survey 2012, there has been a trend toward the use of assessments among executive coaches. A couple of years back, 8% of coaches reported they did not use an assessment at all. Last year, that number dropped to 4%. This year, 99% of coaches reported using an assessment.

In this paper, an introduction to Harrison assessments and its application is made.

Introduction to Harrison assessments?

Dr. Dan Harrison founded Harrison assessments in 1990 with a vision to help individuals and companies select and develop top talent. Dan Harrison with his background in Mathematics, Personality theory, Counseling psychology, Human Potential psychology and organizational psychology has been able to weave his diverse knowledge to create a powerful assessment tool.

Being a mathematician himself, Dr. Dan Harrison has been able to create a smart questionnaire which is able to gather information in about 30 minutes, what would have taken a full day of multiple choices testing equal to 2701 multiple choice questions.

Foundations of Harrison assessment methodology?

Some of the key foundations that Harrison assessment is built on are:

• Enjoyment ? Performance Theory
• Four core principles of Employee Development
• Paradox theory

?

Enjoyment ? Performance theory?

As picture depicts, our performance improves as we do activities which we enjoy doing.

It also means that a right job for us, is one which we enjoy doing. And if we are in jobs or roles which require us to do a lot of tasks which we do not enjoy doing, our performance can dip.

Four Core principles of Employee development?

The 4 core principles of any strong employee development plan of an organization are

? Ensure the right placement.

?

As development takes a long time, it is prudent to focus on developing people who are in the right jobs. It may not be worthwhile to spend on developing people who are not in the right jobs.

? Consider technical and behavioral competencies

?

Focus on building both technical as well as behavior competencies as both play their roles in the final performance of an individual.

? Consider all relevant Job suitability factors

?

This reveals all the behavioral factors that affect job performance, work satisfaction and retention.

? Discover, acknowledge and utilize strengths

This provides encouragement and motivation for individuals to develop.

Paradox Technology?

Harrison Assessments is the only tool which harnesses the power of paradox. Paradox is the result of integrating two seemingly contradictory behaviors that both contribute to an individual?s success. Individuals with balanced paradoxes are more likely to succeed.

This figure, shows the result of integrating two contradictory behaviors of Frank and Diplomatic. This paradox has 4 conditions which are actually new traits.

Good communicator ? as in Balanced Versatility

Poor communicator ? as in Balanced Deficiency

Blunt ? as in Aggressive Imbalance

Evasive ? as in Passive imbalance

Balanced Versatility ? People who are strong in both traits are versatile and can exhibit either behavior as appropriate to the situation. Such people rarely exhibit the other 3 traits even under stress.

Aggressive Imbalance ? People who are strong in the dynamic trait which is represented on the Y-axis tend to exhibit aggressive behavior. Such aggressive?behavior often masks an underlying vulnerability. For example, bluntness is often used as a means of evading or deflecting attention from oneself when one feels vulnerable.

Passive imbalance - People who score low on dynamic trait but high on the trait along X-axis fall under passive imbalance. Such passive behavior could be an area to explore with the individual to identity improvement areas.

Balanced Deficiency ? People who score low on the dynamic trait and the passive traits could be probed to check whether they are in the right jobs which are in line with their life themes. Executive coaches could also probe on how these counter ? productive behaviors are coming in the way of performance

12 Paradox Pairs?

Harrison Paradox assessment includes an analysis of 12 main paradoxes, which are Certain : Open/Reflective Frank : Diplomatic Analytical : Intuitive Risking : Analyses Pitfalls Self-Acceptance : Self-Improvement Self-Motivated : Stress Management

Enforcing : Warmth/Empathy Persistent : Experimenting Authoritative : Collaborative Assertive : Helpful Organized : Flexible Optimistic : Analyses Pitfalls

These 12 paradoxes result in 12 ideal paradoxical behavioral competencies as follows.

• Be confident and clear about ideas while openly considering all issues.
• Respect oneself while striving to improve
• Be straightforward and direct while being respectful of others.
• Express your needs while being helpful and conscious of others needs.
• Be highly self-motivated while managing stress and respecting others.
• Be persistent in overcoming obstacles and trying new things.
• Be logical while at the same time value intuition.
• Be organized while at the same time adapt to changes.
• Be willing to take risks and carefully analyse the risks for pitfalls
• Enforce rules and guide performance while maintaining positive relationships.
• Be responsible for decisions while collaborating with others.
• Maintain a positive attitude while being mindful of potential problems.

Benefits of using the Harrison Assessments

Some Benefits of using Harrison Assessments for coaches are that ? they can quickly gain rapport and trust, facilitate core values and easily overcome resistance for development.
Additionally, this also helps the executive to understand their unique strengths & identify key areas for development
Paradox Technology? analyzes and determines a broad spectrum of potential counter-productive traits without the person having the slightest idea it is happening. This is vitally important since negative traits usually account for 60-75% of the factors that determine job success
Approaches to using Harrison assessments in Executive Coaching
There are different approaches to use Harrison assessments depending on whether the client organization is using Harrison assessments or not.

Organizations using Harrison assessments

In these organizations, as part of Harrison assessment implementation, the organization would have

• Defined Job Success Factors for all key roles.
• Employees who take the assessments get a complete set of 9 developmental reports.

Coaches can use

• Job Success Analysis report to understand how well the executive is fitting the current job success factors.
• Development for Position report to further explore with the Executive the various opportunities to improve and help them implement a feasible action plan.
• ?How to manage, develop & Retain? report to identify the essential, important and other factors which the executive needs to focus on to improve his performance.
• Paradox graph the coach can go an exploratory conversation with the executive to better understand themself.
• Traits and Definition report provides the Coach an insight into the primary work preferences and personality factors which the executive has. This report also shows the Life themes, Strengths and Preferred focus and traits which the executive does not prefer to use.

Organizations which do not use Harrison Assessments

In such situations, the Executive coach can use the Paradox graph and Traits and definitions report only to help the executive. It may not be prudent for the Executive Coach to suggest creating Job Success factors for the role which the executive is playing currently and then go about using all the reports which this step can enable.

Challenges in using Harrison Assessment

Some of the potential challenges could be
- Educating the executive about the basic premises of Harrison assessments. If the Executive does not seem to appreciate this tool, then it can lower the trust on the Executive coach.

- Harrison assessments works on the basis of work preferences only and at times an executive?s performance at office can be impacted by factors outside professional lives. Executive coaches have to be aware of this and factor them in their probing agenda.

- Executive coaches have to be certified to assess the executive?s reports and the experience of the executive coaches in using this tool only improves over time. So in the initial few reports assessment, the coaches may miss recognizing certain pertinent information.

- Executive coaches may be unable to get themselves certified due to cost or timing or distance issues. In such cases, executive coaches may have to leverage on other trained interpreters.

Conclusion

Executive coaching in a scenario where many organizations use psychometric assessments, it is advantageous for Executive Coaches to equip themselves with relevant skills to understand and interpret many different kinds of tools. Harrison assessment, being one of the leading workplace Preference inventories addresses the area of Job Success. Executive coaches can build this into their practices and also their Self development plans, depending on the target clients that they work with.

References:

1. Training material from Harrison Assessments International Limited.
2. http://www.psychometric-success.com
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaching#Executive_coaching
4. http://www.sherpacoaching.com/2012-executive-coaching-assessments.html

Source: http://www.icoachacademy.com/blog/coaching-resources/research-papers/satish-chandra-relevance-of-harrison-assessments-in-executive-coaching/

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estrous pillbox: Submission Martial Art ? Recreation and Sports ...

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Source: http://estrous-pillbox.blogspot.com/2012/12/submission-martial-art-recreation-and.html

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Trend Ideas Which Will Get Folks Realizing You ? Shopping and ...

Trend Ideas Which Will Get Folks Realizing You

Fashion is an element and parcel of daily life. Although some don?t want to personal up to the reality, how out clothes seem has an important role in our self esteem. The following report looks at some straightforward trend recommendations that you can integrate within their daily life.

Don?t permit others establish what you must use. Correct and improper designs don?t really exist. People have to help make up their very own sense of style in your life. Make an effort to deflect bad thoughts of the design and fashion sense.

Make sure you accessorize whenever possible. The best choices of add-ons could make the ideal accentuate or revise to many one of your outfits. A carefully chosen case, buckle or scarf can certainly make a big difference between a fashion accomplishment or tragedy. Don?t fixate on merely the outfits look at the total deal when you?re getting ready to step out.

Create a clothing collection that is certainly 80Percent timeless and 20Per cent modern. Products which in no way go out of type are extended-enduring and reputable. Make use of a colorful buckle with basic pants. Give you a customized reliable color timeless blouse a fashion make above by using a designed scarf.

There are many choices in trendy your hair components. There?s a world of components to suit any choices the most famous ones are bows, headbands, ponytail cases and in many cases extensions or feathers. Your closet needs to include a number of your hair add-ons. As an example, if you are intending for any sporty seem, complement a ponytail holder to the track go well with to get a fantastic seem and practicality. A night out demands the perfect complementing headband.

Should your your hair is frizzy, you need to use hair shampoo and conditioner with moisturizing qualities. This may add a protecting covering together your hair?s cuticle, allowing it to continue to be smooth and splendid. Moreover, usually do not get volumizing hair shampoo since this can deteriorate the quality of your hair.

A basic sewing set could save an ensemble. This enables you to fix any issue, whether it is a rip from the seam of your jeans once you bend more than, or a zip which splits. Be sure the kit includes the basics just like a needle and fairly neutral-shaded line.

Now reading the above mentioned details about fashion, you should have an overall fashion sense for virtually any situation. Design is a mind-set it is more than textile, toned and materials. Maintain that updated look by sticking with the things that help you feel your best.

Thanks for reading. For more tips and to find the best leopard maxi dress and tea party dress see uk chic

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2012 at 6:09 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Source: http://shoppingandproductreviews.deadale.com/uncategorized/trend-ideas-which-will-get-folks-realizing-you/

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After 3 bumpy years, Europe turns corner on crisis

FILE - In this June 29, 2012 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, speaks with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, left, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti during a round table meeting at a EU Summit in Brussels. The worst of Europe?s financial crisis appears to be over. European leaders have taken steps to ease the panic that has plagued the region for three turbulent years. Much of the credit for easing Europe?s financial crisis goes to the European Central Bank, which has become more aggressive over the past year under the leadership of Mario Draghi. Merkel has also helped ease financial tensions across the region by speaking more forcefully about the need to hold the euro together. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - In this June 29, 2012 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, speaks with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, left, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti during a round table meeting at a EU Summit in Brussels. The worst of Europe?s financial crisis appears to be over. European leaders have taken steps to ease the panic that has plagued the region for three turbulent years. Much of the credit for easing Europe?s financial crisis goes to the European Central Bank, which has become more aggressive over the past year under the leadership of Mario Draghi. Merkel has also helped ease financial tensions across the region by speaking more forcefully about the need to hold the euro together. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - In this June 16, 2011 file photo, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes the governor of the Banca d'Italia and candidate for the European Central Bank presidency Mario Draghi at the chancellery in Berlin. The worst of Europe?s financial crisis appears to be over. European leaders have taken steps to ease the panic that has plagued the region for three turbulent years. Much of the credit for easing Europe?s financial crisis goes to the European Central Bank, which has become more aggressive over the past year under the leadership of Mario Draghi. Merkel has also helped ease financial tensions across the region by speaking more forcefully about the need to hold the euro together. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? The worst of Europe's financial crisis appears to be over.

European leaders have taken steps to ease the panic that has plagued the region for three turbulent years. Financial markets are no longer in a state of emergency over Europe's high government debts and weak banks. And this gives politicians from the 17 countries that use the euro breathing room to fix their remaining problems.

Threats remain in Greece and Spain, and Europe's economy is forecast to get worse before it gets better. But an imminent breakup of the euro now seems unlikely, analysts say.

"We are probably well beyond the worst," says Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London. He says occasional flare-ups in financial markets are likely, but "coming waves of turmoil will be less severe."

Evidence that Europe has turned a corner can be found in countries' falling borrowing costs, rising stock markets and a slow but steady stabilization of the region's banking system:

? The interest rates investors are demanding to lend to struggling countries such as Spain and Italy have plunged ? a sign that investors are less fearful about defaults. Spain's two-year bonds carry an interest rate, or yield, of just under 3 percent ? down from a July 24 peak of 6.6 percent. Italy's bond yields have dropped just as sharply.

? The Stoxx 50 index of leading European shares has surged 26 percent since June 1, while the euro has risen from $1.26 to $1.29 over the same period.

? After months of withdrawals, deposits are trickling back into Greek and Spanish banks, signaling that fears of their imminent financial collapse are abating. And U.S. money market mutual funds loaned 16 percent more to eurozone banks in September. That was the third straight monthly increase in short-term funding to European banks, and follows a 70 percent reduction since May 2011.

More proof the crisis is easing: Gatherings of European financial ministers no longer cause global stock and bond markets to gyrate with every sign of progress or a setback.

As financial-market panic recedes, euro leaders have more time to try to fix the flaws in their currency union. Among the challenges are reducing regulations and other costs for businesses in order to stimulate economic growth, and imposing more centralized authority over budgets to prevent countries from ever again spending beyond their means. That's important because a major cause of the crisis was Greece's overspending during the calm years after the euro's introduction in 1999, and Italy's failure to cut the high levels of debt it joined with. Other governments ? such as Spain and Ireland ? were saddled with debt piled up by banks and real estate developers during boom years.

Much of the credit for easing Europe's financial crisis goes to the European Central Bank, which has become more aggressive over the past year under the leadership of Mario Draghi.

The ECB said Sept. 6 that it was willing to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds issued by countries struggling to pay their debts. The ECB's pledge instantly lowered borrowing costs for Spain and Italy, which earlier in the year had faced the same kinds of financial pressures that forced Ireland, Greece and Spain to seek bailouts.

"Financial market confidence has visibly improved," Draghi said Thursday during a press conference.

The ECB's actions are reminiscent of some of the emergency steps the Federal Reserve took after the U.S. financial crisis struck in 2007. The Fed offered banks cheap loans, cut short-term interest rates to record lows and started buying bonds to ease long-term borrowing rates and boost the confidence of consumers and businesses.

The Fed couldn't prevent the United States from enduring its worst recession since the Great Depression. But its actions defused panic in the financial markets and helped restore the health of U.S. banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has helped ease financial tensions across the region by speaking more forcefully about the need to hold the euro together.

Merkel's support is critical because Germany, the eurozone's largest economy, has the most at stake financially in any bailouts. Merkel has backed the ECB's bond-buying plan and has made conciliatory statements toward Greece.

That has paved the way for the so-called troika of international lenders ? the ECB, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund ? to allow Greece more time to meet deficit-reduction targets. The Greek Parliament took a big step Wednesday toward securing its next batch of rescue loans from the troika by approving a new round of tax hikes and spending cuts.

Another key breakthrough in the financial crisis came in late June, when leaders meeting in Brussels took new steps to steady banks and governments. They agreed to ease up somewhat on austerity demands; to use bailout funds to buy government bonds and help ailing banks; and to create a single supervisor for all of Europe's banks.

Some analysts worry that as the financial pressure eases Europe's leaders could lose their recent momentum.

A breakup of the euro "is still possible," says Marie Diron, senior economic adviser to Ernst & Young. "I don't think we have removed the risk altogether."

Europe's leaders have big challenges left.

The most pressing is saving Greece. If the country was forced into a default and began printing its own currency, investors would assume other countries might go next and begin pulling their money out of those countries too, or demand higher returns to keep it there. The coming months could severely test Germany's new willingness to help. Despite two bailouts totaling ?240 billion ($311.3 billion) since 2010, Greece needs an estimated ?30 billion more from the other eurozone countries as its economy shrinks.

Berenberg's Schmieding thinks there's a 25 percent chance that Greece will leave the euro in the next six months, if its parliament balks at painful austerity measures and euro members are reluctant to provide more help. But he thinks a Greek departure would cause "only temporary damage." Other economists think it could break up the euro.

Another hotspot is Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy. The country's debts are piling higher as its regional governments struggle and its economy shrinks. The ECB's offer two months ago to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds is a potential life-saver, but the country's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy needs to formally request such aid. He has held off, apparently hoping the current market calm will last and he won't suffer the political humiliation of taking a bailout. Analysts say that if he waits too long Spain's borrowing costs could rise again to unsustainable levels and reignite broader fears in financial markets.

Banks are another problem. Weakened by massive losses on the government bonds they bought and real estate loans that aren't being repaid, banks across the eurozone have been propped up by governments that are themselves struggling financially. Even with the help, these banks have been forced to reduce lending, which has hurt Europe's economy.

A banking supervisor for all of Europe could provide some relief, by forcing crippled banks to merge with healthier ones. But it will be the second half of next year, at the earliest, before the supervisor is in place, banking analysts say. European leaders disagree over how much authority to give the supervisor and how to fund it.

Economic growth is what would ultimately end Europe's crisis. But robust growth remains far off. The European Union forecast Wednesday that the 17-nation eurozone economy would grow just 0.1 percent in 2013.

Privately, European officials say the ECB's bond-buying plan has afforded them a crucial window of opportunity ? a year, perhaps ? to resolve their biggest challenges.

Much depends, they say, on what gets accomplished in that time.

____

Melvin reported from Brussels. He can be reached at http://twitter.com/Don_Melvin

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-09-Europe-Less%20Panic/id-41beec12526447a392d1af5720e0e978

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Top GOP lawmaker: 'Obamacare is law of the land'

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-republican-lawmaker-wont-try-kill-obamacare-again-000250705.html

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Video Games Interactive: Review: Skylanders Giants

Expensive cash in or family co-op at its best? Wesley Copeland gives us his thoughts on Skylanders: Giants.

Skylanders isn't just a game. Skylanders is everything adults remember from their childhoods. It's collecting your favourite figurines. It's taking them round a mate's house to show off. It's swapping with your friends. It's discussing characters in the playground. Skylanders isn't just a game, it's a kid's craze; a craze that can be shared with adults.

As a parent, gaming with the kids can often become troublesome. I want to play Gears of War; my kids can't. My kids want to play Ben 10; I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a fork. We live in a world where if a game isn't shipped with the prefix 'LEGO', then chances are, co-op gaming between parent and child goes straight out the window.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure solved this issue. I want to play Diablo; my kids want to play Spyro ? So let's do both at once!

One year on, we learn that Skylanders is back with Skylanders: Giants; a sequel to one of the greatest kid's games ever conceived. Is it a cash-in? Is it an excuse to ship more plastic into the homes of gamers? Can a full-sequel be made within such a short period of time?

To save you having to scroll down to the bottom, let's get this cleared up. Skylanders: Giants is ten times that game Spyro's Adventure was, and showcases the level of skill, dedication, and straight-up creativity that Toys for Bob house.

At its heart, Skylanders: Giants is a dungeon crawler for kids. It's a top-down isometric game with colourful characters and blinding tech to match. My first memory forged in Giants, and one that still stays with me a week later, is of the giant included in the starter pack, Tree-rex on the Poertal of Power. Upon connecting the new portal (a usb portal that Skylanders are placed on), I sit my new giant on top, ready to boot the game for the first time. When Tree-rex comes into to contact with the PoP, his eyes, plant-gun-hand, and base all illuminate like star in the night sky.

To the sceptics, this isn't anything special. To a parent, this is the moment you begin to anticipate how your kid is going to flip their lid when they get home form school.

The tech behind Skylanders: Giants still, even now, holds an element of magic ? or witchcraft, if I'm being honest. As kids, we took toys and brought them to life ourselves. We invent funny stories in our head. We take them on adventures. But at the end of the day, they're just lifeless plastic that our imagination brings to life. In Skylanders, you take the toy, place it on the portal of power, and it comes to life before your very eyes via the TV, ready for portal-masters to pick up a controller and take them out on a mission to save the world.

Being able to play with a toy outside the game and also inside the game, is why Skylanders was one of the largest grossing kid's toy-ranges of 2011.

There's an obvious similarity between Skylanders and Pokemon. Pokemon allows players to catch their favourite little monsters, raise them and care for them. For Pokemon though, you only had Pikachu in-game. To take Pikachu on an adventure in the real world, you'd need to shell-out for the plushie. In Skylanders however, the toy you buy from the toyshop is both.

That's where the real magic lies. Kids aren't playing as an avatar, as is the case for most other videogames. The hook here, is that they're portal masters. The toys they get, are theirs to control. They are armed with the portal of power and their Skylander toys, and it's up to them to save the world of Skylands form the evil Kaos. They bring them to life, and they use them to save a virtual world.

If that's not the staple of immersion, then I don't know what is.

One of the big questions raised when discussing Skylanders, when you remove all outside factors like immersion or the tech or the marketing, has to be: Is the game any good? If the game falls short, then no amount of outside factors could possibly compensate.

Once again, Skylanders has surprised me. This iteration improves and evolves the formula we saw a year ago in Spyro's Adventure.

Returning is the basic premise: Take a Skylander, level it up, buy upgrades, before choosing a specific path to take with regard to its attacks. This, like everything, has had a huge makeover. The new user interface is easier to understand and much more visually appealing. The little touches like extra flicks of light in graphics, or the stunningly-dynamic new portal transport movie takes Skylanders: Giants from being 'just another kids game' to a triple A videogame.

The most obvious new addition to the series comes in the form of Giants; over-sized Skylanders that only recently came back to life. Tree-rex specifically, leaves you with a godly-feeling; a feeling that you truly are a giant. His attacks are split in three: A charge attack, a ground-pound, and a laser barrage. He's slow, he's clunky, but his strength is unmeasurable. Interestingly, Tree-rex is exactly how I'd imagine playing as a Ent form Lord of the Rings would be.

Giants are super-powered. But despite this, they are indeed balanced. Yes, my Ent will destroy anything that gets in his way. Yes, instead of killing smaller enemies, he'll just punt or stamp on them. But he's slow, if he misses his move, he's open to mob attacks, and if you're playing on the newly-introduced 'nightmare mode', you're going to need to start thinking smart instead of Hulk-smashing everything in sight.

Joining the fray this time round, is a host of new features; my favourite of which being Skystones. The world is littered with folks looking to throw down some rocks in the name of victory. This mini-game works by each player taking it in turns to place down a stone on a six-by-six board. Each stone has between zero and four spikes on each of its four sides. The goal is to place a stone with spikes facing the opponent's stone. If you have more spikes that your opponent's stone, you take their stone. Those with the most stones when the board is full, wins.

It's simple. It's very straight-forwards. But once you start gaining new stones, it becomes more poker than snap. Just yesterday I was perusing the Skylanders in-game shop (located in the hub), when suddenly spot a stone with four spikes on ALL FOUR SIDES! Of course I do what any portal master should; I convince me eldest to buy it for me with no intention of paying him back...

One of the other new features that really exemplifies the brilliance of Giants is the arena 'Horde' mode. One of my biggest gripes with Spyro's Adventure is that there was more talking than action. To play a mission, you had to sit through cut-scene, upon cut-scene, upon cut-scene. It became tiresome real fast. This time round there's still lots of talking, but it's skipable and those of us who want to blast and smash everything to pieces, can. The arenas are a fun little sideshow where you can just aimlessly beat things to a pulp. Best of all, of course, is that the payout for completing said arenas, is massive.

Instead of having to spam that one level, or farm that one area for cash; arenas offer vast money for just beating-down wave after wave of enemies.

Sometimes when you're a giant, you just want to cause mass destruction and wreck stuff, and make money in the process. Whether it's measly chompers or boss fights, wrecking stuff (and hurtling boulders) never gets old.

Another area Toys for Bob have greatly improved is in the boss encounters. Remember those boring fights where something slides down the screen at you and you dodge it? They're still here, but not all the often. Instead, Toys for Bob have opted for unique boss battles, some of which leave you in tears of laughter. Most noticeably, one battle sees a boss rapping karaoke-style to one of the Spyro's Adventure theme tunes. It's even complete with a bit of dub-step thrown in for good measure.

What could be better than a dub-step/karaoke/rap robot?

In Closing

Skylanders: Giants is how it's done. Sequels should improve and never stagnate. Giants moves the series forwards while taking it to new heights. Toys for Bob demonstrate an understanding of what kids want and what adults with kids want. We don't want something with a name slapped on it, churned out in a few months. Why is it okay for some to lower standards when designing a game for children? Kid games deserve the same quality seen in adult titles. Toys for Bob 'get it'. Give kids and adults a great game, with cool characters, and futuristic tech, and you're on to a winner.

It's vivid, it's fun, and it doesn't even have LEGO in the title.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Position:?Editor-in-chief

Born in Cyrodiil but raised in Ferelden, more commonly know as England. Wesley Copeland is a passionate writer with more opinions than an ostrich.

Source: http://www.videogamesinteractive.com/2012/11/review-skylanders-giants.html

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Obama has two speeches ready, Romney only one (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/261066067?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Panel finalizes Fla. higher education proposals

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) ? More tuition flexibility linked to stronger accountability measures for Florida's state universities are among the final recommendations approved Tuesday by Gov. Rick Scott's higher education task force.

The panel also called for strengthening the Board of Governors, which oversees the 12 universities, by giving it more authority over budgeting and the hiring of the schools' presidents.

"There's about four or five really strong recommendations in here that can transform the system," said University of North Florida President John Delaney. "I think that is what the governor was after."

Delaney is among seven members of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform who unanimously approved the recommendations. The panel had decided earlier that it would not advance any proposals that didn't have agreement from all seven.

The key proposals include allowing universities to charge different tuition rates according to the type of degree a student is seeking. The idea is to use lower tuition rates at least until the state's economy improves and unemployment drops below 7 percent to encourage students to enroll in programs that lead to high-wage, high-skill and high-demand jobs.

The panel also recommended that "preeminent universities" be allowed to charge higher rates. Members agreed that a school can be deemed preeminent regardless of its mission ? not just if it has a heavy focus on research.

Both types of differential tuition could be triggered if state funding is insufficient to achieve goals set according to accountability metrics for the system as well as individual schools.

"The task force is not recommending that tuition go up," Delaney said. "The task force is recommending that the universities be funded at a level necessary to succeed. Period."

Florida's tuition rates currently rank among the nation's lowest, and the state has cut university funding in recent years including $300 million this year, but Scott has vigorously opposed tuition increases. Earlier this year the governor vetoed a bill that would have permitted the state's top two research schools, the University of Florida and Florida State University, to exceed a current 15 percent cap on annual increases.

Task force chairman Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation, questioned whether universities would have any incentive to hold rates down if they are freed of existing tuition constraints.

"The market," Delaney responded. "At some point the customers aren't going to pay it."

The panel says its recommendations are intertwined.

House Education Committee Chairman Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, said the Board of Governors cannot be expected to meet accountability requirements without stronger budgetary authority and a direct role in the selection and appointment of university presidents.

The latter would require a change in current law. It gives boards of trustees at each school the authority to hire presidents and says the Board of Governors "shall approve" those appointments.

Proctor compared that to a university president being unable to appoint his or her deans.

"You might as well play golf because you're not going to preside as president," Proctor said.

Scott and Brill are scheduled to appear before the Board of Governors on Wednesday in Sarasota to discuss the task force's proposals and the governor's ideas for higher education.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/panel-finalizes-fla-higher-education-proposals-153232431--finance.html

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Nine colorful and endangered tree-dwelling tarantulas discovered in Brazil

ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2012) ? Arboreal tarantulas are known from a few tropical places in Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Caribbean. These tarantulas generally have a lighter build, thinner bodies and longer legs, better suited for their habitat. They have increased surface area at the ends of their legs, allowing them to better climb different surfaces, while their light build makes them more agile.

Their core area is the Amazon, from where most of the species are known and normally very common, living in the jungle or even in house's surroundings. Now, nine new species were described from Central and Eastern Brazil, including four of the smallest arboreal species ever recorded.

The study was performed by Dr Rog?rio Bertani, who is a tarantula specialist and a researcher at the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His results have been published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

"Instead of the seven species formerly known in the region, we now have sixteen," said Dr Bertani. "In a resurrected genus with a mysterious single species known from 1841, we have now five species." "These are the smallest arboreal tarantulas in the world, and their analysis suggests the genus to be very old, so they can be considered relicts of a formerly more widely distributed taxon."

Other discoveries include new species of tarantulas living inside bromeliads. "Only a single species had been known to live exclusively inside these plants, and now we have another that specialized in bromeliads as well." A further species was found at the top of table mountains where trees are rare. "This species also inhabits bromeliads, one of the few places for an arboreal tarantula to live that offer water and a retreat against the intense sunlight" he says.

The discovery of all these new species outside the Amazon was unexpected and illustrates how little we know of the fauna surrounding us, even from hot spots of threatened biodiversity like the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado (a kind of savannah vegetation). These species are highly endemic and the regions where they live are suffering high pressure from human activities. Therefore, studies for their conservation are necessaries. Furthermore, all these new species are colorful, which could attract the interest for capturing them for the pet trade, constituting another threat.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Rogerio Bertani. Revision, cladistic analysis and biogeography of Typhochlaena C. L. Koch, 1850, Pachistopelma Pocock, 1901 and Iridopelma Pocock, 1901 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae). ZooKeys, 2012; 230 (0): 1 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.230.3500

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/DG2R24n3PJk/121030161408.htm

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Sony goes Red-hunting with PMW-F55 and PMW-F5 pro CineAlta 4K Super 35mm sensor camcorders

Having seen some of its high-end cinema camera thunder stolen by the likes of Red and Arri, Sony has just launched a pair of CineAlta PL-mount cameras with brand new Super 35mm sensors: The PMW-F5 and PMW-F55. Though both pack 4K CMOS imagers, there are some major differences -- the higher-end PMW-F55 has a global shutter, wider color gamut and can capture 4k, 2k or HD video internally, while the PMW-F5 records 2k and HD natively with a rolling shutter (4k requires an optional RAW recorder, below).

Depending on the level of quality you want, there are several ways to capture video to each camcorder. MPEG-4 H.264 video or Sony's SR MPEG-4 SStP can be recorded onto Sony's new SxS PRO+ media, or if RAW quality is desired, there's the new AXS-R5 Access Memory System for 2K / 4K RAW capture -- which will also work with the current NEX-FS700. Using the latter system, the PMW-F5 is capable of grabbing up to 120fps slow motion RAW HD video, while the PMW-F55 can capture 240fps at 2k, putting it squarely in Epic-X territory. The new camcorders will arrive in February 2013, and while Sony hasn't outed pricing yet, it'll likely be well under the flagship 4k CineAlta F65's formidable $65k sticker. Check the PR after the break to get the entire technical skinny.

Gallery: Sony F5 / F55 pro camcorders

Continue reading Sony goes Red-hunting with PMW-F55 and PMW-F5 pro CineAlta 4K Super 35mm sensor camcorders

Filed under: Cameras, HD, Sony

Sony goes Red-hunting with PMW-F55 and PMW-F5 pro CineAlta 4K Super 35mm sensor camcorders originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 02:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/sony-goes-red-hunting-with-pmw-f55-and-pmw-f5-pro-cinealta-4k/

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'Pragmatic' Rutte to lead new Dutch coalition government

Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands announced today that his Liberal party and the Social Democrats have agreed on a new coalition, the third Mr. Rutte has headed.

By Peter Teffer,?Contributor / October 29, 2012

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (r) and Diederik Samsom of the Social Democrats talk prior to a news conference in The Hague today. Mr. Rutte's Liberal Party and the Social Democrats announced they had reached a coalition deal, paving the way for a pro-austerity, pro-European government to be sworn in as early as next week.

Michael Kooren/Reuters

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The next time Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has a summit with other European leaders in Brussels, he will be in a shrinking camp of political survivors.?

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Since Mr. Rutte first took office two years ago, there have been 17 elections in EU member states where voters could influence who becomes president or prime minister. Only four prime ministers and one president managed to keep their job, and Rutte is one of them.

Rutte's continued survival in The Netherland's top office reflects his ability to cooperate and compromise with his political peers. Today, he announced his new cabinet, forged by an agreement between his center-right Liberal party (VVD) and its new coalition partner, the Social Democrats. But the new government is the third political constellation ? each with partners of significantly different leanings ? that Rutte will lead within the past year.

His first, more right-wing government collapsed in April, when firebrand populist Geert Wilders withdrew his support for Rutte's minority government with the center-right Christian Democrats, effectively causing elections. But because EU rules demanded a new budget, three opposition parties joined the minority government for a temporary coalition.

Pro-European tone

Now, Rutte will lead a government that includes a party that during the election campaign took a much more positive tone towards European integration than the prime minister did.

?A prime minister speaks for all parties in the coalition. Expressing a compromise opinion comes with the job, and that's something Rutte can do," says Medy van der Laan of the social-liberal D66 party. "He is not someone with a Great Design."

Rutte started his career at the international corporation Unilever, but shifted into politics when he became deputy minister of Social Affairs and Employment under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in 2002. Two years later, he switched to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to become deputy minister of Education and Science.

Ms. van der Laan was his colleague at the same ministry and as deputy minister responsible for Culture and Media affairs. ?Mark Rutte was a nice, sociable colleague ? always cheerful and bright,? van der Laan says. ?He always created a good atmosphere. A pleasant guy. Rutte is someone who tries to find similarities instead of differences. And he has a good political antenna.?

An inclusive leader

Arend Jan Boekestijn was a Liberal member of parliament from 2006 until 2009, and praises Rutte's inclusive leadership.

?Often party leaders have their paladins, but not Rutte. He showed no favorites,? Mr. Boekestijn says. Rutte is ?intrinsically friendly and genuinely interested in people,? and his social skills make him ?a builder of bridges,? Boekestijn adds.

?This man is a connector,? says Eric Trinthamer, who was spokesperson for Rutte and the party in the same period.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/kM2FAIF0Uac/Pragmatic-Rutte-to-lead-new-Dutch-coalition-government

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Egypt church moves closer to picking new pope

CAIRO (Reuters) - A vote to help choose a pope for Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church began on Monday in a process the minority Christians hope will deliver a leader to guide them safely through the upheaval of the Arab Spring.

The previous incumbent, Pope Shenouda III, had led the church for four decades until his death in March at the age of 88. His successor will assume the post in a fast-changing Egypt where long oppressed Islamists are now in power - a major shift that is a source of alarm for the minority Christian community.

About 2,400 people have the right to vote in Monday's ballot and must pick from a shortlist announced by the church on October 13 and which comprises two bishops and three monks aged between 49 and 70.

Picked by the church, the voters include leading members of the church, public figures and a handful of representatives of the Ethiopian Church, which has historic links to the church in Egypt.

The three most popular candidates go forward to the November 4 draw which, according to an ancient tradition, will be carried out by a child who must be blindfolded. The new pope will be the 118th to lead the Coptic Church.

"We are all so worried from the situation in Egypt now and the rise of Islamists to power but the church has always been harassed," said Magdy Helmi, a 53-year old voting as a representative of a provincial branch of the Coptic Church. "The church became an expert in surviving bad times," he added.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the mainstream Islamist movement that propelled President Mohamed Mursi to power, has sworn to guard the rights of Christians in the overwhelmingly majority Sunni Muslim country of 83 million people.

Monday's voting took place at a cathedral complex in Cairo's Abbasiya district. Bearded priests in black robes queued up to post their ballot papers into transparent boxes. The result was expected late on Monday.

"I hope that whoever wins will have the patience and wisdom of Pope Shenouda as times are tough on both Christians and Muslims - on all Egyptians," said Sameh Nazeh, a 39-year old Copt who was waiting for his wife - one of the voters - to cast her ballot.

(Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-church-moves-closer-picking-pope-131511935.html

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Final Fantasy VII Roleplay

Play-by-post roleplay, link here: http://www.roleplaygateway.com/final-fantasy-vii-meteor-t76507.html

Hey guys,
Thought I might try and start a roleplay. This is my first time using a roleplay forum, so please excuse my inexperience. IC topic here: [url][/url]

This roleplay takes part in Midgar, during the Meteor crisis. Meteor has just appeared and the public are going crazy. President Rufus has called an urgent meeting to discuss how Shinra are going to calm and control the public, and stop Meteor. This is where we come in. As high-rank Shinra members (OCs welcome), we must plan what Shinra is going to do. We'll just make the story up as we go along after that.

Please, no godmodding. The characters need to be relatively ordinary (apart from the fact that we're important Shinra dudes, obviously). A pistol, a lever/bolt action rifle, or hand-to-hand for weapons, please. I'll try and make some sort of class system here:

==One==
Weapon: Pistol (any pistol that isn't extremely overpowered)
Weapon Damage: Medium
Materia Slots: Three
Materia Types: Magic, Support.
Magic Skill: Medium

==Two==
Weapon: Lever/Bolt (your call) Rifle
Weapon Damage: High
Materia Slots: Two
Materia Types: Magic, Support, Independent.
Magic Skill: Low

==Three==
Weapon: Hand-to-hand
Weapon Damage: Low
Materia Slots: Four (they'd be on the gloves)
Materia Types: Magic, Summon.
Magic Skill: High

Here's a character template (I'll use myself as an example):

Name: Reeve Tuesti
Age: 35
Class: One
Materia: Bolt, Sense, Fire.
Shinra Position: Urban Development
Small Background Story (only required for OCs):

There probably will be fights the public. I'll type a small paragraph about the battle, then we'll choose our moves one by one.

Well, I think that's about it. Enjoy!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/x4bOK4lbvTQ/viewtopic.php

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News Summary: Eurozone debt hits new peak

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