AOC Q2963PM

If you have more than one monitor on your desktop and want to free up some valuable workplace real estate, consider replacing it with an ultra-wide monitor like the AOC Q2963PM . This 29-inch display has a resolution of 2,560-by-1,080, a 21:9 aspect ratio, and an IPS panel that offers rich color reproduction. It offers every video port you'll ever need and is reasonably priced, but it's not without a few minor flaws; it loses luminance when viewed from a top and bottom angle and it lacks ergonomic adjustability.

Design and Features
The Q2963PM's massive screen is housed in a matte black cabinet with uber-thin top and side bezels. The side bezels are curve around to the back of the cabinet and the 0.75-inch bottom bezel holds a small shiny AOC logo. There are four function buttons, a power switch, and a blue LED power light on the right side of the cabinet. None of the buttons are labeled but that's not a problem; pressing any key brings up an on-screen label that uses large icons to describe what each button does.

All of the I/O ports are mounted on the wedge-shaped stand, which has a removable base so you can hang the monitor on a wall using the VESA mounting holes. On the right side of the mounting arm are DVI, VGA, and DisplayPort inputs, while halfway down the arm, just above where it is connected to the base, there is an HDMI input, a DisplayPort output, an audio input, and a headphone jack. The DisplayPort output makes it possible to daisy chain multiple monitors using special DisplayPort Multi-stream cables (not included). The stand has a hinge that lets you tilt the panel forward and backward but there are no height, swivel, or pivot adjustments.

Picture settings include contrast, brightness, gamma, and Eco mode, which is AOC's name for picture mode and includes Standard, Text, Internet, Game, Movie, and Sports presets. Color settings include red, green, and blue level adjustments, Color Temperature, and Dynamic Color Boost (DCB), which offers green, blue, and skin tone enhancement settings.

The Q2963PM comes with a couple of neat utilities, including Screen+, a screen splitter that lets you split your desktop into different panels, with each panel displaying a different window. All you have to do is drag a window to the selected panel and drop it. Also included is the AOC e-Saver power management software, and i-Menu, which lets you change picture settings using a keyboard and mouse rather than the function buttons. Included in the box are VGA, DVI, and HDMI cables as well as a resource CD. The Q2963PM is covered by a three-year parts, labor, and backlight warranty.

Performance
The Q2963PM uses an IPS panel that delivers rich color quality and good grayscale performance. It was able to accurately reproduce all steps of the DisplayMate 64-Step Grayscale test and there was no evidence of tinting in the middle of the scale. Colors were mostly accurate; as shown in the color chart below, reds and blues were nearly perfect (the closer the dot is to its corresponding box the more accurate the color) but greens were a bit oversaturated, which is fairly common among affordable monitors given green's huge color space. Fortunately, the saturated greens did not result in greenish highlights or skewed colors.

Viewing angles performance was generally good, although there was a slight loss of luminance when viewed from the top and bottom angles. I noticed this with the Dell UltraSharp U2913WM also. The Q2963PM's 5-millisecond (black-to-white) pixel response handled fast motion video without any noticeable smearing or blur. In fact, this monitor is ideal for watching movies, whether in a separate window or in full screen mode. It offers crisp image detail and the embedded 3-watt speakers are nice and loud, although they could use a bass boost.

The Q2963PM used 33 watts of power during testing while operating in Standard mode. That's a few watts less than the 29-inch Dell U2913WM (36 watts) and significantly lower than the 30-inch Dell UltraSharp U3014 (60 watts).

If you require a dual monitor setup but don't have the room on your desktop, the AOC Q2963PM is a good bet. It offers good color and grayscale performance, loads of video inputs, and multiple monitor support. And, it's reasonably priced. That said, a USB hub would be a welcome addition, as would a height adjustable stand. Both the NEC MultiSync PA271W and Dell UltraSharp 3014 offer multiple USB ports and highly adjustable stand, but you'll pay significantly more for these features and don't get the full Ultra-wide, 21:9 screen.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/vDW_8m__88M/0,2817,2421203,00.asp

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From Egypt petition drive, a new grassroot wave

CAIRO (AP) ? Teenager Gehad Mustafa wears an ultraconservative veil over her face and was raised in a family of staunch Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Yet for the past weeks, she has been walking though chaotic street markets and crowded subway stations, collecting signatures on a petition demanding Islamist President Mohammed Morsi step down.

The months-long petition campaign by the group "Tamarod," Arabic for "rebel," is now culminating in nationwide protests Sunday in which the opposition hopes to bring out millions to force Morsi out of office, a year after his inauguration.

But Tamarod's organizers say they are not stopping there. No matter what happens on Sunday, they say they have created through their petition drive a real grassroots network, an opposition version in the spirit of the Islamists' expert street organizing, and have brought forth a sort of second generation of street activists, like Mustafa, after the first that led the revolt against autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

They want to use that network going ahead, to keep the public involved and to pressure the secular and liberal opposition parties, who the activists say have wasted opportunities through infighting and fragmentation, to get their act together.

On a recent day, Tamarod's main office, steps away from Cairo's Tahrir Square, was bustling with several dozen volunteers as young as 13 and as old as their 50s and 60s. University professors, government employees, students and housewives sipped tea, smoked and chatted while going through the organization's prize possession: the sheaves of signed petitions still coming in from around the country, filling the office.

The pages of signatures, they say, are proof of how deeply the country of 90 million has turned against the Muslim Brotherhood. They plan to announce their full count ahead of Sunday's protests but have claimed to have as many as 20 million signatures, which they collate, confirm and record in a database in a precise operation, knowing their count will be questioned.

Among the volunteers was 17-year-old Mustafa. She said she turned against Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood after the first protesters were killed under his administration in late 2012. "I saw the reality," she said. "You told us that the blood of the martyrs will not go in vain. But there were more ... falling under your rule."

She joined Tamarod, which launched in late April, and volunteered to canvas the street for signatures. At one point, while passing out petitions in the subway, a man wearing the beard of a Muslim conservative attacked her, pulling the veil off her face. But other commuters then wrestled the man away in support of her.

"This strengthened me. I felt what I am doing is right," she said.

Organizers say Tamarod mushroomed across the country. Founded by five activists, its leadership is a central group of about 25, connected to a network of coordinators in Egypt's 27 provinces, each with a team of volunteers in towns and villages.

The signatures are effectively a database of the dissatisfied: Each signatory puts his or her name, province of residence and national ID number.

Collecting signatures in itself is a breakthrough, overcoming Egyptians' engrained resistance to signing onto any paper presented by a stranger, especially political, from the Mubarak days when doing so could get you a visit from state security or even arrested. Volunteers carrying the petitions brought politics into every corner ? weddings, slum alleys, buses and subways. Volunteers included strangers to political campaigning, from men selling cigarettes in kiosks to impoverished women selling in vegetable markets.

Ahmed el-Masry, one of the founders of Tamarod, calls the success "astonishing."

"I can't tell how many members out there. I can think that millions of Egyptians are members," he said.

"At one point, people gave up (on Morsi) ... it reached a point where a new class of Brothers are gaining higher status in society that to join them, you have to let your beard grow. We reached a point where no one is heard but the president and his tribe."

Brotherhood officials cast doubt on the signatures, claiming forgeries and multiple names. While Morsi says peaceful demonstrations are a legitimate form of expression, he and his allies also say Mubarak loyalists are behind the campaign and protests, trying to use the streets to topple an elected leader.

A spokesman for the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said he sympathizes with some activists in Tamarod ? "the young revolutionaries who had great expectations out of the revolution. Due to their inexperience and age, they wanted to see change too fast and too soon and that is what I call frustration."

But Abdel-Mawgoud el-Dardery said "opportunist politicians" are exploiting them for their political agenda and that former regime elements are exploiting both the politicians and the activists.

"There is unholy alliance among these groups. They have insisted on having one enemy and that is President Morsi," he said.

Tamarod activists say it is they who are leading the politicians of the mainly liberal and secular opposition parties and factions, trying to drag them into a better connection with the public. The campaign's plan calls for Morsi to leave, the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court to become a largely symbolic interim president while a technocrat Cabinet governs, a panel would write a new constitution and presidential elections would be held in six months.

Ahmed Abdu, one of the first Tamarod street campaigners, said the group will pressure the opposition to coalesce behind a candidate.

If they can't get organized "we will pick one away from all the top leaders of opposition and we will be able to rally support to him."

He blamed liberal parties for running multiple candidates in last year's presidential election, which resulted in a runoff between Morsi and a former Mubarak prime minister, forcing people to choose between an Islamist and a loyalist of the regime just ousted.

"I hope they don't let us down again," Abdu said.

Tamarod's nationwide network and pavement-pounding methods contrast with many of the political parties, which have struggled to establish a nationwide presence. That is in large part what opened the way for the Muslim Brotherhood, an 83-year-old organization that has highly disciplined cadres nationwide, and harder-line Islamist with their own organizations to dominate parliament elections in late 2011-early 2012, to ensure the constitution passed a December referendum, and to boost Morsi to victory.

Tamarod's volunteers ? some former Morsi supporters, others who disliked him from the start ? had varying stories of what brought them to the campaign. Most said they were dismayed by what they call the Brotherhood's opportunism and determination to control the system rather than reform state institutions and police. That is a frequent refrain from critics of Morsi. His allies insist they are not trying to monopolize, that opponents have refused to work with them and that old regime loyalists have sabotaged their attempts at reform.

At the Tamarod office, Doaa Mohammed, a young Justice Ministry employee, said the day after Morsi's election, a man on the street spit at her face and yelled, "Tomorrow, Morsi will get rid of you all."

Mohammed wears a stylish scarf covering her hair, less strict than the more cloaking coverings and veils that hard-liners believe women should wear.

She said managers in her ministry were replaced by Brotherhood sympathizers.

"From day one, I have been treated like a second-class citizen. The Sister enjoys higher status than me just because she belongs to the group," she said, referring to the Muslim Sisters, the women's branch of the Brotherhood.

The heart of Tamarod is its petitions. Through Facebook and Twitter, volunteers could download the form, copy it and distribute them among friends and family members or hit the streets for signatures, then get back in touch with coordinators to return the papers.

At the Tamarod office, a psychology university lecturer-turned-volunteer explained how the papers are sorted by province, counted, scanned and entered into a database to ensure there are no doubled ID numbers and that the numbers ? which have prefixes by province ? match where they're said to come from. Much of the work takes place in a room labeled "Control Room. No Entry."

Secrecy is tight. The university lecturer spoke on condition of anonymity ? he goes by the nickname "Maestro" ? so he could not be singled out for pressure by anyone trying to get to the petitions. He said only two of the founders know the whereabouts of the originals of the signed forms and are responsible for moving them every few days to new locations.

"We are working in the daylight but they don't want us to work in the daylight," he said and added, "we are holding a pen and a paper. This is our weapon. And this is how we tell them, Enough"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-petition-drive-grassroot-wave-225403775.html

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Vandy Coach Offers Scholarships To Unborn?

Vanderbilt head football coach James Franklin is not afraid of recruiting anyone born or unborn. Franklin told The Tennessean...

quote:

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?If I see a 6-foot-6 man walking in the mall with his wife, and she?s 6-2 and she?s pregnant, I?ll go up and offer their unborn child,? ?I?m not exaggerating. I do that all the time. ? It?s about developing a relationship with people. It?s about getting them connected with Vanderbilt. It?s about making people laugh and telling a story and having fun. It?s about having a sense of humor and not being some robot coach that I don?t want to be.?

---

Source: http://www.tigerdroppings.com/blog/display.aspx?p=42794798

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Mandela: A hard act to follow for South Africans

A souvenir vendor set up his street shop with scarves showing portraits of former South African President Nelson Mandela near the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto, Saturday June 29, 2013. The White House issued a statement Saturday that President Barack Obama plans to visit privately with relatives of former South African President Nelson Mandela, but doesn't intend to see the critically ill anti-apartheid activist he has called a "personal hero." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A souvenir vendor set up his street shop with scarves showing portraits of former South African President Nelson Mandela near the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto, Saturday June 29, 2013. The White House issued a statement Saturday that President Barack Obama plans to visit privately with relatives of former South African President Nelson Mandela, but doesn't intend to see the critically ill anti-apartheid activist he has called a "personal hero." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A South African girl holds a poster showing former South African President Nelson Mandela, while her family and other well wishers gather at the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital on Friday where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Vendors selling shawls bearing the image of former South African President Nelson Mandela, stands at the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital on Friday where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

A man looks back as he walk past a mural of former South African president Nelson Mandela in the town of Umtata, South Africa, Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

A man passes a advertising board for the Nelson Mandela museum, showing the face of former South African president Nelson Mandela, right rear, in the town of Umtata, South Africa, Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? In November, just before Nelson Mandela's health began a long downward spiral, the leader of a project to build a children's hospital named after the former president briefed him on efforts to raise construction funds. Mandela, 94 years old and infirm, was exasperated by the delays. Then the reflexes of the world statesman took over.

"Well, get me a few business people. Sit them around my table here and I'll tell them why this is important," Mandela said, according to Sibongile Mkhabela, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Trust. The fundraiser didn't happen, but the remark was a poignant hint of the Mandela of old, the charismatic leader who, as Mkhabela put it, "knew how to make people believe in things that were not there yet."

Today Mandela is critically ill in a Pretoria hospital, seemingly close to the end of his life. As the day approaches, whenever it comes, many South Africans are caught in an emotional reckoning. They celebrate this father figure, whose jail-time sacrifice and peacemaking role in the transition from apartheid to democracy resonated worldwide, but they face the hard road of trying to emulate his example and implement his legacy after he is gone.

"There's a part of Mandela in each of us," said Anthony Prangley, a lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, a University of Pretoria business school whose campus is in Johannesburg.

"It's important to keep that in mind because we can start to see him as someone who is not accessible, or infallible," Prangley said. "In doing so, we miss the potential to learn from his leadership."

Mandela's achievements were historic even though he admitted imperfection and sought to share credit with others. That humility left a deep impression on many who met him.

The anti-apartheid leader spent 27 years in jail, but was seemingly free of rancor on his release in 1990, steering South Africa through a delicate transition to all-race elections that propelled him to the presidency four years later. The outpouring of support for the ailing Mandela, who was taken to the hospital on June 8 for what the government said was a lung infection, attests to his ability to connect and inspire in his country, even if it is struggling to live up to his soaring vision, and around the world.

"If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," President Obama said in Senegal before arriving in South Africa on Friday as part of an Africa tour. Obama is to meet with Mandela's relatives Saturday, though he has said he will not visit the hospital where Mandela is receiving treatment.

The United Nations has recognized July 18, Mandela's birthday, as an international day to honor themes of activism, democracy and responsibility embodied by the former leader. Organizers of events in his honor suggest participants spend 67 minutes engaged in acts of goodness on that day ? 67 corresponds to the number of years Mandela is said to have spent in public service.

"It's possible for our societies to have 'Mandelas' so long as we don't take away from ourselves the responsibilities to learn, to be better, to aspire to something bigger," said Mkhabela, the CEO. She said she worried when people put Mandela on "such a high pedestal," setting aside the need to follow his humanitarian values.

"This just sounds like another way of saying: 'We don't want to be responsible, we feel and fear in us there is a 'Mandela' that could be unleashed. It's too big a responsibility, too big a challenge,'" she said.

The business world has taken note of Mandela as a role model. He ranked fourth on a list of admired leaders, according to a global survey late last year of 1,330 chief executive officers in 68 countries. Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi led the field in the survey, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey said many CEOs "chose leaders who were persistent in the face of adversity ? as well as transformational leaders and leaders who did the 'right thing.'"

Prangley, the business school lecturer, said a great leader doesn't just inspire and have many followers, but also reaches out to other constituencies. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., he said, became more effective by winning over white Americans, and Mahatma Gandhi sought to unite Muslims and Hindus, even though India was partitioned. President Obama energized crowds early on but now struggles to rally people when things sour, according to Prangley, who praised Mandela's political skill.

"He understands when to push and when to bring other people to the table," he said of Mandela's skill in balancing firmness and compromise.

Prangley said he met Mandela as a student volunteer in Mozambique in the late 1990s, recalling how the former president told him and his young colleagues that it was a "wizened" group of older leaders who had led the negotiations that ended apartheid.

"In South African society, it was the older generation who began to compromise and brought change," Prangley said. "It was a message to us, as young people at that time, to kind of learn from that experience."

Mandela, though, was hardly a stuffy patriarch. He had cross-generational appeal. He wore colorful, patterned shirts when president and was known for warmth and attention to personal detail despite a somewhat regal, even stiff bearing.

Those who have worked with Mandela, a philanthropist who joined the fight against the AIDS epidemic in South Africa and other humanitarian causes, often share what they learned with colorful anecdotes about the former president, also known by his clan name, Madiba. Achmat Dangor, the former head of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, a Johannesburg-based foundation, picked up tips about the stubborn art of fundraising.

"I've been on occasions with heads of state and certain great persons somewhere who made a pledge, and Madiba called me and said, 'You sit here until they give you something in writing, you don't leave,'" Dangor told a foundation audience in May. "'Thank you, Prime Minister. Your Excellency, thank you.' And yes, I didn't leave without a note. A million pounds came a couple of years later, but it came."

Mandela also stressed the importance of getting opposing sides to speak to each other, said Dangor, who described how he and a colleague once approached Mandela to discuss dialogue initiatives.

Dangor recalled: "He listened very carefully and then he said, 'Listen I want to tell you something. You know, when you get people together who agree with each other, and they're friends, that's not dialogue. That's a chat. Bring together those who disagree with each other.'"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-29-AF-South-Africa-Mandela-Leadership/id-45af8482dd3148298932c274f9814ec6

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Lithium reduces risk of suicide in people with mood disorders, review finds

June 27, 2013 ? The drug lithium is an effective treatment for reducing the risk of suicide and possibly deliberate self harm in people with mood disorders, finds an evidence review published today on bmj.com.

The authors say the drug "seems to reduce the risk of death and suicide by more than 60% compared with placebo" and suggest this review "reinforces lithium as an effective agent to reduce the risk of suicide in people with mood disorders."

Mood disorders are a leading cause of global disability. The two main types are unipolar disorder (often called clinical depression) and bipolar disorder (often called manic depression). Both are serious, long term conditions involving extreme mood swings, but people with bipolar depression also experience episodes of mania or hypomania.

People with a mood disorder have a 30 times greater risk of suicide than the general population. Treatment with mood stabilising drugs like lithium, anticonvulsants or antipsychotics can help keep mood within normal limits, but their role in suicide prevention is still uncertain.

So a team of researchers from the universities of Oxford, UK and Verona, Italy set out to assess whether lithium has a specific preventive effect for suicide and self harm in people with unipolar and bipolar mood disorders.

They reviewed and analysed the results of 48 randomised controlled trials involving 6,674 participants. The trials compared lithium with either placebo or active drugs in long term treatment for mood disorders.

Lithium was more effective than placebo in reducing the number of suicides and deaths from any cause, but no clear benefits were seen for lithium compared with placebo in preventing deliberate self harm.

When lithium was compared with each active individual treatment, a statistically significant difference was found only with carbamazepine for deliberate self harm. Overall, lithium tended to be generally better than the other active treatments, with small statistical variation between the results.

"This updated systematic review reinforces lithium as an effective agent to reduce the risk of suicide in people with mood disorders," say the authors.

They suggest that lithium may exert its anti-suicidal effects "by reducing relapse of mood disorder," but add "there is some evidence that lithium decreases aggression and possibly impulsivity, which might be another mechanism mediating the anti-suicidal effect."

They acknowledge that lithium has several side effects, but say clinicians "need to take a balanced view of the likely benefits and harm of lithium in the individual patient." And they conclude: "Understanding the mechanism by which lithium acts to decrease suicidal behaviour could lead to a better understanding of the neurobiology of suicide."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/WpJHeyMbXZU/130627190655.htm

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Gay rights clash: Obama, African host are at odds

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? Laying bare a clash of cultures, President Barack Obama on Thursday urged African leaders to extend equal rights to gays and lesbians but was bluntly rebuked by Senegal's president, who said his country "still isn't ready" to decriminalize homosexuality.

Obama opened his weeklong trip to Africa one day after the U.S. Supreme Court expanded federal benefits for married gay couples. In his first in-person comments on the ruling, Obama said the court's decision marked a "proud day for America." He pressed for similar recognition for gays in Africa, wading into a sensitive area in a region where dozens of countries outlaw homosexuality and a few punish violations with death.

"When it comes to how the state treats people, how the law treats people, I believe that everybody has to be treated equally," Obama said during a news conference with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the grand presidential palace in Dakar.

But Sall gave no ground. Senegal is "very tolerant," he assured Obama, but is "still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality." Sall said countries make decisions on complex issues in their own time, noting that Senegal has outlawed capital punishment while other countries have not ? a pointed jab at the U.S., where the death penalty is legal in many states.

Obama's trip, which also includes stops in South Africa and Tanzania, marks the most extensive visit to Africa by the first black U.S. president since he took office. Many Africans have expressed disappointment over Obama's lack of direct engagement with affairs on their continent ? particularly given that his father was Kenyan and he has many relatives living in Africa ? yet he was still enthusiastically welcomed.

Thousands of people gathered on the roadways near the presidential palace as Obama's motorcade sped through the coastal city, many in the crowds wearing white to symbolize peace. Some waved homemade signs welcoming Obama, while those gathered near the palace entrance sang and played drums, the rhythmic beats audible from inside the gates.

At Goree Island, the former slave trading post Obama visited later Thursday, local residents waited under scorching sun for hours to catch a glimpse of the president. They sang a song about his return to his ancestral homeland and broke into jubilant cheers as Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walked over to shake hands.

Looming over the festive atmosphere were concerns over former South African leader Nelson Mandela. Obama is due to arrive in South Africa on Friday, though Mandela's precarious condition adds some uncertainty to the agenda.

Obama spoke reverently about the impact that Mandela's struggle against apartheid had on his own activism, as well as about the 94-year-old's influence in Africa and around the world.

"If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," said Obama, who has sometimes been linked to Mandela given their shared status as their nations' first black presidents.

Mandela's democratic influence in Africa is at the core of Obama's trip. The three countries he will visit were selected as a signal of U.S. support for African nations that have embraced democracy in a region where the legacy of corruption and authoritarianism have been difficult to overcome.

Sall, for example, won the presidency in Senegal last year by ousting an incumbent president who attempted to change the constitution to make it easier for him to be re-elected and for his son to succeed him.

Africa's democratic movements have not been accompanied in most places by equal rights for gays and lesbians. A report Monday by Amnesty International said 38 African countries criminalize homosexuality. In four of those ? Mauritania, northern Nigeria, southern Somalia and Sudan ? the punishment is death.

Discrimination against gays is the norm. In Uganda, evictions of homosexuals by landlords occur regularly, says the Amnesty report. Vigilante groups in several countries have posted the names of homosexuals online or denounced them on the radio, forcing them to go into hiding to avoid mob violence. In Senegal, suspected homosexuals who were buried in Muslim cemeteries were disinterred in several towns and villages, and their corpses were dragged through the streets.

On another subject, Obama was pressed in his news conference about the status of former government contractor Edward Snowden, who has acknowledged leaking highly classified documents detailing sweeping U.S. government surveillance programs. The Chinese government let Snowden leave Hong Kong, where he had been hiding, to travel to Russia, where he is now believed to be holed up in the transit zone at Moscow's airport.

Obama dismissed the notion of deploying U.S. military resources to detain Snowden, saying "I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker."

On still another topic, the president had harsh words for the Supreme Court on its ruling this week that overturned key elements of the Voting Rights Act. Obama declared the decision "a mistake."

"I might not be here as president had it not been for those who courageously helped to pass the Voting Rights Act," Obama said.

The president is being accompanied throughout his trip by wife, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson. Following the president's meetings with Sall, the family boarded a ferry bound for Goree Island, which by some accounts was the center of the Atlantic slave trade.

The Obamas were given a tour of the salmon-colored House of Slaves where Africans were held before being sold into slavery. The president then peered out into the vast Atlantic through the Door of No Return, where shackled men, women and children left Africa, inching across a plank to the hull of a waiting ship.

"Obviously, for an African-American, an African-American president, to be able to visit this site, I think, gives me even greater motivation in terms of human rights around the world," Obama said after his tour.

The president's stop on Goree Island was the first of two visits on the trip highlighting racial change in Africa. The second is scheduled for Sunday at South Africa's Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

___

Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler, Rukmini Callimachi and Robbie Corey-Boulet in Dakar contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-rights-clash-obama-african-host-odds-193249657.html

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BlueStacks introduces the GamePop Mini, its first subscription-based 'free' game console

In an effort to outdo itself, BlueStacks is announcing the GamePop Mini for the cube-averse. The biggest difference between the Mini (seen above on the left) and the cube (the... uh... cube above) isn't the form factor; it's in pricing. Where the regular GamePop is $129 (unless you act soon) the Mini is "free" after a 12-month subscription of $7 per-month, or $84 total. At this price, it costs less than an OUYA, but slightly more than a GameStick. "If you keep it more than 12 months, you keep it forever," BlueStacks' Head of Marketing and Business Development John Gargiulo told us. Of course, there's not much to do with the Mini without a subscription. "It'd be like if Netflix did it this way and had hardware -- the unit would be useless without the subscription," he added. Additionally, if you return the Mini inside of 12 months, there's a $25 restocking fee.

The subscription gives users access to a plethora of games from 500 "popular mobile game partners." Those partners include the teams behind Jetpack Joyride and Fieldrunners. "Getting the kind of developer support we've gotten, it sets us apart," Gargiulo said. "We saw what happened with the Dreamcast and we saw what happened with the Wii U. You need to have good launch titles; there needs to be games everyone recognizes and wants to play."

To make GamePop more enticing to developers, BlueStacks created Looking Glass -- proprietary tech allowing iOS-only apps to run on its Android-4.2-based console. When an iOS app makes calls to Apple's hardware, Looking Glass interprets those calls and translates them to the GamePop Mini's hardware. Of course, a few changes within the code are necessary. "[Porting is] not easy, but I would submit it's not hard, relatively speaking," Gargiulo said.

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/28/gamepop-mini/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Coup leader asks forgiveness from Malian people

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? The officer who led a coup last year that plunged Mali into chaos asked for forgiveness from the Malian people during a ceremony meant to heal the rift between soldiers who supported the putsch and the presidential guard who fought to defend the former president.

Coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo said that he and his brothers and sisters in green-beret uniform "want to ask for forgiveness from Malians as a whole."

After the coup, the green berets led a purge of the red beret-wearing presidential guard. Many red berets were "disappeared," while others were imprisoned and allegedly tortured.

Interim President Dioncounda Traore said Wednesday the ceremony marked the reconciliation of the two sides and announced that all red beret soldiers still incarcerated had been freed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/coup-leader-asks-forgiveness-malian-people-215310701.html

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Google Hangouts update for iOS brings clickable URLs and sound alerts

Hangouts for iOS may have gotten off to a rocky start -- evidenced by its poor ratings in the App Store -- but it seems that Google is looking to right its wrongs in its first major update to the messaging app. Most significantly, the new version features clickable links in messages and in-app sound notifications, along with official support for iOS 6. Any badge count issues have been fixed, and you'll now also be able to invite friends to join Hangouts via SMS. Add all these with a number of bug fixes, and they bring a good reason to give Hangouts a whirl... perhaps for a second time.

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Via: Frank Petterson (Google+)

Source: Hangouts (App Store)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/cVhphVRiD_Y/

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Asia stocks gain on hopes Fed stimulus to stay

A man checks his mobile phone in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Global stock markets staged a modest recovery Wednesday, boosted by strong data releases that portray a U.S. economy on the upswing. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1 percent to close at 12,834.01. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

A man checks his mobile phone in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Global stock markets staged a modest recovery Wednesday, boosted by strong data releases that portray a U.S. economy on the upswing. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1 percent to close at 12,834.01. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

A man stands in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Global stock markets staged a modest recovery Wednesday, boosted by strong data releases that portray a U.S. economy on the upswing. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1 percent to close at 12,834.01. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

HONG KONG (AP) ? Stock markets from Sydney to Shanghai extended gains for a second day Thursday after the U.S. said quarterly growth may be weaker than expected, raising investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve would delay plans to wind down its stimulus program.

Further signs of easing in China's money markets also helped lift stocks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4 percent to 13,142.50 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.3 percent to 20,607.27. South Korea's Kospi surged 3 percent to 1,837.45.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.8 percent to 4,818.80. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan also rose.

The U.S. government cut its estimate for second-quarter economic growth to 1.8 percent, down sharply from 2.4 percent because of lower than predicted consumer spending.

While news of the weakness in the world's biggest economy was disappointing, it was also positive for investors, who were rattled last week after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank would slow its bond-buying program if the U.S. economy continues to strengthen. That program has kept interest rates low and made stocks more attractive.

"This doesn't put a new spin on the outlook but it certainly makes one wonder all the more about the Fed's 'new and improved' outlook for 2014," economists at DBS Bank wrote in a commentary.

Mainland Chinese benchmarks opened sharply higher after a report that Chinese industrial profits grew strongly in May, though they pared their gains by midday. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.4 percent to 1,959.25 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 913.87.

Markets were also buoyed as interbank lending rates in China continue to ease after a pledge earlier in the week by authorities to shore up banks facing cash shortfalls.

"We expect the interbank rates will come down further in the coming weeks," J.P. Morgan analysts Haibin Zhu, Grace Ng and Lu Jiang said in a research report. But they said that they didn't expect the rates to fall to the level they were at previously.

The central bank had allowed rates that banks pay to borrow from each other to soar last week, part of an attempt by Beijing to clamp down on massive credit in the informal lending industry.

Fears of a credit crisis in the world's second-biggest economy had contributed to a rout in global markets that ended when policymakers in China softened their stance with the promise to provide "liquidity support" if needed.

Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 39 cents to $95.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 18 cents to end at $95.50 a barrel on Wednesday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3031 from $1.3012 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar rose to 97.76 yen from 97.74 yen.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-27-World%20Markets/id-bddb5007a55946d697b19d466d59e92b

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Pats release Hernandez in homicide investigation

The New England Patriots didn't wait for Aaron Hernandez's legal troubles to play themselves out.

Hours after police arrested Hernandez in connection with a homicide probe Wednesday, the Patriots cut the tight end who had signed a five-year deal with New England just last summer.

"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation. We realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing," the team said in a statement. "We support their efforts and respect the process. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do."

Hernandez was taken from his home in handcuffs early Wednesday, more than a week after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez's house.

Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old member of the Boston Bandits, was found slain June 17. Officials ruled the death a homicide but did not say how Lloyd died.

The NFL released a statement expressing sympathy to Lloyd's family.

"The involvement of an NFL player in a case of this nature is deeply troubling. The Patriots have released Aaron Hernandez, who will have his day in court," it read. "At the same time, we should not forget the young man who was the victim in this case and take this opportunity to extend our deepest sympathy to Odin Lloyd's family and friends."

The 23-year-old Hernandez was an All-American at Florida and part of a tight end duo in New England that was among the league's most productive.

But heading into the 2010 NFL draft at least one team said it took him off its draft board ? refusing to select him under any circumstances ? and all of the other teams in the league bypassed him repeatedly as he fell to New England in the fourth round.

Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a single drug test in college ? reportedly for marijuana ? and was up front with teams about it.

Ever since he became entangled in the investigation into Lloyd's death, other off-field issues have become public.

A South Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club. The man, who lost his right eye, told police after the February incident that he did not know who shot him.

The Boston Globe reported that Hernandez lost his temper and threatened teammate Wes Welker during an argument in the team's weight room shortly after being drafted.

Hernandez became a father to a daughter on Nov. 6, and he said it made him think.

"I'm engaged now and I have a baby. So it's just going to make me think of life a lot differently and doing things the right way," he said. "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things, become a good father and (have her) be raised like I was raised."

The loss of Hernandez deprives the Patriots of the second half of one of the league's best tight end tandems. Fellow Pro Bowl selection Rob Gronkowski has had five operations this offseason on his back and broken left forearm.

Hernandez was chosen for the Pro Bowl in 2011, when he caught 79 passes for 910 yards and seven touchdowns. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury.

In 38 games over his three NFL seasons, the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Hernandez has 175 receptions for 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns. Last summer, the Patriots gave Hernandez a five-year contract worth $41 million just months after the team locked up Gronkowski through 2019.

"Aaron's improved a lot," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said at the time. "He's worked hard, he's improved a lot in all phases of the game ? the passing game, the running game, protection and his overall versatility. He's doing a good job for us."

Despite the size that makes him a capable blocker, Hernandez has the speed and moves of a wide receiver and is elusive after making a catch.

Born in Bristol, Conn., Hernandez played at Bristol High School before attending Florida, where he won the John Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end as a junior in 2009. He was college teammates with two current Patriots ? quarterback Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes on the team that won the national championship in 2009.

Hernandez had shoulder surgery in April, but was expected to be ready for training camp. The Patriots did not say which shoulder was operated on.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pats-release-hernandez-homicide-investigation-144649675.html

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Supreme Court stops use of key part of Voting Rights Act (Washington Post)

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High court voids key part of Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act cannot be enforced unless Congress comes up with an up-to-date formula for deciding which states and localities still need federal monitoring.

The justices said in 5-4 vote that the law Congress most recently renewed in 2006 relies on 40-year-old data that does not reflect racial progress and changes in U.S. society.

The court did not strike down the advance approval requirement of the law that has been used, mainly in the South, to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965. But the justices did say lawmakers must update the formula for determining which parts of the country must seek Washington's approval, in advance, for election changes.

Chief Justice John Roberts said for the conservative majority that Congress "may draft another formula based on current conditions."

That task eluded Congress in 2006 when lawmakers overwhelmingly renewed the advance approval requirement with no changes in which states and local jurisdictions were covered, and Congress did nothing in response to a high court ruling in a similar challenge in 2009 in which the justices raised many of the same concerns.

"The coverage formula that Congress reauthorized in 2006 ignores these developments, keeping the focus on decades-old data relevant to decades-old problems, rather than current data reflecting current needs," Roberts said.

The decision means that a host of state and local laws that have not received Justice Department approval or have not yet been submitted will be able to take effect. Prominent among those are voter identification laws in Alabama and Mississippi.

Going forward, the outcome alters the calculus of passing election-related legislation in the affected states and local jurisdictions. The threat of an objection from Washington has hung over election-related proposals for nearly a half century. At least until Congress acts, that deterrent now is gone.

That prospect has worried civil rights groups which especially worry that changes on the local level might not get the same scrutiny as the actions of state legislatures.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by her three liberal colleagues, dissented from Tuesday's ruling.

Ginsburg said no one doubts that voting discrimination still exists. "But the court today terminates the remedy that proved to be best suited to block that discrimination," she said in a dissent that she read aloud in the packed courtroom.

Ginsburg said the law continues to be necessary to protect against what she called subtler, "second-generation" barriers to voting. She identified one such effort as the switch to at-large voting from a district-by-district approach in a city with a sizable black minority. The at-large system allows the majority to "control the election of each city council member, effectively eliminating the potency of the minority's votes," she said.

Justice Clarence Thomas was part of the majority, but wrote separately to say again that he would have struck down the advance approval requirement itself.

Civil rights lawyers condemned the ruling.

"The Supreme Court has effectively gutted one of the nation's most important and effective civil rights laws. Minority voters in places with a record of discrimination are now at greater risk of being disenfranchised than they have been in decades. Today's decision is a blow to democracy. Jurisdictions will be able to enact policies which prevent minorities from voting, and the only recourse these citizens will have will be expensive and time-consuming litigation," said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The group represented a black resident of the Alabama County that challenged the law.

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said, "This is like letting you keep your car, but taking away the keys."

The decision comes five months after President Barack Obama, the country's first black chief executive, started his second term in the White House, re-elected by a diverse coalition of voters.

The high court is in the midst of a broad re-examination of the ongoing necessity of laws and programs aimed at giving racial minorities access to major areas of American life from which they once were systematically excluded. The justices issued a modest ruling Monday that preserved affirmative action in higher education and will take on cases dealing with anti-discrimination sections of a federal housing law and another affirmative action case from Michigan next term.

The court warned of problems with the voting rights law in a similar case heard in 2009. The justices averted a major constitutional ruling at that time, but Congress did nothing to address the issues the court raised. The law's opponents, sensing its vulnerability, filed several new lawsuits.

The latest decision came in a challenge to the advance approval, or preclearance, requirement, which was brought by Shelby County, Ala., a Birmingham suburb.

The lawsuit acknowledged that the measure's strong medicine was appropriate and necessary to counteract decades of state-sponsored discrimination in voting, despite the Fifteenth Amendment's guarantee of the vote for black Americans.

But it asked whether there was any end in sight for a provision that intrudes on states' rights to conduct elections, an issue the court's conservative justices also explored at the argument in February. It was considered an emergency response when first enacted in 1965.

The county noted that the 25-year extension approved in 2006 would keep some places under Washington's oversight until 2031 and seemed not to account for changes that include the elimination of racial disparity in voter registration and turnout or the existence of allegations of race-based discrimination in voting in areas of the country that are not subject to the provision.

The Obama administration and civil rights groups said there is a continuing need for it and pointed to the Justice Department's efforts to block voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas last year, as well as a redistricting plan in Texas that a federal court found discriminated against the state's large and growing Hispanic population.

Advance approval was put into the law to give federal officials a potent tool to defeat persistent efforts to keep blacks from voting.

The provision was a huge success because it shifted the legal burden and required governments that were covered to demonstrate that their proposed changes would not discriminate. Congress periodically has renewed it over the years. The most recent extension was overwhelmingly approved by a Republican-led Congress and signed by President George W. Bush.

The requirement currently applies to the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. It also covers certain counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina and South Dakota, and some local jurisdictions in Michigan. Coverage has been triggered by past discrimination not only against blacks, but also against American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaska Natives and Hispanics.

Towns in New Hampshire that had been covered by the law were freed from the advance approval requirement in March. Supporters of the provision pointed to the ability to bail out of the prior approval provision to argue that the law was flexible enough to accommodate change and that the court should leave the Voting Rights Act intact.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced an agreement that would allow Hanover County, Va., to bail out.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-court-voids-key-part-voting-rights-act-141637132.html

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China's Watershed Moment Could Get Scary

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Wells Fargo offering text message receipts at its ATMs starting today

Forward-thinking financial institution Wells Fargo is offering its customers the choice of receiving a text message receipt -- in addition to its e-receipt and email options -- whenever you use one of the bank's ATMs. All that's required to take part in the environmentally friendly scheme is to attach your cellphone number to your account, either online, over the phone or at your local branch. The service is available starting today, and if you'd like to learn more, we've tucked the official release below the fold.

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/wells-fargo-text-atms/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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A Term Sheet Written In Plain English? Put That In Your Silicon Valley Pipe And Smoke It

From the painstakingly obvious in retrospect why did nobody think of it before department: London-based early-stage VC Passion Capital has updated its standard Term Sheet so that it's written entirely in plain English. For those of you who have never had to navigate a venture capital Term Sheet, the document outlining the terms of any proposed investment, they are usually worded by the legal profession, and as a result, dense in legal-gobbledegook.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UTjGFNcOX10/

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Seven ways to cut your air conditioning bills

Americans rack up more than $22 billion a year on their air conditioning bills. As summer progresses, Carlozo offers seven ways to cut your bill ? including advice on how to buy a new air conditioner and how to use a ceiling fan to help beat the heat.

By Lou Carlozo,?Guest blogger / June 17, 2013

Air conditioning units line the exteriors of apartments in Boston, Mass. Cooling your home throughout the summer can be expensive, but Carlozo says you can cut your air conditioning bills by making sure your unit is new and periodically rotating out your unit for a ceiling fan.

Josh Armstrong/The Christian Science Monitor/File

Enlarge

Though we're technically still in the season of spring, June is off to a hot start in many parts of the country, and that means one thing for millions of sweltering people: air conditioning. And while we may take air conditioning for granted, it's generally an expensive luxury. Americans spend more than $22 billion a year on electricity to cool their homes with air conditioning ? and use a whopping 183 billion kilowatt-hours, according to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy. That accounts for at least 15% of all energy used in some homes, and in warmer climates can represent up to 70% of a summer electric bill.

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If you're shopping for a new air conditioner, you'll notice quite a few different sizes and models. But one thing's for sure: Savings are always chill. Here's a quick primer to staying cool and keeping your wallet from overheating when picking out an A/C unit.

What's a BTU and How Many Do I Need?

Chances are you already know that BTU stands for British Thermal Unit, and that the more BTUs an air conditioner cranks out, the stronger its cooling power. But here's the problem: Most American consumers aren't sure how to translate BTUs into the square footage of a room. (No disrespect to the Brits, but maybe we need an American Thermal Unit, where 1 AMU corresponds to 1 square foot.)

Lobbying for the AMU aside, you don't have to guess how much BTU power you'll need to cool your space. Instead, download this Energy Star document and turn to page three. There you'll find a handy chart that simply correlates the area you want to cool into BTUs per hour. So for example, an air conditioner with a rating of 8,000 BTUs can cool a room that's 300 to 350 sq. ft., aka one that measures about 18 ft. x 18 ft. Of course, you still have to measure your room, but we trust you can work a tape measure and apply this formula: Area equals length times width. For irregularly sized rooms, you can always estimate.

Air Conditioner + Ceiling Fan = Savings

It's one thing to run an air conditioner in your room. But combine its power with a simple ceiling fan, and you can have the best of both worlds. Costing less than a penny an hour to run, ceiling fans have an immediate impact on your domestic comfort once you buy and install them. They generally start at about $40 a piece, but we found this Harbor Breeze 42" Armitage White Ceiling Fan with Light Kit ($24.98 with in-store pickup, a low by $35), which is among the least expensive 42" ceiling fans we've seen. The nice thing about a ceiling fan is that it can make you feel anywhere from 3 to 8 degrees cooler.

Calculate Yearly A/C Costs Before You Buy

Nowadays, nearly all air conditioners come with one of those bright yellow Energy Guide stickers on the box that tells you exactly how much that unit will cost to run. Take this expense into account, as that's part of your total cost for both buying and operating the unit. Most folks think bigger is always better, but that's not so: "Air conditioners remove both heat and humidity from the air. If the unit is too large, it will cool the room quickly, but only remove some of the humidity. This leaves the room with a damp, clammy feeling. A properly sized unit will remove humidity effectively as it cools."

Why a New Window Unit Could Pay for Itself

If your air conditioner is more than 10 years old, you should seriously consider replacing it. Many new Energy Star air conditioners are so efficient that they use about 10% less energy than one without that designation, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates. Depending on how long you hold onto the new unit, you could save $60 or more over its lifetime in energy costs alone ? a de facto rebate just for upgrading to an Energy Star model.

The key number to look for is the Energy Efficiency Rating (or EER): The higher the EER, the more efficient the unit. So if you replace an old EER 5 unit with a new EER 10 unit, you'll cut your cooling costs in half. You should also look for the "Energy Star" and "Energy Guide" labels when purchasing a window unit. An energy-efficient unit will cycle the compressor on and off so that it doesn't operate continuously. And Energy Star central air units are on average 14% more efficient than standard models. Speaking of which ...

The Great Central Air Debate

If you're thinking about upgrading to central air, it's easy to beat yourself up for being an energy hog, or to get intimidated by the sticker price. Yes, it's true that central units will use a lot more power than, say, a single window unit on each floor of a 2-story dwelling. But if you have more than two rooms to cool, then your best bet is to go with a central unit, which also provides long term resale value for a home. Well-designed central systems also win out in terms of being able to filter the air for allergens and pollutants, and for controlling humidity.

Again, keep in mind that window A/C units aren't necessarily more energy-efficient than central air units. A window unit that is too small to cool a room may run continuously, wasting energy. When shopping for a central air conditioning system, make sure the SEER number (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) is 13 or better (14 in warmer climates). A less efficient system will cost you more to run.

Help Your New Air Conditioner Do Its Job More Efficiently

It's easy to think that buying a new air conditioner or two will solve all of your summer cooling problems. But your AC could use a little help. With central units, for example, a programmable timer or thermostat can save you about $180 every year in energy costs by regulating the temperature when you're out of the house, and by turning on only when you return home.

With window units, air filters get dirty ... fast. Clean your AC filter at least every month, as a dirty filter makes your AC work harder and use more electricity. Regardless of the type or age of the unit, you should change your filters after every 90 days of use. What's more, you'll use less energy cooling down a room by keeping direct sunlight out during the day: Sunlight can raise room temperature by 10 to 20 degrees. The less heat that gets into your home, the less you have to pay to remove it. It just so happens that drapes block sunlight and heat better than blinds.

Hot Air Conditioner Deals

We've got an ever-updated list of air conditioning deals for you to peruse and compare. This time of year, sales are as plentiful as backyard barbecues. Certainly one of the worst things to do is feel a heat wave hit you in the face, rush to the first store you can find, and buy the first unit you see. Chill out, if you will, and do some comparison shopping, checking out multiple units for price, efficiency, reliability, and features. The Keystone 6,000 BTU Energy Star Window Air Conditioner ($179.99 with free shipping, a low by $12) features three cooling speeds, three fan speeds, a programmable 24-hour on / off timer, energy and sleep modes, adjustable air flow, slide-out mesh filter, and a remote control.

The few minutes you spend comparing notes and using your shopping smarts will do more than show off how cool you are. It will help you make a prudent choice with your money that will keep your living space comfy all summer long, and for many summers to come.

Lou Carlozo is a contributor at dealnews.com, where this article first appeared.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/CvxIO--Bk9Y/Seven-ways-to-cut-your-air-conditioning-bills

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Oil falls toward $97 ahead of Fed meeting

BANGKOK (AP) ? Oil prices fell Monday as traders refrained from big moves ahead of a critical meeting of U.S. central bank policymakers later in the week.

Benchmark oil for July delivery fell 33 cents to $97.52 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract for July delivery rose $1.16 to close at $97.85 a barrel on the Nymex amid concerns about a possible escalation in Syria's civil war.

The Fed has been supporting the U.S. economy by buying $85 billion in bonds every month as part of a plan to keep interest rates low and encourage borrowing, spending and investing. Recent signs of a recovery, however, have raised questions about whether the Fed might start to pull back.

Some investors worry that long-term interest rates could spike when the Fed pulls back, threatening the economic recovery. The Fed will start a two-day meeting Tuesday to discuss the central bank's next steps.

"Ultimately markets are likely to successfully transition to a world of reduced Fed asset purchases but this may take a while. In the meantime market stress is set to remain elevated," said analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in a market commentary.

President Barack Obama's decision last week to provide weapons to rebels fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad pushed up oil prices Friday. The Middle East is a key source of crude oil and important transit routes cross the region, so conflicts which threaten disruptions in crude production or supply usually push oil prices higher.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, fell 47 cents to $105.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

? Wholesale gasoline fell 0.1 cent to $2.8890 a gallon.

? Heating oil added 1.3 cents to $2.96526 per gallon.

? Natural gas rose 2.4 cents to $3.757 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-falls-toward-97-ahead-fed-meeting-054215695.html

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