This US summer is 'what global warming looks like'

The Squirrel Creek Fire burns along the ridge line of Sheep Mountain on Monday, July 2, 2012, southwest of Laramie, Wyo. Crews in Wyoming faced erratic winds and dry, fire-fueling conditions Monday as they fought three large forest fires that have forced hundreds of evacuations across the state. (AP Photo/The Casper Star-Tribune, Alan Rogers)

The Squirrel Creek Fire burns along the ridge line of Sheep Mountain on Monday, July 2, 2012, southwest of Laramie, Wyo. Crews in Wyoming faced erratic winds and dry, fire-fueling conditions Monday as they fought three large forest fires that have forced hundreds of evacuations across the state. (AP Photo/The Casper Star-Tribune, Alan Rogers)

A tree sitting atop a vehicle offers free firewood in Falls Church, Va., Monday, July, 2, 2012, as cleanup continued after Friday's storm, Around 2 million utility customers are without electricity across a swath of states along the East Coast and as far west as Illinois as the area recovers from a round of summer storms that has also caused at least 17 deaths. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat)

Giovanny Alvarez, a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, leaves after delivering mail to a residence in Washington, Monday, July 2, 2012, damaged by the powerful storm that swept through the region Friday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

(AP) ? If you want a glimpse of some of the worst of global warming, scientists suggest taking a look at U.S. weather in recent weeks.

Horrendous wildfires. Oppressive heat waves. Devastating droughts. Flooding from giant deluges. And a powerful freak wind storm called a derecho.

These are the kinds of extremes climate scientists have predicted will come with climate change, although it's far too early to say that is the cause. Nor will they say global warming is the reason 3,215 daily high temperature records were set in the month of June.

Scientifically linking individual weather events to climate change takes intensive study, complicated mathematics, computer models and lots of time. Sometimes it isn't caused by global warming. Weather is always variable; freak things happen.

And this weather has been local. Europe, Asia and Africa aren't having similar disasters now, although they've had their own extreme events in recent years.

But since at least 1988, climate scientists have warned that climate change would bring, in general, increased heat waves, more droughts, more sudden downpours, more widespread wildfires and worsening storms. In the United States, those extremes are happening here and now.

So far this year, more than 2.1 million acres have burned in wildfires, more than 113 million people in the U.S. were in areas under extreme heat advisories last Friday, two-thirds of the country is experiencing drought, and earlier in June, deluges flooded Minnesota and Florida.

"This is what global warming looks like at the regional or personal level," said Jonathan Overpeck, professor of geosciences and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona. "The extra heat increases the odds of worse heat waves, droughts, storms and wildfire. This is certainly what I and many other climate scientists have been warning about."

Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in fire-charred Colorado, said these are the very record-breaking conditions he has said would happen, but many people wouldn't listen. So it's I told-you-so time, he said.

As recently as March, a special report an extreme events and disasters by the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of "unprecedented extreme weather and climate events." Its lead author, Chris Field of the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University, said Monday, "It's really dramatic how many of the patterns that we've talked about as the expression of the extremes are hitting the U.S. right now."

"What we're seeing really is a window into what global warming really looks like," said Princeton University geosciences and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer. "It looks like heat. It looks like fires. It looks like this kind of environmental disasters."

Oppenheimer said that on Thursday. That was before the East Coast was hit with triple-digit temperatures and before a derecho ? an unusually strong, long-lived and large straight-line wind storm ? blew through Chicago to Washington. The storm and its aftermath killed more than 20 people and left millions without electricity. Experts say it had energy readings five times that of normal thunderstorms.

Fueled by the record high heat, this was one of the most powerful of this type of storm in the region in recent history, said research meteorologist Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storm Laboratory in Norman, Okla. Scientists expect "non-tornadic wind events" like this one and other thunderstorms to increase with climate change because of the heat and instability, he said.

Such patterns haven't happened only in the past week or two. The spring and winter in the U.S. were the warmest on record and among the least snowy, setting the stage for the weather extremes to come, scientists say.

Since Jan. 1, the United States has set more than 40,000 hot temperature records, but fewer than 6,000 cold temperature records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Through most of last century, the U.S. used to set cold and hot records evenly, but in the first decade of this century America set two hot records for every cold one, said Jerry Meehl, a climate extreme expert at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This year the ratio is about 7 hot to 1 cold. Some computer models say that ratio will hit 20-to-1 by midcentury, Meehl said.

"In the future you would expect larger, longer more intense heat waves and we've seen that in the last few summers," NOAA Climate Monitoring chief Derek Arndt said.

The 100-degree heat, drought, early snowpack melt and beetles waking from hibernation early to strip trees all combined to set the stage for the current unusual spread of wildfires in the West, said University of Montana ecosystems professor Steven Running, an expert on wildfires.

While at least 15 climate scientists told The Associated Press that this long hot U.S. summer is consistent with what is to be expected in global warming, history is full of such extremes, said John Christy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He's a global warming skeptic who says, "The guilty party in my view is Mother Nature."

But the vast majority of mainstream climate scientists, such as Meehl, disagree: "This is what global warming is like, and we'll see more of this as we go into the future."

___

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on extreme weather:

http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/

U.S. weather records set:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-07-03-Weird%20Weather/id-5b045c95974544ec9a97b57ed4aa7b1b

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PFT: Ex-Raiders star Davidson dead at 72

Mike-Cerullo

Now that Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has blown the whistle on the man he claims in a federal lawsuit was the Saints whistleblower, it?s time to take a closer look at Mike Cerullo.

The 45-year-old spent three seasons with the Saints, from 2007 through 2009.? Vilma alleges in his lawsuit that Cerullo was fired after the team won Super Bowl XLIV, following a pair of incidents in which he disappeared during the season and provided false excuses upon returning.? Vilma also alleges that Cerullo received a Super Bowl ring with fake diamonds, and that he vowed revenge on the team ? and specifically on assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Vitt.

A league source with knowledge of the situation contends that Cerullo didn?t receive a Super Bowl ring containing fake diamonds.? Another source described Cerullo as ?a little unstable and erratic at times,? and that Cerullo ?definitely? was unhappy with the team following his termination.

Cerullo currently serves as director of football operations at Princeton.? He spent 2011 as a football aide to Connecticut head coach Paul Pasqualoni.? Before that, Cerullo served as an offensive assistant with the Miami Hurricanes.

Obviously, Cerullo hopes to keep a low profile.? But even if he commenced the process of sharing information with the league office regarding one of the biggest scandals in league history with assurances from the NFL that his name never would be publicly leaked or disclosed by the league, Cerullo had to realize that there was a good chance someone would connect the dots back to him ? especially once suspensions began to be handed out.

Cerullo now has to decide whether to maintain his Fight Club-style silence in the face of allegations from Vilma that Cerullo embellished and/or lied about a bounty program and that Cerullo has since recanted.? If Cerullo continues to say nothing, some will believe that everything Vilma has said is true.? If Cerullo talks, and if he?s questioned extensively about his role, he could make things better ? or make things worse.

And if the league remains intent on helping Cerullo, the time arguably has come to divulge any information in its possession that would contradict Vilma?s claims.? The time for shielding a man who has been dragged into the public eye by Jonathan Vilma has ended.? Cerullo?s integrity and honesty need to be defended, and the league presumably has the ability to do, since the league presumably believes that he is honest and trustworthy, if he indeed supplied key information like the handwritten notes reflecting bounty pledges for the 2009 NFC title game.

And if Cerullo wasn?t involved in the bounty investigation in any way, the NFL needs to say that, too.

At this point, the league?s ongoing refusal to share information obtained from Cerullo isn?t helping Cerullo or anyone else.? Other than, perhaps, the league.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/03/ben-davidson-dead-at-72/related/

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Prothero's 'The American Bible' Collects The Texts Americans Argue About

(RNS) Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" radically reinterpreted the Declaration of Independence.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech riffed on Lincoln's lofty language.

And Ronald Reagan drafted King's dream of a country where character outweighs color into an argument against affirmative action.

There are certain speeches, songs, books, letters, laws, and axioms that Americans appreciate enough to argue about, says religion scholar Stephen Prothero.

Like the Declaration of Independence, this almost consecrated canon inspires endless commentary about what it means to be American, and what "America" means.

Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University, collects these civil scriptures in his new book "The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation."

"We treat these core texts in a sacred way," Prothero said in an interview. "Each has different meanings -- and they don't necessarily reconcile with each other."

So, "The American Bible" contains patriotic picks like the Pledge of Allegiance, and phrases like "city on a hill" that are repeated by pilgrims, presidents and pundits across generations.

But some selections -- like the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision -- may be more reviled than revered by many Americans.

That's precisely the point, Prothero says. Few documents have inspired more passionate debate than the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion -- and arguing remains the central ritual of the American republic.

Prothero says that he aimed to describe -- not craft -- the country's sacred scriptures. He had two main criteria: The texts had to be about America, and they had to stir controversy.

"It could have been the most brilliant thing in history, but it wouldn't have gotten into my book unless it had a vibrant afterlife," Prothero said.

As in his previous books, "God is Not One" and "Religious Literacy," the prolific author urges Americans to do their homework. That is, read the primary texts for themselves and not take others' interpretations at face value.

Prothero says his book about America's most influential arguments was inspired by the petty partisanship of contemporary debates.

"I was casting about for what might hold us together at a time when it seems like we might be fraying apart," he said.

The religion scholar didn't find a central American creed. Instead he found a cacophony of voices, a loud conversation stretching from the Plymouth pilgrims to Sarah Palin.

Seeking to corral that conversation, Prothero patterned "The American Bible" on the Christian Bible.

The "Genesis" section includes Puritan John Winthrop's "Model of Christian Charity," Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and the Declaration of Independence.

The Constitution, and Supreme Court decisions Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade comprise the "Law" section. "Chronicles" include "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and Ayn Rand's dystopian novel "Atlas Shrugged."

George Washington's farewell address, Thomas Jefferson's "Letter to Danbury Baptists" and King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" comprise the "Epistles" section.

By Prothero's own admission, "The American Bible" lacks demographic diversity.

"For better or worse, dead white men have had outsized influence over the course of American history, and among their powers has been the capacity to command an audience," he writes in the introduction.

But "The American Bible" also gives voice to homegrown "prophets," such as King and Malcolm X, who castigated the country for failing to live up to its ideals.

Anthea Butler, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said "The American Bible" could have included more women, particularly suffragists like Susan B. Anthony. Feminists like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan could also have made the cut, Butler said.

The Boston Globe, meanwhile, chided Prothero for including "less thoughtful social critics, such as Operation Rescue's Randall Terry," who defends the assassination of abortion doctors in a commentary on Roe v. Wade.

"The danger of false equivalency always lurks in this kind of project," the Globe writes. "Do all sides of an argument always deserve equally respectful reading?"

Does Lincoln lose some gravitas by being in the same book as Terry? Probably, Prothero says.

But the commentaries like Terry's that follow after each main selection form the "heart and soul" of "The American Bible," Prothero argues. Everyone from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to lefty historian Howard Zinn gets space to sound off about what's right and wrong with America.

The almost endless interpretations make "The American Bible" in some ways like a Jewish Talmud: a sacred text surrounded by impassioned argument.

"The way to wisdom here lies not in affirming simple truths but in engaging in difficult discussions," Prothero writes. It's just those kinds of conversations, the scholar says, that his "American Bible" aims to inspire.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/04/protheros-the-american-bi_n_1647712.html

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Autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may share common underlying factors, study suggests

Autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may share common underlying factors, study suggests

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

New research led by a medical geneticist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine points to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) among individuals whose parents or siblings have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

The findings were based on a case-control study using population registers in Sweden and Israel, and the degree to which these three disorders share a basis in causation "has important implications for clinicians, researchers and those affected by the disorders," according to a report of the research published online July 2, 2012 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

"The results were very consistent in large samples from several different countries and lead us to believe that autism and schizophrenia are more similar than we had thought," said Patrick F. Sullivan, MD, FRANZCP, professor in the department of genetics and director of psychiatric genomics at UNC.

Sullivan and colleagues found that the presence of schizophrenia in parents was associated with an almost three times increased risk for ASD in groups from both Stockholm and all of Sweden.

Schizophrenia in a sibling also was associated with roughly two and a half times the risk for autism in the Swedish national group and a 12 times greater risk in a sample of Israeli military conscripts. The authors speculate that the latter finding from Israel resulted from individuals with earlier onset schizophrenia, "which has a higher sibling recurrence."

Bipolar disorder showed a similar pattern of association but of a lesser magnitude, study results indicate.

Our findings suggest that ASD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share etiologic risk factors," the authors state. "We suggest that future research could usefully attempt to discern risk factors common to these disorders."

###

University of North Carolina Health Care: http://www.med.unc.edu

Thanks to University of North Carolina Health Care for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 23 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/121439/Autism__schizophrenia_and_bipolar_disorder_may_share_common_underlying_factors__study_suggests

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'Best Spider-Man Movie Yet'? Fans Weigh In!

'The original trilogy was great, but this had as much heart as all three movies put together,' one moviegoer tells MTV News.
By Meg Malone, with reporting by Uptin Saiidi


Andrew Garfield in "The Amazing Spider-Man"
Photo: SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1688996/spider-man-movie-fan-reviews.jhtml

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Mass. gas prices drop by another penny

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Syrian opposition makes new push to unite

CAIRO (AP) ? The head of the Arab League urged Syria's exiled opposition to unite Monday, saying they must not squander the opportunity to overcome their differences as Western efforts to force President Bashar Assad from power all but collapse.

The stakes are high for calming the crisis, which NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday called "one of the gravest security challenges the world faces today."

But more than one year into the Syrian revolt, the opposition is still hobbled by the infighting and fractiousness that have prevented the movement from gaining the kind of political traction it needs to present a credible alternative to Assad.

"There is an opportunity before the conference of Syrian opposition today that must be seized, and I say and repeat that this opportunity must not be wasted under any circumstance," Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby told nearly 250 members of the Syrian opposition in Cairo.

"The sacrifices of the Syrian people are bigger than us and more valuable than any narrow differences or factional disputes," he said.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, deputy to U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, said at the meeting's opening that unity of purpose and vision was "not an option, but a necessity if the opposition wants to bolster its popular support and trust and increase international support."

The divisions are tied to issues at the heart of the revolution: Whether to seek dialogue with the regime and what ideology should guide a post-Assad Syria.

Unlike Libya's National Transitional Council, which brought together most factions fighting Gadhafi's regime and was quickly recognized by much of the international community, Syria's opposition has no leadership on the ground.

Regime opponents inside and outside Syria are a diverse group, representing the country's ideological, sectarian and generational divide. They include dissidents who spent years in prison, tech-savvy activists in their 20s, former Marxists and Islamists.

Communication between those abroad and those in the country is extremely difficult. Political activists in Syria are routinely rounded up and imprisoned. Many are in hiding, communicating only through Skype using fake names, and the country is largely sealed off to exiled dissidents and foreign journalists.

The Cairo conference brought together various opposition groups ? including members of the Syrian National Council and the Local Coordination Committees ? to try to agree on a united body to represent them, as well as to work out a transition plan for how to end to the conflict.

However, the main rebel group fighting Syrian government forces on the ground, the Free Syrian Army, was not represented at the talks. Faiz Amru, a member of the Joint Military Command, which is affiliated with the FSA, said the Cairo meeting was purely political, so rebels were not invited.

Besides the conference in Cairo, opposition members also plan to meet Russian officials later this month, a Russian news agency reported. The Moscow talks are significant because the Kremlin is Syria's most important ally, protector and supplier of arms.

Diplomatic hopes have rested on persuading Russia to agree to a plan that would the Assad family dynasty, which has ruled Syria for more than four decades.

Moscow's determination to preserve its last remaining ally in the Middle East has blocked efforts by the U.S. and other Western powers to force Assad out.

World powers at a conference in Geneva on Saturday accepted a U.N.-brokered plan calling for the creation of a transitional government with full executive powers in Syria. But at Russia's insistence, the compromise left the door open to Assad being part of the interim administration.

Syrian opposition groups have roundly rejected the plan, calling it ambiguous and a waste of time and vowing not to negotiate with Assad or members of his "murderous" regime.

Elaraby, who has held private meetings with Syrian opposition figures at the League's headquarters in the past, said the agreement did not meet Arab expectations because it did not specify a time frame for a "clear transition" as the League had called for.

The U.S. backed away from insisting that the plan should explicitly call for Assad to have no role in a new Syrian government, hoping the concession would encourage Russia to put greater pressure on its longtime ally to end the regime's violent crackdown.

The conflict has killed more than 14,000 people since the revolt began in March 2011, according to opposition estimates. The fighting has grown increasingly militarized in recent months, with rebel forces launching attacks and ambushes on regime targets.

Assad has refused to budge, saying his country is at war with terrorists ? the term he uses for his armed opponents. On Monday, he ratified a new terrorism law that includes a clause specifically aimed at the opposition. Under the law, the penalty for terrorism that aims to change the regime would exceed 20 years of hard labor.

As the conflict drags on, concerns are mounting that the violence will spiral outside the country's borders. Tensions already are running high between Damascus and its northern neighbor, Turkey, after Syria shot down a Turkish military plane on June 22.

Syria said the jet violated its airspace, but Turkey says the aircraft was shot down over international waters.

Turkey responded by setting up anti-aircraft guns along the frontier and said Monday it dispatched fighter jets to its border after Syrian helicopters flew too close to the frontier for a second day on Sunday.

In Brussels on Monday, Fogh Rasmussen said the Syrian regime "has lost all humanity and all legitimacy." But there is little appetite for the type of military intervention that helped topple Libya's Gadhafi, in part because there is no real opposition to get behind.

The international community is also hesitant to get involved in another country in turmoil.

"Every member of the international community should use its influence and spare no effort to bring an end to the bloodshed and move Syria forward," he said. "This conflict has already gone on for too long. It has cost too many lives, and put the stability of the whole region at risk."

___

Kennedy reported from Beirut.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-makes-push-unite-172501721.html

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Chris Brown's Drake Diss: Singer Releases 'I Don't Like' Remix Verse, Knocks Drizzy

  • Hilary Duff vs. Lindsay Lohan

    Take two Disney starlets and one prepubescent popstar and you have a recipe for one of the most discussed celebrity feuds of the 2000s. Back in 2002, Aaron Carter reportedly broke up with or cheated on Hilary Duff, who he was dating for two years, to hook up with Lindsay Lohan. The 15-year-old Casanova then left Lohan to get back together with Duff. Though the girls should have been furious with Carter, they instead turned on each other. Their feud played out in the pages of magazines with both actresses taking shots at each other for years. By 2007 the girls put their past behind them and made up. "We are both adults and whatever happened, happened when we were young," Duff told People. "It's over."

  • Jon Hamm vs. Kim Kardashian

    "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm recently made some unflattering comments to Elle UK about celebrity culture, putting reality TV queen Kim Kardashian in his crosshairs. "Whether it's Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. Being a f**king idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you're rewarded significantly," he told the magazine. Kim responded on Twitter, writing: "I just heard about the comment Jon Hamm made about me in an interview. I respect Jon and I am a firm believer that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that not everyone takes the same path in life. We're all working hard and we all have to respect one another. Calling someone who runs their own businesses, is a part of a successful TV show, produces, writes, designs, and creates, 'stupid,' is in my opinion careless." When asked about his comments, Hamm told E! News, "It's surprising to me that this has become remotely a story. I don't know Ms. Kardashian. I know her public persona. What I said was meant to be more on pervasiveness of something in culture, not personal, but she took offense to it and that is her right."

  • Courtney Love vs. Dave Grohl

    It's a known fact that Courtney Love hates former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, and he is by no means fond of her. The two have been feuding over the rights to Nirvana's music since Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994. Most recently, Courtney explained why she hates the Foo Fighters frontman, after playing a show in Brazil. "What I was saying, is Dave makes $5 million a show, he doesn't need the money. His mother's a banker, his father's a stock broker and he's making $5 million a show. Why the f**k then does he have a Nivana Inc. credit card and I don't? And last week he bought an Aston Martin on it," she said.

  • Miley vs. Selena Gomez & Demi Lovato

    Disney starlets do not play nice. In 2008, teen queen Miley Cyrus went head to head with Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. BFFs Selena and Demi used to make goofy videos they would post to YouTube, much to the chagrin of Miley as it turned out. Miley and her BFF Mandy made a parody video where they mocked the other girls, making fun of their makeup and the gap in Demi's front teeth. The feud appeared to come out of nowhere. "To be honest I don't know what happened," Selena told MTV. "I though we were okay, but to be honest, I don't even know [Miley and Mandy]. And Demi has never met Miley. It's interesting -- that's all I'm going to say about it." They all eventually made up and became friends. Miley addressed the feud in a YouTube video in 2009: "So everyone's thinking there's a big feud between me and Selena and Demi. Actually, I'm going to have meatloaf with Demi tonight. I'm riding my bike to Demi's house. So I'm going to be partying with Demi 'cause we're friends, and I love her and she is always there for me. She is one of my bestest friends."

  • Donald Trump vs. Rosie O'Donnell

    There are many celebs who have feuded with Donald Trump, but his ongoing fight with Rosie O'Donnell remains the most memorable. In 2006, Rosie criticized Trump for not dethroning Miss USA Tara Conner after her drug scandal and she called him a "pimp" and "snake oil salesman." Never one to take things lying down, Trump responded by calling her a "big, fat pig" and a "loser." Their feud dragged on until no one wanted to hear what either of them had to say and it unfortunately started up again. In December 2011, Trump tweeted, "Same last name, same bad ratings - @lawrence and @rosie," and linked to a YouTube clip of himself ranting about how neither of their talk shows were doing well. Rosie tweeted back, "How many billionaires sell ties and have crappy non reality shows -- none - go back to selling snake oil #bankruptmuch?" Neither will spare the public of their immaturity and their feud continues today.

  • Will.i.am vs. Perez Hilton

    Gossip blogger Perez Hilton was confronted by the Black Eyed Peas at the Much Music Video Awards in 2009 and began hurling insults at Will.i.am and the rest of the band. Perez was punched in the face by Will.i.am's manager and the blogger later tweeted, "I was assaulted by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need a police report. No joke." Will.i.am later denied Hilton's claims and Hilton shot back with a 12-minute video blasting the Black Eyed Pea as a "disgusting human being" and "a fucking liar." Perez later sued Will.i.am's manager and a settlement was reached.

  • Lindsay Lohan vs. Brandon Davis

    Who needs enemies when you have friends like Brandon Davis? Back in 2006, Lindsay Lohan was pals with Paris Hilton, until Paris accused her of trying to steal her boyfriend, Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos. Once Lindsay was on the outs with her socialite friends, oil heir Davis took it upon himself to brand Lohan with a nickname. While drunk in LA one night, Davis was filmed ranting about Lohan, dubbing her "fire crotch," and making other rude and disgusting claims.

  • Kelly Osbourne vs. Christina Aguilera

    These ladies need to learn to keep their comments to themselves. Back in the day, Christina Aguilera apparently used to call Kelly Osbourne fat, and now that Kelly has slimmed down and Christina has gained a few pounds the tables have turned. Osbourne made sure to call attention to the singer's weight gain, not once, but twice in 2011. "Maybe she is just becoming the fat bitch she was born to be. I don't know. She was a c**t to me. And she bought my house," Osbourne said during an episode of "Fashion Police" that aired in August. "She called me fat for so many f***ing years, so you know what? F**k you! You're fat too." Then in October, the singer was again the topic of discussion on the show: "Lady Marmalade got into the peanut better again," quipped co-host Joan Rivers when criticizing Aguilera's too-tight outfit. "She called me fat for years, I was never that fat," Osbourne said and later added, "Trust me, I'm a 2/4. That is not a 2/4."

  • Shannen Doherty vs. Alyssa Milano

    Shannen Doherty has a reputation as Hollywood's bad girl and feuded with nearly all of her "Beverly Hills, 90210" castmates, and yet it was her feud with Alyssa Milano that will go down as the worst. The "Charmed" co-stars began fighting on set during the third season and it was reported that Shannen was jealous of Alyssa's popularity. Tension ran high on set and things grew so heated, producers had to bring in a mediator to resolve their issues. When they couldn't work things out, Shannen left the show.

  • Mariah Carey vs. Eminem

    Is there anyone Eminem hasn't feuded with? Eminem and Mariah Carey began to spar after he claimed that they used to have a sexual relationship. Mariah denied the relationship, telling Larry King, "I hung out with him, I spoke to him on the phone. I think I was probably with him a total of four times. And I don't consider that dating somebody." Mariah later mocked his claim in her video for "Obsessed," which featured an Eminem look-alike who was obsessed with her. The rapper retaliated with a number of songs that mentioned Carey and threatened to release nude photos of the singer as well as voicemails to prove they dated. In the song "The Warning" he raps: "Shut the fuck up before I put up all the phone calls you made to my house when you were "Wild N' Out" before Nick, when you was on my dick and give you something to smile about."

  • Charlie Sheen vs. Chuck Lorre

    When Charlie Sheen lost his mind in 2011, he dug his own grave and lost his job as the highest paid actor on television. Sheen went on a rampage, verbally attacking "Two and a Half Men" showrunner Chuck Lorre, after CBS suspended the series due to Sheen's insane behavior. After Lorre make a joke about Sheen, the actor attacked him, calling Lorre a "clown" , and made a strange anti-Semitic dig, saying his real name is "Chaim Levine" (though his name is actually Charles Michael Levine). Sheen continued to blast Lorre as a "stupid, stupid little man and a p*ssy punk that I never want to be like." Now that Sheen appears to be sober, Lorre has chosen to take the high road. "I wish him well. I'm glad he's happy and sober," he said in January 2012.

  • Lauren Conrad vs. Heidi and Spencer

    "You know what you did," Lauren Conrad screamed at Heidi Montag on an episode of "The Hills." Lauren and Heidi's friendship began to dissolve in 2007, when Heidi started dating Spencer Pratt. "He's a sucky person," she infamously told her one-time best friend. Heidi chose a relationship with Spencer over a friendship with Lauren and spread a rumor there was a Lauren Conrad sex tape floating around. Heidi tried to repair things with Lauren, but she wasn't having it. "I want to forgive you and I want to forget you," Lauren told her as mascara ran down her face. The feud eventually ended but they never repaired their friendship. As Spencer began to fade into obscurity he tried make himself relevant by burying the hatchet with Conrad, wishing her a happy birthday on Twitter in February 2012.

  • Chris Christie vs. Snooki

    New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has no love for the "Jersey Shore" cast and Snooki isn't fond of him either. Christie has been vocal about his distaste for the cast and has referred to them as "losers," and also vetoed a $420,000 tax credit for the MTV reality show in September 2011. Snooki doesn't appriaciate being called a loser and the pint-size reality star tweeted that she wouldn't be voting for Christie for president and added, "Love always, the "buffoons" from that degrading Jersey Shore show." Christie wasn't and isn't running for president, but Snooki regardless explained: "I DEF don't want a judgmental president who has NEVER met me in person. F that. idc who exploits me. But for a man wanting to be president&calling us names when he's never met us..no thanks. I'll stick w Obama."

  • Kid Rock vs. Steven Tyler

    Kid Rock had a big problem with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler taking on a new gig as a judge on "American Idol" in 2010. Kid Rock didn't believe a true rock star would even think about working for a show like "Idol" and proceeded to trash Tyler for it. Rock told Entertainment Weekly, "I think it's the stupidest thing he's ever done in his life. He's a sacred American institution of rock and roll, and he just threw it all out the window. Just stomped on it and se it on fire." At a press conference, Tyler responded, "He's just jealous, he's just jealous. And he's working on his new record, so God bless him."

  • Chris Brown vs. Miranda Lambert

    Miranda Lambert was not happy to see Chris Brown performing at the Grammy Awards. "And Chris Brown Twice? I don't get it. He beat on a girl...Not cool that we act like that didn't happen," she tweeted referencing Brown's brutal 2009 assault on Rihanna. Brown responded indirectly by tweeting, "Hate all you want because I got a grammy now! That's the ultimate f*** off." Then at her concert, Lambert held up a handwritten poster that read, "Take notes Chris Brown" and said to the audience, "Listen, I just need to speak my mind. Where I come from, beating up on a women is never OK. So that's why my daddy taught me early on in life how to use a shotgun." Brown fired back in a series of tweets: "Using my name to get publicity? I love it! Perform your heart out! Go buy @miranda_lambert! So motivational and "PERFECT." Goodnight to all the people who live life and who aren't stuck in the past!"

  • Brett Ratner v. Olivia Munn

    In actress Olivia Munn's book "Suck It, Wonder Woman," she recounts her brief romantic dalliance with director Brett Ratner and didn't have anything nice to say about the size of his penis. Ratner addressed the claims on "Attack of the Show" saying, "I used to date Olivia Munn, I'll be honest with everyone here, when she was Lisa...she wasn't Asian back then." He continued: "She was hanging out on my set of 'After the Sunset,' I banged her a few times. But I forgot her...because she changed her name...I didn't know it was the same person, so when she came and auditioned for me for a TV show I forgot her, she got pissed off, and she made up all these stories about me eating shrimp and masturbating in my trailer." Munn responded by tweeting a link to a <em>Cosmo</em> article she had written titled, "How to Stand up to an A-Hole," that detailed an incident with a director she called the "Douche."

  • LeAnn Rimes vs. Giuliana Rancic

    LeAnn Rimes is skinny -- so skinny that she has people worrying that she's not eating. The equally skinny Giuliana Rancic was one those people. Pot, meet kettle. The two skinny ladies battled it out telling each other to eat a sandwich.

  • Ciara vs. Rihanna

    Rihanna and Ciara -- who both dated Chris Brown in the past -- got into a heated public spat in February 2011. First Ciara made a dig at Rihanna on "Fashion Police," saying: "I ran into her recently at a party. She wasn't the nicest. It's crazy because I've always loved and respected what she's done in fashion. It wasn't the most pleasant run-in." When Rihanna heard what Ciara had said, she fired back on Twitter. "My bad Ci, did I forget to tip you? How rude of me.... You gangsta huh? Ha." They volleyed insults and threats at each other and then Rihanna called a truce. "Ciara baby, I love you girl! You hurt my feelings real bad on TV! I'm heartbroken! That's why I retaliated this way! So sorry! Let's make up." Ciara accepted the apology and that was that.

  • Kourtney Kardashian vs. Farrah Abraham

    This might be one of the most ridiculous celebrity fights of all time. "Teen Mom" cast member Farrah Abraham didn't think things through when she criticized Kourtney Kardashian on Twitter. "I'm shocked Kourtney Kardashian is pregnant again Did she not learn anything from TEEN MOM? Maybe its a fake pregnancy like kims wedding SAD," she tweeted. Kourtney was understandably confused by the attack and tweeted back, "Why would I have anything to do with Teen Mom? I'm 32 years old! I may look young, honey, but don't get it twisted." While Kourtney suggested that Farrah had no idea what she was talking about, the "Teen Mom" star couldn't resist firing back at her: "Guess what! Age and money honestly do not change a person's poor choice. Quit making excuses," she tweeted. Kourtney's boyfriend Scott Disick also got in on the fight, sarcastically tweeting at Farrah, "We're not teenagers, ya f**king moron." When asked if he knew who she was, he responded, ""I just thought she was some shit stain on Twitter, no?" Sadly, this Twitter fight actually continued with Farrah later tweeting, "4 all who mistunderstood: regards to kourtney K.~I hope she takes her relationship w/her boyfriend more serious 4 their children-takecare." Shortly after, however, she couldn't resist getting one more word in with a jab at Disick: "Caught wind of these dramatic articles, w/ loser scott disick or some boyfriend of kourtneys, is Shit Stain < racist 4 black?" she wrote. "Great dad! NOT."

  • Anthony Bourdain vs. Paula Deen

    Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is not a fan of Paula Deen's cooking. In 2011 he told <em>TV Guide</em> she was "the worst, most dangerous person to America." Deen responded, claiming, "You know, not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills . . . It wasn't that long ago that I was struggling to feed my family, too." Months later, after Deen announced she has Type 2 diabetes and was now a paid spokeswoman for a diabetes medication, Bourdain responded with a thinly veiled tweet: "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later." Deen fired back that Bourdain should "get a life".

  • Jonah Hill vs. Matthew Morrison

    Jonah Hill made it clear he was no fan of "Glee" star Matthew Morrison, when he appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in September 2011. Hill recalled a "douchey Hollywood party" where he tried to eavesdrop on a conversation between "Gossip Girl" actor Chace Crawford and Morrison, who had made a joke at Hill's expense at an event a few weeks earlier. He then overheard the two drop his name and start laughing. Hill took the opportunity on "Late Night" to call out the "Glee" actor: "Matthew Morrison, you better bring your sh*t next time I see you...I'd like to see him sing his way out of this one," he said. Morrison responded by sending a goofy video to "Late Night," where he finished his joke about Hill and then accepted the actor's challenge, saying, "Nobody messes with someone from musical theater!" This extremely dorky feud eventually just blew over.

  • Chelsea Handler vs. Michelle "Bombshell" McGee

    Chelsea Handler started a feud with Jesse James' tattooed mistress Michelle "Bombshell" McGee in 2010, with a joke she wrote on her blog: "I guess she doesn't read magazines which makes sense, since she basically has one on her face." McGee responded on her Facebook page writing: "Chelsea, here's some free advice: Use some of that Botox from your forehead and put it in your flabby underarm skin. I've seen better wings in a bucket of KFC chicken." And later wrote, ""In all seriousness, Im a big fan of 'Chelsea Lately' ... I was laughing my ass off.... feel so honored to have a transexual [sic] poke fun of me ..." Don't mess with a comedian -- Handler didn't hold back with her response to McGee: "First of all, look at my forehead, you dumb bitch, okay? It moves ... You have a tattoo on your forehead, so you have had a needle in your forehead -- and probably Jesse James' balls. So shut your face."

  • Ryan Murphy vs. Kings of Leon

    This feud started after Kings of Leon declined to allow the Fox series "Glee," to cover one of its songs on a future episode. "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy was pissed and sent a message to the band via The Hollywood Reporter: "F**K you, Kings of Leon," he said. "They're self-centered assholes, and they missed the big picture. They missed that a 7-year-old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instrument. It's like, OK, hate on arts education. You can make fun of Glee all you want, but at its heart, what we really do is turn kids on to music." KOL member Nathan Followill fired back with a homophobic dig at openly gay Murphy, tweeting: "Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating 7yr olds how to say f**k." Realizing how his comments could be seen, Followill later tweeted: "I'm sorry 4 anyone that misconstrued my comments as homophobic or misogynistic. I'm so not that kind of person. I really do apologize."

  • Tom Cruise vs. Brooke Shields

    In 2005, Tom Cruise seemed to have lost his marbles when he jumped on couches on Oprah's talkshow. He then lashed out at actress Brooke Shields, while on the "Today" show, telling Matt Lauer that Shields should not have taken antidepressants to combat the postpartum depression she was suffering from after the birth of her first child. Cruise, a Scientologist who shuns psychiatry, insisted the depression could be treated with "vitamins and exercise." Shields responded by writing an op-ed piece in the New York Times, writing: "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression ... And comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere ... If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease." Cruise later apologized to Shields, the actress told Jay Leno a year later. "He came over to my house and he gave me a heartfelt apology. And he apologized for bringing me into the whole thing and for everything that happened," she said.

  • Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West

    Kayne West infamously hijacked Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 Video Music Awards, interrupting her to say, "I'm really happy for you. I'ma let you finish, but Beyonc? had one of the best videos of all time." Swift was dumbstruck by the incident and it seemed as if she didn't want to get into it with the rapper. "I don't know him, and I've never met him, so..." she said. "I don't want to start anything because I had a great night tonight." A year later she was literally singing a different tune. At the 2010 VMAs she performed her new song "You're Still an Innocent," a reference to the previous year's incident with West, basically calling him immature. "Thirty-two and still growing up now / who you are is not what you did / you're still an innocent," she sang. Kanye didn't have any right to fire back, but of course he did. At a concert in New York City, West blasted Swift to his fans: "Everybody needs a villain, don't we? We need to blame someone at all times ... I was emotional, that was not exactly the way I wanted to word it, but I wrote it, I rode it, just as Taylor never came to my defense in any interview, and rode the waves and rode it and rode it." The feud seems to have blown over, as Swift wore a blouse from Kanye West's spring 2012 collection in the pages of Harper's Bazaar.

  • Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/30/chris-brown-drake-diss_n_1640626.html

    new york philharmonic

    Customer Service After the Selling Still Drives Business Sales ? Part 1

    The email center customer service administrator job description includes major a workforce of 10-20 customers depending on the power of the organization and guiding them to obtain the monthly staff targets. Your banker customer service manager career description contains dealing with the actual customers and handling their inquiries regarding the functioning of the accounts and other providers offered by the lender.

    Tell them about the STAR format and that you are searhing for examples of precise competencies, let them have a few examples with the competencies you want.

    Helpdesk services can be found round the clock with an affordable price if you contract out them. However, take the time to comprehend the terms and conditions of the contract before you hire this company process outsourced workers service provider.

    Nearly all customer service reps are simply doing the job so as to advance in the company and gain the information and connections they need to care for their goals. My own mail to sit at a desk wearing that head set for the rest of his or her lives. Frequently it?s hard to really encourage those individuals and that is something that team leaders ought to address. When the employees are not implementing their work seriously and are also not encouraged, it can lead to significant trouble.

    Generate a customer service mission. That begins with figuring out the significant effects that your corporation?s services have on both your current internal as well as your external customers. Search beyond the evident features of your service or service to discover the benefits they provide to your customers. By way of example, a company which makes anti-lock brakes does indeed more than production a product. His or her product will ultimately save day-to-day lives.

    The success of any organization lies on the way core personnel manage initiatives and handle staff members. If you want to gain a sure business success on the individual level up, taking note of this on managing training types-and employing them-should be your supreme task.

    Almost all disabled buyers will take their business in an organisation that?s built a new reputation for providing accessible in addition to disability-friendly customer service so organizations must be able to offer this particular ahead of the Game titles.

    The company utilizes its Fb profile to activate with customers, on the other hand, also utilizes the Ceramic Barn YouTube route to build your community online. They have got videos such as how-to?s for get together planners, custom made profiles as well as featured merchandise. By giving assistance to customers and offering them a story beyond the products Pottery Barn gives consumers much more than just a product and as a result builds up an incredible relationship with him or her ? a practical form of customer service.

    The catch is, you can?t correct what is not broken. So as their clients had decided not to protest, they were probably none the more advisable as to his or her customers disapproving or being dissatisfied with their service.

    Service Retrieval ? Marriott Hotels uses the service recuperation acronym Study: Listen, Empathize, Apologize, React, Notify (the supervisor in addition to co-workers so that it does not happen again to help future customers). Various other businesses use the acronym Very last: Listen. Say sorry. Solve. Thank (the customer pertaining to bringing the issue to your awareness). What are the service retrieval steps which you expect just about every employee to take when confronted with a dissatisfied customer?

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    Source: http://jussfreevectorart.com/customer-service-after-the-selling-still-drives-business-sales-part-1/

    december 21 2012

    Google sells small tablet, challenges Kindle Fire

    Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management, holds up the new Google Nexus7 tablet at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

    Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management, holds up the new Google Nexus7 tablet at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

    Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management, holds up the new Google Nexus7 tablet at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

    Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management, holds up the new Google Nexus7 that will sell for $199, at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. The tablet will have a screen that measures 7 inches diagonally, smaller than the nearly 10 inches on Apple Inc.?s popular iPad. That means it?s more likely to challenge Amazon.com Inc.?s Kindle Fire, which is also 7 inches. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

    Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management holds up the new Google Nexus7 selling at $199, at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. The tablet will have a screen that measures 7 inches diagonally, smaller than the nearly 10 inches on Apple Inc.?s popular iPad. That means it?s more likely to challenge Amazon.com Inc.?s Kindle Fire, which is also 7 inches. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

    Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management, holds up the new Google Nexus7 tablet at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

    (AP) ? Google unveiled its attempt to catch up to Apple and Amazon in the growing market for tablet computers. It also provided a titillating glimpse at its vision of a digital future through the mind-boggling lens of Internet-connected glasses.

    The debut of a long-anticipated tablet computer bearing Google's brand and equipped with its latest operating software kicked off an annual conference for about 6,000 computer programmers.

    Although the tablet drew plenty of applause, the biggest crowd-pleasing moment came near the end of a nearly two-hour performance Wednesday when Google conjured a scene worthy of a "Mission Impossible" movie.

    After Google co-founder Sergey Brin trotted on stage during the middle of a presentation, he cut away to a live video feed showing a group of skydivers the company hired to jump out of a blimp hovering about 7,000 feet above downtown San Francisco.

    The skydivers were wearing a pair of Internet-connected glasses. That allowed the audience inside to see what the skydivers were seeing as they parachuted on to the roof of the building where the conference was being held.

    The glasses are still a work in progress, although Google gave U.S. programmers attending the conference a chance to order a $1,500 prototype that they can start experimenting with early next year.

    The Google-branded tablet, called the Nexus 7, will start shipping next month in a direct challenge to Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire. The tablet also could appeal to consumers looking for a less expensive, less sophisticated alternative to Apple Inc.'s iPad.

    The Nexus 7 is designed specifically for Google Play, an online store that sells movies, music, books, apps and other content. That mirrors Amazon's strategy with the Kindle Fire, although Amazon's strength in online retailing has seeded its store with a more extensive selection than Google Play. Amazon declined comment.

    The size and price of the Nexus 7 also matches the Kindle Fire. Both have 7-inch screens and sell for $199. The Nexus 7 is slightly lighter at about 0.75 pound, compared with the Kindle Fire's 0.9 pound.

    By contrast, the iPad's screen measures nearly 10 inches diagonally and weighs 1.44 pounds. Apple sells its latest models for $499 and up, though an older version is available for $399.

    Customers can start ordering the Nexus 7 through Google on Wednesday, initially in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The device won't ship until mid-July.

    Google's announcement that it's putting its brand on a tablet comes a week after Microsoft Corp. did the same thing. Both moves risk alienating Google's and Microsoft's hardware partners. Those companies, in turn, could be less inclined to work closely with Google and Microsoft.

    The Nexus 7's price looks like a relative bargain, given that it boasts more features than the Kindle, including a front-facing camera with 1.2 megapixels. The Kindle is believed to be a roughly break-even product for Amazon at $199. Samsung Electronics Co. sells a tablet similar to Google's for $250.

    Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst with IHS iSuppli, said he suspects Google will be selling the Nexus 7 at a loss.

    Google has previously put its own brand on a flagship line of "Nexus" smartphones. But that market is more mature than the tablet market, and there was less risk of Google alienating partners, particularly because it didn't price the phones lower than the norm.

    Much like the Nexus phones, the Nexus 7 tablet will be a showcase for a new version of Google's Android operating system ? this one called Jelly Bean.

    Although the tablet carries the Google brand, the machine will be made by AsusTek Computer Inc. Google recently expanded into the device-making business with its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, but the company has stressed that it intends to continue to rely on Asus and other manufacturers that have embraced Android.

    Jeff Orr, an analyst with ABI Research, said Microsoft's announcement of its Surface tablet last week and Google's Nexus 7 add up to a "troubling" situation for tablet makers such as Samsung Electronics Co., which makes the Galaxy line.

    When a software-supplying partner turns around and puts out its own hardware product, "is that a partner or an enemy?" Orr asked.

    Orr also questioned whether Google's strategy of pricing the tablet low is really going to win it any fans in the long term. Apple, he noted, dominates the tablet market with a product that's expensive but works well.

    There are already other Android-powered tablets on the market, but none have proven nearly as popular as the iPad or Kindle Fire. That has raised worries at Google as more people rely on tablets to surf the Internet.

    For Google, advertising dollars are at stake. If Apple retains its dominance and other players such as Amazon and Microsoft gobble up the rest of the sales, they could set up their operating systems in ways that de-emphasize Google's Internet search engine and other services. Apple develops its own system, while Amazon modifies Android for use in Kindles. Microsoft's will run on a new version of Windows.

    Apple already has announced that the next version of the iPad operating system will abandon Google's digital maps as the built-in navigation system. That shift could cause neighborhood merchants to spend less money advertising on Google.

    The iPad currently has about 68 percent of the tablet market, according to Forrester Research. The research firm expects the increasing competition to whittle the iPad's share to 53 percent in 2016, with Android-powered tablets at about 30 percent and Windows tablets accounting for the remainder. Forrester predicted 760 million tablets will be in use by 2016.

    "Google's user base for music, books, and movies is not nearly as strong as Apple or Amazon, so it will take time to build a strong customer base" for the Nexus 7, predicted Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.

    He also said the Nexus 7 and other Android tablets are at a disadvantage because computer programmers still haven't built as many compelling applications for that platform as they have for the iPad.

    In another expansion into consumer electronics, Google also announced a home entertainment device called Nexus Q that is similar to Apple TV, a small box that can stream music and movies over Internet connections. The Nexus Q sends content from your personal collection or YouTube to your existing TV and speaker systems. You control it through a separate Android phone or tablet.

    The Nexus Q, which Google is calling the world's first "social streaming device," will be available in July in the U.S. initially and sell for $299. Apple TV currently sells for just $99. Other Internet-streaming devices, such as the Roku, that connect to TVs sell for even less than that.

    The Internet-connected glasses that Google demonstrated won't be cheap either, although Brin told reporters Wednesday that the company plans to charge consumers significantly less than the $1,500 that developers had to pay for prototypes. The glasses, which Google is calling Project Glass, probably won't be released to the mass market until early 2014, Brin said.

    "It's not a commodity product," Brin said. "We view this as a premium sort of thing."

    Google began developing the Internet-connected glasses in a secret research lab more than two years ago and announced what it was working on in April. Wednesday's presentation marked the first extended demonstration of how the glasses might work.

    Also on Wednesday, Google unveiled a new search tool to help you get the right information at the right time on your mobile device. Called Google Now, the tool will be part of Jelly Bean, which will be available in mid-July. Some devices, including the Galaxy Nexus, will get the upgrade automatically over the air.

    With Google Now, if you say "traffic," for example, it will look at your usual commute to work and show you alternative routes if there's a lot of traffic. It will tell you the scores of your favorite sports teams automatically, and it will keep you up to date on flight statuses if you are flying somewhere.

    The feature bears resemblance to the Siri virtual assistant on Apple's iPhone.

    Jelly Bean will also come with the ability to share photos by tapping two phones together.

    ___

    Peter Svensson contributed from New York. AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this story.

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-06-27-Google-Tablet/id-59c497af4437466ba42a1d4eb2e22886

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